#but i would have to reread chapter by chapter to actually get into the details

[bright-red-sunsets]

Does your MC character change during Main Quest? Especially during Book 2?

I'm assuming you're talking about Housamo so here I go with my MC ramble hehehehe (P.S. oh god this ramble got a bit out of hand lol)

Before I get into it, two things.

1) I'm close to finishing chapter 10 so I'm not caught up to date. This also means I can't say much about Part 2 unfortunately.

2) my MC's name is Mango and I'll be using they/them, but they don't care much about pronouns.

I think they do change a lot.

The writing tries to show MC having a nearly unshakeable will and clear goal in mind in any situation, but Mango is like, a lot less sure at the start.

Initially, Mango is just going with the flow and going along with the expectations people have of them. Mango doesn't have memories, so they end up feeling like they Are all these people others claim them to be.

Ryota is one of the more important characters when it comes to Mango's growth as a person. In the Aoyama guild arc, Ryota confesses to Mango that he wants to have a special bond with someone, the way Shiro & Kengo have and Maria & Gabriel have. That makes Mango realize that their experiences with Ryota are something more tangible to care about.

From that point on, Mango develops a stronger sense of Self. While they want to honor the feelings others have, they also recognize that they aren't all their past lives – they're the person here and now. Mango allows themself to be more selfish and stop trying to be the person others want. (On a lighter note, this also means they act increasingly more sarcastic when someone starts calling them a different name, "Another one for my list...")

Throughout and after the Roponggi arc is when Mango gains some proper maturity. Toji, even though Mango extensively thinks he has a stick up his ass, does challenge them and whether they're taking this seriously enough. And hell, Mango has to admit maybe Toji does know what he's talking about.

The finale is another point that greatly affects Mango. The more they learn about the loops, the stronger their resolve is to end the Game and live their life. But when they learn about the loop(s) where they were Babalon's family... that really hits them...

PART 2: MANGO HAS DEPRESSION AND PTSD

The start of Part 2 is maybe my favorite part of the story so far, especially in terms of how MC is characterized. HELL, Mango's collapse forces them to confront all their flaws. Mango has let people die! Mango has people who put faith in them! They are confronting their own capacity to harm others and desperately grasping for ways to protect the people they're close to.

This is the peak to everything Mango has been becoming so far. They are selfish and recognize they can harm others. Mango doesn't just jump into action blindly, they plan extensively with the Summoners (and when they don't, they put their whole faith in that Shiro does). In many ways they are similar to how they started, but with the added depth of doing it all intentionally and compensating where they failed.

[youkaigakkou-tl]

(This is very minimal research into irl seimei legends I doing for something else so take this with a grain of salt)

But I think that if the white kitsune legend is true and seimei is actually half youkai this could maybe work out. In that myth, it states that not only was he showing signs of control over weak youkai at a young age(which could help explain his 'exorcism powers') but also that he was taken to another family by his mom so he wouldn't turn evil (this eventually leading him to learning divination and other things by that same clan)

but idk ~

yeah that is what i'm thinking about but i also imagine the details will be different somewhat given how sensei has been playing fast and loose with the details around Seimei and Douman specifically

(just for the record, this isn't like the time travel theory where i'm ride or die with it, i just think "Seimei not being totally human" is a fun possibility to consider, since theres a lot of weird little details but nothing concrete)

(had to reread ch90 to double check, we do get confirmation that Seimei isn't not human since Genbu says "gods shouldnt be near human remains")

there's also the fact that mamaaki has white hair, in a manga where even most youkai have normal hair colors and a lot of the ones that don't dye it. could be that she dyes it, but what reason would she have to consistently dye it for the 20-odd years we see in flashbacks? Sano dyes his hair bc he's a rebellious teen and wants to look different from Ebisu presumably, and the other students have similar reasons, what reason would a grown ass adult have? there's the possibility that it's just a cute nod to the legends, like "haha in legends Seimei's mom was a white fox, Haru's mom has white hair lol", but i'm starting to think nothing is ever "just" a "cute nod" anymore.....

[mikodrawnnarratives]

*cracks knuckles* @paper-lilypie

WEDDING BELLS YALL

and brainrot. I've been sketching these ideas out for like, a year. And done nothing with them until this point

this has been festering. in my mind.

*note: I didn't get around to drawing it, but I imagine Sun, Moon, and Y/n say their vows at the Bell place thingie that I need to reread in the fic. Y'know, the place Moon climbs up to, to get away from y/n. Yeh they declare their love up there and smoochies*

I should really reread that bit actually lol

Before moving forward, I'm gonna rant about outfits

this is the outfit that I base Sun and Moon's wedding look on because I just think it fits so well. I share this so you guys see the vision and forgive my inexperience with drawing these folds

Cool? cool.

Also, I went through several variations of what Y/n would wear before settling on this bc nothing that came up when I searched "gender neutral wedding gear" really fit

Wanted a mix between gown and suit and y'know this ended up being more suit but I like it a lot so we're going with that. It also came to me in a vision so that has to say something.

(Ok but I did envision Y/n having a dress similar to this one character's dress in Bad Guys but I couldn't draw it so I scrapped it)

(ok some details stayed but most of the concept had to go)

so like- you see it right?

Btw. All of them (including guests) have pockets. just. to ease your mind.

ok back to actually drawn wedding shenanigans

Because, there are many, wedding shenanigans

Y'know the trend of smashing wedding cake into the bride/groom/wedded partner's face right?

There's no way this wouldn't escalate and y/n wouldn't enlist their siblings in the chaos.

They'll get like- one or two good wedding pics before this.

the cake tasted good tho

Let me just say. I am so proud of how I did these hands I'm oogling my own art I did so good GHGHHHHHHFDS

I like??? Want to do more?????

cuties shenanigans below they are obnoxious and they know it

By the way by the way you may notice the flower dress

I WILL be getting around to Lily x DCA STUFF I WILL

Tho I got busy and had a really hard time drawing/finishing sketches when I did have time so. I chose to post what I have so far so it's out before November ends

CONSIDER THIS A PART 1

LILY YOU ARE NOT SAFE

well Ig u are safe

for nowwwww

Bouquet toss real

fun fact I initially wanted to draw Sun, Moon, and Copper y/n tossing the bouquet together

but their arm lengths would NOT make that work kjfdkljsdklj

so y/n tosses the bouquet bc they are the specialest

(Or they won the round of monopoly)

(who's to say)

(we don't talk about game night)

But all three of them are the criminal. masterminds. They planned this from the start. Holly and Chica HAD NO CHANCE after the role they played in getting Y/N AND SUN AND MOON together.

I think this video would also be something cute that I could see happening for their wedding lol

Y/n and the daycare attendants hand the bouquet to Holly and then she gets proposed to by Chica

Anyway I still have a whole list of wedding shenanigans I need to draw

Sarah and Yao being some because when I tried before I couldn't sketch them out to my liking.

And the more CCRT gets expanded on, the more I'm sure will be present in their wedding since there are only 3 chapters out so far and enough art for me to make my guesses dlkkldsf

I'm sure there are plenty of fun things that can be included into this wedding, or edited, once more is revealed of the characters and their relationships

and who would be wedding guests is a little more up in the air, for instance and... who'd be able to show up in the first place considering unknown state of... living

(*cough cough*-Glamrock Foxy-*cough cough*)

...and being on good terms! thats.. important too. y'know moon and foxy weren't really exes but it may still be a bit awkward if he got invited y'know yknow

[honeycreammilkshake]

OMG OMG OMG, reread 265 and Yuji says he cried because his SLIME TOY was lost, foreshadowing for him to keep slime sukuna?

omg, anon. i love the way you think <3

i just wanted to mention: one of the craziest things about this chapter is just how relaxed and indulgent sukuna is being with yuuji. i almost thought it was a dream when i first read this because sukuna is going along with all of this.

he's listening to yuuji ramble and actually paying attention to it all. he corrects yuuji, makes fun of him, even threatens him in the end - all things he usually does to yuuji, but this time the insults almost seem casual and sukuna's anger is somehow even more personal. it's like sukuna lets down his mask for a bit and is being drawn in by yuuji but he refuses to accept it, like it's a surprise attack on him that usually he wouldn't let anyone get even close enough to do it. he lashes out with all that has, screaming that he'll make yuuji suffer for pitying him. typical sukuna style.

but something that's really been on my mind is how yuuji responds to sukuna not caring about what yuuji is trying to show to him.

yuuji admits he lost this time. "just as i expected... it's no use."

if he really expected this all not to work, then why even bother? and, if he knows sukuna will just keep rejecting him, why does he keep offering for sukuna to come back to him? why does he want to offer mercy to this monster that still threatens to kill everyone yuuji cares about??

yuuji knows that sukuna is a lost cause.... but he's still not giving up. just like he never gave up on his grandfather whenever he told yuuji to stop coming and to stay at his club, or whenever wasuke pushed his own grandson away despite yuuji caring for him even on his deathbed.

yuuji also says that he's willing to fight for sukuna, to keep him alive. "even if no one accepts it/you." the fact that yuuji's fighting so hard just for sukuna's sake while sukuna is fighting against yuuji's compassion just as hard....

they drive me insane.

but honestly, i really think you're on to something here. gege loves detailed foreshadowing and twists that go against all expectations, so i have hope yuuji won't let sukuna get away from him that easily and will hold onto him.

or, better yet but even more unlikely, if sukuna comes back to yuuji on his own.

(also, it would be so cute if yuuji would keep little blobkuna in his pocket so that he won't make the mistake of losing his slime toy this time <3)

[sixosix]

END NOTE | THAWED

a little love letter to my readers

to start off, i know that the series is based off the entire reputation album, but i like to think that this whole series was written around call it what you want.

how it started LMFAOOO

This was previously titled ‘melt’ before i was like ‘nah ill make it, like, thaw” and earthtooz went, “Thawed?” little did earth know,, that name would literally take over my docs,,, my tags,,, my ENTIRE account

A message to my readers: From the bottomest bottom of my heart, if you have reached this series until the very end, thank you so, so much for reading. Read that sentence again. And again, until you realize how grateful I truly am as a writer. Thawed is such a big project that I still can’t believe I was able to even start. I genuinely never thought it would garner this much attention, and in all honestly, I was intimidated by it, because I had no idea what I was doing, and I was afraid I would disappoint.

