#i just have to remind everyone that i'm an ancient stay every now and then

[bandzboy]

clé: levanter era is so underrated and it's quite insane to me because i think levanter is one of the best skz title tracks since they kinda did something different they didn't do previously but i do feel like it was one of their best songs in terms of vocals (lino falsetto we love you) BUT ALSO.... that album is so crazy?? and so important because it was delayed (if you know you know... if you were there you know what i mean) and so songs like you can stay and sunshine had such a big impact on the fandom back in the day especially sunshine it means a lot to me to this day and it's one the best skz bsides and i think about it all the time but the bside from this album that i think is criminally underrated is booster like booster is so good?? it's such a skz standard sound but it was so fresh at the time i remember being so obsessed with it when it came out and i was so mad nobody talk about her WHERE IS THE BOOSTER LOVE??? LIKE CMON GUYS but in general, that album an era are so significant in skz and stay history and it felt very much a gift to fans at that time it was pretty rough but i feel like getting these songs after everything went down was so worth it! it's genuinely one of my fav skz eras

[escelia]

New Sibling Just Dropped

Or Danny gets willingly isekai'd into the DCU and gets a twin out of it.

I know I disappeared from the face of the earth for a bit there, and there's stuff I should probably be updating, but I come baring different stuff this time :D

Just started this for fun, and I have at least one other chapter of it done, but idk how long this bout of inspiration will last, so I'm just rolling with it for now.

@flamingpudding look! i pulled a jason todd and rose from the grave!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny was tired. The kind of tired you felt behind your eyes and in your bones, and weighed heavy with achievement. He was perched on the edge of a building in his ghost form looking over Amity Park with a soft smile as he watched Youngblood run through the park with human children, Cujo playfully on their heels. His galaxy cloak (which had been a coronation gift) billowed around his lap like a gas with stars twinkling inside. 

It had been a few years now since he took up the Crown of Fire and became High King of the Infinite Realms, and while he had accomplished many things since then, graduating from high school wasn't something on that list. It sucked that he wouldn't get to walk across the stage with Sam and Tucker, but in the face of all he'd been able to do for both Amity and the Infinite Realms, it was worth it. They coexisted now. There was still trouble every now and then, but Danny had helped the ghosts who insisted on staying in Amity Park find a place in their city where they could thrive.

Youngblood watched over the children of the city, Box Ghost started a box recycling center, Lunch Lady started a program to get food to families that couldn't afford it, and Pointdexter started reporting bullying at the school since he was already there. 

On the Realms' side, Danny shut down Walker's prison. Since it was his lair, he couldn't take it away from him completely, but it no longer housed the many ghosts the warden had considered "rule breakers." He'd given Walker a new set of rules to enforce and essentially took him under his wing as a royal soldier, kept under the close watch of Fight Knight, who'd defected from Pariah Dark so fast after his defeat that it was laughable. 

He'd done something similar with Skulker, though he was a harder case to crack. Unlike Walker, who was happy as long as he had a set of rules to enforce, Skulker wanted to keep hunting. He'd been recruited forcefully by Walker and Fright Knight after they caught him on his way to fight Danny again.

All in all, everything had begun to run smoothly now. The fatigue weighing on him reminded him that it had been hard to accomplish, and continuing to lead his double life hadn't made it any less exhausting. A cold breath rushed through his chest as he felt a familiar presence slide up next to him. 

"You didn't time out," Danny pointed out without looking to face the ghost beside him. Clockwork hummed in acknowledgment.

"Sometimes it's pleasant to watch time flow in person." It was Danny's turn to hum at him. 

"How are you feeling?" The Ancient asked thoughtfully. The younger ghost tilted his head pensively. 

"It's hard to say. I'm tired, but I'm happy. And also sad..." he paused to gather his thoughts. "I feel like I've done everything I needed to."

But not everything he wanted to do. 

"Go on," Clockwork pressed. The teenager did turn his head now to make a face at his mentor. If the guy knew how he felt and what he was going to say, why would he say it out loud? But the other just arched a brow at him and waited.

"Fine," he pouted. "I've spent so much time and energy finding places for everyone here. The GIW are gone, my parents stopped hunting ghosts, Jazz got into the psychology program at Stanford, Sam and Tucker are graduating today... I helped make that happen, I know I did! But they're moving on without me. They're growing up and I don't feel like I am."  

'I don't feel like I'm ready.'

Danny stopped to take a breath and wipe away the icy tears gathering in his eyes. He felt stupid for crying over it. He was 17 for Ancients' sake! Jazz would have told him he grew up too fast, but he still felt like a child. He had no idea what he was doing! And yet! And yet... he felt...

"But you also feel ancient, right? Like you've been around too long and seen too much?" Clockwork said as though he were reading from a script. Danny sulked. Stupid time ghost with his dumb Time Stream TV or whatever. 

"Yeah..."

"All Ancients feel that way. Though you may be feeling unbalanced in more ways than one because of how young you died and the fact you are half human."

"What do you mean?" Danny turned his whole body to face him now, tucking his knees under his chin and circling his arms around them. His cloak moved with him in inky black wisps and settled around him again like clouds of galaxies. 

Clockworks form shifted to that of a child.

"You feel young because you died young. However, it is the nature of humans to grow and change. While you may have died at 14, your childhood died before that. You yearn to grow and learn, while also being an incredibly powerful Ancient."

He supposed that made sense. He recalled all the years cleaning the lab before the portal had even been built, and the fighting and neglect (Jazz's words, not his) that spawned his disdain of Christmas even longer before. He wanted to go back to school. He wanted a reason to love Christmas. He wanted pets and family dinners that didn't come alive. He wanted to grow up properly.

"But you still want to help people," the ghost said as though Danny had been talking out loud or having his mind read. 

"I hate it when you do that," Danny complained. Clockwork just smiled smugly.

"I know." He laughed at the glare Danny threw him. 

"I have a proposition for you," the older ghost began. Danny perked up in intrigue. "I know of another earth dimension with some problems that need to be addressed. Your role as High King puts you in a position to be helpful."

"Their problem has to do with the Realms?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Ectoplasm from the Realms is pooling into what are referred to on their planet as Lazarus Pits. They are both helpful and harmful as they do not dissipate into the air so they continually collect and concentrate emotion, but they do sometimes revive the dead."

Danny grimaced in disgust at the thought of dunking a person into a stagnant pool of contaminated ectoplasm. "That sounds disgusting."

"Quite," Clockwork agreed. 

"So what's your proposition?"

"Well, if it is agreeable to you, I would like to de-age your physical form and place you with a family that's had dealings with the Pits firsthand. I've found them to be quite charming." 

"Ah, so you want me to go in undercover?" Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. It wasn't a half bad idea. He could try his hand at childhood again and still get to handle his duties as King Phantom. Leading a double life again would be easy enough, it was just stepping from one role into another. 

"Not at all." Clockwork smiled knowingly. Danny was officially suspicious of his ghost guardian. "This planet has had all kinds of dealings with the occult, and even humans with superpowers isn't that unusual. While I would advise against telling anyone you are a king right away, you are in fact just that: a king. You may do what you wish." 

For an ancient and wise time ghost, Danny thought Clockwork was really shit at hiding his expressions. Though he tried to keep the grin off his face, Danny could clearly see the twitching of his lips and gleam in his eyes that promised the old man was scheming. 

But to get his childhood back. Or, at least a semblance of one... it deserved consideration. Danny looked back out at the cityscape again. Sam and Tucker... they were down there graduating from high school without him. He'd been the one to encourage them to pull away from Team Phantom activities to zero in on their studies, but he didn't regret it. Sam wanted to major in environmental science and Tucker wanted to go to MIT and he just didn't fit into those plans. After Jazz left for Stanford, his parents often forgot he was still there. He'd managed to convince them to study ghosts properly instead of hunting them, and with a little help from the "friendly ghost King Phantom" they were given a place to start. They dove into their research with the same excitement and fervor they'd had all their lives. Which of course meant he went days, sometimes weeks, without seeing them emerge from the lab. It was easy enough to slip past them to the portal while they were distracted. 

The point was that he'd started to feel his anchor to this city, to this realm, start to dissipate as the people who kept him there started to break away from him. He still loved them, wanted to protect them, but they were safe and happy now. He felt fulfilled in his task of protecting them, but there was a buzzing beneath his skin to do more. 

Danny took a deep and controlled breath. He didn't need it in his ghost form, but it felt good to feel his lungs stretch to fullness. 

"When would I start?" He asked finally. The straight face Clockwork had been trying to keep, and he really was so bad at it, finally broke into a wide grin. 

"Right now. Everything is already in place and your duties in the Realms will be taken care of in your absence." 

Danny smiled softly at his guardian. Clockwork sure had a funny way of showing it, but he cared so deeply for the boy next to him that when Danny responded with a bad pun, he couldn't even be annoyed. 

"Well, no time like the present!" He winked.

Clockwork chuckled, and with a flash of light, he sent Danny on his way. 

The more time the older ghost spent with his young ward, the more he appreciated him. The Danny he’d come to know was nothing like the Danny’s from other worlds he’d encountered while trying to prevent Dan from existing. His Danny was now truly one of a kind. None of the others, not even the ones that eventually turned into Dan, had been Ancients. There would never be another Danny like him, and every universe was adjusting to include him should he ever decide to visit them. He had a place in any world, should he choose, but Clockwork knew he was needed most in the one he’d sent him to. It would be truly entertaining to watch the young Ancient settle into his role there, and Clockwork was actually finding himself looking forward to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark and quiet a long while before Danny opened his eyes. And when he did open them it got really loud and really bright really fast. It belatedly occurred to him that he should have asked like a billion more questions before agreeing to be iseaki’d into a different dimension to join a family he knew literally nothing about. 

