#idk other pertinent tags

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (23-24 SZN PART 14)

au masterlist

notes: this is short and i apologize, but i’ve had an extremely busy day and didn’t have much time to write but i wanted to get this out before tonight’s game!

y/ndevils00

liked by trevorzegras, tmeier96, and 308,619 others

y/ndevils00 WE’VE TAMED THE WILD!

SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT SEASON, MINI-SODA!

tonight, my (and hopeful your) favorite boys in white and red, won the second game in our back to back games with the Wild! making us 2/2 in our games against them this season!

we had a great FIVE goals tonight compared to mini’s measly three! i’m incredibly proud of all 4 of our goals scorers, AND the magical puck that flew into the net on its own about 15 minutes into the first! that was insane, am i right?!

and even more exciting, we only had TWO penalties tonight! 🥹 they’re finally listening to me!

my lil rabid chihuahua almost got into a fight tonight, which would’ve solidified his rabid status! but alas, he did not, and Timo the Train stepped in to defend him— which both spoiled my fun and saved me from heart failure; i’m not sure whether to be mad or grateful, so i’ve decided to be both! never limit your emotions, kids! be dramatic! i promise, it’s fun!

babygirl DID, however, draw a penalty on one of his former bffl’s, moldy boldy, for interference! which took us to the power play and secured dougie’s fantastic goal tonight— which was assisted by none other than the man who snores in my ear every night! giving him his 20TH POINT OF THE SEASON!! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU, MY LOVE! I’M GONNA KISS YOUR FACE!

tagged holtz_10, tmeier96, lhughes_06, jackhughes, jesperbratt, dougieham, and vitacz15

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lhughes_06 before you say it: i’m not gossiping. i fell.

y/ndevils00 that sounds like something someone that was gossiping would say

lhughes_06 then what would someone who WASN’T gossiping say?

y/ndevils00 idk, i’ve never NOT gossiped. and usually you gossip with me

jackhughes i have so many comments on this, idek where to start

y/ndevils00 you could start by telling me you love me? 🥰

jackhughes mhm i love you- why rabid? why chihuahua? why the snoring? please never call him “moldy boldy” again

y/ndevils00 i love you too! because you’re a bit feral sometimes! you’re tiny and yappy! i felt like it was pertinent information! i will.

jackhughes I’M TALLER THAN YOU! (wtf does “pertinent” mean?)

y/ndevils00 WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?! (relevant, baby! it means relevant!)

dawson1417 i didn’t do it :(

y/ndevils00 NEXT GAME!

dawson1417 next game!

john.marino97 are you guys just gonna do this after every game until dawson gets a point?

y/ndevils00 @/john.marino97 we’re bound to be right eventually! next game!

john.marino97 i guess i can’t argue with that logic… next game!

tmeier96 i did that for your own good. i could not risk him getting hurt because then you’d be sad

y/ndevils00 but a fight would’ve been entertaining!! if you’re gonna prevent a fight then you have to at least have one of your own! those be the rules!

tmeier96 i’ll keep that in mind??

nicohischier thanks for facetiming me and giving me a play-by-play run down of every single thing that happened

nicohischier i think i could’ve gone without the jack comments though

y/ndevils00 wdym? you DIDN’T want me to tell you how hot he looked? that’s YOUR boyfriend too, ya know!

nicohischier nope. i can guarantee it’s not!

y/ndevils00 i have photographic evidence

nicohischier pictures of us hugging to celebrate a win or goal is not “evidence”

y/ndevils00 i have about 475,000 people who think otherwise

nicohischier your followers don’t count

y/ndevils00 i have about 2* people who think otherwise

nicohischier neither do merc or johnny

y/ndevils00 *i* think otherwise

ehaula i wouldn’t necessarily say we started listening to you, i think we just did pretty good at staying out of the box this game

y/ndevils00 why do you do this? do you not wanna be my favorite uncle?

ehaula i’m your favorite uncle regardless. don’t lie.

trevorzegras go hughesy! that’s my best friend!

y/ndevils00 yeah? well he’s MY boyfriend, so HA!

trevorzegras this wasn’t a competition, y/n. you don’t need to assert your dominance

y/ndevils00 sorry, i had a nightmare last night

trevorzegras about what?

jackhughes that i realized i was in love with your “slutty ways” and i left her for you

trevorzegras aww, y/n! you’re intimidated by me and jack’s love!

y/ndevils00 i actually just know you’re a slut

trevorzegras all i’m hearing is that you’re jealous of me

y/ndevils00 then get your ears checked

[esther-dot]

Idk how attractive jon is supposed to be but he has the stark look and sansa has a thing for the stark look, i mean look at waymar and loras, their descriptions match jon's exactly. Sansa's opinion at the end of the day>>>

I love Sansa’s Waymar and Loras crushes! So cute! I kinda think a good part of what attracts Sansa to any given guy is the romantic notions she can attach to them, not strictly their physical appearance? So while I certainly agree with the Jon and Waymar parallels and think martin intentionally wrote similarities between Jon and her crushes, I believe her romanticized view of knight was a factor as well. Personally, I wish Martin talked about Sansa’s body/ how beautiful she is a lot less, so this isn't a topic I enjoy discussing, but the convo kicked off because of a poll and here’s a screenshot of my totally unremarkable tags:

And here’s what an angry Jon fan posted because they didn’t like the tags on the poll:

They go on to criticize other tags by Sansa fans/Jonsas, but mine were based on specific lines from the books because the question wasn’t vibes but canonical beauty, and it so happens, these are lines I am very fond of because I love NedCat:

And was it really such a terrible thing, to want a pretty wife? She remembered her own childish disappointment, the first time she had laid eyes on Eddard Stark. She had pictured him as a younger version of his brother Brandon, but that was wrong. Ned was shorter and plainer of face, and so somber. He spoke courteously enough, but beneath the words she sensed a coolness that was all at odds with Brandon, whose mirths had been as wild as his rages. Even when he took her maidenhood, their love had more of duty to it than of passion. We made Robb that night, though; we made a king together. And after the war, at Winterfell, I had love enough for any woman, once I found the good sweet heart beneath Ned's solemn face. (ASOS, Catelyn V)

It’s a beautiful passage with a lovely sentiment, so I take exception to classifying this as petty fandom shit when there was nothing intentionally insulting behind what I said, I just think Cat's thoughts about a man she dearly loves were pertinent. Also, Jon’s Stark looks are a big R+L=J clue which is teased a lot in AGOT so it’s intentional and important:

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. "What are you reading about?" he asked. (AGOT, Tyrion II)

Martin described Jon’s face the same way he does Ned’s here, although the point was ha ha! he has the Stark look not because of his father but because of his mother, Lyanna.

Jon had their father's face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. (AGOT, Arya I)

Arya heard and whirled around, glaring. "I don't care what you say, I'm going out riding." Her long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful. (AGOT, Sansa I)

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. (AGOT, Sansa I)

"Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her." (AGOT, Arya II)

Now, Ned goes on to say Lyanna is beautiful so a lot of fans really emphasize that and say it means Jon and Arya are/will be attractive, and maybe! It doesn't bother me for people to read it that way, but if you look at the other uses of long face in ASOIAF, or the Stark look, I think it indicates, it's not particularly attractive, and one might even say, it's unremarkable. I didn’t say ugly, its simply unexceptional imo. Obviously the horsey face/horse faced stuff is an insult so we don't have to take that to be a neutral assessment, but I don't think it actually means pretty either, not when you look at how it's used elsewhere.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if Jon is handsome or not because we all were supposed to have already learned that what matters is who he is, not his face. So, while I have no investment in how attractive/unattractive these characters are, I imagine that Jon being Jon is what will make Sansa fall for him, not how pretty he is. Something that might sound kinda like this:

I had love enough for any woman, once I found the good sweet heart beneath Ned's Jon's solemn face

[gender-trash]

GATHER ROUND EVERYONE, for the moment you've all been waiting for...

GIRL DINNER STUDIES 2023 RESULTS

(obtained with the power of SCIENCE!! also known as tumblr polls.)

methodology

you were all here for this. i made a bunch of posts with the format:

an image

a 24-hour poll entitled "does this constitute girl dinner" and options "yes", "no" "wicked hard to say", and "vanilla extract (see results)"

optionally, tags explaining a pertinent aspect of the image (e.g. one of the images was a plate with a few scattered cat kibbles on it, and my cat, as we all inform her dozens of times a day, is a girl, so i mentioned this in the tags)

i didn't feel like mucking with the tumblr api for long enough to obtain the exact vote count, but all the polls were in the 30-40 vote range, so i was able to exactly determine the vote count for each poll option from the rounded-to-one-decimal-place percentage that tumblr displays. i threw out the "vanilla extract" counts and then because i'm not a statistician or anything i just jammed all this data into python:

(if this weren't a throwaway script i might have made these namedtuples but it is a throwaway script soooooo)

eyeballing the poll results, it was readily apparent that for some of my test images you were all very confident that they Were or Weren't girl dinner, whereas others were more controversial, so i wanted to come up with some sort of confidence metric -- basically, a poll with low "wicked hard to say" counts and a large margin between "yes" and "no" would be high confidence. @exemplarybehaviour had a couple of suggestions for this (thank you!!):

i ended up going with the first suggestion BUT i think the uneven sample sizes don't matter -- you can imagine normalizing everything so it's abs((yes / total) - (no / total)) / (idk / total), but then the vote totals all cancel out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ANYWAY, now that i had a confidence metric i sorted all the dict keys by (yes - no) / idk (removing the absolute value, so positive numbers mean "yes girl dinner" and negative numbers mean "not girl dinner"):

drawer_repair: -2.33 hexagon_blanket: -1.83 max_thecuttlefish: -1.71 rusty_throat_plate: -1.11 zenobia: -1.00 sasuke_fortnite_gif: -0.75 succulents: 0.12 lego_diner: 0.29 selectric_math_typeball: 0.75 yumantimatter_celery: 1.00 itachi_frying_eggs: 1.00 signals_books: 1.33 drinking_the_bad_soda: 1.50 lego_storage: 1.60 paint_dont_eat: 1.71 tech_culture_books: 1.75 frozen_eggloaves: 2.29 fig_script: 2.50 chips_and_japanese: 2.60 free_software_tea: 4.00 kibble_plate: 7.00 instant_miso: 10.50

i dont give a shit about your math, WHAT IS GIRL DINNER

glad you asked!