This entire project was intimidating, and I considered so many times to just drop it and end it on chapter five. I struggled so badly to write after I introduced the characters, and I thought: “well, that’s it. I guess it was fun.” I even told my friends that I would do that; and yet 14 chapters later, look at where we are now 😭

Writing it was so exhausting. Working on a series while studying as a student really makes it difficult to remember details about my own story T__T I had to reread Thawed so many times to the point where I don’t even like it anymore.

But I know the reason why I decided to continue it! It sounds so horribly cliche, but it’s true. It’s thanks to all your overwhelming support :( Each ask, comment, reblog—they all fueled me more than you think. All those replies of even incoherent gibberish made me realize that, ‘hey, someone read it and liked it enough to send an ask about it. Maybe I am doing something right!!!!’

some thawed extras for readers who are interested

If you haven’t noticed, the chapter titles aren’t actually accurately about the chapter. Those titles were taken from the songs in the Reputation album, in order. And the chapters are loosely based around them!

reputation is, like, widely known as the edgy album from taylor, but in reality its such a big love letter and i know that other people noticed that, too! i think it’s very fitting to the story of thawed: it’s dark and messy, but at the end of the day, it’s a love story. do you get what i mean hehe. i hope that’s how the series came across…

im sorry if aether doesnt appear in the last chapter :( in my head, mc is coming home. and by then i dont think aether would be in fontaine at all! but rest assured they definitely have met up twice or thrice while in the other regions heehee. Also aether will ofc be there for their weeding. 🙏

i have nothing much else to say aside from thank you for reading! i hope u enjoyed thawed as much as i did

[namjoonscoffeeshop]

Beneath the Surface | Drabbles

A part of DEEP series

✧ Pairing: Yoongi x reader

✧ warning(s): explicit language, fight scene

✧ word count: 3.1k

a/n: this drabble is in yoongi's pov. we will see his pov through many scenes and I will label the scenes as they go In case anyone gets confused. I added chapter 8 incase you want to reread the chapter. Yoongi's pov has more details in certain events.

index | askme! | Chap 8

THE DAY JIHYE MENTIONED GOING ON A TRIP

"what do you want" yoongi walks out of the lecture hall to find jihye leaning against the wall on her phone, her eyes meeting his the moment he makes himself known. 

Yoongi watches as she nibbles on her inner cheek, his forehead creasing as he tilts his head as if to tell her to hurry up and speak. 

"I want to invite y/n and everyone else to go camping during the break"

"what does that have to do with me? invite her and that's it" turning around he attempts to walk away but jihye raises her voice clearly a reaction from her anxiousness "It's the camp, where we met" 

turning to face her he couldn't help but look amused at the words that came from her lips "you want to take her there, you know if it was just our group of friends fine. but you know everyone goes there"  staring at jihye as if she had grown another head he can't take the silence and says  "have you lost your mind?" 

"it happened years ago...why would it matter.." he raises a brow, nodding his head as he looks away "do what you want" he doesn't stick around to listen to her any longer, entering the lecture hall. 

AFTER THEIR FIRST NIGHT TOGETHER 

He felt conflicted. How does he tell you that he might not want this, what ever this is.

you slept soundly your small snores filling the quiet room. the light radiating from the moon seeped through the curtains as it lit the room with warmness. His head hanged back as he leaned against the headboard.

he kept repeating in his head how you painfully reminded him that it was all fake and that this was all just for the sex and for just a split second he thought to himself, if this was really all you wanted and if he was just fooling himself into thinking that you actually liked him all this time. He kept thinking back to the day you had blurting out this stupid idea but can't remember if there was ever a confession hidden in your words.

but then why would she want this if she just saw us as friends?

groaning he rubs his temple before glancing at your laying figure, you looked like a angel to him. Beautiful in every way, no flaw what so ever. But yet here he was tainting you. your hair covered your back, some strands covered your face. His shaking hand reached out to hold the strands as he gently tugged them back, staring at you for what felt like eternity till he had his fill.

Pulling the sheets off he gets out of bed slowly to avoid waking you, he needed a smoke and have a moment away from you to collect his thoughts. walking down the hall he looks around the living room for his bag where he had put away his stuff to make sure you wouldn't find and confiscate it but ended up cursing himself when he remembers it was in the bedroom.

"fuck" he curses as sits on couch his head hung low as he tried to gather his thoughts. It would be best to go ahead and leave for the trip he couldn't think and if it was just the two of you then it would just be worse. 

THE NIGHT AT CAMP

Walking to their tent he hears her laughing, another familiar laugh follows and he knew you where with jihye. it's for the best he says to himself as he turns, walking to his friends tents. He wasn't angry with you but with himself. He was like a dog in heat when he saw you, his desire for you had just gotten worse after having a single taste of you. 

He stayed away for some if not all the afternoon, sending her a brief message which said to not wait for him. The girl who sat on the floor beside him placed her hand on his thigh "yoongi, we haven't seen you around lately" she says in a soft voice, not shy with her hand as she traced circles on his thigh. taking a drink from his cup he looks at the girl, his eyes glancing to her hand. 

"he has a girlfriend now" taehyung speaks up, the girl pouts as if disregarding taehyung's comment "she's not here, did you not bring her" 

he drinks from his cup again 

"yeah where is y/n?" jimin says

placing the cup down. he leans forward, with his forearm he brushes off her hand from his thigh licking his lips "sleeping" he side-eyed the girl beside him with a stern look. "whatever" she mutters, scooting away from him.

it began to rain, maybe I should head back to make sure she's sleeping. looking at his phone he sees she never answered nor opened the message. she didn't really like the rain, and knowing how skeptical she was it was likely she'd be worried of some leak. He hides his face as he looks down, concealing his smile from everyone else. 

filling his cup once more after taehyung kept insisting on drinking more with him , He listened to the raindrops rather than paying attention to the people in front of him. He wondered if you were reading one of your books and maybe that's why you didn't answer nor read his message, when ever you read you would block out the rest of the world. 

He was lost in thought, not noticing people the two girls who had just came running into the first section of the tent. snapping out of his daze he looks up as he hears jihye's laugh, his eyes falling on you as jihye holds her arm stopping her from slipping. 

he watches as she stands there for a moment, jihye entering. After saying hello jihye slips into a empty seat, she walks in and glances at everyone who's there before meeting his eyes "I thought I told you i'd be back" he says watching her walk to him as he finishes his drink ready to take her out of there with the excuse that he was done. 

"I was bored" he could see how she was flustered, as always not comfortable when it comes to his friends gatherings. he bored his eyes into her as he waited to see where she'd sit. his eyes slowly glancing at the girl who had been beside him, she was glaring at her but y/n paid her no mind, in fact she didn't even notice. He licked his lips in attempt to not laugh but his smirk was wiped off his face when he felt her sit on his lap. 

he grinned at her boldness and wraps his arm around her waist, holding her. Taehyung was quick to offer her a drink and she accepts, lifting his empty cup to get it filled. He watched her in silence as everyone who clearly was interested in who the girl that claimed the title as his girlfriend was. 

he could sense how nervous she was as she gulped down the drink, leaning in he'd whisper into her ear to slow down and she'd nod but taehyung would fill her cup once more. His hand slipped underneath her shirt as he caressed her waist "You'll have a headache tomorrow" he says which she replied "it's the last one" nibbling on his bottom lip he'd nod, knowing she was lying. 

Maybe he was tipsy, yeah that was his excuse. his excuse as to why his senses were sharp. explaining why he subtle perfume was all he could smell, he loved her choice in perfumes they were not strong. There were a lot of people in the room but she was the only one he could hear as she would talk or laugh. His eyes stuck on her as she smiled at any stupid little thing taehyung said. trying to keep himself sane he continued to caress her waist with his fingers feeling her body getting warmer and he could tell that she was getting drunk. 

 leaning against his chest she placed her head on his shoulder. shifting on his lap, tormenting him but he kept caressing her waist. trying to keep himself calm. 

lifting the cup to her lips he catches taehyung at the corner of his eye ready to refill her cup. He knew he was being petty but he hated having all these guys seeing her especially in her current state, snatching the cup from her hand he drinks the remaining fluids, tossing the cup to the trash can which he miraculously makes it in. "we're leaving" he says which caused her to whine but he gripped her waist as he stood, taking her with him. 

"alright then, see you tomorrow gorgeous " taehyung says cheerfully which yoongi glares at him. 

the rain had settled down, and in truth he felt himself get sober as they quickly walked to their tent. the drizzle making him come to his senses. 

as the two of them enter the tent he was about to look for a towel when he feels her hand on his chest in the darkness. without thinking he looked her in the eyes and mentally cursed himself as he felt her other hand traveling from his abdomen to his chest. 

He leans in, pecking your lips as she wrap her arms around him. 

she's drunk, he repeats in his head but he was desperate for her touch. tilting her head upwards, the two of them lost in each others eyes "you seemed annoyed" she says as you kiss her once more "and?" he doesn't stop, kissing every part of her. 

"are you mad at me?" she mumbles

"did you do something to anger me" unable to resist her anymore he lifts her up, instantly she wraps her legs around his waist. 

She's drunk he says once more

pecking her lips he places her on the bed "let's sleep tonight" he looks at her wide eyes and heaving chest. cursing himself mentally he continues to kiss her. Hovering over her, but pulls away after giving her a light peck. 

THE MORNING OF THE HIKE

He laid on the bed, her frame cuddled against him. He had no sleep at all. He could hear how the people from other tents were already up. glancing down at her, she's probably gonna be hungry after all that drinking. 

before he could even think of getting up, he sees namjoon stick his head in tent. "hey" he whispers. glaring at namjoon "what"

"we're going hiking, get your ass out here" groaning he points at the girl who was deep asleep and clinging onto him. namjoon rolls his eyes "we're waiting for you" not sparing him the chance to rebut he leaves the tent without zipping the flaps. 

prying her arm and legs off him he slips into warmer clothes. covering her he brushes her hair back before exiting the tent. 

