#i was not re doing my trial stage

[animentality]

let’s see your thesis

it's published, but i haven't read it in years.

[currentfandomkick]

Re-Making Ghost King function

Ghost King is a lot of OP!Danny and skipping other avenues to explore how that could work, so i have IdeasTM to add weight to the role and make it Worse For Ghost King or add costs to acting outside of the role.

Adding possible story ideas to each example i give, and up for grabs just tag me if you do anything :D

Ghost king is a curse and death sentence.

It drains your core and keeps you from your obsession. It is the realm’s denizens deciding ‘fuck this guy in particular’. The draining of the king’s core causes them to go insane (known problem) and the energy goes to sustaining a number of youngers and newly forming ghosts in the Ghost Nurseries.

Yes, Danny’s main area of the Ghost Zone is included in Nursery where ghosts of similar species and backgrounds intermingle with parents of neverborns, form firghts and later move deeper into realms, unless their obsession includes the living. Then they tend to gravitate to portal rich areas, and areas that spawn in their preferred time and regions of living world.

This means Danny? Is possibly going to deal with going insane if he’s crowned, especially as Pariah is around still. Realms are convening on if Danny’s a bigger threat than Pariah after defeating him. Go nuts on court and legal arguments between various ghosts. JLD may be called in by [character] to find a way to save Danny from this BS, while Danny is staging another prison break and probably forming another army on his side that he does not lead and like him enough to keep around but do not agree with him in terms of leadership. So his new friends are kidnapping him for his own good, while a trial is held over if a halfa can be given the cursed role of ghost king, and if Danny should be cursed to future madness

Go nuts on political drama, jail break fun and Danny debating if this makes him a McGuffin, and why his life is Like This

Team ups everywhere

Ghost king is the loosely diplomat between the Infinite Realms. And other realms sometimes.

Pariah decided war was the best way to get everyone to shut up and unite and maybe not make all their issues his problem for five minutes.

Danny is now expected to handle this as physically beating opponents to establish credentials is vital

Danny is shit at remembering his powers. Or how to switch between them outside his main ones…

Cue danny finding mentors to help and runs into hero of your choice for help (yes this means Batman isn’t the best to handle this, if he’s around have him shuffle Danny to another team or frequent meetings with a lot of heroes)

Feel free to unleash him onto Hero Team of Choice and make him their problem as ‘oh its me or the guy who’s main response is world domination! My mirror likes traveling and a few of my friends are activists. I dont want Conqueror McGee in charge of this stuff. I’m just here as the muscle/backup, and engineer. And space stuff. I am not the negotiator, i am the negotiator’s bodyguard.’

Danny is here to play Guard the Diplomat and act like he is not, in fact, the diplomat Legally.

Heroes? Doing their best to train danny up, likely bonding with him and his crew (tagalongs of your choice. But please let Val be there too, and calling Danny out on ‘crap tactics’ in a teasing manner.)

Ghost King is Extremely Limited in living world regardless of previous powers

Ghost Kings only have their full powers in the realms of the dead, and said powers vary by monarch and region they are present in

Yes this helps explain Danny’s weekly new powers if we include Clocky as a previous king who saw Dan become king and thought early intervention on powers might prevent Dan. Did not work as intended.

In the living realm danny acts more as a medium and can answer questions about the dead, but cannot use his powers anywhere but Amity as Amity is a Veil City (city that exists in both the IR and Living Realm) but is anchored more on living side… outside of the city wandering about as it pleases

Danny is mostly human in human word besides having an encyclopedic knowledge about the dead, burial sites, which death realm one resides in or returned from, ect.,

In the infinite Realms he is eldritch though. As a treat.

Danny is not able to be summoned unless he’s in the infinite realms. Pariah is the backup summon though. And he’s bitchy about it.

High crack, comedy and angst potential

Summons can be anyone, and danny is Done with Cultists and makes a point to tell them to fuck off with the power crap. He will take questions about the dead, and only if he gets a burger shake.

As King Phantom he’s basically a Glorified Realms Secretary in his opinion. He makes Pariah the King when he wants to be bitchy to people, and vice versa.

No rule against Pariah and Danny in a weird joint custody of the title as ‘i beat you, i won’ vs ‘you only meet the credentials half the time. We work in shifts’

Ghost King with Serious Limitations the way most monarchs have.

King Phantom cannot help you with… finding your missing friend. Danny Fenton can.

Fenton gets no access to his powers when going against what Phantom is allowed to do. Including his healing factor!

Much whump and angst potential

So many scenarios to put this in, especially if you have another person pissed at danny for not doing more with his own powers and get reality checked with danny seriously injured for Not Following the Ghost King Restrictions

Fenton making tech to help where he cant is highly applicable

I say engineer Danny working with Hero Of Choice as Gadget Guy and finding out powers afterwards and former hero status could be fun too!

And there’s all i got ATM, if anyone has other ideas to make Ghost King less OP or have other angles, let me know so we can circulate other ways this can work.

Tag whoever may be interested or have other ideas to rework the ghost king concept

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Another independent Palestinian terrorist attack happened today, wounding two Palestinians who happened to drive by the terrorists, who intended to shoot at Israeli soldiers. The IDF neutralized them, while one soldier's life was saved thanks to his gear (I found the report on the shooting terrorist attack in both Hebrew and English, I only found the info on the two wounded Palestinians in Hebrew).

During the International Court of Justice's decision regarding provisional measures against Israel, only the majority opinion was read out loud. The minority opinion was published separately. The short of it is that the judge from Uganda found that South Africa didn't have a right to make this case at all, and therefore decided against every single provisional measure SA asked for, while the Israeli judge had the same conclusion, and a few words to add, as a child survivor of the Holocaust. He wrote, among other things, "Genocide is not just a word to me" (a sentiment that should be shared by everyone, not just survivors of genocide, IMO) and that essentially, the ICJ became a stage to put Able on trial for having been murdered by Cain, or in Barak's words, by focusing on Israel instead of on Hamas, South Africa "wrongly sought to impute the crime of Cain to Abel."

This footage aired a few days ago, but since I couldn't find it anywhere in English, I ended up editing it out of an article in Hebrew. What you can see here are two things... First, you'll see the Israeli Air Force following a Hamas squad, where the terrorists are carrying RPGs and going into a building. The IAF then strikes from the air that building, and what really stands out is the secondary explosions after the initial hit, indicating that the building was full of explosives. Second, you'll see Gazans evacuating to safety. As they do, they chant against Hamas. But what really got to me is how they're moving slowly next to Israeli tanks. If they were scared that the Israeli army would shoot at them indiscrimintaely as part of some attempted genocide, they would be rushing it out of there, and likely they wouldn't have even stepped anywhere near the tanks. They can walk slowly next to the IDF, because they're sure that the Israeli soldiers are NOT going to fire at them.

In the last couple of days, we've had repeated reports of Israelis being injured by Hezbollah fire into northern Israel (after civilian communities were continuously targeted, and people got killed by this Iran-funded terrorist group), and that IDF units which have concluded their fighting in Gaza, are now starting to train for a possible war in the north. Let's hope it won't come to that, but the only thing that might stop that option is a diplomatic agreement leading to Hezbollah leaving Israel's border, and there are no signs of those efforts succeeding for the time being.

The final warning before a subponea that the House committee investigating antisemitism had to issue Harvard, because the university hasn't produced the documents it was asked to, sure does make it sound like Haravard has nothing to hide...

Today, 4 months and a day after the Hamas massacre, they started removing the ruins of houses in kibbutz Be'eri, where over 100 members of the small, agricultural community had been slaughtered on Oct 7. This is a first step in re-building the kibbutz.

And this is one of the kibbutz members, Meni Goddard.

In continuation of yesterday's info on the number of Israelis already murdered by Hamas, and their bodies held hostage, today it was confirmed that Meni was murdered on Oct 7, and his body was kidnapped to Gaza. It was already known that his wife Ayelet was also murdered during the massacre. Kibbutz Be'eri currently has 11 members who are known to have been kidnapped to Gaza, of which 6 are bodies held hostage, depriving the dead of their right for decent burial, and their families and community of closure. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[gallierhouse]

asking for opinions about armand on a friday night is crazy because ive been terrorizing the people in my life about him for a month and now?? im being asked to talk about him?? anyway so i couldnt get thru s1 back in 2022 bc it felt like a kind of rehash of hannibal (character dynamics wise) in a different setting and kind of bored me. i really liked louis in the pilot and honestly would just watch a historical drama about a black pimp and his gens de couleur family in 1930s nola and that was cruelly ripped away from me and ill never forgive lestat. BUT THEN s2 arrived and i gave it another go and armand just rose out of this show as a character ive truly never seen before?? his identity-lessness, his role as a bad stage director, that eager black hole growing around 500 years of life, its so fascinating. the Moment for me with him is obviously the donor painting seeing the whitewashed beautiful pleading garish (when compared with the real man) painting just shifted something in my soul. and THEN getting hit with the arun/maitre stuff and them the entirity of ep5 directly after? ive literally memorized the loumand argument from listening to it so many times Television of All Time fr. i love failmarriages that rot and decay and are inescapable and loumands whole thing felt so good and fresh and so so tasty. those bitches do not like each other. they dont even like each other and yet theyve stayed together for 77 yrs in a relationship built on abuse, spite, and 24/7 power exchange bdsm and thats CRAZY ! plus ive never seen toxic yaoi executed so well with two nonwhite, darkskinned characters and as a south asian that lowkey made me happy lol. anyway i love armand so much he sucks so bad but i do feel deeply seen and deeply compelled by his little gremlin ass

I miss Louis’ New Orleans era too. I get why Lestat fell in love with him, though, if I saw this beautiful creature pull a knife on his own brother in the middle of the street I’d stop at nothing to pursue him. It’s alluring. I think that’s the part of Louis Lestat has always loved and loathed most, his fierce independence and survivor’s instinct and capacity for violence. I say loathed because Lestat’s always torn between wanting Louis like that and wanting Louis to be his little housewife. He’s stupid like that.

