#like its not bad or anything definitely not. all of it serves its purpose well and theres a LOT to love here like sky tower and tiny woods

[perenlop]

Oh the PSMD music playing during the Latios cutscene is such a nice touch

[daretoassume]

all beliefs are neutral until you assign a meaning to it

the belief "i am lucky" is just as true as the belief "i am unlucky." it is only when you consciously or unconsciously attach an emotion or personal significance to these beliefs that they start to affect you. regardless of which belief you choose, once an emotion is tied to it, it will influence your thoughts and actions accordingly.

the physical reality is the effect of what is happening on the inside, not the other way around. reality reflects your beliefs about yourself and others. if that is the case, then you are completely in control of your reality. but what is stopping you from believing that is your constant reaction to physical reality. you think you are a victim of your physical reality when you have complete control over it unless, of course, you prefer to be a victim.

flip the switch.

a person only needs to discipline his mind to make everything work out for him. seeing experiences from a neutral perspective and then assigning the "preferred emotion or state" means he is disciplined and in tune with himself and his emotions.

why does negative seem more realistic than positive?

because you already have a meaning attached to it, consciously or unconsciously, you have already CHOSEN to believe the negative instead of the positive. why? because you feel it is more NORMAL than the positive, that the positive is just a big scam and you do not feel like you deserve it. because society has made it seem real, well, everybody is experiencing the negative more than the positive, why shouldn't you?

hence, the negative has more power than the positive, but only because you have CHOSEN the negative belief instead of the positive. whatever that is, it will serve its purpose to you.

if you are so CONFIDENT with the negative, why can't you do the same with the positive?

how can i see circumstances in a positive way?

"but there are negative things that happen in life"

are there really? or the masses just agreed that it is something to be negative about? yes, sure, circumstances do exist, or something happened that you do not prefer, but there is a purpose of why they exist. it could be to teach you something like patience, or it exists for reasons beyond your understanding. maybe the reason why that juice spilled on your shirt, making you late, actually saved you from an accident. can you see circumstances in a way that they serve a purpose?

"it is only your definition that determines how you experience anything in physical reality." ♰ bashar

it is a matter of how you see your experiences in life. watch how you define your circumstances because it might not be serving you at all. stop defining circumstances as "well, something bad just happened," which means it should throw you off, making you sad, bitter, resentful, or helpless. you have to learn how to control your emotions and how you define those "sudden circumstances" that you thought "threw you off."

every time something "suddenly" happens that you do not prefer, you must make a CONSCIOUS DECISION to view it from a neutral perspective and understand that it serves a purpose, even if you do not know the reason it happened in the first place. see it that way over and over again as this will practice you over time to discipline your own emotions.

[exn0bis]

So. Completed Veilguard. I have lots of thoughts.

Regardless, I don't think I'd be saying anything that hasn't already been said.

For my part, I went in with the expectation it was going to be bad. I was pleasantly surprised by some things, certainly by the technical aspects, but it fell about where I expected in most other ways.

But first, the good.

It was extremely refreshing to see a AAA game actually release so well optimized for once. I'm running an older system at this point, with a GTX 1080 TI. Even so, out of the box, I was able to run things on the Medium preset perfectly. After some troubleshooting the latest Nvidia driver, and updating the games native upscaling to FSR 3.x, I was running things on a mix of High & Ultra with minimal to no frame drops. This was way beyond what I expected, and made the play experience more enjoyable. While I do think that, like many games in the past few years, there is some over reliance on upscaling to make it look its best, Veilguard still maintains excellent visual fidelity without it.

On that note, the game is objectively gorgeous, regardless of how one feels about the art style (which I did personally like, too); I'm also extremely impressed how they adapted a simulated strand hair system into something playable in real-time without it being overly taxing. Would love to know the technical breakdown for that specifically, but either way, I would not be surprised if we start to see more games released with something similar going forwards.

Veilguard very much proved you can make something look gorgeous and still have it be playable on more than just the latest and greatest systems, and I hope it will encourage more studios to focus on how they optimize and implement their work.

I also found the general gameplay mechanics to be, overall, enjoyable. I was hesitant going in, as I'm 1) bad at games, and 2) from a CRPG background, so the real-time style of combat is not generally something I'm good at. I was also concerned about the stripping down of party mechanics, etc, that was a big part of the previous games. And while I do wish the party tactics had been a little more varied, I ultimately found combat fun and responsive, and that they struck a reasonable balance between simplicity with party, and overly tactical. It did have way too many buttons & combos for me, but that is definitely a me being bad at games thing and not a fault in the game.

I also was extremely impressed with how smoothly the game transitioned from gameplay to cutscenes, and I really liked the more open maps/elimination of excess loading screens.

Unfortunately, that is about all the praise I have for the game.

I'm not really going to talk too much about the complete disregard for the world state built by previous titles, because I think all that needs to be said about that has been. I agree that, from a development standpoint, they needed to find a way to simplify things. However, going so totally scorched earth that character creation literally states "you don't need to customize your previous choices if you don't want to because it doesn't really affect anything" only serves to insult and infuriate the very dedicated player base.

It's very clear that the goal of Veilguard is to wipe the slate clean for the purposes of rebranding and bringing in new players for future installments/capital. Considering the mass layoffs at Bioware, and EA's generally established business practices, this sort of tactic isn't really surprising, no, and was truthfully only a matter of time. But that doesn't stop it from feeling like a slap in the face.

That being established, the total disregard for existing lore, world state, impact of previous titles, glaring plot holes within Veilguard itself, etc, is unfortunately to be expected. No point in picking it apart individually, as it's all just a symptom of the goal of a clean slate reboot.

Which isn't to say I wasn't cursing at my screen by the end of it, but I digress.

I had hoped I could at least enjoy the game as something new, turn off the part of my brain that associated it with Dragon Age and just play it as a stand alone thing. This even worked for the first chapter or so, as I was really enjoying the exploration and gameplay. And then I started recruiting more people. And the main plot started to really get going. And turning my brain off suddenly stopped helping.

The writing is awful, full stop. It's all incredibly surface level and sanitized, and it treats the player with such ineptitude I started to feel like the game had actual disdain for me for trying to play and enjoy it. If I had a dollar for every time an NPC explicitly repeated a plot point or goal immediately after a cutscene that had already painfully spelled it out for me ended, I would have recouped the price of the game three times over. I get that reading comprehension is at an all time low, but holy shit. I paid for a sweeping fantasy narrative, not a degradation simulator that treats me like a moron.

If we manage to put that aside, we're left with a narrative that spends every spare second trying to convince you of how high the stakes are and how important your relationships will be to get through it... and then never actually manages to deliver on any of it. The game repeatedly shies away from showing you anything actually bad, or building anything actually meaningful.

Yes, we see the Blight being gross and a few choice deaths, but that's it. The mass devastation we're told is constantly happening all over Thedas? The staggering amounts of death taking place? The oh-so-vile practices and punishments of our main antagonists? Anything and everything that has to do with the extremely prevalent theme of slavery? That all happens off screen, if it happens at all. Somewhere nice and clean and safe for it to exist, sanitized of any tension or emotional impact. I cannot decide if the flagrant pacing issues in the narrative are a product of the missing tension, or their own problem.

And those important relationships we're told about follow the same pattern. Even if we ignore how everyone speaks to each other like they're reading the script of an HR Workplace Togetherness video, their personal stories are devoid of the stakes we are assured they have. I wanted so desperately to care about the things these character's cared about, but I left still unconvinced the character's themselves even gave a shit.

And with a shallow plot comes a shallow character; I felt no attachment to any of them, despite telling myself they'd grow on me as I progressed. Of course, I also didn't dislike any of them, either; I just didn't care, and I find that infinitely more damming.

I think what I find most frustrating is that the potential in the characters is there, at least. They're each interesting concepts with interesting themes, and every so often I'd get a cutscene that actually got me to feel something, to react, and I'd get excited thinking 'oh, this must be when it gets good.' But no, as soon as you're out of the cutscene, it's situation normal again. No more feelings, no more tension. That all happened off screen, again. Any emotional turmoil the character in question was in moments before is now gone in favor of Group Togetherness.

Rook is no exception to any of this, either; exactly as tepid as the rest, but coated with an even less polished illusion of substance. This is not helped by the fact that the game makes an active effort to remind you that Solas is the actual main character of this story. Rook, you as the player, are just sort of... there.

The headcanons I've seen from fans do more justice to this entire cast than the game ever does.

In summary, it's sad, I think. It's ultimately what I expected, but it's sad. Many of us have a very deep attachment to Dragon Age, the story and the community that built up around it. I literally met my wife through the Dragon Age fandom. I learned to explore some deeply personal things about myself through how I related to the story and characters because of how much depth and nuance there was to examine. To see all that reduced to what amounts to a very prettily polished turd is just... yeah. Sad.

I'm really happy that there are people who have enjoyed the game. Genuinely. I hope they'll continue to do so. Myself, I'll probably still go on a screenshot binge and enjoy how pretty it looks, too. But Veilguard is very much the end of Dragon Age, for me. And I'm sad about it.

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Something that has always bothered me about The nightmare before Christmas sequels and the fandom is how Sallys abuse is never talked about or swept under the rug or down played as not that bad. The movie does a great way how showing how abusers can deceive peoplelike every thing is fine but nothing really is. The Dr only hurts Sally when no one is looking or when they are alone and unfortunately when Jack is around he puts on a act like he’s a good guy that would never hurt anyone so Jack is not suspicious Sally is in Danger. I understand this is a difficult subject but I believe one that should be talked about. Sallys story is one of hope that things can and will get better ❤️‍🩹 and that you are not tethered to your abuser. 