"I didn't ever think you'd date her" namjoon says, the two of them walked at their own pace as everyone else walked ahead. Yoongi didn't bother responding, he didn't need to. If there was someone who could read him it's namjoon. 

"what's bothering you" Namjoon nudges his arm. side eying namjoon he exhales "I'm a mess"

"why?" 

"she's...she's a lot" he feels bitter with his choice of words. namjoons eyes fixated on him "I didn't take y/n as a dramatic type of perso-"

"she's not...shit" he groans "I don't know" he didn't press for more information as he saw yoongi clearly frustrated. "You're dating, everything else will just fall in place" namjoons arm falls around his shoulder as he gives him a small shake "right" yoongi answers in a unsure tone. 

the two continued to talk about anything that came up, the trail ended in the opposite side of where the both of them had departed. Looking uninterested, yoongi wondered if you had already gotten up to make something to eat for yourself. thinking back to how much you had drank the night before he was sure you'd be out of it. 

from the corner of his eye he catches a familiar figure and turns to focus his eyes on the girl who was hiding behind a tent. Instantly he realized it was y/n and quietly makes his way to her. 

I'm gonna scare her, he grins. 

wrapping his arm around her waist he pulls her against his chest "what are you doing hiding?" he says, startled she drops the basket of bowels and everything she had washed. he was about to laugh but looking down at her face he followed her gaze as it landed on two people he wished would just disappear. 

AFTER FINDING OUT ABOUT THE PROJECT

After she confessed that she had school work that needed to be done he felt a brief relief, clearly he was tense since he thought she had heard something causing her to behave the way she was. 

he watched her work on her project, not letting her get in any way distracted ensuring she'd finish and then they could do something else.

He was her loyal servant, getting her meals and entertaining her during the little breaks she'd take. sitting beside her with a bowl filled with grapes that jihye kept insisting for him to give her. "come on eat one" he says, she hadn't eaten much for lunch. shaking her head he sighs. 

he watches her as she continues to type away. her forehead creasing as she looked serious. 

taking a grape to his mouth he bites it in half. he then holds her chin to look at him. "yoon-" pressing his lips against her he climbs onto the bed, tilting her head back. He slips the grape into her mouth, breaking the kiss, he sits back. her face a deep shade of red as she chews on the grape "now eat the grapes or we can do this all day" he eats the other half, raising a brow as if to challenge her to disobey him. 

reaching into the bowl she take another grape to her mouth as she bites it in half, her eyes never meeting his clearly embarrassed. Staring at her lips he shut his eyes, jealous of a fucking grape he exhales.   

THE DAY SHE LEAVES WITH JUNGKOOK

Yoongi was returning from getting sliced peaches when jihye runs up to him, a terrified look on her face. 

"what's wrong with you" ripping the plate of peaches from his hand she tosses it on the table. "they were talking about what happened that summer"

"what?"

"Those fucking minions said it" he stared at jihye not understanding anything she was saying. gripping her shoulders he stops her from moving frantically "clam down, and tell me what the fuck is going on" 

she explains how she ended up bumping into eunjus two friends and after attempting to ignore them they blurted out what had happened that summer. jihye being who she is confronted them and asked them if they had said any of that in front of her. 

there was then a heated argument between them. annoyed yoongi and jihye both found eunju and dragged her to jihye's tents discreetly. 

after arguing yoongi barges out of the tent. and made his way to their shared tent. not finding y/n inside. 

waiting for her to return he sat on the table, trying to calm himself down when namjoon walks into the tent rather fast "hey, you have to come out"

"not now"

"y/n said she's leaving. and asked to call jungkook to pick her up" confused he rushes out of the tent and goes to where y/n, taehyung and jimin were standing. 

her eyes were red, she had been crying he told himself. "y/n" he calls her name, slowly turning to him he locks eyes with her "whats wrong"

"I wanna go home"

"alright, we can go hom-"

"I don't want to go home with you" she spats

taken back he looks at his friends who were awkwardly standing to the side watching the two of them. she doesn't bother talking to him anymore and walks past him, he follows. she begins to gather her things the moment she walks into the tent, ignoring him at the process. 

"what's wrong with you!" he yells loosing his patience. "go ask jihye" she says, grabbing her packed bags and walking out of their tent. 

jungkook had arrived. 

He watches the car pull out of the parking lot keeping his composure. He was about to go to their tent and pack up but he watched as jihye ran up to the girls who were watching from the side with a smug look on their face.

and without saying anything, jihye who was already crying swings her fist punching the girl with longer hair, she crashes to the ground. she pounced at her, swinging her fists as the girl beneath her yanked at her hair. 

the girls friend who had been standing beside her comes to her senses and grabs jihye trying to pull her off. Jimin, taehyung and namjoon then run in to try and stop the fight but one of jihye's other friends gets in pulling the hair of the second friend. 

a whole fight breaking out. 

trying to pry them off each other, namjoon and taehyung succeed with one of the pair but jimin can't get jihye off the other girl. 

"yoongi!" jimin yells, but he didn't budge. Jihye was doing the one thing he wanted to do the moment she told him they had said something to y/n. 

glancing at the girl under jihye he wasn't satisfied with how beaten up she was but he felt it was enough. walking up to jimin he wraps his arm around jihye "that's enough" he says loudly and yanks her back. struggling at first since jihye had wrapped her legs around the girl and was firm.  he yells "Jihye! that's enough!" and succeeds in pulling her back. jihye was a crying mess along with the girl who jimin had helped up. 

eunju was running towards the whole commotion, her eyes falling on their friends. she yells at jihye "what the fuck is wrong with you" yoongi held onto the crying girl. "I suggest you do not, do not confront her right now" namjoon sternly tells eunju. 

not backing down she approaches jihye, yoongi stares at her and grins, she thinks I won't let go. 

letting go of jihye, she stops in place but jihye walks towards her. namjoon running to stop jihye as he glares at yoongi for wanting to escalate the situation. 

rolling his eyes he walks towards them, "jihye lets go" holding her arm he takes her with him as he walks away. "Take me home" she says, his eyes flick to her "fine, i was planning to leave anyways. hurry up" 

taglist:

@baechugff

@thetaehyungstan

@yoongibaybee

@gimeow

@pjmsneverland

@eissenheimer

@taetaechim7

@acquiescence804

@seoullove96

@waitaminswife

@keshiadeija

@gaby-93

@amarawayne

@ykkjm

@ot72025

@joonie1213

taglist still opened

[bubblewrapsnek]

Phantomarine Reread: Chapter 1

For this chapter I don't have too much to elaborate on so it'll probably be mostly stuff I enjoy about it so uhh enjoy!

Let's begin:

The cover of the chapter is just very fun and good, I love how in a full page what acts as frame is the composition itself, using the rock as both a titlecard, flat space made to have Phae stand out in the centre thanks to less detail around her, and has a couple skeletons climbing on it too making it interacted with the enviorment too, it's just very good, plus lots of cute critters

Bonus, pretty lady with pretty dress

One sword lady just happy to be there, good for her!

Cheth working like a lamp, getting turned off as soon as Phae chickens out is a very good bit xD

Something I also enjoy a lot from this chapter is just how present those godly veins are

You can clearly see them flowing into everything Cheth uses, they work at being somewhat subtle to me, at a first read I just assumed they were for flare, it's a god in the sea hopping bodies, of course he has an aura, but going back they are very consistantly threads coursing through what he touches and moves, around him at all time, and it makes the reveal that those aren't something he causes, but those are HIM very fun to go back to

Also Cheth being so unserious even when angry, giving eyelashes to a t-rex HE CHOSE TO THROUGH A HISSY FIT WITH, THIS GOD CHOSE THE DINOSAUR FAMOUS FOR HAVING TENEE TINY ARMS TO PERK THEM UP AND SHOW ANNOYANCE, love that for them

Something else I want to point out is how Phae is never still, every panel she is moving, posing with dumb bravado sometimes downplaying it a bit, it keeps her expressive and alive even when the obvious main show is Cheth's flamboyance and shapeshifting circus play, and that in itself is also a very fun thing, in a revolving door of actors, the play doesn't loose itself, Cheth's emotions are readable, a character is expressed constantly and flows nicely into a variety of states, and for both of them, keeping this bravado will pay off later in the chapter VERY well

Great visual, the veins themselves working as the smoke, showing he is loosing patience, he is fuming while being underwater

Another bonus point: Extremely rare instance where I find M!Cheth looking hot in a sense of coolness instead of the usual lovely dork clown (he is hot in both ways but this is a different taste)

Plus

The facless crowd of red eyes not playing, smiling or fooling around anymore, they are finally dead set on her, she created a play for them and he provides the pressure of an audience, more than the panel before, with her literally being portrayed in front of the t-rex's mouth, this feels like the maw of the beast surrounding her, sizing her and ready to devour her, ready to have her be part of the facless crowd of observers, very spooky

And this feeling of the maw of the beast pays off, 'cause shit gets real very fast, Cheth doesn't take it lightly and goes for the throat with a question that not only he thinks she would never know, but that hurts so so much, (and also shows what is in his mind when dealing with royalty, not the attacks towards him directly, not the damage to him, but the countless children who have been deprived of a family due to all this). This works as a tone shift, the first, altho minor, payoff from the swagger set up early in the chapter, and this question hits you in the face hard and fast

Cheth's frame while asking this is almost as big as the burden of that knowledge, a question so heavy the panel under it is quite literally being smothered, Phae's face accomapanying the reader who didn't expect the shift

And this leads to another piece of characterization that will come back later, Cheth cares for children, this isn't just a question done to hurt her but it's something he cares for, and why do I say this? well it's something I read not only in what will be said later on in other chapters, but in Cheth's reaction when Phae actually can provide an answer

He is confused, but also looks genuinely worried about her, he is dumbfounded AND concerned for the woman who showed to care about something he thought she would have only superficial empathy towards, for the girl who just admitted to being herself a lost child in grief (little headcanon, the cat showing up is there to be ready to help in case it got too far)

Something else I want to make note of that I find very compelling:

The background, Phae answers and the background goes BLANK, until now it consistantly framed her in either blue or red, either in Cheth's play or taking a step back from it, but now, this is something that wasn't part of his tease, this wasn't something he thought would happen, Phae's care and grief quite literally breaks Cheth's overwhelming, presence here, it feels as if not only is he shocked, but he is giving her a brief moment to breath, letting her have some space for just a moment, I love it

And this also leads to a moment I find very interesting, and I would like to give my reading to

The way I read it as of the time of writing this, is that Cheth has a deep fondness towards humanity, the anathema comic shows a devotion to his love for the people he fares in the afterlife, for the children of man who have all but forsaken him, and here he is ANGRY, but why would he be angry that the king actually cared for said people? I can think of one reason: at this point he has been waiting for a sign for 5000 years, made to sit back and watch for ages the humanity he loves sending their man foolishly to die in a war against him in which he isn't even participating, and I think he might have internalized how the people he loves have accepted a doctrine against him so deeply that they deem the sacrifice of their lives and the suffering of their children as worth less than fighting him. But what does he learn now? that the king, the guide of this war, feels guilt over this, that the mean leading all those people to die had to find a way to cope with how terrible that weight is, that they haven't forgotten how precious the lives of his people are, AND YET HE KEEPS SENDING THEM TO DIE, EXACTLY LIKE THEY DID FOR THE PAST 5000 YEARS. This is beyond foolish, this is pure denial of knowing that what you are doing is terrible, and thinking you can offset it by being kind instead of working on the problem at the root of it, I too would be angry if the man leading those fathers and mothers to abandon their children tried to save his conscience by doing charity instead of preventing those deaths to begin with.

