#but like its just funny that some people share similar memories!

[seancamerons]

Big Wolf On Campus was such a great show! :D

Oh my Gosh, you watched it? People i know look at me like i have 5 heads when i bring up things i used to watch.

I think I used to watch a lot of the shows airing on that channel back in the day.

The kind of annoying show Angela Anaconda I believe was on that one, and like strange days at blake holesey high? which i think was canadian (rumored to have daniel clarks brother in it) and I saw a familiar face from one of those RFR or degrassi era crossover kinda kids on (or from lifetime movies), also a music driven talent kind of show with fergie's band wild orchid (? for clarity) which was pre-black eyed peas on most saturday mornings. i recall that show being ultra corny tbh, cringier than star search from the 90s, and lastly i remember some show about s club (a band at the time) where they'd sing and have random adventures in miami, florida for some reason and they're like European with thick euro accents but high energy singing and such, i loved them and was obsessed naturally, and still bop to them if they come on spotify.

At night like on my dinky vhs tapes, i would tune in or record movies like Casper meets Wendy (with a young Hilary Duff) or whatever they had on, during their October blocks of Halloweenish shows and films which they still do when they changed over to ABC family & now more recently Freeform.

Aw so nostalgic right now, such good times in the late 90's and early 2000's. Thanks for messaging me, I don't feel so alone in remembering that show.💌😊

[sunlight-allergy]

SUCCESSORSWAP — a death note AU || for mattmelloweek day 1 - parallels

———

the prompt for today got me thinking about a concept I came up with about a year ago… Death Note has its fair share of narrative parallels, but one I don’t see people talking about enough are the ones between the big 3 of the main cast (L, Light, & Misa) and the Wammy’s House kids from the successor arc.

think about it… Mello and Near are very clearly supposed to serve as each other’s narrative foils to replicate the rivalry between L and Light, exemplifying many of the main duo's character traits & flaws... whereas just like Misa with Light, Matt is Mello’s undying supporter who would risk his life for Mello’s sake... we see the vision right??

their narrative roles are very similar but their relationships are COMPLETELY different, and therein lies the appeal. but imagine a world in which their roles were to change places, swapping with the character who’s supposed to mirror them during the second arc… while maintaining those same relationships they have in canon. and you get:

this! an AU in which Mello is Japan's so-called "perfect top student" hiding his identity as Kira, Matt is a famous idol working as the second Kira alongside Mello, and Near (aka "N") is the genius child prodigy detective hunting them down.

it’s like death note but sillier! and in this universe I’d like to think that everyone else meant to parallel each other switches places as well. (Watari and Soichiro, the Task Force characters with the SPK, the Shinigami with each other, etc.)

but since we're focusing on just these 3 for the time being, here's a little relationship tree I threw together for them:

(sorry in advance if tumblr compression makes this unreadable)

Mello and Near hide a complex rivalry behind a facade of begrudging friendship as they work together to catch Kira (all the while Mello is covering his tracks), Matt and Near are bffs because I live for that shit, and Mello and Matt are partners in crime Bonnie & Clyde style, harboring secret feelings for each other that they mask behind a "fake" relationship.

they're fake-dating for the sake of the case (to cover up them working together as Kira) but wish they were actually dating, you guys know the trope. and I think it'd be REALLY funny if, during the Yotsuba arc in this universe, they forget about the "fake" part of their relationship in the midst of all the Death Note memory fuckery... and just start actually dating because they can't remember that it was supposed to be a facade in the first place LOL

Near is naturally very suspicious about all this (his two biggest suspects having such a close relationship is QUITE the coincidence, maybe not the best coverup after all...) and during the whole Yotsuba arc handcuff thing I think he'd probably rope Matt in too (or Matt would make Near include him because "you're not about to handcuff yourself to MY boyfriend without me!!") which would make for some silly shenanigans (and a very disgruntled Mello)

i have so many more thoughts & stuff written out for this AU so let me know what you think about the concept / if you wanna see some of my in-depth thoughts about their backstories/relationships/or even other characters & who they'd switch places with muahahaha

[fluideli123]

Okay so there's this Sonic Plurality meme going around

[IMAGE ID: Shadow and Sonic are standing side by side. Shadow says, "I have multiple personality disorder." and Sonic responds with, "Dayum!! Any of them freaky???" /END ID]

I'd seen it a few times across platforms but during one I stumbled upon an interesting response:

[IMAGE ID: I don't see anything to enjoy about this actually? Like I'm so confused. There have been no hints in the games and/or shows for Shadow to have DID (and losing memory is not the same at all, on the one hand it's trying to find out who you were, and on the other hand with DID it's literally different people living in the same body), so this is at best just something random that isn't funny, and at worst a poor attempt at a joke which both mocks people with such a serious condition and mischaracterizes Shadow. Then, the joke could reside in Sonic's answer, but considering the severity of DID, it would be pretty weird. And that's not even taking in account just how far from canon that answer is. I don't get it. I'm pretty sure there could have been many other explicit jokes to make that would have actually been funny, whereas this is just poorly thought-out. Plainly spoken, if Insta had a dislike button, you can pretty much guess what I'd use it for /END ID]

I will not be diving into the cesspool that could be created by creating a post in response to the claim that "this meme mocks DID people." So, instead I'm going to give my thoughts on the claim that thinking Shadow has characteristics of DID is mischaracterizing him might actually be an interpretation and not entirely a fact!

First of all, as stated by this person, Plurality is, in fact--in the most plainest and broadest of terms--multiple people living in one body! Shadow is partially alien since Dr. Robotnik used Black Doom's DNA to create Shadow The Hedgehog in a lab. Black Doom is part of an alien race in which one of their abilities is a collective hive mind!

A hive mind is, "a unified consciousness or intelligence formed by a number of alien individuals, the resulting consciousness typically exerting control over its constituent members." To simplify it means that a bunch of beings share one single consciousness, mind, and it can be shared between members in differing ways.

This is a characteristic of plurality! A lot of plural systems share a consciousness, thoughts, emotions, and ways of living. In some systems there are also "leaders" or types of headmates who are the main head of the collective. This would reflect Black Doom and his position of power within the hive mind and how it affects Shadow.

Outside of the similarities between the two there is also the biological aspect of plurality in play here. Shadow most likely has the genes for hive-mindedness, meaning he has the ability to share a mind with others, AKA a possibility for natural-born plurality. Which, differs from experience to experience!

Secondly, Shadow went through extreme trauma during his time on the ARK and on Earth. Disordered Plurality and Truamagenic Plurality share characteristics for their plurality being affected or formed by trauma within or outside the system. It is possible that he could have formed a type of plurality just from that experience alone, especially in combination of his natural alien genes. In a sense, he was never meant to be alone within his own mind.

Thirdly, he is a creature of chaos energy which is different and works in a hell of a lot of ways across media. So let's make a list real quick:

Chaos Emerald Energy

Manifest peoples' thoughts as power

Appliable to all living things

Can be channeled as a tangible energy

Feelings unleash energy and interact with the wielder differently

Can bend and affect reality (slowing time, warping, reshaping, travel through time and dimensions)

Temporarily enhance a user's innate talents

Channeled into Chaos Powers

Super transformations

2. Chaos energy (Archie)

Natural Liquid Chaos energy

Ability to track chaos energy

3. Chaos energy (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

Derived from Chaos Force

Shadow and Knuckles are the only two known to harness Raw Chaos Energy

There is a possibility to harness even greater amounts of it

4. Chaos energy (Sonic X)

Emerald Chaos energy is needed to create rings

In summary, Shadow being a being made of literal chaos energy in such amounts can mean he has the possibility of each and every one of these known Chaos Energy Abilities.

Plurality can involve the formation and creation of headmates or introjects, a kind of headmate formed from something or somewhere else than within the system. Having the possible ability to interact with reality, harness raw chaos energy that others cannot, and create things based on feelings mixed with alien genes and trauma would be a pretty incredible mix for plurality. Not only that but, as you can see, it heavily ties to his own history and biology to be plural in some form or another.

Plus, is it really far off if Shadow had headmates? Many people theorize that he may not be the original after he met android versions of himself or a clone (I can never remember). Plus, his differences between Sonic Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog, and other games (if we're to place them all within the same timeline) would explain why he acts, thinks, or shows different characteristics that some people believe "do not line up."

All in all, Plural Shadow truthers deserve to have fun and anyone who does or doesn't enjoy the meme that started this post is valid to have their own opinion. Just as it is to have different interpretations about Shadow and his form(s) of plurality!!!

[neon--nightmare]

I've been looking back at your rambles about Fresh again and I wanted to ask for if you have any thoughts about 2.0 and esp about the like, if the threat of potential replacement was real even if 2.0 didn't understand how it worked- because I don't think that realistically "we" the people watching would replace Fresh for having feelings, but I do sometimes wonder if maybe you could interpret future versions of Fresh as... Who knows, maybe 2.0 DID win. Maybe even he was replaced eventually too

OHHH ANON I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS I HAVE TO CHOP MY REPLY UP INTO TWO POSTS. YOUR BRAIN IS MASSIVE (ALSO AAHH IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME THAT PPL LIKE MY ANALYSIS!!! i love these goobers and their dynamic i need to share them with the world <3)

dude something so genuinely. interestin to me about the idea of 2.0 replacing fresh? nobody else in the multiverse would ever know. he acts the same, looks the same, talks the same, and since he was watchin 1.0 the whole time with the higher ups? he could easily fake having all of fresh’s memories without even breakin a sweat!

it’s never been specified if any other outcodes know about fresh’s whole thing, whether the higher-ups and general ‘creators’ are different in the context of the story or if it’s all just us, and since fresh keeps every single thing, every single ‘vulnerability’ and all facts abt his life that aren’t SICKNASTY COOL RADICAL SWAGGY!!! insanely close to his chest (except for one scenario we know of, pacifrisk + possibly some of those at loveball i don’t have the full logs </3) (p.s. 2.0 called pacifrisk 1.0’s sibling in a mocking way AND IT MAKES ME WAUH :( they were like siblings,,) nobody would just. ever know, unless 2.0 told them directly.

bc 2.0 is such a good actor, it’d take someone intimately familiar and close with 1.0 to spot any of the minuscule differences or cracks in his facade that couldn’t just be chalked up to.. fresh bein fresh, unpredictable and WACKY and weird and ever-changing (tho he’s actually way more predictable than he thinks, when emotions aren’t involved) and that thought makes me CRAZY.

