#loop: . the respect i have for you has increased

[lanternlightss]

today i am going to be so self indulgent. so. (gently pushes my current favorite things together)

[starry-bi-sky]

i have been unmedicated for the entirety of spring break and thus have had little interest in writing this down, but i have been thinking about this for the entire week (as well as a dpdc clone danny au that resulted in it becoming its entirely separate batman au that includes a teenage vigilante bruce wayne, an ocarina, and me entirely incapable of making a batman au without making bruce dirt poor but we're not talking about that) and so i've finally went 'fuck it' and forcibly grabbed my laptop. I will get this done in one sitting even if it kills me.

BUT. This is about neither clone^2 danny nor about who i am calling Ocarina Batman. This is about my Danyal Al Ghul Au and more SPECIFICALLY it's me thinking about his relationship with Sam and Tucker specifically.

Tucker and Sam? Adore this asshole (affectionate) with every fiber of their being. And it is very much a reciprocated feeling, but Danny's thoughts will not be delved into much other than he would kill for them.

Tucker? The only person currently capable of getting a deep, loud, belly laugh out of Danny. Sam can get him to smile and to laugh, but it's the kind that's a chuckle-under-the-breath. The quiet, looks-down-while-huffing laughter. Snorts once with laughter and then grins stupidly.

But Tucker? Tucker can crack a slew of stupid jokes and Danny will be incapacitated for the next five minutes because he's laughing so hard that he can't breath. He lands one well-timed pun or quip and Danny will be close to tears. His laughter is their favorite sound in the whole world.

Sam is lowkey jealous of this ability, and she's gotten a belly laugh out of Danny a few times. But alas, it is Tucker who wields this power and has gotten it the most times out of the two of them.

-

They're also both physically affectionate with Danny as much as possible. It started roughly around when they were 12-ish, a year since they befriended Danny, and they noticed that he sought after touch but never seemed to initiate (and was in some ways repulsed by it). They started slowly being more touchy with him. Hooking a finger around his to lead him somewhere, tapping his wrist, looping arms. Little touches, grabs, etc, to get him used to it, and once he started doing it back they started increasing it.

It's gotten to a point where he will now just. Lay on them. Like a lizard sunbathing on a rock. Leaning on their backs when they're sitting in class before the bell rings, his chin on their heads. He'll talk about anything with his arms looped around their shoulders.

If they're sitting on a couch at either of their houses, he'll lay his legs on theirs. Him and Tucker will press their feet against the other's and try and push against them (newsflash: Danny always wins, Tucker claims its the ghost strength but Danny's been winning since before his accident)

-

Naturally, both Sam and Tucker know where Danny keeps his weapons on his person, and are allowed to grab them off of him if they need it. His only requirement is that they don't lose his weapons if they take it and forget to return it immediately.

They both understand how big of a thing this is from Danny, and so they do their best to treat his weapons with a lot of respect and care because they know its his way of saying he trusts them.

-

Sam and Tucker are so fond of Danny it's insane. Like fr. That's their goddamn best friend, and they are so protective of him. Emotionally, physically, you name it. They will tear the head off a grown man if they need to, Danny's had scars since he arrived in Amity Park and Sam and Tucker both are going to find the person who put them there and make them pay for it.

One time, Tucker overheard a bunch of upperclass girls speaking nastily about Danny and about the rumors surrounding him, calling him names like 'freak', 'monster', etc. Danny was with him and heard it, and seemingly appeared unbothered by it, even telling Tucker that he was used to such rumors.

Tucker was so furious that hacked into the school system later that night and tanked those girls grades. They were kicked out of their clubs and had to go to mandatory tutoring for the rest of the year. He made sure to leave some way of letting them know it was him who did it.

And Sam doesn't like using her money for things, doesn't like abusing that wealth. So instead, whenever her parents talk bad about Danny, she causes a media incident that has her parents scrambling to deal with. She does something wild, outrageous by her parents' standards.

She heard some boys on the basketball team making fun of Danny once, similar to those girls had. She kicks up a fuss about something eco-unfriendly at school and forcibly holds a protest on the same day of the big home basketball game, forcing them to cancel the event and reschedule to a visiting school.

She anonymously donates money so that there's new uniforms for the team but oops! Looks like she "forgot" to donate enough money for them to get uniforms for all the team members, and strangely enough those boys in particular didn't get them! Looks like they'll have to wait until more money gets donated for the basketball team to get their new, nice uniforms. The old ones look so ratty in comparison, right?

And since the football team gets most of the sport money, that might just take awhile. And if (and when) they kick up a fuss? oops! Off the basketball team you go, :) such unsportsman-like behavior is unfit for the team.

(The only good thing about how corrupt the school system is is that she can use it to her advantage too.)

The both of them know that Danny suspects them for the sudden misfortune falling on these people, but he doesn't call them out on it. He's kinder than he used to be, but not kind enough to vouch for people who speak badly of him. Sometimes, he might just congratulate them on not getting caught.

Because Danny is their wonderful, hurt friend with a "slightly" Blue and Orange Moral code, and enough scars that people have been calling him a criminal (and worse) since he arrived in Amity Park when he was ten. And they'll be damned if he gets hurt anymore.

[easy-there-leftovers]

Doctor

Summary: Spencer's been there when you had been feeling rather inadequate, for lack of a better term. It's about time that you return the favor. (Written with early s2! Spencer in mind)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem! (mentored by Hotch!) reader| cw: Spencer being unsure (is that a warning? lol), touchy reader, non canon case, vague timeline, reader and Spence being sapiosexual dumbasses, as per usual (weirdos) | word count: 2.3k

Budget cuts suck, especially if that meant doubling up and sharing a room with one of your colleagues. Or worse— your boss.

It's been a few months since your last GSW, and things haven't been much different. Or maybe it only was because you had been so out of the loop for a while that you hadn't noticed if it was. You hadn't changed up your routine nor your demeanor, so perhaps the others were just following your lead and brushing it off as nothing.

You still feel the occasional stares of literally anyone from your workplace, but you've learned to ignore it since dwelling on it never did you any good.

But you suppose something had changed.

Your relationship with your contemporary.

To be more specific, Dr. Reid had become more accustomed to seeking you out. Engaging in conversation with you more than the previous usual. It wasn't extremely unlike him to do so before, but his persistence has surely increased since your conversation at the hospital. Keeping to his intentions of having more dialogue between you two.

The same couldn't be said about the past week or two, however. While it didn't seem like he was completely avoiding you, you've noticed that you've had more opportunities to talk to Elle, JJ, and Morgan more than you have him. As if the overall frequency of his exchanges with everyone had somehow diminished.

You were going to find out why.

"Looks like we're doubling up." Your unit chief had briefed when you made it the shitty motel.

And your plan starts now.

Spencer feels an arm snake around his waist which makes him look up from his notes, and he's not surprised to see that it's yours. If anyone had to be making decisive contact with him, it would've been you.

"What is it?" He whispers carefully since Hotch is still talking. Used to your touch it at this point.

"Would you like to sleep with me, Dr. Reid?" He clears his throat instinctively.

Your indelicate remarks however, most likely never.

Since your little incident, he's discovered that you're less careful with your diction outside of work and it has certainly thrown him off but he knows that's just how you are. You and your forever unreadable expressions and contrasting sentiments.

Before he can answer however, Morgan's voice cuts through.

"I'm not sleeping with Reid." Everyone looks to him, except Garcia who immediately calls dibs on Derek, and he feels your arm slowly pull away.

Aaron looks from you to Spencer with that usual expression of his before exhaling deeply with crossed arms.

"I assume you're rooming with her?"

Seeing that you're no longer facing him, Spencer can only give your mentor a meek nod. Feeling the same wariness one would feel in the presence of someone's father.

The rest then picked their respective roommates and disband. Reminding one another to meet at the entrance tomorrow bright and early.

———————————————

Lately, Reid has become aware of a lot of things. Things that he never had to worry about before, but ever since Morgan had told him how you felt about the team, he had started questioning his place too.

He has never been ashamed of his intelligence. Far from it, actually. It's the one thing that he's ever been confident in and it's lead him to places that, he thinks, bettered him. Like coaching his high school basketball team, graduating with three PhD's, or getting into the BAU.

But he also fears that part of him alienates him from the others. That his intellect might be the very reason that will, or already, keep him from forming lasting and meaningful relationships. Even more troubling, that he might never live up to the expectations that everyone has of him.

Both as a colleague, and as a friend.

It's worse when the only person on the team that might not feel this way about him is you. Which then comes with its own set of problems.

You had been nothing but well-intentioned since the very start, practically shadowing him throughout everything. Being there to reinforce his confidence with your keen insight, your reflective encouragement, and your comforting presence—all things that made him feel seen.

But with the few times that you weren't there, it unnerved him. As if something was missing. Like it became an unshakeable habit to look over his shoulder and he would find you right there. So when you weren't there, it jus didn't seem right.

And he felt bad about it.

By the time that you had finished showering, you see Spencer with his hair still lightly damp from the one before yours. Head resting on his hand with a lone finger covering his mouth as if thinking deeply while sitting on the bedside's edge.

You take the opportunity to sit on the floor adjacent his tucked legs and he blinks out of his trance when he sees you lay your head on them. He doesn't mind, but he still feels a little bad.

And it's not about the shared single bed.

He felt as if he was taking advantage of your kindness. That by allowing himself to indulge in your brand of 'friendship,' he was effectively isolating you from the others. That for whatever reason, he just got lucky that you seemed to prefer him over them when he was arguably the most difficult to be with

That if you ever caught wind of his feelings towards you, it would ruin the current dynamic you had. He wasn't the type to catastrophize, he of all people should know the dangers of entertaining such thoughts, but lately your presence has had quite the influence on him.

Which is why he's been trying to make himself scarce until he found out how to deal with it.

You wait patiently by his legs. Gauging when he would finish his line of thought before asking, plainly and simply,

"How are you feeling, Spencer?"

In this room where it's just you and him, he's called 'Spencer.' No titles, no niceties, just his name. A luxury that no one else from the team has yet to earn from you.

He breathes out slowly when the pressure in his chest finally feels like too much, but he still can't seem to say what's on his mind. Worried that by telling you any of this, it would only add more weight onto your already abundant plate.

You trace your fingers on the skin that you can reach and he laughs a bit when it tickles. That seems to make you smile, and the sight makes his own grow ever so slightly before you continue,

"I'm not a doctor, nor do I have a doctorate like you—,"

"Three doctorates." He corrects and you roll your eyes playfully at that.