I believe I've talked about it before, how Sally's situation with the Doctor can be looked at through the lens of abuse, much like Lock, Shock, and Barrel with Oogie Boogie. Dr. Finkelstein is well-liked among his fans, who have arguments against the whole 'abuse' thing, but I think it's an interesting discussion worth having from its complexities. It doesn't get much focus in many Nightmare adaptations at all.

The Doctor is overprotective and overbearing - as his expectations for Sally are not to join in on the Halloween celebrations (which is Halloween Town's most beloved time + purpose), and from that we can surmise that he doesn't allow her much freedom outside of the tower. His punishment to her is locking her in her room with a gigantic piece of wood over the door, for how long is undetermined, but it leads to Sally's escape being something drastic like jumping out of a window.

He treats Sally's restless behavior as a "phase that will pass", with enough "patience". But, really, what is Sally's 'restless behavior' beyond just wanting to go outside and join in on the fun? To meet people, to make friends? Dr. Finkelstein, whether intentionally or not, is trying to cage Sally and enforce that her 'acceptable' behavior is to be content living and serving him, and not seeking a life outside of him and the tower.

There is some emotional manipulation you can see in the movie between the Doctor and Sally, and it comes across a little more clearly in Caroline Thompson's Draft:

And abusers can be good or even well-liked people. The Doctor and Jack clearly have a friendship, or they at least get along well, as Jack comes to him for some lab equipment and seeks his help with the skeletal reindeer, and the Doctor is kind and welcoming to him in return. It's not really clear whether or not Jack *knows* how Sally is being treated at home, in both recent Nightmare books it's addressed and received badly by Jack (who wants to fix the situation), but it could be very easily guessed he may not notice anything if Sally doesn't talk about it and the Doctor presents nothing as wrong. (The Doctor does pull Sally away during Halloween, trying to be quiet about taking her back, so he may not want to make a scene with her and have others know their situation.)

Sally taking the initiative to escape on her own, to use her wits and learn special concoctions to poison Dr. Finkelstein with (a little morally-gray though), and re-sewing her dismembered limbs on is empowering and teaches us that you can overcome your obstacles. What she and the Doctor have is definitely far from a healthy relationship, and something some abused people can relate to - Finkelstein's emotional manipulations and caging Sally inside as a servant, and her poisoning and escaping him in response to these things.

I am glad Sally ends up freeing herself in the end, and that she finds a life away from Finkelstein. I like seeing Nightmare fan-material addressing what Sally has gone through and how she learns to heal + grow from her time with the Doctor, and I also like seeing the same for him in return, to treat his newer creation better and learn from his mistakes and become a better person through it. I don't think he's necessarily a 'villain' in any sense, but a person whose intentions and actions are abusive, as they cause much more harm than good.

[wooimbouttamakeanameformyself]

Okay listen hoes.

I’ve been surfing these anti Danneel, anti Jenneel, anti this and anti that tags for like… over a year. I’ve always been watching from the sidelines with my lil bag of popcorn, given an anon ask every now and again to other blogs, but never bothered to make a post about it. Because I didn’t think it was relevant, correction, I didn’t think Elta was relevant enough to make a venting post about — which is why I’m baffled as to why she even has stans — but also I just figured in the long run, none of our speculations, opinions or posts about this lady mean anything to anyone.

Actually, I may be incorrect there, as the AA’s may butcher me, or worse… Danneel may get Cliff to make another post… sheesh!

But anyway, seeing this latest Wales con, I got a real bad case of FOMO and decided I wanna bitch on tumblr as well (no hate to the bitches, I love scrolling through everyone bitching about the ‘perfect’ couple)

Here’s my take on everything, even tho no one asked:

Yes, it is painfully, horribly, excruciatingly obvious that those two don’t even like each other let alone love each other.

But I’ve seen some people and blogs talk about Danneel physically abuse Jensen, which I just don’t personally believe — each to their own opinion, though — but I just personally haven’t seen any evidence or receipts of that being true. Emotional abuse, yes, verbal abuse, definitely. But physical is something I ain’t gonna say I think is happening.

Danneel’s a bitch, as we all know, as the stans like to pretend isn’t true. But I really don’t think Jensen’s a saint or a victim — and I say he isn’t a victim only because in the end, looking over the financial consequences and the custody of the kids thing that would come with a divorce, she has little hold over him. He has the fame, the money, and what do you wanna bet that all of the Elta followers would do a 180 on their ‘Kween’ if Jensen ever spoke up about anything? And by no means am I suggesting that men can’t be victims before anyone jumps down my throat, I’m just saying that Jensen has the capability to fight back to her or leave her if he wanted to.

But he won’t, because — and I’m bracing myself for the hate I’ll get for this — he’s also kind of a narcissist and a liar!!! 😱😱😱 surprised I’m still writing and wasn’t just assassinated on the spot for saying that lols! Dare I say… he’s just as bad as Danneel in some aspects? That he has pretty privilege? Though not so much anymore since he and Danneel have clearly started doing couples Botox sessions. Wooof I’m really pushing my luck.

Trailed off a lil there, but what I was supposed to say is that he won’t because he’s embedded some kind of belief into his mind that his career will crash and burn if he doesn’t have his perfect ‘family man’ image. Even though let’s be honest about two things, your marriage is probably doing more harm than good to your image, and buddy, you’re a c-list actor who’s acting range is zero to none — I mean, he couldn’t stand playing anyone other than Dean Winchester that he tried, and failed, to make a spin off of Supernatural just so he got to play a brooding, macho hunter again. Though look how that turned out — your career isn’t some sacred artefact that can’t dare even be scratched, all he does these days is make money from cons, and a very occasional cameo playing as Dean in a different font. I’m worried the dude has Foreign Accent Syndrome but with Dean Winchester — as in he’s done it for that long that its irreversibly in his consciousness, to the point Danneel has to tell him to stop being Dean at home (sure she got a dig out of him mentioning that in the panel)

But I’m trying to focus talking about this con so far — even though I’ve trailed off multiple times already — first of all, ignoring the fact it’s insane that Danneel’s even at a Suoernatural con when her character (which was a nepotism role) wasn’t even in a full season, served no purpose, wasn’t even a likeable character — unless you like vapid, vain, and poorly portrayed characters — and added nothing to the storyline. And yet she gets treated like she’s a main cast member? Half of Dean’s flings who were in half an episode served more to the plot that Anael did in the whole five episodes she was on the show! And it pissed me off that Danneel’s getting the sort of treatment of main cast when Gen’s character was actually important to the plot, yet she wasn’t at the con. Not that I think Gen’s that bothered, which shows the difference between her and Danneel.

And apparently she auditioned for every single female role??? HUH?? Are we talking about the same Ms Gurl who made fun of Supernatural in the earlier seasons, claimed to not wanting to interfere as it was Jensen’s thing, demeaned and made fun of fans on twitter, criticised her own husband’s role and showed doubt of the series duration??? Make it make sense.

I’m kind of relieved Jensen hasn’t shared any of his made up domestic stories of them, to try and make it seem like they can even stand each other, although it would’ve been interesting to see him talk about it with Danneel there — just to see her reaction, cause I’m certain Jensen just makes up these stories as he goes along. But I guess my guy couldn’t even manage that, probably not after how much Elta knocked him down in front of everyone — she barely did anything else other than make jabs at him the whole time. Surprised my girl didn’t go blue from all the snarky remarks she was making.

Oh wait, it’s ‘sarcasm’, right? Silly me, I forgot that ‘that’s how they are with each other’ 😐😐😐 even AA’s have spoke up about her behaviour in this con — shows how much effort those two are bothering putting in to keep up the image. But hey, I’m proud that some of the delusional Jenneel shippers have developed a frontal lobe, probably because their self-insert isn’t doing what they want her to be doing!

Anyway that’s all from me, my thumbs hurt, can’t believe I wrote so much. Free will is a crazy thing. Excited to see what kind of hate I get from this ✌️😝

This ain’t grammar checked before anyone bullies me.

[papermatisse]

Deadend || Y.JH

† genre: horror

† word count: 1.5k

† warnings: heavily insinuated murder (not explicitly shown), labyrinth, persistent predator/hunt, fear

† synopsis: he seemed nice, but then again, you should never judge a book by its cover.

† (a/n): my brother actually instilled this fear into me and I just thought the concept of it was pretty interesting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also now we've caught up w all of my prewritten stuff so now comes the ✨delayed writing✨ pls bear w me 🙏

† taglist: @scuzmunkie @hipsdofangirl @hydroyaksha (I forgot to tag you guys last time lol my bad)

anthology | main masterlist

The sound of her feet stamping against wet concrete filled the humid atmosphere around her. Deep and violent puffs of air expelled from her lungs as she barreled down yet another alleyway. The labyrinth-like layout of the city had proven itself nothing short of confounding, though it seemed that facet alone was the sole reason she was even still alive. Still able to outrun the man hunting her.

He had been seated at the bar as she danced along with her friends. As subtle as her friend could notify her, she was informed of a man who had been watching her for quite some time. Upon first impression, Jeonghan seemed to be the definition of charming. Handsome features with polite mannerisms, attention solely on her as they spent the next few hours of their night together. Luring her into his car was a significantly easy task, as she would have perhaps gone anywhere he went off to at this point.

Things had gone awry the further along their journey they got. Jeonghan's answers grew more and more blunt, and the momentary glances he spared her way as he drove were reduced to nothing. By the time she realized something was amiss, he had parked on the side of an abandoned road in a part of the city she had never seen before.

Before she could ask where they were, he was opening his center console rummaging for something as she watched in mystified, confused terror. His hand retracted from the unit to reveal a large butcher knife, glinting in the spare moonlight washing into the vehicle. That charming smirk that had swept her away all night long suddenly shifted with her burden of knowledge, now twisted menacingly with this sickening, psychotic undertone that had (y/n) near gasping.

"Run."