THINGS THAT ARE PRETTY DEFINITELY NOT GIRL DINNER (confidence > 1.00, "no" votes > "yes" votes):

THINGS THAT ARE PROBABLY NOT GIRL DINNER (confidence <= 1.00, "no" votes > "yes" votes):

THINGS THAT ARE PROBABLY GIRL DINNER (confidence <= 1.00, "yes" votes > "no" votes):

THINGS THAT ARE PRETTY DEFINITELY GIRL DINNER (confidence > 1.00, "yes" votes > "no" votes):

THINGS THAT ARE FOR SURE GIRL DINNER (confidence >= 2.50, "yes" votes > "no" votes):

thanks to everyone who participated in girl dinner studies <3

BUT BEFORE YOU GO...

[breserker]

9 People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

tagged by @healen you're so fucking cute but goddamn you tagging almost everyone i could tag echo chamber friendships FUCK

Three ships:

tserith (tseng/aeris, ff7): like i stumbled into this as a joke in 2020 and then oops 350k words of fic later. because i love their dynamic so much whether you read it romantically or platonically. they're both in their own cages trapped by rules they either did not set or convinced themselves they set. there's a deep dark knowledge that both separates them and binds them. most of all, they trust each other to be who they are. and that. that gets me. especially when aeris is the only person on the planet that sees through tseng.

henry/eileen (silent hill 4): yeah i know! throwback if you've been with me since high school. idk i've been thinking about them a lot lately, now with a fully formed adult lens. i think i really like that under any other circumstances they would've never have become an item. it's sad in its way too, how bitterly their lives changed and how deeply bonded they are because of it that being with anyone else feels impossible. but it's not like they hate each other. they've just been thru so much and they're the only other person who understands.

scully/clarice (x files/silence of the lambs): yeah i wish i did more with them but i just like to plug it every now and then, it was fun to play with! it was fun to put lesbians in horror situations And Also Mulder Is There

First ever ship: oh probably ulumi (ulrich yumi, code lyoko). i was a shithead 12yo about it too but they're still close to my heart. fucked up 12/13/14yos that feel So Much and yet have so much homelife trouble that it makes those feelings even harder to deal with.

Last song: Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day, it's practically guiding my hand for the most of book 2 of Jackrabbit Brujo. It also made me cry while driving the other day.

Currently reading: lots of research for Jackrabbit Brujo! The most pertinent right now are:

American Brujeria by J Allen Cross

Autobiography of a Yaqui Poet by Refugio Savala

Fun fact, the person I contacted in Tucson for culture help happens to be Refugio Savala's grand-nephew, and a lot of the Yaqui research and books I've been perusing go back to Refugio as a starting point and often not even that far.

Currently watching: I'm really bad at TV shows but I loved the first ep of Kevin Can Fuck Himself and I hope to finish it one day!!

Currently consuming: Just finished up a bowl of spicy ramen with tamarind jarritos

Currently craving: more of that warmed up marionberry pie i had the other day that shit was so good

tagging: @phantastus @chaotic-history @semie78 @a-queenoffairys @noshtsherlock @furmodernist @whippoor-wont @tangerinabina-de-archanea do it or don't yadda yadda

[lord-squiggletits]

Hiii! For the weirder ask:

4, 5, 6 aaaaand 50 (random but pertinent of course)

weird asks

4. which cryptyd being do you believe in?

Idk very many cryptids but I think ghosts and other spirits/hauntings are probably real. I generally try to avoid confronting the supernatural and wilderness creatures though

5.what color are your eyes?

Brown

6. why did you do that?

Because I knew what I was doing

50. can i tag you in random stuff?

yeag but I probably won't notice unless you @ me on this blog because I don't look at the notes for any of my other blogs. But it doesn't have to be TF related, I'll just reblog it onto my main

[self-scammer-inc]

main interests: hermitcraft, mcsr (separate sideblog), mcc, empires, new life

i tag nearly everything, though my organization is slightly messy, but a thing will generally be tagged under the char or cc it applies to, or the larger fandom if its a more general post, and any other pertinent tags

i may post more art and writing but until i actually have something concrete i will not have any dedicated tags for them

original posts are tagged #.mine

i periodically go insane over very specific aus and then seemingly completely forget abt them dw about it

i might edit this with more info later idk

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Hey, you, do you have any xmen fancasts you could share?

Okay, I want to do a good job on this, but like full disclosure: I goddamn suck at fancasts because it takes me a million years and at least one public scandal and/or obsessive phase to learn actors’ names.  So here are a couple I can think of off the top of my head.

First of all, I actually really like Sophie Turner for baby Jean Grey/Phoenix (and I know enough about GoT that she could probably do great with the Phoenix plotline), and Kodi Smit did a really excellent Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, and if we are doing teenage Ororo Munroe/Storm then Alexandra Shipp is excellent.  You will further notice that all of these are from X-Men Apocalypse.

That being said, the very first person who popped into my head for this was Candice Patton for Storm, you may know her as Iris West in the Flash.  Give her a few years and white hair and have her be newly recruited adult Storm still figuring herself out and LET ME SEE HER THROW LIGHTNING.  

Another thought I had was fucking Wolverine.  I like Hugh Jackman as much as the next person, but we gotta recast Wolverine and let him rest.  As such, I present for your consideration Tom Hardy, who could absolutely NAIL the combination of gruff scowly berserker and caring accidental dad and I have a 2.5 hour movie to prove it.

I also would like to remind everyone of my Complaints about Rogue in the movies, which I currently have an ask about in my inbox.  So here is a new actress named Riley Keough, dye her hair, make her badass, impress me.  She is also from Mad Max which is how I know she can be badass.  (I actually kind of considered Kristen Stewart because Rogue should have a quality resting murder face and I’ve always admired Miss Stewart’s.)

As far as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat goes, Elizabeth Olsen would be good but she’s a little too old, because Kitty is A TINY BABY, like, she’s gotta be in her early twenties or else have a baby face for the ages like Ellen Page does.  I kind of like Vanessa Marano for her, I’ve never seen her before but she’s 24 and Adorable.

Can we have a single goddamn movie that treats Piotr Rasputin/Colossus like a human person instead of having him onscreen for 0.002 seconds or purely for laughs?  Here is an actor (I think his name is Tom Green but I am not remotely confident and that’s too common a name to successfully hunt him down, also he would need to bulk up but whatever), please put him and Kitty in the same scene for more than one shot.  They literally do not even have to speak.  I will take anything.

She’s not really an X-Man but my heart says Michaela Conlin as Dazzler/Alison Blair.

[elvencantation]

Long Ye tried to assasinate the Empress.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi!

I'm here for a pretty stupid thing actually but I've always found it annoying to do: summaries for fics. I never know how much is too little, how much is too much, or if what I'm putting is going to make people think “wow this sounds interesting” or “wow what a shit, keep scrolling”

Do you think it is better to make a summary as such, or include some lines from the story? Idk, any advice would be appreciated

Thanks for taking your time to read!

Hugss🥰

Hey Nonny!! *HUGS*

Ah, the bane of all writers... the blasted summary to describe your story in as little words as possible to get people interested. The LITERAL very last thing you have to do on a story. Always a fun time.

And it's daunting and can feel very overwhelming, because, just like in advertising (my professional background), you have a TINY window to grasp people's attention and make them WANT to click on your fic to read. As an avid reader of fanfic, I do have my own preferences on what I look for... but as a professional, I think I can offer some wisdom in this part here, for a change. PLEASE KNOW that this is different for EVERYONE! These are just some things I picked up in my 20 years in advertising, and applying it to – what is essentially – a "classifieds" board for stories.

Attention-Grabbing Title – Not PERTINENT, but the average reader is more likely to continue reading what you have to offer if your headline is interesting. Even one word ones can grab attention. Something whimsical or metaphorical to your story is always a winner.

Short and Concise Description / Call to Action – One to two sentences is an average attention span before someone gets bored and moves on to the next post. You need to entice someone into reading MORE of your summary in those first two sentences, if you have a long summary. Start your summary with the subject of the story. ie. "John has a problem: he's well hung." That example right there will entice someone to read your summary further.

Grammar Check your Summary – BECAUSE the summary is a representation of what's to come in your story, make sure you get that summary spell-checked or beta'd with your beta. It's a small thing, but it can help bring people in, and especially if you're trying to appeal to a language that you're unfamiliar with. Your beta can even help you refine the summary so it's more attention-grabbing.

Rate Your Story – "Not Rated" stories have a lesser chance of being read than something rated. Doesn't matter what it is, just put a rating there. At least, if people are doing a ratings filter, then you will show up in a search result.

If You're Writing a WiP, State the status of your story at the end of your summary. Many people such as myself don't want to start a WiP without the certainty that it will be done. Stating something like "Story is finished, new chapter every Friday" is a GREAT way to get engagement on your story, AND generate excitement and buzz for it from the day-oners. THEY are your advertisers. A LOT of people like the suspense of a week-to-week model... it's why syndicated television is still alive! A lot of our Fandom authors do their stories this way, working on chapters weeks in advance while posting chapters "approved". It gives YOU time to write and proof, while also having a Live / Active WiP Story that will keep people coming back.

So yeah, those are some tips from an advertising standpoint.

As a reader, though, my PERSONAL interest in a fic is based solely on these 4 things:

The Ship Tags – use "/" (slash for Slash-fiction) for romantic and sexual relationships, and "&" for platonic/friendships or non-sexual relationships. I, for a fact, DO filter stories by the ship tags FIRST, so I'm sure other people do too. Make sure that you use them.

The Story Tags – Ao3 has spoiled us with these!... List relevant tags, tropes, Universes, and genres that pertain to your story... these are what help get your story found in the search algorithm. Don't write "tumblr-style tags" (ie. "this story took way too long") into this field. It is a big turn off for many people (myself included), AND it fucks with the Ao3 search results. Use author notes or descriptions to write your Tumblr-style musings! The tags should ONLY contain content within your story that may appeal to people OR help trigger/content warn against stuff. Yes, I understand that many authors poo-poo on "spoilers in tags", but in all the years I have been reccing fics, I have NEVER ONCE been told that people don't like how meticulous I tag everything I rec. A LOT of people will use those tags to filter OUT stuff that they personally can't read or don't like. Apart from the summary, the Tags are VERY important, AND it can help you come up with a more interesting and short summary that doesn't need to be descriptive. Use the suggested tags that Ao3 offers when you start typing – these are tags, I believe, that have been used frequently on the site.

