#he was alright in the r/s arc my only problem was that he was pretty serious and busy but i cant argue with the last one

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

probably one of my favorite steven panels of the oras arc 🥹

first of all i think it's very obvious why i like it - he's acting cute here HSJBFVDBSNANE hes all blushy n shit hehrhhffhhd it's so cute brbr 💕💓💕💕💞💓💕💕💓💕💓

but second is definitely what he said...

this single piece of dialogue alone was the catalyst for memoryshipping's entire lore because it's now a fact that steven was once a bratty person (or child as I hc) - which is realistic! it's hard for me to believe that all rich children were born humble, im sure there's a smidge of selfishness and that is due to their richly upbringing but i can totally see that these kids can also GROW up to be more humble people in the process, which is again - also very realistic!

it makes me adore him even more because to the public he's seen as this perfect, handsome and rich man but this is a glimpse of his flaws that make him not so perfect - and i LOVE IT. i love character analysis. i love steven. epic win. jil wins

[arosnowflake]

I really wish I could like BNHA bc Ochako and Deku are both the Actual Best and pretty much every other character also is and the worldbuilding and plot seem like a lot of fun but

I fucking hate Bakugou with every fiber of my fucking being to the point where he ruins all the others for me and I’m still too goddamn salty about Izuku getting a quirk to actually enjoy any of the worldbuilding and/or plot

[one-leaf-grimoire]

JuLisa fluff alphabet <3

I am depressed so this somehow happened when I was supposed to be working on a lab lol.

Nothing spicy under the cut, only wholesome fluff. <3

A ctivities - What do they like to do together? How do they spend their free time?

Incidentally, Julius and Lisa basically spend ALL their time together, since they work and live together in the same place. But when they’re able to take a breather, they enjoy cuddling somewhere, reading a book, or going on a walk somewhere outside the noble realm. It’s nice to get fresh air and it gives Julius a chance to track down any cool magic.

B eauty - What do they admire about each other? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Lisa would say that she admires Julius’s confidence and positivity. He’s a very optimistic person and she needed someone like that to rub off on her. She finds his eyes to be very beautiful, as well as his lips...

Julius would say he admires EVERTHING about Lisa, but more than anything her tenacity and determination. She’s worked harder than anyone else in the kingdom despite being beaten down again and again. He would also say that her entire being is the most beautiful... but above all her eyes. And legs. ;)

C omfort - How would they help each other when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Julius is usually the one who has to comfort Lisa. For a man who’s good with words, he knows that they don’t work in those low moments, and instead makes sure to hold her tight, a silent gesture to tell her that everything is going to be alright. 

But even though he’s strong, the pressure of his job sometimes gets to Julius. Wordlessly, he’ll bury himself in Lisa’s chest, and she strokes his hair and whispers things in his ear to help him calm down. You’re doing your best. You’ve done nothing but wonderful things for everyone. And for me, too. You’re good enough.

D reams - How do they picture their future with each other?

Absolutely, for both of them. Julius has wanted to marry Lisa since almost day one jafkdsl but he took it slow of course. Lisa is always a little scared to dream about the future but it fills her with joy. Marriage might not be at the forefront of her mind, since she would just be happy to be by his side for the rest of their lives. And of course... they both wanted to adopt children eventually and have a big family.

E qual - Which is the dominant one in the relationship?

Funny enough, Lisa is probably the more dominant one in the relationship (outside the bedroom but I won’t get into that lol). From the start, Julius has always been very careful about the power dynamic between them, since he’s the WK and all, and his solution was to let Lisa kind of take the lead in a lot of things, relationship-wise.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their each other? How are they fighting?

They really don’t fight all that much? If Lisa gets upset Julius can usually tell right away. If Julius gets upset, he’s quick to say something about it. But if it’s a rare, bad fight, Lisa usually retreats into silence until Julius comes to apologize. But like I said, they are fairly harmonious and even the fallouts of the “worst” fights only last an hour or so.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? 

Lisa is beyond grateful. She’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for Julius, and his presence in her life has changed it completely. As for Julius, meeting Lisa brought new meaning into his life that he didn’t before, and he was able to imagine a future for himself that wasn’t lonely and dedicated solely to his work.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from each other? Or do they share everything?

Lol it is VERY hard to hide secrets between them, so they usually tell each other everything. However, there’s a few notable exceptions to this, including when Julius managed to hide the fact that he met a future version of Lisa during the elf arc. He did tell her eventually.

I nspiration - Did they change each other somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Yeah! For Lisa, Julius was the one who finally convinced her to leave her old life behind and become a magic knight. And later, he inspires to her want to become the Wizard King one day, returning long-lost ambition.

For Julius, it’s the other way around. He was ambitious when he was young, and sprinted to the top as fast as he could. He had resigned himself to a life committed solely to his job, but when he met Lisa, all that changed. Not only did she give him a more human reason to protect the kingdom, but she opened up a new future to him that he never thought he would be able to pursue... he finally found something he could love more than the kingdom itself.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Both of them have many admirers but they’re both comfortable enough to know that nothing unfaithful would ever happen. However, Julius does NOT trust other men around Lisa ajksl and is not afraid to flaunt his status proudly if he feels like someone is trying to get friendly with her. 

K iss - Which one is the better kisser? What was the first kiss like?

At first it was definitely Julius. Lisa’s only kiss before him was quick and drunk, but luckily she was now in the hands of a master ;) Their first kiss was shared after Lisa was badly injured trying to stop an assassination attempt and their feelings were finally spoken. Over time, Lisa definitely grew to match Julius’s kisses :)

L ove Confession - How did they confess to each other?

At the same moment as their first kiss! Lisa realized that the reason she fought so hard was because she couldn’t bear the thought of Julius not being in her life, and Julius realized that Lisa meant more than the world to him. Holding her limp and almost dead in his arms was what hammered that point home for him. In the hospital later, he came to visit and they both ended up all over each other, and never wanted to let go again. :)

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Like I said before, YES! It wasn’t on Lisa’s mind until Julius brought it up, but she really wanted to. They were talking to each other about having kids, and Julius mentioned that, if they did, he would be expected to be married to the mother of his children. But he promised that he would do a better proposal later! Which he did... When Lisa came back from the Sea Temple mission, Julius took her up on the roof before pulling out a gorgeous ring, and asked her to “be my queen.”

As for a wedding, sadly they never got to have an official one. However, they eloped before the Royal Knights exam and sealed the deal. However, now that Lisa lives in a timeline where Julius is very much alive and well, they are still planning a large ceremonial wedding for sometime in the next year.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Lisa usually sticks to simple things like “darling” or sometimes “Juli~” because it sounds cute. Julius bounces between many pet names, his favorite being “sweetness” <3

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Before they confessed, both of them kept their card close to their chest. Lisa was slightly worse at this. Images of Julius were constantly dancing in her mind and she would often get distracted lol. When she was around Julius, just a mere touch or an intense look made her blush furiously. It was pretty easy for Julius to tell that something was going on with her.

As for Julius, like I said, at first he was able to stay calm, but rest assured he was freaking out all the time on the inside. But in private, he too got distracted easily and would smile to himself “creepily” (in Marx’s words). It was very hard for him to get any work done.

Once everything was out in the open, Julius was not afraid to show his feelings at the drop of the hat. Lisa still got very flustered about it but was very happy to know that she was loved.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Sadly, the two of them could not be upfront about the relationship for a long time. Lisa got into trouble last time someone found out about it, so they keep to themselves. But within the castle, Julius is very loving and doesn’t mind PDA at all. Lisa still is a little worried that someone from the press is going to find out, but is usually very eager to receive whatever he gives her.  

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Dyad. I’ll leave it at that ajkfdsl

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make each other happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Oh boy. As soon as Julius got a girlfriend it was clear that he was the epitome of the romantic type. He can be creative AND cliche, and both are just as sweet. Flowers, fancy dinners, romantic escapes to the countryside, he would do all of it at the drop of a hat for Lisa.

Lisa’s approach is less of the grand gesture type and more small things. Small gifts, quality time, that kind of stuff. 

S upport - Are they helping each other achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Absolutely. Julius has already kind of reached his goals but Lisa is a great help to him every day as he goes through his WK duties. As for Lisa, she doesn’t really have any future goals for a long time but wants the kingdom to prosper, so she helps Julius as much as she can.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Their relationship is very spontaneous. Both of them like to run off on a date at the drop of a hat, sometimes in the middle of a work day! But they do value routines too, especially when they’re winding down for the day.

U nderstanding - How good do they know each other? Are they empathetic?

After six years together, they know each other inside and out. Even without the help of a Dyad spell, they complete each other and are always open and understanding with communication.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

More than anything.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Lisa really likes curling up under Julius’s robe. It’s so soft and warm and it smells like him. When Lisa is away, Julius sleeps with it too because it smells like her. In truth... the two of them have the exact same scent but it’s the thought that counts lol

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Yes. :) Julius is a big softie and Lisa is a human space heater so their cuddle sessions are pretty mindblowing lol.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing each other?

Neither of them are very happy when they’re apart. Lisa deals with it a lot better, since she’s usually out training when she rarely leaves him. Julius is a lot more clingy and can’t focus as well when she’s gone. The nights are long and lonely for him, and he finds it very hard to sleep alone now.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Both of them are really secure in their relationship and it is not really in danger. However, both of them would do anything for the other.

[akechicrimes]

ok alright there’s been some talk about sumi’s outfit being modeled after joker and how this is disappointing, so today i’m getting on my soapbox and we’re talking about:

sumi and akechi are foils of each other through foiling joker.

this breaks down really easily. it’s literally like math.

sumi wants a happy ending so badly that she’s willing to sacrifice her entire identity, sense of self, even the physical manifestation of her soul, to become like kasumi and model herself after joker. she is heavily invested in the damsel-in-distress narrative, and models herself after it. she’s so heavily invested in it that she conscripts joker into performing it with her (take a look at her showtime and how she grabs his hand to make him dip her). and ultimately, as we already know, this means that she literally is destroying her sense of identity as “sumire” in order to become literally someone else (kasumi and also joker).

akechi is... the opposite. of literally all of this. not only is he not into happy fairy tales, he actively embraces villain aesthetics. especially in royal, he has a strong sense of self and sticks to it, even when it pisses off other phantom thieves members, even going so far as to antagonize them with it. he spends less time cooperating with joker as he does asserting his independence and arguing against joker. on the note of akechi arguing against joker, akechi actively advocates against a “fairy-tale” ending, 

in sum: akechi is joker’s opposite--his antithesis, if you will. sumi is joker’s replicate--his identical. 

so of course sumi’s outfit is identical to joker’s.

sumi, i think, is a really interesting observation that in some way, sumi’s erasure of herself is exactly what joker does throughout the game: he erases his self, hides who he really is, all for the sake of pleasing other people’s social links and narrative arcs. in the same way that sumi is trying to fulfill kasumi’s narrative arc post-death, joker can model his answers to whatever will help the other person’s personal story, and the game actively rewards you for modeling joker’s personality after s links according to the person. dating sumi, especially in the valentine’s day scene, feels like fulfilling all her princess-in-a-castle dreams, and joker successfully models himself after the same fairytale narrative that sumi’s modeled herself. 

akechi, by contrast, asks the exact opposite: he wants to see akira’s true self, wants to see what akira’s really made of, wants akira to choose reality and truth over a manufactured happiness. (i don’t think it’s a mistake that akira as a character with a personality is far more prevalent in akechi’s storyline than sumi’s.)