1.0’s worst fears coming true and he takes it all to his grave to be replaced by one of only ones he could truly hate with his limited emotions, a copy of himself. and so the snake eats its own tail and the cycle continues, repeating on and on and on, fresh 3.0, fresh 4.0, the same song and dance of fixing the mistakes of the last before succumbing, messing up in one way or another. 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, the metaphorical blood of their predecessors marking every step they take, forced to follow the steps to the letter. be more brutal, more funny, corrupt worlds faster and faster, never, ever stop to rest, or you’ll end up like those before you, waiting for the next wearing your face and name. knowing the limits more than anyone, their gods demanding perfection, no more, no less.

until the last higher-ups get bored, or decide to move onto something, someone new. no peace, no ‘justice,’ no mercy. and so it goes, and so it goes.

anyways since fresh 1.0 has 1990s furbies fresh 2.0 should have a 2006 purple funky furby he takes everywhere especially since the funky furby has a semi similar level of ridiculous rarity that fresh 1.0’s signature kid cuisine furby has IN THIS ESSAY,

(fresh 2.0 2005 furby manifesto under the cut! I'M DOIN IT!! and then it got very sad for him because i got carried away AGAIN uh oh,)

look at this little guy this is 2.0 all over!!!

also the 2005 furbies being made to replace the 1990s furbies once their sales were waning and keep up on current trends (specifically furreal friends at the time!) only to be discontinued and scrapped only a year or two into production.. and most people nowadays remember and love the first though technically less 'advanced' version of the furbies. while 2005s tend to be overlooked by the public at large as just a cliffnote. the metaphors write themselves bro!!!

they're also generally a lot more fragile (mostly based on my little black and white fellow from personal experience) than the original older furbies! their beaks are covered with rubber that degrades and rips very easily over time vs the original yellow plastic beaks, and they can move and stomp their feet vs the nonmoving fabric paws but those also have a tendency to break off! my 2005 boy is missin one of his feet and his beak rubber is gone but i love him..... his name is gizmo (because i was obsessed with both furbies and Gremlins (1984) as a kid) but ANYWAYS,

THE IDEA OF 2.0 actually breakin way more quickly than fresh 1.0 is smth i literally didn't think about until right this second but oh my god that's so compelling to me. idea - he thought he was better, immune to making the same mistakes, tying his self-worth to being BETTER than his predecessor - but when he crashes hard, he absolutely panics. he knows what he has to do, he knows he has to fix himself as fast as possible, he knows his deadline is coming soon and he's going to meet the same fate as the version of himself he gleefully replaced.

but his anxiety and frantic tries to prove he's still useful only make the fact that he's falling apart all the more obvious!! while he tries to push himself harder and harder! while in the weird limbo of refusing to admit to himself how bad his emotions and emotional spiral is becoming, because acknowledging it would open the floodgates and he'd break down completely - plus, look at what happened to 1.0 when he admitted his weakness! but on the other hand, he's struggling for his life to keep going on as if everything is fine in the face of absolute overwhelming terror, sadness felt for the first time, misery, unable to concentrate as his mind is rebelling against him, slipping up and tripping over his words as he tries to put up the image of the perfect parasite he was made to be.

look, see, he's trying! he's fixing it, he's going to make it better! just give him a little more time, please, just a little longer! he can fix it, he can fix himself, he's different, he can fix all the problems he's caused, he just needs a little more time.

should he run? can he ever escape from his creators, those fickle things practically his gods? where in the multiverse can he go that he wouldn't find himself? who would take him in? 2.0 cries for the first time, that day, and it sinks in that there's truly no going back.

some nights, jolting awake, chest heaving, 2.0 swears he can hear the echos of 1.0 laughing at him. fresh was right, after all. 2.0 really wasn't any better than him.

[chalkodareal]

please lore dump ab ur tmbg au. i care.

LOLLLL funny to me u say... i got two other ppl asking for this exact thing soooo. well. um. non-losers look away now ig... my See The Constellation Au...

okay um. basic gist is that flansburgh is an astronomy student at some college in '92... doesnt really matter which. um. and late one night he ends up making brief contact with a constellation guy that, while he first connected him from sheer tired joking, he starts to like actually see (and hear the next night which is honestly freakier). the constellation is linnell obv though this is technically a little complicated

um. so he forms an insane connection with this constellation p much. initially theyre more curiousities to eachokther than actual FRIENDS but it very quickly becomes a friendship just. well honestly probably just bc flansburgh is bad at being professional....? its okay bro idbe freaking too

okay on the topic of flans seeing and hearing him its time to explain this umm. i dont wanna pull something lame and say "oh hes just imagining the constellation LOL" bc thats not whats happening but the constellation is vry much shaped by his psyche. ultimately the constellation is sort of just a sentient chunk of the stars but flansburghs mind has sort of given him an actual form??? if this makes sense??? to everyone ekse hes invisible p much but he and flans share an astral link of some sort. freakssss.... um. but p much hes very much real he just pulls from flansburghs concious to give more understandable form to himself.

flansburgh mental and social state very much ends up deteriorating over the course of the au sorta... its not that hes like. acting crazy he just stops waking up at normal times and talking to actual people less and less. he kind of yearns to be able to have real communication with the constellation outside of the sky and that. weighs on him. i wont bury the lead ill just say see the constellation is probably a song avout killing yourself.

again on their relationship it very quickly turns into something casual as opposed to any sort of REAL research. flansburgh had a lot of questions about what gives the constellation life and how he moves early on but apon being given the chance to bitch about going to colkege uhhh yeah. hes doing that. the constellation isnt completely clueless on human culture actually hes seen a lot of it but probably just doesnt understand certain finer aspects.

okay other thing to say. linnell is also just a real fucking guy in this au and i havent mentioned it until now bc it can get confusing. PRETTY MUCH. he abd flans were really good friends in highschool but insteah of ever going off and starting a band together they just drifted apart. the constellation looks and sounds a lot like linnell (to the most recent of his memory, likely a few mundanes tapes he was able to snag) but ultimately is not actually linked to him. even flansburgh doesnt really realize the similarity until he ends up finally seeing linnell again for a while on the train. he got a job working for one, and because its an overnight ride on obe of those old fashioned ones just because i think they look cool, they end up chatting a bit. feel the need to say flansburgh is a lot less shaken by this than he really should be... like even the constellation is asking about that guy that bears a strangely apt resemblance to him.

um. short of the au is this timeine ig

1. flansburgh resents his astronomy studies

2. flansburgh meets constellation for first time

3. flans develops constellation friendship

4. flansburgh begins ditching certain more um. applicable stidies just to reasearch and understand this guy

5. as they continue to grow closer and more isolated flansburgh takes a long train ride back home, meeting linnell briefly and promicing to really get back to him this time (the mail address sits unused atop a stack of frantic sketches and half finished papers)

6. this guy starts like actually seriously yearning for the constellation to be a real human guy

7. through an offhanded comment of the constellations, flansburgh is lead to believe after around 11 months of contact with the constellation that there is infact a way to be with him in the sky which no is NOT a good deal but hes a little desperate and honestly living off college student money

8. i lay my head on the railroad tracks

it sounds like tragic yaoi this way but i assure you not only is it not YAOI.its not that tragic okayyyyy

other tidbits i cant fit other places hrm.... flansburgh was like incredibly social before all this. like he wasnt already a little introverted he straight up threw college parties. the constellation has communication with other parts of the sky and is not well liked for only having one fucking guy that gaf about him... um. to the stars constellations are honestly a huge thing because the expression of human expirience and guidance onto them is like a massive gesture of love and its part of why the constellation likes flans so much. becahse of this he ceases to exist in a major way after flansburgh is gone. and last but not least. robin MIGHT b here. im still thinking about it...

( @spyjam24 since u asked too... )

[fanfictionstuff]

Amaimon x reader soulmate AU - part one

I don't know how to format this on tumblr. I just wanted to write a short Amaimon soulmate AU. Obviously, I got a little carried about because it'll be at least two, maybe three chapters.

“Big brother, what’s this?” Amaimon questions, holding up his left hand. Upon his arrival in Assiah, an odd red string has materialized on his little finger, and it doesn’t have a physical presence. Each time Amaimon attempts to touch it, his hand passes through. It hangs around sixteen centimeters from his finger before vanishing in thin air, leaving the demon confused.

Mephisto raises a brow. “I don’t see anything. What is it?”

“You don’t see the red string?”

The King of Time swiftly turns away from the younger demon, suppressing a smile. "A red string? I'm afraid I don't see it. Perhaps it's just an illness until your body adjusts to life in Assiah?" He lies through his teeth. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

The following day, Amaimon slams a book down on Mephisto's desk. "This book claims that a red string of fate connects soulmates. But mine is severed. Does this mean she's dead?" He asks, gazing at the frayed string in his hand. However, he doesn't seem too concerned about the possibility of her death. Mephisto shrugs nonchalantly, "I can't say for sure. I don't have a string myself, and it's becoming increasingly rare for people in the human world to have one. It's possible that your soulmate could have died hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

“Oh. Okay.”

And with that, Amaimon ignores the odd string on his finger. Instead, his attention turns to exploring Japan.

------

“Rin, you think the spirit of a little boy is evil?” You give Rin a look of disapproval as he attempts to keep Shiemi and you safe. “____, is right, Rin.” You nod. “I’m always right when it involves him.”

Rin stammers through his response, explaining that he wants to keep both of you safe and advising you to listen to him. "Hey! Are either of you even listening to me?" Rin's expression turns stern as he notices you and Shiemi engrossed in your phone. "He's been like this since we were kids; I've learned just to ignore him." You remark to Shiemi, not bothering to look up at Rin. Watching a video compilation of the ghost's appearances gives you some clues about its possible location in the amusement park. Shiemi timidly suggests, "Perhaps it would be easier if we split up? We can each take a different area to search for him." She looks between you and Rin nervously, hoping it’s a good idea the two of you will approve of. 

You nod. “Great idea, Shiemi. It’ll save us a lot of time; which area do you want to go to?”

You watch her as she makes her way to the funhouse. “Shiemi has never been to an amusement park before. Do you think she’ll be okay in the funhouse?” You grin at Rin. “Remember the first time you went in one? You busted your nose after running into the glass in the maze.”  The memory of five-year-old Rin with a bloody nose flashes through your mind; he was so angry. “I hope she doesn’t rush into a mirror or something while chasing him.”

“Do you think we should warn her?” A panicked look crosses Rin’s face. He remembers how much it hurt and doesn’t want Shiemi to have to go through something similar. “Nah, if she does, it’ll be a funny story for her to share.”