God this came out rant-y, and probably not perfectly worded

Moving on

Remember when I spoke about how the constant expressiveness and bravado of the characters is a great setup, well here we get to the first very big payoff in my opinion

Once again, Cheth's overwhelming red get's completely broken, stark white coral framing the object of something that deeply hits him and breaks his flow, he stops to a screeching halt for the first time, speechless and astounded. without all that overwhelming presence before, all that bravado, this loss of control would hit so much less and it doesn't stop here, no this is the first punch of a two hit combo, the proverbial quiet before the storm

And this also leads to another reversal in their constant duel present in this chapter, up to now all of this has been a back an forth, a dance where Phae responds in kind to Cheth's provocations, and here, she doesn't reflect an attack, but just like Cheth seeing her at a low before had him react with a look of pity, she responds here with the same concerned expression

Sadly, Cheth isn't in a place where vulnerabilty is something that can be helped with pity or comfort, not now

Now all he is, is a raging storm of emotions

And how does he get back control of the scene? he lashes out, he once again becomes overwhelming, the entire scene becomes a vortex of red and anguished faces, Phae's bright yellow gets tinted in a red glow, something deep within him has been touched

And MY GOD is the subsequent page a mic drop, the red slowly drifts to the bottom, her emotions are settling down, there is a moment of reflection and quiet, of many things she probably couldn't hope to think about for such a long time finally piecing together, and with those elements coming into place, here comes a new face that we will come to know along the way, not only is this a new face in the chapter, this is an expression of Cheth's state of mind in my opinion, as we will later learn that the sign he was waiting for, all he is doing and setting up, it was all in the name of a promise made to this face. at least, this is my read atm, we'll have to see how the story unfolds to see how well it fits

Have you ever seen a lady so beautiful you forgot you are dealing with Satan and decided to flirt? Phae sure has

And here we arrive at the reason I said Phae's tired reaction to the death of children was the "minor" payoff to the bravado shown

Cause damn here we get to the main show of her fall

But also, shock factor aside, I want to point out how this is the first truly mean spirited move Cheth has made thus far, the question of children came from a place of care, this is purely mean, nothing can come from being this petty and evil in action, it's almost parody of the demonic figure he gets painted as, almost...

Yeah you all probably know what I'm getting at, this is the first action she takes after learning of the bonefish, of the sign, and we later learn that she actively decided to play up the evil aspect Phae knows her as, painting herself as a disgusting villain because that was the role she thought would work, after all, would kindness and explaining have worked? she is basically programmed to hate them...

And with this Cheth has completely put the curtain back on, the second act of the play has started and they are both the director and the actors, the scene once more tinges itself in overwhelming red as they start their show

After this point the chapter is quite straightforward to me, tho it doesn't shy away from some very neat shots that end up being some of my favourites of the entire chapter

Like this one, it creates a very good feel of having Phae on the backfoot, the textbox itself works in presenting her driven in a corner, against a wall, even amidst a boundless ocean she has no escape, and Cheth taking center stage to the panel also works in establishing them once more in control

Meanwhile, I honestly can't even explain why I like this laugh so much, it's just so visceral, so played to an extreme, the sea itself is laughing, Cheth looks like he could fall over on their back from how the laugh is bending them, you the reader aren't safe from the thunderous laughter as the panel itself breaks down, becoming seafoam, you are seeing them explode over the question of Shoshanna's return and once again, Cheth is playing up a villain, we see later down the line how the argument of Shoshanna breaks them and tears them down, and here I think they are masking it, they play up their bravado to an higher degree than ever before, a villain so incredibly sure of themselves that they can stop and laugh so much they aren't even seeing you anymore, they are completely exposed, not a single shade has their eyes open to keep watch on you

What grief could ever deserve such a boisterous mask?

AND HE KEEPS GOING, HE KEEPS UPPING THE FACADE

He both becomes and rides a wave about to wash Phae away, he both is master of a distaster and the disaster itself, all this part feels like is him deciding to play the villain and putting on his best theatrics to deliver it, they become mean, deameaning, ruthless, the teases don't feel as fun anymore, Phae isn't in a place to make it a back and forth anymore

The chapter starts as an ebb and flow between our main characters, but by the end there is no more pushback, Cheth has become a flood and Phae has lost the ground she was so confidently standing on before

And she manages to get a hold for a last desperate second, she has been pushed so far back in a corner that she lashes out violently, but in the end, even this is futile, in the end...

The tidal wave has crushed her, and she can do nothing but break.

[thankskenpenders]

And now for something new

So, here's something I was never planning on doing, but I just couldn't shake the idea... Thanks Ken Penders is gaining a sister blog featuring an entirely different comic franchise!

Introducing... Thanks Steve Ditko, a blog where I read the Earth-616 Spider-Man comics, starting all the way back in the '60s! It's gonna be much more casual and less thorough than how I run things here on TKP, though, which I'll explain in a sec.

If seeing me post weird bits from old Spider-Man comics sounds fun and you need no further info, then just head right on over to Thanks Steve Ditko. But for longtime TKP readers, I know you probably have questions...

Number one: Why?

Spider-Man's always been my favorite superhero, and with the Spider-Verse movies kicking ass and my excitement building for the new Insomniac game, I've been in a Spidey mood. Inevitably, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should actually read the comics that everything else is built off of and see the wildly varying contributions of all the original creators, rather than filtering them through big budget adaptations. If I can power through One Piece and all these other manga with hundreds of chapters, it can't be that hard... right?

And, well, after a few issues I quickly realized that my options were to either clog up my other accounts with random Spider-Man panels for years, or to just make a side blog. And so the side blog was born.

Two: Will this blog replace Thanks Ken Penders?

NO!!!!!!!!!

Okay but prove it

To allow the two to exist side-by-side, Thanks Steve Ditko will have a different format than what Thanks Ken Penders developed. Rather than an in-depth guided tour that critically analyzes every story beat of every issue, TSD will just be a place for amusing panels and brief thoughts as I casually read the comics at my own pace.

If you've seen me make a few tweets about reading Spider-Man recently, I'm basically just moving that to a dedicated Tumblr. It's a place for me to dump these things so that it doesn't fill up my media tab on Twitter for the next decade. (You know, assuming Twitter is still around in a decade.) There will be many issues where I only post two panels that I thought were funny. There will be issues where I don't have anything to say at all. Maybe I'll reach a run that I just cannot get into, and I start skipping around more. Who knows!

This may sound similar to what I thought this blog would be before it blew up. Aside from the simple fact that there's already mountains of Spider-Man commentary out there and therefore less of a void for me to fill, one of the main steps I'll be taking to avoid repeating the past is not enabling an ask box on TSD. I do not need people to ask me to go into ten times more detail on everything. I do not need to write seven essay-length responses to questions about Spider-Man minutiae every day. I do not need a place for people to chide me for not covering certain scenes, issues, or ancillary series.

It also won't have any kind of update schedule. I'm trying to keep it very casual. I'm reading these comics at my own pace, and if I feel like sharing a moment or commenting on something while doing so? It goes there. That's it.

(On the subject of format changes, I'm also listing the issue, writer, and penciller in the body of every post. This is a thing I wish I'd done on TKP so that people didn't misattribute every weird Archie Sonic panel I post to Penders.)

Three: So when will TKP come back from hiatus? You said it'd come back after you finished SLARPG!

I don't know! Sorry. I have a couple things on the backburner right now for TKP, but I'm not sure when I'll get back to proper updates where I read more comics.

I wanted to bring TKP back this year, and that's still possible. The main hurdle is that I want to reread my own archive (again) as a refresher, which is, uh. A lot of posts. I've developed a high standard for myself on here, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job right if I forgot half the ongoing subplots and character arcs and didn't bring them up in my analysis. Especially when I'm discussing the work of an author as obsessed with continuity as Ian Flynn. Unfortunately, the nature of this blog means that every time I go on another long hiatus for Life Reasons I have even more comic continuity to catch up on than last time.

(This is a big part of why I'm making Thanks Steve Ditko an extremely casual blog instead of promising to become a Lore Expert on 60+ years of Marvel.)

Mostly I've just been very burnt out this year after having finally finished a video game that took almost eight years to make. I haven't really had the energy for any creative projects, including TKP. But I feel a little bit of a spark here with Spider-Man, so I'm chasing that feeling to try to get back into the swing of blogging about comics - no pun intended.

So, basically, bear with me on this as I start this low-energy side project. But hopefully folks will enjoy Thanks Steve Ditko as its own thing, too.