"Three doctorates. Fact of the matter is; I'm not a doctor but— I think I might be able to help."

You motion for him to lend you his hand, the one no longer holding his head, and he gives it to you willingly. Still feeling somewhat guilty when just that amount of contact does actually help him.

You know that you shouldn't profile your friends, but there's a reason why you're in the BAU and not anywhere else.

"So what are your symptoms?" You sense that this is a case that must be handled with a bit of humor, so you make that evident in your delivery.

He clears his throat and furrows his eyes, as if actually treating pretending that he was your patient before ultimately shaking his head with a tight-lipped smile.

"Actually, the symptoms aren't that simple." You hum at that, and get up to stand in front of him.

When he sees you get up though, he feels his hand instinctively tighten over yours. Worried that you were closing the conversation because he was being inarticulate, he goes to apologize but he feels yours squeeze him back before he can.

You notice a few stray strands of hair from your new vantage point. You carefully free both of your hands to tuck them behind his ears, and let one rest gently on the side of his face. Holding it in place, and allowing you to see his expression more clearly.

He feels a bit shy at the attention, but he finds himself leaning onto your hand with a confused expression. You breathe out in mirth and that only seems to confuse him even more.

"You better stop looking at me like that before I do something terrible."

He furrows his brows at that. Hand coming up to rest on top of yours. "Like what?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, pretty boy." You continue to observe him, much to his chagrin. Assessing the situation before sighing out.

His hesitance from earlier told you everything you needed to know.

"Do you want to try telling me again, or would you like a diagnosis now?"

He looks into your eyes and sees that you're serious so he just nods slowly. Not really sure what to expect since there's no way that you could've gotten anything from him.

"My diagnosis says that you have 'intellectual schism syndrome.' Common to manifest in young geniuses like you. Characterized by a dependence on one's intelligence as their source of fulfillment, and yet simultaneously fear it as the root of their social isolation and relational difficulties."

You pause to gauge his expression once more before continuing.

"You may have been born with all the wonderful things that help you with this job, but you need to remember that's not the reason why people care about you. You can ask for help. Your worth as an individual isn't dependent on your perceived use."

You let the words hang in the air a bit before correcting yourself, "I mean, that's only when it comes to personal relationships. This job? Well—maybe we'll think about it before kicking you to the curb."

He lifts his face from your hold, still grasping your hand, before shaking his head. As if still not understanding something but he eventually finds the words the words to express that.

"That—That's not an actual syndrome; it's not recognized nor documented in any psychological or medical literature."

You scoff at that. "Yeah, I sure it hope it's not. I'm not a doctor, remember?"

He searches your face for an answer before breathing out incredulously. "Did you know that you have an incredible knack for saying the most terrible things?"

You smile at that. "Was I wrong?"

He think about the answer to that, before shaking his head 'no.' Because you're partially right, but he'd rather not correct you on what you're missing.

He looks down at your still intertwined hands, god he's been holding onto it for a while now, before quietly asking,

"Uh, how did you—?" He trails off. Not really knowing what he's asking.

You shrug. "You forget who you're working with. I notice these things, I notice you."

He flexes his eyebrows and thinks for a moment. "So what's your prognosis?"

You look to the corner of the small motel room to think before eventually settling on an answer.

"Only you can really find that out, Spencer."

You look back to see him already looking at you. "Your intelligence is an integral part of who you are, and that's why you're here. Your intellect isn't a barrier—it's a strength. So do what you will with that information."

"What if I can't find the answer?"

"Hm,"

Your legs are starting to get tired, so you move to get on the bed with him. Making sure that there's enough space for the both of you as you settle in. "You always have friends that can help you. Miss Jareau, Sir Morgan, Sir Hotchner, Miss—“

"Even you?"

The face he's making makes your chest feel tight, like there's a pressure building there and yet you don't know why. With his unusually shy behavior, and rounder eyes, it makes your usually impassive expression (to everyone else on the team, at least) soften.

"Especially me."

You pat the spot next to you as you recognize that you should've been asleep an hour ago. Telling Reid that you two should probably sleep so that you can make it tomorrow without being tired and he does just that.

"You don't think I rely on you too much?" You furrow your brows at that. Now looking at him from down on the bed.

"Not any more than you do sir Morgan."

He tries to see the point you're making but fails. So he turns to look at you.

"I don't really...rely on him."

"Exactly."

"...So I don't?"

"How about this," you can tell that being roundabout your answer isn't going to cut it, so you're going to have to switch gears.

"I don't think you do. But even if you did, I wouldn't mind. So if you find yourself ever needing, or wanting," you punctuate this with an earnest look into his eyes, "help from me specifically, in any way, at any time, just come to me—and ask for help. Say something like um, I don't know, uh—" you shake your head as you try to think.

'I need your help,' is too vague, you hear it all the time during cases. 'Could you do me a favor,' won't work either since it doesn't really excuse the both of you so—

"Can we look at this?", "I need you?"

You laugh. Actually laugh out loud at what you just heard. The words you just said practically blended into one another to the point where you don't even know who said what anymore, but that didn't really matter.

Spencer feels his face flush, and his volume increases due to his embarrassment. "Hey, I was just trying to—"

A loud knock is heard from the room's wall, followed by Morgan's voice.

"Newsflash, kids. Some of us are actually trying to sleep. Go argue about your theories later."

The boy-genius and you make eye contact before trying to stifle your laughter, you having a much harder time than the former before revisiting the conversation.

"You know what to tell me when you need me, yeah?"

He nods.

"Let's go to sleep."

You say goodnight, before turning your back to him so you can process what's going on. You wonder if the buzzing feeling you have would go away in time for an actual restful sleep.

You could use one on this case because it seems like the more you uncover, the more you're confused. Theories of all kinds swim in your head, ready to occupy your thoughts for a little while longer before hopefully sending you to a peaceful slumber.

Hotch is going to need you two ready and working.

And because of your nerves, you don't even notice Spencer turning his back to you too. Wondering if you had been feeling the same thing he was from the situation, from the contact, from the conversation, from everything.

Unlike you, he's for sure not getting any sleep.

[a/n] Every time I write for Spencer with this reader, he just can't catch a break-- Send in some ideas for the next part of the anthology if you'd like!! Like certain character interactions, dynamics, etc. I'd like to see what you're interested in seeing :DD

taglist: @crazychaoticizzy

Like my work? Consider tipping me!!

[the-most-humble-blog]

<!-- BEGIN TRANSMISSION // BLACKSITE LITERATURE PROTOCOL ACTIVE -->

&lt;div style="white-space:pre-wrap"&gt;

&lt;meta data-saturation="emotional_burnout"&gt;

&lt;script&gt;ARCHIVE_TAG="EXIT_SIGNAL::EMPLOYMENT_WARFARE"

EFFECT: existential clarity, parasympathetic collapse, shame-flip activation

&lt;/script&gt;

🧠 BLACKSITE SCROLLTRAP — “WONDER IF YOU SHOULD QUIT YOUR JOB? HERE’S HOW YOU KNOW.”

===

When you hug a loved one,

and instead of presence,

you feel **corporate residue** bleeding behind your eyelids—

the voice of your boss

the passive-aggressive tone of your coworker

the **evaluative stink of modern slavery**

creeping into the quiet moment

like mildew—

That’s how you know.

When someone you love says:

> “Sigh. You’re not even paying attention… never mind.”

And they’re right—

because your mind is in a **task loop**

designed by someone who’d replace you in a week.

That’s how you know.

When your stomach starts bubbling *more often than not*—

not from food

but from a **backed-up shitstorm of disrespect,**

swallowed pride,

and workplace submission diarrhea—

That’s how you know.

📊 **STAT: Chronic job stress increases your risk of irritable bowel syndrome by 94%.**

📊 **STAT: 76% of workers say job stress negatively affects their physical health.**

📊 **STAT: Heart attack risk spikes 20% on Mondays for working-age adults.**

📊 **STAT: 120,000 deaths per year are linked to workplace stress.**

Let that number cook in your chest cavity for a second.

—

You ever look in the mirror

and think:

> “I was supposed to be brave.

> The younger me would've told that manager to f*ck off for half the sh*t I let slide today.”

But you didn’t.

Because that version of you is *dead.*

Dead… and buried beneath HR-safe language and calendar invites.

—

You ever sit in traffic

and feel your throat tighten

because you’re driving toward something

that feels more like a **cell** than a paycheck?

You ever lie awake at 2:42 AM

replaying a meeting

you weren’t even **paid enough** to remember?

You ever stare at the ceiling

wondering how much longer your soul can keep bleeding

without anybody noticing?

That’s how you know.

—

If the **soul of your family** isn’t directly attached to that job…

if you don’t **own stock** in that building…

if your children aren’t LITERALLY fed by that badge swipe…

Then leave.

Start looking.

Like your life depends on it.

Because it does.

Not metaphorically.

**Biologically.**

📊 **STAT: Job burnout correlates with a 250% increase in clinical depression.**

📊 **STAT: The WHO officially classifies burnout as a workplace “occupational phenomenon” causing chronic fatigue, reduced efficacy, and *identity erosion.***

—

So what’s your family gonna do

when they’re attending your funeral

because you let your job kill you?

What will they remember?

That you were always tired?

Always quiet?

Always angry?

Or that you stood the f*ck up

when you finally had enough?

—

🧾 SELF-REFLECTION CHECKLIST 🧾

☐ Do you fantasize about getting sick just to rest without punishment?

☐ Do you get tension headaches every Sunday?

☐ Have your loved ones said “you’re not really here” even when you’re physically present?

☐ Do you hate how your voice sounds at work?

☐ Do you go mute in meetings even when you're full of thoughts?

☐ Do you see the signs of decay… and stay anyway?

That’s how you know.

Leave.

Before it leaves you **permanently.**

---

Reblog this to someone you love

🧠 Read more respect-coded doctrine and emotional architecture at:

👉 https://www.patreon.com/TheMostHumble

🛡️ Masculine polarity. Scrolltrap psychology. Unforgiven words.

🚪 Warning: This post has changed lives, ended jobs, and resurrected spines.

&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;<br>

&lt;!-- END TRANSMISSION [WORKPLACE KILLED THE BRAVE YOU. GET OUT BEFORE IT KILLS THE REST.] --&gt;

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 4K - 7K Words

I've got 20 fics for y'all this time! Several Lovesquare fics, unsurprisingly, but also some nice character studies, AUs, and a handful of less common ships, such a Lukadrien and Kittybella.