“But-“

“No buts- just go look by the rollercoaster. I’ll check out the game stalls.” You nudge him in the direction of the rollercoaster before turning to leave.

The first stall that catches your eye has a goldfish scooping game inside. You can't help but frown at the sight of the fish, some floating lifelessly at the top. How long have they been stuck in the park without being cared for? When was the last time someone fed them?Although you should be searching for the ghost, you feel compelled to clean up the little pool. Maybe it will attract the spirit's attention? Fortunately, there is a freshwater hose nearby. You can drain and refill the small pool holding the fish. You spot a large white bucket that could hold all of the fish while you clean up their pool. It couldn't make things any worse, right? Lost in thought about the neglected fish, you begin cleaning when your main focus should be finding the missing boy. There’s enough of you guys in the park. Taking a moment to care for the fish shouldn't be a big deal.

As the pool starts to fill, the lights suddenly flicker on, and the rollercoaster roars to life. Who turned on the electricity? Wait Rin, he’s at the rollercoaster, right? Your thoughts are confirmed when you see a burst of blue flames. What is Rin doing? It’s a tiny ghost child. There’s no way a ghost has caused this much trouble. So, what is Rin attacking?

What do I do? On the one hand, Rin is your best friend. On the other hand, you’ll be completely useless and might even get in the way. Yukio surely has noticed and is probably on his way there. It’s probably best for me to stay out of the way. 

You frown. “What happened?!” Rin is on his knees, looking distressed and battered. “Rin, we’re only supposed to find the ghost! What were you doing? Was there a fight? What happened?” You motion to his beaten body. “And your tail, why is it visible? You need to hide it.”

——-

“Big Brother.” Mephisto frowns at the young demon crawling through his window. “Amaimon, use the door.”

Amaimon ignores the comment. Instead, he lifts his left hand, his eyes following the new length of his string. “It’s longer.” His gaze follows it out the window, though it does seem to disappear at some point. Farther away, much farther. “Oh? Maybe your soulmate has just been born.” Mephisto rubs his chin in thought. He can’t truly say what it means. It’s rare enough for humans to have soulmates. He’s never come across a demon who has a red string. “In that case, you’ll have to wait at least eighteen years.” He shrugs nonchalantly. 

Amaimon squats down, biting on his right thumbnail while lifting his left little finger to his eyes. “I want to find her.”

“I don’t think that’s a wise decision.” He tells Amaimon with a tired glance. Just this morning, Amaimon didn’t care about the idea of his soulmate possibly being deceased. Is it because the red string is now most likely connecting them that Amaimon suddenly feels more attached to her? 

Mephisto’s words fall on deaf ears as Amaimon disappears just as quickly as he appeared.

As you listen to Rin’s story, you settle comfortably on his bed. “A demon king?” You raise a brow. “And your sword was taken by Yamada, who isn’t really a student; they’re that woman with red and yellow hair, whose real name is Shura?” 

“Yes.”

“Aw, I should’ve gone to see for myself. I stayed back because I didn’t want to get in the way, but now I’m really curious. Tell me, what did he look like? He’s a king, you said Demon King of Earth? Was he like some kind of massive stone demon?" You imagine a gross-looking demon that might fit. “What? No. He looked more human than that. I don’t know- I wasn’t exactly focused on his appearance. He definitely looked strange; he had green hair and was dressed really weirdly.” Rin leans back in his chair and gazes up at the ceiling. “Why do you care what he looks like anyway?”

You shrug. “Just curious. You said he’s a demon king. So, I couldn’t help but wonder what a demon king looks like. Anyway, from what you said, it’s amazing you’re still alive. Pretty sure the rest of us wouldn’t have survived that.” You quickly bite your tongue, not wanting to inflate his ego too much with compliments. If you do, he’ll probably be insufferably proud for the next week.

———- 

You let out a heavy sigh and run your hand down your face. Today has been exhausting. Wait. Suddenly, you sit up straight in the bed, noticing something different about your left hand. “IT’S LONG! RIN IT’S LONG!” Excitement rushes through you as you jump off the bed and shove your little finger in Rin’s face, forgetting for a moment that he can’t see it. “What is- wait, are you talking about your string?” You nod, excitedly. The string had been there your whole life, though cut off and only around fifteen centimeters long. Why has it been extended now? “Yes! It’s long, but I don’t know how long.” You nudge him gently to the side so you can see it leading out the window, “It’s really long. Oh my god, what do I do?”

Rin follows your gaze, even though he can’t see the string. “Does that mean you have a soulmate?” Your excitement starts to twist with nervousness. “I guess? But who could it be? And why did it show up now.” A curious look crosses Rin’s face. “Huh, maybe they were just born?” 

“No! Don’t say that. I’m eighteen.” You slap his shoulder. “Anyway, should I try to follow it? I kind of want to try to follow it.” You grin brightly. 

“Follow it?” 

“Yes? What else am I supposed to do? Just stare at the now extended string?”

“So, it just suddenly became longer, in this moment?” Rin questions.

“Actually, I don’t know.” 

“What? How do you not notice a long red string as soon as it appears?!” 

You shove Rin back. “I don’t know, I never pay attention to it, and it’s really thin so I didn’t notice it on the ground. It’s like a string of thread.” Even now you wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t really focused on it. “Would it be weird if I start to follow it now?” 

“The sun is about to set _____, demon activity will be higher.” Rin reminds. 

“You gonna go with me to protect me?” You joke. However, Rin misses the joke, and his ego inflates. “Yes.” He puffs out his chest. “I’ll even protect you from your soulmate if needed.” 

“Never mind, I’ll look by myself.” 

“____!”

As you step out into the dimming light of the evening, you follow the red string with growing anticipation. Rin stays close behind, a mix of protectiveness and curiosity evident in his demeanor. The string leads you through the streets, twisting and turning in unexpected directions that make you wonder where it might ultimately lead.

After what feels like hours of following the string, you find yourself standing in front of a streetlight. Your eyes widen as you glance up, then quickly snap back to Rin. “Hey Rin, could you grab something in that shop? I’m kind of hungry.” 

“You can’t go yourself?” 

“You know what I like here, get something for yourself too.” You shove some money in his hands when you’re sure he’s in the shop; you lift your hand, eyes slowly following the string on your finger to the finger of the figure sitting on top of the streetlight. Your soulmate. “Is it safe to assume you’re the demon that fought Rin today?” Even with Rin’s poor description. This demon above you fits what he said. With his choice in style, it’s hard to focus on one part: his long burgundy jacket, odd forest green arm warmers, and shorts with tights? His red striped shirt with a beige vest and tie matched his shirt. It’s a lot to take in. “Yes, I went to play with him, but he was no fun.” His tone is childish and blunt. “So, you’re my soulmate, right?” He questions, waving his hand in the air. The light reflects in his golden eyes, making them almost seem to glow. “You smell odd.” The demon jumps from the light, landing just centimeters from you, nearly nose to nose. Odd? You take a step back, embarrassment washing over you. This demon, your soulmate, thinks you smell odd. “I like it.” At his words, calmness washes away the embarrassment. “What’s your name?” As he speaks, he reaches for your left hand, observing the string that connects you. 

[smaller-comfort]

27. I wanna know some lore. I'm not particular on any fic, soooo I just wanna know, like, any lore you're willing to share about your Resh'an/Aephorul fics. Tell me more about your headcanons on these toxic old man gays.

*cracks knuckles* Okay. This is like...most of the plot/backstory to Outshine the Sun that I have outlined.

Aephorul has four older brothers, but he's the baby of the family

He's technically a prince, but his kingdom is small and poor and in the neighboring empire where Resh'an is from, he's basically looked down on as hick

He gets sent to the empire next door to ask beg for aid because of a famine, and to find someone rich to marry.

He is not thrilled about having to do either of these things. (It's really, really funny to me that your backstory comics are like the inversion of my stupid backstory nonsense.)

Its not that he hates the idea of getting married- he wants a family eventually- but he's cluelessly demisexual in almost every universe I write him. His parents have a very loving relationship, and he's got some romantic idealism around the idea of falling in love.

We got fantasy racism and imperialism to go with the fantasy homophobia. None of this is ever getting written.

Resh'an is an orphaned bastard who initially grows up in a Solstice Temple. He bases Mooncradle on some of his most idealized memories of childhood.

His actual father (the Master Archivist of the Imperial University; basically the chief court wizard) eventually finds him and takes him out of the temple when he's ten. This is a complicated mess that Resh'an is completely unaware of until he's much older, and he never really forgives his father for any of it.

(He decides that Solstice Warriors don't ever need to know their birth parents, because he wishes he'd never known his. Instead of going to therapy, he starts a cult. I guess he and Aephorul have that in common.)

Resh'an figures out he's gay as hell very early on, but that sort of thing is frowned upon in the empire. It's tolerated outside of the capital, but he's under a lot more scrutiny as an imperial scholar.

He has a lot of clandestine sex with strangers; the idea of meeting someone and falling in love with them and having a relationship doesn't even ping on his radar as a possibility. It simply doesn't occur to him; that's not something that happens to people like him.

He and Aephorul meet when Aephorul is being interrogated after an assassination attempt on the emperor. Resh'an is the alchemist handling the interrogation drugs. Awkward.

After that, Aephorul keeps dodging his seneschal's matchmaking attempts by hiding in the library. At first, he and Resh'an mostly just make snide remarks at each other, until Aephorul starts asking him where to find some advanced texts on natural philosophy.

They go on excursion outside the city to hunt for alchemy reagents together. ("Do the imperial coffers not provide you with materials?" "They do, but I would have to fill out a requisition form." "So you're waking up before sunrise on your day off, to go out into the desert and wrestle with venomous snakes...to avoid paperwork?" "The form is very long. And the bursar is very intimidating.")

Resh'an realizes that all of his one-night stands are starting to look very similar and has an "Oh shit oh fuck oh no" moment about it.

There's an awful, heartfelt and heartbreaking confession scene that happens while Resh'an is severely concussed and he remembers none of it when he finally recovers. (This is because I am fundamentally an evil person.)

Aephorul has to return to his home shortly after Resh'an wakes up with no memory of Aephorul's confession; he writes it in a letter and tells Resh'an to read it if his memory returns before Aephorul does.

They write each other letters for months and it's very cute, and some day I'm going to do an epistolary-style fanfic where I'll have to actually write more than three lines of Resh'an's terrible poetry, and I will soundly regret all of my life choices.

