#im feeling bittersweet

[ace-dodo]

I remembered he loves vegetables, he doesn't like spicy stuff, the story of how he joined scouts. I realized he almost never swears, I learnt he tried to look into will wood cuz I kept posting about him, I learned he eats popcorn with lemon because I introduced him to it. I learned he also remembers stuff about me.

[hinamie]

in spite of everything, I had fun <3

[beaulesbian]

ARCANE 1.08 || 2.01

[gillionmeowstrider]

absence of warmth.

based off this post by @theratdruid

[proxycrit]

Part 1 / Part 2

Emmet remembers when he and Ingo first brought Elesa to explore Celestial Tower, back when they were fourteen and thought they were immortal.

“Allegedly, the bell chime will bring ghosts home”, ingo had told emmet with the pompous knowing energy of a child who read way too much brochures. “It’s culturally significant! We must ring it.”

“Hmmm,” emmet had responded suspiciously. “Brother. The bell is at the top of the tower.” The implication stands: Ingo, there are thirty flights of stairs between here and the top, and no elevator to speak of.

Don’t be a coward, Litwick had told Emmet with the blaise tone of somebody who’s going to be piggy backing off of somebody else. Go ring the bell. Tynamo, sensing a litten fight, floated towards a loitering blitzle.

Ingo turns his lilipup eyes on Elesa, who’s squinting at the carved stone faces of the front door.

“Elesa? What do you think?”

Elesa thinks. She shrugs. “We already made our way here,” she said in accented galarian. “Might as well make it the rest of the way. Ganbatte!”

Emmet sighs. “This is a mistake,” he tells the two in exhaustive patience, but lets himself be dragged into the building.

Last time the twins were here, Ingo caught litwick— but not before she managed to nab a good chunk of Emmet’s soul. It’s not terrible; he felt fatigued for a week and bounced back pretty quickly, but it was the principle of the whole situation— celestial tower’s a pain in the ass and Emmet will stand by that until the day he dies.

Like right now.

The map isn’t working. Emmet checked it once. He’s checked it twice. He’s taken out his pen and written on it, which he would usually never do but desperate times call for desperate measures. The compass he brought spins useless circles. It’s like chargestone cave up here, but worse because instead if electric pokemon it’s all ghosts.

“We’re lost, yyup yup!” He announced to the crew. “I vote we eat Ingo first.”

“I love you too,” Ingo told Emmet placidly. “But we all know between the two of us, you’re the tastier one.” Litwick gives Emmet a thumbs up. Emmet gasps in mock affront.

“Elesa, help!”

Elesa gives the two of them a wary look. It took two floors for her to realize this is not just a weird temple with strange rocks, but a full out graveyard. She’s not very happy about that development.

“Don’t drag me into this,” she tells them. “Teme wa urusaii.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Ingo reports back.

Emmet, who’s cheerfully struggles with Galarian on a good day, simply gives her a thumbs up.

The three painstakingly crawl their way up. And up. If all else fails, Emmet told himself, at least they can orient themselves towards high ground.

“We’re like pidoves,” Ingo gasps. He has fallen behind them on the stairs, with Emmet taking the lead through sheer spite despite his legs going numb on floor twenty two. “We, hah, we are attracted by the magnet of the bell, like, like probopass-“

“I am emmet! You are not making, sense!” Emmet called back. Elesa, who’s stuck between them and looking two steps from perpetual collapse, giggles.

“No, no hear me out, Ingo wheezes. “What if the bell’s a magnetic pole? And that’s why your compass doesn’t wo, woo, hahh, work.”

Emmet stops to rest, just because Ingo is using precious breathing air to infodump. Elesa gratefully slumps against the railing. Tynamo and litwick, lazy in their still small size, have settled on a weary blitzle and look very smug doing so. (Emmet is not jealous, he tells himself. Emmet is also lying.)

“The bell’s important,” Ingo had repeated.

“Okay,” Elesa responds. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to us.”

And Emmet finds that he agrees with Elesa. Partially because they crawled up twenty fucking three flights of stairs, but also because Ingo thinks this is important, so it is.

And here’s the thing—

— emmet doesn’t remember much after that.

The rest of that trip was a blur of exhausted groaning and burning legs, and by the time the trio managed to breach floor thirty, people’s brains have all but dribbled out their ears. Emmet remembers being disgustingly sweaty. He remembers blitzle almost tripping to death and litwick’s swearing. He remembers tynamo sticking to his neck like a damp towel. He remembers Ingo’s excited sneasel smile, and the way the sunset bounced off of Elesa’s hair.

He remembers the brassy ring of the Celestial bell. It sounded like victory.

But it was Elesa’s cackle turned scream as Ingo swiped cold hands down her neck that sounded like home.