The Summary – I KNOW it is legit the worst thing to have to come up with, but your story has a higher chance of being read if you stick to writing a concise summary as I've pointed out above. Some people also may choose to use an interesting blurb from their stories as a preview, which some DON'T like, but it's honestly better than nothing. I know for a fact that I have skipped over stories that don't have SOMETHING in the summary box NOR any tags. I know this isn't what you want to hear, Lovely, but put something here, even if it's just "A literal fuck-tonne of porn without plot" (I give authors permission to steal that pun, LOL).

WiP or Not – This is one of those "gamble" things. As I mentioned above, some authors do a week-to-week advanced model for their story chapters, while others "post each chapter when done". The latter tends to wind up with stories in limbo. PERSONALLY, I don't read WiP's for the simple fact that I get confused REALLY easily on plot lines when I do – I like reading one whole story in one go. But PLEASE don't take this as the golden end-all/be-all. This is a personal preference, since I read a LOT of fics and I have very little time these days to do it. Some people love WiPs. A good way to indicate that you have a story plotted out, but is NOT a week-to-week model? Add the Chapter count, rather than leaving it as "?". People are more likely to follow your WiP WITH a chapter count, since it gives the illusion that you have a rough draft written out and you know how long it will be.

So yeah! I hope this helped you out a bit, Nonny. Sorry it's so long, but I thought with how long I've been reading fics and with how picky I am with fics, these tips would be helpful for you. Again, at the end of the day, it's ALWAYS up to personal preferences of the readers. And don't take it personally if you can't "get an audience" right away. Just be yourself, write because you LOVE writing, and you will have a fruitful and enjoyable time publishing your story!

If any experienced authors in the fandom want to add their two cents from a WRITER'S perspective, please do! <3

[elentiyawhitethorn]

Omg the Rowaelin piece you just wrote was so fucking amazing, seriously babe, 👏👏👏

Okay prompt time. Btw I saw this and instantly thought of Rowaelin

Sex Shop (any of the below)

One is a worker and the other comes in to buy

They go to buy things as a couple

They go together and one tries on outfits for the other

Idk, something else?

I might try my hand at this one day, but I love your writing and would love to see your take on it

You Give Me All I Need | Part One

CW: NSFW, BDSM, daddy kink, lingerie, sex shop, language

Part Two//3250 words

Rowan had a lot of wacky customers. He had a lot of customers who asked rude or inappropriate questions. There were nervous husbands looking for an anniversary present and untried women looking for fun. There were the experimenting young adults, and the awkward couples.

There were also customers who flirted. And who knew exactly what they were doing.

The woman in front of him today fit that last description. She was blonde, with startling blue eyes and deep red lipstick. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders in waves. She was only wearing a simple blouse and jeans, but if she was trying on lingerie, her clothing might not be on for long.

And she was flirting with Rowan, batting her eyelashes and placing her elbows on the counter to show off her breasts. Sure, Rowan found the woman hot. But he was very good at his job, not just because he made sure he helped each and every customer find what they were looking for, all while making sure they were aware of every pertinent detail, positive or negative; but because he always remained professional. Always. It would take more than a hot woman who thought selling lingerie and sex toys meant he was selling sex too to cause him to break his rules about clients.

“My name’s Aelin,” she said.

Rowan smiled, his polite customer service smile, and said, “I’m Rowan.” It was on his name tag, but introducing himself when she had seemed the nice thing to do.

The woman, Aelin, grinned. “Nice name.”

Rowan smiled some more and said, “Thank you. Are you looking for anything in particular today, ma’am?”

“Don’t call me ma’am; it makes me feel old,” Aelin responded with a lazy smirk. “And actually, I’m just browsing today.”

“In that case, please let me know if you find anything you like or you have any questions.”

“Oh, I will.” Aelin winked and started down the lingerie isle.

Rowan turned his eyes back to the computer screen, idly checking the accounts.

“Dude, she was totally into you.”

Rowan frowned and looked sideways at Lorcan, a fellow employee. “So what? She’s a customer.”

He just gave a savage grin. “Like that’s ever stopped me. Besides, she was hot. If you don’t I will.”

Rowan sighed and said, “Feel free.”

Lorcan just smirked and went to the back room.

—

“Excuse me, Rowan. Could you help me with something?” He was not at all surprised to find who was asking for assistance. “I’d like your opinion on a couple of outfits, if that would be alright.” Not at all an uncommon request; customers wanted a genuine viewpoint directing them on what type of clothing they might want to try. The only uncommon thing was that on Aelin’s face resided, rather than a nervous smile, a smirk. Surprise, surprise.

“Of course.” Rowan smiled, though perhaps a bit warily, and stepped out from behind the counter, pointedly ignoring the vulgar gesture Lorcan made. He was seated just past the wall, out of Aelin’s line of sight, and he apparently deemed it fit to let Rowan know he needed to get some. Asshat.

Aelin led Rowan to the isolated area with attached dressing rooms in the back, designed to give shoppers more privacy. No one else was present, here or anywhere else; most people came in the afternoon, some at different times of the days. But almost no one came to the sex shop on a Friday night—that was when they were using the items they’d purchased here.

Aelin was wearing the same clothing she’d had on when she entered the store. Likely she didn’t want to strut around in lingerie through the whole store, though to be honest, Rowan wouldn’t have put it past her.

She strutted over to a couple of outfits laid side-by-side on a bench. Tossing one last smirk in Rowan’s direction, Aelin grabbed the items without giving Rowan a chance to see them in detail.

Five minutes later, Aelin exited the dressing room. She’d likely been taking her time to get all the straps into place; this was a lacy black number with many delicate straps holding the thing together. The amount of fabric was minimal, only covering the bare minimum. Less than the bare minimum, actually.

In summary, Rowan wanted to rip those straps right off of her.

Not that… he would ever do that.

Snapping himself out of it and making sure his thoughts stayed out of his carefully neutral expression, Rowan said, “It’s nice. It shows off your curves.”

Aelin grinned devilishly. “You think so?” Without waiting for a response, she did a twirl, allowing view of the back. Which was made of, again, straps. And nothing else.

The wicked gleam in Aelin’s eye when she turned fully back around showed she knew exactly what Rowan was thinking. Instead of teasing him—or more than she already was, Rowan supposed—she said, “I’ve narrowed it down to three outfits. This is the first.”

“You have good taste. I think I might like the others a bit more, though; something a bit simpler would suit you better, I believe.”

Aelin took the assement of her first choice in stride. “The other two will probably be up to your standards.” She returned to the private room, the faint rustling of clothing the only sound.

It took her less time than it had to change into the first outfit. Aelin sashayed out of the room, clad in a sheer white top and skirt set. And by sheer, Rowan meant sheer.

While there was technically more coverage from this one than the last, it exposed much more than the last. He could see Aelin’s peaked nipples clearly through the material. And lower…

“I take it you like it?” Aelin, asked giving another slow motion spin.

Rowan’s eyes snapped up to hers. “I think it looks good on you. It accentuates certain areas.” He kept his voice steady by some miracle.

Aelin hummed and leaned against the wall. The skirt rode up her thighs slightly, almost exposing…

“Do you have any suggestions in the area of improvement, then? It surely can’t be perfect.”

Rowan forced his gaze back to Aelin’s face. He was never like this. There were often a lot of pretty woman in here, and he was never like this. Who the fuck did this woman think she was?

“I doubt it needs to be perfect, but if you insist: it’s not quite as ostentatious as something suiting your personality should be. Perhaps somewhere between this and the black one.

Aelin smirked. “Precisely what I was thinking. I feel like the last one will satisfy.”

Right. There was one more. Rowan leaned back against the wall, wishing someone would come and douse him with a bucket of ice water.

Aelin took a few minutes. And then she came out a final time.

Rowan’s heart seemed to get stuck in his throat. Or maybe that was just his balls tightening.

Aelin was now dressed in a golden lingerie set. Not yellow, pure gold. The employee in Rowan recognized it as a favorite among the more daring clients, made from colored chain linked metal. And despite the sound of that, it was lightweight and surprisingly comfortable, yet relatively cheap at the same time. But the employee in Rowan was not the part of him taking this in. No, that particular job belonged to the beast in him that wanted to shred that gods-damned outfit for having the audacity to be in his way.

“You’re drooling.” Aelin didn’t seem too upset about that.

Rowan slowly traced her curves. “Do a spin.” This was not the voice of the man used to gently instructing customers.

Aelin seemed pleased. She slowly rotated, allowing Rowan a full view of the scraps of clothing barely covering her nipples and the lower portion that Rowan was trying not to think about.

It was simple and it was daring at the same time. It was limited on the number of accessories—only two thin straps held the top on, going over Aelin’s shoulders. The bottom consisted of a triangular piece of the meterial held around Aelin’s waist with one golden string. It was fucking gold.

“Do you think this is better than the last two?” Aelin asked innocently.

“I like the gold.” Rowan hadn’t mean to phrase his conclusion quite like that. He also hadn’t accounted for the slight gravely tone he’d taken on.

Aelin’s lips twitched. “I’ll get the gold, then.”

Rowan held himself back. Yes, the store was empty except for them and Lorcan. And yes, Lorcan wouldn’t mind. Hell, he had told him to. Still, Rowan had standards. He crossed his arms and leaned back.

“Is that all you’ll be purchasing today, ma’am?”

Aelin didn’t seem at all annoyed with his renewed use of “ma’am.” Instead she grinned and said, “Actually, I was going to look at some toys. I’ve had a hard time finding someone to satisfy me recently. Might as well take matters into my own hands.”

Rowan would be able to satisfy her, he knew he would. He almost told her as much.

“Do you need help with that, or are you able to look on your own for now?” His voice remained indifferent.

“Hm, no, not right now. Could you go ahead and ring up the outfit?”

“Of course. You can give it to me as soon as you change.”

“Great.” Aelin smiled brightly and slipped back into the changing room.

Rowan was holding his breath. He tried not to acknowledge that little fact.

Only a minute of standing there and a voice called, “Rowan?” in a nervous tone that he knew was absolute bullshit.