Aephorul kept all of Resh'an's letters until most of them disintegrated. The fragment he keeps on his shelf of important things is the only one he has left. Resh'an's letters from Aephorul were all lost in a fire, but he made copies of most of them from memory. He still has those copies in the Archives; Aephorul doesn't know about them.

They escape the empire at some point- there's a civil war and most of the city burns down. Resh'an actually uses his solstice magic to get the two of them to safety. Aephorul ends up with third degree burns all over his arms in the process, that scar pretty badly. Resh'an feels constant guilt about this.

The war is finally the catalyst that convinces Resh'an he has to leave. They travel for several years, doing mercenary work and freelance alchemy to get by. They go back several years later, when they've come into their own as alchemists and things settle down after the war, to attend Resh'an's father's funeral. He gets offered his father's job as court alchemist, and even though Aephorul tries to convince him not to, he accepts.

They're still fairly young when they take the Elixir of Life- maybe early thirties, possibly slightly younger. They do stay in the capital for several decades after achieving immortality.

Aephorul is relieved when they decide to travel again; they make their way into the Sea of Stars. The Ovates are already gone from their home world, but there are sky giants guarding the passage into the Sea of Stars and regular ships that go between worlds.

When Aephorul starts fucking around with forbidden magic, his first foray into necromancy/soul manipulation is to summon the soul of his dead twin sister and capture it in a vessel to use as a power source.

Plot stuff- the famine that devastates Aephorul's kingdom is caused by an alchemically engineered blight. Resh'an didn't help develop it, but he did work on the production line; he didn't know what it was going to be used for.

After his kingdom gets absorbed by the empire, two of Aephorul's brothers get executed for treason.

Resh'an's best friend and fellow alchemist is responsible for the assassination attempt at the beginning of the story. I have got to actually write/post stuff with my OCs in it eventually.

[drewharrisonwriter]

One Day at a Time - Ch. 4: Normal

Pairings: Dave York x Female Reader

Series Summary: A man washed ashore, with no memory, and no name, finds a home and a life in the middle of nowhere.

Author's Notes: This story has been sitting in my drafts for over a year, waiting for the perfect moment to see the light of day. It wasn't until recently that I found the inspiration to finally finish the last two chapters, thanks to the incredible Keri @absurdthirst. Her story, "Washed Up," struck a chord with me—it had such a similar plot and concept to what I had in mind, and it reignited my passion to bring this piece to life. Keri's writing has been a constant source of solace and inspiration, and I'm endlessly grateful for her creativity and the way she crafts stories that speak to the soul. If you haven’t checked out her work, you absolutely should!

Warnings: Please be aware that this story contains elements of violence, explicit sexual content, and pregnancy. Additionally, there are medical inaccuracies throughout—because I don’t work in the medical field, so please take it all with a grain of salt. Enjoy the ride, and thank you for reading! 😊

Read this on AO3 | Check out my Masterlist

The weeks had passed in a blur of routine and quiet moments shared between you and Dave. His migraines, though still present, had become more manageable with the medication the doctors had prescribed. Life on the farm had settled into a peaceful rhythm, and with each passing day, the bond between you deepened, the connection growing stronger with every shared experience.

One evening, as you sat across from each other at the kitchen table, the soft glow of the lamp casting a warm light over the room, you decided it was time to share some exciting news.

“I got an email today,” you began, your voice casual as you took a sip of your wine.

“Oh?” Dave looked up from his plate, curiosity piqued. “What’s it about?”

You couldn’t hide the smile that spread across your face. “I’ve been invited to speak at a convention in DC. It’s a big deal—a lot of people from the industry will be there.”

His eyes lit up with genuine excitement. “That’s amazing! When is it?”

“In a couple of weeks,” you replied, leaning back in your chair. “I was thinking… maybe we could make a trip out of it? You know, see the sights, visit the museums, take a little break from the farm.”

Dave nodded, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I like that idea. I’ve never been to DC, have I?”

You tilted your head, wondering aloud. “My guess is as good as yours,”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Beats me. But hey, if I haven’t, I guess it’s about time I checked it out.”

The two of you spent the rest of the evening making plans, mapping out the places you wanted to visit and the things you wanted to do. There was an air of excitement, a sense that this trip would be a new adventure—a chance to explore not just a new city, but perhaps something deeper between you.

–

The day of the trip finally arrived, and the two of you packed your bags and set off for D.C. The drive was long, but the hours flew by in a blur of easy conversation and laughter, the kind that had become second nature between you. 

The miles rolled by as you chatted about everything and nothing, which is pretty funny for the both of you considering he does not have memories of his past, yet he talks like he does. 

When you finally pulled into the city and checked into your hotel, the sun was beginning to set. The room was cozy, with a queen bed taking center stage, its crisp white sheets inviting after the long drive. As soon as the door clicked shut behind you, the air seemed to change—charged with the same electricity that had been simmering between you for weeks.

You both looked at the bed, then at each other. Dave smirked. “So… you think this one will hold up better than my bed back at home?” Referring to that moment a few weeks ago where you both were going at it so rough, that the bed literally collapsed. 

You laughed, shaking your head. “Let’s hope so. The last thing I want is for you to end up in the hospital again.” Referring this time to the first time you and Dave slept together. 

Dave raised an eyebrow, crossing the room toward you. “Are you saying I should be worried?”

“Maybe,” you teased, taking a step back as he closed the distance. “But if you’re up for the risk…”

“Always,” he replied with a grin, his hands finding your waist as he pulled you closer. “Besides, I love it when you get jealous when the nurses flirt with me…”

You scoffed at that, rolling your eyes playfully but kissed him anyway. 

“Hey…” He gasped, pulling away from the kiss “I’m yours…” He reassures you.

“Pretty sure?” you echoed, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, very sure,” he conceded, his lips brushing against yours. “Let me show you…” He smirked. 

Your heart raced as he leaned in, his breath warm against your skin.

“Only yours…,” he murmured before capturing your lips in a kiss, slow and teasing at first, his hands sliding up your back. The kiss deepened quickly, fueled by what felt like weeks of pent-up desire when it was only the hours-long drive that kept you both from being this close. Your fingers found the hem of his shirt, tugging it up over his head in one swift motion.

Dave grinned, his eyes dark with anticipation. “In a hurry, are we?”

“Just making up for lost time,” you quipped, your hands roaming over his chest as he pulled you closer, his lips finding the sensitive spot just below your ear.

“I like the way you think,” he whispered, his voice low and husky. His hands moved to your hips, sliding under your shirt, his fingers brushing against your skin. “You’re not the only one who’s been waiting hours for this.”

With a quick tug, he pulled your shirt over your head, his gaze raking over you with a mix of hunger and admiration. “God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, his hands trailing down your sides.

You felt a blush creep up your neck, but you met his eyes with a teasing smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”

“Good,” he replied, his voice full of intent. “Because I plan on going everywhere.”

He guided you back onto the bed, his movements slow and deliberate as he settled over you. You wrapped your legs around him, pulling him closer, your hands tangling in his hair. The intensity of the moment made the world outside fade away, leaving just the two of you, wrapped up in each other.

“John…” you breathed his given name as his lips trailed down your neck, his hands skillfully unhooking your bra and discarding it without breaking the kiss, arching into his touch as his hands explored every inch of you.

His mouth found your nipple, teasing it with his tongue before he moved to the other, eliciting a soft moan from you. “You like that?” he asked, his voice full of warmth.

“I think you know the answer to that,” you managed to reply, your breath hitching as his hand slipped between your legs, his fingers brushing against the damp fabric of your underwear.

“Let’s find out for sure,” he whispered, sliding your panties down and tossing them aside. His fingers found your core, his touch gentle but purposeful, sending shivers down your spine.

“God, you’re so wet,” he murmured, his voice thick with desire as he teased your entrance, his eyes locked on yours. “You’ve been wanting this as much as I have.” He murmurs as he inserts two of his fingers inside you.

Dave’s fingers curled upwards and moved slowly, deliberately, finding that spot inside you that always made you gasp. As he curled his fingers just right, his thumb began to rub circles on your clit, adding a new layer of sensation that made you cry out, your body arching off the bed.

"Right there?" he whispered, his voice rough with need, his breath hot against your ear.

Your response was a breathless moan, your hands gripping his shoulders tightly. "Yes… please… don’t stop…”

He added a third finger, stretching you further, and you gasped, your back lifting as the pressure inside you built higher and higher. "God, yeah…just like that…”

His fingers moved faster, his thumb pressing harder against your clit. “Come on,” he coaxed, his voice low and encouraging. “I want to feel you come for me. Give it to me… let me feel you.”

Your body tensed, every muscle tightening as the pleasure spiraled out of control. “I’m… I’m so close…” you whimpered, your hips rocking against his hand, desperate for release.

“Come for me, darlin’,” he murmured, his fingers thrusting deeper, curling just right. “I want to feel you…”

And then you did, your climax crashing over you like a wave, your body convulsing around his fingers. You cried out his name, your hands fisting in the sheets, your muscles clamping down hard on his hand as he continued to work you through it, drawing out every last bit of pleasure.

“That’s it,” he whispered, his tone both commanding and full of adoration. 

When the last tremors subsided, he slowly withdrew his fingers, watching your face closely. His thumb rubbed one last circle over your clit, making you shiver and gasp again. “God, you’re amazing,” he said softly, bringing his fingers to his lips and tasting you. “So damn sweet.”

You smiled, still breathless, but with a teasing glint in your eye. “I think you’ve had enough fun for now…”

He chuckled, lowering his head to capture your lips in a heated kiss, tasting yourself on his lips. “Not even close,” he murmured against your mouth, positioning himself at your entrance. “I’m just getting started.”

He pushed in slowly, filling you inch by inch, his eyes never leaving yours. You gasped as he stretched you, the feeling almost overwhelming after the intensity of your release. “God, fuck…” you breathed, your hands gripping his arms.

He groaned, his forehead resting against yours as he began to move, his thrusts deep and slow, your hand moving up to cup his head, threading your fingers through his hair. “You feel so good… so perfect,” he whispered, each word a ragged breath.

You moaned, your hips meeting his, and he picked up the pace, his rhythm steady and deliberate. "You like that?" he asked, his voice a low growl.

“Yes,” you gasped. “More… please, don’t stop…”

He grinned, gripping your hips tighter, lifting your bottom half off the bed slightly, changing the angle. The new position allowed him to drive deeper, each thrust hitting that spot that made your vision blur with pleasure. “How’s that, darlin’?” he asked, his voice rough with desire.