I thought his stage direction was nice. Were his plays “good”? No. But were his notes well thought out? Yes. His notes for the trial were good. So it’s the playwright’s fault the scripts were bad, actually.

Re: his identity, I really think he’s doing fine. Not everyone needs a laundry list of hobbies and characteristics to “have an identity.” It’s true that Armand molds himself into whatever shape that’s required of him and sometimes he makes erroneous assumptions about it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an identity. I think Armand doesn’t perceive himself as having an identity, and it’s obvious that he structures his life around whatever role he’s occupying, and that it’s all very fragmented and difficult for him to see the continuity in it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an identity. His priorities and thought process are fairly obvious to the viewer, so that’s his identity. You can see the structure of his mind. That’s him. Right there. We don’t have to wait for the “real” Armand, he’s already here.

I don’t remember when I started loving him, but it was before the painting. Maybe the hunt, or when he starts participating in the interview. The painting did change something for me, though, and so did the bench scene. But I liked him from the start of season two, really, from the moment I found out he’d essentially been stalking Louis the whole time in Paris. I like him most when he’s got a little bit of edge, but then again, I love him when he lies. I actually have a shirt with their argument printed on it. It’s so fucking funny.

Well, I think there was love, at least before Armand strangled it to death. I don’t know if Louis ever loved Armand again, not after the trial, but I think Armand loved Louis, although not in a way that would really be comprehensible as love to anyone else. Maybe only the way you love something you own. But I think he at least enjoyed the performance of it. Besides, all the best relationships are 24/7 BDSM built on abuse and spite. You don’t agree? I think it’s very romantic.

Yeah, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that too. And it was the greatest thing ever and I’m really glad we got a South Asian lead, even if I’m unsatisfied with AMC’s promotional strategy. One million seasons of Armand and one million posters of his face splashed across all major cities around the world, please. He’s perfect! More people should see him. More people should be subjected to him.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

IPSO anon here.

Re: parliament vote, Thomas revealed, Markle setting him up.

I think the 3 things are 3 sides of the same triangle. This is my theory. 

I don’t think Markle needed to set her father up per se since all 3, Thomas, Doria AND Meghan, were using the same pap in the 205-2018 period. 

However, I firmly believe that she ghosted her father a long time before the wedding, but either he wasn’t getting the hint or he was saw a chance to make some money/ sell a recrafted image because he saw that Doria was making her own papstrolls without a peep from Markle.

Doria is excluded from being media revealed because Markle seeded the R card so the media will never reveal Doria or at the very least proceed with extreme caution. 

So Markle knows Thomas is a staged papstroll, but can’t tell the royals the truth. Or even if she did set him up, the pictures were very clearly staged and everyone knew it except the royals who inexplicably believed her explanations when she was clearly ( allegedly) lying on many different things especially involving media. 

Having ( allegedly)  dropped Thomas, she had no legit way to make it public without looking like a cold so and so. 

And perhaps you are correct with your theory that the plan involved some sort of very public fakery to allow him to decline his invitation publicly.

Either way, the media revelation of the staged pap photos was the golden ticket that fell into all their laps. 

Most of the public don’t follow the royals like we do ie they don’t know enough to see that she lied and then used a very feeble excuse to drop him. They don’t see that Doria was doing the same yet remains unscathed, that Markle wished to drop Thomas long before the wedding, if she hadn’t done so already.  

The first they know about any of this is the media revelation. Which the media AND all Markles pretend to be SHOCKED that he was staging pics when it was pretty obvious at the time of publication to everyone that they were staged. 

In comparison, imagine media outing Meghan’s carpark papstrolls framed as SHOCKED to find that they were staged. 

And this revelation is the perfect opportunity for all parties to withdraw. 

I think what was shocking for Thomas was finally facing the fact that his beloved, favourite daughter really had ghosted him and that’s what drove him to hospital. 

It took many months for it to finally sink in and that’s why he kept trying to contact her though his only route was via the media as she wasn’t responding privately. 

Going by Thomas Jnr’s social media, it’s finally sank in and he is done with her. 

****

This makes a lot of sense. 

This is also why I think the Samantha Markle v. Meghan Markle lawsuit is going to be very interesting. If it goes to trial (and right now, that’s up in the air since there are rumors that WME is pressuring Meghan to settle), the mud is going to fly - Samantha will try to ruin Meghan, Harry, and Doria down; Meghan will try to ruin Samantha, Thomas, and Thomas Jr.; and both of them will tell on themselves. It runs in the family, after all.

[aashiqeddiediaz]

gradient text tutorial

This tutorial is for @ladynephthyss​​ but y’all can have it too xD

We’ll be adding text so the final gif looks like this:

This tutorial assumes basic knowledge of gif-making, Photoshop, and coloring. I’ve only described the text tutorial in this.

Tutorial under the cut:

Couple things to note beforehand:

There is a lot of trial and error involved when doing any sort of text, and this is no exception! You might have to play around with the colors and the settings before you find something that looks good and readable!

This tutorial is inspired by the difference text effect in these tutorials: one and two by @anya-chalotra​ (highly recommend checking those out!), just done a different way.

This text effect works better on big gifs (540px width) that have quite a bit of movement below the text so you get that effect.

Find fonts that have bold shapes or some width to them, so you can see the movement.

This is my starting gif, after sharpening and coloring.

First, I position my text where I want it. (this can be moved around later, I just like to get an idea). Remember what I said about fonts? Try to use ones that are thick for this effect so you can see the gradient/movement underneath the letters. I’m using Intro. 

It doesn’t matter what color the text is at this stage, I just do white text so I can see it:

Then, add a gradient map in the color you want your text to be. For this one, I chose black and purple. The more contrast there is in your colors, the better it looks. You’ll be able to change this later though, if you don’t like the way it looks. 

This is how it looks with the gradient map:

Now, we’re going to go over into our layers panel, and where we have the white box (the layer box), we’re going to select and delete that...

...so it looks like this:

Then, while pressing Ctrl, we’re going to hover our mouse over the T in our text layer. Your cursor should show a white box with a dotted border. Press the T in the text with the specialized cursor, and you should get a dotted line all around the letters, like so: 

(I’m not able to get a screenshot of the cursor for some reason but I hope the instruction made it clear!)

Then, make sure you have your gradient map layer selected, and press the layer mask button (shown by a white arrow in the below image - it looks like a white rectangle with a black circle in the middle.)

This is what it should look like:

Right now, it’ll look like some solid color (which depends on your gradient). This is because we still have the text layer visible. Once we press the eye icon next to the actual text layer to hide it, you can see that this is what it looks like:

(You can also delete the text layer, but I don’t, just because if I decide to put these two words on two lines, or change their spacing or whatever, I don’t want to have to make a new layer. I can just edit that one before re-masking.)

As you play your gif, you’ll see that this is what the whole movement looks like:

You can see that the movement of him lifting the glass to drink his tea shows through the text, too. Almost like a weird color X-ray type thing, where the lighter color shows on darker shades of the gif, and the darker color shows on the lighter part of the gif.

Note: sometimes, depending on the way your gradient is made, you might get text that looks like the picture below. Just hit the reverse button (shown with a white arrow), and you should get the text looking like it does above.

This is the basic way to do it. Now, we can easily edit this, if we feel like there’s too much purple and not enough black. To do that, we go into the gradient, and change the slider positions of the colors. This is purely an aesthetic preference, but I’ll show you how to do it below:

For example, I moved those sliders so there’s more black and less purple, and the gradient feels more like two colors only, instead of all the various hues of dark purple/gray-purple. 

This is what the gif looks like:

In the gif before this one, the black was more of a muted gray. In the one directly above, you can see that it looks much more striking. So play around with that until you find something you like. 

It still doesn’t look very visible to me, so I’m going to add a drop shadow underneath (again, this is a preference thing). You’d do it just like you would with a regular text layer. Right click the Gradient Map layer and select Blending Options. Add a drop shadow.

This is what mine looks like:

And that’s it! You can keep playing around with the whole thing until you’re happy with it. You can even keep changing the color, and the great thing about that is you’ll be able to preview it as you change it to see what works with your scene. For example, I tried white and black text here:

And that’s it! Feel free to drop me an ask if anything’s confusing! Happy giffing!

[aryastark-valarmorghulis]

Reposting this on its own because I need to make sense re: Armand and what the hell was going on with him before and during the trial.

"I will not harm you" were the first words Armand said to Louis, and later, he reiterates "I will not harm you; and I never have".

Now, we know this isn’t quite true, because Armand hurt Louis - mostly by proxy but not exclusively - he lied, gaslighted him (very convenient to agree to erase Louis' memory in SF, right?) and ultimately betrayed him, causing Claudia's death.

On the other hand, when Armand had the chance to kill Louis with fire he didn’t, and not because he had some evil TM mastermind plan, but because he loved Louis (yes, in his own flawed, imperfect way, but he loved him). And most importantly, why does Armand set Louis free? He has nothing to gain from it and everything to lose: he could alienate the coven if discovered, he's aware Louis won't forgive him (he says it later!), and I'm pretty sure, if he knew Louis at all, he at least suspected Louis would try to go all Kill Bill. So why does Armand set Louis free? Because he loves him.