(again, not to make it LGBT, but i think it’s worth noting that the fairytale aesthetic is one of the most insidious forms of heterosexual scripts, employing men as the masculine savior and women as delicate and in need of saving. as lesbianakechi mentioned, sumi’s adherence to fairytale heterosexual scripts feels a lot like comp het that she’s conscripted joker into. by contrast, akechi, the coded queer love interest, gives less than a negative fuck about heterosexual scripts, and instead pushes an alternative romance script in which both partners are religiously equal to each other in power and agency, respect each others’ decisions as individuals, and are unafraid to disagree with each other while still remaining dedicated to each other.)

if we’re taking it as a fact that both sumi and akechi are more or less presented as opposite love interest options for joker, what ends up happening is that they become paired up as two completely opposite ways of going about a relationship with someone. and in pairing the two of them up, royal is able to demonstrate the pros and cons of both situations. the comparison means that royal walks away with pretty consistent and strong message about what a good romance should be--hell, what a good relationship in general should be. 

royal says that it’s actively harmful to erase oneself so be in a relationship with someone else. royal actively pushes against sumi’s erasure of her own identity and asks her to be--well, sumi. royal’s bad ending is akechi’s free will and his identity being erased. royal’s good ending has them all returning to reality, in which the phantom thieves go on to pursue their individual interests and don’t have their selves erased to fit into some perfect ending, and this reality includes the fact that akechi picked being true to himself and his ideals over being alive (insofar as he was aware), and also this reality includes sumi having to do the terrible, horrible work of actually being herself at the risk of being hated for being imperfect.

basically, insofar as i can see, sumi’s not just there to distract from the amazing amounts of shuake in royal. sumi is struggling with the core problem of royal’s storyline all by herself, which is the need to sacrifice oneself and one’s free will and one’s truth for a mandatory perfect, happy ending. takuto struggles with the same issue from the other end, in that he’s sacrificing other people’s free will and truths for a mandatory perfect, happy ending. akechi and joker are obviously struggling with the same issue, but for each other (”if only akechi were just NOT an asshole to all the thieves, people could be friends... if only akechi WEREN’T dead, we could have a fairytale ending...”)

ironically, what sumi does seem to be there for is to illustrate the ways that shuake, for all its arguing and fighting and the fact that both parties have attempted to kill each other, is a relationship that’s founded on respect for each other’s autonomy and individuality. their rivalry has an appreciation for the ways they’re different, rather than merely tolerating the differences or working around them. akechi disagrees all the goddamn time with the phantom thieves, from the minute he shows up in the interview newsroom at rank 1 all the way to the moment he tells joker to return to reality even if it means akechi will die. and this is shown as a good thing, and this is especially obvious because sumi is there to demonstrate the opposite situation in which nobody argues and nobody is honest and we achieve happy perfect endings at the cost of everything else.

according to royal, a romance in which someone erases their selfhood to fit a (heterosexual) fairy-tale script is a deeply fucked up thing, and we should not do that. royal says that sumi is making a mistake in trying to be kasumi and trying to be a perfect damsel--or should i say, perfect waifu.

the irony about sumi is that in this light, her storyline is really a self-inflicted crime. she’s hurting herself at its core. it has nothing to do with romance or joker or being a cute waifu. her adherence to fairytale scripts is a means of self-destruction. which, in my opinion, is a pretty bold fucking plotline to pitch for a female character: that her adherence to feminine-coded roles and heterosexual interactions are actively destroying her as a person.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

618: "Raid! An Assassin from Dressrosa!"

The whole squad catch up at the end of arc wrap party!

Back from the trip, so it’s business as usual again. Will do one episode a post until I get back into the old routine. Will also catch up with all replies this week. The reason I didn’t post yesterday was because I am way too excited about the RE2 remake and watched my first ever Twitch stream. If anyone has any recommendations for good streamers playing the RE2 remake, please pass them on. :)

As for this episode of OP, it follows on from 617 but feels even less like an ending, as Oda is introducing new characters directly and also some new contexts via Caesar’s DDM stream to the brokers. More than ever, Punk Hazard now feels like a prelude of plots to come (this is a good thing because I cannot handle endings).

Plus, I’m sensing another *wild ride* coming up. Haven’t had the joy since Water 7′s Sea Train, so looking forward to that truck busting out of Punk Hazard. :D

Best Captain

The action picked up where 617 left off. We had a lovely shot of Caesar tanking that massive double punch. But this time, we saw Caesar flying down a rather long tunnel, unconscious and out of sight.

The whole “out of sight” thing would turn out to be... not ideal.

Caesar’s Live-Stream DDM picked up Caesar getting his ass handed to him. The Brokers were disturbed by the turn of events. “What the hell? Is this what they call a public experiment? He kicked Caesar’s ass!” one shouted. Tamago turned to Pekoms and warned that, “Mom should hear about this right away.” 

Another guy in an Abraham Lincoln hat said to a nearby messenger, “Joker is going to take action. Let Jack know about this.” When the messenger said, “Are you sure? It’s not going to be pretty,” he replied, “I think they’ve made an alliance. Let the world know. This is not just an underground problem anymore.”

That one was interesting. I have no idea who Jack is, but he seems a cranky, “head guy” type too. Whoever top hat guy is was important enough to be allowed to deal with plot exposition. (Unless he’s filler, in which case....)  One potential theory: a Jack is a type of card, as is the Joker. Might Jack be connected to Joker? Who knows? Well, you guys do, but that goes without saying.

But the fact the mess on Punk Hazard has been broadcast all over the New World does mean the whole “shaking up the New World” part of Law’s plan was a huge success. Everyone is now after their blood. Love it.

To be honest, I hope Law has a crew to return to after this because I am still wondering where the hell they have been hiding all this time.

At least we know where the other Strawhats are. Usopp played another blinder. He has gone through some major but subtle development this arc. Up in the Secret Room, Usopp took charge of the control panel and communications. He could see the other Strawhats running for cover to the R Building. He spotted Chopper and Mocha first, then Nami and the others. He gave them directions and encouragement. Excellent. 

Not only that, Usopp also is also, if I am not mistaken, about to act as a leader to directionless, crestfallen, used and abused Minions. One guy lamented, “I can’t believe Master was such an awful person. Who will we trust now?”

Usopp. That’s who. The guy who is about to lead you out of the crumbling lab building - though only after he ensures everyone else is on the right track. Not only does Usopp earn major brave points, he also earns leadership points.

I also like how the other Strawhats can act as leaders to other people when Luffy is not around. Nami guided all the kids out. Sanji took charge of the G5 guys. Brook dragged Kinemon out of the gas when the idiot went running in, thinking his spirit would carry him through anything (nope) and Chopper calmed him down and told him what was happening. And Usopp guided them all.

What a guy.

The only two he didn’t help out were Law and Smoker. They already had another plan in the works.

Smoker Has Been Watching Too Much Marie Kondo

Just when Tashigi was wondering whether Smoker had prevailed in his battle with Vergo, he rocked up to Building R with Law! Three cheers for the existence of “the enemy of my enemy is my (temporary) friend!”

Between them, they dragged a SAD truck, the kind, Law said, that had been used to transport the lucrative substance off Punk Hazard. Law’s plan was to let everyone jump on and they would ride that truck off into the sunset together. Good plan, I thought. Since that building is crumbling faster than an overdunked biscuit, it’s gonna be a wild ride.

When they entered Building R, Luffy was there to greet them. “Tra-guy! Smokey! Didn’t expect you to come from that way!”

Of course, Law is a pragmatist. Concerned about his plan, he glanced round and noticed an important factor was missing. 

“Where’s Caesar?” he asked Luffy.

“I kicked his ass and he got blown that way. How far did he go?”

Law was not pleased. “Our plan was to kidnap him!”

“But I don’t wanna catch that bastard anymore.”

I could hear Law’s internal sigh of despair. “That was the plan whether you like it or not. What are you going to do if he runs?”

“Who cares about that jerk!” Luffy scoffed.

“You think you can just change a plan as you like. I shouldn’t have trusted you. I need to get him.”

At this point, I don’t think Law regretted entering an alliance with the Strawhats. He was maybe regretting trusting Luffy with the whole kidnap part, as it is a delicate operation requiring laying aside morals and grudges for a sneakier purpose. That’s not Luffy’s strong point. He is a straightforward, loyal and faithful kind of guy.

That’s why when Nami looked back and asked Luffy if he thought Chopper, Usopp and Brook were alright, Luffy stared straight ahead and said, determinedly, “I’m sure they’ll get here.”

Meanwhile, outside the lab a couple of others had managed to get there too.

Well, they got close.

Two New Challengers Enter!

Baby 5 and Buffalo were back, sent by Doflamingo to retrieve Caesar. Baby was still mad about the whole fiance situation. Apparently, Doflamingo killed her “sweet fiance” by burning down an entire town. The weirdly hilarious thing? He has done this eight times.

Reminds me of that line from Chicago: “he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife ten times.”

But did this guy have it coming?

Yeah....... he kinda did. 

Buffalo (who must have eaten a DF because he is a freaking plane right now) said that Doflamingo did it because he loves Baby like a sister, so he doesn’t begrudge destroying an entire town. Why is Doflamingo like this? Turns out Baby has a hard time saying no to guys she thinks “need her”. She lends too much money and has major 98 million debt. The last guy who proposed to her was majorly skeezy and only after Baby for what he could get out of her. So Doflamingo must have taken him out, just like the others.

That was interesting because, in a very weird, brutal way, Doflamingo is looking out for his useful crew members. You guys have mentioned that Doflamingo was inspired cartels or the mafia. Now I can see it. There’s the “young Master” term they all use to address him, the older people working for him, and now he loves Baby “like a sister.” 

But still, this guy is a villain, so it’ll be a business type family. If you cross him, there’s no way he’d let you away with it. I expect Law knows this and that’s why he was so careful.

While flying over Punk Hazard, they noticed right away that the Shinokuni gas was a problem. Buffalo used a “typhoon-like power” to blow away some of the clouds. This revealed a SAD tanker docked at port. Since they were travelling when Luffy kicked Caesar’s ass on TV, they didn’t know what had happened. They decided to wait until Caesar, Monet and Vergo escaped.

Then there was a loud whoosh, a flash, and a sparkling KABOOM as Caesar tore through the air and slammed into the tanker.

An unorthodox entry, but I liked it. Maybe knock a point off for grace and finesse, but the speed was impressive.

As soon as I saw Caesar sprawled on the dock, I facepalmed. “Luffy,” I thought, “you have just handed them Caesar!”

And that is exactly what Doflamingo thought too.

Buffalo checked in with the boss and was given a new set of orders.

“Joker! This is Buffalo from Punk Hazard. We’ve just arrived but Master Caesar was blown out of the building, injured.”

Doflamingo was shocked, but only for a split second. The guy recovers quickly from setbacks. “Recover Caesar immediately and come back to Dressrosa.”

“Okay,” Buffalo answered. “We’ll recover Caesar. What about Monet and Vergo?”

I didn’t hear Doflamingo’s answer, but Baby said, “There must be a reason. Do as he says.”

I’m guessing Doflamingo has cut Vergo and Monet loose. They are on their own now. Damn, this guy is ruthless. Even Vergo, who served him so faithfully for decades is not immune. The message here is: if you are no longer useful, you are done.

Luckily for Caesar, he’s one of the most useful guys in the OPverse, as Doflamingo himself admitted in a private, villainous monologue.

“Hey, Squirts. Luck is on *my* side. As long as I have Caesar in my custody, he can create SAD for me.”

And this was why Law was so irritated that Luffy had let Caesar out of his sight.

This could go one of two ways. Caesar will slip away from the Strawhat/Heart Pirates alliance and they will be forced to storm Dressrosa to retrieve him. Or the certain robotic someone who has just shrieked back into the plot will save their asses and help them kidnap Caesar. Then Doflamingo will go after them directly.

This is getting good! :D

Franky is back: freshly waxed and ready to fire.

[ifdragonscouldtalk]

congratumalations and merry crimsi i am gifting you pr666n. actually there isnt much pr0n in it, its a lot of aftercare cuz im feeling pretty needy right now, but you get it anyway. second time writing pr0m, hope i didn’t frick it up, sorry it’s shitty. read with caution y’all

“Safe words?” Steve whispered softly in his ear as he stroked up and down his side. The room was warm and the scene was easy, and he had already told his wonderful lovers he was feeling a bit needy today. They would take care of him. He shuddered at the soft touch, and the sounds of Bucky moving behind them. 

“Buzzsaw for pause,” he answered with a quiet sigh. “Welding for stop. And you?” 

He got “monkey” and “airplane”, then “bootstrap” and “mudcrawl”, respectively. They had decided to come up with unique words and symbols because they all felt safer that way, even though they could’ve gone with generic words. They did colors as well, to check in on each other, but the safewords were unique and intimate, and incredibly important -- on that they had all agreed. 

“Alright,” Steve said with a smile and a kiss to his cheek before rising from the bed. Tony shifted, listening to the clanking of the spreader bar attached to his knees and the chains that kept his elbows from straying too far forward. It was supposed to keep him from rutting against the bed, and he knew from experience it was an exquisite torture. “Colors?” 

“Green.” 

“Let’s fuck already!” Tony laughed at Bucky’s impatient tone. Steve huffed, and Tony tilted his head to look at Bucky as he gently settled the soft velvet collar around his neck. He shuddered, a breath whooshing out of him as Steve stroked up and down his back and spoke to him softly, nonsensical endearments before he settled again. (beware of read more) 

“Color?” Steve asked him softly again. Tony closed his eyes, trying to relax, letting his forehead slip down until it was resting on the bed. 

“Green,” he muttered, the warmth in the room making him drowsy. He hated being cold. It was a surefire way to send him into anxiety, and frost had started creeping on the edges of the windows in the morning recently. He was glad Bucky had thought to turn up the heat -- all of them had problems with the chill. 

“Good,” Bucky muttered, pressing soft kisses to the back of his neck and shoulders. “No hard play today. Just the spreader, doll. You tell us what you need.” Tony shuddered again and felt more tension slip out of him, nodding. 