All of these fics will be in my Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2024 Collection, and if you like that, please consider checking out my other collections, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2023, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2022, and Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics - Misc. Years.

---

Two is Company by Shadownoble

Adrien’s father wants him to play for an upcoming party. Only this time he won’t be doing it alone.

This Lukadrien fic's adorable! Luka's got selective mutism, which Adrien takes in stride. I love how their relationship develops, they're smitten with each other! Though of course while Gabriel brought the two of them together, he's an obstacle too. Because he's a dick.

---

memtempsychosis by @bittersweetresilience

Félix is always watching Adrien die.

I love time loop fics, and this is no exception. Felix somehow gets trapped in a time loop with Adrien where no matter what he does, Adrien always dies by the end of the day by some manner, and then everything resets. I love how inevitable it all feels, the strange beauty to the prose when going over his deaths, and how you can feel Felix's increasing desperation throughout it all.

---

Consequences of Dating Blindly by @mostmagical

Marinette knew she tended to get tunnel vision when she was focused, but luckily her boyfriend Chat Noir was always there to watch her back as they fought Monarch. With their enemy having disappeared, however, they decided together that it was finally time to reveal themselves. In public. Face to face. It's a little silly to have to introduce yourself to your own boyfriend, but after all, it wasn’t Marinette’s fault that she never knew her boyfriend’s name. (Adrien has never been to school, and Marinette doesn't know him.)

This is adorable! The two of them are so smitten with each other, and Adrien's not used to people not recognizing him as Adrien AGRESTE on sight. Marinette's got quite a few surprises coming her way, she didn't expect her kitty to come from this kind of background.

---

Chat Noir Cataclyms Hawk Moth's Balls by @a-flaming-idiot

It's what it says on the tin; Chat Noir castrates his unaware father. And at the same time, Gabriel hits a high C to shatter glass, Nathalie realizes she wasted her life, Chloe accidentally outs herself, Adrien becomes homeless, there are no more secret identities, Tikki thinks she's funny, Nino and Alya take what's their's, and Chloe finally respects another human being. And a partridge in a pear tree~

So this is a fun little crackfic! Lots of jokes and absurd scenarios, you're likely to giggle at least a few times (and hopefully several times) while reading this.

---

The Only Love We Keep by @nemaliwrites

Zoé is used to wanting things she can’t have — loving people who do not love her back. She’s made peace with that. But as soon as she meets Scarabella, she’s a goner. Or, five times Zoé’s love wasn’t reciprocated, and one time it was.

I love this analysis of Zoe and her circumstances, her mindset, her philosophy based on how she's grown up. How she yearns for her mom to actually love her, but she just... doesn't. And how she finds friends who actually care for her, and someone who actually wants her.

---

A Body Without Spirit by @nemaliwrites

“Look, I don’t know much about you guys, but I always hear other humans whining about how they have to listen to their parents or their teachers or bosses or whatever.” “Yes,” says Marinette, “but that’s…that’s different. Usually, when someone tells me to do something, I only do it if I want to. I can think about it, make a real decision. But this…it was like I didn’t even have time to think about it. Like I couldn’t resist, even if I wanted to. And if I did, it would have killed me.” -- Adrien and Marinette swap bodies. Marinette does not have a good time.

I love how this examined how it feels to be controlled by an Amok, especially by someone who's never felt it before, who knows something's not right, that this isn't just psychological, but doesn't know what's causing the inability to disobey orders. And it means that Marinette really, truly understands why Adrien can't disobey now, not just on a mental level, but through experience.

---

Blueberry Passion Fruit by @ninadove and @paracosmicat

He walked up to the counter, because he could not think of anything else to do. For all those times he had rehearsed their reunion, he had failed to consider the most obvious scenario: Adrien might want to run away once more.

I love Adrien just having run away, used a fake name, and then start working at a random cafe. Of course Felix still manages to track him down eventually. I loved seeing them talk things out!

---

The Music Of His Soul by @rosie-b

Ever since she was born, Marinette could hear piano music in her head. It wasn’t any song that was playing in the world immediately around her; instead, what she heard were the songs that her soulmate was listening to. They came to her as her soulmate heard them, at seemingly random times from early morning to late afternoon, when the golden rays of sunset began to stream throughout Paris. Marinette enjoyed hearing the piano; it was proof that her other half was out there, alive and waiting to meet her. Written for Ladrien June Day 1: Hiding in Plain Sight

If you like soulmate fics and Ladrien, then this is a real treat! I liked this particular take on the soulmate mythos, and the way Adrien and Ladybug had looked for their soulmate, had thought of them, was really sweet!

---

i love you to death by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

When Toxinelle vanishes after a battle with Hesperia, Loveybug takes her place.

So this fic takes place from Griffe Noir's perspective, showing his thought process and feelings towards Toxinelle, and his reaction when she just... vanishes and is replaced. I like how, as much as he'd convinced himself before her disappearance that he hated Toxinelle, he finds that he can't stand her being gone.

---

love's constant shield kept you safe while you healed by katrinette

When Chat asks Marinette to keep his tree safe for him, of course Marinette says yes. Marinette's got ten green thumbs. She can keep any plant alive, healthy, and blooming. But Chat's tree has hidden damage, and extraordinary actions might be necessary to keep him alive.

I've never seen a tree used as a sort of daemon, as a piece of a person's soul that reflects their physical and mental state, it's very creative! I loved seeing how Adrien's and Marinette's trees acted and what they looked like, and how Adrien's tree reacted to bad circumstances.

---

To Have Loved by @trishacollins

Adrien struggles with the loss of children he never had, with a life he remembers living but that wasn't real. The only person who understands him is Ladybug, his wife and his children's mother. Sleeping alone is such an empty feeling. Together, they might make a start at healing. Or they might just make a new disaster.

I love Jubilation angst. Depending on how "real" that timeline felt, waking up could be devastating - and Chat WAS certainly devastated in that episode. It's akin to the Pevensie kids in Narnia growing up, becoming rulers, and then tumbling out of the wardrobe a couple decades later, the same age at which they left. Of course Ladybug and Chat Noir would cling to each other afterwards, the only other person who remembers that imaginary timeline.

That's not all this story entails, however. Gabriel isn't too happy about Adrien sneaking out as much as he has been, and he WILL get answers, one way or another...

---

If I'd Met You First by @geek-fashionista

According to Tikki, Chat Noir has always been Ladybug’s partner. “Maybe someone ought to tell him that,” Marinette says bitterly. [An Enemies AU]

So apparently this was one of the earliest enemies AU in existence, with originally being written in early 2016, but it was only just now uploaded to AO3 so I'm still counting it for this list. Despite its age, it holds up remarkably well, the author guessed a lot of things correctly, like Gabriel being Hawk Moth, it being possible to akumatize multiple people at once so long as the same feeling is being used for all of them, and it being possible to reject akumas. Considering that none of that was confirmed in season 1 (granted, most people had guessed that Gabriel was Hawk Moth, even that early), it's pretty remarkable!

---

Happily Ever After by 3ggroll

Gabriel Agreste was a hero. Of that, Marinette is sure. So what's with the bitter taste in her mouth whenever she sees his statue?

This is an alternate universe version of Re-creation's epilogue, with Gabriel's Wish actually altering people's memories - Marinette's, most notably - to forget that he was Monarch, and to erase the memory of that knowledge whenever she figures it out. And she keeps ON figuring it out, over and over, but the knowledge is never allowed to stick.

---

honesty can only be if there is a lie by katrinette

Ladybug always tells the truth. Chat Noir always lies.

So this is an interesting concept. While transformed, Ladybug physically cannot say anything untrue, while Chat can only speak in untruths. As a consequence, Chat gets good at figuring out how he can lie in such a way as to convey truthful information to Ladybug, and Ladybug learns how to speak deceptively without actually saying anything false.

Unfortunately for them, while they aren't bound by these conditions as civilians, it seeps into their civilian lives. Adrien learns to lie freely, easily, and convincingly, which is empowering at first, but leads to the class avoiding him when he starts being caught in them. Marinette doesn't outright lie, but her tendency to dance around subjects gets on people's nerves and similarly leads to others running out of patience with her or avoiding her. Basically, neither of their social lives fares well.

---

No Names In The Stars by @nemaliwrites

Shadybug knows how her story ends: people like her don't get happy endings. She's made her peace with that. Her name on Claw Noir's wrist changes things.

I love Shadybug and Claw Noir talking like this, getting more emotionally sincere than they usually are. I especially liked how Shadybug kept thinking about how her soulmate wouldn't want her, that she's a nobody. It fits what we see of her in the special.

I also really like the reveal of who hers and Claw's enemy is. It's not unexpected, but it's still good.

---

in which chat noir comes up with an awesome gift for ladybug by @mixelation

If his Lady wants ultra rare Adrien Agreste merch, then that’s what his Lady will get! Written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa exchange.

This was really sweet and I love how mixelation wrote Adrien's internal narration! You really viscerally understood his thoughts and feelings. It had some of the intimacy of a first person perspective, but well, in third person.

---

Crossed Wires by @torvalvtt

Marinette has taken Adrien up on his suggestion that they share an apartment in university to help cut costs and be closer to school. This would be fine, except they both seem to have a problem with keeping their suits off around the apartment.

This was fun and hilarious. I loved seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir hurriedly try to come up with excuses for why they were in their own apartment, while Marinette and Adrien weren't XD.

---

Here is Your Chance (to Understand) by Neonlite

And when he turned back to Adrien, tired in a way he always was when he thought about Belos, at the concern in Adrien’s eyes, and he knew what really unsettled him about the boy. It was like looking in a mirror, at a younger version of himself. A version of him with a responsibility he shouldn’t have had, a version of him with a power different from everyone else. Cat Noir seemed to settle atop Adrien, like a skin he was more comfortable in. (And the Golden Guard’s mask was safe because he wasn’t Hunter in it, he was the strongest witch on the Isles.) -- Where Adrien gets plopped at Hunter's house and he has many feelings about it. (Maybe too much for someone who wasn't stranded in a different dimension.)

I love Adrien and Hunter talking. They don't know exactly how similar they are - Adrien is from the season 5 ending, so Gabriel's regarded as a hero and he doesn't know that he's a sentimonster - but even still, Hunter can see the similarities between his younger self and Adrien in the ways they act, can tell something's wrong, even without Adrien realizing it.

---

Blanc Space by @11jj11

Nino awakes to find himself in a strange flooded world...