“Yes, Aelin?”

“It’s stuck. Could you help me?”

This was the part where Rowan firmly declined and calmly instructed the client on how to disentangle themself from the other side of the door. He didn’t do that, however. Rather, Rowan chose to move to the door, almost oblivious to what he was doing.

The handle was unlocked. Rowan slowly turned the knob, then opened the door gently.

Aelin was standing in the center of the small space. The gold outfit wasn’t twisted or trapped anywhere. Either she had had a hard time feigning to be a damsel in distress with the limited material, rather difficult to get caught anywhere, or Aelin knew that if Rowan walked through that door, there was little point in pretending.

Still, Rowan took a half-step forward and lifted a hand to Aelin’s shoulder. Maintaining eye contact, he slid one strap off of her shoulder.

Aelin didn’t move in the slightest; she just stood motionlessly, letting Rowan “help” her.

Next, he pulled down the strap on the other side. Unable to help herself, Aelin shivered. This was the first sign of anything but self-assurance from the brazen woman, and it was all Rowan could do to hold in a smirk.

“Turn around,” he instructed.

She did as she was told.

By the time Aelin’s top was off, she was covered in goosebumps. Her hands were held at her sides, clearly trying to restrain herself. Rowan smiled at the sight of her come undone.

“You can turn back around now.” When she did, pupils dilated, Rowan added, “Do you need help with the bottom too?”

Aelin nodded.

“What was that?”

“Yes, please,” she whispered.

Rowan chuckled darkly, gods-damn done with anything that didn’t involve fucking this pretty woman. In one quick moment, Rowan had the underwear portion of the golden outfit on the ground.

Surprised at the speed of his movements, Aelin gasped. Not to be outdone, however, she moved back to the bench and sat. And spread her legs.

Rowan had never moved so quickly in his life. One second, he was drinking in the sight of her as much as he could in the dim light. The next, he was upon her, kissing her fiercely.

Aelin groaned immediately, pulling him closer by his shirt. She moved her fingers down and deftly unbuckled his belt.

Rowan allowed one finger to slide down to her folds, intent on preparing her, only to find her more than ready.

“Have fun teasing me?” Rowan whispered into her ear.

She rocked her hips, trying to make his finger go somewhere, whining when it retreated. “Yes.”

“Yes what?” Rowan guided, ever the instructive employee.

“Yes, daddy,” Aelin replied shamelessly.

Rowan froze. He had been expecting his name, or sir if she was as kinky as he tended to be. Daddy wasn’t something that he had thought about wanting to be called before, but strangely, he didn’t feel opposed to it.

That was a gross understatement.

“Call me that again.” There was no room for argument, and Aelin knew it.

“Please fuck me, daddy, I need you in me.”

Rowan was losing control, and he didn’t even give a shit. “Since you asked so nicely.” That he was most of a warning she got before Rowan plunged in.

Aelin cried out immediately, muffling her face in his shoulder. The sounds only grew louder as Rowan started moving.

He thrusted his hips hard, not even thinking about whether or not she could take it. Aelin was going to let him do as he pleased, and she would going to take it with a smile.

Rowan’s hands found their way to Aelin’s hips and he held her tightly. He started pounding into Aelin, wasting absolutely no time. This was going to be a quickie if there ever was one.

Aelin was at a complete disadvantage. She was the one held by a complete stranger, letting him do with her as he pleased. She was the one moaning into his shirt as he fucked her. She was naked, and Rowan was fully clothed. The sense of dominance running through Rowan was like a drug. He’d known he liked it rough, but hearing her call him daddy had boiled his blood. It had completely snapped something within him.

“Do you like this, baby? Do you like letting me use your body for my own pleasure?”

Aelin groaned loudly. “Yes, daddy, I do.”

Rowan snapped his hips into her. “I’m going to come inside you, and you’re going to take it, do you understand?”

“Yes,” Aelin whimpered.

The word was enough to send Rowan over the edge. Coming in record-breaking time, he plunged into the woman one last time and groaned as he spilled into her.

She groaned too, clutching his shirt tightly. He pulled out and stuffed his limp cock back into his pants. By the time he was done with the buckle, shock was registering on Aelin’s face.

“I didn’t get to—”

“I know,” Rowan said, endlessly amused. “Here’s what’s going to happen now. You’re going to buy that slutty little golden getup. Then you’re going to let me drive you back to my place. You’re going to put it back on and let me have my fun, and if you’ve been a good girl, I might let you come when I’m done.”

Aelin looked both stunned and turned on. “Okay.” Rowan marveled how easy it had been to make this blonde bitch do as she was told. Very compliant, despite the initial bite.

“But you’re forgetting something.” There was only a faint echo of Aelin’s original assertiveness in her voice and posture, but it was enough to make Rowan frown.

“What is it, baby?”

“I said I wanted toys. I’m not canceling my shopping plans for any guy.” She crossed her arms, only managing to draw attention to her glorious breasts.

Rowan scowled. “If you fucking have to get toys, make it quick.”

Aelin smiled. “But you know what works so much better than I do.”

“Hardly. I don’t know what you like.”

“Oh, I think you’ll be able to take a good guess. Besides, I’m always open to new ideas. Surprise me.”

Surprise me. The words echoed in Rowan’s head. Oh, this was going to be fun.

Sensing his change in demeanor, Aelin smiled triumphantly. “Get a few things. Gods forbid tonight gets boring. Oh, and don’t worry about the price.” Aelin plucked a wallet out of her jeans pocket, her outfit lying on the bench next to her, and extracted a credit card. “I had plenty saved up for this little excursion, and I want only the best quality.”

Rowan smirked. Oh, he was going to enjoy wiping that smug expression off her face once more. He took the card from her fingers and said, “I’ll take that,” he gestured to the gold lingerie, “and ring it up with some playthings of my choice. Get dressed and return those other two outfits to their places. I’d like get this over with as soon as possible so I can have some alone time with you. Understood?”

Aelin bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, daddy.”

Satisfied, Rowan gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. She wasn’t the only one who knew how to tease. Then he left the room without another word.

Out in the vacant store, Rowan moved from the lingerie aisles to the sex toy section. He always made sure to know everything there was to know about the toys: their material, sustainability, need to be cleaned or disposed of, price, etc. As such, he had a good idea of what might be good for Aelin.

Every customer had their own preferences, and each responded differently to different things. Therefore, there wasn’t really a right kind of option; it was entirely dependent of person tastes. So Rowan had to make some educated guesses about the fiery soul he would be taking home tonight and grabbed a couple of items. Onto a different aisle… yes, that would do nicely.

Now Rowan made his way to the counter. Lorcan was sitting behind the counter, reading some magazine or other. Probably girls in bikinis. Not all—or even many—sex workers were at all sex-obsessed, they usually just needed a job, but Lorcan definitely fit the bill.

He glanced up as Rowan approached and took in the toys in his hands, as well at the golden outfit strewn across his arm. “Fun plans tonight?”

Rowan glowered, starting to scan the items. “They’re for a customer.”

“You know I could hear her moaning, right?” Lorcan tented to be rather blunt, as evidenced to Rowan once again.

“Whatever. You mind taking over my shift for the rest of the night?”

Lorcan snorted. “You’ve covered for me like a dozen times. Besides, I’d never be such an asshole that I didn’t let you try out that on a girl.” He was looking at one of the items going into the bag.

Rowan smirked as he inserted the credit card. “Thanks man.”

“What’d you do with the chick, anyway? Toss her in your trunk already?”

“Something like that.” Rowan finished checking out. “See you.”

Lorcan waved amusedly, and Rowan grabbed his keys and headed toward the door. Aelin was standing at the entrance, leaning against the wall next to it. She perked up when she saw him coming.

“What did you get?” she asked, trying—and failing—to conceal her eagerness. The bag was opaque for the upmost comfort and privacy of their clientele. Aelin couldn’t tell what was inside.

Rowan just handed her the credit card back. “Not telling. Now get in the car, baby,” he instructed, holding open the door and nodding to his ‘09 Chevy Impala. “We’re going to have fun tonight.”

———

Tag List:

@aelin-bitch-queen // @infernoqueen19 // @live-the-fangirl-life // @midsizewitch // @sleeping-and-books // @story-scribbler

[rudjedet]

this ask is probably going to be a mess, I apologize. but. what is the earliest iteration of the egyptian language that we are able to translate semi-linguistically? (I know that vowels are. see saws hand. a weird thing sometimes)

for better context, the earliest version of ancient egyptian that we know how to pronounce? wow I feel like a disaster at this. While I' not looking for specific examples, I'm trying to have a character who is ancient Egyptian speak to characters from modern day and there's clearly some kind of language barrier, but I don't want to make the error of choosing a word or sentence that a) comes from later egyptian or b) is only found in written form and wasn't to our knowledge spoken.

why do I care so much about this? i dont know.

anyway extra question is the word/pronunciation of Pharaoh how ancient egyptians would say it or is that how we are interpreting it. only somewhat related to the above question.

Okay, okay, we're gonna work through this together because my brain currently doesn't know it's arse from a pole either, but I think I understand what you're getting at. I'll also tag @thatlittleegyptologist if she has time so she can cover all the stuff I'm unable to explain properly because I'm not technically a linguist.

First, though: we can translate all the languages linguistically meaning we know what the grammar does and study this despite not knowing full pronounciation, what I think you mean to ask is which ones can we interpret fully phonetically, which yes is technically also linguistics but like. more specific. Anywho.

We'll start at the earliest version of ancient Egyptian that we know how to pronounce, which is Coptic, and thus very very late in Egyptian history. The order of languages is: Old Egyptian (synthetic) - Middle Egyptian (synthetic) - New Egyptian (analytic) - Coptic (analytic), and then eventually we get to the other pertinent one, which is the Egyptian dialect of Arabic, also known as Masri. These are all different languages. In uni, we have to learn each of them separately. People often lump in "hieroglyphs" together but like so many things in the long-ass history of Dynastic Egypt, it changed. A lot.

If you're not aware, synthetic and analytic pertains to the type of language we're dealing with. For other examples, Latin is a synthetic language, modern English an analytical one. This is important info because it means that Old and Middle Egyptian are closer to each other than either is to Late Egyptian, and Late Egyptian and Coptic again are closer to each other than to either of the first two. And probably most importantly wrt the modern day character: while Masri is once again a different language, there are certain holdover words from the hieroglyphic languages.