Oh, and he also had no guarantee at all that, after setting him free, Lestat wouldn’t run to Louis and reclaim his role as the big hero who saved him. In the tower scene, Armand is scared as hell that Lestat is going to expose him.

So. Armand loves Louis. He stayed with him for 70+ years fully knowing (at least, unconsciously) that he was a rebound. And if Armand loves him, why would he let him die on that stage? When he saved him before and rescued him after, at his own peril?

So, my opinion: Armand wasn’t going to let Louis die, but you cannot script a hurricane, so Lestat happened, and after, it was just so convenient to let Louis believe what suits both the most - that Lestat is an undeserving monster etc, etc.

Of course, there is always option 2: Armand knew Lestat wouldn't have let Louis die on that stage, so he allowed him to do the hard work and then stepped in to do his own little saving in secret.

But of course, now that all the stones (ha) have been turned, who will believe or trust Armand again? Louis? Not a chance. Lestat? Please. Daniel? We'll see. 

Maybe I'll add more later on Armand's opaqueness during S2 (to me, he was quite an enigma in the books, so, I'm not complaining too much. I loved him as a character in the books, love him now, my weird gremlin etc, etc), which of course includes the final twist of Daniel's turning; but I feel like we don't have enough on him. We only scratched the surface with S2 Armand and we have a lot of puzzle pieces that don't quite match and they're not enough to get the big picture, maybe only a reflection of it.

[ca-suffit]

re: nobody defending Armand. Not only is he not being defended, I see a lot of people (from both sides of the argument regarding episode 8) assuming things that weren't said about his involvement in the trial. I've seen people say that he wrote and orquestrated the whole thing, when Daniel only said that he directed the play. We've seen before (with My Baby Loves Windows) that Armand directs plays that are not his, he provides notes and stage direction, which is not the same as writing the play. The coven could have forced him to direct the play, and Armand's blame would lie in the fact that he did not try hard enough to stop them and that he lied to Louis. Santiago even takes credit for the play when he's taunting Louis, but because we were shown that Armand can be a dickhead and a liar then that means he must surely be evil in every single way, which is not the treatment that Lestat gets from most of the fandom. The lack of nuance when addressing these characters is a problem in general (I live in fear that Lestat will get flanderized) but it's really noticeable how extreme and malicious it gets with characters of color.

(context)

Assad has already flat out said that Armand was forced to do the play as well and the fandom is ignoring tf out of that

Zaman tells TV Insider’s Damian Holbrook that Armand was “forced” to direct the trial and that all of his subsequent punishment from the coven was “absolutely true.”

“He directed it, but it wasn’t his choice to do it,” Zaman says. (src)

If this were a white character and/or Lestat, it would be plastered in the tags every day.

The fandom has been afraid of this happening since the end of S1 (contrary to the lies being pushed all the time, a lot of ppl always distrusted Armand and knew something was wrong, whether they were book readers or not), but the choices the show made on top of it have made it worse.

I've seen posts claiming that Armand was full body controlling Lestat and making him speak during the trial as well. What???

So we see Lestat abuse Louis and he's admitted to that in canon now as well, but that's the part we're still supposed to think is a lie (according to the fandom)? But with Armand it's just....whatever evil thing u want to make up is prbly true. Ok. Despite Sam just saying all this about Lestat the other week too.

There's such clear parallels between how the show is treating Lestat and Armand and how both have "more" to their stories than we've seen yet. But only Lestat gets cushioned from it all almost entirely, not only by the fandom but the show itself as well between the episodes and the interviews with cast and crew.

Lestat is like "dickhead (affectionate, his background excuses it and it's sassy white gay rep anyway)" and Armand is like "dickhead (said to be affectionate but?? idk why, he was just born like that ig lol [ignores his backstory that involves sex slavery]"

[aliusfrater]

what do you make of samndean's conversation in 8.18 regarding kids and hunting? before they uncovered the truth about victor's operation, sam seemed tentatively open to the idea that a person could hunt and also participate in "normal" life, while dean said these two things at the same time can't work for anyone, especially kids, because of what hunting does to kids. I think that's really interesting coming from dean because any time early seasons sam talked about the problems with how they were raised, dean shut that down immediately. anyway sorry for the long ask but I think my brain is grasping at something meaningful regarding both their characters but you're very good at this lol

i think it comes down to (as ardent described it) the ‘protect the innocent’ vs ‘arm with knowledge’ dean vs sam reaction/course of action have relating to how they hunt that's quite plainly a reaction and emulation of their childhood dynamic in which dean and john deprive sam of information for the sake for protecting him, but in the process they infantalise him, put him on a pedestal of innocence and unintentionally isolate him further from the world by isolating him within his own world that is the john-dean-sam dynamic while dean acts on behalf of john as an extension of him and the dichotomy of monstrosity within hunting, thereby ‘protecting the innocent’ despite the autonomy of this ‘innocent’.

i interpret it as sam, who is 1) in the process of re-recognising that there is no Out from The Life despite his attempt, on account of the current negative effects of the trials, despite his initial reasoning regarding his undergoing of the trials partly being his attempt at pursuing that end goal of normalcy¹ which mixes with sam and dean falling back into the abusive dynamic of their relationship after their time apart, which kind of echoes that push and pull of sam's agency that's being channelled within sam's undergoing on the trials. like, “so free will? that's only for you?” -> “i know. i know you do. i don't. not anymore. hell, maybe i never did,” -> “what does that mean—‘personal’?” -> then eventually, “what happens when you've decided i can't be trusted again?” etc etc. and is 2) treating the trials as a retaking of his autonomy but specifically in the way it relates to his arc for this season wherein he's attributing that feeling of alienation, of uncleanliness, to the demon blood rather than the conditions of abuse of his childhood because that emotional compartmentalisation is a perspective that is able to provide agency, as in—he believes he's now able to get rid of that feeling with the trials then is 3) attempting to channel these circumstances through a very foundational aspect of himself regarding his ideals of hunting that had also structured the abusive dynamic within the winchester household that is emulated within his relationship with dean as well as large aspects of his motivations regarding the trials. basically, he's considering the autonomy of the ‘innocent’ here and what they want for their lives, an ideal that comes from a dynamic within which (projection) he would have wanted that kind of life (the balancing of hunting (because it's what his family does, it's a job) and normalcy) for himself.

for dean, i think it's quite literally a straight line (in terms of a consistency of his ideals) from his defending of their childhood to his objection to the mixing of normalcy and hunting on account of the fact that they're both a kind of attempt at an emulation of john; first being a kind of defence through the non-pathologising of john's abuse and then being part of that ‘protect the innocent’ role², the children being the ‘innocent’³. there's also the aspect of that supernatural theme of the dichotomy of normalcy wherein the liminality of existing within both normalcy as well as the job ideal hunting is something that one cannot achieve; normalcy and the nuclear is a kind of lifestyle that's reward, a cage, and a stage that exists in synonymity with hunting but they cannot mix. mixing them is a kind of encroachment or perversion upon normalcy; ³dean lived this extensively in season six with lisa and ben and he's projecting his own circumstances, regarding his own household, as a possibility onto a different household through the patriarchal foiling between himself and victor. he does not want what happened to the people he loved (the sacred nuclear), lisa and ben, to happen to these children.

besides, the hunting ideal of revenge as agency is something that dean had observed, lived with, and even emulated but had never explicitly partaken in. i interpret this as an extension of that emulation of the john-dean-sam dynamic where, along with dean's emulation of john, this idealistic version of revenge relates very closely to the latter portion of season one dean's arc, where he's capable of placing his familial ideals on a pedestal above john's hunting ideals on account of sam's earlier-season pushback against this same aspect of john's parenting.

there's also the (more doylist) idea that sam and dean are foils and the text is initiating its conflict through our narrative mouth pieces. dean's language very frequently has more power than sam's on account of his patriarchal role as well as his role as the mouthpiece of his and sam's relationship—note that he provides and chooses a course of action that sam immediately follows despite the expression of his own ideals

—which makes him the primary driving device of our plot for the episode where his foiled patriarch's motivations are being questioned by the narrative. a major part of dean's character is his facade and very frequently foiled characters serve as the push and pull of information that's needed to breach dean's superficiality for character exploration and very frequently this character is sam since sam largely already exists beneath this facade on a scale that even dean is sometimes unaware of. sam emotionally compartmentalises and the push and pull of his and dean's dynamic very frequently provides a course of action that bypasses this compartmentalisation when it doesn't provide sam with his own agency.

¹pretty similar to his season four arc wherein he used his monstrosity as a source of agency and part of his motivation was cutting the head off the snake in an attempt to pursue normalcy and indepence but when it came down to it, he'd destroyed himself within the process of said pursuit and all that was left was the 'greater good' ideal.

²we also see this ‘protect the innocent’ vs arm with knowledge sam and dean foiling with both adam in 4.19 and claire in 12.16; in 4.19, sam is attempting to juggle the non-patholigising john's abuse along with his own ideals while dean immediately attempts to deprive adam of the information he's entitled to in order to (perceivably) protect him and in the process he creates that double standard of adam deserving to go to school while sam 'ran off' to stanford while in 12.16, sam extends the choice of reverting the effects of lycanthropy to claire while dean attempts to make the choice against it for her due to the risks.

[verilly]

As If / IGtFA / CitY ✶

Aquamarine Hoshino x Reader

This is PART FOUR, check out other parts in the link below!