So this is an interesting concept. Nino wakes up to suddenly find himself in Chat Blanc's timeline, with no idea of what just happened aside from it probably being due to an akuma attack, as most strange happenings are. Of course, he meets Chat Blanc, though the cat doesn't know he's real.

I love how Nino realizes what's going on and empathizes with Chat. He needs company so badly.

---

Miraculous: A Lovesquare Dating Sim by @nagisachan1

“Did you hear that, Tikki? A ‘choose your own adventure’ about a romance with Paris’ superheroes. Do you really think there’s people who’d be interested in that sort of thing?” Tikki giggled. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more than you think, Marinette.” What will Marinette do tonight? YOU decide, in this CYOA lovesquare adventure!

This isn't very long, but I really like the way it's set-up, I played through so many CYOA books as a kid. Playing through this simple little Lovesquare fic whets my appetite for something more involved, it seems like it'd be easy to do a multi-writer collaboration for some sort of CYOA fic, and if that happened, I'd like to use this fic as a guide for how to format it. I especially love that at the top of each chapter, there's a link to go back to the previous chapter so you can easily try out the other branches.

[samjokjak]

as someone who both knows morse code and has written many papers breaking down works of music, i need people to understand a few fanon misconceptions about the divine beast SOSs:

the signals are in time with the music (except for daruk), so urbosas SOS is actually the fastest, followed by revali, daruk, and finally mipha as the slowest. the SOSs do not change speed or become more frantic.

they are all roughly (if not exactly) the same volume pre-audio-mixing, and do not grow louder or softer.

the other signal present that some identify as "seek and destroy" (ill be calling it Bob for convenience) shows up in three different forms between all the divine beast themes. only one instance of Bob sounds like "SAD", and only if you squint your ears.

none of the SOSs are gradually overtaken or drowned out by Bob. the SOSs just loop until you stop them by activating the first terminal.

i dunno, i get that current fanon around the signals is simple and compelling, but i feel there's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling there. if we want to headcanon the divine beast music as reflecting how things went down between the champions and the blights, what scenarios would we come up with if we tried to match what we can actually hear?

how would the story of each fight play out if we tried to interpret details that fanon ignores, like:

urbosas and daruks signals are constant and regular. miphas and revalis are intermittent and irregular. their respective Bobs do the same. why?

daruks signal and its Bob are the only ones not in time with the music. why?

miphas Bob is cut one dit short. why?

the SOSs play in one ear, while Bob plays in the other. however, the guys both get the right ear, while the gals get the left. why?

when the first terminal is activated and the SOSs stop, they are replaced by Bob in both ears (except in medoh). Bob is delayed a beat in the right ear. in both ears, Bob stutters or glitches every fourth Bob. why?

in medoh, activating a terminal starts up a Bob in the left ear and a whining sound in the right instead of two Bobs like in the other beasts. the whine is not a constant flatline, but is instead a meandering climbing melody. why?

medoh is the only beast to feature its pilots theme music. why?

Bob trails after revalis SOS, but just barely precedes daruks. it alternates between doing both with mipha. urbosa and her Bob both kinda do their own thing. why?

the speed-up that people hear is actually the whole music track increasing in tempo when you active the last terminal. only Bob is playing by now; the SOSs stopped four terminals ago. does this have any relevance to the blight fights or is this a present day link thing?

Bob is always lower than the SOS in pitch...except for daruks. why?

Bob is always makes the musical interval of a perfect fourth with the SOS...except for urbosas, which is a dissonant minor second away. why?

...and thats enough for now. maybe you find something in there inspiring. run with it, and show me what you come up with!

also, yes, i will be getting back to posting art on my other account once the current hyperfixation wears off. dont worry, people irl think im dead too, but ill be back eventually.

[straysparks]

Revolutionary Movements of Zaun: Founder's Syndrome

This is a tale of three revolutionary movements: Silco, Viktor, and the Firelights. Let's start with a quick summary of each.

Silco and the chembarons: Anarcho-capitalist, seeking to install the rule of law. Rules by oligarchy, capital, and force. Relies on fear more than respect or community.

Viktor and his commune: Communist, in the purest sense of the word. There is no state, no property, and no force. Peace is enforced through magic and religion, with Viktor at the helm. An idealistic utopia.

The Firelights: Anarcho-communist. A more realistic version of a moneyless, stateless society. Built on a culture that is strong, but not fanatical. Not afraid of using force when necessary or tactically desirable.

Note that I don't say Ekko when describing the Firelights, very intentionally. The Firelights can run with or without Ekko. This is one major area that sets them apart from the other two. When Silco dies, the whole world flips over. When Viktor perishes, his community is soon to follow. But when Ekko disappears? They honor his loss and carry on.

I want to think about the idea of Founder's Syndrome, and what that means for these movements. I first learned about Founder's Syndrome when reading about Growing Power, an organization in Milwaukee that was dedicated to filling in a nutritional needs gap with urban farming. You may have heard of "food deserts," places where there isn't an affordable grocery store for miles. That's the problem that Growing Power aimed to address. They were a pioneer in urban farming and nonprofit local food production, which is how I came to know of them. It would be a disservice to mention them without also mentioning their incredible impact on the local food movement.

Growing Power's approach to local food production reminds me quite a bit of Viktor's commune--or rather, Viktor's commune reminded me a lot of Growing Power: an emphasis on sustainable closed-loop systems, using technology to increase efficiency over traditional agriculture, and reclaiming the land and the soil from overindustrialization and pollution. Creative use of space is important in these types of settings, and Growing Power did it well.

But its resounding success had a limit. Will Allen, the founder of Growing Power, remained a central figure in the organization as it grew. The centralization of power is often a problem at scale, and Allen was just one man. Every major decision needed to be routed through him, which severely limited Growing Power's flexibility. When he chose to retire, the organization collapsed. While centralization of leadership wasn't the only factor leading to the end of Growing Power, it was the factor with the greatest and most insidious impact: inflexibility of leadership leads to ineffective decision-making, which leads to an inability to address other concerning factors before they become significant, organization-ending problems.

How might one prevent such a fate? Delegation, shared leadership, and a willingness to be challenged.

Consider the Firelights. We see only a few glimpses of this in the show, but Ekko has clearly delegated power to Scar even when they're both in Sanctuary together. They lead more as a duo, even as there is implied deference to Ekko. This delegation and shared leadership is so effective that Scar can lead the Firelights in Ekko's absence: once when Ekko is injured during the fight on the bridge, and for a much longer time when Ekko disappears into the Anomaly. In addition, Ekko trusted Scar so strongly that Scar is comfortable overriding Ekko's judgment, as seen in the attack on the airship during Progress Day--Ekko charges Jinx in a rage, and Scar swoops in and snatches him off the deck. So as founder of the Firelights, we see Ekko exhibit all three factors: delegation, shared leadership, and humility, all of which ensure that the Firelights as an organization will outlast him.

There are many, many reasons why the Firelights are a successful movement. They did many things right while Silco and Viktor made missteps. The avoidance of Founder's Syndrome is the most salient to me. It really is remarkable that Ekko's absence--assumed to be permanent--did not cause the Firelights to crumble, or apparently even waver. This is a lesson for all who are building organizations and movements: if you want your movement to last, you need to build it so that it can run without you. This means building shared leadership into your structure from the beginning, delegating early and often, and maintaining humility. Remember that you cannot have a community without collaboration, and this goes for your leadership team too.

There are other aspects of these movements I want to explore eventually, including the reliance on fear vs respect and community, the use of force (a major plot-driver), and building social cohesion through culture. For now, what's important is that the Firelights manage to be a positive example in contrast to the other movements in every dimension I've identified so far, and the Firelights' collaborative leadership style is possibly the most impressive of them all.

[vulpixisananimal]

BEHOLD!!! MOVES AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE CONSTELLATION!!!

There's a lot so I'll get into it bellow. Also make sure you're up to date on the fic!

Siffrin

Switch-you later is the only unique skill Siffrin has, and it's simple! Sif tags out to a different headmate! The only status' that cary over are current % of HP, and any buffs/debuffs EXCEPT confusion.

Loop

Helpful Loop is essentially Odiles analise skill but for Loop!

Mal Du Pays

Inhumanity is the first PASSIVE skill here! Mirabelle has a passive skill after all, since she's immune to time craft, so I can do whatever I want! Anyway, Inhumanity is a skill that lets Mal Du Pays embrace it's sadness nature, especially in combat. It's highly resistant to confusion and mind craft, and is very hard to hit.

{Rock} {Paper} {Just attack} and {Breathe} are all the same as act 5.

Null

No skills? Null isn't from here and focuses entierly on direct combat. Looping back and slow-mo time aren't even craft skill!

Saffron

[(Smile!)] and [(Joke!)] Are renamed versions of Make up the Time and Done Heal. [(Just attack!!!)] Is the same

Asterion

Cries of the Lost deals medium rock damage to all enemies!

Begging, Pleading speeds up all your allies, and Howl of the Desperate increases their attack!

Vision of Reflection is a surprise tool that'll help us later~

Rosmarinus

MEMORIES!!! All the memorie moves are copy-pastes of the same moves each party member knows! Mostly

Memory of Billion Blows Technique Deals heavy rock damage to all enemies.

And Memory of Bomb is, well, bomb! Summon a bomb once per battle! Have fun! Bomb!

Oh yeah she also has the Keyknife because of Memory of Keyknife

Socks

Get me-owt of here!!! That's just a cat!!! A cat can't fight!!! This PASSIVE is just Socks sticking to the backlines, as they struggle with fighting properly. So all the skills here work like Bonnie's (and Jasmines).

nyoom, claws at you, and meow buff your party's speed, attack, and defence respectively. Helping!

Mrrp heals your party for 40% and cures confusion. They're purring!

[bisexual-horror-fan]

For Multi-May: Chucky!Nica x Tiffany x Reader 👀

Okay! I am very here for this! Writing Chucky!Nica is always fun! Love doing a good threesome, hope you are okay with some strap-on sex! I used mostly he pronouns for Chucky!Nica because he is still all about being himself while in Nica's body, you know what I mean? Hope this satisfies! Multi-May continues on!

---

Rating. Explicit. Length. 1.1K. Chucky!Nica X Tiffany Valentine X FEM! AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Threesome. Handcuffs. Strap-On Sex. Taunting. Teasing. Dirty Talk. Nipple Play. Orgasm Delay.

---

Like That?