“Oh, God… yes!” you cried, your nails digging into his back as he set a relentless pace, the sound of your bodies moving together filling the room. “Just like that… don’t stop…”

He felt you tightening around him, your body trembling with the approach of another climax. His grip on your hips tightened, his fingers digging into your flesh so hard you knew it would leave bruises, but the slight pain only added to the pleasure. “Come for me again,” he demanded, his thrusts becoming harder, faster. “I want to feel you come all over me… then milk me dry…”

Your breath hitched, and with a few more thrusts, you were falling again, your body shaking as another orgasm tore through you. You cried out his given name, your muscles clenching around him, squeezing him so tightly he almost lost control.

He groaned, feeling you convulse around him, and he pushed deeper, harder, lifting your hips higher to angle even further into you. “Fuck, you’re so tight,” he gasped, his voice hoarse. “I can’t… I’m so close…”

You wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him in deeper. “Come for me,” you whispered, your voice shaking. “Fill me up… I want to feel all of you…”

That was all it took. With a low, guttural moan, he drove into you one last time, his body stiffening as he came, emptying himself deep inside you. His hips jerked with every pulse, his fingers still gripping your hips like a lifeline.

He stayed buried inside you, panting, his head resting on your shoulder. “Fuck…” he breathed. “That was… incredible…”

You nodded, your body still tingling from the aftershocks. “I couldn’t agree more…”

He chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to your temple. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

You smiled, running your fingers through his hair. “You’re not so bad yourself…”

He pulled back slightly to look at you, his expression softening. “I mean it,” he said, his voice serious. “I don’t ever want to be without you.”

You pulled him down for another kiss, feeling his heart hammering against your chest. You didn’t say anything knowing that he’s not yours to keep, instead, you kissed him again. 

He grinned, his hands caressing your sides as he held you close. “I’m yours,” he murmured, and you felt his body relax into yours, a contented sigh escaping his lips.

–

Over the next few days, you and Dave played tourists, taking in the sights and sounds of the nation’s capital. You visited the National Mall, wandering through the museums that lined its expanse. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History captivated both of you, with its towering dinosaur skeletons and dazzling gemstone exhibits. Dave seemed particularly fascinated by the Air and Space Museum, spending hours admiring the aircraft and spacecraft on display.

“Can you imagine being up there?” Dave mused as you stood beneath the massive Space Shuttle, his eyes wide with wonder.

You smiled, slipping your hand into his. “I think you’d make a great astronaut. You’ve got the calm under pressure thing down.”

He laughed, the sound warm and genuine. “Maybe in another life.”

Each day brought new experiences, and with them, a growing sense of ease and contentment. The city was vibrant, and full of energy, and you found yourself enjoying every moment with Dave by your side. Whether you were strolling through the U.S. Botanic Garden, admiring the lush greenery, or standing in awe of the Lincoln Memorial at dusk, there was a sense of connection that made the trip feel special.

Next Chapter 👉🏻

[sterlingarcher23]

Pac-Man pellets...& chess

The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance., Thomas Henry Huxley

Pac-Man

Another thing that also points to Max being the "Pac-Man" is that we see her taking pills throughout Season 4. - Brenners words and this subtle but obvious clue through the board game "Can't stop" are connecting "One", "gaming" and Max.

Showing her taking the pills to underline her depression is one thing - however, rarely do things have just a single meaning in Stranger Things.

Lucas putting his hand on her mouth while there's the Pac-Man arcade machine behind her is quite clearly pointing to her too be a power user being able to absorb. If the Pac-Man would be (just) Vecna, why give Max some stupid lines, blabbering about what Lucas just told her in the public, so that Lucas panics and covers her mouth, stopping her from further opening it with each word? With the Pac-Man arcade directly behind her head.

Pac-Man: Paku paku taberu - to gobble something. To consume.

Like Max gobbling a red Skittle mid air in Season 3? Note the use of the Coke vending machine, a repeated pattern and the brand can be seen on Max's shelf too and there's a drawing by Will showing the boys in front of/meeting a Coke vending machine ( besides the "Can't stop" game that connects Brenner’s "If you want to stop One..." dialog with gaming.).

Taking her pills is like eating your way through the stage in Pac-Man: The Player who is Pac-Man has to eat all the pellets or Pac-Dots in order to clear the stage. (and by gaining points he may get an extra life).

Someone made an interesting observation, that in the mind lair, the red mist kind of behaves and I quote: "like in a video game".

That's called a "fog of war", the further you move the more is revealed - once again showing us that Max isn't just a piece on the board but quite clearly the gamer:

The Immortal Game

Bear with me, it may sound complicated, and it may help to watch the scene muted only focusing on the chess moves.

There are two invisible players when El and Henry play chess. Vecna and the Zoomer. The gamer who plays white isn't Henry but obviously a hidden person: Vecna/Edward(?) (so Henry either collaborates or is forced to do his bidding).

Huxley refers to a hidden player but it's logical that this player isn't just on one side but on either side of the board. Two players, hidden from us. And the patent, waiting to make their move. Which means that the hidden player on the other side is not El playing, its someone else. The Zoomer even though no one is aware of him....her.

Note that El is very vocal even though barely able to speak in S1 - as if they share certain abilities or the memories of El and the Zoomer are mixed. Or the Zoomer says something (in mind) and El repeated that like they showed us in several ElMax moments:

The appearance of the zooming effect (alongside other obvious and less obvious clues) leads to the conclusion that there's indeed another person in the room. (If there's darkness, then there's light. Funny enough it's quite clearly hinted at in the show in dialog. ). Remember how Henry says that One moves people like pieces on this board. Well...which One?

There are three Ones. In 00I and in 0II. And since Owens low-key referred to El as One, there's another One in 0II. Everything points to the Zoomer - Max.

And the Zoomer is the hidden player: she uses the hawk like bait, similar to what happened in the Season 4 finale - the Immortal Game was won through high losses. - Max offered herself as bait for Vecna. Same way the player who is playing black sacrificed the hawk/knight. It's heavily implied by connecting this move with the events by the end of S4, the zooming effect, Max calling herself a Zoomer, that she's the player. - She then indirectly called for El by trying to shut out Vecna, the Coke bottle points to El and El appears.

Max = Zoomer personality.

And keep in mind: It's a metaphor. These chess moves are only over simplifying the actual events in Season 4.

But let's take a look at it:

Behind El is a sign saying Pawn in Season 2 right next to a Coke vending machine. So, she's the pawn that takes the owl/bishop.

It's even obvious when you know that Wi-nteko-wa is a proto word for Wendigo, and it means Owl (even though Vecna isn't the only Wendigo): Vecna = Owl/bishop.

Which means Max is the knight/hawk as we see her in the memories from a scene in Season 3 next to the bird prey (falcon or hawk) poster in El's room.

And the "captured" hawk stays on Elevens side, exactly on the dividing line. Brilliantly implying that Max was not absorbed (there are to many elements that debunk that absorption theory) because she stays on her side. Like in a shot of El approaching Vecna, we can see Max in the background on her side of the frame that is split in half, that Max is only taking out of the game. A taken piece can be brought back into the game via a pawn promotion. Eleven then btw removes the owl completely.

Simply put:

Hawk/Knight = Max

Owl/Bishop = Vecna

Wren/Pawn = El

Hawk is moved and sacrificed, Owl takes Hawk, Wren takes Owl.

Max is moved and sacrificed, Vecna takes Max, El takes Vecna.

Max made herself the bait, this way Vecna could be "beaten" by El - but the game isn't over just by taking the Owl/bishop. And even though it doesn't look like it, this move on the board that was shown in the Piggyback was commented through El's dialog "No. You have [lost]." - Then the UD team does the rest by setting Vecna on fire.

By the end we see El walking into the grey part of the field, its the half white, half black field in the DnD game. So, the pawn moves on the other side of the board - "This is Max" would then in chess terminology be a pawn promotion, changing El as the pawn into a piece of her choice (which can be a previously taken pieces): the hawk/knight. Meaning that El becomes Max.

This way you bring back a piece into a chess game. Usually you'd go for a Queen but depending on the strategy a Knight is also good. And knight's usually are shown as horses.

Metaphorically she would then remove the hood of the hawk. As they foreshadow it in this scene. - It looks as if he's blinding El but he didn't. It was Max. Another clue, like the differences in memories scenes, that in connection with the zooming effect point more to different points of view (even though I wouldn't rule out that they want to allude to different timelines too)

The game figures are from Blade Runner and in the film it's a nod to what is called the "Immortal Game" - the black pawns in this version are wrens.

The unicorn may not only refer to One and the horse in Will's painting (as I mentioned earlier) but also be a reference towards Blade Runner too. The meaning of the unicorn in Blade Runner has been talked and speculated about a lot. My guess is that all interpretations are true to a degree. One interpretation is that since Deckard dreams of a Unicorn, it means that he is a Replicant himself and his memories are actually implanted.

And I wouldn't dismiss the idea of that being the case in Stranger Things. Actually, I'm convinced that this is the case. Mkultra as a mind control project was...about that. And this could explain what El's and Max's secret is since the Unicorn is in the scene directly where Max does the Karate-chop hand gesture, like splitting something in half (like what happened in the lab): the memories of their lifes were implanted, altered, don't add up. Why else use the zooming effect? Why does Max calls herself a Zoomer if this isn't exactly that. A personality taking over or at least zoom in to take the wheel. And they might not be the only ones. I suspect Hopper's memories are also faked. About Sara. His ghost.

There's also a spinning top/Inception reference next to a chess board. Remember how ElMax is connected to spinning.

Gamers game:

That's how the show introduced us to Max, something we might have lost our focus on, a gamer:

Besides the fact that she's wearing red (that jacket reappears in one of the Vecna hallucinations in 4),she's in first place... 1st. As in One.

It is not very subtle. Especially in regards to games being played in this show. Like chess. And there's a whole lot of checkerboard patterns near or connected to Max too. (And I'd argue that there are more.)

Above Max in S3 in the ElMax shopping scene (which holds a lot of clues), Lumax holding hands, the shield Lucas is holding, on the magazine cover that El is reading (next to the term "Kaleidoskop" like in "a brilliant kaleidoscope of colors" aka rainbow which Max is wearing in the scene - kinda wearing the whole LGBTQ flag - and there are some sort of fans on it too? Not sure)

And Will? He's also a gamer. - I bet if you dive into his character having games in mind, you'll find what his role in this is too. I mean, I talked about the parallels and mirrors that Will and Max have, including the "crowbar incident" and I have some vague ideas but I leave it up to others. After all: it's these two the plot of 5 will be about. (Although there's something I DO want to talk about in regards to Dr Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde.)