Most of the time he enjoyed being told what to do in bed. It was the only place he didn’t have to feel in control. But today, he wasn’t sure he could handle it, even though he wanted it. So they were dialing back on the dom/sub play. He shivered as Steve settled behind him, running a soft hand over the curve of his ass before teasing one lubed up finger against his hole. He sucked in a breath at the feeling as Bucky settled on the bed next to him, sucking softly on his neck and shoulder -- not hard enough to leave a mark, but solid enough to be present. Not a pain, but a grounding feeling. They were being careful with him, and he appreciated it. 

Gently, Steve worked two fingers inside, stroking and stretching so softly Tony might cry at the tenderness and need welling up inside him. He bucked his hips, moaning when he couldn’t rut against the bed. Bucky let his hands roam, stroking up and down his sides, teasing his nipples, ghosting over his slowly hardening cock. None of them were in a rush, and Tony couldn’t help but think that this is what people meant when they said ‘making love’. 

“Beautiful,” Bucky muttered as he slowly slipped into his headspace despite the lack of play, licking and teasing the sensitive shell of his ear. His fingers tweaked Tony’s nipples, teasing them to hard points. “God, you’re gorgeous like this... Doing so well... Just for us...” Steve twisted his hand and Tony cried out, his back arching as pleasure shot up his spine. 

It was perfect. It was perfect. 

So why couldn’t he get the thoughts of Obadiah out of his head? How helpless he was whenever he was with the man, listening to his cloying lies, hearing the praises that never came from anyone else and were only gaslights for the man who would take everything... 

And Jesus, frozen on the couch with Obie leaning over him... He would be lying if he said it didn’t cross his mind, what the man could do to him, anything, he could’ve taken anything, and lucky he only wanted his life. 

Steve twisted his hand again and he cried out once more, tears springing to his eyes. “No!” He arched his back, rocking forward to try and pull away from them, from the hands that were touching him, they could do anything to him and he wouldn’t be able to stop it, he wouldn’t be able to stop it if they killed him. 

They wouldn’t. But if they did, he wouldn’t be able to stop it. 

Tied up or not. 

Bucky had him gathered up in his arms, warm and strong and smelling of stupid two dollar Head and Shoulders that Tony had come to love as Steve undid the spreader and the straps attached to it, gently repositioning him in Bucky’s lap as his legs came free. “Tony?” he asked, his voice full of fear and worry as he crowded close, gently pressing his hands to Tony’s cheeks. “Tony, are you okay? Baby, talk to us.” 

“I-I- R-Red, welding, I’m s-sorry I can’t-” His voice cracked and tears blurred his vision as he buried between his two lovers, wanting them to shield him from the pain and the fear. They pressed close, sandwiching him between their chests, breathing steadily. 

“Alright, okay doll, you’re alright. We got you.” Bucky pressed his lips to his hair, rocking them both gently as Steve gentled his hands down Tony’s sides, giving the arc reactor a wide berth. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony choked out. He did this more often than he should, and he-

“No, none of that sweetheart,” Steve mumbled, softly kissing his chin. “You’re fine. It’s alright to stop. It’s just sex. You’re more important.”

“What do you need?” Bucky asked gently, still rocking him slowly, and he would be lying if he said the soothing motion wasn’t helping. 

“I want...” Tony’s breath hitched and he reached up to tug on the velvet collar, a rich red that he normally loved but now seemed stifling, suffocating him. His fingers trembled as he tried to work the latch. “I-I need it off- I need to, to be clean, I don’t w-want the, the lube, I can’t-” 

“Okay,” Steve soothed quickly, easily removing the collar and tossing it away. “You’re okay, that’s okay. A bath?” 

“I... Not on my face-” 

“A bath then,” Bucky mumbled. “We’ll keep you above the water, babe. Us with you?” A flash of panic went through Tony at the thought of them leaving him, of him being unprotected, of this being the last straw for them and them not coming back. 

“W-with me,” Tony sobbed. “With me, I just- Don’t leave me-” 

“We won’t leave,” Steve mumbled to his cheek. “We won’t leave you, baby. We love you. More than anything. You’re stuck with us.” 

“Stuck with Stucky.” Bucky smiled at him and Tony couldn’t help the weak chuckle that escaped him. They had discovered shipping names a couple weeks ago and found them amusing. He was fond of ‘starkbucks’. 

“I love you,” he breathed, his voice cracking, as Steve and Bucky peppered his face with soft kisses that didn’t feel overwhelming. He repeated it as they helped him into the bath, as Steve held him in his lap and helped him clean off. As Bucky carefully massaged shampoo into his curls and used a cup to rinse it out, never getting any water on his face. As Steve scrubbed at his back and Bucky massaged his hands. As they cleaned off and teased, all smiles and laughter. As they helped him out of the tub and wrapped him in soft towels and patted him dry. 

As they climbed into bed and ate chocolate and nuts and forced him to drink a bottle of water because “Like hell I’m going to see you dehydrated just because you had a spot of panic, doll”. 

As they wrapped themselves around him and listened while he cried out what was wrong, and told him that it was perfectly alright to feel that way and they would never want him to force himself to keep having sex with them when he felt like that, that they would always be there for him. 

And one more time as he dozed off, exhausted and full and contented and warm. “We love you too, Tony,” Steve whispered into the back of his neck, tightening the arms around him. 

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Bucky said with a choked voice to his forehead, pressing a gentling kiss there. 

“Even when I’m fucked up?”

“Especially then.” 

[artlessictoan]

How I’d do Naruto Next Gen

okok I’ve been wanting to do something more in depth and organised than my usual ranting about how everything is terrible now, so here we go! (though lbr this is just my usual ranting but 10x longer)

for the sake of brevity ha and my own piece of mind I’m not gonna go into how unnecessarily hetro the ending was and how everyone should’ve been gay and hey not every couple absolutely had to get married and/or have kids and also nart should’ve gotten the opportunity to realise that becoming hokage wasn’t necessary to achieve his real goal of becoming someone loved and accepted by others and he deserved so much better tbh and why isn’t sak just running the whole show and why isn’t there more sand sibs, bc let’s face it none of that was ever gonna happen, so these ideas are mostly built with the premise that all the canon couples stay canon and all the kids are still around and the product of those ships and the big plot things that happened (like nart becoming hokage and the like) stay roughly the same

forewarning bc else someone’s bound to say something; if you enjoy the next gen stuff? not a problem! that’s great, people enjoying stuff is a good thing! I wish I could enjoy more stuff, bc enjoying things is far more fun than not enjoying things! everyone has a different taste though and for me – and a lot of other people – the way that the next gen has turned out has been a disappointment, this post is for those people, so we can talk about why we think it’s failed and what we would’ve like to see instead, if you don’t feel that way about it.. well just scroll on past this post and keep enjoying the things you enjoy! have an absolute blast, you’ve earned it!

under the cut bc I am apparently incapable of keeping my rambling concise, there’s 2000 words of only vaguely coherent thoughts and tangents, so maybe get yourself a cuppa and a snack before trudging through it (some of this I’ve said in other posts before but w/e)

---

first off lets change some of the kids’ personalities, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with any of them, but like….. 90% are carbon copies of one of their parents (and mostly their dads but I won’t get into that issue rn) which is ridiculous, bc personality traits aren’t genetic?? like my mum is super chill and sensible and my dad is short-tempered, but I’m an anxious mess and my bro is an anti-social control freak.. we didn’t get any of that from either of our parents

while it’s certainly true that you might be influenced by them (me and mum share a lot of interests and tastes), it’s not a hard and fast rule and I don’t find it realistic that EVERY kid takes after their parents, though I probably wouldn’t have such a problem with it if they were more a mix of both parents than just their dads, so here’s some potential alterations:

Boruto. good fucking lord, no, we did not need a clone of Naruto heading another series, if we wanted to see a rambunctious scamp who gets into trouble but loves his friends a whole lot and has a knack for giving inspirational speeches, then there’s already a whole 700 chap manga for that! one with a far more likable and interesting rambunctious scamp tbqh. so how about we make a few alterations, maybe instead of taking after Nart, Bolt takes a bit more after Hinata? a little quiet and a bit of a pushover, but someone who’ll quickly stick up for a friend and has an ease of communication that’s a bit more Nart? not shy so much as laidback and composed, maybe he isn’t all that interested in being a ninja too, like he’s quite skilled but is a pacifist and would much rather get a civilian job as idk a baker or gardener or something

Shikadai. only a few minor changes here bc I really do like the kid as he is, I’d just like to see him using Tema’s abilities too (and maybe also being just a bit more snarky and unyielding like his mum)

Inojin. I’m kinda torn on this one, bc I do like that he’s a lot like Sai (at least in the anime, he seems to have a pretty different personality from what little we’ve seen of him in the manga???), but I think it’d be pretty interesting if he was just not like either of his parents, maybe if he was very quiet and subdued, but also the mastermind behind all the kid’s pranks, has a mischievous streak that often shocks people, but his friends always love hanging out with him bc of it. also why doesn’t he have Ino’s powers? let’s give him Ino’s powers too

Sand Kids 2.0. ok so at this point we haven’t seen nearly enough of them to say much either way but I have negative faith in kishi and ike so I’ll just say that I want them all to be Gaara’s adopted kids (since it’s still unclear if it’s just Shinki or all of ‘em atm) and I want them to be exactly like this shameless plug for me and @spellfire01‘s versions of them which are the best fucking versions and I will protect my children with my life

now some changes to the original cast (this is where I’m gonna get proper bitter, prepare yourselves):

OH NARUTO MY POOR CHILD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU I’ve already talked about this but let me just reiterate in as eloquent a way as I can; Naruto would never become a neglectful father. N e v e r. not after the childhood he went through, no matter how much work he had to do as kage, don’t dare fucking try and tell me that Naruto – "It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them… They rescued me from my loneliness" – Uzumaki would EVER neglect his kids. just fucking don’t. in this version Nart is a doting and involved dad (perhaps a little too much, to the point that his kids find him kinda exhausting and have to ask him to leave them alone sometimes) who sends his clones to work at the office while he hangs out with his family.. I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t already do that

let all the girls out of their houses to do some ninja work for the love of god

poor put-upon Shino-sensei is alright.. but we’ve already had that with Iruka, I’d honestly much rather see the Cool Sensei who keeps all the kids in line without even doing much of anything and has a knack for inspiring them and always has a line of students trailing after him asking to hear more of his awesome ninja stories and everyone always trying to show off when he’s around, bc Shino is literally The Best

have Sauce and Saku be divorcees. seriously, are even the people who ship them happy with how their relationship has turned out? they barely see each other and apparently it’s been that way since chap 699, so why not just have them split up? it really wouldn’t change much, just say that, at some point after Sarada was born, they realised that they were both gay incompatible personality-wise and they were both so busy with their individual work that there wasn’t much of a relationship to lose. not only would this be good for both their characters (there’s no reason they couldn’t still be good friends) and just more sensible all-round, but it would also be a nice way to show that not every childhood romance/first love works out and that’s perfectly fine and normal and they can still live happy, full lives afterwards!

speaking of Sauce, let him spend at least a little bit of time interacting with his friends and family in Konoha, even if he’s still mostly travelling around on important missions he should at least be taking every opportunity to visit his daughter when he’s in the area, seriously, c’mon

Temari got done so dirty in that one episode.. here’re some much better words than I could ever muster but generally I’d want her to be less the ‘scary, overbearing, harsh’ mother and more the ‘strict but cool and sneaky’ mother, like she’d honestly be the type to use reverse psychology and gentle manipulation, she’d make her boy do some seemingly meaningless task that somehow makes him have an epiphany and come back to her when he’s done like “I know what I did wrong now and I’m sorry” than just shout at him and refuse to make dinner (also I just really like to hc that she’s a terrible cook so it’s Shikamaru who does all the cooking anyway)

it’d be really great to see Hina either being the new clan head or at least otherwise involved in Hyuuga clan politics, so we could actually see how she’s working to destroy that whole slavery thing they’ve got going, rather than that plotline just being dropped somewhere around the end of the chunin exam arc and never picked up again (I mean I assume that it’s all supposed to be fixed by now, but that’s not the kinda thing that should happen entirely off-screen) and so we can see her life revolving around something other than Nart and her kids, she’s remarkably capable and had so much potential but she’s been denied every opportunity to really exist as her own character by the writers

Kiba…… what the hell is going on with Kiba? where is he? what is he doing? how’s he feeling these days? is he supposed to be married to that nameless cat lady we saw for a single panel? these are things we shall never know I guess. tbh what I’d really LOVE to see would be Kiba-sensei, just imagine him and Shino both being teachers who work in completely opposite ways, Shino is the quiet, inspiring, lowkey scary one and Kiba is the gigantic fucking dork one who cheers his students on way too loud and makes the classes super fun and joins in the kids games, him and Shino have a class rivalry and Kiba is constantly roping students into joining his attempts to prank Shino (they’ve never once succeeded but oNE DAY)