There was shouting before someone in what looked like a ninja cult uniform shoved a knife into his hand and pushed him in the path of a person in a different uniform. The man in front of him was dressed in blue and black and wearing a mask that covered his eyes, but Danny could see the surprised shape of his mouth before it morphed into something like anger. And then he was being lunged at.

He shrieked as he dodged out of the way. Not his most graceful save, but whatever. His voice was a bit shrill and his center of gravity felt way off. He must have actually been de-aged! He wondered how old he was now. He still felt light on his feet thanks to his ghost half which felt blessedly intact. But the other guy was fast and he ducked into a roll just in time to dodge whatever weapon he was holding. This guy meant business, but he had no idea why he was trying to kill him. 

‘Great, thanks Grandfather Clock for throwing me right back into the good ol’ days,’ he thought sarcastically. Nobody had attacked him for no good reason like that since Walker and Fright caught Skulker mid hunt for the very last time. 

What he now saw was a baton swung down from overhead and Danny knew he wouldn't dodge it in time, so he caught it with the flat of the blade that had been shoved into his hands.

“Wait! Why are we fighting?” Danny yelled, panicked as the guy pushed more force into it. The man's face twisted into something like confusion for a moment and he backed off just the tiniest bit before the scuffing of shoes to his right had him looking over just in time to see another guy in a mask, this time in red, rushing at him. He threw his hands up in surrender. 

“Wait!” He shrieked before he was absolutely bodied sideways into the ground. 

Why was he doing this? He was half ghost, he could have just gone intangible and disappeared. He didn't have to be body slammed into the ground. Wasn't he a child now? Did that guy in red actually just slam a whole child into the ground? 

“Red, hold on! This one's different!” 

“What do you mean?” The guy Red asked. He was still pinning Danny to the ground.

“Yeah, what do you mean?” Danny asked breathlessly, then whimpered, “Someone please tell me what's going on!” 

The one hovering over him must have seen something on his face that convinced him to not try and kill him anymore, because he grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him along. 

“We'll take him in for questioning. Don't let Robin see him.”

“Who's Robin?!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a long, arduous, and confusing journey from wherever they were to… well, wherever they were now. They'd blindfolded him for the transport so he still had no idea what was going on. He had learned that the guy with batons was Nightwing, and Red was actually Red Robin. The one they called Robin was a feral looking thing with swords, he was very small and stabby. Then there was Batman, and he totally threw off the whole bird theme but was easily the most intimidating. And that was all he knew so far. He'd been restrained at an interrogation table. 

Danny groaned and knocked his forehead onto the table. He really, really wished he'd asked Clockwork more questions. He'd at least been able to catch a glimpse of himself in the glass behind Batman. He looked like he was eleven or twelve again, which was not as young as he'd been expecting, but much more preferable than being a literal toddler. The group of people he’d been brought in by seemed to be heroes. They were all incredibly weary of him, but hadn’t gone out of their way to harm him since his capture. Though it was hard to call it a capture when there wasn’t a chase involved. 

“How old are you?” Batman asked suddenly. His voice was low and rough and somehow Danny could tell it didn't sound like that naturally. 

“Um, maybe eleven or twelve?” Danny replied carefully, picking up his head from the table and having the decency to look a little embarrassed. 

“And what's your name?” He looked like he was expecting something.

“My name is Danny, sir.” 

“Hmm…” 

It was quiet and awkward for a long moment.

“Why are you different from the other clones?” 

“Yeeeaaah, I'm not a clone.” Danny absolutely did not jump when the brute slammed the file folder shut in front of him. 

“We'll see what your DNA results have to say about that,” he said confidently before turning to leave, his cape dramatically flaring out behind him.

Sheesh, and he thought he’d had a flair for the dramatics.

‘Okay, time for some assessment,’ Danny thought to himself as he looked around the small closed room. It was soundproofed incredibly well. While he didn’t have super crazy hearing, it was enhanced by his ghost half, and combined with his other sharp senses, it tended to help him gather more information than others could. The most he could hear outside the room was a quiet hum of activity and nothing discernible. Still, he needed to decide how much he would say to these people. How much truth did he want to weave into his tale? These people clearly already had their own assumptions about him in mind, and while there was absolutely nothing wrong with being a clone, he knew he didn’t have what it took to keep up an act like that for long, which would just end up being awkward for everyone. 

He also would not be telling them about his status as Ghost King, per Clockwork’s suggestion. His captors seemed like the uptight sort, and revealing that he was a big, scary ghost monarch didn’t seem like it’d go over well. Telling them he was a halfa would probably get them off his back over the clone thing, at least. He went over the list in his head.

He was a halfa from another dimension, so he couldn’t be a clone.

He had no plans of fighting with anyone unless absolutely necessary. 

He did not have a way back to his other dimension. 

His name was Danny, and he didn’t have a family anymore.

He did not know why he was in the middle of whatever fight he woke up in. 

No, he didn’t know those people.

Danny must’ve been lost in thought for quite a while because his thoughts were interrupted by Batman bursting back through the door. The man’s demeanor had changed completely and he whipped off his cowl to reveal disheveled dark hair, blue eyes, and an expression of absolute heartbreak that accompanied his shuddering breaths. With the mask off, he reminded Danny a lot of his father. 

Batman searched his face and, much like Red Robin had before, seemed to notice something there. 

“She did it twice,” he muttered to himself. “Two of them this whole time and she didn’t tell me about either of them,” he said through gritted teeth. His frown deepened. Danny copied his frown. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

He still had no idea what was going on.

[humanpurposes]

(Teaser) It Will Come Back

Chapter 3, Broken Bonds

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

A/n: I feel bad that it's been forever since this series had an update, and I'm just feeling silly today so I thought I'd share a lil something of what I've been working on (to hopefully motivate me to finish the chapter lmao).

Now…

The heat is relentless this summer. Light bleeds through the ancient stained glass windows of the Red Keep in beams of red, green, blue and gold, only to be lost to the dark wood floors, furniture and panelled walls. It is Aemond’s least favourite time of year, when the weather makes him irritable and the harsh light gives him a headache, when business tends to be busy and everyone is preoccupied with holidays and garden parties. He’s less inclined to distract himself with frivolity. 

His sleeves are rolled up, his long silver hair pulled into a ponytail, sweat starting to pool underneath the eyepatch over the left side of his face. He’s leaning over Aegon, one hand on the back of his chair, staring down at his laptop and they check over some details for next week’s event.

It’s not often Aemond finds himself in his brother’s office. Technically Aegon is his superior, ‘deputy operations manager’ according to the golden plaque on the door. This is more of a courtesy title because he couldn’t get a respectable job anywhere else, and it would be far worse for their father’s image to have a layabout son.

That’s the funny thing about the family business. It’s no secret that Viserys Targaryen didn’t want his sons involved in Dragon Bank, but his influence is not as all encompassing as he would like to believe, not since the Hightowers got a foot in the door thirty or so years ago… then another… then another. Viserys can make his demands and shout when he’s angry enough, but there is one truth he cannot deny; he needs them. He needs Otto. He needs Alicent. He needs Helaena and Daeron to stay perfect. He needs Aegon to not be a fuck up and that’s enough. And he needs Aemond because he’s good at his job. No one has an eye for detail like him, no one can make sense out of figures or persuade clients and investors like he can.

Why their grandfather wants him to look over PR and marketing nonsense is understandable, but irritating nonetheless.

Their father has been planninging this event for years, Dragon Bank’s fifth centenary gala, with all the pomp and grandeur of a bygone era, held at their ancestral seat of Dragonstone Castle, just outside the city. Five hundred years since one of their ancestors forged a throne for himself in King’s Landing, building an empire that still has most of the country under their family’s thumb. Viserys intends to use the occasion as a reminder to every individual and family in Westeros who thinks they are even slightly important that they cannot compare to the might of the Targaryens. 

There can be no oversights. Everything has to be perfect.

His eye scans over the diagram on the screen, circles surrounded boxes with names; the seating plan in the main ballroom. Then a name catches his eye and it makes his heart stop. He doesn’t want to believe what he sees but there it is on the screen, in Times New fucking Roman: Jaya Velaryon.

He’s hardly heard that name, read it, or heard it in six years. He can already feel a dull ache creeping into his skull, which he knows will catch like kindling and soon become a burning, blinding pain behind his eyes and in the crevices of his scar.

Aegon, completely oblivious, huffs a little laugh to himself. “Shit, yeah, I meant to say there was an update with the seating. So this could turn out to be quite interesting– fuck, are you alright?” 

“Fine!” Aemond snaps, staggering back from the chair. His head feels like it’s been run through with a knife and his fingers fumble to get his eyepatch off. “Fine– fuck! I’m fine.”

“Sit,” Aegon orders, quickly standing and guiding Aemond over to one of the leather sofas on the other side of the room, where the sunlight isn’t so direct.

The pain is often like this, striking suddenly, spreading quickly like a forest fire, eating away at him like a disease, and he has no choice but to endure it.

He feels the eyepatch slip from his face before something cold presses against the worst of his scar. He reaches up to clasp his hands around it: a glass water bottle, one Aegon is holding. His brother is useless most of the time but he does have his moments.