Werewolves & vampires

This is connected to the rabies, werewolves/vampires and the Wendigo/Ravenous elements in the show. And how cannibalism is many times used as a metaphor for queerness and queer love. And I'll talk over that separately. A bit about "The Quarry" (even though it's not an inspo as it released in '22 but to showcase that writers have similar ideas), Van Helsing and Underworld.

PS: I actually just wanted to point out that Max takes her pills like Pac-Man eats the pellets...😁

[shinechermont]

This is a (rewritten) one-shot based on @sisi-sarsoura's request for Phemto(my sona/oc) and Swad (litemong and song_a's baby) having a picnic

i hope you enjoy!

"You seem quite impressed by the place." Swad laughed at his friend's expression when she first stepped inside of the garden.

Phemto couldn't help but laugh as well. "Well, what did you expect when showing me your particular natural reserve that you call a garden?"

Swad let out a polite chuckle. "This place isn't as big as it used to be. When I arrived it was a big forest, you know? But there were some vermins people who destroyed part of it before I intervened."

"Do you have some attachment to this place?" Phemto asked. She then noticed that they were talking about HIS garden in HIS property. She wanted to facepalm herself.

She probably made a fun expression as she was roasting herself internally, because Swad laughed at her with no ill intentions.

"Oh, darling, I can tell you are beating yourself. This was supposed to be a moment for us to hang out and have fun." Swad proclaimed. He now seemed to be more bothered about her negative feelings than any other stupid questions she could make, looking at her with a... worried gaze? It was hard to tell because he was smiling as always.

"Alright, sorry..." She said sheepishly. The skeleton put a and on her shoulder as he guided her to their picnic spot.

"This place looks a lot alike the forest I lived nearby when I was a kid." He admitted with a soft tone. "Sadly the universe where it belonged to has been destroyed long ago..."

"I see..." Phemto said. She now feared that her question brought bad memories. Swad seemed kind of... distant as he explained things to her.

She supposed it was for the better to change the subject. "What are we having? Is the food that good for you to insist that I shouldn't bring anything?"

"Impatient, aren't you?~" Swad said with a teasing expression. "Well, the spot is right there, so why don't we discover?"

The spot was,in fact, a couple feet in front of them. They walked in direction to it and sat down. Phemto could only observe how the place was beautiful.

Apparently her friend chose a part of the garden next to a lake, with their spot being under a tree. There were also some small flowers growing near the lakeshore. That really made Phemto wish tis wouldn't be the only time she was going to be asked to go toa picnic.

She helped Swad to unpack the food he brought. Was he the one who did it? He never mentioned about cooking...

She picked a sandwich and started eating it. Chicken. Well, it tasted good.

She picked a bottle with some red liquid, preparing to serve herself and Swad when he stopped her.

"Darling, I think you picked my bottle." He said kindly. "I'd like to share, but I had to add some things that would probably ruin the taste for you. Here, lemme serve this instead."

He poured some beverage of similar color, though its color tone was less intense. It smelled like tea.

The bat monster thanked her friend as she took a sip from her cup, watching the other pour his own beverage in his cup. The liquid seemed more viscous and had a funny yet quite familiar smell... which she couldn't tell what it was.

"Well, how have your week been?" Swad asked after taking a sip from his cup.

"There weren't as many costumers for Ms. Muffet's dismay." Phemto said. "I would like to say that he was one of the few people I saw, but he wasn't."

Swad hummed in acknowledge, seeming upset by those news, but he recomposed himself quickly. "...Is it just that? You didn't do anything else?"

"My life is not as exciting as you think." The bat monster teased. "The only different thing that happened was your invite."

"How about you?" She asked.

"I didn't do much as well. We just threw a small party for one of my business partners' birthday."

"Oh, Was the party good?"

"Yes! We even managed to make some good deals."

Phemto wasn't sure about what exactly was this business Swad had, but at this point she supposed it had something to do with him. Of course she never asked about it, in fear of both meddling with something she shouldn't know (otherwise Swad would have already told her, right?) and making her friend upset.

She hoped one day he could her what it was. Swad was one of her greatest friends more like one of the only and yet she knew so, so less about him.

For now, she'd just enjoy her time with him.

[lucabyte]

HOWDY! *slams pile of papers on the desk* i have Inquiries. OKAY SO-

1.) i know the bridge between infurno and purrgatorio is Ali realizing they cant leave, so like, whats pawradisio???

2.) wtf happens ta Ali durin the 'age ???' section of their design timeline. what type cult stuff do they get involved w and how. its haunting me i needa know

3.) whats with the 3 year memory erasing thing in that one ali purrgatorio relationship chart. Really funny chart ive shared it w a few friends but also im staring intently at it like Huh What O_O

4.) what is mymk's final form? is it gonna be written, a comic, etc?

5.) got any music you associate w any mymk characters/ali? besides like, in canon reasons like Chrome more like any songs/artists/lyrics that remind u of anya em :0??

anyway yeah huge fan! also hope ur vacation's fun!

Hehe hi :)

1. We shall get there when we get there <3 my lips are sealed. Though I will say, there are further books by Dante one can animal-pun the titles of... Though they aren't part of the divine comedy..... (Alludes vaguely to plans that will inevitably take me years)

2. Okay so spoilers for Creature Feature, Ali's home setting (and @samhainian's thing) (because this is all a bit of an open secret) but Ali is, as I've alluded to previously, an Antagonist.

Creature Feature is a real world adjacent setting, set in our modern day, only with all manner of monsters and cryptids living secretly alongside humans. Ali lives in Wraithbrook, a hidden town populated primarily by monsters (albeit, most everyone still upholds a disguise, just in case). Being a (very) small town with an effectively captive population.... The post-high-school ennui tends to set in bad for people. Hope you enjoy the family businesses, kids.

So... This leaves the listless vulnerable. And boy is Ali a bit malleable. A trusted figure in their life takes advantage of this, part of an accellerationist group looking to break these confines, having singled them out as candidate for their most recent attempt to mold a magic user into a weapon to shatter the veil. And, well, if you've got a self-hating isolated guy who is predisposed to a bit of Catholicism already... Why not utilise the concept of the antichrist? They will be bringing a world together, in a way... And when you've been around as long as some immortal librarians have, doing a little bit of time dilation in the later stages of indoctrination isn't thaaaaat hard... Sooooo....

(But don't worry. They get better. Eventually. At least they look it. Everything is A-OK!!!)

(as for if purrgatorio is canon to this timeline....? Yes! But in a fucked up way! Can't make it too easy for the little guy....)

3. Okay so I was coy literally a sentence ago but yeah purrgatorio is set dead on like.. at the exact same time MYMK proper *should* start. Thus, it cannot exist at the same time as the main story... Ali's narrative powers keep them from being subsumed by the universe and just becoming a funny animal themselves.

But should a time come where Ali is *gone*, and the world is similar enough to the moments before they arrived? Well, the narrative can just pretend the time hasn't passed! Just, don't think too hard about your count of how many Halloweens and Christmasses you've had doesn't really line up....

(A normal person would simply name Purrgatorio noncanon, but hey, if Ali's whole thing is that they manipulate reality like a Narrative... Well. May as well use it! So once canon is over for both parties, things can start creeping back in. It's needlessly overcomplicated but I'm having fun)

4. Written with illustrations! An Online picture book, I suppose. I was initially damning myself to a comic, but after playing in the space with Purrgatorio, I realised I prefer prose. I'll probably write the thing in whole and then release it bit by bit as I work on the illustrations? I have a working outline as of right now and it's not a super long story lol. But its likely going to come after some practice with smaller projects like my reworking of Hazeclan and maybe Damonquest (name pending) (the latter featuring a cut main character of mymk lol)

So! ETA: a while. But we stay silly

5. OKAY.... so I can't link character playlists sadly since they don't exist (..... Yet.) and I'll stick primarily to our at present Purrgatorio cast.

I am like. Famously bad with identifying songs (<- usb stick full of songs on shuffle in the car as a kid) but I have been trying to put thought into this recently (my gold standard for this being my friend @teddymedley who's so good with character songs I did ask him for some vibe checks for this even)

So these are messy and some are like, inherited from earlier drafts of the characters so can be a bit off but I'll give a handful and their reasonings. (No links or embeds though I'm on mobile and Tumblr might eat my visibility if I do. I'll reply with some though)

[Ali Alighieri]

1. "Here comes the flood" by the Divine Comedy (self explanatory really, that animatic will exist someday I promise. This is THE big one to me, but @samhainian may have a different top spot opinion lol) Bonus: it has a demo version that also fucks supremely

2. "All the angels (demo)" by MCR. (Ali is not the MCR sibling, they're the P!ATD sibling. But I don't listen to panic lol)

3. "If you could save yourself you'd save us all" by Ween (peak "sorry what was that line just there?" song)

4. "In the meantime" by Spacehog (I like Spacehog. Everyone gets a spacehog song yaaay)

5. "Here comes the sun" cover by Ghost (not their style of music at ALL and you KNOW they're contrarian about the Beatles, but grim irony is such a vibe here)

[Chromium Mono]

1. "Manicure" by Lady Gaga (this is such a flippant "because I said so" choice lol)

2. "Let it grow" by Renaissance (this is such a nice cheesy song. I like to think of this as speaking to the actual nice loving guy chrome can be when he's not being a prickly bitch)

3. Kissing Ancaps by Patricia Taxxon (... GOD this song is way too cool or smart for chrome lol. It's a chrometab song to me because of the big words and cynicism. It's too modern and online for them but I'm attached to it... Also it contains a sample from let it grow)

4. "Run away with me" by Carly Rae Jepsen (more vibes based! Love some ms jepsen. But at least has a coherent theme wrt to eloping lol)

Bonus: oh god I really have to finish the voiceclaim video I was making. Premiere kept melting on me but I should probably let the world know chrome sounds like Donald Glover huh. The marshall lee to live action Simba pipeline.....

Bonus 2: @teddymedley suggested "Ratchet" by Bloc Party, with the phrasing "subject matter younger chrome sound older chrome" which I like!