While we don't exactly know how all the hieroglyphic languages (i.e. Old, Middle and Late Egyptian) were pronounced, we can at least for Late Egyptian make certain educated guesses about how the words would have sounded based on Coptic. This is by no means a given, and phonology is still a very new field in Egyptology regardless, so we're still making strides in terms of studying this. This is why I mentioned that Late Egyptian and Coptic are both analytical languages and closer connected to each other, because a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that we can apply Coptic pronounciation rules to Middle or even Old Egyptian as well, which we can't for the reasons stated above.

I think you were writing about New Kingdom mostly, yes? idk if this is a story in your birdyverse or if it's a separate one, but regardless, in the New Kingdom they would have spoken Late Egyptian (we do know that in the Middle Kingdom they also would have, but it wasn't used in writing until the New Kingdom). As far as I know there are no words or phrases that (we know) were only written and not spoken, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Okay, I mentioned Egyptian Arabic/Masri having holdovers from the ancient Egyptian languages. I can't actually comment substantively on those because that is so, so far out of my realm of expertise it isn't funny anymore, but I have been told this at uni. I think you should be able to find studies or articles online about which Masri words have an etymological root in any of the ancient Egyptian languages (though most likely they would've come from Late Egyptian, again for reasons above). Basically, these words would have, much as they did between Late Egyptian > Coptic (and tbh languages the world over because this happens everywhere), shifted and merged to new pronounciations. So technically, and this is what I would do if I was writing a story like that, you could have the modern day characters say something in Masri that contains one of those words, and the ancient Egyptian character could pick up on that word and go !! And then work from there.

Is that in the realm what you're looking for?

Also, for the last question, "pharaoh" is how we currently pronounce (iirc through Hebrew but again my brain is fried) the address pr-aA (Egyptological pronounciation per a'a). pr-aA literally means "the great house" and was the term for "palace", which eventually morphed into the royal address somewhere in the New Kingdom. Our first evidence of the use of pr-aA/pharaoh as a royal address for the ruler comes from the reign of Akhenaten!

[twdmusicboxmystery]

1x05: Davon - Analysis, Part 4

@galadrieljones:

Okay also I'm going to share my notes on "Davon" now!! 

First, to @wdway's note on the Salem witch trials. Yes, I got that vibe completely. It also reminded me of the M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Village," as well as Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery," with townspeople trapped in a cycle of outdated and barbaric tradition. There’s also a “Memento” thing going on here, with the audience working alongside the protagonist to try and figure out the answer to the mystery by putting together the pieces of a fragmented memory. 

Adding commentary per what we’ve learned now about the Daryl spin-off (which is coming suspiciously close to the release of “Davon”): I agree that they probably won’t do a Memento thing with Daryl, like they did with Davon (Though I’m looking now at these two names and saying, wow they look alike!), but I think there’s DEFINITELY a connection. Davon finding strawberries and playing the piano with Nora…that’s not a coincidence. 

Also, somebody mentioned that Nora was a good proxy for Leah. I totally agree. Not who she seems, has a son who “died.” I wanted to like Nora, but in the end, she was just a product of her environment, so much like Leah, and couldn’t be saved.

@twdmusicboxmystery mentioning Beth piecing together her memory: I totally agree and had a similar thought, thinking toward the missing 17 days. I was thinking more about Daryl’s point of view tho, something perhaps to come in 11c, in which he may begin to piece things together. This makes more sense now, I think, with the news on his spin-off, per your above comments. 

This episode, feels like a distant cousin to “Find Me,” “In Dreams,” but also “WHAWGO.” In “WHAWGO,” we begin with fragmented, impressionistic “flash-forwards,” puzzle pieces that will be ordered later. This is what lead me to think about the missing 17 days, from Daryl’s POV, and how he might be forced to confront and reorder the events of “Coda” and then what came after. I am still processing this a bit and maybe it’ll crystallize more in the coming days. Curious to see what you all think. 

I keep thinking about that shot of Daryl lying on unconscious on the floor with Judith. I'm not saying that's the scene in which he has a "flashback," I'm just saying...we've rarely seen Daryl knocked out cold like that. It's extremely worrisome and intriguing to me.

Per the FISH: Ah, this fish. Both times we see it, it’s situated beside a set of keys. In the second appearance of the fish, when Amanda clubs it against the rock, we see the keys have a little yellow tag, and she scoops them up and puts them in her pocket. This made me feel as if fish are some sort of key, or perhaps that something is just “fishy.” Also, the yellow tag—long shot, but made me think of Beth. The fish is a sacrifice. Idk. Yellow points to caution. Slow down, think, pay attention.

Also, great notes on the Hanlons, @twdmusicboxmystery. Illusionists would certainly be a pertinent symbol here. What is real? What is fact vs fiction? What is illusion vs. truth? So much to unpack in how this meats the flagship show, particularly with Daryl.

You mentioned Martin as a repeat name. Interesting that Martin's glasses are used to "see." I think that Martin actually spouts some very underrated knowledge at Tyreese in WHAWGO. It's easy to dismiss him, because he's a villain, but most of what he says, while it's not pretty, is true. 

Other repeat names include Nora and Amanda. Someone above mentioned Nora from ASZ. There’s also a somewhat prominent Nora in Fear—the travel agent in “Alaska” is named Nora. This is interesting since @wdway just pointed out that Arnaud mentions the “plague beyond our walls.” 

Also, Frangi, I know you have lots and lots of theories on "Alaska." Maybe this rings a bell? Also, while it’s not in-show, Officer Shepherd’s name is recorded in the TWD wiki as Amanda. I thought that might be pertinent since Powell has the writing credit on “Slabtown.” Perhaps they're trying to remind us of something?

In terms of the fruits that are mentioned, the only thought I had was that strawberries and peaches are prominently featured fruits in 4b. Daryl finds the strawberries, and Carol/Tyreese/Lizzy/Mica eat peaches in The Grove. I’m not sure about the bananas or lemons, other than what has already been commented on above. It’s EXTREMELY compelling tho, and I’m keeping it in mind permanently. Are there no other instances of bananas or lemons in the show? I truly can’t remember.

I was thinking tho about the strawberries especially, and how they are this symbol of love and fertility, and how it doesn’t make sense that Daryl would lay “claim” to this symbol and that this has gone completely without fulfillment. Beth “dies” and everything becomes barren. There’s a literal drought with dead frogs in the river. Daryl and Beth formulate the Eden allegory in “Still.” 

The strawberries as this forbidden fruit make me feel that Daryl and Beth are the ur-lovers of TWD but in never consummating that love, there’s like this hole in the origin story of how love blossoms in the new world. Love stories are dashed left and right. Glenn, Denise, Rick, Henry, Jesus, Enid. They all die. Love keeps dying, and it does here, too. 

Idk where I’m going with this. But I think that Beth’s death is the thing that may have sent TF into a causal loop in which love keeps dying, and in which Daryl can barely connect to a single soul who doesn’t die, go missing, or worse. Just some thoughts.

I already shared my notes on the jams/jellies/honeys and still think your notes on those is brilliant, @wdway. I'm not done thinking about the poppy farm with the CW, the poppy fields in Dr. Everett's drone footage, and now the fact that we have kids probably being dosed with an opioid. It's just VERY intriguing and not leading anywhere yet but clearly they are hammering this one in for some reason. Does it go beyond the Wizard of Oz reference? If not, then the Wizard of Oz allusion is clearly very important here.

I also noticed the busted windshield and how it resembled the busted windshield in WHAWGO. Lots about this episode reminded me of WHAWGO.

In terms of why Davon is headed toward Montreal, the one logistical clue I got off that photograph was that the girl, who I presume is his sister, is wearing a sweatshirt for McGill University.

McGill is basically like Canadian ivy league, a very important public research university in Montreal. The one thing I thought was, if Davon graduated from McGill, he might have become some sort of scientist, or scholar, who would have been recruited by the CRM. Ofc we have two instances of the PPP key card; however, we have literally no idea what it means. In this episode, the PPP key card appears alongside the picture with the McGill sweatshirt and Davon in the graduation gown with the V/chevron. So this could be a clue that the key card has something to do with research, education, etc., ie: the CRM. 

Note that Davon is desperate not to lose the card, so maybe he needs it to enter wherever it is he’s trying to go. It’s unclear where he’s coming from, obviously, and how he got separated from his family. It’s also not certain that he is returning to his family. They could all be dead, and he just carries the photo for sentimental value. We really know nothing here. He doesn’t even seem to realize he’s in the US. It’s vague.

What’s bizarre though is that the PPP key card ends up all the way down on the Chesapeake Bay. Madawaska is not on the water so there’s no obviously connection via the sea. Why was Davon down there? If so, how did he get there? How long before the events of AOW is “Davon” taking place? The visual similarities between him and Heath also MUST be important. I mean, they have very similar faces, I feel. Davon is softer than Heath. He’s much sweeter, innocent. Heath is much more stern and sort of angry in the beginning of “Swear.” 

Idk but there is something really important happening here, and per the connection to “Swear,” I feel it is related to the CRM. I wonder if we’ll see Davon again in the future, and if we’ll learn who this “bad man” was. I wonder if we know the bad man. Hmm.

On the CRM/"Swear" connection note: There are three plates on the wall at one point, which to me form the shape of the CRM symbol. Given the parallels to “Swear,” which also hinted at the symbol, I didn’t want to overlook this.

@wdway:

Very good! I believe we all put our separate pieces of interpretation together and it helps to make the whole thing more understandable. Although we still have open questions that we've been left with. 

I too had thought of the movie The Village, a favorite of mine and also about The Lottery especially how we've seen posters of a lottery at CW. We've had that discussion a while back. But between the three I think they were giving us some overtones hence from these three stories, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, M. Shyamalan's The Village and Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. 

Communities that makes assumptions too quickly that things are not as they appear on the surface, that we should question what we are told. I believe this hint is for the viewers to understand what we're seeing or what we think we know isn't necessarily correct in the story. 

The fish, the keys with the yellow tag and the ground cloth that I believe is the same pattern as the wallpaper from Alone. For me the keys with the yellow tag screams Beth being the key. Now to read what you posted after I started typing this, haha.