“Fuck it’s all red,” Aegon mutters. “Have you got meds with you?”

When Aemond opens his mouth to speak his jaw is trembling. “Office,” he says, gritting his teeth together, trying to control his breath and the extent of the pain. “It’s in the office.” He can see where the packet is in the first draw under his desk.

“I can go and grab some–”

“No,” Aemond says, grabbing Aegon’s arm so he won’t move. 

He can handle this. Every time this kind of pain flares up he thinks of how much it hurt that night, how terrified he was as he felt the blood gushing from the gash in his eye, slipping through his fingers. The pain had been so great he thought it might kill him. If he can get through that night, the first few hours in the hospital, the months of recovery or the years since, then he can get through a fucking headache. 

He closes his eye and breathes in counts of three. In through the nose, hold, and out. Between that and the bottle against his face the pain starts to feel a little duller and the room doesn’t feel so close.

“Is it… you know,”

Did seeing Jaya’s name shock him so severely that his body went into meltdown? Is his heart still pounding in his chest at the thought of reading her name and the possibility of seeing her again? 

Aemond exhales irritably against the back of his throat, defeated, but always stubborn.

[darth-sonny]

What if... Maybe a year or so after Leo starts becoming a more active parent... Kirby goes missing? They're only gone for a day or two, but Leo is obscenely worried. Going insane looking for them, when Kirby returns, quiet as ever. Leo holds them in his arms, demanding to know where they were, when quietly, Kirby asks;

"... How was I born?"

They know. They got tired of Leo's half answers, the states they'd get from Uncle Donnie and Aunt April. They looked for the truth themself, and they found out who their other parent really is.

Obviously this is just me spitballing but if you couldn't tell I'm in love with his AU didysbsjsm

okay, okay, okayokayokayokayokayokayokay

personally, for me, Kirby wouldn't know. like, they know that they're half-Kraang, but Leo just told them that it was because he got infected and that messed with his biology and that resulted in Kirby. like, not the obvious truth, but just a smidge of what actually happened. a very watered-down version of everything

but T H I S ??????? oh-hohohohohohohohohohohohohoho~~~~~~~

this i like~~

Donnie and Raph try to say something about that question - either to answer it or to somehow change the subject. Anything, really - while Mikey tries to stop them. Splinter is trying to calm everyone down when Leo tells them to leave.

——————————————————————————

Leo would go quiet. He would freeze.

None of them want to. But Leo insists, quite sternly, and they leave.

So it's just Leo and Kirby.

Leo leads them to the kitchen and makes some chai, Kirby's favorite. "How was I born?" they ask again. They wish they hadn't said anything. Because things were going great, and they didn't want to ruin that, but they were curious, and they wanted to know why their family treated them the way they did.

They just want confirmation that what they learned wasn't true and just... nasty stories.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Leo asks, staring at the pot.

This was the point of no return.

And Kirby decides to pass it.

"Yes."

So Leo tells them.

He tells them about the key, about Casey Junior's true origins. About how a clan called the Foot released an ancient evil called the Kraang. Tells them about how the end of the world almost happened right there and then.

He tells them about how he decided to lock himself in the prison dimension to save everyone. Tells them about the weeks of torture and abuse, about how he lost his arm. How his leg got fucked up so badly that he now can't walk without a cane.

He tells Kirby about Prime.

Over their favorite tea, Kirby learns everything.

How Prime possessed their dad, took pleasure in it. How they abused him – emotionally, physically, mentally, and even...

Leo stops himself from finishing, but Kirby gets the picture.

He ends the "story," and Kirby wants to run away again.

They regret asking, they regret being curious, and they regret being born. They regret not running away when they had the chance back then. They regret staying and hurting dad, reminding him of what he went through, reminding everyone–

Leo pulls them out of their beginning spiral with a hug.

"I never blamed you," he whispers, and that breaks them.

"Why?" they ask. Why doesn't he blame them? He should. Uncle Donnie does it. Auntie April does it. And Uncle Raph, even though he tries not to. Dad should blame them, he had every right to...

Leo holds them for a long time, rocking back and forth, shushing Kirby's tears and sobs.

"Because you didn't deserve any of this," he says. "I chose to keep you. I chose to have you grow up, to live in the aftermath of that whole situation. It's my fault everyone treated you like that. You didn't do anything. You aren't at fault for anything. You're just as much a victim as I was. Am."

Kirby tries to shake their head, but Leo doesn't let them.

"I'm sorry," he continues. "I'm sorry I was never there to start with. I'm sorry that I forced you to grow up so quickly. I'm sorry that I brought you into a family that was never going to truly love you the way you deserved to be. And I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from this."

Leo hugs them tighter and gently places his forehead on top of theirs.

"You deserve so much more than this, than me. You deserve a normal childhood, a happy one, full of uncles and aunties that love you without question. But you got us. You got me. But I promise you that I'll do everything I can to make it up to you. And if that means you want to leave, then-"

Kirby shakes their head. They don't want to leave. They don't! They had those thoughts before, but they were dumb thoughts now. They can't leave!

"I-I'm sorry!!" they sob. The tears fall harder when dad rubs soothing patterns on their shell. "I'm s-sorry I hurt-hurt you!..."

"You didn't hurt me," he soothes, "you never hurt me."

They stay in the kitchen for a long time, Leo holding them and doing his best to stop the tears.

Neither of them feel like they'd apologized enough, but they console the other that they have.

[mymanyfandomramblings]

Gravity Falls School-Related Headcanons

Both Dipper and Mabel are good students, although Mabel does occasionally get in trouble for getting distracted/not sitting still/talking in class, however, they're both generally considered to be good kids.

Dipper generally excels in all of his academic subjects, however his favourite subjects are biology and ancient history. He's usually pretty quiet in class, except every now and again he says either the most unhinged or most badass thing ever and everyone is freshly reminded that yes, Dipper Pines is, in fact, in this class (this is heavily inspired by my best friend who is exactly like that). Dipper doesn't hate PhysEd as much as he used to pre-Gravity Falls, however he's still not a huge fan of it.

Mabel's best subjects are the artistic ones, and she is instantly beloved by all the art teachers. She does a ton of extracurriculars, partially because she has a bunch of interests, and also because she has a tendency to join clubs and such because her friends/guys she's interested in are in them, and she has participated to some degree in every school musical she's had the chance to take part in. The only class she really struggles with a lot is maths, because it's 'too boring and logic-y' for her to stay focused on, particularly if Dipper isn't there to help her. She's also a cheerleader, because of course she is.

Friendgroup wise, Mabel has a lot of friendgroups. She has friends from all of her various classes and extracurriculars, friends she knows from elementary school (I had a long mindblank whereupon I forgot the word for 'primary school' in the USA, just thought I should let you know), and of course, she has extrovert-adopted Dipper and his friends. Despite this whole army of friends, she doesn't have any particularly close friends in Piedmont, and if she's asked who her best friend is, she'll respond with Candy and Grenda, who remain the only people who can quite match her energy.

Dipper, meanwhile, has pretty much had the same one best friend, named Ethan DiMarcos, forever. The two of them have very similar interests (although Ethan can't quite match Dipper's enthusiasm for all things paranormal), and tend to keep to themselves much of the time, and have pretty much had each other's back. While I'm not a huge fan of the idea that Dipper has been relentlessly bullied his entire school career and has no friends, it is canon that he has been victim of some bullying, and he's certainly not popular. Post-Gravity Falls, I think he's actually able to stand up to the bullies a little better, and generally he and Ethan have each other's backs. They do have a third friend, Paige Li, who they only met at the beginning of high school, because she was trying to find other DD&MD fans. Paige has had a crush on Dipper for ages, but despite Ethan and Mabel trying to pull strings, nothing is likely ever to come from it. Speaking of Ethan and Mabel, they did date for about a month in ninth grade, which horrified Dipper, especially since he was put in the middle of it when they broke up, thankfully amicably.

Now, I have said plenty about the Pineses, let's talk about what the other characters are like in school:

Candy's best subjects are chemistry, physics and music, and manages to be an impressively good student, despite reading fanfiction in class.

Grenda isn't necessarily the greatest student in most classes, however, she's BRILLIANT at English. For all she lacks in verbally diplomatic skills, she's incredibly smooth on paper. Grenda also, unsurprisingly, is also very good at PhysEd.

Pacifica's best subject is mathematics, and unsurprisingly she excels particularly at any finance-related maths. She's also the star of the school's debate team, because she has the power to crush people in the grip of logic. She also refuses point-blank to join the cheer team, even though they really want her.

Gideon's true calling is the stage, so drama class is his best class, although he's a brilliant student at most subjects.

Wendy and her friends are decidedly not good students, as they're all more interested in having fun and causing trouble than doing work (except Thompson, of course). This results in them being decidedly not the teacher's favourites.

I think that's all I got for now, thanks for reading!

[formula1shot]

You found me.

Lost and insecure

You found me, you found me

Lyin' on the floor

Surrounded, surrounded

Why'd you have to wait?

Where were you? Where were you?

Just a little late

You found me, you found me

The light is shining through the window of your once shared apartment, little particles floating in the ray of sunshine which is now arrogantly entering the room as if it was desperately trying to reach your skin to make sure you are actually okay. You are sitting on your bathroom floor, you've just threw up for the second time today and you are now blankly staring at the wall in front of you, knees tied to your chest while your breath tries to match the pace of your heart, alternating between a wild race and a slow walk. You've also been crying for the past three days so your whole face is swollen, you don't even know how you are actually looking since no mirror has lately crossed your path and you clearly do not want it to happen. 