Look forward to goofy shit like this

[clairedaring]

random msi ep 7 thoughts - joe's guilt and obligations to the old owner of his new body/life

so i did my reread of the chapters last weekend in preparation for this week's episode and one part stood out to me that i missed in last few rereads was this precious bit where joe expresses his guilt about about using his new body for sex

“Mom, it’s true. I also think that I came across such a good thing. He said that I can repay him slowly, but he’ll lend me the money first for our pressing needs. This money is really nothing to him. The money we owed, we can repay a part of it first. I’ll work hard. It’ll definitely get better in the future. So Mom, you must not have any burden. You must comply with the treatments. It’s only if you live that we can have hope, okay?” [Ing]’s voice trembled, “There is really such good people? How can there be such good people?” [Joe] smiled and confirmed the matter over and over again; only for [Ing] to feel as ease. If she knew that he agreed to such a deal… he wouldn’t dare to think about the consequences. If it was his former body, he may not feel as terrible. He is not a woman, not to mention that he had slept with [Ming] before. However, this body was not his. Although they have converged for so long, [Joe] still could not fully accept this body. Using [Ing]’s son’s body to do this made his heart filled with a sense of guilt. Moreover, when he thought of [Ming] using this body as a (substitute)……he could not describe his feelings. Embarrassed, awkward, and resentful. [Joe]’s heart is full of negative emotions. - Chapter 60, Professional Body Double by Shui Qian Cheng

And obviously since these are more of Joe's inner thoughts, I thought we weren't gonna get them. But then MSI team really took me by surprise by incorporating that bit seamlessly into this scene.

gif courtesy of @pharawee

it's a tiny detail. but one i appreciate very much to the team for having joe (the soul) remains considerate to the old owner of his body, someone he owes his new life to.

and it's actually not the only bit in the novel where he is constantly reminded by the old owner of his new body. like for example, when he first learned of ing's illness, he also considered donating one of his kidneys.

[Joe] made an arrangement with the doctor to have his kidney tested for compatibility the next time he come. This he did secretly behind [Ing]’s back. Even if his kidney is a match, the first issue is that he has no money for the surgery and second is that he’s afraid [Ing] would rather die than to agree to accept his kidney. But no matter what, he has to give it a try. At least there’s more hope to save her. Although [Joe] felt a little fearful on the possibility of having a kidney removed, he had no reason to back down. This body was not his to start with, but belonged to this youngster named [Joe]. He was just a dying person fortunate enough to have his soul hosted in this body to continue on living his life. This youngster is [Ing]’s son. On this body that hosted his soul, every strand of hair, skin and even this life came from [Ing]. He is the closest relative to [Ing]. He cannot evade nor can he be selfish. - Chapter 57, Professional Body Double by Shui Qian Cheng

and i also really like that even in as early as the beginning of the novel, since joe's woken up from his coma he's already committed to being ing's son because he's indebted to the old owner of his new body for giving him a 'renewed treasured life'.

[Joe] glanced at her. Although this woman is not his mother, he thinks that he has the responsibility to take care of her for the rest of her life because he took over her son’s body, making her lose her son forever. He, on the other hand, got a renewed treasured life. He can’t just accept that. He should also take up the responsibility that this life should have taken and complete his obligations. - Chapter 3, Professional Body Double by Shui Qian Cheng

anyhow this was not really a thoughts post, more like an excuse to gush about how much i love this novel and how well the series has been able to capture nuances that i thought would be left out due to tv constraints.

[jounosparticles]

jouno’s eyelashes - a quick analysis

yes im analyzing jouno’s eyelashes. im obsessed with him what can i say.

one thing i’ve noticed throughout my many rereads of jouno’s segments of the manga is that he is actually given eyelashes in a lot of the panels he is present in! often times they’re just thin white lines but they’re definitely there. here are some examples.

now, if we recall back to what harukawa said about eyes a long time ago:

the darker ones eyes are, the more tainted or corrupted a person is. someone who is doing good and/or feeling good may have whiter eyes. to rephrase, one who’s eyes are dark are typically doing something corrupt and/or are in an emotionally bad state. we see this numerous times throughout the manga with many characters, the shade of their eyes changes with their emotion at the time usually.

now what does this have to do with jouno? well, i believe his eyelashes are used to display his intentions since he keeps his eyes closed constantly.

now, there are definitely some exceptions to this. panels where his eyelashes are small could be hard to colour this way, so im looking past a few instances for that purpose.

anyways, i believe looking at his eyelashes in this perspective also hints towards his betrayal of fukuchi, since you can see he has good intent. more on this later.

i'd also like to preface this by reminding you that jouno believed he was in the right with most things he did. he was sure the agency was in the wrong for a long time, times where his lashes were white while dealing with the agency was likely because he believed himself to be doing what is good.

now, starting with his debut in chapter 57, his eyelids are almost completely black as he arrests dazai

his eyelashes appear a bit darker as he torments people i find.

such as shortly after he slices kunikida's notebook and asks tetchou to kill yosano.

one scene i actually want to put a lot of emphasis on here is chapter 78's interaction between jouno and kunikida.

here is his face when he first walks in, he's simply making small talk over how a terrorist attack is awful

we can see his lashes pretty well.

we can also see it well when he's talking about his asian pear. maybe he just really likes them.

however, as the conversation progresses onto tormenting kunikida, his eyelids casually grow darker.

they're not completely black yet, but you can tell he is enjoying bothering kunikida despite his claim of innocence.

after this, you can see his lashes are a little brighter as he announces that yosano is going to be executed.

this makes sense remembering that he is under the belief that yosano is guilty of terrorism and is getting the punishment he believes she deserves.

after this, jouno walks away as kunikida cries out in anger.

his eyelashes are almost completely black here, likely because he is getting nothing but personal enjoyment out of kunikida's grief. he isn't doing good by this and this could definitely be seen as corrupt behaviour.

a huge contrast to what i've been saying falls in chapters 71 and 72, the cafe scenes.

you can see the white of his eyelashes in nearly every panel he's in.

what makes this different than when he was bothering kunikida is that bothering the cafe owner was moving his case forward. he believed he was pursuing justice and doing what is right by extracting important information here; as opposed to doing nothing but mentally torturing someone who isn't improving his case. from his perspective, his actions weren't tainted in anyway except possibly approach, but since he was doing what was right his eyelids were painted white.

another example of this is in chapters 60 and 61, when he is fighting the agency for the first time.

and when the agency escapes and he's surprised to find out the pursued terrorist group would have allies in chapter 62.

i found that these three chapters had a lot of small panels where you couldn't really see the detail of his eyes, but generally they were white as he caught the criminals. they were also white as they escaped, since he was likely confused that people were easily supporting the group he perceived as evil.

my last example of this is his eyes being very white as he tortures the bank robbers in the flashback scenes in chapter 92.5.

he believes that he is seeking justice here. the robber gets what they deserve, and his intentions are what he believes in just which explains his eyes being white.

anyways, to summarize this all: jouno's eyelashes colour often displays his morality. his lashes seem to be coloured more white when he is doing what is morally right from his perspective. even if what he is doing is considered brutal by most, his eyes glow white if it is in pursing of justice or good. in contrast, if what he is doing has no overall benefit and he is just distressing someone for purely his own enjoyment, his eyelids often are coloured much darker.

however, as i said above i believe this subtly hinted at jouno's betrayal of fukuchi.

in chapter 92, we can still see by his eyelashes that he has the right intentions when hunting for the agency.

and towards the end of the chapter we see his eyes still have a small white streak, implying his bluff on actually being willing to switch to the other side. at the same time, the thinness of the lash could be so small because he is lying to his superior as well, which i suppose could also be seen as tainted behaviour.

however, after fukuchi's plan is unraveled we see the brightness shine again.

as i stated above, when he isn't doing what he believes is right or is tormenting people for no reason but his own enjoyment, his eyes look black. but if you look at the image below you can see his eyes are partially coloured white, hinting that he was going to do what was right. it is subtle colouring, i assume that is partially due to the fact that his face was rather small on the page. but regardless it is still noticeable.

and what do we know? he did switch up and betray fukuchi shortly after saying this.

with that in mind, there's one scene i deliberately avoided bringing up until now; the scene i believe heavily tries to avoid hinting at jouno's betrayal of fukuchi. im referring to the scene where jouno confronts aya.

as i said, if jouno is acting corrupt towards someone for his own fun, his eyelids are dark, but if he's doing something that he believes is just his lashes remain partially white. i believe that out of context his eyes would likely be black as he torments aya, however since he secretly had good intention they would have actually been white.

however, the readers had yet to know the context of his approach until the end of chapter 93, so they needed to hide the fact that he may have had good intent here.

so harukawa kept his eyes covered (or coloured his face differently) throughout the scene.

the most we see of his face in this whole scene is his side profile, which is small enough to not need to colour his eyelashes in.

i believe this was an intentional choice to keep the readers from guessing that he was doing something he believes is right here.

anyways, to sum up this segment i believe that jouno's eyelashes in chapter 92-92.5 subtly hinted at the fact that he was indeed siding with aya and was preparing to betray fukuchi.

in conclusion, i believe jouno's eyelashes hint at his true intent a lot. they show that he is a good person hiding behind a facade. the shading of his eyelids is a lot more subtle than how most character's eyes look in the manga, which i believe helps add more to jouno's somewhat moral ambiguity. he is an incredibly well-written character and i can't wait to see more of him!

[gallafics]

𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚌'𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚜

Category — My Comfort Fics (No Major Spoilers)

“The Fight For You” by WishIHadWings

Complete. 45 chapters. 328k words. Explicit Mexico AU. Slow burn. Cheating. Smutty. Angsty. Fluffy. End game but detailed Mickey/OMC. Brief Ian/Trevor.

Beautiful dynamic. Their chemistry is INSANE in this fic. The build up is phenomenal. The reunion sex is chefs kiss perfection. Say what you want but one of my fav tropes is “Mickey/Ian in a relationship and cheating to be with Ian/Mickey.” Parts of this fic are so painful to read, the angst gets ANGSTY in this one. (Full review — coming soon!)

“You can’t hurry love” by @crazynadine (Ao3)

Complete. 43 chapters. 464k words. Explicit. Graphic depictions of violence. Rape/non-con. Angsty. Smutty. Happy ending. Drug abuse. Domestic Violence. Slow burn.