Ino should be the next head of Konoha’s intelligence division, I will fight kishi on this one

why the actual fuck is oroch still happily living it up in his penthouse lab?? kill the fucker. or at the very least imprison the fucker. just say that Mitsuki was an old project of his that somehow kept developing in his absence, or was a product of research carried out by some lackeys’ years after he’s gone, anything that means I don’t have to accept that everyone has apparently forgiven him for everything and knows that he’s still experimenting on kids but just don’t care

and on that last note: Justice for Yamato 2k17

right now let’s get onto the actual plot/story for this very self-pandering au

make Sarada the main char. while I can see why they would choose to go with Boruto, honestly Salad’s more interesting a character and! A Girl!! Main Character!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!! focus on her goal to be hokage and her struggles with her parents and follow up on that ‘restoring the Uchiha’ plot thread that just.. dropped right off the map somewhere between 699 and 700, her reconciling what her clan was with what she wants to make it

get rid of that weird demon-sensing eye thing that’s going on. and the demon thing in general. and also that jarring post-apocalypse future thing they’re building up. I didn’t slog through over a decade of kishi’s bullshit just so my kids didn’t get to live long, happy lives. make the plot just slice-of-life fluff, nothing more dangerous than a bully, just some kids trying to be awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore bc peace and all that

waaay more of Chocho, Himawari and Inojin (at least enough so they all get equal billing)

show how the ninja world has grown and developed since the end of the original series (not just technologically), what do ninja do now that there aren’t any wars and international relationships are at an all-time high? have missions completely gone from being combat and intel based to more about construction and assistance? are ninja numbers actually dropping, favouring civilian jobs in these more peaceful times? how well are people – ninja or not – adjusting to these changes? is learning ninja techniques still encouraged but in a way that’s more about culture and traditions than actual use in combat (in the same way that swordplay today is mostly practiced for performance, fun and sport, rather than out of any real-life practicality)? there are so many interesting things to explore that you don’t even need to be adding in new threats to keep the series entertaining

I’ve said this before, but I think it’d be really cool and cute if after the end of the war and with some drastic changes to the ninja world’s politics, this next gen is less about becoming ninja, than realising that they’ll never be ninja (at least not in the way that their parents were) and how they react to that. maybe they’re frustrated because they hear so many cool stories about the grand battles of the previous generation and they want to be able to do those things too damnit! so the kids are just going around trying to be super-awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore, picking fights and trying to make their boring d-rank missions seem more important and dangerous than they really are, maybe at some point they learn a bit more about how hard and traumatising that life was for their parents and why the world had to change, until they eventually decide that if the role of a ninja has to change, then together they’re gonna discover what that new role will be, what will being a ninja really mean in this new, peaceful world?

and, a final ending note: fuck ike’s sickening treatment of Sarada with regards to her sexualised presentation and the disgusting reveal that someone taught Boruto (a young child!) the sexy jutsu. Let The Kids Be Kids 2k17

[rpchive]

Sixty Fifth Encounter-- Above and Beyond

look at all this fucking kleivenn lore. also, we finish the Starbound arc!

The IT once again comes to a stop on the outskirts of the Kleivenn city rather than inside of it. The creature from before does not seem to be near the IT, however, giving them a safe entry. Karumet: Don't suppose we'll be able to get in without being let in...unfortunately, if you had a way to speak to someone in the city, you probably wouldn't have needed to make this trip... Collin: Well, no one thought to give me a magical Kleivenn phone, so it wasn't really an option. At least the giant messed up ones aren't wandering around at the moment. Karumet: Regardless, we should probably try to get someone's attention. As she steps out onto the sands of the city, Nine's voice answers from what is simultaneously everywhere and yet nowhere at all. Nine: Don' be so ridiculous! Y' think I ain't gonna notice ya walkin' around my place? I knew yeh were comin' b'fore y' even stepped out. Now, I'm guessin' yer wantin' 'n audience 'r some'in'? Collin: Essentially, yes. There's something we'd like to talk with you about. Nine: Well, pick a door; I ain't got all day. Well; I guess I do; but there's better stuff t' be doin'. Collin: What, you didn't want to see us again? He answers while he walks over to the closest building and pushes the door open. The door opens to the same hallway; transitioning from battered, dusty sandstone to clean tiles and proper stone, leading into the actual city. Nine: Nah, it ain't like that; I like yer comp'ny; I jus' don' like sittin' around in one place too long.

sounds more like a spiral problem than a nocturne problem

Collin and the others walk down the hallway toward the city. "I suppose I can't blame you there. I assume everything's been alright on your end so far?" Nine: Everythin's been pretty av'rage; jus' a bunch a' th' same ol' stuff. Makin' sure everyone's alright; makin' sure none a' th' 'beasts come slippin' in...borin' stuff. The hallway lets out to an entire courtyard of sorts; a rather large water fountain sits in the center with a large, serpentine, stone dragon in the center of that; the dragon itself is coiled around a large, crystalline vase that pours a seemingly endless amount of water out of it. Around the fountain are four rounded stone benches, and four pathways stretching out from beneath them; two of which lead into the city; one of which leads off to where Nine's "office" is. On the edges of these paths are patches of grass and flowers, various flowered bushes and trees lining the edges of the stone archways and passages. Though there are no visible sources of light, the area still seems to be well lit. More interesting, however, is the fact that the sun has mostly set within the actual city, while it was midday when you landed. Collin: Uh, was that hallway longer than I remember it being, or is there another reason why the sun is in a completely different position now? Nine: Nah, 's always daytime out there. 'S a desert, after all; 's s'posed t' make y' uncomf'rtable. Collin: So time moves differently in here? Nine: Nah; tha' city y' show up in ain't real. If anythin', time don't move out there at all. Collin: Ah. Well then... that's something to think about, I guess. The group continues on down the path to Nine's office. Draped across the arms of her chair, Nine continues to stare up at the ceiling as the group enter the room. She has made no effort to repair or replace the table that Tori broke during their last visit; she's simply shoved it into a corner of the room where it's out of the way. "Anyway; y'all have some'in' t' say?" alienrabitt: Uhh, yeah, I guess. Did you guys ever get attacked by...what was their name; Xentrilis? Blinking a bit, Nine looks over towards the group. "Nah. Ain't seen 'im since th' war. Ain't nobody seen any 'f us since th' war." Collin: Well that's good to hear. Maybe what you saw was the future, then?Nine: Ain't possible. He's dead. Ev'ryone's dead 'cept fer me.

you’re taking that surprisingly well. then again, I guess Nine’s had a few hundred years to get over it

Nydins: But if it hasn't happened, then it will, right? This is the city you saw all torn up and burning down? alienrabitt: Yeah, unmistakably. Nine: Look, y'all clearly ain't gonna listen t' someone who was there; how 'bout y'all scoot on down t' th' library 'n ask Holly t' tell yeh 'bout th' damn war; maybe then you'll realize why Xen ain't gonna come getcha in th' middle a' th' night. Collin: Alright, we'll bite, but this conversation isn't over yet. Stranger things have happened than a dragon god coming back from the dead. Nine: While tha's true; it ain't th' case fer this. Y'll see. Collin sighs and turns to the others. "Alright, I guess we need to find a library for now." Backtracking to the courtyard; the group sort of meanders through the city for a bit before finding the library in question. A young kleivenn, serpentine in body, yet with several sets of wings, is coiled up patiently behind the front desk. Her entire body is a dusty, rose pink, with glowing runic markings barely stretching out from beneath her multiple layers of fluffy, warm clothes. Adjusting her goggles, she chimes out a sincerely welcoming greeting as she waves at the group.

it her

Fawkes: Hello! Are you Holly? ???: Me? Oh, no; I'm only her secretary. Holly's probably in the history section; I can't even remember the last time I saw her leave. Fawkes: Ah, could you point us in that direction, then? Stepping out from behind the desk, the secretary slinks along like a ferret among rows of tables and bookshelves; carefully coiling her tail around her body and folding her wings so as to not knock anything over. "Certainly! This way, please." The group makes their way after her, trying carefully not to bump into anything as well. Guided by the pink secretary; the group arrives at a desk no bigger than three feet wide surrounded by stacks upon stacks of books at least seven feet high each. The desk itself is covered in a multitude of tiny papers and notes; most of which are handwritten in ink by a quill made from a feather no longer than 5 inches. Squeezing around one of the book stacks is a white dragon equally as small as her desk space; tiny frills on the sides of her cheeks and the top of her head similar to Karumet's flap anxiously at the size of the crowd around her workspace. Blinking tiny, red eyes the size of marbles, who you can only assume is Holly adjusts the long, green scarf trailing behind her so that she can be heard around it: "Iris; tours do not extend to my workspace." Iris: Oh, well, yes; I understand this; but these outsiders came to speak with you specifically! Glancing you over in particular, Holly starts climbing one of the stacks of books, a muffled jingle being made with each movement. "Yes; outsiders indeed...must be Nine's doing..." Collin: I'm guessing this isn't the first time she's done this, then? Holly: While it isn't the first time; you're probably the first human to set foot in these walls in over a thousand years. Though I am not offended by your presence; I am...curious as to how you found this sacred place as you are. Collin: Ah, right, I suppose that'd need explaining. To cut a long story short, a little while back Tori and a few other Kleivenn needed help after we escaped from someone doing experiments on them. Karumet brought us here, and Nine helped us out. He gestures casually to Tori and Karumet as he mentions their names. "We came back to warn Nine about a..."vision" that Tori had, but he said that it was impossible and told us that you could tell us why." Holly: ...Interesting; a clairvoyant saa; a wish born from...paranoia? Uncertainty? Insecurity? Depressing.

Iris: M-miss Holly...!! Holly: Well, what in the worlds was this vision? Demo: Xentrilis; crushing through your home like Godzilla; burning it all down. Holly: ...As amusing as you think you are; that's entirely impossible. Only the Holy Mothers left behind godshards; the remaining Eight of the Nine were destroyed entirely. Again, she glances you over. "You should know; you're the ones who killed them all." Collin: Hey, don't give me that. I'm Tori's wishmaker. If anything, I'm on your side. Holly: Then you are either impossibly old, or incomprehensibly in danger; either way, my condolences. The life you lead is neither simple, nor would I truly call it a life at all. Still, I can see why Nine chose to send you all to me; so allow me to educate you. Climbing over a few stacks, Holly grabs one of the top books, shoving it open to a picture similar to the one on the scroll in Lou's house. Holly: Several thousand years ago; when the Earth was inhabited by truly intelligent life; the cosmos aligned in a unique manor that would, in all likelihood, never occur again within the lifespan of the solar system. In this moment; from the concepts of the Earth; rose the original Kleivenn Mothers. Known simply as "Stardust" and "Phoenix" among humankind; the Holy Mothers would, gradually, over the span of their blessed days among humanity, bring the Nine into creation... Holly: The Nine, known as the Holy Others; consisted of Artemis; Orion; Chariot; Xentrilis; Cadivan; Halcyon; Venzibaar; Omnivus; and...Nine, whose true name they have refused to share with us. These Holy Others created the various breeds of kleivenn that continue to walk the span of the multiverse to this very day. Holly: In the more "recent" years of the Earth's life, humanity rapidly grew threatened with the power the kleivenn possessed, ultimately deciding to attempt to drive us to extinction upon the discovery of the common saa. Using methods ranging from creating unique poisons; turning saas upon their wishmakers; and even attempting to create hybrids by merging the known organs and physical forms of both creatures, humanity slowly began to wipe our kind off the face of their homeworld. Holly: Without the help of our kind, and with no human willing to keep a saa alive long enough to find out our weaknesses, humanity began to lose their own war. Out of fear; out of desperation; out of madness; or perhaps a combination; they turned to the only being they knew that would be capable of helping them in their time of need: one of our own gods; Xentrilis. Holly: Xentrilis agreed to help humanity destroy kleivenn-kind under the conditions that the Mothers were to be targeted first, and that he would go unharmed. Agreeing to these blasphemous terms; humanity agreed to this alliance, and began to use saas as grenades; using the combined forces of the magic expelled upon their destruction and the wishes made upon their deaths to shatter and scatter our Mothers, and to bring an end to seven Others. Holly: Incapable of locating Nine after the destruction of our very birthplace and home- Kujaar, the very city you stand in today -humanity decided that the war they had waged had been successful enough; the remainder of our kind now godless, powerless, and fearful. With nowhere else to turn, and with no faith, Xentrilis lost his ability to overpower the humans that had feared him in the war, and he, too, was destroyed by captive saas. Holly: With saas no longer being stolen from the homes of survivors; of the injured; of the sick; of the poor; of the hopeless; of the helpless; the remainder of the kind members of humanity silently swore that they would continue to keep those remaining out of the public eye. From this point on, saas are not known in human history as the creatures you know us as now. They are known as figureheads; politicians; as warriors; as peacemakers; as saints and legends...but, primarily, we are known as myths; as mere whispers on the wind, and flickers in the shadows; simply bedtime stories for children who would never be capable of seeing us, and who would fear us should the day come that this should change...

