#lr: press

[yueebby]

do you ever just write a fic completely and then just absolutely hate it

[cxlliefxngames]

acht sings abt toilets 😌

[letraindemanu]

Agenda : Salon du train miniature à Bourges

Agenda : Salon du train miniature à Bourges

Episode 396 – Le Cercle Ferroviaire du Cher 160 et le Saint-Mandé Club Ferroviaire organisent un salon du train miniature à Bourges (Cher) les 11 et 12 novembre prochains. Plus d’une trentaine de réseaux sera exposée et une cinquantaine d’acteurs économiques seront présents sur 3700 m². C’est une exposition riche et variée qui est annoncée.  Même si les deux association sont historiquement…

[watchilove]

Hublot Classic Fusion High Jewellery Ref. 543.WX.9004.LR.9904

[genericpuff]

are thanatos and hypnos still twins in LR?

Yep! They even share the same color swatch list hahaha

Biggest visual tells between them:

Thanatos has whites scleras with black irises whereas Hypnos has black scleras with light blue / white irises

Hypnos dresses in comfort-casual office attire with pressed out jeans and jackets, sweaters, etc. whereas Thanatos cares less for appearing formal and often wears dark-colored ripped jeans, leather jackets, etc.

Thanatos has both earlobes pierced, Hypnos has a single industrial piercing

Thanatos is about 1" shorter than Hypnos (don't ask where that missing inch went LOL)

[ninguitar]

୨୧　𝓣AKE A BITE　˒˒　LR

─── ﹙🍎﹚when two lovers can't help but be addicted to one-another's lies.

pairing. lara raj x f!r genre. angst, bittersweet ?? wc. 1.4k+ notes. communication issues, toxic relationship, for @lararajjj 🗣️ italics = past events ( MASTERLIST )

now playing ⋆ take a bite by beabadoobee

LARA RAJ COULDN'T HELP but chastise herself for her sheer idiocy—more specifically, how she fell for you horrendously. with her hand interlocked with yours, an incoherent slur of words escape her breath. you two were sat out on your apartment's fire escape, seeking refuge in one-another—well, more so, as an attempt to mend your guys' relationship.

leaves wave against the trees, the breeze settling on the horizon. barely any words escape the two of your guys' lips, words lying on the tip of your tongue particularly. you two had just been in yet another argument for the month, hissing and huffing out incoherent curse words strung together with useless arguments.

"why- why are you acting this way! it wasn't even that big of an issue!" you hiss out, your words laced in venom, as you sigh, "you're just making it worse!"

"because you can't seem to do the littlest of tasks—i mean, forgetting to do anything i ask of you—how hard it be to do the stuff i ask of you!" lara observes flatly, her voice dreary, as you could practically tell she'd been biting these words back, waiting for the right moment to just explode.

"i've been busy with college, lara. you know that," you tell her, your hand reaching her shoulder, before she dismisses you, pausing in her movements. hastily, she takes your hand off her shoulder, a frown on her lips.

"look, i— i know i've been failing you lately, and you're sick of it, but i promise i'll stop using being busy as an excuse," you try to mend the already wounded and sour relationship between you two, your tone gentle, and your gaze filled with remorse.

the indian girl huffs, meekly shaking her head, anger sewn into her tone. an exasperated sigh escapes her parted lips, "it's not just lately. i- i've tried to ignore it, really, but god, i've done more shit for you than you have for me!" her face darkens, her frustrations towards you seeping through her skin.

"are you serious right now? i took time off of school just to take care of you when you were feeling down! everything i do has been for you. you act like i don't do anything to you at all," you raise your voice to match hers, glaring at the girl.

"it's not even just a matter of that��you always have no time for me, at all! i have not heard you say anything but the same excuse of 'i'm busy'!" her bitter resentment remains, remarking with force.

your expression crumbles at her words, as they settle in your mind, your chest blossoming pain. lara's face dons with an expression that displayed no regret for her words, making you scoff in response. you cross your arms against your chest, "fine then. be that way."

her lips tremble slightly at your words of agreement, her eyes widening, as the shock from your reaction sets in. by then does her anger tame itself, regret and worry washing over her features now. you brush past the indian girl, disappearing into the fire escape.

which, is what led the two of you to now.