His words are still clear and loud, echoing in your ears as if they were some sort of ancient torture, punishing you at every single shot.

"You don't understand." 

"You've been repeating this sentence over and over again in the past days, it seems that my grade of ignorance is unbearable since I seem to not understand any single fuck you've been telling me." 

"Yeah, it seems so. Maybe because you always feel the urge to underline the fact that it's not as I'm saying and that you know better. Oh you always know better than anyone else."

"That's not true!" you were basically screaming at each other in your living room, windows shut down and gentle candlelight caressing the walls. The setting was way nicer than the show itself.

"You see? Everyone's wrong. Only you know the truth. Right?"

"Of course not!" 

"Yeah sure." he almost ran to your bedroom where his luggage was waiting for him, ready to be taken to his next race weekend. He was supposed to be leaving on the next morning but he started to frenetically searching for what he had still left behind as if he did not want to spend any second more there. You gulped and your voice stopped in your throat, making you swallow hard. Then he paused and looked at you, his eyes had never been so dark. He hadn't been looking at you for almost the whole conversation and it felt now both a relief and a curse to be looked at that way.

"I honestly don't know why it took me so long to realize it."

"To realize what?" your voice could barely be heard but he heard you well. Your pulse was faster now and you could tell you were about to collapse to the ground.

"That I don't need you." 

There it was, the final slap. You stood still and he left. He just left without even glancing once more, without even asking, without even thinking about staying 5 minutes more to make sure you would have been fine. 

You sigh as your heart keeps pounding, reminding you to breathe every once in a while if you want it to keep beating. You mentally curse at yourself to have let this memory come to surface when you at least needed it. But you can't help it. You can't even help the waterfalls rushing down your cheeks now, you can't help almost screaming in pain as you remember the look on his face the very moment he decided he had enough. Enough of you and your shit. You also have enough of yourself in this very moment as you close your eyes to let your pain rest for a moment.

Your eyes still are closed but your ears are active enough to hear sounds coming from the door. You keep your eyes shut, not even caring about a theft coming in and steal all your stuff. You already lost the most precious one, after all, you don't fucking care if someone sneaks in and take anything you have left. There are voices out there but no thoughts about this situation are making sense right now so you just let it happen, slowly abandoning yourself to the disgusting feeling growing in the pit of your stomach which makes you swallow and brings you back to your numbness. You are about to faint again when you hear someone, many someones in fact, screaming your name but only one hits you hard. He keeps calling you and you have no strength left to answer, to tell him that you are there, that you need him. Loud footsteps are going everywhere in your apartment but there where you're laying, tears now almost choking you as you keep hearing him looking for you. And then he finds you. As he found you 8 years ago, sitting in the corner of a crowded room, sipping on your gin tonic, hoping to not be noticed. But he noticed and you are now grateful that he did back then.

"Oh my God!" he runs to you and kneels down by your side, caressing your face, trying to wipe away the tears that are not letting you take the sight of him in. He takes your hands in his, squeezing them gently. 

"Lewis." you release it as a whisper. 

"I am here." he let it out as the surest of things before taking you in his arms, carrying you to the bed, firmly holding onto you as he lays you down on the soft mattress. 

"How are you?" you slowly open your eyes and finally meet his. They are black, big and worried. 

"Why are you here?" he sighs.

"I want to know how are you. I.. you.. I mean I am scared." you close your eyes and breathe all his scent in, trying to recollect enough strength to stay awake and talk to him. If he was to disappear again you want to make sure that he absolutely knows everything.

"I am sick. Sick of myself and what happened. I am sick I lost you, that it was my fault and that you now are tired of me, of my shitty self and my insecurities. I am really sick that I made you hate me while I love you with all I have and that I am." you finish your sentence as you start crying again, not even trying to hide how unbearable it is for you to admit that you lost him by your hand. His expression changes, it becomes anxious, sad and he looks extremely broken in this very moment. He takes your face into his hands and makes you look at him straight into his eyes. 

"Listen, I am sorry. Like I'm not just sorry but fucking sorry. I did not mean to hurt you like this, I mean, I wanted to get some points straight but not this way. You did not deserve this and when you did not reply back.. I.. I really.." his voice cracks and he just loses it. His head falls on your chest and you can feel his tears falling on your shirt. Your hands are shaking but manage to reach his back and starting rubbing it gently.

"Why did you come here today? I heard someone with you." 

"I've called you this afternoon and you did not answer. I thought I deserved it after all but when I called once again a couple of hours later you did not answer anyway nor you did the other ten times I've tried. I called the janitor and they told me you hadn't left the apartment all day long, I called your friends, no one could reach you and at that point I don't even know if I was still thinking properly, I just needed to find you and I would have done anything." 

Your grip on his back tightens, hands almost soaking into the skin of his soft arms. He looks at you and comes a little closer to your face. 

"So.. what are we doing right now? I mean, are you leaving again?" you are cautious, scared that he might pull away and tell you that you did not understand anything he said, once again. 

"Those words you said before.. they were awful but this is how I made you feel so I am the one to blame. But, please, don't you ever think again they I might hate you because you.. you are just.. you fit me in every single way and I don't want to risk losing you ever again." 

You begin tracing each part of his face with your fingertips starting from his chin then going up to the cheek, reaching out to his lips which are slightly apart just enough for you to get closer and caressing them with yours, trembling with each movement, still afraid that he might fade away any second.

"I love you. I am sorry I was an asshole, I said the biggest bullshit of my life because you are actually the only thing that I need."

"Are you sure?" 

"I am. I thought I had lost you forever today and I.." he shakes his head and fill the gap between your mouths. He's desperate, angry, hungry and madly sorry. His hands wander everywhere on your body just to make sure that you are still there with him, for him and that he did not hurt you enough to push him away from you. But you are far away from that. 

His body is warm against yours, you can feel his heart beating against your back, skin smooth against yours as he keeps touching your hip, rubbing your neck with his nose which is causing shivers going up and down your spine. You let out a loud sigh and finally smile, feeling his hand reaching your face to make you turn toward him. Your eyes meet and it feels like forever since last time you've actually enjoyed this view and he can tell the same since he really cannot get enough of being lost in you in every single way.

"I don't remember if I told you that I love you and I was an asshole." 

"You've been screaming a lot of things before and.. yeah, I got the message." 

He smiles and keeps staring at your lips. 

"I love you." you whisper it on his mouth as he's already kissing you again

[liberty-or-death]

“The wildfire in the fields can’t be extinguished, the spring breeze blows and it grows again.” Wei Wuxian’s Spell (MDZS only) (Farewell on the Ancient Grassy Plain 赋得古原草送别 by Bai Juyi 白居易)

Before I proceed, I just wanna say that this was the poem that inspired me to take up translation. 😍😍. I learned and analysed it back in school, so when I read it in MDZS, I knew I had to make a post about it. Yes, I know I’m such a geek. Everyone wants to translate wangxian smut but I was aiming for this. But LOL the my translation never got there FML so here it is anyway.

If there was a list of “top 10 famous Chinese poetry”‘s online, this would definitely be it along with Li Bai’s 静夜思（Through the Quiet Night). In MDZS, Wei Wuxian uses this poem in Chapter 76 to animate the effigies. So just what does it mean and what is his relation to the novel?

This poem was written in the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi. In the poem, the author sends off his old friend on his journey , and bades him farewell.

There’s an interesting backstory to poem. Firstly, this is a “赋得” which means that this was a poem that the author wrote for exam purposes. 😂. So yes, this was his examination essay. The topic was “to bade farewell on the grassy plain”.

So the story is that the examiner Gu Kuang looked at his essay, then commented “米价方贵，居亦弗易 Chang An’s rice is expensive, it’s not easy to freeload! (this is a pun on the author’s name. He shortened the poet’s name to Ju Yi 居易, which means to stay for free)”. But as he read on, he was subsequently very impressed with the poem, particularly the famous line (which was used in MDZS) “野火烧不尽，春风吹又生 The wild fire in the fields can’t be extinguished, the spring breeze blows and it grows again.” And since then, the poem has been praised for the way it describes the grass full of life, its symbolism (the never say never ideal), the imagery and sadness when he sends his friend off.

离离原上草，一岁一枯荣。

The ancient plains are filled with lush green grass, it withers and prospers every year

野火烧不尽，春风吹又生。

The wildfire in the fields can’t be extinguished, the spring breeze blows and it grows again. (This is the famous line/idiom)

远芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城。

The scent of spring grass from afar has invaded the ancient path, a sea of green has permeated the abandoned city

又送王孙去, 萋萋满别情。

I’m here to send my friend off, the lush grass is filled with my parting feelings.

ANALYSIS - with relation to MDZS

"野火烧不尽，春风吹又生 The wildfire in the fields can’t be extinguished, the spring breeze blows and it grows again,” is now a commonly used idiom to describes tenacity and grit; the grass that thrive again after it has been burned by wildfire.