Collin: Dear God... I knew the war between Kleivenn and humans was bad, but... Fawkes: A genocide. And using members of its own group as weapons... Collin: I don't even know what to say to this... Holly: Yes; I'm sure most of you wouldn't. Carefully, Holly steps away from the book and closes it, returning to her initial stack of books. "And even if Xentrilis had somehow been shattered and scattered; there's simply no way he could return without every single shard being gathered back to one place. The closest he, or the Holy Mothers, could get to returning, in that regard, would be if a saa were to absorb one of their shards into their heart; however that process has never been attempted on any known shards, as the sheer raw power of the Holy Mothers would be too much for a saa to contain, and would reduce them to their crushing point almost instantaneously." Karumet: ...Would it be possible for a saa who hasn't granted their wish to contain a shard after reaching their crushing point? Holly: Hypothetically speaking, if a saa were to maintain both their consciousness and their physical form long enough, and their wish was to return to their form, then yes, perhaps a saa would be capable of containing godshards. This has been entirely unrecorded in the entirety of kleivenn history, however, and would be far more than unlikely. Collin: Uh, that's sort of an oddly specific question, Karumet. Why would you ask something like that? Karumet: When Tori reached his crushing point; he saw two dragons, right? The Mother of Saas and Xentrilis? Holly: ...You were visited by Phoenix Herself? The Phoenix; Nine's lover? And Xentrilis? You're either a saint, or going to kill every last one of us... Karumet: I'm just wondering; if it's possible for a saa to take in shards, and Tori saw Xentrilis attack Kujaar; could it be possible that, in his final moments, he took in the remnants of a god? Holly: ...Are you implying that this saa is Xentrilis reincarnate? This Saa? Born from the wish of a human begging for a chance at life? Absolutely not. His body would reject it, and it would destroy him. Collin: Not only that, where would Tori even get these shards, and why would he want to do something like that? Holly: These shards are not as physical as you might be thinking. With the two of them presenting themselves to your saa in his final moments, it's entirely possible he could have taken either of them in in that instance; however Xentrilis would be highly unlikely. I believe he would have a better chance of taking in Phoenix. Karumet: He reached his crushing point from taking in magic involuntarily; what's saying he stopped being capable of doing that before he reformed? Collin: So, what, are you saying there's a 60-40 split between Tori either being the reincarnation of the mother of all Saas, or the Other that destroyed them all? Holly: 60-40? He either took Phoenix in or reincarnated without them; even then, this entire conversation would've surely spurred some sort of reaction had he truly taken in a godshard. Hearing about the deaths of all your friends and family wouldn't sit well with anyone... Well, I hate to break it to you, but she's right; I don't remember any of that. It just sounds terrifying, and that's probably how it feels for most kleivenn... Karumet: But that doesn't make any sense...why would you see Xentrilis destroying Kujaar if Xentrilis isn't here? Holly: Perhaps it was simply a dream. Dreams can just be dreams at times, no matter how vivid. Fawkes: You are right, technically. However, things are rarely just coincidence in our little group... Holly: And as much as I hate to disappoint you; a rarity is still a possibility... Collin: I guess so... Regardless, I appreciate you telling us all of this. Holly: Certainly! Should you ever have further questions about our history or culture, do not hesitate to return. As intimidating as you are, I see no harm in educating a human sincerely willing to learn for the good of others. Collin seems genuinely surprised. "Intimidating?" Holly: ...You are a human, after all...

wouldn’t be the first time Collin’s been intimidating; though it’s...not very hard to scare Rio

Collin: I mean I get that, but- Ergh, nevermind. We'll keep you in mind in case anything else turns up. Nodding, Holly gestures for Iris to return the group to the exit, which she does just as carefully as she the first trip. Iris: Well, what an interesting visit! She seemed to be in a pretty decent mood; I haven't seen her that engaged over a subject in quite a while! Collin: That was a decent mood? Iris: Oh yes; usually she won't even speak to visitors. Collin: Ah. I see... Iris: Hopefully you all found out what you needed to know? Collin: Well, it definitely answers a few things. I'm a little concerned at how easily everyone seems to be brushing us off, though... Iris: Brushing you off? ...Well, while it does sound concerning, Holly has a point; Xentrilis simply doesn't have the same resonance as any pre-existing race of kleivenn; so nothing would be capable of handling the power of so much as one of his godshards, assuming any exist to begin with... alienrabitt: ...But...what if something new existed? Something like a saa, but not one? Iris: ...New? Nine hasn't been able to make anything since the Others died...but..if something new that was similar to a saa came into existence, I suppose that, if it were truly that terrible, then perhaps it could under similar conditions to those your friend described... Collin: ... You guys aren't thinking what I'm thinking, right? Demo: ...First of all; I'm right here...secondly, you heard Holly; if I'd actually taken in some godshard or whatever, I would've reacted to all this already, right? Get real... Collin: I... guess? I don't know what to make of all this, honestly. Demo: There's nothing to make; y'all are paranoid, and there's a reason nobody else here wants to take you seriously.

weeeeeelllll....

Iris: I wouldn't call them paranoid; just...curious! And creative. All this hypothetical is interesting! A breath of fresh air, in my opinion. We could use more of that, honestly. Things get a bit dull around here... Collin: I suppose it would, although in a place like this, dull is better than some of your other options. Iris: ...Yeah, I guess so...regardless, I'm afraid you're out of leads... Fawkes: It seems you are right. So, what should we do now, guys? Should we just go back and leave? Guess so...can't say we didn't try, at least? As the group returns to the IT; XL stops at the console instead of going to her room. "Silky messaged me? She usually doesn't try to do that until way later in the evening..." Nydins: Oh, you two have been talking this whole time? Like pen pals? That's cute... XL: She insisted; Null's not exactly the best company. Tapping away at the keyboard, XL pulls up Silky's latest video message. The camera, rather than being in any sort of office, seems to be in what appears to be in a rather large, vacant room, save for Silky, whose helmet has been connected to the rest of her armor, and some sort of yellow avian with a rather large, red crystal dangling from a cord around his neck. Bouncing excitedly, the avian places a feathered arm around Silky's shoulders, bringing the camera close with his free hand. "Exalaar!! Exalaar!! Hahaha! We have a proposition; Exalaar!!  You've stolen something precious; Exalaar!! Now you have to return it; Exalaar!!!" Bursting into hysterical laughter for a moment, the avian settles down, grabbing the camera with both hands as he brings it mere inches from his face. "The R-10. Bring it home; Exalaar. Put an end to this cat and mouse; Exalaar. Your time is up; Exalaar." With that, the video ends.

Exalaar 8 sounds more like the name of a star or planet, right?

that’s XL’s real name

Collin: .... That wasn't good. Rio: H-he...you're not going to...? No...no, no, I can't be scared...it doesn't matter what he wants; he can't actually hurt me... Nydins: What?! We're not just handing you over to some bouncing lunatic!! Besides; if that helmet's functional, he's done more than just hurt Silky...!! Rio: But I can't let him hurt anybody else...Kluex isn't going to stop just because he thinks he's already won... Collin: So that weird pigeon's name is Kluex... but why does he want you? Weren't you just one of Greenfinger's helpers? Rio: ...No. I wasn't just reprogrammed; I was repurposed. I don't totally understand what it all is...I just know I have bits and pieces of technology from all across the sectors. Every time we went to a USCM base, they would try to see how "complete" I was. I remember that I was put through tests of some sort; but I don't remember what they were. Something to see how some sorts of functionalities were working; but every time they did that, I couldn't remember what I'd done... Collin: ... Alright then. I don't know what he wants you for, but he's not laying one stupid feather on you. On the other hand, we still need to rescue Silky. Can we find out where that video came from? XL: I can trace the message and have us there by morning. Collin: Then do it. We don't have any time to waste.

there was supposed to be a break here since everything after this is a new setting. theorettically I could’ve made a new log, but eh

As the IT comes to a stop, the group gathers in the console room. XL and Rio seemingly have not left since yesterday. XL: I've warned Almiet. I don't know if she'll find us or not; but either way, she's looking for trouble, and she's bound to find something. Other than that, whatever's out there is arguably as equally ready for us as we are for them... Collin: Fair enough. Do you know where we've landed? Rio: The coordinates traced back to an avian planet in the X sector...we peeked outside; there's some sort of...absolutely massive ship parked in the building. I'm surprised it even fit... Collin: Fair enough. So we're breaking into a ship, huh? Do we have a plan, or are we just kicking down the front door and letting ourselves in? XL: They called us; I'm sure they'll let us in... Collin: Well, fair enough. I want Rio sticking close though. I'm not letting anyone lay a hand on her. Rio: ...Um...alright...I'm not exactly sure how well that will pan out, but it's still comforting... With that, the group heads out of the IT towards the other ship. Interfacing with the door, Rio is capable of opening the ship herself. Entering the ship, the group finds massive, metallic, gray and white halls; most of which have long lines of colored light accenting them. Different halls seem to have different colored lines, as if the lines signify sections of the ship. From the main entrance, there are three choices; two varying shades of blue, and one white. alienrabitt: Well, which way should we go...? Rio: ...The white one. I don't want to go any other direction...honestly, I'd be happier to just...leave; but we can't... As the group starts towards the white-striped hallway; a low, mechanical voice interrupts them from overhead: "No, no; you don't go that way. Your friends? Yes. You? Absolutely not. Stand in the circle and wait. Failure to comply will result in punishment." Collin: And why the hell would we do that? ???: R-10 is cargo. Do not fear for her safety. She will go unharmed. She is arguably more valuable to our purposes in her current state than she was upon her construction. It's exciting, to say the least! Please don't stand in our way; we don't like stooping to the violent levels of organics.

I think I managed to convey that they all speak as a “collective,” but they all have separate views. they’re kinda like The Delightful Children from Down the Lane tbh. not really a hivemind, but unified in goals and mentality

Collin: Carg- You better tell me your name right now so I know who to disassemble once I get up there! ???: We are the Pentagonal. This is your third and final warning: separate from R-10; or the hylotl will be subjected to punishment. Collin clenches his fists and begins taking several deliberate breaths to try and steady himself. He glances over to Rio, unsure of what to do. Glancing up to the ceiling briefly before looking to XL, Rio starts backing away from the group. "They're right. They can't hurt me. And Nydins is right, too; Silky's already in trouble...I...I should..." Demo: ...Why? Why are they making us choose? They're? tough, right? If they really wanted you, they could've just taken you by force already and been done with it. ???: Absolutely not! With all of you surrounding R-10; it would be too likely that she would be damaged in the process. Even the smallest amount of damage to the proper places would kill her in an instant. We refuse to take such risks. But you refuse to leave your friends behind. You will comply. Collin: God /dammit/. Rio, I... Rio: ...It's okay. I'll be okay... With that, Rio enters the circle designated on the floor. There is a low rumble as the circle begins to sink below like an elevator, and the floor closes up seamlessly behind Rio after she lowers out of sight. There is no response from the Pentagonal; leaving the group in silence.

has a bit of a Star Wars feel, huh?

After a moment, Collin swings his fist into the closest wall, which crumples with the ease of a soda can. Collin's arm and gauntlet seem completely unaffected by the impact, and he shakes his hand out as he speaks. "They're going to pay for this..." XL: I fully intend for them to. The entire resistance will find us sooner or later. Almiet has a solid record when it comes to dealing with these people. One way or another, this war is coming to an end tonight. Collin: Good to hear. Let's get moving then. The group continues following the white-lined hallway. Though it too branches into three paths at the end; the center path is blatantly the correct way to go; leading to a large, empty, circular room, where Silky stands by a different avian than the one from the call. This new avian, baby blue in base color, has brilliant red and yellow markings dyed into his feathers. Aside from the long, red cape draped over his shoulders, he wears little more than a simple, navy loin cloth, and a large, golden, bird-shaped pendant; an equally large, red jewel latched into its talons. Kluex: ...So this is it. The human who killed Atlas, and the hopeless gaggle of misfits that assisted him. These are Inari's precious guard dogs? I can hardly believe it. Collin: You're not exactly an intimidating sight yourself. Did you wake up late and forget to put some clothes on before you ran out the door? Kluex: Says the human in an Aperture jumpsuit. At least I've changed clothes.

There is the sound of a door closing on the opposite end of the room as a woman calls out to Kluex: "Step aside; I can handle the rest from here." Beady eyes narrowing, Kluex glances behind himself. "You want to be left alone with these heathenous cowards?" The woman, who is likely in her early to mid 20s, steps into view. Dressed in mostly purple and black; the lower half of her face is obscured by a bandana; while the right side is mostly obscured by her black hair, which is significantly longer in the front than the back. Crossing her gloved arms, the woman clacks her boot on the floor impatiently. "This isn't about opinions; it's about impressions; Kluex. And if you don't get moving, you'll be leaving quite the impression in the floor."