[Tabitha Boss]

1. "Cable Rat King" by Gem Milsom (this one genuinely feels like a solid choice to me. It's polite and tentative and about depressive spirals, and is from the same album as the Number One Main Labyrinthine song, Pipes. That animatic will exist someday too I promise)

2. "This too shall pass" by OK GO (Preferably the brass band version. I think Tabitha would adore their videos, he'd be delighted by the moving parts and generally light tone. Also, Labyrinthine has a different "this too shall pass", being by Danny Schmidt)

3. "When will you die?" By TMBG (goofy song. But you get it.)

4. "Zeroes" by Spacehog (Spacehog again 👍)

Bonus: Jimmy buffet discography. He is living on island time baby

Bonus 2: @teddymedley assigned "Happy Hour" by Eels and I think the strange upbeat lethargic energy fits

[Lavender Wafeu]

Lavender is really funny because I honest to god don't think she listens to much music. This means I barely associate music with her apparently.

However @teddymedley did suggest "Black Rainbows" from Hawaii: Part 2, and I think that's better than any of my previous notes. Those previous notes being entirely the words "Little shop of horrors". She, Knives and Mafioso do also share an association with "Panda Hero" by Hachi but that's more visual to me?

I have however begun associating some Zelda OST tracks with her though... Hmmm....!

[Markus Felidae]

This poor bastard has shed and gained characterisation recently enough to have shook the MCR out of their system.... I don't have all that much for them.

Now. Hm. I think I'd have to go with some very on the nose musical tracks? My mind immediately goes to the opening track to Disney's Notre Dame, and maybe like, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from Cats? These are such dreadful picks lol. Sorry buddy, characterisation overhaul syndrome. They probably also would listen to P!ATD same as Ali though so do with that what you will.

Bonus: in Markus' earliest iteration over 10 years ago..hrm. long story short, 121 guns is so fucking unfitting but it's lodged there forever lol

[Lupus Felidae]

Lupus is associated in my head with the kind of dub anime opening best codified by 4kids era Pokémon. Like the ideal song here is that one from Yugioh. "No matter what"? That kind of cheese and boyish power of friendship. "OK!!" From the JP endings of anipoke goes here too it's cute to me.

"I can go the distance" from Disney's Hercules is also up there for the same vibes. She's just silly and having fun!

Bonus: "Don't let's start" by TMBG is a Miao song to me, but in relation to her family. So it's also Lupus and Markus' by association.

[Ess Somil]

The idea of an ess playlist is hysterical to me. I feel like it's a Mother 3 battle theme in that man's head all the time. What's your time signature boy.

Anyway, "Numbers" by Neil Cicierega. Since it is overwhelming enough of a soundscape. Or just "Doctor Worm" by TMBG. For that they live in the soil.

.... And that's probably enough!!! This ask is very long now! Sorry it took a while to answer lmaooo. I've been very busy but it's been nice to chip away at during my downtime! Thank you so much for the questions :)

[northwestofinsanity]

Classic Rock Sleepover Asks 2.0

The classic rock fandom twist on the “sleepover ask” concept -revamped over a year later with an extended question list for all to enjoy spending the night getting deep and specific about our beloved old musicians and their timeless songs

1) Name an album you can listen to all the way through without skipping a song

2) What is an interesting fact about one of your favorite bands that not a lot of people might know?

3) What’s one of the funniest band stories you’ve ever heard?  What happened?

4) Name two songs by two different bands that sound similar or have the same sort of theme/vibe (but aren’t often recognized for this)

5) Do you have a “comfort album”? (an album you like to play in the background when you’re sick, going through a hard time, etc.) If so, what is it?  Is there a particular reason it’s your comfort album?

6) Do you have any head canons about a band or any of its members? (Specify a band when asking!)

7) Is there a band you love that has done something that really disappointed you?  What was it?

8) What member of your favorite band must be protected at all costs, and why?

9) Tell me a funny, random quote from a rock star.

10) Name 2 to 5 random rock stars from different bands in your ask, and I’ll try to come up with a scenario of what would happen if they were in the same room together!

11) What’s a song you have a memory strongly associated with?

12) What’s a band you really love but haven’t posted as much for/haven’t posted at all on Tumblr?  Any reason why?

13) Do you have a band that you were once ashamed for liking?  If so, are you still ashamed, or did you get past that -and what makes you proud of liking them now?

14) Is there a band you like that you used to hate?  Why did you not like them at first, and what changed that for you?

15) What’s a song or band you got into by chance of just happening to be in the right place while it was playing, and may have never known without that one experience?

16) Name an artist you grew up listening to who you can always go back to and enjoy.

17) Do you have any bands or band members that you have a love/hate relationship with?  Who and why?

18) Name a song that you love, but have to be in a very specific mood to listen to

19) Have you had any dreams involving rock stars?  Pick one dream, and tell who showed up in it.  If you feel comfortable, share what happened.

20) Name some bands/artists in your music library that you feel are most different from each other, or represent the far range of styles you like

21) Is there a band you like the music of, but dislike some or all of the members, to the point where you simply cannot get into them beyond the songs?

22) Is there a band/artist you feel gets misrepresented, and might have had more fans otherwise?

23) Tell me a band member or solo artist who you feel you can relate to in some specific way.

24) What’s a deep cut that you feel deserves more love (specify a band/artist when asking!)

25) Name a song that you love by an artist you otherwise don’t usually like.

26) Go on a rant about one of your favorites and why you love them so much!

27) Show me one of your favorite pictures of one of your favorites. Ramble about why it’s your favorite picture if you like!

28) Share a video and a time stamp of one of your favorite moments involving one of your favorite bands/artists

29) If you could choose one song by a band that doesn’t currently get played on classic rock stations, or greatest hits stations featuring a lot of older songs to be added to their regular playlists, what would you choose? (Specify a band/artist when asking!)

30) What’s the longest you’ve kept a song on repeat for, and what song was it? Did it get old by the time you turned it off, or did you still want to hear it more later?

[lorum-strap]

Manos pt. 1

MANOS

 Deep aromatic skin. A bartender in a taverna. He smelled of cigarettes, bitter sweet compari, disaronno, Mastika with lemon and pipire. Not all at once. It was the flood of memory that made me associate these scents with him. The flavors stuck to my tongue. Just as he stuck to the psyche.

    The taverna called “Fidiou 2” located in Athens, Greece. Fidiou translates to snake funny enough. If I want to be reminded of his essence I will lite a freshly rolled cigarette let it burn by a window like an incense. The nicotine honey that collects on the paper - I will touch to my lips. I will put compari and lime in a shot glass, swirl it around with my finger and suck on it until I get a touch of arousal. Then listen to his voice note that ends with “Kisses Goodnight.”

 A local girl in Athena brought my friend and I to Fidou. We entered the alley in which the tavern was perfectly placed. I was simply enchanted. The energy of the people in the street really fulfilled every small fantasy I had around the European way of life. Traditional music echoed off the marble buildings that towered over us. A meloncholy voice be the proud possessor of a middle aged woman with a tambourine. Accompanying her stunning vibrato, a well seasoned bouzoukia player. Very similar to a mandolin in sound and design. United their soft trance like melodies reverberating around us. 

 Upon entering this place I noticed him sitting at a table and thought to myself - what a beautiful man. I don’t think he noticed me. I was fixed on his traditional zorro-esque, young Jack Sparrow type energy. He stood out from the others. When asked what my type is in a man. I always say its never really physical but more energetic. I am attracted to the man who seeks, who ponders, who embodies. Something I’m reluctant to admit- someone who is slightly troubled at a caliber that doesn’t cause much harm. When you are curious you are always searching for other. Someone who challenges their current state in attempts to evolve.  I know this from the direction in which he gazes - down to the ground. But his shoulders are strong and reach up to the sky. So I know he will find what he’s looking for. 

The staff darted in and out with trays of shots and Greek tapas. They’re all so warm to one another. They were hugging, laughing and sharing kisses cheek to cheek in the European fashion. Shots were poured and the crew broke out into song before they were taken. Their arms layed over each others shoulders smiling from ear to ear. Ive never felt so safe around a group of strangers allowing their love to be shamelessly expressed. It was infectious. After a good many shots we danced to the next party location, this one more modern with a Dj playing mostly American top 40 from 2016. 

My company for the greek portion of my trip were Rea and Nefeli. Rea being a half greek girl from the states strong in her conviction and a great love for the culture. Nefeli, a full blown Greek and very proud to say so. Both unique and gorgeous. 

  We were receiving a lot of attention from the opposite sex. The attention was very respectful and never predatory. The boys were cute and very fun although it was the man I saw at Fidou who pulled up a chair and sat in the front of my mind.

The girls and I danced, sang and laughed until the black sky turned a dark blue. Initiation to the break of dawn. We had been out for a while. A few of the people from Fidou 2 had gotten off work and walked past the small club, rolling their cigarettes, staggering a bit dressed in black and grey colors. I loved their style. Piercings, Mohawks, and buzz cuts. Less punk and more dark bohemian in dress some could say- grunge. Us girls really enjoyed their company. There is something about a sweet and salty mix of characters that are biologically magnetic towards one another.  I asked one of the bartenders from Fidou about the guy with the small hoop earrings, low ponytail and white shirt. Ahhh! Manos! He declared. Yes, yes! Where is he tonight? Ehh he is not here tonight he works at the bar tomorrow - You should come by! He said in a thick Armenian accent. Looking towards the girls my eyes lit up. They chuckled and teased me a bit. Once my compass points a certain direction its hard for me to steer away until its proven unworthy of my attention. So I had to give it a shot.

[landoftheway]

Thoughts on Lisa: The Definitive Edition

Finished all of the new content in both Painful and Joyful, and after giving it some time to sit I’ve got some thoughts about all of it. Below the cut for both length and spoilers:

The Painful

To start with, I love the new campfire scenes. They’re funny, heartwarming, and everything in between, and I actually like that they’re locked behind both the RNG of resting and specific requirements for certain scenes (having enough characters, progressing far enough, either taking or not taking Joy, etc.). It incentivizes people to actually use those rest opportunities instead of just farming mags and resting at an inn.

Brad’s Nightmare scenario is generally very good, but even I think it drags on a little longer than necessary. That said I really like both the fight itself and the lore both before and after it. It really gets across how deep the roots of Brad’s trauma go (a metaphor that I’ll come back to in the Joyful section below), and while ultimately it doesn’t change the outcome of his story it allows for both the audience to get a deeper insight into him and for him to have a moment of genuine reflection on his life, particularly allowing him to think about Lisa as the actual person she was and not the specter of grief and guilt he normally perceives her as. And while it IS possible to cheese the fight without losing anyone, I like the thematic resonance of Brad having to sacrifice the people around him and his connections to them in order to fight his inner-demons; it’s a cool way of tying that theme into a mechanical interaction the player can participate in.