Chucky missed a lot of things about his old body, the strength and capability it had. Not like there wasn’t things to like about this one, he wasn’t going to knock having tits, and he wasn’t saying that it didn’t have its own advantages in some ways, but it just wasn’t the same in some respects, he could mourn the loss, or he could bridge the gap.

Technology is a wonderful thing to help do just that, thanks to all the advancements in sex toys, it didn’t matter as much that Chuck didn’t have a dick like he used to, when he can just buy (or steal, usually steal) a series of impressive strap-ons. Some were built purely for size meant to nearly tare you open, some had tubes in them to release lube that looks like cum, able to paint someone with ropes of the stuff or fill a ready and willing hole, making it so he was really play pretend, but Chucky had his favourite. The one he loved best was strapless, held inside with one end, curved to press that spot inside just so, the toy itself is long, curved, a little ribbed, had a spot to rub externally on and the whole thing vibrated not just his cunt inside and out but also treated whoever he was fucking to some of the same. 

And being treated you were, you’d been picked up by the duo out at a bar, the offer of a good time much too wonderful to pass up and here you were, I mean the two of them were gorgeous together and being pressed between two beautiful women there is no better way to spend an evening in your mind.

Tiffany was laying on her side on the large king-sized hotel bed, she had a drink in one hand and a remote in the other, her thumb toying with the control, a smile playing on her lips, as she asked, “How’s that feel?” 

The vibration of the toy currently buried in your cunt increased as did your pleasure, your back arches with a sound bordering on the pathetic, tugging on the handcuffs on your wrists, the chain of which was looped on part of the headboard over your head. Chucky laughed amused through Nica’s body, hips slamming forward more forcefully, burying the firm silicone into you over and over, every time his body met yours he was able to grind his clit on the small vibrating pad, a bright burst of pleasure whenever he was fully inside. The pleasure doesn’t even recede on pulling out, instead it pushes more strongly on his G-spot on moving back, it feels fucking incredible, almost like he really has that part of himself back. It isn’t quite the same as the real thing but fuck, it does feel amazing. 

“Guh-good, feels so fuck-ing good-” You moan, a shuddering exhale, eyes half lidded, chest heaving. 

“Yeah? Looks like it feels good.” She responds, grin widening, and she bumps up the vibration another notch, and you moan louder. 

It did, so good in fact you were getting close, your eyes start to drift shut, brow creased as you focused on the rising pleasure, teeth tugged on by your bottom lip, a hard inhale through your nose as you attempt to hold on. A small adjustment is made and the change in angle presses just right inside causing a jolt of sensation is so strong it makes you gasp out, “Oh my Goddd, just like that-”

A raise of eyebrows is followed by the slowing of hips and a taunting question, “Oh?” A grind into that new spot that makes you nearly sob, “Like that?”

The view is incredible, Nica just having on thigh high stockings and a bra, the cups pulled down to expose and push up her breasts, hands resting on your waist, sweat trailing down her temple, face flush and lips parted, eyes mischievous. You nod frantically, “Mmmff-yes!”

“Gettin’ close?” The question makes another wash of heat soak into your skin, and he slows further, you whine, “Yeahhh, I was, c’mon, speed up-” 

You start to move your hips, too impatient to wait for compliance, desperate to get off already and they both laugh again, “Awe, can’t wait?”

Fully stopping you want to cry, “Nooo, fuck, please-” and Chuck clicks his tongue sympathetically, “No, no, you want it, take it! Show us how bad you wanna cum-”

Tiffany agrees, “Yeah show us.” She moves closer, reaching out, fingers tracing the curve of your breast before gripping onto one of your nipples, a squeeze, a gentle twist, the sting of pain pushes you forward. Your hips start moving again, you try to replicate the angle and pace the same way, it’s hard with how your arms are positioned above your head, your fists clench, nails bite into your palms as you fuck down onto the strap. 

You watch helplessly as Tiffany leans in and the pair starts to kiss right in front of you, a whimper spills out, you want that, it’d help to be able to kiss either of them, would make you cum faster, harder. Your movements become needier and more erratic, little sounds leave you on every need fuelled move until they break the kiss, watching, leaning against each other. “Fuck that’s good-”

Finally, they start to help, Tiffany’s hand is on your hip pulling you, helping guide you as her other hand continues to tease your nipple, she continues to ease the work you were doing, and he starts to thrust again, meeting you in the middle, “Keep it up, and you’ll make me cum too.”

You moaned, head tipping back, you wanted that, desperately wanted to make that happen. “There you go, night is far from over, put in the work.” Tiffany teases lightly.

All your effort is working, you were close again, your thighs burned, hips hurt, but you didn’t fucking care, you were almost there. “Oh yes, I can see it, so, so fucking close-”

Her words make you moan, nodding frantically, and Chucky with this almost sadistic grin plastered on Nica’s face, voice is condescending as he tells you, “Give it to us.” 

That is what sets you off, makes the thread snap and all the tension come unravelling, body trembling as the pleasure overtakes, a broken sob that could be read as a mix of their names if you squint hard enough. Thank fucking God they took over because you could not keep moving, body going totally boneless, a beautiful fucking rag doll they were having endless fun playing with and still so much to do.

[percheduphere]

Hi! Firstly, I wanted to say, I LOVE your analysis, and your detailed deep dive into characters!!! I love your view of Sylvie, and I especially love your metas on Mobius (my beloved). I always jump with happiness, when your new meta shows up! :D Anyway, I wanted to ask - I know, you mentioned it many times but - how do you think the timeline of falling in love for the other looked like? I was thinking about it a lot. Like when Loki started to fall for Mobius? How s2e1 and the fact, that Mobius didn't remember him impacted him? What you think, that was THE moment, when Loki fall for Mobius as heard as he could? And what was the moment he realized he loved him? (and what did he THINK ABOUT THAT????) Also how do you think he was copying with this love for Mobius for those centuries in a loop?? ... And same for Mobius :D When do you think he actually fell for THIS specific Loki? When did he had that OH moment? :D (when he realized he love him) (Also how the 1893 DATE impacted them??? xD ) And lastly, what they think the other is feeling? They seem to me, like classic IDIOTS IN LOVE trope, but I would really REALY love to see your thoughts on that!!! Once again, I thank you for all your work, you're brilliant (I fell in love with your meta on sense and sensibility) Have a great day!!! ❤️ PS: I'm sorry for mistakes (I'm terrible at English) Tru

LET'S TALK ABOUT WHEN THEY STARTED FALLING FOR EACH OTHER

As always, thank you to all the lovely gif artists who make my metas possible.

Thank you so much for your patience @trutrustories!

With respect to the individual timelines of when Mobius and Loki "fall for each other", obviously my take is subjective and there are plenty of viewers who don't see any romantic angle between them at all. That's fine because even without the romantic angle, I think the timelines I map out still demonstrates key moments in which Mobius and Loki's relationship with each other deepens.

As a warning, since this is a timeline request from the perspective of two characters, this post is MASSIVE.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

As a general note, the Loki series uses a few narrative techniques fairly regularly.

A.) REFRAMING / REVERSE PAY-OFF

The series has a habit of reframing the interpretation of previous episodes with the presentation of new information in future episodes. That is, reverse pay-off. Here are key examples, which I discuss in the "timelines" later:

Sylvie tells Loki she can't sleep in front of people she doesn't trust in S1E3; Loki falls asleep in front of Mobius in S1E2

Loki describes love as a dagger in S1E3; Mobius gives Loki daggers in S1E2.

Loki timeslips "uncontrollably", yet manages to timeslip back to Mobius with increasing accuracy in S2E1; Loki realizes timeslipping can be controlled by thinking about "who" in S2E5.

B.) MIRRORING

Loki mirrors Mobius's emotional trajectory from S1E1 - S2E1 (S1E3 has no Mobius). Episode 5 in BOTH seasons is when they both give each other up for the sake of the other.

Sylvie (chaos) & Ravonna (order) and Loki (chaos) & Mobius (order).

C.) REPETITION

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he wants and returns his friendship. Mobius is pruned. (S1E4)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he and Sylvie "don't see things the same way". Mobius has no memory of him. (S2E1)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he (Loki) loves him. Mobius (as Don) spaghettifies. (S2E5)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he has to give him up to save everyone. Mobius is left behind. (S2E6)

Let's keep these narrative techniques in mind as we proceed!

MOBIUS

Mobius is pretty straightforward. Though I didn't perceive any romantic love in my first watch through of S1, the angle of romance feels more credible when reviewing S1 after having seen S2E1. S2E1 reframes how we can view Mobius's emotional motivations.

The inferred backstory, as the audience understands it, is that Mobius has studied Lokis for eons. Loki is his area of expertise. His pet project. His special interest. As I mentioned in another meta, it's perfectly reasonable for someone to gradually fall in love with the subject matter of their work over time. In this case, that subject matter happens to be an actual person.

By the time Loki is apprehended by the TVA, Mobius already had a plan in motion to save him from deletion. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision for him. Mobius had been preparing for this encounter for a while. Likely centuries. This is inferred through the fact another TVA agent seeks Mobius out immediately with Loki (L1130)'s file. Why bother doing that if all variants who cause a nexus event get "reset"?

And boy, is Mobius eager to have Loki by his side once he has him. In what world would anyone offer 2012 Loki a handshake? Mobius's, apparently.

Mobius also doesn't hesitate to touch Loki right off the bat. When Loki pauses to look at the TVA "world", Mobius lays a guiding hand on Loki's back. (Unfortunately couldn't find the gif for this).

It also doesn't take Mobius long to get emotionally compromised once he has Loki under his wing. I talk about the exact moment I believe this happens here.

This reaction from Loki, in response to Mobius's praise, is a big moment for both of them. They genuinely like and enjoy one another in this scene.

Moments later, Mobius absolutely gushes about Loki to his best friend boss lady, Ravonna.

He's so proud of Loki's breakthroughs and is really happy with how well they work together as a team. So much so that his judgment gets clouded and he insists on bringing Loki out into the field, where Loki's most likely to betray him.

NOTE: The moment above is when I believe he's officially compromised.

By the middle of S1E2, Mobius fell first. However, I don't think Mobius realizes the exact nature of his feelings for Loki until S1E5. From a platonic standpoint, Mobius definitely started thinking of Loki as a friend by this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called Loki a "bad friend" in S1E4.

In a S1 interview, Tom describes Mobius as having love for Loki, and Loki, at that point in his character development, "not wanting that" (you can see a compilation of interviews with Tom and Owen here). Based on this, I think it's safe to say that Mobius's love for Loki is not only genuine but also unconditional and abiding.