I wasn’t kidding; she really does look kinda like Sombra

Straining to hold in his contempt, Kluex breathes out a quiet, yet respectful "Understood" before taking his leave. Collin: It looks like we're meeting all sorts of new people today, huh? I assume you already know who we are, though. ???: So we are! I've been looking forward to meeting you in person as well. The other human...the legend...the foil...it's impressive! You come onto the scene out of nowhere, and take out in an instant two figureheads that the resistance couldn't even find over the span of the entire war on their own! How could I not want to bring you here? But I'm being rude; you aren't from around here, so you aren't familiar with our names. I'm Asra Nox. XL: You?! You're the Asra Nox? But you're just-- Asra: Human? Yeah; I get that a lot. Collin: Uh, someone wanna fill in the people who aren't from this universe? Asra: Everyone knew there was a fifth party involved in this little arms race between races; but nobody could put any faces or names to them. Some suspected I was a novakid; or perhaps a penguin; but no...I'm very much human. Not a cyborg; no magical prowess; simply...organic. Atlas and Greenfinger were curious about me, to say the least. The Pentagonal saw potential in allying with me, and personally sought me out, offering to meet my demands in exchange for the opportunity to observe me in the process. Kluex was the only member that seemed hesitant to have me on board; he doesn't see my potential like the others. He seems convinced that I have...bigger plans... Collin: Then what are your plans? You seem to be playing with some some very big names here, after all. I would assume whatever you want would have to be pretty big to require doing that, right? Leaning up against Silky, Asra snaps her fingers. "You would be correct in that assumption." The entire back wall lights up as a giant screen; five, humanoid silhouettes are seen seated at a table; two of which are already on the edges of their seats. After a few more moments, a large rig of cords and wires lowers from the ceiling in front of the wall, Rio strung from them like a puppet, her accents and the eyes in her visor now a dull gray color. Collin: RIO! What did you bastards do to her?

The figure on the furthest right bounces eagerly in their seat. "This is it!! This is it!! This is the R-10!! It can do anything! It can interact with anything!!" They pause, clapping excitedly. "What should we shut down first?!" Asra: ...Any suggestions? I'm feeling pretty generous. XL: Let her go!! Let them both go!! Put an end to this madness!! Asra: I am putting an end to it. You said it yourself, right? 'This war is coming to an end, one way or another?'

see originally Asra was gonna have some long-winded conversation with Collin about his opinions on the aliens and such he’d befriended, only to tell him that all of them were bad and selfish and that they were likely lying to him to gain his trust just so they could use him; this would’ve spiraled into the Bad Route where Asra would’ve “offered” to “help” Collin see the “truth” about things like them, but that’s one of two alternates that never happened

Collin: What, do you really think turning Rio into some kind of hacking machine is going to end the war? The other interested Pentagonal chimes in: "Dial her up, Asra. Before one of us dies of suspense." Turning to face Rio, Asra responds: "Get me Almiet." The screen on the back wall divides in half within seconds as Almiet answers on a different ship. Almiet: "Asra Nox! It's been too long." Asra: We haven't met face to face before... Almiet: "Oh, don't worry; I'll fix that real soon." Asra: I'm afraid not. This game is over. Almiet: "Guess again." The view of the room she's in widens to reveal a significantly smaller control room than that of the S.S. Koi. "I'm alone. And I'm coming for you myself." Asra: You always think you're one step ahead of everyone; don't you? Almiet: "No; I never think. It takes too long. I already know what I need to do; and I'm doing it." Asra: Then you and I might not be so far behind each other. Snapping a second time seems to cause every ounce of lighting save for the emergencies in Almiet's ship to cut off. Squinting briefly, Almiet pulls up her hood. Almiet: "Everything's off. Even the air. Even the engine. You're trying to strand me." Asra: I don't try; I get results. Almiet: "Then I'd say you and I are actually on the exact same page." Reaching down to grab her spear, Almiet visibly braces herself for impact. As if on cue, her video cuts out in the very instant the larger ship rocks slightly. XL: ...You're right. The war will end. But it's our win. Not even giving Asra the decency of hearing her violin; Almiet comes barreling down the hallway, blade at the ready as she skids to a halt. "So you finished the rig? Big deal! This is Rio we're talking about!! She's one of us; so you can't possibly hope to keep her down!!" Asra: ...Now who said I wanted anyone out of the picture? Tell me, are you familiar with Erchius? XL: ...This...this ship isn't the Pentagonal...it's a cage!! Stepping forth into the small crowd, Asra points to Collin and Tori before making a downward gesture. Within an instant; the pair is beamed to a different part of the ship with Asra. Collin: Shit! Where did you just take us? Asra: ...The two of you. I was told there was only one person responsible for everything; but when the Pentagonal "interrogated" your friend, she knew about both of you. It was like watching a second timeline; entirety inexplicable, and yet...the only thing that made sense. We had such little time to prepare; I couldn't find a proper way to put an end to something like him...but I did find something to slow you down. Asra makes an upward gesture this time, and Tori is restrained against a large sheet of metal within moments. Collapsing down into a chair, the metal's new form no longer hides the massive tank of sickly blue liquid behind it. Flickering between his lighted form briefly, Tori groans as he struggles to free himself to no avail, giving up uncomfortably quickly. Collin points his gauntlet straight at Asra. "I don't know what the hell that is, but you let him go right now or I guarantee that you are not leaving this room." Asra: ...You don't want to do that. I'm the only one that could release your glitch friend without destroying her personality. Besides; she's going to be here in a moment. Would you really want her to see you do something like that? Collin: What? Why are you bringing her here? Asra: Because I need her to open the door for me. Erchius is obedient; but it can get...eager. Collin: What are you talking about? Who the hell is Erchius?

well, more of a what. she’s actually talking about the Erchius Horror, which is from the Erchius Mining Facility (the codex entries are super fucked)

As Rio lowers down into the room, many of the cords and wires disconnect, save for one large, central one. Making eye contact with both Collin and Tori briefly, Rio turns her attention to Asra, speaking in a flat tone: "It's ready." Asra: ...Can I ask you something personal? Would you do this? Would you want to? Rio stares at her for quite some time before giving a response: "...No." Asra: ...Then I won't push this envelope further. Get the door; we need to work quickly. alienrabitt: ...I don't know...what you're doing...but don't...don't make her do it to him.... Asra: Oh no, she won't be involved. It's only me and him. I don't want to kill either of you. Collin: Do what, dammit? You still haven't answered to anything I've said! Asra: ...You'll find out firsthand. I won't need to answer. Stepping across the room, Asra heads for a door that does not open until she is immediately in front of it. "This way." Collin: And just leave Tori hooked up to this...thing? Asra: ...Let me ask you something; if I were to step down; let this entire war slide; let your friends go; would you even bother hearing me out? Collin: ... I'd be extremely confused as to what sort of game you're playing here, but... I can listen. Asra stands in the doorway for what feels like hours in silence before stepping back into the room. "...At a loss for how to handle it; the  delegates and diplomats of each race met to develop a plan to stop the beast responsible for destroying an entire planet that was still roaming free among the sectors. The ceature that ate the planet Earth...was sealed away in a meteor. A giant meteor. This was the only solution anyone could come up with that would bring no harm to other parties..." Asra: But a meteor of that size doesn't form naturally. And a creature that size doesn't just slide into a meteor, either. It would have to be created by other means...by magic. An art form long thought to be gone; there were barely any left who practiced such things; let alone those with power strong enough to create and maintain something of that size. They burned through a multitude of magic users to create the meteor, my mother included. This stopped the creature for a time; but the meteor was frail on it's own, and soon, it began to crack like an egg... Asra: At a loss for what to do, these delegates accepted that the creature would break free, slowly consuming the sectors one planet at a time. But humanity is unique in comparison to all these...things. We deal with everything in extremes; right down to the very emotions we express. My father, the last magic user; The Last Mage; stepped forward when no others could. With the futures of multiple civilizations on the line; he didn't even stop to question whether his life was a fair price to pay. Reinforcing the meteor with every ounce of his magical power; my father lost his life to the creature as well; but saved every being among the sectors. Asra: ...Twenty years later; that very meteor is coming back. Contained to a point, but alive, that creature is seeking out freedom; seeking out more...

ah yes, The Ruin...beware; starbound spoilers

Collin: ... And you want us to stop it, am I right? Asra: ...You could. Or, we could do what I've been doing, and keep running. Collin: Run? What good is that going to do for anyone? Asra: It would bring an end. To the war. To the boundaries of the sectors. To every single soul that...demanded my parents die for them...out of their own ignorance and cowardice... Collin: You expect me to just stand aside an let an entire universe's worth of life be wiped out by some planet-sized blender? You realize you'd be throwing away what your parents died for in doing that, right? Asra: They shouldn't have died for them to begin with!! They knew what the consequences would be shouldering that kind of thing on their own; they should've known better than to just...give up! There had to be a better way to handle it; out of all the technology available; none of it could stop something like that? I can't believe that! Collin: I... don't have the answer to that. I don't know enough about this universe's technology, and I certainly can't see into theoretical futures. Regardless of whether or not it was the best decision, it was a decision that they made. I'm certain that they wouldn't have made such a grand sacrifice if they truly thought that there was another option at the time. Asra: ...It doesn't matter which one of us is right. That thing is still coming...if none of us can stop it for good; everybody trying to fight this war, good or bad, is going to die. alienrabitt: ...Why...? Asra: Because of the giant--!! alienrabitt: ...Why did you call it here...? Asra: Wh...what? alienrabitt: ...You lied...Erchius...it isn't here...you used it...used Rio...to bring the meteor here... Collin: What? How did Rio bring a sealed up planet destroyer here? alienrabitt: ...It's a chain of fish. Asra rigged Erchius...Rio manipulated Erchius...Erchius manipulated the thing...it's dragging the meteor here... Collin: Well, so much for the "run" plan, huh? alienrabitt: ...Don't be ridiculous. We parked the IT...in front of her front door... Asra: ...Where are you even drawing these conclusions from? alienrabitt: I can see it...I can see...everything you're trying. The coffin; the fragment; our friends. You steal the IT...you take it to our Earth...between the two of us; you get what you want; but you're not happy...we're not people like that...you know that...you regret it...what you did to him...so don't. Don't run...you can make this right... Backing away in discomfort, Asra finally starts looking nervous. "I...I..."

this one’s an interesting one; 2ri’s talking about the Bad End Asra would’ve caused. I actually debated trying to make Asra a separate person for a bit, but ultimately I decided against it. she still wound up acting different from this point, though, which is what I wanted

alienrabitt: ...Go upstairs. End this. You have to...someone has to...or it'll kill us...all of us... Collin: For what it's worth, I can lend a hand. There's a bit more to me than you might think at a glance. Asra: ...If you can, then feel free to try. I wasn't kidding; I don't even have a fraction of my parents' power. Collin: Let me do the heavy lifting then, I can take it. Just let me know what needs to be done. One last time, Asra gestures up, bringing only her and Collin to the upper levels of the ship. Pulling down the bandanna covering her face, Asra heads for the area where Almiet crashed in. "...He was right. All your friends are stuck back on your ship. I wasn't planning on killing any of you." Collin follows behind her. Collin: Could've fooled me. So, what's our objective? Seal this thing away, or try to end it here and now? Asra: ...It's already sealed; just not enough...dad did what he could; but...he wasn't perfect. No normal human could totally seal this thing alone... Collin: Well, here's a little tip for you... His eyes flash purple for a split-second. "I am not your average human."