Those were his last instructions before she had all but bolted out of the vehicle in a full on sprint. She didn't know for how long she ran, but she knew he was somewhere behind her. Somewhere close. Somewhere hunting her in such a disregarding and relaxed manner. Taking his sweet time in pursuing her, preserving his energy for the final kill.

By the time she realized she was very nearly trapped in this sector of the city, she understood his motives quite well through the haze of panic muddling her mind. He wouldn't exert anything beyond his capabilities. He wouldn't reduce himself to chasing after her with the same determined vigor she retained. He didn't need to. As if it was a certainty that he'd eventually catch her at the end of the night, no matter how far she ran.

The thought alone terrorized (y/n)'s already frightened mind, though she continued to stumble through the barren streets with a determination she hadn't thought she possessed in the first. She was greeted by not a living soul, a truly desolate concrete jungle, its only purpose seemingly to be the playground of the crazed maniac looming within its shadows. The residual humming sounds of the amber lit lampposts lighting her way through the maze of dilapidated infrastructure served as the only source of feedback in an otherwise deadly silent environment, accompanied by her own ragged breaths that made her cringe with every huff. Any noise from her could be her last. A beacon to Jeonghan guiding him directly to her.

Bolting down yet another alleyway, a sudden guttural gasp was ripped out of her throat when she was met with the unfortunate sight of a brick wall, looming above her as this impenetrable barrier to her path. A dead end. Shaky hands pressed upon the fortress, seeking out any compromised brick she could use to her advantage. Whether to dismantle the structure as a whole, or use it to climb over its daunting height. A momentary scan of the area in search of any tools she could utilize had her heart dropping to her stomach. The alleyway was as desolate as the rest of the city. Like this place swallows anything which enters its grasp, and eventually will have her, too.

She went to turn around dejectedly with her only solution being retracting her steps, but she froze as her eyes landed upon the other end of the alley. A cold sweat dabbled across her skin, heightening the sensation of the chill now running down her spine. Her body trembled with unabashed fear, and her once frenzied mind suddenly went blank as she stared helplessly at the dark silhouette staring back at her.

Jeonghan stood impassively at the entry, the orange glow of the lampposts dispersing against his back and casting him in an ominous shadowed ambience, like he absorbed every ounce of light which dared to touch him; like death himself, he was brandished with the darkness of night. His features, once undoubtedly handsome to her though now warped into an imposing and deviant facade, were momentarily shrouded to her in the perspective he stood in. Though the one defining trait she could identify in all of his ambiguity was that of the knife gripped securely in his hand, glistening in the light and reflecting back to her her impending doom.

His head quirked to the side as (y/n) stood there motionless.

"You didn't get as far as I thought you would." His voice easily carried to her in the still silence of the night, however low he opted to convey his message, yet still causing her to all but tremble at his foreboding presence. "Quite disappointing."

"Please," (y/n) found herself muttering back, voice weak, words indecipherable through the rapid inhales she now took. "Please don't do this. Please."

He began walking towards her at a steady pace, and the sight of him approaching brought (y/n) into hysterics. Pleas growing louder and more desperate, knees buckling until she had collapsed on the floor, left only to crawl away desperately from the domineering figure heading her way.

When her back met the roughness of the brick wall, her fingers had clawed at the masonry, hoping for any weakness in its stature she may have missed upon first scan—anything that would guarantee her freedom and give her a chance in fleeing from the man drawing ever so closer.

Though her prayers fell upon deaf ears as she felt his hot hand grasp her face, cheeks squeeze together in his hand as he yanked (y/n) his way.

His gaze bore into her own. Dark, sinister eyes, heartless as they stared at her, uncaring in a way one would look at a pest. The lack of emotions crossing his face, the near impossible feat of deciphering what his motives and feelings truly were, had been the cause for her onslaught of tears to finally take place.

"Why are you doing this?" It was the only thing she could think to say. Limbs aching from running, muscles burning as the adrenaline which had once coursed through her veins finally dissipated, leaving her nothing more than a debilitated state of what once was.

He was silent for a moment more, just staring like he was studying her. Observing what she had been reduced to throughout the night's events. And then he smiled. A purely vindictive grin filled with malice, contorting his handsome face into a nightmarish sight. Perhaps the last thing she'll ever get to see in this lifetime.

"Because I love it." He responded, as if answering a simple everyday question. "Your fear. Your desperation. Holding the very essence of life itself in my palms. Your life. Don't you see it?"

His grip around her face grew tighter, drawing her closer to him.

"That primal beauty of struggling for survival? The raw, unbridled terror as you run for your life? Thinking you have a chance if you just run fast enough, but you don't. You never did."

(y/n) whimpered as the pressure began to grow painful, his fingers digging into her sore jaw.

"The illusion of safety being a viable option, but it wasn't. I never gave you that choice. I hold the fate of your life in my hands. And I love it."

He let go of her and she all but scrambled to the furthest corner of the alley she could manage, pressed as tightly against the wall as she could be. Jeonghan followed after, crawling her way until he was face to face again, though this time with his arms caging her in her position.

"I hold the power to end your life. The moment I looked at you, I gained full control over it all. I am the harbinger to your inevitability."

The cold tip of his knife glided across her face, and his eyes trailed after, his smile growing wider by the second.

"Please." A final attempt at sparing her life. But at this, he began chuckling.

"I let you go now, I'll just follow you all over again. No matter where you run, no matter how far you get from me, I'll eventually make my way there. I'll eventually catch you. You can't escape from me no matter how much you try. No matter how much you beg." Pressing the tip of his knife into her body, arm retracted enough for the final plunge, he pressed his mouth against her ear, breathing in her scent as she wept with reckless abandon.

"I will always be the one to end you."

[sephirthoughts]

Hi! I hope you had a good day today.

For the ask game, what are your thoughts on 5 and 9 for Sephiroth?

I did, thank you! I hope you had a good day, too!

ON TO THE BURNING QUESTIONS

5. Sephiroth is such a wonderful layer-cake of pathologies, it's so fun to dissect the impacts on his personality. He is autistic-spectrum, hyper-intelligent, alienated, deeply insecure, and feels he has no 'place in the world'. Despite his insistence, under Jenova's influence, that he's the chosen one and meant to rule the world, he has rock-bottom self-esteem and almost no sense of self. He knows he's different but he has no idea who he is. Add being raised in a lab, horribly abused, and treated like a weapon rather than a person his whole life, and there's not a lot of Sephiroth left.

This would affect his living space in that it'd be generic, impersonal, highly functional, basically empty, serving its purpose as a place to rest, and nothing else. Has place to lie down, has place to shower, has place to dress=meets criteria. I doubt he'd notice if there were even blankets on the bed. It's a Sephiroth storage container, more than a living space. Which is terribly sad and now I am sad. BOOOO ME

Whether he's messy or not is another question. He honestly strikes me as someone who hates disorder if he ever thinks about it. The problem is, he does not think about it. He has executive function issues (see: his bout of manic hyperfocus in the archives, where he had books just strewn everywhere and didn't eat or sleep or bathe for days), and is generally unaware of anything pertaining to his own self-care, including messiness/dirtiness, unless they become a nuisance that disrupts his current fixation.

When he was being raised in the lab, he was a child, so there were people who cleaned, cooked, washed his clothing, etc., and in SOLDIER they definitely had people to take care of those kind of domestic things, so they could focus on training. Hence, he never learned to clean up after himself.

All of this wouldn't matter much, in a living situation with custodial services, but if left to his own devices, his combined lack of awareness, neglect of his own needs, and inexperience with such things would create a perfect storm. He'd forget to take the garbage out, never pick up after himself, not do the dishes, have takeout boxes everywhere, and have no idea that dusting, mopping, vacuuming, etc. even exist as concepts. I think his living space would be kind of awful. But he wouldn't notice.

That is, until Angeal comes over, has seven simultaneous brain aneurysms, leaves and returns with Zack and cleaning supplies, and they spend the next ten hours deep-cleaning the place, while Sephiroth insists it's not that bad.

9. This accords so nicely with number 5! Because he'd be a terrible roommate.

-He'd be quiet, courteous, and never have parties or eat your food, but he'd leave stupid long silver hairs all over everything (the less said about the bathroom shower drain the better), never clean up after himself, and act confused when asked to do so.

-He is definitely the type to always be forgetting his house key. Like, he may as well not have one.

-He leaves that stupid, ultra-sharp, nine-foot-long sword just LYING AROUND WHEREVER. Someone is going to lose a foot.

-He thinks he's a great cook and likes to share his talent with people, and he's too sweetly sincere and excited about it, so you can't bear to break his heart, and you wind up gritting your teeth and smiling through a plate of sticky, pasty, mushy pasta, with sauce made from frankly baffling ingredients (you put walnuts in the marinara? ohhhh...how…interesting. is this an anchovy?).

-He casually says absolutely horrible, emotionally devastating things, without realizing they're horrible. Example:

person: my mom was so forgetful, she always used to burn the garlic bread and she'd mix up my brother's lunch box and mine half the time

sephiroth: haha yeah, i know what you mean. on several occasions, Hojo forgot to send someone to change my IV, when he left me strapped to an exam table in the basement lab for multiple days, and i nearly died of dehydration and malnutrition

person:

sephiroth: parents, right?

-Lastly, Sephiroth absolutely never wears a shirt and in fact doesn't even own one. This is not an annoying habit, this is the habit that makes all the other ones worth putting up with.

[hamliet]

while i was rereading the grandmaster of demonic cultivation again its about the two woman that came to lotus pear sisi and bi cao, there was something its about the reaction the cultivators had about there stories I was thinking what these two woman represent?

Hi! I've written a meta on Sisi before--she's one of the most important minor characters, I think.