This fic is one I hold so close to my heart. I relate to a lot of things in this fic. With that being said, please read the trigger warning and take care of your mental health when reading as it deals with some pretty heavy themes. Ian and Mickey are both with others but when they give in and finally come back together is literally so beautiful. Definitely a must read! (Full review — coming soon!)

“Silent Pain in Emerald Eyes” by @takeyourpillsbitchh (Ao3)

WIP. 7 chapters. 54k words. Explicit. Graphic depictions of violence. Rape/non-con. Angsty. Suicidal thoughts. PTSD. Mute!Ian Gallagher. Therapist!Mickey. Taboo relationship — therapist/patient. Happy ending. Romantic tension. Sexual tension. Mutual Pining.

This fic being incomplete doesn’t some me from rereading it over and over. This is another that I would say to definitely make sure you read the trigger warning and make sure you’re in a good mental space. It also deals with some pretty heavy themes. Mickey and Ian’s connection in this fic is unmatched for me, they just get each other so well in this one. They both have been through so many traumatizing things and Mickey uses his trauma to help Ian heal from his trauma in a healthy way. It’s quite beautiful. I literally wait with bated breath for the author to update! (Full Review — Coming soon)

“The Crimes Surrounding Ian Gallagher” by RumbleFish14

Rereleased WIP. 11 chapters. 85k words. Graphic depictions of violence. Major character death. Rape/non-con. Underage. Angsty. Smutty. Strangers to lovers. Ghosts. Detective!Mickey. Ghost!Ian. Love at first sight. Murder. Underage sex/relationship. Mystery with a twist.

This is one of the first fics I ever read when I joined the fandom, when I tell you I about peed my pants when I realized the author reuploaded this fic I’m not kidding. I actually squealed. It is a beautiful, intricate, detailed story and writes as a true mystery novel with hints of romance. I do know the ending as I have the original downloaded, and I’m confident to say it’s a happy ending, but I’m not sure if I should upload the download link? I will have to get in touch with the author somehow! Please, give this fic a chance if you feel your mental can handle it, it’s truly an amazing read. (Full review — coming soon)

[loquatenjoyer69]

Matoba and Burden and Desire

I originally watched/read Natsuyuu back in fall of 2022, and then a few months ago, literally out of nowhere, my brain was like “Hey, remember that loquat story Matoba told in that one arc? It felt like there was something there, let’s go reread that,” which I did, and have been in hexorcists hell about ever since.

(pictured: a sane person’s reaction to reading natsuyuu)

And really, that’s it. The loquat story feels like there’s something there, but I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. But after my close rereading of that arc, I think I’ve at least come to one coherent conclusion about it, even if it’s perhaps the most basic one: I think the loquats are an allegory for the greater themes of burden/desire in this arc. The following is my attempt to lay out my thoughts, but unfortunately I have never been known for my conciseness or my ability to organize my thoughts, so be forewarned. This will be rambly and include a few tangents/too much detail.

The story of the Miharu family is a story of a family that was once respected, had a relationship/contract with powerful ayakashi, and eventually fell into ruin, leaving behind their contracts. The ayakashi, the mihashira, still come to uphold their part of the agreement without fail, but the family is gone. So who comes in their place to maintain the contract? The Matobas, and in the present day, the current head of the Matoba clan is Matoba Seiji. In order to maintain this deal with a group of powerful youkai, which neither he nor his family actually made, Matoba has to come and perform the welcoming ritual to avoid incurring the wrath of the mihashira.

Matoba is a character marked by burden, I think. Though he is the head of the most powerful exorcist clan, and therefore one might expect that he can pretty much do what he wants, I don’t actually think he has much personal freedom. The only son of the main family, he was probably marked as the heir from birth (if not, he would have had to be once his sister left but I still need to read 120+ so I don’t know exactly what the deal with her is). The clan’s interests are his interests. He can’t do anything that might hurt the reputation of or endanger the clan, and he is obligated to do things that benefit the clan. Matoba is Matoba. 

In chapter 25, in his debut arc, he tells Natsume 「使えるものは使わないと。人を守る為に、強い妖が欲しいと思っているだけですよ。その為には恨まれたり代償を払うことを気にしていたら、この家業はやっていけませんしね」

"One should make use of useful things. I just want ayakashi in order to protect people. If I was worried about being hated or suffering consequences, I could not carry on the family business,"

(this is actually one of those annoying instances of a Japanese sentence that’s more dense than would sound good in English. Matoba seems to be explaining his personal worldview/thoughts here with 思っている even though in English you’d never say “I just feel like/think I want strong ayakashi…” He’s explaining that this is the way he thinks, I think lol).

Matoba doesn’t get the privilege of having a good reputation among humans or ayakashi, since we learn in special chapter 17 that no good ayakashi will make deals with the Matobas because of their famous broken promise. Matoba Seiji not only inherits the burden of monthly eye-stealing visits, he also can’t make contracts with ayakashi and  takes on all the distrust that’s built up over generations from both humans and ayakashi. 

And now Matoba is taking on the debts of a dead branch family to avoid possibly endangering his own.

In the locked room, when Matoba is goading Natori into breaking them out, he says 「どうです？あなたには解くことができますか名取。無理ならばすべて私が片付けてさしあげましょうか？」

"Well, can you do it, Natori? If you can’t, shall I take care of everything for you?"

I’m unsure how much of this is Matoba teasing Natori (as he seems to like doing in the Homura arc) about how he’s not as powerful/skilled as Matoba, and how much is him simply making an offer because he’s Matoba and he’s The One Who Takes Care Of Everything. I think either way, there is at least a good amount of the latter going on here. 

In special chapter 17, Matoba shows up at Natori’s house and helps him exorcise the ayakashi that’s been haunting him. After Natori wakes up, he tries to offer to help Matoba in some way. I think he felt uncomfortable being the only one being helped, and wanted to find something he could offer Matoba, even though Matoba seems to have everything he needs. Natori offers to listen to his problems, and Matoba smiles (of course) and says he’s fine. Even teenage Matoba is like “You’re not the one who helps me, I’m the one who helps you.” Though this chapter is from Natori’s perspective, so Natori believes Matoba was just using him to get an ayakashi, I’m not sure that’s true. I don’t know for sure what Matoba’s motives were, but I don’t believe teenage Natori is an unbiased observer of him lol. 

Now that we’ve laid all that out, let’s talk briefly about the Miharus, a once respected family who made a deal with ayakashi they didn’t understand, and fell into ruin. According to the ayakashi who wants to sabotage the ritual, there was a member of the Miharu family called Masakiyo. Masakiyo was stern for the most part, but there was someone he loved. However, he couldn’t be with that person because he couldn’t make them shoulder the burdens of his family business, but neither could he simply abandon his family. He had to stay with his family and let this person go. This was the only time this ayakashi saw Masakiyo cry. Then we get this panel:

(pictured: bench of I Hate My Life, credit to @joelletwo for that lol)

In his despair, Masakiyo wished there was no Miharu family. The ayakashi, feeling indebted to Masakiyo for letting it go during an exorcism, overhears him and decides that destroying the Miharu family will bring Masakiyo happiness. This is an unintended contract between the two of them. Masakiyo unwittingly causes an ayakashi to spend years (decades?) trying in vain to destroy his family in order to repay a perceived debt. This isn’t Masakiyo’s fault, really, it was just an unfortunate misunderstanding. The ayakashi didn’t understand that Masakiyo wanted it to be free and live the life he couldn’t. “You were almost exorcised because of human circumstances. You were saved on the whim of a human. What debt? You are free. Go wherever you want. Live however you want.”

After all the mihashira business is wrapped up, Matoba thanks Natori for his help, Natori says he probably couldn’t have gotten out of the room without Matoba, and Matoba laughs and says “Then we’re even this time.” Neither one is indebted to the other this time…they’re even. Then Natori says The Line:

「何かを継ぎ背負っていく…その真の重みは私などにははかり知れません。でも今はこう思うようにもなりました。重いものもひとりでなければと…」

"I don’t know the true weight of shouldering a burden you’ve inherited, but now I’ve come to think that even heavy things can be carried if you’re not alone,"

(this is another one of the aforementioned Dense Japanese Sentences, and I really prefer the fan TL version of this line but I’m translating it this way to try to convey all the stuff he’s saying). Natori once again reaches out to Matoba, trying to offer him maybe the only thing he can: support, listening to his problems, shouldering his burdens. This time, though, we don’t get a Matoba Smile and “I’m fine,” we get this:

(pictured: Matoba on the bench of I Hate My Life, or “Matoba Cow Beach” as I refer to this image in my head)

What is Matoba thinking here? I really don’t know. If I draw the obvious parallel with Masakiyo, I guess he’s contemplating his two…selves, as it were. His duty to his family vs his personal desire for companionship. And I do think Matoba wants companionship. I read his behavior in special chapter 15 as genuinely wanting to be friends with Natori. I think he was excited that there was someone else his age who was relatively powerful, and who wasn’t concerned with all the Matoba stuff. Hence his insistence on Natori calling him Seiji. He wanted to be close to Natori.

And finally, we can come back to the loquats. Natsume hears Matoba mocking the mihashira for continuing to protect the Miharu house even after the family has all died out, and thinks perhaps Matoba is envious of ayakashi who go to such great lengths to keep promises.

"Matoba-san, who keeps breaking promises, and doesn’t have anyone to make new ones with."

Matoba wonders how the welcoming ritual will go next time, but decides he won’t worry since he probably won’t even be the head of the clan at that time. Natsume offers him a loquat, saying cheer up, and Matoba does his Thing, saying  “How odd, do I look upset?” and then tells The Story.

When Matoba was a teenager, he really wanted to try the loquats from Yorishima’s yard. One day, he was there with Natori, and Yorishima gave them both one. The loquat was delicious and sweet; Matoba felt that his “desire had been fulfilled,” but Natori got a sour one, and Matoba felt like Yorishima-san had wanted to give a loquat to Natori, and only given one to Matoba because he was there, so he thought “Ah there’s no winning even in such a small thing as this.” Matoba gets what he wants, but it wasn’t meant for him, and the one it was meant for is worse off, so did he really win? He was the only one who got to enjoy the delicious loquat. These are the unintended consequences, the burdens if you will, of desire. 