REQUIEM: Sixth New Genesis!

What's to come: [Reader likes both genders], [reader joins B-Komachi]

[Songs of the Chapter: "Rain and Petra" by Balloon, "Love Trial" by 40mp, "Repaint" by RAISE A SUILEN]

[5,942 words]

"You got us a spot at the Star-Stage?!" Ruby squealed, hugging your shoulders in excitement as she jumped with joy, "I can't believe it! Ahh!! You really are the best! I love you I love you I love you!!!"

"Ruby, my body is so sore. What are you even talking about..?" You turn your head to look at her, her eyes were as bright as the large light that stood above the two of you.

"What she means is, I booked B-Komachi a performance venue for the largest idol convention that Japan holds. Well for small idol groups at least. B-Komachi only recently re-formed and we are nowhere near as popular as we used to be, so we are incredibly lucky to be able to perform at such a... prestigious location." Miyako says, continuing to type away at the computer in front of her, "Not to mention, the Star-Stage is quite the popular stage as well."

"Yeah! Isn't this just amazing, [name]?!!" Ruby shouts happily, "I can't believe it!! Ahh! This is so so cool! And I'm gonna be on stage with famous people— you!"

"I'm not all that- uhm. Thanks, Ruby." You smile, patting the arm that hugged you tight.

"I have to text Mem and Kana! We are totally going to kill this, and- Wait, why is [alias] in my house right now?"

"You invited me over..? Or maybe it was Aqua? I actually don't remember..."

"That's right! I asked you to come over cuz... uhh..! Oh! Right, I wanted us to make a video together for B-Komachi!" Ruby said, pulling out her phone. Her screen was covered in bullet points and small check marks next to a few of them, "Maybe we should be the one's to announce that we're gonna be at the Star-Stage? I think that'd be cool!"

"Shouldn't all the members be present for something as important as this?"

"True, but... Kana is busy right now, and Mem is streaming!!"

"I'm supposed to be streaming right now as well, do you have a good computer?— Doesn't Aqua have one? Maybe we should announce it live, here I have a program on my phone, so I could just upload the green screen of my model here and..." You pulled your phone out of your pocket and scrolled through all the apps you had cluttered around.

"Oh that is such a good idea!! Aqua!! Aqua!!!" Ruby shouted, running off to find her brother. She almost tripped when she ran up the stairs, you could barely hold in your laughter.

"You know, I'm really glad you decided to join B-Komachi." Miyako says, her eyes not leaving her screen for a second.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're exactly what we needed, it's good marketing. Not to mention, Ruby seems to be a lot more happier when you're around. Plus, you have a great resemblance to the former face of B-Komachi. [name] [last-name], what is it that you truly seek from this job?" Miyako rested her head on the palm of her hand as she looked you in the eyes. You awkwardly bite your lip and break the eye contact as you play with the hem of your shirt.

"I just... wanted the experience, I really do like idols after all★. Is there really a question for why I wanted to join? My mom used to put on B-Komachi videos when I was younger, so it's really no wonder when I pounced on the chance to join, haha!★" You lied, your mom didn't do anything like that, she was always biased towards the k-pop side of things.

"Is that so? Well make sure you give her my thanks, [name]." Miyako smiled as she shut her eyes before continuing to type endlessly on her computer.

"I'm back!! Aqua said he would let you use his computer!~" Ruby sings as she quickly ran down the stairs to grab your hand, "C'mon! I just can't wait!!" Ruby's eyes gleamed brighter when her loud voice turned into a quiet whisper, "Y'know, he wouldn't do this for just anyone, not even for me! I think that he really likes you~"

A blush rises to your face as you look at the ground, how could Ruby just casually say that? It's all just so strange— this family is strange. You finished setting everything up on our phone before you entered Aqua's room. It was just the same as it was the first time you came to make that video to save Akane.

"Thank you so much for letting me use your computer, Aqua." You say, grabbing one of the USB's from his shelf, "It means a lot to me!☆"

Aqua nods as he lays in his bed, scrolling through his phone.

You sigh as you get to work, using your phone to upload the model onto the computer screen, taking away the green screen, downloading assets, creating a BG, adding Ruby to the screen, and starting the stream. You let the countdown go as people start rolling into the chat, you turn your head to look at Ruby and explain what was about to happen.

"Since this stream is kind of... unscheduled, I'll have to explain what's happening to them. So don't talk about this segment, cause I want you to be with me a secret until we reveal that B-Komachi's gonna have their first performance. Is that okay?" Ruby gives you a thumbs up as she watches your screen.

You pan to the next slide and take in a deep breath as you clench your fists.

"What's up guys?! Hi!~ ☆Hello, yeah sorry for such a... unexpected stream! I'm so thankful so many of you guys were able to come! Okay, this is going to be kind of short but I have some stuff to say." You went on about becoming a member of B-Komachi to your online fans, not that you've never said anything to them before, but to push back the time and to draw suspense, somehow, it draws more viewers in.

"Alright so now that that's out of the way, let me introduce to you our guest of the day!☆~" You look over to Ruby and signal her to speak into the mic you had set up as you pull a png of her onto the screen and place her next to your model, "My coworker and friend... Ruby!!"

"H-Hello everyone!! Thank you for having me here!" Ruby nervously says, her hand was on her chest as she kept looking back and forth between the overflowing chat and you. "Oh and especially thank the ones supporting B-Komachi's journey to fame!" Her smile brightened as she saw a multitude of comments sending pink heart emojis.

"Of course! But! We're here to say something very important from B-Komachi!" You state, DMing Mem to see if she would want to join in such quick notice, "And it'll be a secret until you guys show us how much you us!☆"

"Huh?- Oh yeah! You gotta let us know! Is it like this big?" She used her index finger and thumb to barely pinch the hair, "Or this big!!" Ruby ecstatically spread her arms. You gently remind her that they can't see what she's doing as you laugh. She grows silent with embarrassment before picking herself back up, "W-what I mean is... do you guys love us 90% or a thousand-million-bajillion-quadruple percent!!?!"

You smile as you watch Ruby interact with the chat, more specifically, she was fishing for compliments but you didn't comment on it. You pulled your phone out to see if Mem responded and she did! You pulled her into a call with you while she was on stream. Somehow, *Kana joined the three of you guys as well on her phone.

"Okay! Now that all of us are here, let's finally tell them!" You say, clattering on the keyboard with Ruby next to you.

"Let's do a countdown!!!" Mem shouted into her mic.

"Yeah, I think a countdown would be fitting." Kana added.

"Okay everyone! 3... 2... 1...!!" Ruby counted, with Mem joining her after 3.

"We're performing at the Star Stage in two weeks!!" Both you and Ruby said in unison, "And it'll be amazing. So you all better be there, or at least support us on our way there! It'll be awesome and the tickets for our show will be available in a few days I think?" You ask, looking over at Aqua if he had any idea, but his back was turned to you with him laying on his side facing the wall. You sigh, "Well I'll let you all know when they're posted. But also, make sure to follow B-Komachi on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok... what else do we have?"

"I think that's it, everything else is pretty irrelevant."

"Okay yeah! Stay tuned!☆~ That's all I had to announce, pretty cool, right? You could see me in person!!" You say, you cough before correcting yourself, "You can see all of us in person! We'll be dancing and singing and doing all this cool stuff, you better not miss it!"

-End of As_If

"Okay! So since we're going to perform anytime now, we should choose our *oshi colors!" Ruby states, placing down a box full of cheap glow sticks that haven't been cracked yet, "Or in other words, our light sticks!~ Don't be shy, girls! Choose?"

"Oh, I think that I want the color-"

"Okay, no one's picking? I guess I'll have the honor to choose first!" Ruby said proudly, putting a hand to her chest as a smirk crawled to her lips, "I'm going to pick... red!!" She exclaimed loudly, picking up the first one she could find from the endless box of light. Kana's eyes widened, as she clenched a small fist in her lap, "It matches my name, not to mention, Ai had the same colors as well! It was truly meant to be!!~"

"Hm, really? I always saw you as a pink girl, Ruby." Mem said, putting a finger to her chin, "Plus, I think that red would fit Kana a lot more, but if that happened... ehh, I don't know, pink and red are really close together in the color spectrum so I guess you two wouldn't be as unique-"

"Shh!! Stop it, all I hear is blah blah blah. Whatever, Ruby can have the color red, I really don't mind." Kana sighed, plastering a smile across her face, "I think that... it suits her a lot more than me, she's really bold. I think, as the leader, I should be white." Kana says, pulling a small glow stick from the box and let it fall gently to her lap, "It would bring us all together, no matter what color Memcho or [alias] choose."

"Really? That's so generous of you, Kana!!" Ruby squealed, running over on her knees to lunge at Kana in a hug, "Ahhh!! I love you, I love you, I love you!!!"

Mem looked at you and pulled out a light glow stick, "If my predictions are correct, this is yellow, and I think that yellow would suit my brand a lot. Don't you agree?" You nod your head in response as air escapes your nostrils, "So what color do you want, [alias]?"

"What should my color be... well, usually for streams I use [color], but since my real-life persona has these rainbow highlights, I don't know what to choose! Any suggestions?" You ask, pulling the box roughly towards you as you stare at your choices.

"I think pink would suit you, but like I said earlier, y'know. Just wouldn't work!"

"What about purple?— no, green!"

"I don't really know either, sorry..."

"Oh!☆ I just had an amazing idea!" You said, straightening your back. You stand up from your cushion and bolt towards Ruby's door as you yell something out to Aqua, "Hey Aqua!!" His head perks out from the door in front of you, "What's your favorite color?"