When I first read this, I felt this poem was a shout out Wei Wuxian. He persevered when faced with adversity multiple times. And imagery of “spring grass” in this poem is particularly fitting descriptor of him; it’s full of life and adaptable to any circumstances. It even grows in the most barren of conditions, such as the ancient paths and the abandoned city. (Burial Mounds, I'm looking at you XD)

Secondly, the last line of the poem also reminds me of Lan Wangji. It gives off an image of someone sending off a friend, but he can’t send his said friend off the entire way, so he hopes the grass which have grown everywhere would do convey his feelings. isn’t that lwj when he realises Wei Wuxian has passed away the first time? :( Or perhaps that's Wei Wuxian's feelings when Lan Wangji and himself were on different paths (The Ghost path vs the orthodox Cultivator Path)

Additional Links:

Wei Wuxian's Spell - "Her Shy Charming Eyes"

More MDZS Meta

Poetry Analysis

[aprillikesthings]

okay okay okay I have time for one episode tonight

s5 ep6 taking control

The ship is malfunctioning, Entrapta is working on it with Wrong Hordak's help

poor Adora

(also I did reread Nate's fic last night and like, I know teeechnically it's not canon because it's not in the show and I don't think he ever officially admitted it was his fic? but also it is canon. And boy does it make this sorta light-hearted scene more serious.)

OH GOD I'M DYING

Bow: "How did you turn into She-Ra without the sword?"

GIRLY like yes obviously it's wild that you can do it without the sword, but ALSO you can admit to them that it was because you were that upset about Catra.

Like the people who are suddenly able to lift a car because their loved one is trapped under it.

...."come out"

heh

oh see that's easy you just have to make Adora think Catra is almost dead

Glimmer: "The important thing is she was there when your friends needed her!"

He's not...wrong...

Also Horde Prime knows where they are, dun dun dunnnnn, roll intro (which hasn't changed yet but I'm watching it)

poor bb

yeah that's horrifying

oh right this part is literally in Nate's fic

Adora keeps coming back to check on her, and Catra feigns sleep every time. She doesn’t touch the water bottle even though her dry throat aches, because then Adora would know that she had been awake. But eventually, she slips into shallow dreams again — the green fluid, Prime’s smirk, the pain, his voice — and that’s when Adora happens to check in on her again. At the sound of the door Catra sits bolt upright, her heart pounding out of her chest and a terrified scream bursting from her mouth before she can choke it down. And just like that, her cover’s blown. And Adora’s looking at her with that same stupid, hopeful look, like Catra hasn’t spent years trying to burn her and everything she loved. And she can’t stand it.

So Catra does what she always does. She retreats behind her walls, lashes out, needles Adora where she knows it stings the most. It’s what she is. She’s an animal, nothing more than base instincts and rotten heart, just as everyone has always said she was. She’s poison, she’s fire, she’s broken glass, and all she knows how to do is hurt and be hurt in turn.

okay this reminds me of this post tho

okay back to serious

the line delivery here is so good but also 😭

Catra's split-second look of disbelief before it turns back to hard anger, aaugh

ppl do not (usually) change over night

WAHHHH

Adora leaves, angry, and something in Catra, some small childish piece that somehow hasn’t been completely stamped out, wants to call after her, wants to run after her into the bright hallway. She doesn’t. She stays in the dark. She doesn’t know how to leave it.

*cries*

Anyway back on Etheria, they're playing games to keep Frosta entertained and also AN ON SCREEN LESBIAN KISS

Apparently it was the combination of the previous episode and this one that made the first people to watch this season realize "oh we're going to get an actual catradora kiss. on screen. aren't we."

(I remember the day before Netflix dropped the episodes, with everyone I knew on social media basically doing a "will they or won't they." I'm Fandom Old and just kept reminding myself that if they didn't get a kiss or a love confession it was either for good story reasons (Catra was still doing bad shit at the end of s4!) or because the showrunners were forbidden from doing it. But man I was online intentionally spoiling myself as soon as I could. I HAD TO KNOW, but Daci and I watched it like a day later)

Okay so this is part of why I struggle to get how multiple years passed as the show goes on--why is Frosta still like. Eleven.

Glimmer is holding up a box that looks like the ancient sugar Madame Razz used to make pie. Which was also on this ship now that I think about it? That's. Thousand-year-old sugar.

But also

Adora: "After everything we've been through she's still a stubborn brat!!" Glimmer: "This is Catra we're talking about. Did you think she was just instantly going to become a totally different person?"

yeah Adora thought Catra would be grateful and like....lol no

that apron says "kiss the cook" unless someone convinces me otherwise

Also the Horde is following them

awwww another little she-ra doll :( anyway everyone's being weird and creepy

flying through an asteroid field is Entrapta's idea of a great time

BUT HORDE'S SHIPS FOUND THEM and getting banged around made Catra have flashes D:

They've been tracing Catra's neck chip

okay but that's not actually Catra's fault

Yeah I remember this part of the plot 😬

YUP

But yeah Adora drags Entrapta into Catra's room and she does NOT react well, which uhhhh makes sense given her and Entrapta's last interaction

but yeah the phrase "cornered animal" comes to mind

a cat at the vet's office with a "sedate first" sticker on her file

Entrapta's confusion is so genuine. She also sounds a little hurt tbh

i mean yeah that about covers it

well now I'm thinking of a fic I've read

AND I'VE HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT what timing lol okay hold on

[unhonestlymirror]

Also, I've reached conclusion that my mom was right: humanity has reached its pick of stupidity, and it just needs everyone to kill each other to remind people that death is a horrible experience because people have very short memory. The best thing you can do is to hide instead of trying to fix it or to change someone's mind. And maybe to save a couple of people whom you feel able to save. It's like a virus that affects humanity every hundred years, it was renamed as "nazism" in the 20th century, and it has no vaccine against it.

It's just... I'm so sorry that it's always my people who have to suffer because of everyone's reccurent blood lust. Well, and Jews. Both my people and Jews have being killed since ancient times just because we want to live peacefully the most, and we always try to befriend our neighbours to live and to grow our vegetables peacefully, to care about our loved ones - but there are always people who are not happy with us living peacefully, people who envy our happiness and therefore decide that we deserve to be killed.

Why are people like that. I really can't understand that. I like to brag in tags how I'd go and shoot all the russians if I had a chance but it's just a way to free my hatred a bit because actually I'll never be able to do this because I don't understand how can anyone believe it's okay to take someone's life just because. How can people joke about murdering someone whom you find annoying, this is so disgusting. How can they disrespect death so much. I want to scream: When are you going to shoot each other and finally calm the fuck down?

People whom I respected share more and more hamas supporting, and I can't look at it. People didn't care when Israeli died due to missiles and explosions almost every day for decades, just like in my country now, but once they decided to stop hamas, they are suddenly the fashist state? they suddenly need to cease fire? Why didn't you call for cease fire on Israel? Because they had to develop the Iron Dome? So fucking what? Ukrainians have to develop air defence too, do we deserve being killed? People keep constantly asking me how can I support Israel - and I want to ask people, especially Ukrainians: how can you support Palestine? How can you support people who tear down Israeli hostages posters and call Israeli fashists? How can you support people who justify the organized fucking mass rape? I don't really understand whom you have to be to support that. How can you not understand what is going on in Palestine? They have the whole fucking generation raised in the belief they must kill all Jews, how can you not see that.

People are really fucking stupid, aren't they? And they will not learn until they start to kill each other.

All I can wish for is that my loved ones stay out of this bloody shit.

[mydonkeyfeet]

Autistic hyper-endurance of fun?

Does autism have a thing where one lacks the neurotypical degradation-of-fun mechanism? I still don't know if I'm autistic or not (most online tests say not quite) but I've read that neurotypicals have a friendship degradation mechanism, which I definitely lack, where eventually they lose interest in old friends and move on. For me, I tend to think with naive optimism that every friendship will last forever. Fortunately, many of my friends are neurodiverse and also lack that mechanism.

But I've noticed that some autistic family members and I have experienced a thing where something stays fun or funny for us long past everyone else.

At my job in my 20s, we all made a game of hiding plastic Easter eggs in unexpected places all over our workplace, with silly notes or drawings inside, and when we found one, we would hide it for the next person. Eventually, my coworkers would just give them to me to hide again because they got tired of the effort (though they still enjoyed finding them. I think.)

In a less happy experience, in high school my friends and I would write silly stories together, one sentence at a time, passing the pages back and forth throughout every class. Some stories were short and finished in one period, and some were long and lasted a whole semester, but they were all hilarious. One friend who I'll call Prune had been my friend for nearly our whole K-12 years, and we wrote many stories together. But during our final year, suddenly for some reason she started hating my existence. I could not figure out why, I still don't know, but at the time all I could think was "Maybe if we write more stories, she'll laugh and have fun and we'll get back to normal." And she seemed to hate our stories too, though she still wrote ones with our other friends. She would even pass them to a classmate and ask them not to return it to me until the end of class, making them seem like the bad guy. While I thought we could have a fun collaboration like a game of catch, I realize now that it was more like I was the stupid naive but innocent dog thinking, "Human is sad. Maybe we should play ball? Throw my ball? Will that make you happy? Throw it?" and she was the person holding the slobbery ball who is absolutely sick of playing fetch with that stupid dog. (She did still write stories with our other friends though, so I'm still clueless why she hated me. They kept writing stories with me too, and seemed to keep enjoying it.)

Anyway, I realized today that my dad, who we now suspect may have been autistic (who died last year) also exhibited some of these hyper-endurance-of-fun mechanisms with me that drove me up the wall as a child and teen. Long past it was appropriate, he was playing baby pinchy games with me that I hated, and speaking with my old baby talk that embarrassed me. And he knew I was irritated but was probably clueless why, just like I was with Prune. He thought we were sharing a fun childhood memory, and I was annoyed that he was fixated on something from my ancient history that I no longer enjoyed, and that he still saw me as a silly baby. And like Prune, I didn't have the words or the nerves to explain it to him.