Natsume speculates that the agreement with the mihashira began when someone had the wish to protect the Miharu family, and there was an ayakashi who happened to be there, much like the situation with Masakiyo and the sabotaging ayakashi. A simple and innocent wish accidentally creates a generations-long burden that Matoba eventually has to shoulder. 

I think Matoba must be painfully aware of his power and influence, and that even his smallest actions could cause unintended consequences. I wonder if he sees the Miharu family as a warning of what could happen to his own family if he slips up… And it wasn’t just a mistake on the part of the Miharus, but a failure of the Matoba clan head of that time, whose responsibility it was to look out for the branch families. Matoba Seiji is not just responsible for the success of his own family, but protecting the branch families, and of course non-exorcists as well. I imagine he feels like he doesn’t have the time or room to act on any of his own personal desires, and his little loquat anecdote is evidence of that, to me. It’s bittersweet (lol). And Natori’s takeaway, meanwhile, is more casual as you might expect. When Natsume asks him if he likes loquats, he says he’s not sure because his first one wasn’t very good. To Natori, a loquat is something he might try again and like. To Matoba, it’s a reminder of what he can and can’t have.

[lostonmyroad]

Moments That I Want Tattooed On My Forehead From S-Classes That I Raised Chapters 70-90

As always, BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!! Future chapters may be referenced!!!

Omg i forgot how much I loved these arcs. Taejinjae squad is forming (i mean they're 5 seconds away from murdering each other but still)

Chapters 70-80

yerim roasting yoojin’s grandpa-like naming tendencies as she should. naming the unicorns black and white???

yoojin wanting to go to an escape room cafe with yerim and yoohyun :))) AND THEN THEY ACTUALLY DO GO LMFAO (with some property damage involved i'm sure)

yoohyun casually checking whether he needs to get rid of (murder) myeongwoo once he finds out that yoojin didn't actually know him

yoohyun and hyuna tag teaming to defend yoojin in front of the Association!!! Squad goals!!!

yoojin worrying about myeongwoo :)) myeongwoo not caring that yoojin lied to him ;)) wholesome as hell...if you can't tell this is one of my favorite relationships in the series

yoojin’s monster protection squad!!

really small detail that hyj thought shj would give myeongwoo a bouquet also. no sir that privilege (curse?) is for you only. 

lmao yoohyun knowing that the way to get to myeongwoo is to be nice to yoojin

myeongwoo praising yoojin on national tv, on a live broadcast the world is watching. as he should!!!

yoojin: please don’t look at me please don’t look at me

yoojin’s fear of the media and what ppl are saying about him :((

fully grown Peace!! love Peace and Yoohyun’s not-friendship

yoojin: let me go in an A rank dungeon PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

everyone else around him: i’m getting gray hairs

moon hyuna pulling up in her red sports car with the drip is incredible

shj, @ the han brothers: you guys are freaks :)))

yoojin: should i call shj ahjusshi?? (please don't)

shj calling them his kids ajfjejxkwksk

shj and hyj flirting has begun. please reread the chapters and enjoy

not yoojin babysitting 3 s ranks at the same time

"I mean, I'd just wanted to regress and live comfortably. Why was I now in an A-rank dungeon packed with S-ranks? If I'd agreed when Yoohun-ie had said to just live locked up for 3 years, um... would we have gotten an 'end of the world ending?" rip yoojin

they’re all so worried about him :)

“i only had to work myself to the bone for 10 years” if you say so buddy

yoojin being worried about the world possibly ending

hyuna trying to protect? yoojin from hyunjae (or just keep him to herself) either way thank you queen

YOOJIN SCOLDING THEM FOR FIGHTING mom energy off the charts

yoojin telling everyone i love you is comedy gold every. single. time. and also very wholesome

yoojin going full manipulate malewife threatening them (the s-ranks) with myeongwoo

chirpie and it’s wack L rank skill..the mystery

i love seeing yoojin directing dungeon raids. geunseo really knows how to write settings/action!! and yoojin’s perspective is so fun to follow

YERIM GIVING YOOJIN A PRINCESS CARRY YEAHHHH

keyword has been applied to hyuna my beloved

shj making yoojin almost faint and then giving him his coat. they're a mess

shj failed kidnapping attempt. we’ll get em next time. yoojin stop getting kidnapped challenge

yoojin causing chaos every time he enters a dungeon

yoojin fainting like a maiden 10/10

yoojin you’re literally in the hospital. chill out for like five seconds (he proceeds to destroy his hospital room via dokkaebi)

shj: i will buy your love :)) (turns out its kind of effective)

NOAH ENTRANCE NOAH ENTRANCE

chapters 80-90

i haven’t really mentioned the dokkaebi but they’re so cute

yoojin destroying his hospital room lmao. this is not reassuring anyone that he knows how to make good decisions 

SONG TAEWON MAKES HIS DEBUT!!! repressed government worker of my dreams

shj deliberately crashing into song taewon’s crusty ass car and then stealing his job as tour guide. freak 4 freak

yerim and shj: working together on making life more difficult for song taewon

Comet the dragon is so cute omgggg

Kang Soyoung having a million speeding tickets so true bestie

KANG SOYOUNG AND HYUNA GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM TOGETHER!!! AND GETTING THE FASTEST TIME BECAUSE THEY BROKE IT LMFAOOO

hyunjae freaking yoojin out by flirting with him. but like yoojin can’t help flirting back i love them

stw joking around with yoojin and yerim about randomly arresting people??? lmao??? comedy king??

yoojin worried yerim is becoming a delinquent (too late bestie this ship has sailed)

yoojin saying he's never commited any crimes and then internally going "...I'd committed murder, threatening, and assault. But I wouldn't get caught for those" we love a self aware king

song taewon casually revealing that he ends up investigating yoohyun every three months. i believe it. yoohyun a certified freak

song taewon: so your brother is a freak just thought I'd let you know

there are so many different people who independently tell yoojin that his brother is a freak. yoohyun be normal challenge

infamous song taewon choking yoojin out to see if he’s truly lost his sense of danger scene!!! honestly yoojin this was necessary

fear resistance and the fourth wall: being absolutely fucked

love that yoojin's solution to this is should i start watching horror movies at home??

yoojin: i cant apply the “i love you” keyword to stw because he’ll take it TOO seriously like yeah that's the real reason you can't do that

YERIM IN A SUIT YERIM IN A SUIT

NOAH NOAH NOAH

yoojin wishing he’d gotten hurt instead of yerim :((

small detail of the healer being Indian! as an indian person woo hoo

"...I stepped towards Noah. But the moment I took a single step...my shoulders were grabbed. Both of them, at that. Sung Hyunjae and Song Taewon looked down at me simultaneously. The duo's expressions were different, but somehow they felt familiar." my longest yeah boy ever

taejinjae squad starting to form!!

yoojin seeing a terrible older sibling: it’s on sight (rip Riette)

"You two seem to get along well. Should I alos strangle you once?" LMAOOO i don’t even know man shj is wild

starting to get reveals of the han brothers past… god their parents…

hyunjae being a shady shit behind the scenes

noah is just a baby boy. he’s a baby dragon. baby boy

yoojin going full mother hen on yoohyun after he comes out of his solo dungeon raid

yoohyun grudgingly accepting others because they’re also protecting yoojin

chapter 89 yoohyun is something that is so so special to me

not shj fueling the violence by sending yoohyun picture of a) the damaged hospital room b) evidence of stw choking yoojin out and c) evidence of noah hurting yoojin

KANCOEDI YOOHYUNS CLOSET FULL OF CELL PHONES BC HE KEEPS BREAKING THEM

yoojin not being afraid of yoohyun or peace with fear resistance off :))

chapter 90 fight between yoohyun and noah is. chefs kiss

yoohyun asking where yerim got hurt!!! i mean it’s partially so he has a reason to beat up Noah but!! he does care!!

I'd say this is where the plot really starts (80+ chapters in lmao), especially with the fight againt the SS-rank babbar.

[hermitw]

I caved and read ch. 271.... This is my jjk ending reaction post

SO WHO WAS THAT WITH TAKABA????

Yesterday I reread the last chapters, and the latest translation makes them sound less out of character. More based in reality. As well as other moments that can easily be explained within grounded reality (like Hiromi's arm not being fully healed - that makes sense. It was cut off with Sukuna's CT, and Higuruma JUST learned RCT in that moment. Even if he's on par with Gojo, who was up against Toji's cursed tool as the only curse... Sukuna's CE is so dense that Todo's technique couldn't even reach Choso - who is half curse, and within range - or Yuuji (which would make sense bc he and Sukuna are basically twins and Yuuji's been steeped in his CE). So maybe Hiromi could grow an arm back, but it isn't perfect, and it wasn't life-threatening. If Shoko had to prioritize her RCT, which is likely bc Rika was needed to heal Yuuta's body, then Hiromi's arm was on the back burner). And regarding the RikaBus - originally I imagined her insides, zipped open like her weapon storage we saw in the culling games, but to supply electricity to the TVs. Now, I think she might have eaten a part of Hajime Kashimo in order to do this. Idk man

But there are continuity errors and idiosyncraties. I still think the dream theory was valid - just like Yuuta/Gojo's domain's barrier was left floating around, I think Yuuji's shifted them into the curse rift between dreams and reality, but it wore off with time. His domain's focus on sightseeing and Sukuna's muscle memory of a barrierless domain (as well as Yuuji's in experience with domains, and barriers in general until his replacement training) make this more likely to project further.

This dreamlike effect could also be caused by the merger. A condition of it seems to be having absorbed Tengen - which Sukuna had to do, after Kenjaku. They were using Tengen to create / empower the merger, and this control was officially given to Megumi, as he was the vessel. Something interesting could have happened if Tengen had clung onto him as the most stable host, but their remains were found in Sukuna's. So... (depending on the language used, maybe some of Tengen is still in him and he has some power from it) it seems the merger is not going to be completed. But we don't know what the merger would really look like - even kenjaku with his thousand years of jujutsu knowledge and experience couldn't guess. So I think it's only fair to play into the dream stuff that he mentioned to Sasaki while working toward that.