"Oh, I don't know. Aquamarine? Blue, I guess." He answers, confused.

"Okay then! ☆My oshi color for my time with B-Komachi will be blue!" You announce with a proud smirk on your face, the reactions from the people in the 'crowd' were vastly different, but from behind you, you could feel Aqua's face turn red. You couldn't see it, but you just had the intuition. "And I think it fits even more if you really think about it, 'cause Akane's hair is blue and it'll symbolize my love for her!!" You felt Aqua's presence from behind you after you said that, maybe it wasn't a really good idea to say that in front of him? You don't really know.

Kana's eyes darkened for a second before she shuffled through the box until she found a blue glow stick, tossing it your way with a light hearted smile appearing on her face, "Well, as the not-so-leader of B-Komachi, I welcome you with open arms. Officially!" She, along with Ruby and Mem, brought the four of you into a long lasting hug before breaking the silence, "You're going to color your mask to blue or something though, otherwise it won't make a lot of sense."

"But your whole white thing doesn't make sense!!"

"I'll just ask the director nicely if my outfit could have white as its secondary color instead of the regular pink-ish red. Your blue on the other hand would completely throw off our vibe! It's too much of a cold color, not a warm one like the other girls."

"I... guess that makes sense." You laugh as the sweet embrace quickly ended.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

Kana sat on her bed, reviewing what just happened with you and Aqua. You may not have seen what sort of reaction Aqua had, but she did, and he was blushing. She didn't know how to label these feelings other than... perhaps, jealousy—

But it's not that she actually had feelings for that boy. No way, never in a lifetime would the Kana Arima fall for someone like him. All he does is act like he doesn't care, but he does really care deep down, doesn't he?

Kana's face turns red as she curls up into a ball and pushes her head into her hands. Do you think he's cared about me that much? As much as [name]? Or- even as much as Akane?

What do I have to do to make him care?

Kana doesn't understand anything, nothing at all: why does he like you so much? What could she do to make him like her just as much? What can she do?

She groans into her hands as she comes back up for air, what do you have that she doesn't? She doesn't know, but she knows all too well at the same time. The two of you were vastly different. She was moderately normal, sticking to the basics, but you... were just so much more different. You're all over the place, but not to the point of Memcho. You could turn on and off, you were like two different people at the same time. Maybe if Kana had the talent for that, Aqua would like her a little bit more?

The more she thinks about it, the more her jealousy rises. Especially on how much more popular you were. She was a successful child actress for crying out loud! Now all she is is a good for nothing "has-been". A nobody. She fights back the urge to cry herself to sleep again as her head falls onto her pillow.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Tomorrow was not a better day.

Kana sat as she watched you talk to Aqua, she could barely comprehend what the two of you were talking about, but all she knew was that it made him happy and not her. Your existence infuriated her, but you haven't done anything wrong. She was mad at herself about that too.

The way his eyes shimmered whenever he was in your presence, the same way Ruby's shined, was the worst out of it all. He's never like that with anyone else, never! Not even with his own sister— not even with Akane, so what's so different about you? How could Kana achieve something at your level?

Today wouldn't get any worse than it already is, Kana didn't need to focus on him like that. What she should really be focusing on is B-Komachi's first performance. Today's the last day after all. Right. Kana's fist plops onto her left hand as she prepares the group to get ready to work.

"Alright everyone! Enough sitting around, it's time to work! We want our fans to be extra happy so that we can get even more of 'em!" Kana says, looking towards the group with a pride like no other, "And when we have more fans, we'll make more money...! Not that some of you guys really need to worry about that..." that was a comment directed towards you, she meant what she said, and she said it in a passive aggressive way, but you didn't pay much attention.

"I can't believe that you're finally warming up to the idea of you being the leader, Kana! I'm so excited to be on the stage! Ahh!! I can't hold it in!!" Ruby shouts, doing a little spin as she gets up to hug Kana.

"Not you though Ruby, if you overwork yourself I will personally kill you again." Kana sighs, "In addition: You also really need to know your limits. We don't want to rush over to the sidelines to grab your inhaler on stage, do we?" Memcho and you agree as Ruby pouts.

The workout was nothing to scoff at, but Kana could tell you weren't keeping up with her and the other girls, deep down, she was happy you weren't as good as her, when it came to dancing at least. In most other things, you were a lot better, you had been an idol longer than her, technically, you had experience that neither Kana or Ruby had, the experience of being a virtual idol. Not that Kana was jealous of that though. Kana could leave you to your lackluster performance for your first ever show, or she could bring you up and show her power as the leader.

Kana chose the ladder.

Kana was meant to be a good leader, she had to be.

That's the least she could do, and if she was, maybe Aqua would make her the sun of his life.

"No [alias], you have to be faster!" Kana said, correcting your foot movement, "See, look at this part of the video, her feet aren't matching yours." Kana points at the screen as she kept her gaze at you. You were very tired, you felt like you hadn't blinked in the last 2 hours. "Hello? Are you even listening to me?"

"I- I am!" You reply, blinking to make your eyes feel less dry, "I'm just so... tired, I don't..."

"Don't say that! Today's the last day left, you can't back out now!"

"I'm not backing out! I just need a little rest, I mean– you haven't given me a water break in like forever!" You whine, pulling the mask off your face, "And it's totally not fair that–"

"I'm sorry if it's not fair, but they're better than you." Kana says bluntly, her eyes showed no remorse, you felt... bad. "You can get as many water breaks as you want when you get to their level." She did feel bad for saying it, but she couldn't tell you, to her, that was the truth.

"Oh..." You frowned, but immediately put up a different front, "☆But if I'm not hydrated I won't be able to do my best! And I really do want to do my best, I'm trying really hard!"

"Erm- well..."

"C'mon Kana! Give them a break!! And you need a break too! Just 5 minutes!" Mem shouted from the sideline, patting the empty space next to her, "It won't be long, it'll be fine!"

"It'll!!- Ugh, fine. C'mon, [alias]." Kana groaned.

"Thank you, Mem!☆" You smile, as you sit down next to her you took a deep breath in from your mouth. You fiddle with your plastic disposable water bottle, crunching it, spinning the cap around as you frown beneath your mask. Kana's words hurt a little, they might have been true but they still hurt.

It wasn't like she meant to be plain out mean, Kana was only being strict to be a good leader... and if you got hurt in the process, then maybe it would be a good thing, she could finally get rid of all the anger she'd been piling up. Still, she didn't want to hurt you too much, you were a large part of B-Komachi's newly found popularity... She wanted to apologize, but maybe not now. For now, she'll gloat in her 'victory'. Not that it's a very big one.

The other day, Aqua and Kana had a really good conversation. She can't tell if he's purposefully leading her on or if he doesn't even know what he's doing, and that makes her livid. He doesn't know what he's doing to her, he doesn't know what kind of feelings are unraveling by each passing second, and she hates him for that.

Kana Arima hates Aquamarine Hoshino, but most of all... Kana Arima hates you the most for getting in the way of her feelings, but she would never say it out loud.

She's held prisoner in her own mind, all thanks to both you and Aqua.

Kana's forehead touched the tip of her knees as she started beating herself up for thinking of her *genmate as you were sitting next to her, doing almost the same thing.

Kana Arima loves Aquamarine Hoshino, but he's in love with another.

-End of I'm_Going_to_Fade_Away

"But I'm not sure if I can go on stage, it scares the living crap out of me." You complain to Ruby, "Well at least, not an idol stage. It's so... thrilling..."

"No, don't worry, [name]! You're going to do so perfectly and you already have a million fans so you don't need to worry as much! Everyone will be so excited to see you on stage! It'll be amazing!" Ruby shouts back, quickly putting her hands over her mouth in anticipation to see if Memcho would wake up, "And if anyone needs to worry it should be me because no one knows me!! Mem has her fans, you have yours, and Kana.. has her fans too!!!" she hurriedly said in a hushed whisper.

"I heard that." Kana said, shooting up in a sitting position, staring into the back of Ruby's head.

"Sorry!!!" Ruby blushes, putting her pointer fingers together as she watches Kana lay back down, after a good 30 seconds Ruby turns back around to you and gets closer... "I totally thought that she was sleeping!"

"I'm still awake, Ruby."

"Gosh darn it, I didn't know your hearing was so good!" Ruby murmurs out to Kana, "Sorry!! Again! For realsies this time!"

"Yeah.. okay." Kana sighs, leaning on her side, facing the door.

"Ruby, maybe you shouldn't talk bad about people when they're sitting right next to you." You jokingly comment.

"Well! I wasn't talking badly, I was just saying that Kana has more fans than me!"

"No, you hesitated."

"Well that's cuz I was thinking if my comment was true or not!"

You sigh as Ruby continues to talk on and on about how excited she was. She started to make hand gestures as she kept on going, you smiled softly thinking about what was to happen tomorrow. The image of the strong stage lights glaring into your retinas made you worry.

Before you could tell Ruby about your worries, you found her asleep, curled up with her pink pillow. Your nice, fake smile faded into a real one as you looked at Ruby's resting body. Quickly, you pull her blanket to cover her whole body. Ruby shifted as she felt the weight on top of her change, but luckily for you, her eyes remained shut the entire time.

Your lips parted to say something, but nothing came out. Lifting yourself up from the floor, you quietly tiptoed around Kana and Ruby to make your way out the bedroom. As you closed the door behind you, you let out a deep sigh, using your body to make a curled up ball of limbs.