@galadrieljones

A few final notes: Arnaud reminded me of Dakota, in a way. Misled youth. Dakota is also the culprit in a murder mystery, which she tried to sabotage. She kills John Dorie for finding her out. Arnaud tries to kill Davon. Both are horror stories about children who have succumbed to their circumstances and become "evil" in a way. I feel they are unlike Lizzy, though, who seems to have been "born wrong." Also: Dead and missing children, here we are again. Jocelyn was apparently a major factor of foreshadowing in “Scars.”  

Also @wdway, you mentioned Powell co-wrote Inmates. !! NOWAY. The boot on the basement floor next to the blood in "Davon" reminded me so much Luke’s boot, and Beth crying over Luke's boot. This also takes us to “Twice as Far” and the boot Denise finds, and what seems to be a dead baby or child, a sight that greatly disturbs her. Just lots of Beth themes and images all around. And Daryl/Davon. SO many similarities here. Okay that's all for now. If any of this is new or strikes your fancy, I'm totally interested in your thoughts!!

Totally, to your notes on the Village/the Crucible/the Lottery: These are stories about mass formation psychosis, when a large group of people are deceived by a leader into focusing on one single factor or detail when it comes to an important issue, and upon that, can be almost "hypnotized" or lead to believe and/or do anything if it confirms their biases. 

I can't help but thing that this could be a hint about what's going on with the GA. Norman Reedus was fully witch-hunted back in the 2010s, called "Pedo Daryl," etc., by a huge portion of the GA who felt his attraction to Beth was inappropriate due to the age difference. We also have large portions of the GA who will be swindled, at the moment, into scapegoating the Commonwealth is the ultimate villain in season 11, when the truth is much more complex. 

There's also its relationship to what may have happened at Grady being collectively misremembered, a concept that's corroborated by the whole morphic resonance theme, and even folie a deaux, which we never talked about, but refers to a kind of shared psychosis, in which the delusions of one person sort of "leech" over to a person who is close to them. 

A good real world example of this is the two pre-teens in Wisconsin who tried to kill their friend because Slender Man told them to. One of them had legit schizophrenia and somehow "sucked" the other friend into her delusion. That's folie a deaux. 

I have wondered if it's a reference to Rick "sucking" everybody else into his delusions about what happened, mainly Daryl. All these things are related in that they refer to many people being deceived due to their inattention to detail, and how this causes them to completely miss or overlook the truth.

I want to amend my notes on Arnaud/Dakota/Lizzy here. I actually think Arnaud is probably more like Lizzy than I thought. He kills children out of what he believes to be "mercy," ie: they shouldn't have to endure this world. Lizzy does the same thing to Mica. It's slightly different, but she seems to earnestly believe that the "correct" way to be in this world is undead. It's a similar motive. Innocent, in a way, because it's insanity, but also extremely horrifying.

(Granted Arnaud tries to blame Davon, which communicates more awareness than Lizzy, who seems entirely unaware that what she has done was wrong. )

I am intrigued by the role of children in TWDU. Judith is the clear foil to so many of them. She is brave, emotionally mature, adaptable, and has a clear moral code that can be traced back to Rick and Michonne. She is practical and no-nonsense, a lot like Lori, too. 

Opposed to her, we have so many children who don't "make it," either because they're like Mica and Sophia (no bad bones in their bodies), or because they are irreversibly tainted by what's happened to them, like Lizzy, Arnaud, and Dakota. Carl is also, ofc, the ur-child of the apocalypse. His moral legacy is what hoists Rick up to the role of shepherd in the end, and what leads him to his ultimate quest at the CRM

@wdway:

I cannot help but see the hints of children being kidnapped in the upcoming TWD storyline. Madison kidnapping children and giving them over to? Who knows if it will be out right the CRM or a group associated with them. 

What I was really thinking about though was how they didn't start that storyline until e16 the last episode of the season in Fear. How in the episode prior we had Alicia surviving a walker bite then we go into this storyline of children being taken and the Fear season ends. We now have in the Tales an episode story of children being taken. 

In a few weeks Part 3 of TWD will begin and the series will end late November and in the last 8 episodes it feels like there have been strong hints that the final plot could involve children taken. Fast forward to early 2023 and the new season of Fear starts and we know that Madison and Morgan will be searching for his daughter and the group that took her. 

We've been told that Daryl's spin-off will air in 2023. Will we have a better idea of WHWGO with the children before the Rick/Michonne spin-off? I think so. After R/M spin-off will we see a new revise version of TWD that will be a Revolution about bringing familys back together which will bring all the spin-off's together in one new mothership series? I hope so.

@galadrieljones

Oh I forgot one note. Idk how I just missed it? The green acid in the bucket: I was trying to figure out what it is. The obvious answer is chlorine bleach. Amanda would have used it to clean the blood off the floor. But I don’t know if chlorine bleach can cause that kind of deadly chemical burn that quickly? Please correct me if I’m wrong. What we saw looked akin to the effects of hydrochloric acid, or sulfuric acid, but I have no idea WHY those would be in a bucket in Amanda’s basement, or why they would be green? If it’s green chlorine bleach, that’s another “green chlorine” connection, re: the green chlorine gas Lyla uses to kill Barca and the CRM uses to genocide the Campus Colony and Omaha. 

But I really don’t know. Does anyone have any ideas on what it might be? It seems incredibly bizarre. She could have died in like any manner. She could have fallen on a rake. Could have fallen down the stairs. Idk. It seems pertinent that her mouth is basically melted shut. But that can’t be the only reason they chose to have her die from acid burns. Something is fishy…

All good notes. Still in awe about how you guys seemed to call the child abduction thing a long time ago, like i think before I got here, that it would be a whole thing. It clearly is a whole thing. Just not sure where it's leading yet, and can't wait to learn...

@wdway:

I think how we came about the child abduction type of thing originated just this past winter spring in thinking about what would drive Maggie to go to New York and leave Herschel behind and we came to the conclusion that nothing would but if he was taken or something to that effect then she would go after him. We also talked about with Anne being pregnant maybe she is with Herschel and that's where Negan comes in. Maggie and Negan going after their families. At least that's how I remember it. @twdmusicboxmystery, is that how you remember it or you have something to add to it?

As far as the bucket that contains something that would burn Amanda's face, I always assumed that it was some type of maybe battery acid. Something that was drained from the car that had been worked on. The bucket is not in the basement it's in the garage. And we see the hood up on the car so that has always been my assumption that it is some type of acid drained from the car. Batteries has been a symbol for a very long time if that is what it is.

@galadrieljones

That would explain it. Battery acid is just another tern for sulfuric acid, which would explain why it burned her so severely.

Extremely irresponsible of them to just leave a bucket of that stuff lying around.....? It's still very weird to me. I see the symbolism but I'm also kind of thrown by the logistics of there just being a huge bucket of sulfuric acid in the middle of the room.

At first I was like, maybe this is a Breaking Bad thing, where they're using acid to dissolve or dispose of bodies. But clearly they're just burying the bodies, so I have no idea.

@wdway:

Actually there is more to how the kidnapped theory came about. This might refresh your memory. After e9 where we saw Maggie kill all the Reaper's except Leah we all had a discussion about Leah taking her revenge out on Maggie for killing Leah's family the Reapers. And we came to the conclusion then that the thing that would hurt Maggie the most would be if Leah took Herschel. But that did not happen. 

We started seeing hints of children threaten during Part 2. Then the announcement of the spinoff for Maggie and Negan came out with them headed to New York we switched the theory to being them going after Herschel and pregnant Anne. We had began to think that Judith getting hurt, thanks to that accidentally (sarcasm) leaked photo of Daryl carrying Judith, made us think that the CRM might be collecting children as a power play, that it might be more than just Herschel or Judith. I don't know it's all speculation but anyway we feel strongly that there might be a taken children theme about to happen.

Twdmusicboxmystery:

As for the acid, I was originally thinking it might be lye. It would make sense that they would make their own soap in a place like this. But after doing some research, I think that was a flawed assumption. For one thing, I can't find anything that says lye is green. It's usually white, or a pale yellow. Or something along those lines. And as you said, why would a vat of lye be sitting on the floor of a garage? There are no other soap making implements around, so it really does make more sense that it might be battery acid or some such.

But I loved what you said about connecting it to the green chlorine gas. Maybe it truly doesn't matter what the acid is or where it came from. Maybe it's not meant to matter in the plot. It's supposed to be more thematic. The green chlorine gas kills people. This vat of green acid kills people. And it's meant to be another link to the CRM. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for the abduction theory, I think what @wdway is saying is when it got really concentrated and pointed us to toward the CRM for that storyline, but the actual idea of the kids being abducted reaches back years. The first time I remember hearing about it was in S6 when Rick found the jar of baby carrots on one of the wolves he killed in the RV. There were rampant theories that he would return to Alexandria to find that the Wolves had abducted baby Judith.

Obviously, that didn't happen. But after that, we started noticing constant hints toward something happening with the kids. Where Beth was concerned, early TD theorists linked it to her because she was looking for the kids at the prison "to get them on the bus" but never found them. Of course the Denise reference followed soon after, but as you mentioned, @galadrieljones, there was also the Scars situation, which specifically featured Judith being taken.

And then there's all the child and baby symbolism around Beth. So yeah. It took a long time before we realized this story line was specifically tied to the CRM and the CRM war, but the child abduction theory has been around for a long time. With all of those references, as we started to understand more about the coming CRM storyline, the theory linking it to them formed very organically. Great stuff!

Child and Baby Symbolism Around Beth

 That’s it for today. Thoughts?

[paleiido]

Nawt answering these individually , now let's go. Unless people have pertinent things to say probs not going to answer more of these. peace and love

I'm not attacking anyone?? Idk why you and others think I'm like. targeting specific authors or anything, I'm really not. Like It was a post on MY personal blog.. Could I have worded it better? Probably? But it was a spur of moment text post on my little blog so idek what to tell u!

I don't want a game that caters to me? I'm not asking anyone to change their game for me, I was merely making an observation, something frustrating that my friends and i realized after talking about it.

Yeah ? Im not in their heads I know that, but when the standard we live in is skinny white, if it's not mentioned somewhere , how do we know they're anything but that?? Can I make research? Yes. Should I have to , to even know if a character is fat? No.

And Even then, most don't even say 'fat' because its considered bad?? And they'll avoid at all cost to say it , since we're not attractive for people .