The new sound and music changes are, unfortunately, weaker than the originals all around, but Jorgensen was very direct about the legal reasons they had to be made so there’s not much helping that. In the same way the changes made to the Playstation release are downright silly but also legally necessary for its release on that platform, so I get it.

The gameplay re-balancing seems fine all around. I should note that I did my playthrough on Pain Mode without using any Joy, so I stuck with the classic OP team of Terry, Birdie, and Nern, so for most of the game I had largely the same gameplay experience as my first time through. I do appreciate the inclusion of an EXP share for the party, since it made leveling everyone up at the EWC to get their level 25 abilities much easier and also helped get everyone prepped for the new superboss.

The Joyful

Much like the original release this new content is much more of a mixed bag compared to Painful, but overall I enjoyed it. To start with the least controversial aspect, I like the new Warlord abilities Buddy gets; they’re all both fun and interesting to use and definitely make playing as Buddy more engaging than how she used to be.

On a similar note, the new boss fight she has with apparitions of all the Warlords together is a fun bonus challenge. I particularly like that you can resolve it both by actually fighting them or just defending against them for several turns cause it ties into the ways Buddy is thematically different than Brad. Brad can only conceive of facing his guilt by fighting it due to both his past and having lived long enough for that mentality to become set in stone, but Buddy for all of her faults has at least the potential to see things outside of that dynamic (this being one of the crux’s of her final decision to take the vaccine or not).

The above aspect of Buddy is what ties into the more controversial part of the new content, which is the lead-up to the new ending and that ending itself. It’s worth stating at this point that a lot of this new content is very intentionally vague as to whether it’s literal or metaphorical. For example, the young Rick, Sticky, and Cheeks as well as the Dusty face all speak as ghosts of their adult selves, but in the same weird area we also see a young Bernard and Dusty that are definitely memories of the past. The setting of Olathe has always been one where the supernatural explicitly exists (fireballs, fingerbeams, etc.) and Lisa herself always kinda towed the line between shared hallucination and an actual ghost, so in that respect it’s nothing new for the game but it can definitely make what happens next difficult to parse.

The crux of the new ending is Buddy “planting” Lisa inside herself, which radically alters her dialogue with Buzzo after Yado’s death. Whether this is literal or metaphorical is, again, vague as all hell. On one hand Buddy speaks to Buzzo about things she should ostensibly know little to nothing about and Buzzo accuses her of stealing Lisa away from him, which lends to the idea that this was in some way literal. On the other hand pretty much everything Buddy says to Buzzo are either things she could have feasibly (if a bit improbably) put together or else just things she could have said just to hurt him as much as possible, and Buzzo himself is in the process of becoming a Joy mutant and completely losing his mind, so it’s also possible this is all purely metaphorical. My personal interpretation lies somewhere in the middle but leans more towards the latter; while I think there’s probably some truth to the idea of Lisa as an actual specter/tulpa/whatever, I see most of this new stuff as not things that literally occurred as depicted (i.e. Buddy did not literally collect the items that are part of the puzzle to unlock this ending).

What the metaphor of all this is is pretty plainly stated by Brad in the epilogue, and ties back into the “roots” theming of the new content in Painful. Namely, that a strong and healthy foundation is needed in order for a person to grow into their best self, and that foundation is rooted in love for others and one’s self. Brad compares this to gardening, specifically noting how it requires both healthy soil and constant maintenance, and how a failure to do so can cause weeds already pulled to come back worse than ever. In other words, you need to both connect with and love others as a foundation and find ways to address stuff like pain and guilt regularly, or else they’ll plant their roots in your head and never really go away.

Looking at the new ending through this lens, Buddy “planting” Lisa in herself pretty obviously represents making a connection to her not as a burden of guilt and pain but as a human being. This is reflected in the accusations Buddy throws at Buzzo that for all of his supposed devotion to Lisa he’s still blaming her for driving him to become the man he is now, and how that shows his failure to actually connect to Lisa as a person. Buzzo might claim that he loved her, but it’s abundantly clear he just sees her a justification to direct his pain outwards at the world around him. His accusations of Buddy “stealing” Lisa away from him can thus be viewed as her taking away his ability to think of her and “hear” her as he has up to this point. The final shot of the game is also connected to all of this: the figure holding Buddy could represent a number of specific individuals (the most notable candidates being either Lisa, Lisa and Brad’s mom, or Buddy’s mom), but more importantly it's a visual representation of Buddy having gained the ability to connect to, trust, and love others.

With all of that said, I do have a significant criticism of this new ending: Buddy’s dialogue with Buzzo is, in my opinion, kind of badly written. This was a problem in the original release of Joyful as well in my opinion, namely that the way Buddy talks is weirdly stilted at times compared to her more consistent flow of dialogue in the Painful. The things she’s saying are themselves perfectly fine (as someone who loves to hate Buzzo I particularly enjoyed someone calling him out on what a fucking manchild he is), but her phrasing comes across like it’s waffling between a bitter and blunt way of speech and a more formal and precise tone of voice. So the end result is a sequence with a great essence at its core but a weak execution, which like I said at the start is nothing if not consistent with Joyful’s original release.

TL;DR

Painful DE is great except for the music changes, Joyful DE is weaker but still pretty good which is nothing new, get the game on PC if you haven’t already.

[lilisouless]

Okay, lets do something.

I put this on twitter, after watching someone hc about what Wylan´s hallucitation would have been and i thought of something, but instead of just sharing i thought it would be funny if some people also shared their opinion and the cruelest one wins.

Here´s mine, i think i may already share this (my memory sucks, and if you saw it on twitter, that was me) but take this an as excuse to share yours:

IF YOU HAVE ONLY WATCHED THE SHOW AND ARE LOOKING FOWARD TO READ SOC OR ARE HOPING FOR A SOC SPINOFF TO KNOW THE WHOLE STORY, THERE IS SPOILERS DOWN HERE

Wylan´s hallucination is Wylan drowning similar to Kaz but a hand helps him out, its his dad and he pulls him up. Van Eck hugs him lovingly, Wylan looks stiff and confussed but his father´s hand on his back is comforting and he tells him "i love you son, please come back to me" and Wylan eventually gives in for one second, his head buried on his dad´s shoulder and mutters "this isn't real" but can't bring himself wake up from the thing he have given up time ago.

"But thats not cruel"

This is thinking on how the audience would have reacted, they would have the doubt on how Wylan´s relationship with his father really was like. Because Aditi was as kind as she was in life (to the point she may or may have not be her real ghost) but Jordie and Tamar were way harsher (and cruel in Jordie´s case) in the hallucinations than in real life, so the doubt is there. To the audience there is still little hope until they would eventually find out the truth, the contrast between the man pulling his son out of the water and the man ordering his death by drowning,two times. Also if we take Jordie in the hallucination as the representation of Kaz´s guilt, Tamar as Tolya´s insecurities, then Jan could be the little hope Wylan has to give up to. Also Jordie loved Kaz, Tamar loves Tolya but Jan wil never love Wylan like in that vision.

Okay, thats my hit, give me your worst if you want.

[loosesodamarble]

the fictional men you mentioned are all so handsome can you tell where and what type of media are they from.

Aha... So I kinda forgot that this ask was in my inbox for a few days. But hey! Now I'm getting to it! Sorry to make you wait, Anon!

Hopefully, getting the answers you seek will satisfy you.

(For anyone who doesn't know what Anon is talking about, I made this post a few days back where I shared some of my favorite characters and explained their similarities.)

Now, onto the answers.

First off, are Nacht and Morgen Faust. The people who frequent my blog are most definitely already familiar with these two. They are my ultimate blorbos. Do not separate me from them. Anyways, they're from the manga and anime series Black Clover.

They're both introduced during the Spade Invasion arc so for any anime only-s out there, they don't get that much presence. In the manga though, oh boy is there stuff happening for those two!

.....

The lovely redhead I shared is Karma, from the dating sim Cinderella Phenomenon (and the fandisc Evermore).

I had so much fun when I played his route the first time. And OOOOHHHH! His story in the fandisc! And I think it's thanks to Karma that my love for weapon wielding love interests was solidified.

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The next (and only other) pair of characters from the same media are Saint Germain and Herlock Sholmés. They come from the dating sim Code Realize series (there's the original game "Guardian of Rebirth" along with two fandiscs, an anime adaptation, and a stage musical).

Their backstories are so tragic and I want only the best for them. The few moments when they're both on screen make me giddy, no joke. Also, I never thought I'd be into guys who wear top hats but then these two exist!

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The next character, Paschalia, is from the dating sim Radiant Tale (which had its fandisc [Radiant Tale Fanfare] released in English just this summer!).

I binged his route in one night and he's changed my brain chemistry~! I'm honestly putting off replaying his route for the good ending because I want to forget as much as possible and relive his story as fresh as I can.

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The next character I shared was Kageyuki Shiraishi, from the dating sim Collar x Malice.

He's such a funny little guy with his love of cats and inability to understand basic human decency. He's also very sad and his Tragic Love End has art that punched me in the gut, shook me down for cash, and then lovingly kissed me on the head before walking off.

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Lucas Proust from Virche Evermore: Error Salvation. (Also, not to brag but I pre-ordered the fandisc Epic Lycoris which I'm very much looking forward to this autumn.)

He literally gets done so dirty by the writers of the game. I want to fix his situation but I also want to see him continue to suffer because his misery is kinda beautiful.

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Blond #3 is the lovely Shion Mayuzumi from Variable Barricade.

Chronic kept man syndrome. Former model. Gaslighting king (I don't even know how much I'm exaggerating by saying that). Honestly, I want to indulge his laziness. He makes it so tempting...

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Bringing in style from the Kyoho era is Kinji from the game Winter's Wish: Spirits of Edo.

It's actually been a while since I've played Winter's Wish and Kinji's route specifically since I'm trying to complete, like, five games at once. But I do remember kicking my feet and giggling at the fluffy romance scenes.

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Next there's Orlok from the games Piofiore: Fated Memories and Piofiore: Episodio 1926.

He's such an adorable assassin! And he kills for the sake of the church he belongs to! Don't worry, he gets better. He's the love interest that gets Fuegoleon-ed in his good ending.

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And last but not least is Il Fado de Rie from Cafe Enchanté.

A literal angel of a man. So beautiful and divine and helpless and clueless. Also, very adorable that he has a love for dating sims while being a dating sim love interest.