—-

So when the conductor at thirty one, lost and disoriented in the Impossible Place, heard the sound of a familiar bell, ringing over and over and over-

-the sound of laughter-

-EMMET! Elesa cried-

-like a homing pidove, the conductor, thinks nonsensically as something in him perks up.

(Emmet had always liked winning, more than anything else, and the sound of victory calls him home.)

—

Elesa catches lightning in a bottle. Elesa, arms outstretched, finds purchase in her brother, and does not let go.

Emmet is so, so cold, Elesa thinks as the wind steals air from her lungs. (That’s okay. She’s already breathless from a terrible business called hope.)

Emmet stares back. His hands flap against Elesa’s jacket. Elesa desperately drinks in his wan face and too wide eyes and his frost bitten lips. In a tiny, meek voice, almost lost to the wind, he asks:

“Are you real?”

Elesa lets out an ugly sob. Her tears whip away in the wind as they fall. Emmet’s frightened countenance turns immediately to alarm. His shaky grasp becomes a solid grip as they spin through the air, cushioned by chandelure’s psychic.

“I think so??” Elesa warbles. She sees Emmet’s eyes dart to her mouth. He’s reading mirroring her, she realizes with giddy delight— it’s such an Emmet thing to do, to read lips, and-

“I am Emmet,” Emmet breathes. His eyes have started to water. “Yyou are Elesa- Oh dragons, Elesa!?“

Elesa reaches. Hesitates.

Emmet grabs elesa by the lapels and crushes her tight against him. Elesa holds on, and the grief and relief in her accumulates into a wet sopping mess. She’s ruining his jacket, she mourns, but its okay because he’s dripping all over hers.

She can’t hear what he’s saying into her shoulder, can’t read what he says, but everything’s okay because every part of her is chiming

You came back

You’re here

I’m not alone anymore.

Around them, the air distorts as Chandelure’s psychic wavers, flutters, and solidifies. Gravity reverses its call as they settle gently on the ground, dust billowing in all directions.

The ghost pokemon drops next to them, shaking so hard the musical clang of glass makes Elesa flinch.

You fucks, Chandelure gasps. DON’T GO LEAPING OFF BUILDINGS, I AM NOT YOUR EMERGENCY PARACHUTE.

“I’m sorry,” Elesa gasps, still giddy from the adrenaline.

AND YOU! Chandelure howls, whirling on Emmet, who’s still staring at the ghost with huge eyes. He’s gripping on to solid ground with the energy of a man who realized he could have been a splat on the ground.

YOU LEFT!

Emmet winces.

You- You left us, you left me-

Ah, ah no, Elesa thinks as golden globules of light shed from Chandelure. This is what a ghost looks like crying.

Emmet holds out his arms. Chandelure drifts into his embrace, and shakes, and shakes, and shakes.

You left me, the ghost pokemon whispers. How dare you. How could you.

“I didn’t mean to,” Emmet whispers. “I’m sorry.”

Stop doing this to me, Chandelure demands. Golden brine joins human tears, like drops of sun trapped in wet glass. Stop going where I can not follow.

And Emmet holds his tongue, because he knows he can not promise staying. Not while Ingo and Eelektross are still in Hisui.

(In the back of Emmet’s hurt and shattered mind is a spark. Synapses connect. The cold breach of the Distortion does nothing to drown out the sudden flare of hope in Emmet’s chest, so great he can not breathe, so strong he can not feel, because there’s a path. A difficult, painful path through the Space that Can Not Be, but a path all the same.)

“Elesa, Chandelure-“ Emmet’s voice breaks. He wants to tell them about Eelektross. He wants to tell them about the terrible past that is Hisui. He wants to explain how the last five months were filled with horror and wonder and fear and hope.

Hope, he thinks. So he says this:

“I know how to get Ingo home.”

NOTES:

AAAAAND THAT’S ALL FOR THIS DRABBLE. ITS OUT NOW. I CAN FINALLY GO BACK TO POSTING HAPPY SHENANIGANS! (Now you know the shape of their story.)

Thanks for reading this monster of a post!

[pleasedontcareaboutme]

[eriochromatic]

Maybe the poison drips through

Succession 4x10 “With Open Eyes”

[amartworks]

Been thinking a lot about Miles' eventual reveal and about it being something as simple as his dad recognizing his son in the most mundane way

[hecatialapis-lazuli]

i feel like I've talked about this before but I wish blazblue dipped more into the horror of the situation. Whether you wanna go cosmic or existential both kind of work, though I guess the theme is a bit more despair than horror? Those two feel like they marry together pretty well.

Like. Think of CS. You have Noel, becoming what she always was, something inhuman. Literally screaming and crying after having the truth of the world and the PFDs revealed to her. You have Ragna, also learning the truth, and that he has tried so, so many times and failed every single time. You have Terumi, relishing in the hopelessness that should cause, yet being just as stuck as everyone else, and painfully aware that if he wants out of this hell, he has to claw his way out.