Nowadays, I have to remind myself that what's fun for me may not stay fun for my friends (including remaining in a fandom or participating in our old activities) as well as reminding myself that they have a friendship degradation mechanism, and they're allowed to move on from me. I'm not actually a sad dog with a slobbery ball.

But I'm 45 and I still haven't forgiven Prune.

[aprilertuileviresse]

What Zhang Zhehan said the 03 May 2022 about his situation

I'm Zhehan, I believe everyone should have already read my handwritten letter. During this period, I have received lots of encouragement and support from many relatives, friends and people. Thank you all! This reminds me of a one-pot story shared by a friend. He said that life is like a big pot. When you are at the bottom of the pot, no matter which direction you go, it is upward. When I heard this story, I had a whim and added some spice to it. I said, when you stay at the bottom of the pot and want to go up, someone can't stop pouring oil into the pot, making your feet slippery and miserable. Thinking about it now, everyone should have known who is this guy keep pushing me to the bottom of the pot and kept pouring oil? The guy used my childhood photos as his photos in the show just to guide & mislead fans with the fantasy of the 2 males are in love. This is ruining my moral standards. I have always believed that friends who help each other can go farther and be more practical. The label actor has followed me for more than ten years, and I have worked with many partners. I believe that these partners, Regardless of whether the relationship is close or distant, it is mutual respect, and some rivals or competitors are also benign. After all, self-improvement is the right attitude. Of course, I also got the support and help of many seniors. The only purpose is to make more better films and dramas to dedicate everyone. I once said in an interview that my popularity doesn't mean I'm better off. It doesn't mean I'm not having a good time if I am not that popular. Maybe popularly, profit (money)is the original sin. The world is full of hustle and bustle, all for the sake of profit. I never imagined that some people, some forces. With the dignity of a youth, a family and even a group, even with his life as a bargaining chip, spent a huge amount of money to spread rumors about the political stance of a patriotic youth. Modify Baidu entries, hired paid online media accounts (marketing accounts), and use a large number of black water troops to deceive the official media, Recruit fans operators, to guide minors, the love fantasy of the 2 males, so-called male male CP Encourage their fans to spend money on the idol commercials There is nothing wrong with the successful drama. What's wrong is these people who have no conscience and make unscrupulous money Now, I have recovered & back. I'm still me, nothing has changed I've tried my best at every stage of my life. I started learning to write to heal myself. Started to study psychology, to heal my friends who were depressed because of me. light up myself, also light up you. Start practicing guitar, to enrich my own artistic accomplishment, I learn songs & guitar by myself since I am not able to go to KTV Start learning ancient poetry so that you can write more meaningful lyrics. Now I have finished writing some lyrics and composing some music. I believe that I will show you in the near future. No matter what I wear, will be mislead by the evil force guy as the essence of male male CP… Then I design my own fashions. As long as you like me, support me, want to see me want to hear me.. Willing to resonate with me. Then I will come unswervingly to you. Those who are unwilling to wake up can only say that our fate is over. I still wish you a good life, all as you wish. I hope you can pass on more love to your own parents instead of indulging in the so-called star chasing happiness. t's your freedom if you don't want to wake up, but please don't hurt my family and friends. Reality is not a dream, those hurts will make us feel pain. And those who are mercenary and use crooked ways to seek benefits, I believe in karma, they will get fair punishment one day Life is ups & downs, no one be always in smooth paths, but be worthy of your conscience. Let us be strong, persevere, and believe together.

Find your voice

[black-butterfly-system]

Thinking about Death

Some months before discovering I'm DID I started to write intense poems. This is one bridge poem, because it was made with both parts of me, the one I knew I was, and the one who was starting to surface. I wrote it because the tarot always pulls out "Death" for me and I also dreamt I was saying goodbye to my family (dead and alive), and I don't know if it's literal or spiritual anymore. Each time we suffer intensely we break, and as the Phoenix when we heal we are reborn. I've died a thousand times in this lifetime, I've seen people I love die, every day when I wake up I'm a different person, sometimes I feel my memories are not mine, but, as long as I believe something to be true, it might be, from here on, until the next greatest adventure.

It was written using some parts of a Mexican traditional song, "la llorona" which has already plural versions. This is mine.

------------------

The weeper 

Coming out from the temple I saw you, death,

Wonderful dress of all colours you were wearing,

That a Goddess I thought you were.

Everyone sees me as dark, death,

Dark but gentle,

I’m like Mexican food, death,

Spicy but delish.

Oh so mournful death,

But still you’re smiling,

Such an enjoyable adventure, 

What are you trying to remind me?

I’m your lover, death,

I ask, with you, a last dance, 

allow me a last goodbye, death

Take me to that river,

Hug me, here it’s cold instead.

Isn’t that the real reason why I’m crying?

Cause I know there’s not such an end?

Cause it’s gratefulness, not sadness?

Isn’t that the reason why you’re laughing at me, death?

I still remember thinking bout you,

Almost touching you, 

Yes, at my darkest, do you remember?

So you, cheerful or vengeful, allowed me to stay,

And now that I’m not asking for anything, death,

It’s this time you coming to see me, again.

Crying my heart out, 

Laughing til I throw up,

Finding hope in midst of darkness,

A memorable kiss,

And now I have yours, 

So enjoyable both of them,

No doubt yours is calmer.

So long, death,

And finally you tickle my forehead,

Gift me one more day, death,

I’ll just watch the sunset.

A love promise, death,

After a life of waiting,

I’ll see my mom, my pets, 

I’ll be able to meet my best friend.

When I die I’ll never be as quiet ,

At least I’ll finally achieve my weight loss goal,

Guess a skeleton or ashes won’t weigh as much.

I’ll miss to argue with unknown people on the internet,

Even the addictions I had, I’ll miss them.

And then? 

Then I’ll miss you, death,

I’ll miss dancing with you,

I’ll miss your touch,

For I may never see you again.

-----

Día de los Muertos - Ancient Mexican Tradition

[itseasyhavinpals]

I Don't Think I Can Help It

Sort of missing the lockdown these days. All that's left of those unprecedented months is the Fear. I was very fortunate to not have to worry much during the lockdown. Sure I was terrified, but there was also this sort of bizarre magic too. Taking walks through rainy days, getting lost in music and thought. Sitting outside and, for a whole afternoon, just watching the shadows shift with the sun until it dipped below the horizon.

I was thrust back into a more ancient and true way of life. The work necessary was to get food and keep my space clean, and the rest of my time was for Being. I wasted plenty of it numbing out the terrifying truth of the history being made, sure, and I also spent lots of it feeling an immense amount of peace too. In the way peace sneaks up on you, in the in-between moments.

Everything's gone "back to normal" except it keeps getting worse. Every masked face makes me feel guilty and afraid. Every audible cough and sniffle makes me feel angry and afraid. Every mask I wear makes me feel protected and suffocated.

The solidarity is gone, no one is clapping and banging pots and pans at seven in the evening anymore. It doesn't feel like there's much keeping us together, there's not much to remind us we're all in the same boat. We're all just fighting to survive in a society stacked against us.

Now our shared experience puts us at each other's throats. Everyone vying for the most superior moral high ground, posting their humble-brags online and selling their results as attainable.

Grind harder. Master your side gig. Eat cleaner. Stay woke. Stay young. Reduce waste; upcycle. Stay fashionable. Stay hydrated. Get sexy; stay sexy. Produce. Make money. Save money. Cancel your subscriptions. Make sure to subscribe. Buy this. Do the right thing. Always. Or else.

I think that's why I love snow days so much. It's nobody's fault, no one's responsibility, so we find it easier to take responsibility: we salt and shovel the sidewalks, we push each other's cars out of their icy prisons, we feed each other and check in on each other and dig each other out. And we understand when the shops are closed, and we go on walks to watch the snow.

After our last snow fall, the weather got unseasonable warm very quickly. It feels like Spring's upon us in mid-winter.

Not that I don't love the sunshine, but everything in my body seems to scream that something's off. At a time where one's very existence feels like a juxtaposition. When too many options leads to paralyzation, and our own fate feels like it's out of our hands, but it's up to us to save the world.

How are we meant to survive this?

The sheer power of pure, human resilience can only provide me with so much hope and comfort.

Mister Rogers said to look for the helpers. I know they're out there. Behind every helper, though, is a crumbling society necessitating the help. Or at least that's what I feel. So many of the helpers I perceive seems less like help and more like a mad scramble to momentarily tip the scales in our humble favor.

Though, I'm absolutely certain this perspective is swayed by my hours hours upon hours on the internet. When I look up from it for a moment, the world gets smaller, and the helpers I see are strangers holding doors open for each other; friends giving each other rides; people letting people pet their dogs; buying each other coffee; returning lost items; giving directions; picking up dropped things; putting a good word in; looking out for each other; dropping off supplies; helping each other up.

It's the day-to-day helpers that makes me feel like maybe life's worth living.

My world is definitely far too big when I spend a lot of time online. Inundated with the thoughts, opinions and experiences of other people, there's no room for my thoughts, opinions and experiences. Initially there's comfort in drowning myself out, but then I get stuck in the fray of all the news and compilations and reviews and video essays and how-tos and story times and break downs and hauls and get-ready-with mes and information and instructions and parodies and clips and previews and interviews until the very act of scrolling happens so fast I literally make myself dizzy.