I kinda knew who we were gonna see next based on that tbh. I was pretty hype

Asra: ...Then we might stand a chance after all. Stepping out onto the upper half of the small ship Almiet undoubtedly hijacked from somebody else, Asra looks up to the sky, already beginning to darken as some large, misshapen "ball" begins to block out the sun. Collin: I'm gonna make a quick guess and say that's our target. Am I right? Asra: Seems like it. Think you'll be able to handle that? Collin: Shouldn't be too hard. I had to actually wrestle the last giant monster I had to deal with; this one can't even fight back! You guys just enjoy the show, we've got an idea. Asra: ...'We'? Collin climbs out of the hole Almiet's ship made and drops all the way down to ground level. His leg's air shard sends out a cushion of air which scatters the grass and cushions his landing, and he strides out a ways from the ship until he's surrounded by a decent area of land. He takes a deep breath, stretching out his arms to the side, and speaks briefly to himself. Collin: Alright... I think I get the plan, but I'm going to need some help with getting enough power for this. I knew I should've just topped off from Firefly's tanks before we left. Maybe we can- Right, nevermind, later. Alright, let's do this thing! Collin's eyes turn purple again, and he is consumed by a flash of purple light. When it fades, a young man has taken his place. His torso is completely obscured by a purple cloak, its surface shifting and swirling like oil floating over water. He wears a simple pair of circle framed glasses, although one lens is covered by a small eyepiece cast in brass. He extends his arms out to the side, opening his robe, and the inner surface of the cloak appears to be a galaxy spotted by countless stars. His body is covered by various utility belts lined with pouches and containers of every size, and at his hip is a golden wand wrapped in weathered paper and capped with bone at either end, which quickly snaps to his left hand. He looks up at the object obscuring the sun, and smiles slightly. ?: They were so close... the poor things. Rest easy, your work shall not be in vain. I have sealed things far more powerful than you, monster. Take heart, for your prison will be one of the finest this universe will ever know. He begins moving his wand around in slow, fluid movements, casually turning his body in a circle as he does so. Certain areas of the ground begin to glow with runic markings, and as he finishes his circle, the runes are ripped up out of the ground, and the six mounds of earth instantly take the shape of diamonds, one point at each tip and four points ringing the middle in a square. The man's motions change to sharp, directional swings, and the diamonds begin to etch themselves with glowing runes, each diamond possessing a different color. He then snaps his wand straight up, and the diamonds hurtle sharply into the air, coming to stop instantly in a ring high above his head. He spins in a circle and then points his wand directly at the ball in the sky, and the diamonds skyrocket through the atmosphere up to the object, each one taking a position around the ball to form a three-dimensional cross with the ball at its center. The man slashes the wand downward, and the diamonds slam into the surface of the ball, spinning rapidly as they bore into the surface, quickly digging themselves down to their midpoints before stopping. Finally, the man points his wand directly at the object, and a burst of white light erupts from the wand's tip, hitting one of the diamonds' points and arching out to all of the others. There is a blinding flash, and as the light dims, the ball's surface is now converted into an incredibly complex and intricate series of interlocking circles and runes, with the diamonds jutting out from its surface. The man casually stows away his wand and retracts his arm back into the robe, smiling in a satisfied way, and Collin returns in another flash of purple light, his markings completely gone save for his left hand.

Squinting at Collin, Asra shakes her head. "Maybe not so human; yeah..." Collin looks up at the newly formed prison in the sky, and then flops backwards gracelessly onto his back, limbs spread out haphazardly on the grass. He calls out from below to whoever can hear him. "I'm okay! Just... a little winded..." Glancing from the ball to Collin, Asra carefully attempts to get closer to the ground. "You...you? You did it; I'm not sure how; but you did it! I'm impressed. Confused; but impressed." Collin: It was... a group effort. Thank Precantaro, he... he did most of the headwork making that thing. He says it was remarkable work, but they didn't have the...manpower to finish out the details. He just polished up the design a bit, added his own touch... Nothing's breaking out of that thing... Asra: You shapeshifted; or something like it. I've never seen anything like that. It was phenomenal; but unfortunately Kluex's empire might've been the only other witnesses. There shouldn't be any backlash, though; the sun's almost equally sacred to them, so if anything they'd be grateful. Though I don't think any of them would know what that thing is from here... Collin: Well, I'll take what breaks I can get. Just as long as they don't want me to move that thing too... I'm sure you guys can handle that. Collin rolls over and pushes himself onto his feet, pausing to dust himself off. "Now then, get Rio out of that godforsaken machine, give us Silky back, and let us out of here." Asra: ...Right. Turning back to the ship, Asra makes several vague gestures before stepping back through the hole and interacting with a panel on the nearby wall. Several moments later, the IT is dragged through the ship like a prize in a claw machine, carefully placed beside Asra in the hallway. "Rio should be up with your other friend in a bit."

that image is so silly to me, omg...

Collin: And Tori? Did you already get him out of that freaky chair thing? Asra: Who did you think Rio was bringing? Inari's in the box with the rest of your friends. Collin: It's "Silky". Asra: ...Yeah, Silkwaltzer Inari; also known as Mizuchi's Jewel. I remember seeing her on TV as a kid; she was beautiful...but Atlas ruined that, too. Fortunately, he didn't plan on the person responsible for that armor to see it again. It'll take some time, but I'm sure I could find a way to force the armor to unbind from her without killing her. Also, the helmet doesn't function. She thought I didn't notice; but I don't think she knows I made the whole set.

yyyep, there’s Silky’s reveal too!

Collin: You what? Asra: I made that armor myself. I wasn't magical like my parents, but I'm smart. Damn smart. If I made it; I can break it. I can set her free; fix the mistake Atlas made. If I'd known he was gonna use it on her, I would've made it way more dysfunctional... Collin: Dear God, when? This would be huge for her! Asra: Probably about 5 years ago. I'm sure I still have the blueprints; I could look it over for a while; probably bust her out in a week or two... Collin: Let me go get her, she needs to hear about this. Asra: Be my guest. Collin quickly steps inside the IT. The remainder of the crew, including Almiet and Silky, are in the console room. Silky has long since ditched her helmet, and her and XL have been speaking with Almiet this whole time. Almiet: ...Oh; it's the guy! The Collin one, right? It's so hard to tell humans apart... Collin: I mean, I'm the only one with a prosthetic leg like this... I hope? Almiet: That's...fair. Well, watcha got? Collin: That Asra person made Silky's armor. She thinks she can break Silky out of that thing. XL: ...The leader of the opposing factions of the war wants to help the ex-girlfriend of her late co-conspirator? Why? She knows the helmet didn't work, right? Collin: Actually yeah, she knew the helmet was busted the whole time. Silky: ...She didn't bust me in front of the Pentagonal... Almiet: She also didn't stop you from bringing us all back here! I'd say she figured you'd help us out alive no matter what. Y'know, despite everything, she really is still a good kid.

interesting thing Almiet’s been saying that nobody pointed out; Almiet knew Asra before all of this

XL: Why are we trusting the war criminal suddenly? Collin: Aren't you guys also technically criminals? Almiet: Mostly me. But we did it for good! Asra; not so much... Collin: I can't argue there, but I think she's trying to redeem herself, to some degree. If you want to chase this, be my guest, but I can't make you trust her. Almiet: And if you still don't trust her; bring Rio. Wherever she is... Collin: Asra said she and Tori were on the way here. I imagine they'd be here soon. Maybe I should wait outside, though... Almiet: I'm sure we're not the only ones she needs to make up to; so I'd have to agree. Collin: You're welcome to come with if you want to question her yourselves, but I'm heading out. Collin turns and heads for the IT door. Asra is standing out in the hallway with Rio and Tori. Tori, however, is mostly draped over Rio instead of really standing on his own. Asra: Sorry about the speedwell; I tried to seriously water it down with other things, but I wasn't sure what would actually work or not. Fortunately, you didn't overdose or slip into a coma... alienrabitt: Nah, don't feel too bad...it wasn't as bad as it looked. Honestly, the worst part was how out of whack it was making me. I couldn't stop, well, seeing things. It was hard to pick out what was going to happen; what was possible; and what was actually happening, honestly. Collin: Okay I'll try one last time: Does anyone wanna tell me what the hell that chair thing was? Asra: The chair was hooked up to a tank full of some incredibly low-grade speedwell poison. The flower's totally harmless to literally anything and everything else; but it's a different story for whatever your friend is. It was hard to tell myth from fact around here, though, since there's barely been any recorded cases of anything like him here, so I just went under the assumption that giving him a solid dose would absolutely kill him and tried to use as little as possible. Realistically most of that was a bunch of other stuff I had for similar purposes.

speedwell poison is an even older reference to my like, very first persona

it was inspired by Taggerung, ‘cause Dayna had a marking shaped like a speedwell flower

Collin: ... Suddenly I'm right back up on the fence about you. Asra: Like I said, it was only enough to slow him down. I didn't want him breaking out and stopping me before I'd...well, nevermind. alienrabitt: Oh, so you actually were planning on doing that? Fuck you. Asra: But I didn't! I'm glad I didn't; he's alright. Collin: ... Do I want to know? Rio: I'm guessing this is about the Erchius shard. Th-the fact that you even had that...I don't even want to think about what that would actually? do to a person... Asra: Less than you'd think, but more than you'd like. Collin: I really don't like what this conversation is implying... Asra: Listen, Erchius is entirely safe in a controlled environment; you just need to be very careful about it. If it gets too eager or something, it'll start messing with whatever it wants; but otherwise, it's very precise. Probably would've taken a few tries, but-- ah, gosh, old habits; I just can't help it, though; everybody told me Erchius was too self-centered to be used practically; but I did it. Honestly; it's like these people never tried to train anything before... Rio: Y-you used that on multiple people?! Asra: Only for Kluex's bird buddies; I never really got to-- ahhh, you almost got me again! You rascal. Collin pinches the bridge of his nose. "God, I don't know how much more of this I can take..." Asra: Well, if it makes you feel any better, the personality stays in tact. Erchius doesn't like that kind of thing. alienrabitt: I swear to the gods, if I could actually move... Asra: Hey, hey, I backed down...nobody got hurt... Collin: I'm really beginning to question your trustworthiness here, Asra. Asra: Listen, I would never hurt another human. I just didn't know if you'd try to fight your way out of the situation before you found out all your friends were actually safe. Had to find a way to stop you somehow.... Rio: You could've just...left me alone? Asra: But then Almiet wouldn't have shown up. Everything had a reason; don't worry... Collin: I... guess? I don't know, I'm just worn out at this point. Precantaro took a lot out of me back there... Rio: Maybe you should have seafood instead...

no, no, he’s not italian food...

alienrabitt: I...think he's talking about-- nevermind. We should go. Asra: Suit yourselves. I'll start looking over the armor, then. See you later! Collin: Right, I... guess we'll check back in later? He shrugs, and then pulls open the door of the IT for Rio and Tori. Slightly nervous still, Rio half-heartedly waves goodbye to Asra as she helps Tori back onto the IT Collin steps in after them and closes the door.

whew, alright; that one was a bit longer. next one should be way less “active,” whatever it is.

[woolishlygrim]

Thinking about Digimon 2020′s first big storyline.

Alright, so the first big storyline of Digimon AUdventure has ended, so it’s a good time to take stock of how it all went.

Obviously, this is all just my opinion, but I think it goes without saying that all of my opinions are objectively correct revelations from God and if you happen to disagree that automatically makes you morally inferior to me, I guess.

So, I’m liking AUdventure? But it is an extremely flawed series. Not irredeemably flawed, it’s not Xros Wars, but still very flawed.

Like, we had the two consecutive evolution arcs where even though the episodes themselves were solid, it was just too much of the same. We had that twelve episode period where it was just nothing but fighting, and that was so tediously boring I think a lot of people stopped watching, and honestly, it’s tough to blame them. And throughout the series, there’s been a fundamental problem with a lack of any distinct, characterful villains (Devimon was the closest we got, and he was kind of a non-entity a lot of the time).

The plot’s also been generally meandering, and by that I don’t mean ‘the show goes too long without plot episodes’ that’s not necessarily a problem, I mean that as the show goes on, it more and more starts to drift from one plot to another. We start off with the really strong Algomon arc, but then we segue into a Devimon-and-Soundbirdmon arc that just sort of fades out in favour of Eyesmon and then fades back in, except then we also have the Calamaramon arc going on, and all those arcs nominally tie into the Big-Eye-Thing-In-The-Sphere arc, except then it gets shoved not so much onto the back burner as off the cooker altogether in favour of a Millenniumon arc that starts with a still very meandering ISS arc placed awkwardly around a DarkKnightmon arc, before we eventually get back on track with the journey-to-FAGA arc.

It’s kind of a mess. 

I’m inclined to blame behind-the-scenes shenanigans for a lot of this, whether that be Bandai pushing toy deadlines meaning that the show has to get its contracted-commercialising-time for specific ‘mons in, or a changing projected episode number meaning that the timeframe for the plot contracted and expanded multiple times over, or executive meddling to try and drum up more interest (and we know from Toei’s business reports that the early episodes didn’t draw in a large enough audience, which in this instance has less to do with ratings and more to do with merch sales, although we also know from those reports that the audience numbers did rise to an acceptable level). Most likely a combination of all three.

Watching the fandom has been ... interesting, because fandoms tend to be full of very credulous people and people prone to catastrophising, which is how we got situations like “A youtuber told me that it’s a really bad sign if any show in Japan doesn’t regularly get in the top 10 most watched shows for a week, so now I’m Alarmed, even though if I applied a basic understanding of statistics I would immediately know that’s not true.”

The ratings are fine, incidentally. They’re actually incredibly normal, not coming anywhere near the dizzying heights Adventure 01 did (or the even more dizzying heights Adventure 02 reached), but fitting comfortably within the window of ‘about what we’d expect for a show in that timeslot on that channel.’ The ratings data is staggering in its utter mundanity.