I think her pairing with Bicao exists to make the reader ponder their own questions about what righteousness means and what justice is. After all, Sisi is a prostitute who openly admits to sleeping with married men, is coerced into assaulting someone to death, and is physically scarred. On the surface, she seems like someone society will and does indeed condemn.

But Sisi is the bravest, most righteous character in the entire story. She is not ashamed of what society and life have done to her; it's not like she had a choice in any of the above, after all, and while it's convenient to blame her, she had literally not a shred of freedom her entire life. At least not from whenever she entered the brothel, and we know from Jin Guangyao's comments about Meng Shi that the women there weren't there out of their own free will.

And yet, Sisi comes forward knowing people will condemn her purely to get justice for the other prostitutes who were coerced into this and then murdered. They were the ones not even brothels wanted anymore--too old, too sick, too ugly. The ones every last bit of society threw away, and she came to face scorn solely to get justice for them. She directly says this.

In contrast, Bicao came forward for money.

Now, that's not inherently a bad thing. Bicao is a servant. She's part of society, unlike Sisi, but she's not well respected or anything like that. However, Bicao knew about Qin Su's mother being raped by Jin Guangshan, knew about the Jins being siblings, and said nothing--fair enough. There's nothing wrong with wanting to survive. Where we do get into dubious moral territory is when she directly goes to Qin Su and gives her the letter.

Wei Wuxian himself notes that Qin Su had to have immense trust in Bicao to instantly believe its contents. She emphatically states that Bicao would never lie to her.

But Bicao also knew the likely outcome of her revealing this to Qin Su--that it endangered her, that she would probably be suicidal if not in danger from her husband, and Wei Wuxian directly says this as well. Bicao handed the letter to Qin Su for money knowing it would mean her misery, ostracization from society at best, and death at worst.

Bicao's not a blood relative of Qin Su, of course, and there's a tendency to be like "oh, she's a servant, she owed her nothing." To a degree, sure, but also to another degree we're absolutely supposed to compare and contrast Bicao's treatment of Qin Su with Wei Wuxian's treatment of the Jiang family, and with of course Sisi's treatment of her sisters in the brothels (which we know was always the case from how she protected Meng Shi). Wei Wuxian was derided for his disrespect of the family that took him in despite being the son of a servant, yet gave literally everything, even his golden core, to try to help the Jiangs.

We're also supposed to compare and contrast Bicao and Sisi, both of whom reveal information damning the child they once protected. Bicao did it for money and was aware of what she was doing. Sisi did it for justice and, as far as we know, was not aware that Jin Guangyao was Meng Yao.

This itself of course leads to questioning Nie Huaisang's quest for justice and whether his justice is the same flavor as Sisi's. He freed her because she served his purpose, not out of any desire to free her because she is a human being who doesn't deserve to be locked up forever. He paid Bicao to sacrifice Qin Su, who was completely innocent. Yes, he couldn't have known everything that came from his actions but he definitely knew the likely possibilities (again, Wei Wuxian explicitly says this).

These comparisons invite us to question justice and its link to power, to society, to what we owe one another, and to what it means to be righteous. These are good thematic comparisons wherein the point isn't even "Sisi good" and "Bicao bad" (which can be true even while acknowledging that Sisi is framed much more positively) but instead a multilayered approach designed to provoke questions rather than simple answers.

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #44: Sweet 116

Masterlist

content: recovery, comfort, vampire whumpee, whumper turned whumpee, whumpee turned caretaker, fluffy compared to my usual

-

Kane woke up one hundred and sixteen years old.

It felt like it had been ages since his last birthday, since he hadn’t been aware of its passing since his 110th. He’d honestly thought he was older than this, back in his cell. It felt longer than five years.

He hadn’t celebrated his birthday in a long time, even the ones where he’d been aware of the day passing. They were a bitter reminder that his family didn’t care, after the extravagant parties he’d been thrown as a young child turned into not even being wished a happy birthday. He and Bellamy used to have their own little events, just the two of them, but those stopped after Bellamy left.

He wished he could apologize to Bellamy for treating him so badly. Kane knew he’d been a bad friend. But it was probably better this way: Bellamy had his own life now, he was flourishing, and Kane was okay now too. He had to just appreciate their childhood friendship for what it was, and accept that it was over.

Jim wasn’t his friend, certainly. Kane had abused him for years, and now he was currently held captive in the man’s house. But he was something almost like a friend. More than a friend in some ways, a god-like savior who’d dragged him out of a torturous nightmare.

He was okay. He didn’t need a friend, and he didn’t need a birthday. He just needed to be safe, and he had that, now. He smiled at the thought. His first safe birthday in five years.

Jim came downstairs with a fresh bowl of blood. “Hey, man. Happy birthday. Hundred sixteen now, right? Sheesh.”

“Oh. You remembered.” Kane said, a little shocked.

“’Course I remembered. Gotta be on top of that shit if you’re gonna be staying here. Speaking of which...” Jim held out the bowl, but it was a new one, one Kane had never seen before. A ceramic bowl designed to look like a cake, a human food he knew was traditionally used to celebrate birthdays. Jim had taught him that.

“Saw this and thought it might be fun to use on your birthdays, since obviously you can’t eat actual cake.” Jim said with a goofy grin.

Birthdays. Plural. That could only mean one thing, that Jim intended to keep him for years. Kane’s heart soared, elated. He was being promised safety for years.

“Thank you so much.” Kane gingerly took the cute little bowl. “I love it. Thank you for the bowl, and the blood, and, and for letting me stay. Thank you for all of it.” He teared up a little, overwhelmed with emotion.

“Aw, well, you were always nice to me on my birthdays.” Jim pointed out. “You always got me cake and a present. Never hurt me or anything, ‘cept for the bite, even if I was doing stuff you’d normally hit me for. It was the only time I really felt safe.”

Guilt flooded him. Jim only felt safe five days out of the five years Kane had him, and he still made every effort he could to make Kane feel safe now despite it.

“I’m glad you’re safe now.” Kane said softly.

“Right back at you.” Jim patted him on the back. “Laken’s coming over later and we’ll have a little party. Assuming that’s cool with you? There’s still time to cancel it if you’re not into the idea.”

Laken was a hunter. It was hard to get out of the mindset that humans were dangerous by default, let alone hunters, but they’d been over to visit Liz’s a few times when he and Jim had stayed at Liz’s place a few weeks ago and they’d only ever been friendly toward him. He supposed that the only options Jim had to invite to his vampire’s birthday party were them and Liz, and Liz was definitely not a fan of him.

Kane hadn’t had a proper birthday party since he was ten years old. It seemed almost childish at this point, but... unbelievably sweet.

“That sounds great. Thank you.” He held the bowl to his lips and drank.

-

Jim’s present to Kane served two purposes: it was something he knew the guy would love, and it would give him time to decorate. It was a strategy he had employed for Liz on multiple occasions. Give her a gift she’d have to leave the house for, then set everything up while she’s away. He could have just done it while Kane was asleep, but he wanted to make sure he actually wanted something. Jim knew he was weird about birthdays.

He had to get creative this time, since he couldn’t send Kane to the arcade or roller rink. Kane was over the moon about the fancy bath stuff Jim got him, breaking out in a delighted fanged grin.

While Kane spent what Jim was sure would be an hour in the bathroom trying out fancy soaps, he strung up some simple decorations. Some balloons, streamers, and in a moment of unprecedented genius, a ‘SWEET 16′ banner he’d drawn an extra ‘1′ into to make it say ‘SWEET 116′. He giggled as he tacked it up.

He was sure it was nothing compared to the kinds of parties hundred-millionaire vampires would throw. Hell, it’d be nothing by human party standards, the guy couldn’t even eat cake or get wasted. But hey, Kane seemed pretty jazzed about it so far.

It was a good distraction. Jim tried not to think about it, but tomorrow was the anniversary of the night Kane took him. He realized it a few minutes after Kane had told him his birthday. Was that what he was? Kane’s birthday present to himself, a shiny new human?

He pushed the thought out of his head. It didn’t matter. He didn’t want to think about the fact that tomorrow was the 15 year anniversary of the day his life ended.

Jim was glad he had the excuse of Kane being scared of Liz to not invite her: she’d definitely try to comfort him, because she knew him way too well, and then he’d have to think about it, and maybe even talk about it.

And then he’d be a terrified 19 year old boy again, back in that lonely little room in Kane’s house where nothing was safe, and he didn’t want to be that anymore.

Now Kane was in his house, and neither of them were miserable. It was fine. Though it was hard not to think about it at least a little bit, with what Laken wanted to give Kane as his present.

Kane came downstairs smelling like roses. “You weren’t waiting to put the cuffs back-”

He looked around, taking in the decorations. Another smile. Kane had been smiling a lot more these days, he noticed.

“You did all this for me?” He sounded choked-up.

“Yeah, man. It’s your birthday. First one you’ve celebrated in five years, right? Gotta do something.” Jim patted him on the back. “And no cuffs today. We can be a little lax once in a while.” Plus, there’ll be a hunter here most of the time just in case.

“One hundred and six.”

“One hundred and six what?”

“This is the first birthday I’ve celebrated in one hundred and six years.” Kane clarified. “Or, ninety-nine years if you count the little celebrations that were just me and Bellamy. Just shy of a century.”

“Fuck, man. You’re making me too sad.” Jim shook his head. Guess that explained why he was so cagey about his birthday. “Well, good thing I snapped you up before it could get to a round hundred. We’ll fit a birthday party in here for you yet.”

“Thank you, Jim.” Kane said, sounding touched. “That means a lot.”

-

Laken arrived shortly. Kane froze up as they hugged him, not having expected it, but relaxed once he realized they weren’t hurting him.

“Happy birthday, you little grandpa!” they laughed, glancing at the banner. “Excellent.”