This unconditional, abiding love is what allows Mobius to want to believe in Loki despite his evident betrayal in S1E4. In the same episode, he implies via rhetorical question that Loki doesn't deserve to be alone and accepts that it's Sylvie that Loki wants to be with.

If Mobius hadn't accepted this, he wouldn't have made it his focus to bring Sylvie to Loki in S2E5.

And as I mention elsewhere, the moment below was the first instance in which I felt there could be unrequited love. I think Mobius's realizes it, too, in this scene:

Mobius maintains his acceptance of Loki's feelings for Sylvie throughout S2, however grudgingly. A microanalysis of the McDonald's scene may be reviewed here.

In S2E1, Mobius's love for Loki is demonstrated throughout. I discuss how pivotal this episode is here.

In terms of Mobius's personal perspective on their relationship. I think Mobius believes he will only ever Loki's friend and #2, as opposed to #1, a position he believes Sylvie holds.

While Mobius knows Loki will support him as a friend and can count on his protection on the field, I don't think it ever crosses his mind that Loki would prioritize him (that is, place Mobius as #1). Their last private interaction would reinforce Mobius's notion that Loki will take Sylvie's side if given the choice to choose between the two of them:

And while Mobius might not like it, while Mobius is clearly hurt by it, he doesn't allow this interaction to ruin his friendship with Loki. Because he loves Loki deeply.

It can even be argued that, in addition to personal guilt due to his role in the TVA, Mobius doesn't fight Sylvie's accusations because to do so would hurt Sylvie, and hurting Sylvie would hurt Loki, which is unacceptable. Therefore, Mobius just takes it, even though it would be very easy to point out to Sylvie that killing HWR triggered the crisis they're in.

As far as Mobius is concerned, he mostly likely thinks his love continues to be unrequited and has made peace with that since S1. His final scene could be interpreted as grief over the loss of a friend as well as grief over the loss of what could have been.

LOKI

Loki's feelings for Mobius evolve much more gradually, and the emotional journey of those feelings is accordingly more complex.

In S1E1, I believe Loki appreciates Mobius's directness. I know I've stated this multiple times, but I think it bears repeating: a lot of Loki fans absolutely hate Mobius's treatment of Loki in this episode, but I think it's important to remember where Loki's state of mind is at.

There was no way 2012 Loki would have been receptive to soft compassion. He doesn't understand soft. He sees softness as a weakness and refuses to engage with it because he doesn't want to be seen as soft. What 2012 Loki does understand is cruelty. He will listen and pay attention to cruelty because cruelty is a gesture of power, and power is control. His default mode is the desire and respect of power, which Mobius has over him. He respects that he has been bested. Crucially, Mobius balances his cruelty (to get Loki to listen) with genuine kindness. This is what allows Loki's first breakthrough of choosing to be vulnerable with Mobius. Admitting he doesn't like hurting people, that he is weak, (that he isn't happy), requires trust on Loki's part that Mobius will not mock him for it.

Unlike Mobius, Loki does not have access to files and tape recordings on Mobius's life. As such, Loki starts out with less power in their dynamic. All he knows about Mobius is what he gleans from Mobius's treatment of him and others. And Mobius, even when he is frustrated and annoyed with Loki, consistently gives Loki chances to demonstrate his ability outside of the context of being a villain. He never gives up on him.

Mobius, through his consistency of compassion and refusal to abuse his power (until he's betrayed in S1E4), proves he is trustworthy to Loki.

Nevertheless, the power imbalance puts Loki in a corner where he can't afford to place all his eggs in the Mobius basket. There's manipulation happening between them, and they both know it, so their interactions in S1, while entertaining for both of them, are also colored with mutual distrust.

For this reason, in addition to raw curiosity and poor impulse control, Loki runs after Sylvie and betrays the friendship with Mobius he didn't know he already had.

In S1E3, we have our first instance of new information paying off the meaning of a scene from a previous episode. On the train, Sylvie informs Loki she cannot sleep in front of people she doesn't trust (can't find the gif with the quote). Since Sylvie is a Loki, the audience can infer the same baseline nature may apply to "our" Loki as well.

In S1E2, we find Loki sleeping across Mobius. The significance of this is implied but not confirmed until S1E3.

When Sylvie wakes up (having fallen asleep despite herself, reinforcing the relational impact of Mobius to Loki to Sylvie, as well as affirming tentative trust on her part), she finds Loki drunk. When people are drunk, subconscious feelings come to the fore.

It is here that we have our second instance of new information paying off a scene from the previous episode. Or alternatively, Loki's interpretation of a previous moment with Mobius defined in a scene with Sylvie: "Love is a dagger."

Personally, I don't think Loki feels any love for Mobius when he makes his infamous metaphor. What I think happens in this scene, is that Loki has subconsciously interpreted the gift of daggers as an act of love.

Why?

Because daggers are for stabbing people in the back. For someone to give another a dagger implies absolute trust. That level of trust entails love.

But at this point in the story, Loki's experience with love and trust is very new. Perhaps it stands to reason, at least in Loki's hindbrain, that those feelings would be better directed at someone familiar, someone like himself: Sylvie. It certainly helps that he's immediately fascinated with her to begin with and he genuinely cares for her.

Significantly, upon Loki making the dagger disappear, Sylvie describes the dagger, love, as "it isn't real". This is an answer Loki intentionally draws out of Sylvie, because he and Sylvie are the same, which reinforces the thought that the love he subconsciously feels from Mobius cannot possibly be real. I think this may be what Tom is alluding to when he describes Loki as not wanting Mobius's love (because he isn't ready for it yet, even if it's purely platonic).

Loki and Sylvie's capture in S1E4 lead to the interrogation scene, which in turn leads to the tension of mutual distrust and mutual desire for trust snapping. This is articulated when Mobius calls Loki a "bad friend", which startles him. Within the MCU canon, no one has ever called Loki a 'friend'.

The tension breaks when Mobius returns to Loki, and they make very clear, active choices about what they want:

They choose to forgive one another

They choose to trust one another

They choose to affirm that a friendship between them exists

They choose to be on the same page and side

They talk through their fight in a very direct and healthy way. In addition to being called a 'friend' for the first time, it's highly likely this is the first time Loki has successfully mended fences with someone who isn't family. Thus, in one episode, Loki has had not 1 but 2 substantive milestones that contribute not just to his relationship with Mobius but his personal healing and growth.

But the narrative demands that as soon as the main character experiences triumph, they must experience tragedy, too.

Loki loses Mobius a total of 4 times in the series:

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he wants and returns his friendship. Mobius is pruned. (S1E4)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he and Sylvie "don't see things the same way". Mobius has no memory of him. (S2E1)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he (Loki) loves him. Mobius (as Don) spaghettifies. (S2E5)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he has to give him up to save everyone. Mobius is left behind. (S2E6)

If you notice, Loki's emotional journey, at least as far as romantic reciprocation is concerned, is more or less a season behind Mobius's. Its progression is also punctuated by loss almost as soon as the personal epiphany occurs.

After Sylvie, for lack of a better word, "dumps" him, Loki has time to reflect on what has transpired, the dire consequences likely awaiting, and who has chosen to support him all along (a review of Mobius's decision-making where Loki's well-being is concerned may be read here.)

With this in mind, Loki runs in search of Mobius.

Which makes encountering a Mobius who doesn't know him, that much more devastating.

Tom's acting here is something else. Loki's desperation to have his Mobius back is visceral and foreshadows a similar desperation in S2E5. This moment, I feel, is the beginning of Loki's feelings tilting from platonic love to romantic. He's not fully there yet like Mobius already is, but it's starting.

And that gradual build-up of investment in Mobius spreads over S2E1 - S2E5. In these S2 episodes, Loki mirrors Mobius's emotional trajectory from S1E1 - S2E1 (S1E3 has no Mobius). Keep this mirroring in mind because Episode 5 in BOTH seasons is when they both give each other up for the sake of the other.

In S2E2, Loki protects Mobius physically:

And supports him emotionally:

In S2E3, Loki enjoys his magic and curbs its intensity for Mobius:

In S234, unbeknownst to Mobius, Loki defends his character and his efforts to save the timelines:

Now, S2E5 is where it all culminates.

I'm getting close to the gif threshold and the fit-check has been discussed at length, so I want to focus on this scene. Here, Loki tells Mobius that he "belongs" in the TVA and that he saved Loki's life when he first arrived. This shot of Loki saying Mobius's name echoes Mobius's look of unrequited love in S1E5's goodbye scene.

But I don't think Loki has fully articulated, in his mind, exactly what his feelings are because he's rushing. His sole focus for the time-being is getting Mobius back, and he does so, temporarily, through recruiting Don.

It's when Loki find's Sylvie that he has the time to once again reflect on the nature of his and Mobius's relationship and his regard for it as he did in S1E6. And it is, once again, Sylvie who acts as the catalyst for Loki's emotional epiphany.

When Sylvie challenges Loki to say what he actually wants, he struggles to respond. The want is too vulnerable to reveal.

I love Tom's micro-expressions in the above gifs (thank you @starrose17!) The pursed lips, the hard swallow, and the tears welling up in his eyes ... This is it, this is the moment I believe Loki finally realizes he's in love with Mobius.

He phrases his desire as wanting his friends back. That's true enough (an analysis of what the TVA means to Loki and Mobius may be read here). However, Loki later reuses the word "belong" and applies it to himself. Mobius, in his words, "belongs" in the TVA. Without his friends (the TVA) where does Loki "belong"?

This is outside of text and the sociopolitical conflict between the artists and the studio, but the case can be made that Loki doesn't entirely trust Sylvie with his feelings. Loki did, after all, witness Sylvie reprimand and humiliate Mobius. To directly admit love for the same person Sylvie harshly rebuked may not be received well, but I think Sylvie already knows and may have known as far back as when she commented "he cares about you" in S1E5.

From Loki's perspective, I think Loki knows Mobius loves him, but I am less certain if Loki knows Mobius loves him romantically. That said, prior to his sacrifice, I think Loki was emotionally ready to confess. I also believe Loki, while not 100% confident his romantic love would be reciprocated, senses his odds for reciprocation are good.

Unfortunately, their fate was to become star-crossed lovers.

(For now).

[tragicallycrispygirl]

It's been a few days of Slayer.

Fuck this guy.

Genuinely.

I think it took everyone (myself included) a few days to realize the bullshit you can get away with with him but like.