You haven't been on a stage in over... What is it? *50 years? And the last time you were on one, you died. Maybe you should talk to someone about your concerns, but who would understand? You pull yourself up from the floor yet again and slowly walk down the stairs towards the light coming from the kitchen as your hand traces the fragments on the wall next to you. Who would be awake right now?

"[name]." Said the blonde male, "You're awake?"

"Oh so it's you." You sigh, "I can't believe you were wearing that Pieyon mask again, Aqua." You start to laugh as you take the seat next to him, "Isn't it hard for you? Don't you have like asthma or something?"

"Why would you think that?"

"'Cuz Ruby has it, I thought it was genetic."

"I guess she just got the short end of the stick." He sighed, handing you a glass of water.

"Mm.. nah, I'll pass. I'll just go get my own. You probably already drank from it!" You frowned, standing back up to walk towards the water cooler, "Oh, uhm... Thanks for the offer though." You said kindly, smiling at him.

"No problem."

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about. Is that okay?" You quietly murmured from a distance, you barely let any sound escape from your lips.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know why..." You sighed, pulling out another crisp water bottle, "It's just that. I guess I consider you my closest friend here. And I don't want to let the other girls down." You bite your lip as you think more about the stage, "I'm just scared."

"Of?" Aqua asks, walking to your side. You ball your hands into fists as you look down at the counter in front of you, nails digging into your skin. "[name], are you okay?"

"I don't like stages. I guess." Not looking away from your bottle, "It's scary. Not in a stage fright way though, I can deal with that. But the bright lights that shine into your eyes and face... the creaky wooden flooring... how tall the stage is going to be from the ground... it's all that." You felt your heart beating a little faster, "And I'm scared for the others too. I don't want them to experience a *black sea or... anything worse." You turn your head to look up at Aqua, his face didn't flinch or change. He was still the same, stoic.

"I understand, but nothing is going to happen. It's safe up there" Aqua reassured you, "Plus there's security,and I'll be there to make sure there isn't a black sea." Your frownshifts into a slight smile after his words hit you, leaning your head against him you took another sip of water.

"I can't believe the same guy that made me run 2 miles with a cute squeaky voice is now telling me everything is going to be alright." You giggle, shutting your eyes as your small smile turns into a bigger one. You stay on him for a few more seconds before collecting yourself. "Ahem, uhm... thank you, Aqua. Besides that whole staring phase you went through, you really are quite kind."

"You're welcome." He smiled back for a second before reverting back to his usual self. Your faces were only a few centimeters apart, you could feel it coming up. His hand brushed against your ear, his lips getting closer to yours. Your eyes almost shut before you could feel it again. What is this feeling? Deep down in your core..?

Remorse.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Like, right now." You stutter out, pulling away from him. There is another deep dark feeling inside of you, but this time it was rising to your throat. You scamper to the bathroom and lock the door behind you.

You threw up.

"Bleerghh.." You cry, the burning sensation was a lot on your throat, and you don't remember the last time this happened. You want to wash your mouth out with soap even though you didn't actually do anything. You spit until the taste of vomit left your mouth. You want to beat yourself up for trying anything with Aqua. You felt bad, horrible. Pulling out your phone, you start texting up a storm to Akane. You felt like you betrayed her, how could you? To your most favorite person in the world?

You're an asshole.

It was late at night, she was probably asleep but you couldn't keep your eyes off your phone, waiting, craving for a text back. How could you sleep knowing what just happened?

"[name]." Said a familiar voice from outside the bathroom.

"Kana..? What are you.."

"I saw everything." Kana spoke softly, "And I think I know what happened."

"I'm sorry"

"There's no need to be, for me at least. Apologizing to Akane would be best, and–"

"And I'm sorry for ruining our big night"

"You didn't ruin anything"

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't. Tomorrow is our debut, we still have time- you still have time to bring yourself together. Nothing is ruined, and everything is fine."

"I'm still so sorry, you shouldn't have seen that."

"No.. I guess I should say that I'm sorry for being so hard on you."

"That doesn't correlate to what happened though."

"Are you sure? Didn't I put you through a lot of stress? I feel like that could have been a big reason as to why you felt you needed to talk to someone... which led to what just happened."

"..." You unlock the door, stumbling out to face Kana.

"Everyone else is asleep, we should too. C'mon." Kana says softly, grabbing your hand, pulling you into a warm hug once more. "And I'm sure Akane will understand." Kana pulls away from the hug first as she continues to hold your hand as the two of you walk back up to Ruby's bedroom. Inside, she sits you down as she wipes your tears. "Stay here and watch your phone... I guess. Wait for Akane's response, but you should really go to sleep. We still have a big day ahead of us." She stood back up and smiled at you before quickly leaving the bedroom as you once did.

Kana steps down the stairs to face Aqua, who was consequently groveling on the kitchen table, head in his hands. She released herself from making her soft expression while talking to you to one that's more stern and dark.

"What were you thinking, Aqua?" Her lips pressed together, making a thin line.

"I... I don't-"

"[name] has a girlfriend! And we all know you like them, but c'mon!" Kana scolds, putting her hand on Aqua's shoulder.

"It was in the moment. I didn't... I wasn't thinking straight."

"That's not a good enough excuse! Come one, Aqua! What if [name] quits B-Komachi forever because they feel too awkward?! We'd all be in shambles! They're the biggest reason why we have so many fans!"

"..."

"Just because you're obsessed with them doesn't mean you get to drag me and the other girls down."

"I don't know how you're doing this, but you're making this all about yourself."

"I- Okay, maybe. But that doesn't make the thing you just attempted any better! You need to make this right. For the group and for yourself." Kana mumbled the last part of the sentence. "You should apologize to [name], and maybe Akane too."

"Okay okay-"

"And! I'll help you throughout the entire thing because I'm such a generous being." Kana smiled, putting a hand to her lip. "So maybe back off for a little while? Play it safe I guess. And... sorry I guess for overstepping, but it was something that needed to be done! So goodnight." Kana said, quickly leaving the scene and going back to bed.

˚⋆୨ ✶ ୧⋆˚

In the morning, you shot up awake, immediately pulling your phone to your face. Akane still hadn't responded to your wall of text, in fact, she still hasn't read it. Seeing your message still on delivered left you waiting on the edge of your seat. You didn't want to move until you saw her reply, but Memcho had other plans.

"[name]!!~ What's got you so down?" she asks, propping her head on the palm of her right hand, "I heard some shuffling during the middle of the night! Did something happen?"

"Oh.. w-what?" You stutter back, not acting like your usual self, "I just uhm... I don't know..." You cough before making your personality do a complete 180, "☆I guess that my back didn't agree with me sleeping on the floor. I'm having some serious back pain right now!" You pout out, swiftly putting your phone into your pocket.

"Really? Ah well that's too bad. I'm totally sorry for taking the only bed, but I'm the oldest! So I get to have it!" She smirks, pulling herself up into a sitting position before stepping off Ruby's bed. "Let's go down and get some breakfast, I can't wait to see what Ruby and Aqua have in their fridge... maybe there's gonna be some gourmet chocolate hanging around somewhere!"

"☆Not if I get it first!" You smile, chasing after her.

Just as you step back into the kitchen, you made eye contact with Aqua. The glittering stars in your eyes inverted into a darker color as your arm promptly makes its way to your side, hugging yourself. Your head lowers itself as you quietly follow Memcho towards the fridge.

"Ah... let's see what they have here..." Mem opens the fridge with a large smile creeping up to her lips, "Oh wow."

"It's completely empty!☆" You say, a little surprised.

"Aquatan, what do you eat??" Memcho asks, confused.

"Oh. Well usually Miyako cooks for me and Ruby but nowadays she's pretty busy so we've been getting takeout." Aqua says nonchalantly, how could he say something like that so calmly in the same room, with the same person he almost kissed? You looked at the floor when he spoke.

"Well that's a shame, I definitely thought that there was going to be something super yummy!" Memcho whined, pulling a chair out directly across Aqua, "Oh yeah, where's Kana and Ruby on this important day? We have our first performance today and we're gonna depart in an hour or so, right? I didn't see them when me and [name] woke up though."

"They went out to buy a few groceries a few minutes before you came down." Aqua simply stated, tapping away at his phone.

"Ooh! That means they shouldn't be far! I could definitely catch up with them! Okay, let's do this! [name], wanna come with me?" Mem says happily, pushing the chair she just pulled out back in.

"Oh, ☆I'd love that!" You said happily.

"Okay! Let's go! Oohh it's going to be so much fun making our own meals with everyone!" Mem giggles as we skip towards the entrance, slipping our shoes on.

As soon as you open the door, you came face to face with a familiar girl.

"Akane?"

-End of Conveyed_it_to_You

Check out the other parts here! {CLICK ME}

[goldenteaset]

Yeah, I don't remember everything, but I think she was mostly fighting with just one sword throughout the episode. Though there was one moment where she threw a bunch of knives, that was cool. She's very capable

You should unlock Glorybringer if you have the time and the mats, the class champion weapon is very useful and the mastery skills let you do insane damage, if that's your style!

On that note, I hope Mobage let you log onto the game again

!! In my book, multiple knives totally count as "auxiliary weapons". That's so cool, she's so cool~! (I just realized this must also be where that gif of her cuddling Lyria [outside of VS] came from. XD)

You know, I think I still have a rusted weapon set aside for exactly that unlocking-Glorybringer purpose? But I can't remember. ^^; I definitely planned to unlock the rock star one though!