And then I pivot, hard, into simplicity and quiet until the vibration of my own voice in my skull becomes alarming and disruptive, and the whole cycle begins again.

I'm disgusted by it. I give myself whiplash with these massive dips in quality of life caused by whatever mental, emotional, hormonal flux I'm experiencing, followed by panic induced lifestyle overhauls that never stick.

I think we're sold the myth of true balance, the myth of one right way to be, and how to feel good. What to strive for; what success looks like. And I buy into it. Maybe if I tried the latest viral health challenge, or gave myself more rules, or followed one plan or another, or read this self-help book I'd feel better.

For someone who really doesn't like being told what to do, I really do a lot of asking of others to tell me what to do. I already know what I'm going to do, though, it's true. I think a lot of the time, what I know I'm going to do, and what I actually want to do are vastly different things.

I seem to do a lot of resigning myself to myself, until most of what's left is disappointment.

I might be driving myself crazy, and I don't think I can help it.

But I just want to feel better. 

[theskythatwritesofthisplace]

Resurgence: final touches

Two weeks passed by in a breeze after the three had made their claim no. Nyx stayed under Melinoe's spell comforted in sleep, every so often waking to a sound way too comforting and familiar, but scary. Quinn and the Queen worked with Arlena and Thorne to coordinate the coronation ceremony for the three. A festive display of happiness, covered in darkness. "We still have figure out traditions." Said Arlena. "True, but she doesn't want them. It would appear the girl had her court oddly, but there. She doesn't wish to dismantle her family... no matter how odd it may be." Thorne advised.

"Hmmm... FELIX!!!!" Arlena yelled out to her nephew. No sooner did she say that Felix bursted through the doors of the chamber, being quick to understand his aunt had a temper when not acknowledged. "Yes your majesty! Wait I'm not in trouble right?" He answered. "You have gained some understanding on the forsaken child. What do you know of her?" She inquired "First things first, she doesn't really like being spoken on if she herself isn't around... So she is a little hard to explain."

"Do try son. You little one... go get Syn, I know him to be true friends of the child's wolf. Perhaps my son would know." Thorne said pointing to Samantha standing just behind Felix. As Felix watched Samantha run off he said "She can be indecisive... when happy. When conversing with her it could feel like speaking to Quinn. But when you deal with her in a positive or negative maner.... Nyx. Lady Nyx sleeps now...but she sleep walks and sings. Quinn.... you'll never find her sleeping." "Because you're not looking in the right spot." Syn's deep voice said walk in.

"Syn my boy.. what do you know." Thorne asked shaking his hand once he was among the group. "What Felix said is pretty accurate but you also have to think of the day, a day for her could be 2 weeks for us. It was her birthday." He explained. Everyone who is there stood straight up even Arlena who said "So is that why she's been sitting in stone. I'm still astounded she knows how to stand like an ancient without being an ancient. So as of right now she is sitting outside of this world in her own factual world but we have this?"

"Yes madam... and more. Remember her story doubles. So she'll be just like Artemis when time comes, she'll be an ancient and she'll hope and pray that someone will find her story." Syn said with pride and sorrow. He quickly wiped the expression off his face and added "...she is a harmonious type of creature So the perfect coronation would be a perfect blend of what's hers and what's all of ours." "But she won't do them!!!! So many of the traditions call for suitors and she won't have anything to do with it as long as there are suitors!!"Arlena yelled in defeat.

"Well I can honestly tell you that's because the proper Suitor will be someone who can be everywhere she can be and since her story doubles that's going to be very hard." Syn replied. "Not only that... the queen is indebted to Echo. He is family. But he's the only one to repair the three collectively and individually." Felix pointed out. "That and her children. In the forsaken child's eyes she found a new king to mold queens. That's why Nyx holds on to you father... you remind her of her father." Syn added.

[mysticdragon3md3]

For the past several WonHobby events, seeing so many figures repeatedly for series I don't know, has made me feel old. Maybe it was Writing On Games who said that getting old is when everyone is into trends that you just don't know about, until you're left behind.

I not fanatically into: Bocchi the Rock Quintissential Quintuplets My Hero Academia Derby Musume Jujutsu Kaisen Bungo Stray Dogs Bluelock Oshi no Ko Lycoris Recoil My Dress Up Darling Minions Chainsaw Man Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Given Fate Stay Night / Fate Grand Order Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Seven Deadly Sins Makoto Shinkai movies Dangan Ronpa Komi Can't Communicate Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Attack on Titan Darling in the Franxx Gridman Overwatch Omori The Ancient Magus Bride Cyberpunk Vtubers RWBY Neon Genesis Evangelion idol anime Nekopara KanColle . Again, it's not that I think these series are bad. I've even been into some of them for a time, enough to buy some figures from some of them. But I just can't get excited for them anymore. Others on this list, I've just never had the opportunity or inclination to give them a chance. And they repeatedly get more figures, at almost every event. Every time I see more get announced, it just reminds me of how I feel left behind, because I've left these series behind.

About the only series still getting figures that I'm into: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Persona 5 (not Persona 5 Royal) Haikyuu (but haven't finished 4th season) Hetalia (Allies) Guilty Gear Ouran High School Host Club Doki Doki Literature Club Spy x Family Nichijou . Even these series that I've listed as liking, I'm not obsessed with them enough to buy every---or even every other---figure of theirs that gets released/announced. A lot of these series, I was never very obsessed with; I just liked them.

And even the ones I was obsessed with, I'm very picky about what portion I was fanatical over. I refuse to get into Persona 5 Royal, because to me, Akechi works best as a foil, a "cautionary tale" for the Phantom Thieves, and I don't want to see him get a redemption arc---heck, I don't even like seeing him given much screentime. A lot of Haikyuu's figures lately are for season 4 characters that I have not seen yet. I've barely gotten through Haikyuu season 4, and now that Crunchyroll no longer has a free, ad supported option, I've just mostly stopped watching anime. For Hetalia, I only really liked the Allies, specifically US and UK. But most of the Hetalia figures lately are of the Axis. Guilty Gear, I was obsessed with the first 2 or 3 games, but I only really stuck to Ky's story. Don't ask me what the overall story has become by now. I'm just barely catching up. I like DDLC, but not enough to spend $70 on a Nendoroid Monica, let alone be my usual completionist self, buying the whole DDLC Nendo set. I'm still trying to decide if I should get Nendoroid Yuri, and her preorder ends in 4 days. Nichijou, I liked, but I already have Hakase, Nano, and Sakamoto. Not sure I want to spend on more. And honestly, I never finished that series, despite having the whole thing on bluray. Maybe if I finished it, I'd want to buy the newer Nichijou Nendoroids. As for Madoka Magica, I only really collect merch of Homura and Madoka. But I'm still a cheapskate and usually pass them up, because they're mostly expensive static scales. Spy x Family, I really enjoy, but again, it's difficult to watch anime without Crunchyroll or my anti-virus to protect me while using bootleg sites. But also, I've already bought the main family set of Nendoroids. I don't really need more. I'm tempted, but I really need to save money. So no winter coat Nendoroid Anya, extra set of Anya Nendoroid faceplates, or Yor and Loid Nendoroid Dolls for me. ;_;

Nothing really makes me jump out of my chair with excitement anymore AND---MOST IMPORTANTLY---that excitement no longer lasts long enough for me to buy when the preorder window opens. I'm not even sure I'll get Nendoroid 808. I passed up Nendoroid Shin Kamen Rider, just because I'm more of a latter Heisei Kamen Rider fan---even though any Kamen Rider getting an actual Nendoroid is monumental, considering Bandai's vice grip on the property. I passed up Nendoroid Donatello 3+ times. x_x; And I still can't decide if I really do feel bad about it enough to seriously track him down.

The last few Nendoroids I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO HAVE, all the way through to buying during the preorder windows, were Nendoroid Nyanko Sensei and Nendoroid Ginko. And those orders were spaced out by months (it seems). I used to preorder 2-5 Nendoroids every (other) month. So this drastic change is concerning to me. Good for my wallet, but concerning for the health of my fandom.

So yeah, I feel like I'm getting left behind by modern anime/otaku fandom trends. And it makes me realize how old I really feel.

Even the 20 year old series suddenly getting new figures lately, are from series I was never truly obsessed with (enough to need figures and be that attached to the characters): Cardcaptor Sakura Ouran High School Host Club Hellsing

I dunno… Maybe I'm just getting out of figure collecting… And that makes me sad. ;_; (I have problems letting go of stuff.)

If I don't see Nendoroids for FE3H's Claude and Dimitri or Nendoroids for Ballister and Ambrosius soon, I may really end up no longer figure collecting. o_o

[whoaskedgottem]

My take on Deltarune and its connection to Undertale.

i am a funny man. i make funny pictures. but sometimes, i'm not so funny, and i make theories and fanfiction fuel instead. this is gonna be a long read, okay?

I've seen multiple ideas flying around on the significance of the Undertale/Deltarune parallels and what they mean for the story, and how these two games connect together. I'll do my best to present something new to the table, while organizing disparate factoids and thoughts into a well-formatted outline for the timeline of what could've been a kick-ass fanfiction or fan comic if I actually had the drive to be a Real Artist.

Please note that I don't think this is really a proper 'theory' or 'prediction' as much as it is what I would do if I had to write the rest of Deltarune, with what Toby Fox has already made.

That [sweet, sweet] [Freedom Sauce.]

Let's start with a quick recap so I can give you a little concept I haven't seen anyone bring up yet.