“Thank you for coming.” he replied. Laken’s hug was different from Jim’s. There was no tension, no fear that Kane could sense. They just held him, carefree. He wanted it to last forever, but they pulled away to hug Jim next.

They strolled inside and turned back around. “Jimmy, get outta here. I’ve gotta give Kane his present.”

Laken didn’t appear to have brought anything with them, Kane noted with confusion.

“Y-yeah.” Jim was suddenly nervous. “Just, just come get me when it’s done.” He scurried up the stairs to his room.

Kane was growing more anxious by the second. Jim being nervous was bad, but being apart from him was worse, and being alone with a hunter even worse than that. Even if they were the nicest hunter he’d ever met.

“Chill out.” Laken ordered, patting him on the head. “Jim’s just a little sensitive about this stuff. I’m not gonna hurtcha.”

“O-oh. Um, then, then what?” he asked.

Laken held out their arm. “Go on and feed some. Double portions today, and this one’s straight from the source, nice ‘n fresh..”

Kane stared incredulously at their outstretched arm. This had to be a- a trap of some kind, it had to be.

He could still remember the searing licks of the sun on his skin, in his mouth, unable to get away, burning burning burning for an entire week, the nights never long enough to heal more than the smallest bit before the next day devastated him again. And that had been for just trying to bite.

There was no way a hunter was telling him to bite them.

“I’ll be good, s...” Kane thought about it a bit, unsure what the proper title would be for a ‘them’. “...sir?” he decides anyway. “I’ll be good. I know better, I, I’ve learned. You don’t need to test me.”

“I’m not gonna pull pranks on you on your birthday, dude.” Laken shook their head. “Or ever. That sounds about as good of an idea as pulling pranks on Jim. Maybe even worse. Nah, I’m serious. Go for it. Have a little treat.”

They were serious. Kane glanced up the stairs. “Jim’s okay with it?”

“Yup, got pre-approved and everything. Listen, if you don’t want it, I can use the blood draw and you can drink it out of that bowl Jim was so giggly about on the phone, or we can just forget about the whole thing if you wanna. It’s your call. You’re the birthday boy. But hey, I’m offering.” They waggled their eyebrows.

Blood did taste really good straight from a human. It didn’t get any fresher than that. And... it could be his test, too. He was starting to really trust that Jim wouldn’t send him back, or hurt him on purpose. If he did this, he could see if Laken is really telling the truth, and maybe he could trust them, too. If he refused, he’d never know.

“Okay. Yes, please. Um, have you ever... been bitten before?” he asked.

“Pssh, oh yeah. A billion and a half times.” Laken assured. “I’ve been hunting for like, a decade. You guys’ve got like 5 things for combat, and teeth are one of ‘em. Never been really fed from, though. But I’m curious!” They waved their arm in front of him again.

Kane was glad they were offering their arm. He was sure that Jim would have an intensely negative reaction to seeing his mark on Laken’s neck.

He nodded trepidatiously. “Please let me know if you want me to stop.”

He bit into their forearm, sweet, delicious blood flowing into him. The base taste wasn’t as good as Jim’s abnormally-delicious blood, but it was so fresh that it truly was a treat. He had already had a meal today, but he fed enough for an entire second meal. It was his birthday, after all.

When he was done, he licked the wound closed. “Thank you. That was, that was wonderful.” He waited anxiously for their reaction.

“Haha, so weird. Glad it did it for you.” Laken said casually.

They’re really not mad. They’re not going to try to punish me.

“I’m gonna put a bandage on this so Jim doesn’t flip his shit.” they added. “You wanna go get him? Knock first.”

“Okay!” Kane agreed, invigorated by his apparent success. He jogged up to Jim’s room, initially minding his ankle chains before realizing they weren’t there, and knocked.

“Jim? It’s done. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Jim opened the door, looking a little less than okay, but not awful.

“I-”

“If you’re about to say you’re sorry, can it. It’s your birthday and you didn’t hurt anyone. Was it nice?” Jim asked.

Kane was surprised by how he’d predicted what he was about to say so easily. He guessed Jim just... knew him better than anyone else, at this point.

But that street went both ways. Seeing Jim look all nervous, he was suddenly reminded that he’d taken Jim the day after his 100th birthday.

“It was nice. Thank you for allowing it.” He hesitated, hoping he was saying the right thing. “Um, I know that tomorrow is probably... an uncomfortable day for you. I’m sorry. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do? Like if you want me to stay downstairs or something.”

Jim startled a bit, then smoothed his hair down. “I dunno. I kinda just wanna do everything like normal. Don’t wanna make it weird or anything.”

“Okay. Whatever you want.” Kane agreed.

“Hey, did Jim faint up there or something?” Laken called.

“C’mon, don’t turn into Liz, I’m not that fragile! I wasn’t even the one who got bit!” Jim called back. He bumped Kane on the shoulder, racing back down.

Kane laughed, following behind him.

-

sorry i’ve been slacking on posting new chapters / november was kind of a wash! you can expect a lot more activity in the latter portion of december.

drabbles posted in between #43 and #44:

Drabble: Mirror

Drabble: Fuck you

also started K&J x MMSS, a series of crossovers between my guys and the guys of Magnanimous Moonrise & Savage Sunset! there’s like 30k words of writing in there now

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[thewheelweevils]

My hottest of WoT finale takes

*spoilers through S2E8*

This has been a very solid season. The direction the story went was unexpected and yet fits the overall books’ direction, and lots of little changes and retroactive adjustments made a big difference for me—like giving gleemen back their colorful patched cloaks, letting us see more weave colors, etc. While I appreciated S1, one of my issues was it not fully feeling like the WoT setting I had grown to love in the books, and this season very much did.

Where does the take get hot?

I, um … I thought the writing and pacing of the second half of the finale was kind of … bad?

Okay, let me explain.

Example: We have Lord Ingtar and Loial and Masema (the “and Peggy” of the trio) just … they have the Horn now, and they mention in one line that “A Carhein woman helped us sneak it out” … and that all happened off screen, and while I could infer we’re talking about Lanfear, it really felt like we had skipped a scene, especially since I’m pretty sure that was these characters’ first appearance in this episode and we had no notion that they were trying to escape or what their plan was, etc.

And from that point in the episode to the end, it just felt like everything had been clipped down to bullet points. The dialogue felt super abbreviated, and in other places felt like a line was added in a super awkward way to make sure the audience understood something that I think they could’ve inferred.

I think it would’ve been more powerful, for instance, if when Rand sees Elayne, he doesn’t say anything—just stares and then we cut to the awesome shot of Elayne’s head haloed by the sun

Likewise if we had just cut to Aviendha, Bain, and Chiad just looking up in awe at Rand and the fire weave dragon in silence, I think it’d have been more powerful than Aviendha saying “Car’a’carn”

It’s like they just ran out of runtime and had to condense the finale down to its barest bones. Which is almost certainly what happened.

Okay, but that’s not too hot of a take.

Okay, here’s where the fire falls.

For all the above complaints

It was

And I really do mean this

In my humblest of opinions

A big improvement on the ending of The Great Hunt.

The Great Hunt’s ending was spectacular imho right up until the Horn of Valere is blown. And then it flies right off the rails. The Great Hunt spoilers below, but it’s not really all that different from the S2 finale in terms of outcomes.

A mist arises

Artur Hawkwing and the other Heroes of the Horn appear

They talk and have some playful banter that didn’t age great (“and women!” Brigitte Silverbow said. “And women,” agreed Hawkwing [audience gives a hearty chuckle])

Rand leads the heroes of the horn into … battle? And Perrin has to be Rand’s standard bearer and Mat is asked to just keep toot-tooting on the horn to … inspire the troops? And they spend the battle just … holding a banner and rooting on the Horn?

Ishamael is there in the mists

But it’s in the sky???

But it’s not because the Heroes of the Horn are on the ground

But they’re also in the sky?

And Ishamael and Rand don’t have a channeling battle; they have … a swordfight? Except Ishamael is using a staff? And I guess they’re like One Power proxy weapons because they have supernatural abilities if they make contact?

But the Heroes are definitely on the ground because when Rand has the upper hand, the battle goes well for them and when Ishamael has the upper hand it goes poorly for them?

And everyone can see Rand and Ishamael fighting in the sky like it’s friggin’ Fantasmic with no explanation as to why or how or what purpose it serves, just that that’s the prophecy and so they’re in the sky and everyone (especially the young women) gets to be super impressed with Rand?

Mat, presumably, is still just a-tooting on the horn of Valere the whole time

And then when Rand stabs Ishamael, he, they, it … no more in the sky?

Rand is found wounded on the ground and not in the sky?

And then things pick up again at the end of the book.

But it’s one of those moments that throughout the rest of the series is just like … what? Huh? What was THAT? Nothing like it ever happens again and nobody ever attempts to make it make sense. It’s just one of those things that just … we have to move on from.

Season 2 finale resolves most of that in ways I really like. Exception: the Dragon Banner that is just a fire weave illusion from Moiraine … that gave off the same vibe to me as that scene in Eragon 2006: “And are we together, Saphira? AS ONE????” (Dragon roar and fire.) I just imagine that Moiraine is sitting there channeling the weave and Lan is like, “Okay, Moiraine! Now make it roar!” But. Minor quibble.

BUT ANYWAY. The finale just kind of felt rushed, like it needed to be 30% longer. But the changes were imho big improvements on the Fight in the Sky of The Great Hunt.

By making the “sky” part just a tall tower made it all make so much more sense and less silly. And having our whole main cast together with Rand and DOING STUFF and not relegated to tooting merrily on the Horn of Valere and holding Rand’s stuff for him was a great improvement. Egwene taking on Ishamael and actually surviving against him for as long as she did, Perrin coming in, Elayne healing Rand, etc. Such an improvement imho. Taking one of the few WoT moments that I always cringed at and making it a solid, grounded moment.