Putting these together, It wasn't a vague at anyone, it's a problem at LARGE, and I didn't write it with the intent to target anyone nor did I have anyone in mind. Like there's no chain email list for that, and if i do message authors personally it make it seems like i have a problem with how they handled their own stories and I don't. It was really just a frustrating realizations for me and my friends .

Some people have said titles in the tags so I'll include them but like there's some i haven't played or have never seen so I can't say much ??

So titles that were mentionned: • Body Count (Florrie) • Blood Moon (Shawnie)

• Creature such as we • Greenwarden (Devin)

• Mind Games Trepidation (?)

There may be a list on https://interact-if.tumblr.com/ I tried searching but tumblr searching function, we all know how it is 😐

[kittymsmithwritesstuff]

Hi so I've seen like your horizon x bangalore stuff. and idk wanted to see legends react to it.... *pokes fingers*

You gay bitch. I’m in.

Bloodhound & Loba: Bloodhound has always liked Bangalore, they find her enthusiasm for firearms both useful and amusing, and they respect each other’s want for privacy in their personal lives. That said, there was always a sadness around her. When Loba got added to the equation she agreed that she worried about her, “because we have issues, but we also have hobbies.” It’s when they look in the firing range one day and catch Horizon kissing her, and see the lovestruck look on her face, that the two legends feel their friend will be alright.

Gibraltar: He’s been drinking buddies with Bangalore for years and always teased her about pretty girls that would walk by ‘cause she was like a teenager, just stuttering and blushing and immediately changing the subject. He was 99 percent sure if she ever tried to ask a girl out she’d faint before she finished saying “hi”. So going out to get drinks and finding Horizon and her arm in arm prompted shocked laughter, a great amount of teasing from him and Horizon to the point Bangalore buried her face in the bar, and a round of drinks on him.

Lifeline: Horizon seemed so intensely focused on her son she’s surprised when the woman mentions, casually, that she had a date that night. When she further elaborates that it’s Bangalore, she’s even more surprised since, in her mind, Bangalore is kind of an ass. Still, as weeks pass and Bangalore becomes less and less surly, she decides sometimes the perfect medicine for asshole is just a daily spoonful of sweetheart.

Pathfinder: After seeing friend Bangalore cry twice in one hour that one time, he is very happy that she has found someone so she maybe won’t have to do that again the next time someone digs into her intensely conflicted and emotional past!

Wraith: When she finds a small note apologizing for “maybe overstepping a boundary” from Bangalore in her dorm, the voices tell her something is up. At first, she thinks it’s an elaborate assassination attempt, and then she thinks Bang is just fucking with her, and then she realizes Bangalore’s been a lot happier lately, so there’s some kind of connection between that and this. Then she sees Bang leave an orchid with a bow on Horizon’s desk and realizes the connection. She concludes she and Bangalore can talk (and they do, and things are a lot less tense afterward).

Bangalore: Girl!!! Like me??? Girl!!! AHHHHHHH. Then she’s laying back in bed watching Horizon use one of her gravity pads to put Christmas lights along the rim of the ceiling and thanking God quietly in her head. It breaks her heart to think about what’ll happen when Horizon finally finds her way home, and when she hopefully finds her own, but if she’s learned anything over the years, it’s to treasure the sun before it sets.

Caustic: Raises eyebrows, nothing more. Bangalore is a competent teammate, and Horizon is an admirable scientific and intellectual equal, despite their disagreements on morality. Perhaps some interesting data changes will occur in the games with the partnership. Perhaps he’ll get more coffee. It has about the same pertinence in his life.

Mirage: He is super excited for Horizon, who visits the Paradise Lounge to talk sometimes (which he totally doesn’t spend fan-boying). She just seems so much more lively and bubbly than she already is and, well, damn, one of the Legendary Sad Sacks has to have something going for them other than a tragic backstory. He is surprised it’s Bangalore, though, cause he was pretty sure, like pretty-pretty? sure Loba had a thing for Mary, except maybe it was the new Valkyrie girl, or maybe Valkyrie had a thing for Loba and Loba had a thing for Bangalore? Wait, where was he going with this? Eh, he’ll just give Horizon a congratulatory beer and give Bang shit for it later ‘cause there was no way Horizon would let Bang coat his gym bag in prowler pheromones, right?...Right?

Octane: Lifeline tells him. He says, “yo, think getting laid will make Bang less of a tight ass?” He then recalls being thrown and waking up in the infirmary. Bangalore had been behind him the whole time. He was 100% correct, though.

Wattson: Horizon invited her over to do a dual experiment. She walked in when Bangalore was coming out of the shower, naked. She put two and two together and quizzed Horizon about all the little details while Bangalore made herself decent. She’d always known Bangalore as a little standoffish and anti-social, though sweet, so she excitedly congratulates her as well when she gets out. When their 1yr anniversary approaches, Bangalore asks if Wattson can help her make a little custom Nessie with a tiny star projector in it for Horizon and Wattson is only happy to oblige.

Crypto: He knew before everyone else because of his snooping through the Syndicate security camera detail, unwittingly seeing their first kiss almost in a camera blind spot in one of the corridors. He’s caught them hugging, kissing, and cuddling in various alcoves and corners and always quietly erases the footage for them, though says nothing. He’s just glad somebody on the dropship doesn’t hate their life.

Revenant: Didn’t know, didn’t care, vaguely threatened Horizon in front of Bangalore for funsies. He woke up in one of his other bodies a while later with an ache in his gut where she’d, apparently, severed one of his main sets of tubing. He tried to eviscerate her in the Games after that, but Horizon got him with a peacekeeper. He tried going for Horizon and suddenly there was Bangalore, and he was waking up in a new body again. He decided they weren’t worth it. Though he could have totally taken them on. Just didn’t want to.

Rampart: She gives Bangalore constant shit. Makes kissy faces, asks how her giiiiiiiirlfriend is doing in a sing-song voice, pokes her when Horizon is in sight, has sang the “Anita and Mary sittin’ in a tree” rhyme more than once, which usually makes Horizon laugh and Bang chase her. But she’s also usually the one Bangalore talks to casually about it the most, besides Loba, and thinks Horizon is good for her and, truthfully, that Bang is good for Horizon, too.

Horizon: It took her a while to admit the feelings to herself since her relationships have a history of not working out, and that she sort of had a time limit on how long she’d even be in this century. But the heart wants what it wants, and Horizon is a romantic at her core. Bangalore was initially extremely oblivious but once she said, “I like you darlin’, but I mean that in the gayest way possible” she got the memo and turned out to be a bit of a romantic herself. She feels like Bangalore keeps her grounded, out of her own head when it keeps running on the hamster wheel to nowhere. And even though the woman has like, 3 braincells some days, she loves her. One of her favorite things is when Bangalore sings in the shower, but she’s never told her that.

Fuse: He doesn’t know either very well, but he thinks they look good together. He and Horizon will go drinking sometimes, now it just involves Bangalore as well, and sometimes Gibraltar and Rampart if they tag along. But in general they’re not a couple of pikers* so they’re A-OK in his book.

Valkyrie: When they are all on a team together, she thinks it’s HILARIOUS to shout, “LET’S GO LESBIANS!” before charging another team or third-partying. Horizon and Bangalore also find it pretty funny, but neither has ever given Valkyrie the satisfaction.

*Apparently Australian slang for couples that leave parties early/boring couples. I just googled it don’t @ me

[mourninglamby]

Viseral hate anon: honestly man ya. I genuinely loved supernatural for so many years and gave it chance after chance. And as funny as it is to see whats its become its also deeply sad

oh i didnt see this !! also i know a lot of ppl hate when this shit is brought up apparently? i was hunting for cas art or funny posts and a lot of the tags are just ppl arguing over literally fucking nothing lmfaoooo. like if ur gonna be critical about something at least focus on things that could actually be harmful alongside other aspects of the show. i saw someone send an acc an ask that addresses these very pertinent issues about the show and the person replied with “dont like it? watch something else” like way to miss the point my friend... idk im rambling at this point. I agree with u tho it sucks that this is how manipulative at worst and ignorant at best the show ended up being. 

[bloodfcst-a]

alright, so. i beat remake last weekend, but i didn’t want to come out with my newfound yufi information + meta right off the bat. i think this is an appropriate time to do so now, though. naturally, i’ll tag as spoilers, but if you need anything else, let me know.

also, my verdict? i am so glad i went into this blind, without any hype or expectations or people from fandom whining about it. yet again, i am so happy + i had an incredibly joyous experience.  this game fed me + also took over my life in a way i’ve not been possessed in some time so like......... good for it.

also no, i truly don’t miss hearing everyone’s hullabaloo +  i don’t wanna hear ur complaints of “ it didn’t say when part 2 is ” so like miss me with that. 

also warning: if u didn’t know already, fandom is WILD towards y.uffie for some reason and i also addressed that, so like if you’re from vii fandom u might seriously wanna read this bc... it’ll be pertinent to u understanding my feelings behind it.  i did address some questionable topics like the underaged oversexual portrayal + beastality that’s popular for her and i am NOT HERE FOR IT so if u came for that................. issa no from me dawg. when i say unbearable.... i mean it. fandom grossed me out. y’all wild.

anyway. thoughts below !

some things that were CONFIRMED for me were:

> midgar is lax around its anti-wutai rhetoric in its most important parts ( namely, hq, wall market, and avalanche ). for propaganda’s sake among the common people, it stands to create a united front. but in consumerism & in strength, they consider the wutai equals just as anyone else. 

see: tseng in the turks; madam m in wall market; the supplier for avalanche.

i would even argue that sector 5 / wall market is the safest place in midgar for wutaians, given don corneo’s obvious fetishism ( and that really............. isn’t saying a lot ).

i’m not going to entertain that it’s an “ admiration for culture and architecture ” in true weeaboo fashion given that of all positions he could give madam m to hold, her duties are to screen women that would be appealing to his aesthetic and to run a massage parlor where the highest bidder gets to have a happy ending. she is literally the “ asian parlors are actually fronts for brothels ” stereotype except in this sex trade, all women go to don corneo. i will have no apologists in this house. 

i have more developing thoughts on madam m like how she might be doing the sex trafficking part in her own self-interest / as a type of self-preservation, like the don might say “ well if u don’t want to be a wife then u better find some for me ” but... 1) this isn’t the post for that and 2) that logic does not explain why chocobo sam and andrea rhodea are also apart of the ring. but in my opinion, you can tell she’s not crazy about it bc as soon as aerith mentions it to her she becomes so wildly upset that she breaks character. i don’t think she’s a sell out. i think she’s an exploited and fetishized woman in a tough place, and i feel for her.

despite this, it’s clear that because of his obvious ‘ preference ’ they’re [ wutaians ] held at a higher standard ( i.e., he doesn’t dispose of madam m immediately like he does with every other woman who is unfortunate enough to meet him ), so i’m willing to go out on a limb and say despite the high amount of shinra foot traffic that goes through wall market ( and we know this bc everybody who is everybody from SOLDIERS to Turks go to honeybee inn ), a wutaian would probably be fine there.