Thank you, anon! I've been looking around some more, and while things aren't looking too good for me re: getting the account back (it kinda-sorta let me have a new one and then logged me back out and once again refused a new password), plus having trouble contacting support, I'm beginning to hit the Acceptance stage. ^^; I never really had my Djeeta's experiences be 1:1 to the game unless certain stories were involved, anyway*, and as long as people record them to youtube I should be fine? It sucks, but it's not like I'm going to stop being a fan or keeping up with event stories, fate eps, etc. just because of this. Who knows, maybe this is as good a time as any to get a Steam Deck...

*Actually that's not quite true, her/my trials to fight Lobelia to recruit him are "canon", but it's only come up once.

[neuronygma]

hi guys i remember seeing moz's new message off a fanpage first (thought it was old content or another sickly low res photo and like, initially, i was thinking don't piss me off) JUST to have found out its. its real. like. morrissey is fucking johnny posting. first, i figure whatever group it was (forgot thw name i am sooo tired. hehe) that extended the offer "exclusively" to moz&marr didn't bother with mike because 1) trial 2) going out on a limb to say moz&marr more or less do not want to be associated with mike 3) mike was never asked in the first place or he WAS and morrissey just doesn't gaf i mean. lots of context clues to work with here. andy's another thing, bc it wouldve been absolutely absurd 2 put those two together and call it the smiths?? just call it the we're making up but we might bicker on this stage tour. that on top of how tender it still is for everyone. anyway. timeline:

• pre-june: general moz music creation & lounge slump

• offer is extended in june 2024: 1) moz knew johnny would've said no & opted to keeping his choice as a yes 2) longing for the past won so naturally a yes was chosen

• post-johnny reunion decline: oopsy! CLEARLYYY an impulsive on a whim tour announcement discussing "recent fiascos" !!! it will start on..Hrmm... Jabs dart into oct 31st johnnys bday! thorough promotion of the tour & it being bold and charged and everything else that's colorful on mozcentral babyyyy

• julyish to august: very gradual and more or less subtle influx of smiths posts between morrissey's insta & official band insta. to soften the eventual blow cos moz was probs ljke. yes this shows my interest in the art & i was passionate about it & they'll see how it feels 2 have been turned down

• lateish august: the smiths will never end

• august 29th: "mmm more or less valid that the person i used to Urmm. write music with Turned down a potential reunion tour for reasons possibly concerning our late bandmate & friend and his complications with our relationship in general oh and that one open letter i constructed for him that one time. oh also im making serious bank compared to him so who really won?? i put the EARNING in yearning!!"

[1braincell4rent]

Welcome, my dear humans to this... rambling?

Yes, I think that´s probably it. I´m just going to analise the Good Omens Season 2 Opening, talk about a few things that caught my attention, do some innacurate predictions and probably make more questions that are not gonna be solved (not even when the season actually gets released).

That being said, I apologise for tha will I´m about to write. But I had nowhere else to write it, so bear with me, okay?

Okay, we begin with a sequence pretty similar to the opening for the first season. Where´s this? I wonder.

But there´s two things that inmediately caught my attention, as Crowley and Aziraphale begin their particular procession across the fields.

The first one, there´s a person walking with a box on their hands. That same box has a couple of arrows signaling upwards and I can tell it´s also the same symbol we saw on at least one of the promotional posters of GO S2. So it´s probably the thing Gabriel had to deliver, if we go with theories plus what was said in the sneak peeks.

The second thing here... Why are here so many goats? Is this a hell reference?

So now we set the goats on fire because why not, and there´s a building on the top right that gives me ancient roman vibes (nevermind me guys, the clear thing here is that we´re soon all going to hell and more people will join the charade).

We keep going to a cementery now with people following the angel and demon and there´s a few tombstones with eyecatching things written on them.

"Jane Austen", says in one and I wonder why.

"Here lies the former shell of Beelzebub", in another (which clearly makes reference to the fact they changed the actress for that part).

"Everyday", in reference to the song.

And also "Here lies Adam"...

Wait, Adam? What the actual f-

Anyway, so now they finally descend to hell and I can just tell by the chair and computer set in there what whoever has that administrative job is not getting paid enough for this shit.

Back up in the Earth I´m finally able to spot Muriel (sorry guys, I´m real shit to spot characters in these things) and we´re clearly in the middle of World War II, as you can see by the Winston Churchill signs and all the destructive ambience very fit for that historical period.

Now, what I wanted to talk about was the movie that´s being announced, "Stairway to Heaven". I´m going to leave down here the summary because I think it might be interesting:

"Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, pilot Peter Carter's plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for himself. He gets on the radio, and talks to June, a young American woman working for the U.S. Army Air Forces, and they are quite moved by each other's voices. Then he jumps, preferring this to burning up with his plane. He wakes up in the surf. It was his time to die, but there was a mix-up in heaven. They couldn't find him in all that fog. By the time his "Conductor" catches up with him twenty hours later, Peter and June have met and fallen in love. This changes everything, and since it happened through no fault of his own, Peter figures that heaven owes him a second chance. Heaven agrees to a trial to decide his fate."

So we got a miracle, a romance and heaven and hell involved in conflict... Does it sound familiar to you?

As we keep walking rabbits start to fall from the sky and I feel as we approach the theater the time has come for Aziraphale to do his so much awaited magic show.

So, there´s a few things to point out here as well.

For starters, the posters of The Ladies of Camelot (that I´m guessing are the showgirls), those same ladies joining the procession and... have you noticed this is the first time in these openings where Aziraphale is not walking with Crowley but joining him later at the stage, dressed as magician?

And so here goes one of my crazy theories: what if the scene in the trailer where we see Aziraphale surprised at the theatre is because he´s surprised Crowley arrived? Surely we also see a whadow before him and it could also be something completely different and scary... But then again, if what Aziraphale is seeing at that second is real bad stuff, why are the showgirls in the background looking amused?

The theater curtain opens and we get this scene when, again for the first time, Crowley and Aziraphale fly together. Like, literally together, not one after the other as until now.

Wasn´t Crowley proposing to run away to another galaxy together last season? (ah, of course they´re not going to do that now, they got things to do on Earth).

But I´m hopeful we can see where these people were before the beginning of times, before the Eden, when Crowley was still an angel and helped creating galaxies. I read somewhere a theorie that he might be Raphael or (and I thing this is more plausible) someone close to Raphael. So yes, we´ll see where this goes...

Back on Earth we can see Crowley and Aziraphale sitting together on the bookshop roof and, have I mentioned since the space thingy now are raining hearts? What is this? And who was the genius who thought putting "Give me coffee or give me death" to a coffee shop was a good idea? (ah, we all know this and we love Neil for it, just saying).

Anyway, I´m so glad to see the Bentley again. And all those discs... Will it be so important the constant repetition of the song Everyday? Why? And had it something to do with the fact Crowley´s car has a similar problem and no matter what CD he puts it always plays a Queen song?

People´s announcing the "Second Coming" which could very well be a reference of Season 2 and we don´t need to panic yet.

But there´s a lot of elevators here, with angels inside, so we can fairly guess it´s time to go to heaven (and it´ll probably be the last stop).

But before that, and notice that no one in this procession uses an elevator, they get to this cinema where "The Arrival" is screening.

Could it be a reference of the movie of the same title or just a hint because the first episode of this season is titled like that? I´m gonna go for this last theorie, because it makes more sense to me.

The same symbol (arrows pointing upwards) that were in Gabriel´s box are now here in the screen...

Finally, all these people get to heaven not by the usual system (the elevators) but by some stairs and under it there´s a lot of stuff piled that I´m not going to analise because I basically blind at this point (my fault, don´t cancel me).

Can I guess here there´ll be more conspiracies with heaven involved?

[r3dblccd]

DASHBOARD BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

recommend 9 books to the dash in any genre! tagged by: @misfittcd tagging: @formorethananame, @mxldito, @unavernales, @weedzkiller, @irrwicht, anyone who wants to share!

(some not so serious reviews incoming here, it gets long)

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - the way that book made my bawl my eyes in the end! The story is so good, the plot twist is plot twisting. And the illustrations in the book as so beautiful. I literally picked the book randomly like some time ago while I was on vacation from one of those travelling car bookstores and then it became one of my favourite books when I opened it to start reading.

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier - I bought this book along with A Monster Call from the same travelling bookstore, it's also a rather nice read

White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick - this book is for the goth lesbians, no I will not elaborate. (I should really re-read it because it's been so long, but I really enjoyed it).

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz (the 3 books) - my favourite bedtime stories!

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - it's long, but I have no regrets reading it, it was so fun. And hey, I finally get the 42 reference, I saw it in That's Not My Neighbour!

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami - my favourite book from the Rat series. And you don't have to read the rest of the books to understand and enjoy this one, but I would still recommend them too.

Medea by Euripides - I love unhinged women in literature. I wish I could have seen the play on stage. I don't care what my professor says, I will defend this woman until I die.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - would you still love me if I was a worm, but like put it in action, but I'm not a worm, I'm not a bug either, I don't know why you would even think I am a bug, I am a creature that can't even be depicted, also, my family fucking sucks! (did you you know that Kafka didn't want any images depicting any kind of bug on the cover of the story? Well, now you know. And look what happened, check the other covers for it. People can't even respect someone's wishes after his death smh). Also, shout out to his other story A Hunger Artist, my guy has been THROUGH it. But on a more serious note, I truly feel bad for Kafka, learning more about him during my Western Literature lectures by the end of the semester and reading a little from his letter to his father definitely put things into perspective.