But beyond all that, the show actually has a lot of really good points. It feels like when the writers are allowed to cut loose and don’t have the looming need to advertise a toy to us, they have a really solid understanding of the characters and a genuine talent for fun, character-focused episodes. The entire journey-to-FAGA arc is a joy because it’s just pure, undiluted character work, and the episodes in that arc actually stack up really well against Adventure 01 episodes.

That also carries over to the end of the arc with the final battle against the Vademon cult and Millenniumon: Getting it basically over and done with in three episodes, with only one of those episodes actually set aside for Millenniumon himself, is a choice that I know is controversial, but it’s a) Not unusual: Devimon is battled and defeated within a single episode, VenomVamdemon goes down in two, the Dark Masters both go down in one each, save for Piedmon who gets two, and b) A vastly better choice than episodes upon episodes of fighting.

And we got some really great character moments in those three episodes too. Mimi making corsages because she needs to do something to stop herself feeling powerless, and motivating the others with her clear-headed view of the situation, is a really great character moment. Yamato briskly and flatly taking control of the situation, leading Koushiro and Sora into battle and briefly demonstrating his much colder, more straightforward and soldiery style of leadership is another great moment.

-- But I also think the episodes were a slight letdown for people because Millenniumon isn’t really a person, he’s a Thing, a natural disaster more than a character. That works really well for him, but since the series has no strong villains, it just highlights their absence.

Similarly, I think the evolution arcs showcase some really strong character work, and are mostly let down by the fact that they come back to back, so it feels like the show’s in a holding pattern for those episodes. 

Digimon Adventure 01 and 02 has always had two big advantages: The first was that it had an ensemble cast of fleshed out, interesting characters and backed that up with some very strong writing exploring those characters. The second, and one I think a lot of the fandom passes over because they’re unfamiliar with the society and politics it’s taking aim at (and also because, let’s be honest, a lot of them are Americans and so tend to react with something between confusion and a panic attack if you remind them the world outside America is real and complex), is some pretty razor-sharp socio-political commentary. 

Having a character who was an adopted kid, less than a decade after the legal framework for adopting children was put in place in Japan, when adopted kids were (and still are) heavily stigmatised, was a bold political statement in 2000. Having two mixed-race characters, the children of divorcees, when mixed-race kids were (and still are!) heavily stigmatised, and children of divorcees were (a n d   s t i l l   a r e) heavily stigmatised, was a bold political statement in 2000. Having characters deal with the pressures of being forced into family businesses and ultimately finding their own ways to fit into that mould was sharp socio-political commentary, as was discussing suicidal ideation in kids, as was discussing the social expectation of stifling grief and how that might affect a kid. We do not give Adventure 01 and 02 (and Tamers, actually) enough credit for being sharply, often viciously progressive socio-political pieces.

And that tradition has continued into AUdventure, at least sometimes. Like, the fact that antimonopoly laws keep being brought up, and that an entire episode was focused on the benefits of unionising, is not a coincidence. It’s not a coincidence that we got an entire episode about how small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and that that episode also had a throughline of ‘we are overworking kids.’ The writers have a different set of bones to pick with society, but when they’re let off the leash they’re just as progressive as 01 and 02 (and Tamers!)’s writers. 

And I like that. It’s something that’s lacking from Frontier, and definitely lacking from the mildly-conservative Savers and Xros Wars, and largely lacking from Appmon, although to be fair Appmon was aimed at a much younger audience than any other Digimon series, and still occasionally found something to say about data privacy and the omnipresent threat of large tech companies.

So that’s all good.

Anyway, we’re hitting a new arc now, and whether that arc is 10 or 16 or 24 or 50 episodes I can’t say, and neither can you, because a one-time report from Toei Europe is not an adequate source. What I hope is that we’ll see ... a bit of rebalancing, I guess. Keeping that strong character focus of the journey-to-FAGA arc, but maybe weaving the actual plot threads in a little more elegantly, and maybe actually giving us a proper villain. One who speaks. And has a personality. 

That last bit alone would drastically improve the series. 01 and 02 both had strong villains, and so far that’s something AUdventure has really needed but has completely lacked. The one nice thing I will say about Xros Wars is that even with its much looser plot structure, it had interesting villains. AUdventure direly needs an actual villain to give it focus.

Whew, okay, that got long. Bring on the lore episode with the big Crests.

[gyrlversion]

Amber Mark On Insecurity, Her Next Album, and Learning to Love Old Town Road

Though a thunderstorm sidelined her scheduled set at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s Union Park this past weekend, singer, songwriter, and producer Amber Mark hasn’t let the rain dampen her spirits. The artist behind 2017’s 3:33am and 2018’s Conexão EP speaks warmly and effusively as the weather clears and the sun begins to set on a chaotic summer evening.

Mark, who self-produced both 3:33am and Conexão, has steadily earned critical acclaim and a widening fanbase for her stirring alt-R&B and do-everything approach to her music. But this year, in advance of her next project, Mark is beginning to bring other creatives into her fold: April’s “Mixer,” a bouncy summer groove, was produced by “Shallow” songwriter Andrew Wyatt, while her most recent effort, “What If,” is a collaboration with Jeff Gitelman, whose credits range from work with Chance the Rapper, H.E.R., and Mac Miller.

Though additional details on her next album remain scarce, Mark knows where she’s headed with the project, as it aims to delve into a three-chapter arc of a rising artist in search of their self-confidence. MTV News caught up with the “S P A C E” singer to learn more as she awaited the Isley Brothers’s closing set to cap Pitchfork’s second night.

MTV News: Your most recent single is “What If.” On Instagram you called it your favorite song you’ve created so far. Why is that?

Amber Mark: I think just the whole vibe and the message and… I don’t think it’s the most meaningful song I’ve ever created but it’s definitely the one I bop to the most. I just feel like it’s one of those feel-good songs. Sometimes, I listen to music, and I’m like, “Fuck, I wish I created that!” And that song is one of those songs to me. I’m so happy I was able to be a part of it, and write half of it, and help with production and stuff like that. It’s pretty crazy that I get to call it mine.

MTV News: Was there a song you had in mind when you were making it?

Mark: No, not at all. [Jeff Gitelman] made this beat from scratch, and I just sang a bunch of melodies and gibberish over it, and wrote a hook, and we did the first verse. I didn’t work on it until two years later, and this guy, Lincoln Bliss, ended up writing the second verse because I had to go into the studio the following day and I was in a session prior. I didn’t really have time to write a second verse, so I just had my friend Lincoln write it for me.

MTV News: Oh, wow.

Mark: I was kinda nervous! Because he’s a poet, and I had never seen anything, and he was, like, “I’ll just try it.” And I was like, alright, you wanna try it out? I kinda expected it to not be good, but it ended up being really good. I was like, Oh, I guess I’ll use this!

MTV News: How do you know him?

Mark: He actually is — or was — a bartender at my godparent’s restaurant. And we became really good friends, and he kept telling me he was a poet.

MTV News: Having produced your past two projects, 3:33am and Conexão, what is it like to turn that process over to Jeff Gitelman on “What If” and Andrew Wyatt on “Mixer”? 

Mark: It was hard. At first I really didn’t like it. It took awhile to like any music I had done with people or even get acclimated to working with other people. But now I understand it more and I have less anxiety going into sessions. You just gotta find the right people, people that you really vibe with. It was hard having a song I didn’t write, with Andrew Wyatt, but he’s such an amazing guy and the second I heard the song, it was just a fun… Because I really try to have a lot of meaning behind the things and be really honest with a lot of stuff I have, but just “Mixer,” as a single, it was a good vibe. It really felt like a dance tune. I kinda let it go for that one and I’m really happy I did. It’s really weird. You have this mentality when you start out, No, I just wanna do it on my own. I don’t want anybody’s help. But then you just realize, opening up and compromising and things like that, you have a whole new set of ears and creativity.

MTV News: What drove your desire to learn to produce? How difficult was it to pick up?

Mark: It is still difficult. I go into sessions and I see these producers just, like, what takes me hours to do, they’re just like… I get frustrated with myself a lot, but it’s a learning experience. But when I started out wanting to do music and being an artist and writing and stuff like that, I used GarageBand and would just come up with demos and was like, oh, I’ll just show this to a producer and then we can do something with it. This was before I had put anything out. It was two years before I had put out “S P A C E.” Anytime I would go into sessions — [with] random friends of friends or whatever, anyone I could find and would wanna work with me — I never really liked what they would do. So I just learned a lot and accumulated a lot from people and there was one point where I just got really frustrated, toward the end of 2015, where I was like, y’know what? I feel like I know what I’m doing. I can do this on my own. I had just gotten Logic. That’s when I wrote “S P A C E.”

MTV News: That was the first song you produced?

Mark: That was the first song I’d finished. I had started “Can You Hear Me?” prior to that but I never finished it. I just put it out, and then one thing led to another, and then I was like, y’know what? I’m just going to continue producing on my own. And still to this day I prefer it. I get really nervous being in the studio because I feel like I’m not as quick as they are and I take a really long time to really think about what I want to write about and how I want to go about doing it structure-wise and stuff like that. So I still enjoy being on my own. I feel like I can be my weird self when it comes to that stuff.

MTV News: You mentioned to Teen Vogue that this next project will be inspired by insecurity. Where does that stem from? Relationships? Self-image? Your career?

Mark: I think it’s all of those things, really. I definitely have moments where I’m like, am I good enough? Or, self-image, physical appearance, working with other people going into sessions. I definitely have the anxiety of: I am not good enough to be here. All the time. I think that really puts a block on my creativity. I’m slowly but surely learning, and the whole album is about… It has more of a dramatic experience; it happens in three parts. It takes you on this whole little journey of being insecure and then being confident and then being overly-confident. I wanted there to be a lesson in it, and my mom is still accented in a lot of the interludes, and I wanted to have what her advice would be even though I know it probably would’ve been really shitty advice. She was always like, “Just surrender to the problems!” So, yeah, I really wanted to talk about that whole thing, and towards the end, part three is just talking about, I am enough. No matter what, I’m doing the best I can. Something I have to remind myself every day is just stay true to what you believe. A lot of people say, “Just listen to your heart and your intuition,” but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what that is.

MTV News: Your music is influenced by a range of styles from around the world. You just got back from Europe; I was wondering if you heard anything during your travels that you’re excited to wrap into your next project.

Mark: I will say, I was not a fan of the Lil Nas X song, but we went to Paris, and it was playing everywhere, and I got into it, I really got into that song. I don’t think I’ll be making anything as close to that, but I will say that became a jam, our tour jam theme song. If I were to talk to myself two months ago, or a month ago, I would’ve probably been like, “You are crazy for ever thinking you would like that song.” But I like that song now, so!

MTV News: What was inspiring about that tour for you and connecting with those fans overseas?

Mark: Oh my god, it was so surreal. I thought there were going to be, like, 10 people at some of the shows. But all of them pretty much ended up being sold out. I think we only had one that wasn’t sold out but it was 10 tickets away from being sold out. So it was pretty insane.

The first time I went to Europe I was opening, so it was a completely different experience with the response from the audience. Being at shows where all these people were singing lyrics, I really got emotional performing, especially performing “Monsoon” and having people sing along to that. I couldn’t even sing the song, I had to kinda let them take over a lot of the time.

MTV News: From your last two projects, to this upcoming one, is there any type of growth you’re hoping people will hear? Whether in your sound or your songwriting? Is there anything you’re particularly proud of?

Mark: I’m rapping a little bit on it. So that’s a whole new world for me, honestly. And I wouldn’t call myself a rapper at all because I definitely cannot freestyle. But I get a little angry on it, to a certain extent. Production-wise, I was really interested in — it’s something I never thought I would do — into the whole trap beat world. First it just started off as a joke of me making a beat like that. Then I was like, oh, this is kinda dope. I started doing more beats like that and I ended up rapping on it. So that’s different.

There will be other producers on it as well. It’s going to be a mixture, it’s going to be a collective of me doing it as well as other producers on it. That’s the first project I’ve put out that other people have touched. That’s a little scary for me. But it still has the old, minimalistic sound that I have. Then there’s some songs that are full and big and they “go hard,” as they would say. [Laughs]

MTV News: Are there any other collaborators on it apart from Gitelman and Wyatt who you want to shout out?

Mark: Oh, Timbaland!

MTV News: Really?

Mark: Oh, that I’m working with?

MTV News: Yeah, yeah.

Mark: Oh, no, no, no. I wish! Yeah, Timbaland! The future. I’m manifesting it.

This producer, he’s amazing, he produced “Put You On”: Julian Bunetta. He’s great. He’s going to be helping me with a lot of the tracks that aren’t done yet. Even the ones that have been produced by other producers. He’s kind of doing the whole executive thing on it right now.

MTV News: And Timbaland is for the next project.

Mark: Yes, Timbaland would be great. [Laughs]

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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