> wutai is the strongest world power by natural means. without SOLDIER s & g programs, midgar’s biggest claim to fame is to reach first-world status as a metropolis by siphoning mako via its reactors. without its reactors, the whole town would either be: 1) slums, like below the plate; or 2) as common as every other area in the nearby vicinity ( i.e., kalm, costa del sol, nibelheim ). by siphoning mako energy, midgar truly is unnatural, so... hm... 

corel could have been a contender ‘cause they use fossil fuels ( and look at how successful gold saucer is! ), but the failed reactor really threw them out the loop. costa del sol + icicle inn are both partially shin-ra owned / managed, so i’m not counting them.

> infiltrating midgar / shinra isn’t difficult. nor is navigating throughout the sectors. while there is the mention of the ID scan on the trains, we see this is not applicable on foot ( freely able to walk through sectors 5, 6, 7, and 8 as party; jessie + co are able to go above the plate to go to her parents’ house despite already being listed as AVALANCHE and that their fake IDs had already expired ). given that yufi entirely travels on foot because of her airsickness / motion sickness, she’d be undetectable. also note that the first 59 floors of shinra hq by stairwell are not monitored... and neither was the front door, so she could easily sneak in whenever the need called for it.

> established multiple points of contact between rufus + yufi ( and by extension, the turks + yufi ). i’m really going into this in the next section ‘cause... their dynamic became so much more interesting. but we already know that at minimum, there was contact bc she had the phs rufus had provided to godo + was using it to communicate with zack for treasure.... but let me hold off on this bc there’s one more thing i want to add here.

regarding the turks: it’s established that even if a person is someone of interest to shin-ra, they won’t necessarily act on attacking or abducting immediately ( see: aerith ). we already know they’ve known yufi since she was a child, and if they’re working with rufus they’d know what she looked like as she aged, so the excuse of “ she looks different than when they worked with her in wutai ” is out the window. it’s more than likely that they’re enabling her to continue her business with rufus + have probably assisted her with not being caught. 

> yufi’s clothes are absolutely normal for her age. it always annoyed me that somehow tifa’s clothing was like considered “ impractical but acceptable ” because she’s a legal adult and because cishet men were too drawn to the boobies to complain. but then yufi was either like HELLA sexualized as a minor ( the amount of ecchi / hentai that exists of underage y.uffie despite there being of-age content [ i.e., her portrayals in advent children + dirge of cerberus ] is.......................................... ridonk ) OR she was like hella slut-shamed and i’m out here like.... hello??? what kinda anti-wutai rhetoric is this? anyway. i’d like to call attention to kyrie, who looks like she’s wearing like 60% of y.uffie’s dirge of cerberus outfit. if anything, this only reinforces that yufi’s fashion choices are.......... legit normal, age appropriate, and anyone who wants to argue otherwise can shut the fuck up.

if you’re really gonna ask “ how come her shorts are unbuttoned ” like go check your privilege. the short answer is probably that rufus stole all of her damn belts to make into his coat. the long answer is that a youth traveling the world SOLO she is probably slim on money to be frequently shopping for clothes ? and the clothes that are available in the slums vs on the plate are probably not great quality ( idk if y’all have ever shopped at a freesized open market before but like... buttons pop off INSTANTLY sometimes and those seams will tear if u stretch the wrong way. like fast fashion but like........ hella wild ). she could find better clothes above the plate, but given the anti-wutai rhetoric up there... probably not a wise choice. 

since you’re looking at her outfit anyway.. can i bring your attention to her sweater, and have you note that it’s made of the same material as cloud’s? i.e., she’s wearing shin-ra/SOLDIER brand quality? ( need further proof that it’s SOLDIER? zack and angeal wear the same one ) probably gotten from either a trip to hq or........ someone on the inside............ but obviously cropped to fit her. she might’ve even had it for some time. now let’s keep looking.... i’m willing to bet the latter, and here’s why! ( prepare for galaxy brain time )

now for standard SOLDIERS, they’re assigned colors. we know third class / infantrymen are blue; second class are burgundy / red ( think kunsel ); and black / dark blue for first class. don’t nobody wear green.... in this whole damn universe.... as a main character.... except child y.uffie. HMMMMM. here’s the sweater again to compare. 

i’m just saying.

now, the ideas INTRODUCED to me were:

> there is only one AVALANCHE, but it is splintered into different factions.

now i always wondered like, how come they just picked up the name AVALANCHE when it was established already. like idk i don’t think people would be like “ ah yes we’re the n.azis and we’re different than the other ones, but we wanna evoke the same fear ” u know what i mean?? usually u would carry the same ideology... but it was always so apparent that barret held different views and goals than elfe, so i was always so confused.

but not anymore. now it’s established that they’re the same group, begun in midgar + just carrying out different methods of “ fuckin’ shit up for the shin-ra ” over the last 10 years, spreading the word about the danger of reactors + it’s suckin’ up the lifeblood of the planet to anyone who would hear. now that makes sense. in the same chapter that this is established, however, they also claim...

> yufi as a benefactor to AVALANCHE.

now this shit had me like AAAAAAAAH. now there is no damn way you and i played the same game if u didn’t see this. they literally say “ AVALANCHE is being provided weapons by someone to fuck shit up, in return for all the materia in midgar. ”

who would want all the materia in midgar? HMMMMMMMMM.

> with that point established, let’s go back to rufus + yufi having multiple points of contact. so i already introduced the idea that rufus clearly has to have contact with yufi bc he’s the one spouting all the secrets to shinra treasure via the PHS. and yufi has claimed ownership of the phone by literally labeling it as “ treasure princess ” so there is no question that he thinks he’s talking to godo versus yufi. 

but we also know that rufus is the person behind AVALANCHE. my man has TIME on house arrest, obviously. we also know that he’s on house arrest in junon, not midgar. now, if he’s out here giving them logistics like places to go to spout their rhetoric, and yufi is providing weapons ( remember, wutai is the strongest power by natural means, and apparently hq is free real estate to explore, so she’s got multiple ways to provide gear without it being an inconvenience to her ), so it’s.........pretty obvious to say that the way she would go in connection to AVALANCHE would be through rufus. also, remember she has bad blood with AVALANCHE because of their actions in wutai, so... she’s not gonna be keen about them anyway. it seems much more practical for someone who already views them ( and tbh, lots of people ) as tools ( rufus vc: “ i own you ” ) to accomplish one’s tasks to help her connect with meeting her own goals ( “ all the materia in midgar ” ).

this would also explain why yufi is found hanging outside junon.

if you opted to grab her outside nibelheim... you might argue that it’s because nibelheim is obviously suspicious + truly the evidence at how shady shin-ra is, given the whole place was rebuilt + is filled with actors to hide the fact that the whole place burned to the ground + was once the site of jenova + currently remains the site as hojo’s secondary lab + other secret, vincent valentine with the protomateria slumbering. she could have been tipped off by rufus as “ there’s another treasure here ” but like... there’s no way she would have known it was vincent. even zack is like “ idk wtf is happening here so i’mma leave this alone. ”

also, i love that rufus uses “ heir to the throne ” verbage, which is so akin to yufi also being “ heir to the throne ” & look at them: spiteful children rebelling against their useless ass dads to create new world order + to destroy the old shin-ra company.  i love that for them.

so in conclusion........ this game FED ME. god i wanna play it again and again. i beat it on normal and got everything except 1 treasure and 1 task from chadley. i also need to do all the combat simulators. but given i did what i could in.... 3.5 days, i’m not too upset by it. this game has so much replay value and... i can say i’m glad i bought it twice.

g.amestop give me my freaking shinra badge i’ve damn well earned it.

oh and two more things going forward:

> nanaki continues to sound old as hell. which duh, given advent children. but u know how they established him as a young teen in the og + so it made sense for y.uffie and nanaki to be friends ‘cause they were mentally the same age? i don’t...... see how that works now. 

also.....y’all could have missed me with this shit already but STOP SHIPPING HIM WITH YUFI. NOW UR ONLY ARGUMENT IS GONE. STOP. i saw some art of nanaki & y.uffie fucking in the tags + floating around google and i was like....... WHY!!! and then there’s also weird hybrid art like what if they had a kid or something and i just........  STOP.

i have flashbacks of when i first started writing on tumblr + how i was bombarded by furries wanting to fuck bc of this. like deadass king dedede from kirby. later on i also saw sonic & even alligators ( not an alligator man.... tho i did see king k. rool + donkey kong as well........ i hated y’all for a hot minute ). it’s not even “ monster fucking ” it’s bestiality and I’M BEGGING YOU TO STOP. y’all can truly MISS ME WITH THIS.

however, u know, bigby wolf + everyone from castlevania could easily get it. stardust platinum where ya at. if i had to pick it would be....... more humanoid than a penguin or a “ lab rat dog ” u feel? 

> i am not crazy about y.uffentine. look. i know it exists. i know it was big bc fandom was like “ optional character ship ftw! ” + then dirge of cerberus came out and y’all went wild ( to be fair, i get it, it was the only ship outside of NANAKI and BEING KIDNAPPED/ASSAULTED BY SHINRA SOLDIERS AS A CHILD that people could feasibly comprehend for y.uffie for some reason............................................................... it was an actually “ NORMAL ” person........ ) but like. i’m sorry. it’s not doin it for me. i’ve seen like two other y.uffie blogs out here that actually stick to canon so like if u want your y.uffentine that bad, like maybe ask them. but please don’t ask me. 

ok i’m done for real now! thanks for reading !