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola - now, I'm not a fan of the Realism and naturalism literary movements, I hate that sort of detachment from the text where the author just describes what happens in the story in a way that feels like they themselves are disinterested in the story that became sort of more trendy with time (it's why I hated The Stranger by Camus; not only was the story boring, but the way of storytelling was boring too. But that's from a different period of time, it's also different because it's told in first-person perspective, the way the sentences in the novella are formed is very intentional and do work well with the overall theme of The Stranger, it just makes a lot of sense for the main character in the story, so I do have to give Camus some credit for that. But anyway!). But I think even though in the preface he wrote that he will look at the story as some sort of experiment Émile Zola did a good job writing a story with an interesting concept in a way that's still interesting to read instead of turning it into a snooze fest (*cough* The Stranger *cough* The Trial *cough* Madame Bovary *cough*). I would have honestly loved a little more action at the end of of the story, but I still liked it, so it's fine.

[arc-archernar]

Theory about the MILGRAM prison

(working on this when I'm supposed to be studying for my psychology exam lol)

(i count this as studying for my a-levels, sue me)

Trigger Warning: WWII Germany mention, war crimes mention

One of the questions I keep coming back to is why the prison and the project is called Milgram. The experiment that Stanley Milgram was famous for, his obedience experiment, had more to do with the study of the banality of evil (that was partly his motivation to perform the experiment in the first place) and human obedience for an authority figure than criminal behaviour. What he studied was the willingness of people to obey instructions, even when doing inhumane acts such as administering increasingly lethal shocks to someone who failed a question in a word quiz. This was actually in attempt to investigate whether N@zi Germans in concentration camps/prisons/whatever and such were pure evil or just following orders because they're 'more obedient than other races of people'. He and his colleagues wanted to explain the inhumane acts done during the holocaust, basically, inspired by the criminal trial of Adolf Eichmann (i think thats the name?) about 3 months before the experiment was conducted. Of course, with a bias for Americans.

He and his colleagues predicted that less than 3% of participants would actually administer up to 450 volts to the learner (who was a confederate, i.e. fake. the initial information that participants received was that they were there to help with a psychology experiment on memory:

they would then stage a chance drawing of who would be the 'teacher' (the participant) and the 'learner' (the confederate). the participant was always the teacher. they were then separated so the participant can hear the learner, but can't see them. they were given instructions to administer shocks to the learner if they got the wrong answer, which was made to be frequent-ish. it starts of at 15, then 30, then alll the way up to 450 volts. The shocks were fake, but it would sound like, to the participant, that the learner in the other room was actually experiencing electrical shocks. Re-creation of the study later on used a standardised recording of the learner responding to the fake shocks, then silence, as if to indicate that the learner has passed out.)

Actual results? Every single participant in the baseline procedure administered up to 300 volts. 65% of participants continued up to 450 volts.

The results may be affected by the scientist in the room, which, when faced with apprehension or unwillingness by the participant to continue, will say the following things:

Theoretically, participants should feel free to stop and withdraw from the experiment at any time. Reality? the prompts above literally pressured into continuing to increase the voltage, regardless of if they said they wanted to withdraw. Imagine:

"I- I don't feel comfortable doing this. This is wrong." "Please continue." "But- this is wrong! He's hurt, will he be okay?" "The experiment requires that you continue."

(disclaimer: dialogue is fake, i made it up from watching documentaries and recordings(?) of future attempts to reconduct the study. (i.e. based on what the teacher made me watch in class lol))

And so on and so forth. A lot of participants' attempts to withdraw were met with a sound 'no'. I'd say that going through the experiment itself is traumatic all by itself.

So what does this mean for the Milgram Project?

Honestly, I can only guess that, in a way, it shows how willing most of us are to go along with this extremely inhumane premise. Imagine that the prisoners are real people - well this kind of experiment would get absolutely blasted by any ethics board, and the prisoners would be subject to the Japanese criminal justice system and all that. But imagine somehow passed ethics boards and such. And, instead of the judge being internet people who can discuss and judge freely, it is people who are physically there to be the judge, jury and executioner. The information and experience will be repeated for every participant, every fan of the project. The chances of those of us who will call this kind of prison out drastically decreases, for various reasons. Some of Milgram's participants said that their willingness to go along with the study was because they thought the whole thing was 'play-acting'.

And this scenario is exactly what Es is subjected to. They only know to follow the rules of Milgram, because like the participants in Milgram's obedience study, they can't withdraw. They can't get out. They can only complete the objective they were given, because that's the only way this experiment would end. Jackalope is the scientist in the room in this analogy: they keep Es obedient, keep Es from questioning.

And, like the 'learner' in the original experiment, the prisoners are there to distract us and Es from the true aim of the experiment: to what end will we be jackalope's little obedient doll?

then again, I can be completely wrong. I got distracted from studying. (this counts as studying right????)

[hananoami]

[ Directional Orbit ] Fire - Stage 120 Clear VOD

On June 26th I finally cleared Rafayel's Directional Orbit: Fire - Stage 120! This is the last fight currently available for hunters to challenge in the Deepspace Trials. With this clear I can now say I have successfully completed all 120 stages of Open and Directional Orbits that are out. It's a feels good moment knowing that I was able to achieve this goal before the big update in July. Hopefully we'll see more stages soon.

Anyway, some important information pertaining to Stage 120. Like all red orbits, x0 stages it requires two different teams. Team 01's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Pearl memories. Team 02's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Violet memories.

By having a 'perfect match' with the Protofield Stellactrum you will receive additional attribute bonuses (for every color you match increase DMG boost 5.0% and DMG reduction 5.0% up to 30.0%), as well as the ability to shatter two protofield shields in a single strike. For this stage I opted to match the colors for each team. The bonuses of having a perfect match was more optimal instead of me trying to brute force it.

A disclaimer of sorts -- a lot of time, energy, and resources went into this stage. Everything here is based on my own experience with this particular fight. There is no right or wrong way to go about it. What worked for me may not work for you, but I hope some of the things I learned along the way could help you with your own trials.

What a long and precarious journey this has been, especially with Rafayel. From me begging the rng god(s) to bless me with his AB myth pair to struggling to obtain crit rate violet delta protocores... his team builds always made me work for it in every sense of the word. Which is why I am beyond ecstatic to finally be done with this, hahaha. I started this stage on 05/22 and finally cleared on 06/26 -- 5 weeks of progging this fight whenever his orbit was available... ngl it was pretty rough.

With Team 01, it wasn't so bad if you have a perfect match and group up the three wanderers. I've done countless runs of this stage and noticed that my build was strong enough to auto battle it -- though it sometimes cut really close to the timer ending. However, if you're doing it off color and trying to brute force it I would highly suggest that you stand close to / focus on Nauticverge (it's ranged with a staff). The other two wanderers will come to you to make it easier to group together.

With Team 02, the sheer amount of resources I invested into Rafayel's violet team is kinda wild. This was the first time I awakened a 4-star memory [Ivory Nightfall] but that was done only after I exhausted all of my other upgrades (ie. getting 5-star memories to level 80, maxing out +15 protocores). I don't regret that though. That memory is beautiful and well worth it since it's an ATK talent. I called it my make or break upgrade and thankfully that was the last bit of damage I needed to clear.

Originally, I was progging the second half of the stage using his Phantasma Sands guns... but finally gave up and swapped to Hunter Claymore to do even more damage. Truthfully, I'm not that great when it comes to melee weapons. Getting those stacks was a hit or miss because I anxiously dodge back too fast before seeing the red ring.

I know my game play was messy... but at least I made sure to press my buttons on cooldown, tried not to cap on my energy charges, and made sure to grab the fishtail beacon every time I used Rafayel's support skill. There's also the case with the last shield break of the fight. I made sure to hold my resonance skill until ~0:13 left on the timer to utilize the most damage out of my ardent oath during the wanderers weakened state. As seen in my video that was the final blow before I got my clear!

ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS

Companion: Rafayel's God of the Tides Weapon: Tidal Embrace Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 30.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 30.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 102 (Rafayel’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Rafayel teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 4000 || DEF 100 || ATK 200 ] Pair Bonus [TP] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, reduces DMG taken by 8%, and increases Crit DMG by 10% when fighting alongside Sea Spirits. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath Charge by 20%. The starting level of Sea Spirits rises to Lv. 2, and Sea Spirits will last for 5 more seconds. - Duo Rank 2: increases Energy Charge cap by 1. During Heavenly Rain, recovery rate of energy charge is increased by 30%.

5☆ Temple's Promise (pearl/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Temple's Sunset (pearl/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Private Trip (pearl/lunar) Lv 80 using +11 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Fireworks Vow (pearl/lunar) Lv 80 rank using +9 and +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Tipsy Invitation (pearl/lunar) Lv 80 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Before Sunrise (pearl/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 and +15 SSR protocores

Companion: Rafayel's Abysswalker Weapon: Hunter Claymore Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 30.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 30.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 102 (Rafayel’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Rafayel teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 4000 || DEF 100 || ATK 200 ] Pair Bonus [AB] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, reduces DMG taken by 8%, and increases Crit DMG of Deepsea Persuit by 30%.

5☆ Deep Sea Riches (violet/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Deep Sea Promise (violet/solar) Lv 80/awakened using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Floral Promise (violet/lunar) Lv 80 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Your Fragrance (violet/lunar) Lv 80 rank 2 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ Whispers (violet/lunar) Lv 80 using +15 SSR protocores

4☆ Ivory Nightfall (violet/lunar) Lv 80/awakened rank 3 using +15 SSR protocores