Deltarune has a pretty heavy handed approach to communicate its themes. Toby Fox has come out and said that it'll only have one ending, throughout Chapter 1 you're constantly reminded of a very central concept to the story:

"Your choices don't matter."

In fact, throughout that first chapter, the game's mechanics reflect this at nearly every step of the way. Your vessel is discarded, your choices are constantly disregarded or skipped over by the characters in fake-out sequences, the game's entire battle system and ending hinges on the fact that no matter whether you spared your enemies or not, it all still ends in much the same way, with only minor changes to show for it.

No one really missed this. Every single person discussing the themes and significance of Deltarune has brought this up before. Boring, I know. Stay with me.

Chapter 2 expands on this concept in an unexpected way. The game actually opens up. A lot. We're given plenty of chances to make choices that do matter. Mechanically, battles matter again. If you spare enemies, you can turn them into friends and bring them to your own town. If you don't, they'll be gone forever. If you're particularly chilly, you can make some [Frozen Chicken] with your [Hochi Mama.] More interestingly, though, we're introduced (well, we're shown that it's actually important and not just crazy rambling, because we had seen it in Chapter 1 with snippets of Jevil's dialogue that seemed like madman ramblings at the time,) to the concept of freedom.

The resident trashman, tiny awful gremlin, trade deal extraordinaire, needs no introduction. Nor do his themes of seeking freedom. We don't have to touch on this much just yet, but keep this idea in your mind that, thanks to Spamton, we now have a very defined idea of what the Tumblr Sexymen of each chapter in Deltarune have in common with each other.

Arcane, mysterious knowledge of their own existence, and their (lack of) freedom.

Now. Let's recall back to Undertale, because this talk of Freedom and being trapped remind me of something.

The Delta Rune in Undertale is said to be long lost imagery for an ancient Prophecy in which an angel will descend from the surface and bring freedom to the monsters.

We can start drawing parallels in Undertale and Deltarune's themes now. Or rather, name an overarching concept that's being explored in both games. The characters in both games are trapped in their own sets of boundaries. Whether that be imposed by the player, humanity's barrier, the knowledge of their limited existence in a game, a time loop, monsterkind's king's plan, or the closed doors and cut-off internet of a town, everyone is trapped in one way or another.

And everyone wants some freedom.

"hey. i know the feeling, buddo."

Let's move on. The games can be thematically connected, but that's lame. We're looking for some answer to what the hell's going on. We know the obvious things, like this being a 'parallel story,' an AU of sorts, separate from Undertale. We know the characters in Deltarune seem to lead separate lives, not having much knowledge of certain things we'd take from granted in Undertale. And despite broad strokes still being there-- their personalities are still left mostly the same, nobody seems to be exactly the same in this world.

Well, almost nobody. We don't have to get into how Sans doesn't seem to fit in with everything else in the game, everyone's already walked that path already. We also don't need to analyze too deep into his dialogue in Undertale, so let's paste it in for the sake of really good looking formatting.

Yeah, we've all seen it a million times. Sans seems to come from somewhere else, his circumstances in the Underground being something he wanted to escape from to go back to that "somewhere (or 'sometime,') else," and the world of Deltarune seems to be the most likely answer to that whole mystery.

So, mystery solved, right? Sans Undertale is ACTUALLY Sans Deltarune, and we're looking at the alternate timeline from which Sans came from, with a whole new storyline to give us context to this new world. A prequel of sorts, while still being separate.

I'm not sure about that.

The man who speaks in hands.

The presence of Gaster is obviously the biggest piece in this whole puzzle, and ignoring it would be foolish. I'm going to assume everyone's already poured as many hours as I did theorizing and reading up on as much about the bastard goop man as I have, so let's skip over defining who he is, his connection to Jevil and Spamton, his possible second identity gig as a Knight, and get to the heart of the matter.

I believe that the 'timeline' for these games is a little trickier than what someone might think at first, and far more connected than what Toby Fox lets on; while still most definitely being able to be seen as two separate worlds.

Deltarune is both the prequel and the sequel to Undertale.

The world of Deltarune, with its prophecies and characters and story is, chronologically, the prequel. After all, Sans (and Papyrus?) needs to have come from it, and for lack of a better option for his mysterious origin, the world of Deltarune is the best fit for said origin.

That said, that doesn't make sense with what we see in the game. His store is very clearly Grillby's, scribbled over. His house is very clearly the one from Snowdin. It doesn't look like he came from here. In fact, it looks like it's the other way around. And, although this doesn't prove anything, he's the only one that has just moved into town in the game, in a small community in which most people know each other.

Funny how we, the players, just got there too.

Now, I get that it sounds like some weird Schrodinger's Sequel conundrum when I put it like this, so let's revisit some previous dialogue and try to make sense of the whole thing.

HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN.

It's important that we fully understand that Gaster seems to know of our presence and contact us directly. Whenever a new Deltarune chapter comes out, it's Gaster that hijacks the Twitter account, and Gaster that links us to the file to connect into the game. The very SOUL we control in the game only appears once we 'establish a connection' with him at the start of the entire game.

The reason why is it's important, is that once we establish that he's responsible for our presence in this world, we can look into Gaster's tweets to see a very specific line that I need to highlight for the timeline to make sense.

This is the closest thing we have to Gaster's motivations in the entire narrative. This single tweet.

Creating a new future.

It sounds like a slogan, but mind the wording. A 'new' future. Obviously pedantic to write down, but that implies the existence of an old future. Or would that be the past?

What exactly is the future we're trying to create in Deltarune? why a new one? did something go wrong?

Speaking of which, why did Sans get stuck in Undertale's situation?something must have driven him out to get him stuck there, wishing to go back.

What if the original world of Deltarune fell prey to The Roaring?

Even in Ralsei's prophecy, The Roaring does happen. The Earth draws her final breath. Only after it do the 'three heroes' show up to save the day.

How about this: Gaster's motivation is creating a new future in which The Roaring doesn't destroy the world for good.

Entry Number 17.

(Or, how I ran out of image slots for this post and learned to write the rest of this out.)

It's a cool motivation, but there's a problem with it.

If he wanted to do that, then it'd be awkward that he's simultaneously the Knight. Why would he go around opening fountains, potentially causing The Roaring, if he wanted to prevent it?

This is where it gets a little weird. I'm relatively confident of everything up until this point being... fairly natural or obvious to follow a plot thread on without straying too far from what might feasibly happen in the game. Gaster's plans and motivations are a complete mystery, and most likely key to the entire game's unreleased story. To be honest, I've no idea.

I can make a guess, though. Take it as less of a prediction or theory and more of a fanfiction. What I would do with this as a writer if Deltarune was a writing prompt.

DARK. DARKER. YET DARKER. THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING. THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER. PHOTON READINGS: NEGATIVE. THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT. SEEMS. VERY. VERY. INTERESTING.

WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?

Gaster exists as a character in the world of Deltarune, and came to Undertale along with Sans and Papyrus. In the 'original' timeline, he experimented with the Dark World, opening fountains left and right in some arcane research he was conducting. My best guess is that, as a clueless Lightner who'd only just now discovered the Dark World and its properties, Gaster became the Knight without knowing the full extent of what his actions were doing. He told different people about his knowledge of the Lightner world in which they were toys in a game, and carelessly created fountains everywhere he found interesting. This eventually catches up with him, and the world is then enveloped in Darkness, causing The Roaring. Three heroes stand up to the catastrophe, but they either fail, or their fate is left unanswered. They seem to have been important, so Sans (or Gaster) keeps a note of them. A reminder for some other time, where maybe they can help.

This is when him and the others escape to (or the Darkness creates the world of--) Undertale. We learn through Queen in Chapter 2 that the power that allows Lightners to open Dark Fountains is Determination. The DT Extraction machine's blueprints and the mysterious machine in Sans' basement were designed to investigate and extract Determination from humans so as to find out the mechanics of the Darkness, Determination, and quite possibly find a way to return to their previous lives. In the process, they discover the timeline anomalies and other mechanics of Undertale. Whether the CORE was related to this or just another creation made by Gaster in his time in Undertale, which machine he fell into, and what follows is up in the air and more in the realm of Undertale theories than anything else.

Deltarune, the game we play today, is Gaster's recreation of this world after spending years spread across Undertale's code and in whatever meta-space Toby Fox has created in which the guy can post tweets and speak with the players. A world in which Kris, one of the three heroes, is controlled by the player. An attempt at creating a new future in which The Roaring is stopped with our help, reversing the mess that Gaster once made. Even if Kris has no idea what's happening, and is terrified at this weird presence suddenly possessing them and taking their free will from them.

Also I guess Sans got carried over to... like... oversee this whole thing and make sure the kids don't get lost eating chalk or stuck in a fridge somewhere.

Bonus Meme:

There's also a fun idea to play with that could be the fact that Gaster's actions as the Knight, despite being counter-intuitive, actually help us achieve the best ending. Even messing with Jevil and Spamton, teaching them of the game mechanics and instilling the concept of freedom in their minds, could be argued to be all for the goal of giving us powerful Darkners to get Shadow Crystals from. Whatever is made from them could be the key to defeating the Ultimate Enemy. Or he could just not be the Knight at all.

Also, the idea that Undertale is what could become of the world of Deltarune if it were to be shrouded in Darkness is quite a fun idea for me as well. A fantastical version of the world in which all the bits and pieces of the 'real world' of Deltarune get turned into a whole ass indie game darling hit from 2015.