That’s my super hot take. Don’t hate me.

And Uno as a hero of the horn was amazing. Could not have loved that more.

I am delighted to see that I appear to be in the minority on this. I’m so glad to see so many people loving the finale.

[emma-cantmakeuphermind]

Just A Project | VIII

Nathan Prescott x Reader

Masterlist

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Warnings: swearing duhhh, maybe ooc nate idk, abrupt end, mental health issues, trauma, etc.

Words: 1.6k

After a silent walk to my dorm we walk through the threshold enjoying the cool air. Although we were both joking earlier, we weren’t exactly lying when we said it was hot. Unusual for late October day. I move to sit on the edge of my bed as Nathan sits at my desk that’s to the right of my bed. He looks around for a moment, much like how I did in his dorm. He hums, “Not a bad setup you got.” I look at him dumbly, my room isn’t anything special. I have some photos on the walls, some string lights, and my half assed attempt at an ‘aesthetic’. “I guess so, it’s nothing special really.”

He shrugs, “It suits you is all I’m saying.” I guess he’s right, ‘a mess’, but I smile at him regardless. “So, you gonna let me see those photos you were clambering all over me for, or what?” There’s a small smile tugging at his lips, but he doesn’t let it show. I forgot I was still holding his camera, so I handed it over to him bashfully, hoping he wouldn't judge my photos too hard. He takes it, immediately going through the photos, and after a moment he looks up. “These-” He sighs, “They aren’t half bad. You’ve got talent.” I smile to myself, taking the praise as it comes, who knows how long until Nathan switches his mood up. “Thanks, Nathan.”

He places the camera on my desk and spins around in my desk chair. “You got anything to do around here?” I look around for a moment knowing damn well that I in fact have nothing to do here. But my thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door. We both rise to our feet, I’m sure for different reasons. Mine for opening the door, Nathan’s for probably getting ready to bolt in fear of being seen in my dorm.

I walk over to the door, and open it. On the other side stood the one and only Warren Graham. Suddenly I remember the flashdrive he told me about yesterday. “Oh, hey Warren!” I smile kindly at the boy. “Hey, Y/N/N! Was just dro-” His words cut off as his eyes drift to behind me. I turn slightly, to look. Nathan. Both the boys tense up, making me uneasy. I turn back around to Warren. “The flashdrive right?” I ask, trying to gain his attention. He looks back to me and leans in to speak quietly.

“You okay? He bothering you?” Oh, Warren. He’s sweet, but I don’t like that he immediately thought that I was in trouble just because Nathan is in my room. I go to brush off Warren’s concern but Nathan beats me to it, stepping forward a bit. “Oh, fuck you Graham! Do what you came to do and get the fuck out of our business!” I’m startled by his sudden outburst, unsure on what to do.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure she's okay.” Wow, Warren actually sounds pissed, never heard him like that before. Warren speaks again, “You know, since seeing an asshole like you in her room isn’t exactly a green flag.” He also steps forward, gently moving me out of his way. “What purpose are you serving right now? Everything was perfectly fine until your scrawny ass butted its way in.” Damn, Nathan. I have to stop this pissing fest before it goes too far.

I step in between them, pushing Warren back to the door. “Please, stop. You’re both acting like children.” Warren’s focus is now back on me, a look of concern taking over his face. “Sorry, Y/N/N. I just wanted to help.” I sigh, I’m not mad, but I can tell my face probably looks like it. “Thank you, Warren. But if I needed help I would’ve asked for it.” I smile a bit trying to convince him everything is okay. “Yeah!” Nathan shouts over my shoulder. I throw him a glare before turning back to Warren.

“Flashdrive right?” I remind him. “Uhm, yeah. Here you are.” He hands me the drive and I take it, shoving it in my pocket. “Great, thanks.” I smile now awkward at the tension. Warren backs up, “I’ll see you later?” I nod my head, “Definitely! Later!” I give a small wave and shut the door, pressing my back against it, letting out a big sigh. My gaze drifts up to Nathan, still glaring, but I ease up. I honestly feel bad for the Prescott.

“Sorry.” We both say simultaneously. We share a smile, and I walk back over to my bed and sit back down. I pat beside me, offering him a seat. He doesn’t decline the offer and takes a seat. “What are you sorry for, nerd?” He says looking down at his lap. I think for a moment. “I guess I’m just sorry about everything.” His head slightly turns, not completely facing me yet. Though I continue, “You know, for Warren’s behavior, for not stepping in sooner, for everyone’s misconceptions about you, for-” My words are cut short by Nathan’s head shooting up, an expression I can’t specifically describe painted on his face.

“What?” He says flatly. I take a deep breath, knowing that my next words may be too soon for him. “It’s just- I don’t know. It’s just, before yesterday, I thought about you the way everyone else thinks about you.” He flinches, clearly hiding the way my words stung. But I continue speaking. “But now? Being able to have an actual conversation with you, I’m realizing that most of those misconceptions aren’t true at all.” Now I’m the one looking down at my lap. There’s a beat of silence and I think I’ve fucked everything up before Nathan speaks up.

“Not many people do.” I blink, thinking he should be shouting. Thrashing around, storming out the door but not without a threat. But nope. Those are those damn misconceptions again. I don’t say anything, wanting to give him a chance to speak more. “Everyone thinks that I’m some kind of monster. Like I’m this walking tornado, and if you even breathe in my direction, I go off the rails.” He rubs his palms over his face, trying to stay calm. “No one ever cares how I feel, they only care about my last name.” I listen to his words, sadness bubbling in my chest. “I mean, I know I’m not normal. I’m fucked in the head. I know that. I have issues.” He’s holding back a sob, I can hear it in his voice.

“But my dad-” He sharply exhales. “I need therapy. Doctor said I have anger issues and a mild case of schizophrenia. They put me on a shitload of pills. They don’t do shit by the way.” My heart pangs at his words. Just wanting to help. “But my dad being my dad. He took me out of therapy. Said it was useless and that I was fine. He just wants me to be someone I’m not. But no matter what, around here, at Blackwell, whenever someone hears me express any of my issues, their reaction is always,’Ooo, boo hoo, poor little rich kid.’” He laughs bitterly, looking up, wiping his face of all emotion.

The air is still. “I just wish I could be normal.” He finishes. I finally look back up at him. He looks at me, and shakes his head. “Don’t give me that look.” He facepalms and grumbles a ‘fuck’ into his hands. “I’ve never told anyone that.” He breathes for a few seconds. “Fuck, man, I don’t even know you. This is crazy.” I rush to calm him. “Hey, it’s okay. I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.” He scoffs, “No, that’s not- It’s just I’ve never opened up to anyone. So why now open up to you? Some random ass girl I met yesterday.” He shakes his head in disbelief.

I chuckle. “Yeah, sometimes you find yourself doing things you can’t understand.” I look at him with a smile. “Like how I’m giving you a chance after 90% of what I hear about you tells me to do the complete opposite.” He looks at me, a smile cracking on his own lips. “I guess we’re both pretty stupid, huh?” My smile widens, “Yeah, I guess so.”

—————————————————————

After Nathan opened up we both got a lot more comfortable. Especially Nathan. He asked what I was going to do after Blackwell, and I didn’t really have an answer. Turns out he doesn’t either really. We had a good laugh at that. I think I can see Nathan being a good friend, if he’ll allow it.

We spend hours talking about everything and nothing all at once. He allows me to open up, like he did previously. He’s a good listener. I see him laugh. Like genuinely laugh. He has a nice laugh. I find myself observing him just like I did the day before. He’s laying sideways on my bed, limbs sprawled out, hair a mess. Cheeks dusted with pink. Blue eyes shining with joy. It's a nice look for him. Being happy. It makes my heart thump out of order thinking that it’s me who’s caused this.

Although I never want this evening to end, it must. Nathan heads back to his room, and I’m left to my thoughts again. We’re planning to meet for the project tomorrow as well at his place. I find myself in that terrible predicament where I can’t stop thinking about him. Call me crazy, but I think I may have developed a small crush on Nathan Prescott.

[gudvina]

SEVEN KINGS MUST DIE OPINIONS

This post is a series of various ramblings about the movie!!! please do not read the extended version of this post if you want to avoid spoilers! last warning: THIS POST IS BASICALLY ONE SPOILER AFTER THE OTHER!!!!

I had an inkling this movie wasn't going to be incredibly thorough as the series was (and even the series was often a little rushed), but i feel it maintained a strong tie to the series, and while a little rushed it managed to give us some kind of closure.

OPINIONS:

the opening was amazing, loved how it took scenes from the movie and rendered it in the usual opening

Ingrith and Finan were so sweet, i was incredibly saddened that they didn't show them having kids or having more happy moments. Finan's reaction at her death was very sad, and i think it was unfair that we didn't get to know anything about his life post the events of the movie. Good though that it is implied at the end that Finan survives Uhtred.

what about Sihtric's wife/children???? again, we were left wondering about them but not only didn't she appear, his children weren't even in the picture. We are left wondering about them, unfortunately. Good thing though that he survived!!!

We knew baby Uhtred is in Rome; again, where is Stiorra????

Eadgifu's character was put to test this season but i am glad she was consistent with her s5 characterization. she is truly an amazing woman!

Eadgifu and the subtext with Uhtred was something i did not expect but liked! She matched Uhtred's maturity, and I liked the way they supported each other for their children.

Athelstan!!!! okay, while i am disappointed it wasn't Osbert the one to be coupled up with him, i really liked his arc. I love how they explored his feelings over his homosexuality, his guilt and how it tied directly to the story. He acted out of desperation at first, but then came around to his duty and a newfound purpose that wasn't anymore a means to get away from his sins, but something he truly wanted for himself and his people. His complex relationship with Uhtred was shown in a way that for once didn't involve Uhtred behaving stupidly, showing he's definitely grown from the man he once was.