Idk, I just think there's a lot of stuff in blazblue that lends really well to horror. There's already themes about loss of autonomy, just play a little more into that, emphasize the helplessness before the Master Unit, and then the satisfaction of finally being free.

Hell, the Master Unit/Origin still is sympathetic in this interpretation. She's suffering, she's not doing anything out of malice, she just wants to be a person. Not even the Origin is immune to the horror of being a thing, strung up to watch and desperately try for another ending this time. This time, it'll work.

[mytendermind]

you have a freckle on the upper shell of your left ear and there’s three that form a triangle on your left arm, you press your lips a lot when you giggle, you can do that silly pen twirling thing and you fidget with your pencils a lot, you wear your shark teeth almost everyday and there’s these two necklaces and one is white tooth and one is black tooth and i do not know the difference but i want to, your favorite color is purple, you have this one greyish shirt of an octopus drumming and it’s one of my favorites because it’s just so you and silly and cute, and you love spiderman and it’s always obvious just in how you move because you pose for photos like a superhero and you crouch like one too plus your phone case, keyring, and wallet kinda always give it away not to mention your suits or figures but it’s really honestly adorable (and hot), you’re afraid of needles but you love the look of tattoos, your birthday is march 4th and you’re a pisces and i remember you got your septum pierced on your 16th and i couldnt tell you at the time how perfect it was on you, every time you draw anything im reminded how fucking talented and perfect you are and it is infuriating and inspiring and makes me lightheaded sometimes, and i think i really like you. and i do not think you like me back. 

[rookinthecrownest]

Got about 1/3rd of the way thru the art book before I had to put it down because oh my god the Joplin team was cooking.

EA YOU COWARDS. I’ll never forgive u for scrapping this game TWICE.

[eddiesghxst]

HELLO STINKK

OKAY YES I SEE THAT IS A BIG QUESTION FOR THE GIRLIES SO I WILL TRY AND ELABORATE ON WHAT EDDIE WAS GOING TO SAY

AND I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE MORE BACKGROUND ON BIRDIE🥹 IF THERES ANYTHING SPECIFIC U WANNA KNOW JUST TELL ME BUT YES ILL INCLUDE THAT TOO

okay guys this is a very serious question in relation to pof:

what are the top questions you have that you’d like to be answered in chapter 12, aka the last chapter

[hinamie]

new official illust of them with puppies healed something in me

[lesbianshadowheart]

random ass thought but i don't like a lot of the fanservice in the bg3 epilogue and I especially have an issue with Karlach seemingly finding a solution to her engine in Avernus. her whole story is about terminal illness and her potential death at the pier is very very sad and emotional but it is a valid choice as it honors her wish to go out on her own terms. The epilogue makes it so that forcing her to go to Avernus becomes the correct choice idk theres just smth about it

[knockknockitsnickels]

Day 16, final day before the Pristine Cut, my attempt at Ms. Chain Princess (possibly Prison3r but I've seen ppl speculate she's sp3ctre) from the trailer. See you all post pristine-cut 🫡

[alchemicaladarna]

So like I'm still trying to process everything because mentally I'm like a week late from everything that's been happening so far.

I already made a post about Jaiden leaving the server but I think it's just kind of hitting me now that I'll never get to see qjaiden interact with Empanada or be part of the breakfast village or get an answer about her wings and connection to Cucurucho. And I'll probably watch old clips or vods and just feel really sad that it's over but so glad that it happened.

Because like, do y'all remember that one day before the ice chamber gang joined the server and Cellbit, Foolish, Bad, Jaiden, and I think Roier were just hanging out and spending time together until they got kicked out of the server.

I think the Jaidens' entire adventure is and will always be one of my favorite days too.

Oh! And of course, Festa Junina and Jaiden finding out about Cellbit and Roier and her comforting Roier and subtly threatening Cellbit for breaking his heart.

Not to mention she is literally the most iconic lawyer ever. Like juanaflippa's trial will always be one of the most iconic server moments because of Jaidens' speech. Literally blew everyone away.

And of course... I'll never forget the day Bobby died. That day, that trip to the dungeon is one of the only two times I cried for the lore of this server. Many things make me emotional but seeing qJaiden climb up on the tree alone, watching the sunset and grieving her dead son...fuck man, it felt so real...

There's just so many moments of qJaiden specifically from June to September, that just stick out to me and I'll always look back at them with a bittersweet fondness.

It's been so long since I properly thought about qJaiden, but now everything is coming back to me and man... I'm just...I guess I'm more happy that we got qJaiden and everything she did and was a part of is there to look back on.

For me, even though the qJaiden brainrot wasn't hitting as hard as it used to, I think she will always be a part of the narrative because there was just so many amazing moments with her and I will always be a fan of her lore and this character will always be close to my heart.

Sending nothing but love to Jaiden and the admins. Especially Jaiden. Thank you for letting us experience this wonderful journey <333