So whether it was residue from Yuuji's domain (let's not forget that Kenjaku was actually pregnant with him, and he ate all those death painting wombs that had kenjaku's blood from another body, and blood connections are a thing especially when blood manipulation CT is involved), the merger, or a combination, the dream state is fading back to reality (but what does this mean for Takaba's partner??).

Actually - hear me out - during the time Tengen was out. Between the time when Sukuna left Megumi, and when Tengen's remains were placed at the barrier - were the dreamlike qualities limited to this era? I can read again and look for things but I'm not the most observant when it comes to those details. It might also take a short time to shift things back into place once Tengen is back to restore the barriers. So any input here is appreciated.

We did get enough closure on the merger (as much as I wish Sukuna got to fight it). while some people were already becoming cursed spirits, they're gathering in Tokyo. The katana and sumo otakus are there. And since cursed energy is directed at Tokyo to such an extent, it seems that our sorcerers get to have some fun, low-risk missions. Which is so sweet, I'm glad to see it.

And while we don't know whether the reincarnated sorcerers can be stripped from their vessels, it seems like they're going to try - I imagine this is in Gakuganji's hands, and not certain that it will work or even be attempted.

I'm interpreting the big eyes to mean that the sorcerers are still a bit like momotetsu characters, playing into jujutsu headquarters' game - but it's fleeting, it's going away. (for context, my momotaro folktale vs game analysis is here)

Ultimately I feel like. Insane and gaslighted that my theories which had a lot of foreshadowing (I thought anyway) haven't happened. (Gojo returning and the last panel shows him as sukuna's vessel) But they still could. Well, to some extent at least (rip sukuna idk if that one injured fingie could bring you back but you got your peace and I'm happy for you).

.... I still think that Geto and Gojo could come back. Geto might be back, idk. Maybe takaba just found someone who looked like him.... Maybe it was a temporary effect of the dream scatter.

I'm not desperate for them to, I'm not insisting that they would (I've always been in denial that Geto would stay dead lmao). But the TIMING of when we saw the sugar-creating CT, along w the fsct that GOJO was the one always eating sugar for his brain, had me convinced that he was going to return. I... Honestly suspect that he could be back, but taking a much-needed rest. Faking his death until he's ready to reveal himself. Not to mention the clock theories on Gojo and Sukuna returning.

But I don't need them to come back. I really did like the last chapter (though I rly thought takaba & Geto were behind the momotaro eyes smh).

Sukuna's afterlife scene - though we didn't see him visit the airport (I wish Gojo got to see true form sukuna, that's his wife). Sukuna had Uraume with him, and they were able to face Mahito in passing, and leave him behind. We see Sukuna engage in physical contact for the first time, outside of violence (the only consensual form he seemed to be granted in life).

The chapter still feels short like something is missing but, whatever. We got the first years' chaos, we got post-prison realm Gojo, also the curse victim's character design is so?? I love her.

So my unresolved questions are - who is with takaba?

And

Who is on the left behind sukuna?

Tldr: I've settled into the belief that Uraume transitioned during the Heian era, so that's who is behind Sukuna. (Gege confirmed they were amab, and part of their deal w kenjaku was to incarnate as a woman) I believe that Uraume discovered they'd still be nonbinary, in any body. Sukuna's trans but was out of touch with emotions and didn't rly explore it. I'll keep what I said earlier up, anyway.

But for how, I'm going with that being Uraume, showing their two paths. Afaik we only see Uraume with white hair during the Heian era - but on my 4th read, I'll be looking for this person.

It makes more sense to show one person's potential outcomes here than for it to be about Sukuna choosing one person or another. I can say with certainty that is not Yorozu (I doubt she ever wore clothing so properly).

The posture, hair etc. resembles Uraume more than anyone, I think. This is about their possible paths. The left one might be the role they took after Sukuna mummified, or maybe they could have grown taller if they didn't trade it for something in a pact, like seeing Sukuna again in the future.

Uraume might have had an older sibling. Choso's speech about little brothers benefiting from the older brother's path, either to follow the right path or to avoid the wrong one he takes, comes to mind. I always felt like that was out of place, the same way "Yuuta Okkotsu can't become the next Satoru Gojo" became relevant later.

Alternate take on this mystery panel in ch. 271 is that Sukuna could have transitioned. This post gave me the courage to actually post about it and ngl!! I think this is the answer.

Edit to add: this post points out the shinto connection to the left clothing.

The changes in art style, I realize now, were very intentional as well and I've been hoping they translate into the anime. It's all to evoke certain emotional, mental states in the reader, to match that of the story.

Damn I forgot to react to the colored page.... Tldr, it gave us closure on Ui Ui / Mei Mei, and Higuruma Hiromi could be my favorite surviving character. He's the next Geto and the next Gojo.

[ryeun]

Rereading is wonderful because why did I forget about this little detail. Apparently they have chewing gum in the TEK world! A quick google search tells me the first chewing gum was patented in the late 1860s, which is interesting. Since TEK takes place in a fictional world and not on Earth, it’s hard to compare technological advances and eras.

On the same note, the reason why I went back to the earlier chapters in the first place was because I remembered that Nagyunn bought a magazine of Najin:

Which is interesting because having Najin’s picture on the cover and such (as magazines are) implies the existence of technology able to capture a person’s likeness and print it out. Either that or it is hand drawn and then printed, which is viable (unlike the possibility of every copy being hand drawn, because that is simply not plausible and entirely impractical/not cost efficient).

The extent to which the technology in TEK has advanced is unclear; there are magical scrolls distributed among the knights that are used for communication, and they seem to work like a messaging app or social platform on a phone (not sure if they have other applications or uses because we’ve only seen knights scrolling through chat logs or receiving an announcement/message).

But the question is… how long have they been around? They clearly don’t have actual scientifically made cell phones, as is common in fantasy worlds with the existence of magic, but Wild Dog Fidorance seems inept at communicating through the scrolls (I don’t have the screenshot sorry) as if they’re something new. Of course, it might just be because they don’t seem to be in the use of the common people, which would mean that those who become knights would not be accustomed to them growing up, but… I don’t know. Sure, Qilin and other knights, as well as Nagyunn, get the hang of it quickly, but that doesn’t mean it’s been around for a long time. In Nagyunn’s case, he didn’t even know they existed until he met the magician.

So, we know there must be a device used for printing copies of something, there is a magical device that is used by knights to communicate, and that somehow magazines with pictures are printed in color. Is there some device, likely magical, used to take pictures? Is someone meeting with people like Najin and having them pose for hours to capture their likeness? Who knows.

If you were looking for a crazy theory with an answer, I sincerely apologize… but I only bring questions, not answers!! Maybe you can think about it and come up with something, with these details presented to you. (And if you do, please share!! I’d love to talk about the TEK world more! I’m slowly in the process of rereading TEK and taking note of details whenever I have time, which is not too often. Originally I started rereading from chapter 20 and onward—the latest chapter I was working on was 66—but I came back to the first chapters to refresher my knowledge.)

[ihatehugo]

hey!!! if you enjoy varian and the seven kingdoms please stop scrolling for just a moment!!!!

so i know there are multiple fanfiction creators who have written their own versions of vat7k and i love and have read each and every one of them

i decided i wanted to join in on the fun and so i’ve been working on my own version of vat7k for over a year now

i’ve split it into three books plus a prequel and a sequel. each book (minus the prequel & sequal) have 22 chapters each. the prequel & sequel will have around 1-10 chapters (it depends on how long the written portion is)

i wanted to make my series have a similar vibe to an actual tv show so the chapters will be posted as if they are episodes. for example, one chapter will be lore based and another will be similar to a filler episode.

sadly, i’m still working on it and it probably won’t be done anytime soon but i do have a decent portion of it created. i have an idea for what to put into each chapter and am working on the details of each chapter. i’ve also written a few snippets here and there and here’s one from the prequel, After Ever After:

Varian’s pacing. He knows he’s pacing but by the Sun, he’s angry. For years, he’s wanted to know more about his mother. For years, he’s begged to hear stories about her. For years, he’s lived off of the small scraps that his father gave to him, only to learn that he has been keeping a key component about his mother from him.

His mother’s journal sits before him on Xavier’s table, a deep forest green with a symbol engraved upon it. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say it's mocking him. Just when he made peace with the fact that nothing will ever change in Corona, this journal pops into existence as a big “fuck you!” to Varian’s mental wellbeing.

Xavier has been watching him patiently, having already picked his way through the journal. Varian stubbornly refuses to be the one to speak first but Xavier is just staring at him, his eyes following the path Varian is making into his floor.

Varian doesn’t speak for several more seconds before he demands: “So? What does it mean? What are the Seven Trials and why was my mom so obsessed with it?”

“Ah, yes, the Seven Trials,” Xavier enunciates. He rubs his chin as a faraway look passes over his face. “It is an old tale but one worth revisiting.”

“Oh, would you quit it?” Varian snaps. He stops pacing and stands across from Xavier, arms crossed and his foot tapping the ground repeatedly. “I really don’t want a long winded explanation right now.”

Xavier chuckles. “Very well. I will keep my story short. The Seven Trials were a test made long ago by Demanitus himself.”

Varian’s foot falls with a final thump. “Demanitus? My mom followed his studies too?”

“It would seem so.” Xavier gently picks up the journal and flicks through the pages. He stops about midway through the book and turns it for Varian to see. “And it also seems like she got very close to her goal.”

The entry on the page is annoyingly vague. The main phrases he gets from it are words he’s already read when he skimmed through it earlier. “The Eternal Library” particularly stands out to him. He could have sworn he heard it somewhere before.

When he rereads the paragraph, though, he puts together pieces that he had taken for granted before. Most of it doesn’t make any sense because she’s using key words only she obviously knows but Varian gets the gist of it. She completed all of the trials and found the location of the Eternal Library.

that’s all i have for that right now

if you have any questions, feel free to ask

and if you have suggestions, i’d be happy to hear them! i can’t promise any of them will make the cut but if they do, i’ll make sure to credit whoever’s idea it originally was

thank you for reading! if any of you are interested i might be able to post more snippets of it