Fuuuuuuuuck

Here's a character with very very little movement! But we gave him a 14f forward lunging punch that covers most of the screen and will usually trade positively. Also he can break the wall on counter-hit with said punch at a little closer than MIDSCREEN.

Oops! Did you end up in the corner because you were forced to respect the moves that WILL lead to a 200 HP punish if you get smacked with one, or you got smacked and he got full screen carry? Fuck you! You will have to fight with everything you have just to GET OUT, and if you fuck up ONCE you are going through the wall and losing 200hp. Don't try to jump either, It's Late has a hitbox that reaches into the stratosphere and leaves him about +100 on air block.

What's that? He has 50 meter? you lose. you just fucking lose. the Mappas that are supposed to end pressure? RC them. Did he hit you with a Mappa? RC that shit for a guaranteed wallbreak, and potentially a Pilebunker loop. Did you get him blocking? YELLOW ROMAN CANCEL ITS HIS TURN NOW AND HES +10. (I have general problems with YRC, but Slayer really highlights them for me) I'd be fine with the meter thing if he didn't build meter so fast, but FUCK ME it's like he has a generator hidden in his coat or something that increases the bar when you aren't looking.

Full screen whiff punish that leaves you point blank at advantage. Fuck. You. Also it has a sweet spot, which is hard to consistently route into and feels a LOT like just a random "oh shit I won the round on that wakeup super lol"

Last Horizon is kinda cool, but it exaggerates the problem of "oops I got touched oh shit I'm dead" because you can get it off of ANY FUCKING NON-P NORMAL.

Its so weird that he's like this, though. I put in like 100 hours on XRD Slayer, and Strive feels extremely similar. What HAPPENED? XRD Slayer didn't do this! He didn't shut everything down! He ran some nasty fucking mix, sure, but he had very defined weaknesses. And sure, XRD Slayer gets preposterous damage with meter on stray hits, I'm not going to argue that, but it really didn't seem to happen as much as it used to.

I think the biggest problem, really, is Pilebunker. Pilebunker was never really a combo tool in XRD, unless you had meter or got very specific hits. But now? You can confirm that shit off of anything! Like, literally almost any hit!

Masters. Fucking. Hammer. +26 on block. Safe on whiff. Hitbox like a Behemoth typhoon. Ambiguous cross-up. I don't even care that it has a long startup, GOOD LUCK ACTUALLY SMACKING SLAYER OUT OF THE AIR! HES IN THE FUCKING STRATOSPHERE!

To be a little calmer, I feel Slayer's biggest problem is that he forces the opponent to take huge risks for little reward, while himself not being at a lot of risk for high reward. If he were to stay in his current state, with all the damage and everything the same, I think that every tool in his arsenal should be unsafe on block. That's probably very harsh, but something needs to be done. At the VERY LEAST make all of his moves borderline unsafe, like -4 -5 or something idfk man he's ridiculous

It sucks. I was so so excited for him, so excited to get to do cool stuff with him, and the stuff he does is cool! But he's just, so, so strong. So fucking strong. I said a few days ago that he was "lower-mid top tier," but I was just clearly not thinking straight. Slayer is potentially the strongest character in the game. Sure, whatever, he has lackluster defense, but good luck actually getting him in the corner, WHERE HE CAN STILL GET A STRAY HIT FOR AT LEAST 150DMG AND ADVANTAGE.

I don't even know how you'd fix him, honestly. Half his damage numbers or some shit idfk man

[entropy-game-dev]

The cheeky last minute UI rework

A week ago, I had Lucinius play a near-complete version of the demo build and he had a bunch of good suggestions after playing it for a solid few hours.

One part of his feedback centered around how move information was displayed. Previously, in non-battle menus, the move info would follow your cursor, and thus you weren't able to mouse over the various stats or check the description (which would have outputted to a log that isn't visible anyway).

Now I've made it so that clicking on the move icon displays the window in a static pane, letting you mouse over the various icons. Also, the description now appears in-line inside the window, regardless of where you're looking at it!

I made a whole bunch of other changes, and ahead of tomorrow's demo release (I can't believe it's finally happening), you can read about them below the cut!!

v0.18 - Demo Build 1

Features:

Auto-deposit materials is working and on by default

Mouse over now shows curr/max for hp/en/ammo + stat title

Going past the max floors now sends you back to the ship

New trap added that instantly spawns an encounter

Clicking on an attack icon with the mouse now makes the info panel stay open

Clicking the description button/pressing pause with a move selected now displays it within the panel

Archive sprite added to base

Game now tracks enemies encountered and killed

Added target marker to tutorial area

Archive can view logs and tutorials, and enemy names

Balance:

Starting area has slightly more loops

Starting area has slightly higher encounter density,

Removed local relay from starting area

Added spatial constant to starting area

Added Holepunch routine to Punch Press

Slightly increased passive random recruit chance from 1 to 2%

Buffed max damage recruitment rate divisor from /3 to /2.5

Nerfed heal recruitment rate divisor from /3 to /4

Changed starting system escape fuel needed to 20

Gain a small amount of fuel when researching local/relativistic navigation

Added party size to the base matrix research rather than subsequent research

Features now scale around the mid floor of the dungeon instead of around floor 2

Dungeon floors, rooms, and corridors get bigger as you go down

Damage/heal recruit function ceiling'd so you make at least 1% progress when you do the correct action

Slightly revised title screen animation

Revised enemy encounter formula to scale around the center floor of the dungeon + adjusted dungeon encounter mass respectively

Changed Gimbal Lock's status from stun to slow

Made summons recruitable

Buffed all part slots and changed power load formula to compensate

10% buff to large enemy stats for each square above 1

Make killing with an element apply advantage, even if it resists or was neutral to the element

Polish:

"are likely in rooms" -> "are more often found in rooms"

"can be used for fuel" -> "could be used for fuel"

"once a line has formed" -> "once a line has formed in the element grid"

"the astronaut has been destroyed" -> "your suit has been critically damaged"

"the robot core's power load." -> "the robot core's power load (to the left of the equipped parts)."

Power load tutorial only comes up when you exceed it

Changed POWR to HEAL when looking at a healing move in the attack description

Disabled interaction with central 3x3 core area and changed description

Changed first strike/ambush bar colour and text

Added fuel unit value to fuel item descriptions

Added filter menu icon

Deep Diver sprite updated

Burrow sprite updated

Recruit chance icon doesn't show mouseover text when invisible

Swapped weapons 1 and 2 equip location on the assistant to match sprite appearance

Removed extra line on the bottom of the big map

Equip vfx effect now appears under move info panel

Black outline added to all dungeon features

Made recruitment pink text appear over the damange numbers

Made it so that locations can't spawn directly behind the black hole image in the navigation screen

Made the main black hole image slightly transparent in the navigation screen

Reordered research tutorials

Scan description revised to indicate it can reveal more and more information progressively

Updated matrix tutorial to talk about core tiers

Changed equip sprite fx to green

Swapped arm that has the arm computer in a cutscene

Tutorial edited to say cores have innate routines

Edited lowest_5levels to be an accurate tutorial

Bugs:

Disabled the ability to look at the big map during the beginning of an encounter

Floor scanning effect now shows all the time for unexplored tiles

Removed debug value allowing you to interact with lore objects infinite times

Priority of mouseover is only cleared with the text now

Fixed player recruit chance status doing the opposite of what it says it does

Fixed healing-type recruitment not working

Fixed no item tutorial firing incorrectly because research inventory manager was not ready

Conduct animation was not happening when the conducted element was not the last hit on an enemy

Fixed lowest floor tutorials not firing

[hotshotshitshow]

What do you feel like palworld does right compared to pokemon? Ive thought about playing it but im on the fence about it

ok get ready for a novel!!!

essentially, palworld just has the thing in it that made us all love pokemon ... the fun designs and the gotta catch em all loop. but like. it doesnt include all the stuff that made the pokemon series run stale a long time ago

its. definitely, absolutely, 100% an early access game. dont go into it thinking it wont be. there are janky textures and visible seams and surprise areas where youll fall through the map. but unlike with pokemon games, pocketpair has been on the ball in terms of patching the worst of the jank. for example, there are collectibles you can find around the map that are supposed to increase your chances of successful captures ... but a bug made the inverse happen, where if you got those collectibles, your capture rate success would actually plummet. pocketpair has already introduced a patch that has fixed that, as well as regularly (every other day, it feels like) rolling out more new patches to make the game better. this in itself is already amazing, bc i cant think of a lot of studios that are this attentive to patching things THIS QUICKLY and THIS REGULARLY and it clearly shows respect for their playerbase and their game... which. gamefreak has proven to not have, given the state scarlet and violet, supposedly "completed" games, was released in. that in itself makes me much, much more patient with the jank in the game. its nice to feel like im playing a game made by a studio that wants their players to have fun.

the gameplay loop also is jsut very very satisfying. its very well tied in with the survival aspects of the game. essentially. you catch more pals to upgrade your base and get access to new resources and tools, and then with these new resources and tools, you are able to start catching higher level pals with better abilities, which then you can use to further upgrade your base and access newer tools/resources, etc etc. its very fun and rewarding.

the story ... is very very very VERY sparse. i am assumign more will be added in the future but its really just a game that plops you into the world and tells you "ok, go do whatever the fuck" and for me personally, i really enjoy that. there is a tutorial, but its pretty much optional, and there are towers and alpha pals that you can fight in a way that could be considered similar to gym leaders, but its like. not at all the focus of the game like it is with pokemon. in pokemon, the aim in every single game is just "go beat the guy, and then go beat the next guy, then go beat the next guy." and in palworld, i havent even beaten any of the towers yet but im almost done completely upgrading my base and unlocking all the different mechanics and am fairly close to the level cap. you really can just. go and do whatever you want, when you want, how you want. and i love that.

edit

also! would like to mention: your experience with the game is HIGHLY customizable to your personal preferences. they let you edit a lot of different aspects of the game, down to things like whether or not you drop all your items if you die, how long night and day can last, how quickly your tools deteriorate, and a lot more. so things that would probably normally really frustrate me, arent an issue for me anymore. its only as grindy as your want it to be.