No Hild disappointed me but good for her for getting away from these problems once again!!!

Aldhelm's death:((((

Astrid & Arnalf: now i think this is where the movie threw away its chances of developing a bit more the Dane antagonists! In this season particularly Astrid didn't have any other purpose other than to be the cause of Aldhelm's death, and serve as a plot device to further the story. Arnalf's motivation could have been better explored too.

Osbert's character wasn't very fleshed out, and i disliked that it wasn't even mentioned a conflict between him and Uhtred for the abandonment. Not an explanation, nothing. I do like him though, he reminds me of a younger Uhtred, and I find heartwarming his friendship with Edmund (though even that one is briefly shown).

The end of the movie wasn't bad, though it was interesting. in a way i felt like it was incredibly satisfying, since it didn't show us exactly what happened to Uhtred in the end, though it implied him entering in Valhalla. We don't know what happens after to him, but we know he was loved and he existed, and this series + the movie gives us a glimpse to a secret only we know. Despite it being a rushed ending, i will say that it was a good and satisfying one, and seeing Brida and Ragnar the Fearless truly warmed me. I wished we could have gotten a glimpse of Gisela but oh well, i understand Peri Baumeister was probably busy.

In the end I feel like the main problem of the movie was how rushed it was, and how poorly fleshed out were the characters we were following. That didn't hinder my enjoyment of it, though, and as i said it was very satisfying and in a way i love that we are left filling the gaps they left open.

Is it the best closure to TLK? maybe not, but unfortunately a 2 hour movie would never be able to give all we needed as fans of the serie, so what we got in comparison to many bad movies/sequels out there was a very well made final product.

I feel like upon rewatching both the serie and the movie i will come to love it fully! I have other thoughts, but for now these are my face value disconnected opinions.

I will miss these characters so much, they accompanied me all these years and brought me close to so many people! Hoping to continue enjoying them through the amazing fanwork this fandom continues to create!!!

[scarletsaphire]

Lightning Rod: Dannymay Day 8: Electric Core AU

There's a thunderstorm, and Danny is missing. Jazz goes looking for him. She does not expect the lightning strikes to show her where he is.

Danny was missing. That was. Well, it wasn’t fine, but it wasn’t surprising either. He had been a lot more distant since what he had been referring to as the “Accident,” where he got zapped by the portal a few weeks ago. Jazz was worried. She was always worried to some extent; it was the result of having to basically be the parent since she was old enough to reach the kitchen counters by herself. But recently, she was even more worried, specifically about Danny.

It wasn’t just that he was distant, and that he was avoiding talking about the “Accident” with anyone besides Sam and Tucker. Jazz understood that. He had ended up hurt, and in the hospital, and even if he hadn’t ended up hurt, the fact that the portal had opened with him standing right there was probably enough for trauma to set in all on its own. It had only been a few weeks since it happened, and if it was in fact trauma, he’d likely need more time to digest it, time that she couldn’t spend trying to pry into his thoughts and feelings without making the problems worse. What worried Jazz was what he did when he wasn’t distant.

He tried to keep quiet during the night, but she shared a wall with him. She could hear the whimpers and cries of a nightmare at 2 AM. She could hear his terrified gasps and panicked breathing, mumbled curses and late night calls to his friends. She could hear the sound of things being knocked over as he… she didn’t know what exactly he was doing, but she knew it wasn’t good. She had left him a note on his desk, when he was downstairs getting breakfast before school. She didn’t want to pry, but she also wanted him to know that she was there for him. The note served that purpose just fine, even if he never mentioned it.

Then there was everything with their parents. Neither of them had what would be considered a good relationship with either of their parents, but it definitely wasn’t abusive. Neglectful, yes. Jack and Maddie may try to be good, but they were, and always had been, scientists first and parents second. Or scientists first, ghost hunters second, and parents third. But they had never hit either her or Danny, or threatened them, or anything that would make Danny flinch away from Jack’s touch, or avoid looking into Maddie’s eyes when she talked to him over dinner, or keep to the outside of the room, as quiet as a mouse, whenever one or both of them were in the room. It could have been some kind of teenage thing, being uncomfortable around their parents, but then Danny should be uncomfortable around her as well. He was, in some ways. But the discomfort he showed around her definitely fit more into the embarrassed teenager with overbearing parents than whatever he was doing with their actual parents.

Whatever was bothering Danny, it had to do with their parents. Whatever it was was apparently enough for him to have not returned home from school during a fairly bad thunderstorm. She had called both Sam and Tucker. They had said that he was with them, which should have been a relief, if they hadn’t both said at their respective houses. So one, or both, of them were lying, and if only one of them was lying, then there wouldn’t be much of a reason to lie in the first place. They were covering for Danny.

That’s why Jazz had taken her mother’s car (not the GAV. Until an actual ghost threatened her with whatever weapons ghosts might have, she would not drive that monstrosity.) and was currently driving around Amity Park, windows rolled down, shouting Danny’s name into the rain. She didn’t expect for her to find him, honestly. Amity wasn’t a huge town, but it was big. Too big to find a single kid that didn’t want to be found.

What Jazz expected to find less was that every single strike of lightning always seemed to land in the exact same place. It had taken her nearly 20 minutes to notice. She hadn’t really been paying attention; why would she? But after the flash of lightning struck straight into an empty parking lot 5 different times in about as many minutes, she got curious. It was stupid. She knew it was stupid. But she was still Jack and Maddie’s daughter, even if she wasn’t quite as dedicated to science as they were. This was too odd, too weird, for her to just leave. Curiosity and the cat and all of that.

The wind whipped at her hair and the raincoat she had pulled over herself on the way out of the house. It really was a bad storm. Jazz shouldn’t be out in it at all. But there was a chance that Danny was, and if nothing else she would be able to use this as an opportunity to guilt Danny into not going out in horrible storms without telling anyone where he was going. Maybe not the ethical solution, but he was her brother. A little manipulation here and there was to be expected. She approached the center of the parking lot, where she could see a washed out lump. She couldn’t make out the color in the rain and the dark, or the shape, or much of anything about it.

Lightning struck again, hitting the thing directly. In the brief flash of light she could make out the colors. Red and white shirt. Blue jeans. Black hair. Jazz froze, her breath caught in her throat. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be Danny. He looked up and met her eyes. It was most certainly him. She would know his face anywhere, even if his eyes glowed a sickly green, their light piercing through the rain. Even if every movement caused sparks to dance across his skin. It was her brother.

He saw her and she saw him, and before Jazz could do anything, say anything, he panicked. He was on his feet and backing away from her before she could blink. No, he wasn’t on his feet at all. He was upright, no longer curled into a ball like he was before, but he wasn’t standing. He was floating.

Danny’s voice cut through the wind and rain in a way that it shouldn’t be able to. When Jazz had been calling for him, she had had to scream over the torrential rain just to hear her own voice. Danny’s was strained, but not with the effort to be heard, just with worry. “You can’t be here,” he said as he floated away. The words buzzed like static in Jazz’s head. She took a step forward. “It’s not safe, you need to leave.”

“Danny,” she said quietly, her words eaten by the wind. She tried again. “Danny, its not safe for you either!” She kept making her way towards him, the wind fighting her every step of the way. “I have mom’s car, we can get home safe, you just need-” She was cut off by another lightning bolt, striking Danny directly.

It was barely a split second. The light was blinding, but Jazz swore she saw Danny’s hair flash white. Saw his outfit change to one of the hazmat suits their parents had painstakingly made for both of them, only in different colors. And then the second ended, and it was just Danny. Just Danny, hovering in the air, green sparks flying between his fingertips and eyes that could shine through a storm. Jazz did not let herself be scared. Did not let herself be confused. “I don’t know what's happening, but I can’t just leave you here. It isn’t safe,” she called again. “I just want to help!”

Jazz felt like she was in a spotlight, as those glowing green eyes studied her. Finally, Danny nodded. He floated closer to her, still keeping a good ten feet distance as they both made their way to the car. “Not to home. Anywhere but there.” His voice felt like a whisper. She shouldn’t be able to hear it, but it seemed like the wind carried it to her. Jazz nodded, and got into the car. Danny did not join her. She had assumed he wouldn’t.

Jazz had questions. So, so many questions. She was scared, both for herself, and for Danny, and for whatever it was that was making this happen. But as she drove, watching as Danny, the Danny she had seen in that flash of lightning, flew behind her, barely visible in the falling rain, she knew that her questions could wait. Right now, her brother needed her, and he was more important than her curiosity.

[batxcastlesociety]

more KRABTLASBAHCO, hegegehegeghehe. if you're new to this batshit insane series; it is a compilation of rants that i've compiled about simon belmont and his outfits; rating them based on both functionality and fashion sensibility.

this time it's main man. the one and only. ultra cool chronicles simon!!! yaaay :3

((this is the first KRABTLASBAHCO i've posted on this account, by the way! part 1, for his CV1 version, is here. part 2, for his CV2/SQ version, is here.))

once again, the full talk is under the cut! i'm happy you guys have been enjoying this series so far :3 sorry for the wait!! ... i've been quite busy with school and my schedule is much different now than when i started this series during summer break.. (>_<;)

oh. my god. simon are you okay???

don't get me wrong, i absolutely LOVE this design with all my heart just like how i love all of simon's other designs, but that outfit does not look remotely comfortable whatsoever! at least compared to simon's other armours...

first off, no circlet! :( kind of dissappointing; that's one of my favourite staples of simon's outfits. additionally, if the circlet was actually meant for some sort of head protection, and not just for show, it's gone now 💀. so there's definitely something lacking there.

anyway, you can really tell both simon and ayami kojima really love their leathers with this design, haha! it is... everywhere... haha...

now, as i've mentioned before in previous KRABTLASBAHCOs, leather is a very nice staple to armour; it is both durable and strong, yet not as strong as metal, which is something that both the CV1 and CV2 simons have. this simon... has none. the only metal that this guy has on him is from his belt.

granted, chronicles simon does still have some sort of metal accents on the straps under his belt, the studs on his top and bicep band, shorts, and boots, but those are just accents and accessories; not proper metal protection.

i've said it once, i've said it multiple times, and i'll say it again! leather may be both durable and strong, however it is not the strongest material that can be used for armour whatsoever; there are alternatives.