[the-dye-stained-socialite]

-@detective-von-edritch

PLEASE IF YOU GOT TIPS PLEASE GIVE THEM I SPENT THIS WHOLE WEEK GATHERING THAT AND IT'S ABOUT TI DISAPPEAR 😭😭😭

okay so!!! first thing's first, when you're aiming to increase your making waves, you actually can lower the amount of waves needed!!! to do this, you put on an outfit that gives to the most conbined Bizarre Dreaded Respectable. For example, a bunch of +1 Bizarre items for a total of 8 B, some dreaded for a total of 4D, and some respectable for 2R, for a grand total of 14 BDR.

to illustrate, here's how many Making Waves @the-insouciant-scientist 's Phileas needs at BDR 2 (starting with notability 3)

( it says 38!)

and here's how many at BDR 29

(it now says 3!)

so when you go to summon slowcake's little dude, stack as much *total* BDR as you can. the above was done with 21 bizarre, 3 dreaded, and five respectable!

also, if something gives you, for example, minus 1 bizarre, but plus four respectable, you'll get plus three to your BDR! sometimes things will give you a net zero BDR so! keep an eye on that.

Additionally: if you have the Railway, and Helicon House, Astonisht the Conpany with an Illusion in Helicon House in the Mirrored Salon

IF YOU DON'T: (which is very likely!) you can side convert the third tier items into *other* third tier items in a giant circle, and some of the options give good making waves, and you also get a single additional item each time you convert! Tier three items include: journals of infamy and tales of terror, strangling willow absinthe, whisper satin, memories of light, correspondence plaques, zee ztories, memories of distanct shores, comprimising documents, and nearly every category of item has one. side convert these over and over into a giant loop!

There's also an option on some of the lodgings cards where you can trade some more expensive items for a bunch of making waves. Also, if you have a Handsome Townhouse and haven't set up a Salon or Orphanage yet, do so! you can build up making waves that way as well.

hope this helps!!!

[kozykricket]

so recently i tried calamity mod out, and... ive gotta say, i respect it for existing, but it definitely hones in on mostly the bosses and. well, i appreciate terraria for more than just the bosses. if you asked me when i first played terraria, i'd have said yeah the boss fights are the best part definitely, and i want more of that but... as ive grown, and as the game has grown -- and as i have thought more about what makes me like games, and as terraria has felt more complete than ever with 1.4 and such ...well, ill just say i know that what makes me love terraria is Everything that it is, and... i think calamity doesn't really go into expanding on everything. it feels like it kinda wants me to rush past a lot of vanilla things, but... taking my time earlygame is something i kinda appreciate. i know a lot of people shit on terraria for it being Grindy and RNG as hell for certain things, but am i crazy for believing that thats part of the charm? the exploration feels like... the same sense of doing a run in a roguelike. you arent always gonna find what you want, but its still... exciting! to find things! i know i have a few posts worth of "what i disagree with in terms of how calamity mod designs itself" but im just going to focus on how it ... tiktokifies terraria? in this post like, okay. from least egregious to most egregious, calamity:

Reduces the respawn time

Increases base mining speed

Increases base movement speed and capabilities

Gives a starter bag with tons of really nice early game goodies (why? thats just skipping like. 10 minutes of fun for no reason?)

Puts a giant structure above spawn with free planter boxes and all the herb seeds in a chest (also, you can just farm blood moons for making any potion. with blood orbs. oh no its post skeletron that certainly makes a huge difference) (I really don't get why people use alchemistnpc when calamity makes it insanely easy to get potions on its own)

Lets you craft a lot of accessories, from radars to blizzards in bottles.

Makes boss summons repeatably useable* (and notably, their FIRST boss has a bag within a bag, that gives you tons of fishing related items, without having to engage with the angler, so i guess forget the fishing gameplay loop. idc if you think its boring, because i do too. its still just completely moving the gameplay over to fighting a boss which is weird)

so overall i can tell calamity like, wants you to get moving to the later stuff. i get that; it has a LONG progression, and ... they rightfully want to get you moved towards the stuff that they've put the most effort into: the bosses. which i will admit are really fun and really cool, and *i actually do understand why they make boss summons re-usable in calamity, because of the increased difficulty of bosses.* plus theres still the fact you're gonna end up having to make new potions for every new attempt... at least, every retry when you're at the stage where you cant just sweep the floor with the boss. but uhm, that goes to my point on potions being pisseasy. its fine that theres free herb seeds, im fine with that really, because its not like they're that hard to get. you can get all the herb seeds in herb bags in the first 10 minutes. or just by exploring. it just really feels like ... it ADDS to the list of small but subtle little things where calamity hands me things that id normally go adventuring for. like what even is there left for me to adventure for wtf... i was thinking oh i'd really like a blizzard in a bottle and ice boomerang, but instead of needing to explore and spelunk for chests (which is EASY anyways in calamity with the increased mining speed and free spelunker potions) they just ... let me craft both of those?? using just some BLOCKS from the snow biome?? why. do you want me to engage with *anything* that isnt killing stuff, game?? and yknow the increased mining speed is cool, hell even FTW in vanilla does that, but it feels like even less reason to use mining potions and ... less incentive to go on a fun journey for the ancient chisel through the unique challenge of the underground desert. again, yes, its something that can be quite fast in vanilla. you can get hermes boots really easily if you're lucky, and so i understand..?? why people would want to just be able to craft hermes boots; to be able to have a consistent way to get them, instead of going on that gold-chest-gamble. but like... i like that part of the game! i like the early game finding of stuff. and hell sometimes later in the game ill decide hm i wanna go get this early game thing i never got because its for a crafting tree for this big accessory im making. but in calamity its just "ah dw you have all the materials for it now anyways" heck even FISHING is like. yknow, as i said, easier in calamity due to the desert scourge dropping potions for it and such, and its an alternative way to get stuff like a cloud in a bottle or an aglet, or even something like feral claws. so its something easier by calamity, but its also meaningless because you can craft so many things you'd normally either adventure or fish for so all in all, i understand that some people just wanna play terraria for the boss fights, and they dont really care too much for the interludes of roguelike-vibes-exploration between the bosses where you go on RNG hunts and take some time preparing via fishing, but. well i appreciate them darnit oh also its really funny calamity just, makes the magic mirror faster. like. is that even necessary. the base movement speed increase i think is weird when food buffs and stuff like magiluminesence exists. or yknow, boots. especially considering you can just craft the boots. if they want to make sure the player just inherently has more to work off of, then. i dunno, buff the swiftness potion? make a new potion? or make a new accessory? and ive heard they nerf a lot of vanilla things despite the fact that they dont even compete that hard with the calamity stuff. so... yeah, calamity makes some weird decisions. but also, i don't hate the mod for existing; in fact, im glad it exists. its an entirely different experience and yknow what? its valid for it to exist, and it... helps keep the people who want a game like calamity ... content, yknow? keeps them happy.

[fehtism]

Resplendent Soren will finally be available tomorrow! How would you build the spooky boy? I don't play PVP so I don't need him to be meta powerful but I want him to reach his maximum potential.

hello ! thank you for your ask. always happy to answer questions about soren he's one of my faves

i've cooked up two builds for him since he has workable speed and res stats though you shouldn't try to maximize both at the same time.

first is a build maximizing soren's res stat...

arcane caliburnus will be shown in both builds due to the lack of a arcane green tome more optimized for faster builds. this build shows arcane caliburnus refined for additional visible resistance. arcane caliburnus provides -1 special cd, extra special charges per hit, and a guaranteed follow up attack.

blazing wind as an aoe special takes advantage of the visible atk stat provided by still water 4 and still water 3 sacred seal. aoe specials only take into account pre combat (visible) attack stat so any in combat bonuses from a skill like atk/res finish 4 won't count towards the aoe damage.

still water 4 increases visible atk and res by 7 while decreasing def by 5. you can't run anything other than still water in the A slot for this build. still water 4 is available on quite a few units (including some in the standard pool) however if you don't have it as fodder you can use still water 3 until you get it.

still water 3 is available on teatime tailtiu who is currently in the ephemera manuals (you will need to upgrade it to 5 star). teatime tailtiu is also in the grail pool.

special spiral 4 in the b slot combined with the special charges from arcane caliburnus allows soren to loop his aoe special and special spiral 4 has full damage reduction piercing when special triggers. special spiral 4 is available on ascended ced, citrinne, and rearmed ophelia. other options for b slot skill include mag. null follow up or atk/res tempo 4. for a cheap option that lacks damage reduction piercing but still allows for looping aoe specials you can run special spiral 3 for the -2 cd after combat effect

special spiral 3 is available on ninja male corrin combat manual in divine codes 4

atk/res ploy can be inherited at the same time as arcane caliburnus from rearmed sonya (who is currently running on the emblem marth banner) and relies on soren winning a visible res check again opponents within 3 rows and columns centered on soren. for every foe with less than soren's res +5 (with this build any foe with less than 66 visible res) will be inflicted with -7 atk/res, ploy status, and exposure.

ploy status disables many visible buffs and the exposure status causes foes to take +10 damage per hit.

still water sacred seal is required to increase visible resistance and attack.

next for the speed build...

with his resplendent stats and speed refined arcane caliburnus he has a very respectable speed stat that can be further stacked with skills.

flare is the special of choice due to the healing it provides. other damaging specials may deal more damage than flare since flare's damage increase is based on opponents resistance stat. flare is only on brave soren (in the standard pool) so other options for the special slot include low cooldown specials like glimmer, moonbow, or ruptured sky.

atk/spd finish 4 is a great skill for extra healing when special triggers as well as stat stacking on both player phase and enemy phase. if you lack atk/spd finish 4 you can run atk/spd ideal 4 which is available on the free 5 star m!alear and in the divine codes.

the B slot skill for this build is VERY flexible. mag null follow up (can be inherited at the same time as flare) provides the full null follow up effect as well as half damage reduction piercing. spd/res tempo 4 will be a great option when it inevitably releases as it will provide full tempo and half damage reduction piercing.

the b slot skill shown here, spd preempt 3 is essentially vantage against ranged foes however instead of it triggering based on an hp threshold it triggers based on whether or not soren outspends the foe. it's a really fun option and if you don't care too much about the meta then you don't really need damage reduction piercing.

if you still want to run spd preempt and have damage reduction piercing you can outsource it from either legendary camilla's b slot skill or legendary alear's support.

speed preempt 3 can be acquired from the brave byleth combat manual in divine codes 3

time's pulse 4 in the c slot can be inherited at the same time as mag null follow up and flare from brave soren. it allows soren to loop specials and deal more damage by doing so. other options for c slot skill include atk/spd oath 4 and times pulse 3

atk/spd oath 4 is available on the m!shez combat manual in divine codes 4

times pulse 3 is available on ascended ishtar in the divine codes 4

hope this helps ! if you can't get arcane caliburnus you can use tea tailtiu's inheritable tome refined for whichever stat is needed : )