CV1 simon had his circlet(!!! 💞), plate armour, a pauldron (might not be fully metal, by the way it is shaded, however...), the accents on his loincloth-belt apparatus, and his bracers.

CV2 simon was decked out in metal! with his pauldrons, poleyns, couters, and a metal belt. (the skirt-like armour he has along with the belt is definitely metal as well, but i'm not sure what to call it.)

chronicles simon has... a belt. :) definitely a step up in durability, with all that leather, but two steps back in proper protection.

additionally – and this is something i've been thinking of for a while – but is he even wearing anything under there, for fuck's sake?! this kind of applies to all of the simons, but this one especially.

i mean, the top is leather, the shorts are leather; EVERYTHING is leather!! and it is skin-tight!!! that must be annoying to deal with. some sort of chafing, at the very least... it doesn't sound like the most simple-to-deal-with problem. i just feel bad for him.

his top is a little odd. i'm not sure what to call it... some sort of leather turtleneck tank top, for sure, but i'm mostly referencing the red fabric on simon's shirt here. by the way its shaded, it almost looks like velvet, haha! probably a stretch, though...

anyway, the red fabric on his chest is bordered with some metal. not enough to be protective, of course, i'm pretty sure it's just for show, along with the chain. he also has fur on the side, there, which is very interesting to me! i have absolutely no idea what the purpose of that is, either. probably for warmth, because i don't see any main way it can be the most protective garment (except for warmth, as aforementioned, and maaayyybbeeee some off-screen padding? or it's just for a fancy accent.) there's fur on his boots, too, and i'll assume that the only purpose that serves is also for warmth and some sort of softer padding.

there isn't much to say about protection here... i remember a certain mutual (hi, chibi!! ^vv^) mentioned a while ago that the straps on CV1 simon's belt. thingy are good for mobility and protection against slashes, and that actually makes a lot of sense!! i definitely agree with that, although i still have no idea why they're leather specifically, lmao 💀. i mean, i definitely understand the vision but simon dear. you do realize that leather, at such a speed and force and position, is likely going to make you whip your thigh. right. right??? i feel like something like that would definitely shoot simon in the foot less if it was any other cloth!! that's probably just me overthinking though, haha,, ^p^

as for appearance, though? oh. My god. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!!! the black, brown and red colour scheme. the fuckass red hair. THE BOOTS. i doubt that the leather is very good for protection, but for fashion sense? it's amazing!!! once again, i have absolutely no clue what that red fabric on simon's chest is called, but god DAMN do i want it in my closet. the belt is also Amazingly Cool and Very Very Awesome. the high-heeled boots, the collared gloves and the cunty pose really remind me of SOTN richter too! and how could i not love being reminded of SOTN richter?

the studs literally everywhere on simon's outfit, although pretty useless in terms of long-term fortitude, are also a very beautiful accent. the corset's a classic, the literal dog collar on his neck is quite hilarious yet let's be real here, it's not that unexpected with a character like simon, and the sword??? also very neat!!

in short, in terms of functionality, i have to give this simon a good 4/10. HOWEVER! he is saved by my bias for simon his wonderful fashion sense, giving this outfit a solid 10/10 for style! :)

[captainsparklefingers]

So, how many people has Ludinus convinced to, if not straight up drink the Kool-aid, then to be open to trying it? Now granted, I'm not quite done with the episode yet (I think I have like a third left), but I've got some thoughts. They're not very well organized or written out, but I've got them nonetheless. And they're probably not like. Super accurate or anything, this was all just sort of an emotional reaction I had while listening/watching and my attempts to figure it out. Apologies for what is basically me word vomiting on Tumblr trying to figure out my feelings.

It seems to me that this whole 'what have the gods done for us/let's get rid of them' thing sort of feels like a political science or philosophy discussion gone wildly off the rails. People discussing not being happy with the system, what do the gods really do and why do we need them, if the people who serve them abuse their power in these ways is it better to bring down those institutions or start at the source and work out from there...that all feels like stuff people discuss all the time. We debate topics, we argue for or against different moral and political and religious philosophies...debates get messy, historical events happen, the cycle of history continues...you get the idea. Maybe it's not the gods we're debating about but systems of government and power structures or economic structures.

But in a world where the gods are real and known to be real, where they're deliberately behind a gate so as to NOT have huge amounts of influence and power, where average people don't seem to totally understand the Divine Gate and its purpose and where the average person isn't having the sort of interactions with divinity that adventuring groups and religious leaders are, it feels like it isn't a huge step to take people from just talking about this to acting on it. And I know people have acted on things historically in our world too. Maybe that's why I'm listening to this conversation in this maybe hag definitely cult leaders hut and not totally disagreeing with points being raised. It's one thing, I guess, when the argument is being made by Imogen in regards to constantly hearing voices in her head. It's another when the village elder of a town currently suffering abuse under a strict religious system is making it.

I don't believe for one second that Ludinus gives a shit about taking down the gods in the name of freedom. I don't think for a moment that if Predathos is released and does what the name god eater implies that they'll be satisfied when the gods are gone. Ludinus is an ancient, powerful man with a big ole chip on his shoulder who's been nursing a grudge for centuries (who fucking ate fairies to live that long what the fuck ). He's also used to being in a position of power and influence through his role in the Cerberus Assembly and the government of the Empire. Based on the notes Team Wildemount found, we know he started all this by asking questions and fucking around until Molaesmyr found out, and that he either doesn't understand/know or care about possible side effects or consequences of his actions, or possibly both. He just, as far as I can tell, wants a power vacuum. When he says 'we take down the gods and we become the gods', I absolutely believe that the 'we' is 'him'. He becomes a god like figure. The cycle continues. And he's taking advantage of people, their very valid problems with organized religion and the power of the institutions, the problem of corruption and bad apples, the general lack of public knowledge of what the Gate actually does, and he's using it to convince people this is the right way. And it feels so much like things we've seen happen historically that it just...I dunno. I said this was basically emotional word vomit with no point, didn't I? But yeah, it made me feel weird and uncomfortable because I could see how people fell under his sway, how the arguments he makes can have merit to people.

And THAT is why...

Well that and he turned my favorite character into a fuckin orb battery.

[rivenroad]

Thoughts on Dawntrail MSQ - Part 1 (roughly 90-95, general discussion of plot)

I finished it a few days ago now and I've been slowly putting together a record of my thoughts, here's the first part.

Some of you may remember my feelings about Endwalker and, subsequently, my hopes for the future of XIV's story. Mostly, with Dawntrail I was looking forward to the opportunity for change, a new start, and hopefully a return to one of the things that made me fall in love with the game to begin with - excellent world-building and lore to get immersed in. I would say it gave me those things.

I would like to discuss my thoughts about the story in detail, but at the moment that's a bit difficult for me. I think I would need to go through it again another time in order to properly solidify everything that I feel. But I still have a few points to make.

Firstly, as I mentioned above I was really looking forward to the chance to explore Tural and learn about it and its people, and of course, that's exactly what the first arc of 7.0 was all about. I had a fantastic time with it (and continue to do so, since there are still a lot of quests, exploration and so on for me to do), which was enhanced by the graphics update. I'm pleased to say that beyond a few minor things, most of my characters look the same or better than they did before, and the degree to which the lighting, texture and object density improved the environments is absolutely stunning. I'm really excited to draw the new places, they're incredibly inspiring from an artistic angle. I've spent so much time staring at new higher-definition plants, admiring lighting and weather effects...

I'm thrilled with the presentation of the Mamool Ja. I always found them intriguing, but until now we didn't really get very much solid information about them beyond a few scraps in ARR and the BLU questline. I absolutely love Gulool Ja Ja, he's definitely my favourite character in Dawntrail, and the others interested me a lot too. Very well done and the voice acting was great. I didn't expect to actually get to visit Mamook, but I love it, I really enjoyed all of their history and that of Tural in general... as well as the Mamool Ja, I'm particularly fond of the Yok Huy and the Moblins (long time goblin fan, of course) but I feel that all of the diverse people of Tural were interesting and it all came together very well.

I've seen some criticism of this part of the MSQ with regards to it being boring. I really didn't feel that way though I know it's just not what some people enjoy, which is fair. But Wuk Lamat was fine. The degree to which the "power of friendship/peace" message is stressed sometimes does feel a little silly to me when it's presented so plainly, people have compared it to a shounen anime from that angle and I would agree, but it's not necessarily a bad thing - just not my usual preference.

One thing that did bother me throughout the expansion, though, is one that I expected - I'm really quite tired of the Scions. Estinien is the most blatant example here - his presence in the story served absolutely no purpose whatsoever. I was rather disappointed that the story behind Thancred and Urianger's presence and supposed "opposition" with the others turned out to be... basically nothing of any importance at all, given how it was dramatised in the trailers and so on.

I am fond of many of them, but I'm very strongly in favour of retiring characters, concepts or anything else before they start to become stale, and unfortunately we're very much at this stage with those guys... Just because I like a character doesn't mean I want to see them pop up everywhere all the time when it doesn't really have a point to it. I dunno. Doesn't seem like they're going to drop it, though...

I'm going to continue the rest of my thoughts in a separate post since it involves more specific spoilers for the later half of the story.