"are we okay?" you murmur, turning to face the indian girl, as you swallow a lump down your throat, a look of resignation washing over your features. a sigh drifts from your lips upon waiting for her answer, both your hands resting on the railings.

she whispers, "'course we are, but not now, okay?" before pressing her lips against yours, her voice barely above a whisper and soothing. trying to ease your mind off of any concerns, lara's arms snake around your waist, interrupting any of your protests.

and by then, you were addicted to lara's lies.

guilt runs through your bones, as you meekly oblige, before trying to protest once again, "it just feels like we're always fighting an uphill battle, that we can never fix. it's always the same thing over and over again." worry lines crease your forehead, your stance stiffening, as you watch the smile falter from the red-haired girl's face.

before you could speak up once again, her finger finds your lips, shushing you. her words are laced with desperation, her voice quietly ringing in your head over and over again, "please, not now, pretty." she meekly grumbles under her breath, burying her head against your neck, murmuring nonsense while doing so.

you knew everything wasn't okay—hell, even lara knew that. but, things always go like this between you two. something goes wrong, either you or her confronts one-another, and then an argument follows. but then, it's forgotten almost instantly a few seconds after, and you're back to square one.

her eyes trace over your lips, before pressing her plush ones against yours, trying to melt away your worries. cupping your chin in a haste, she peppers your face with an abundance of kisses, coaxing praises under her breath. her lips trail down to your jaw to your neck, ruthlessly moving against them—a stark contrast to the way her hands entangle themselves in your cold hands.

"fuck—" her breath fans over your neck, making a chain of shivers run through your spine. leaving a trail of kisses down from your jaw to your neck, they leave small, pink-tinted stains, your fingertips dancing along lara's knuckles.

and you know it’s wrong—wrong to be in a relationship like this, where it's endless fighting between the two of you. and of course, two wrongs don't make a right, but how could you resist the temptation?

your breath stutters, unconsciously easing into the indian girl's touch, as she pulls you closer in an urgent manner. with the two of you standing against one-another at your fire escape, by now, the communication issue in your guys' relationship now seems like the last of your concerns. she pulls away from your neck, her head now facing yours.

"you're perfect," the red-haired girl whispers, running her hands down your arm.

a lie.

lara fixates on you, her lips pressing against each and every crevice of your face, wanting to reassure you, "so, so perfect—my gorgeous girl. can't let anybody else have you."

another lie.

and from her soft, tender touch, you can't help but let yourself drift off into her world, letting yourself believe in her lies. every single, small kiss of hers leaves you remembering the moment you knew lara raj was the one. her charming words from that day ring in your head—"i promise to never break your heart; i'll do anything i can to make my girl happy."

also a lie.

for as long as you were in a relationship with lara, you felt like you were high in a daze, feeling as light as a feather whenever you were with her. you thought—no, knew—that even in another lifetime, you two would inevitably find each other. and lara, likewise, knew so too, finding herself irrevocably in love with you—with everything that embodies you.

you were everything she wanted, and she was yours as well. you know how the indian girl looks when she genuinely professes her words to you—when she talks to you with sincerity laced in her words in general.

and your eyes desperately glaze over hers, already knowing she was meekly telling you lies. you mumble, "i love you too, forever." before you could manage to murmur another word out, lara captures your lips in a ruthless attempt, moving against yours fervently. her kisses leave you breathless, her hands running up and down your waist. the cool night breeze whistling only serves to make the red-headed girl kiss you feverishly.

you think that you two are perfect for each other—well, at least in terms of ignoring the underlying issues in your relationship. either one of you could speak up, but you guys don't, or one of you interrupts the other. it's the same cycle, and it ends up like always—the two of you fixing it with a kiss on the lips.

the red-headed girl drags you to the bedroom, not letting you protest with any words, as she sits, letting your head rest on her lap. the deafening silence through the room leaves you tense, your cheeks and ears flushed. her hands find their way to your hair, playing with your hair every few seconds.

thus, you call it yet another night of endlessly moving backwards instead of forward, stuck in reverse, and inevitably fixing it with a kiss on the lips, accompanied by words that mean little to either one of you. it's wrong, but lara's willing to do anything to not let your relationship go south, and vice-versa.

it gets harder to breathe

but i take it and i want it and i love when it bleeds

taglist. ୨ৎ @lararajjj @kisshae @sed7ction @yeetaberry127 @vrtualstar

@jellaaa @artrizzler19 @falling-intoo-deep

[sunlighthroughthe-ashes]

i don't think i have enough words to describe how, or why; the kissing scene in ep 8 of LR is my absolute favorite out of the entire show. fire is short-lived, sparks are temporary; but the flame of sunjae's love for sol has been lit for fifteen years — kept safe in the cavern of his heart. on anyone else, the idea of someone feeling the same way for over a decade is excessive; atypical, obsessive — but on sunjae, it's unquestionable fact. the bright warmth of his emotions is so palpable — so convincingly authentic, that it seems like the most natural thing in the world. of course he still loves sol. of course when she tells him that she liked him too; (a line straight out of his wildest dreams) — after a split second of dazed disbelief, he runs for her. he runs TO her. the stunning inevitability of the kiss that follows: how sunjae bends down into the depths of his own longing; how sol reaches up to match his own desire. how he pauses, the heavy molasses of his eyes darkened by desperate hope: how he waits for sol to press her lips to his; the seconds of sacred sweetness stretching between their skins. the heady passion of their mouths meeting at last: the soft sounds of separation finally being erased. how, even after; when sol reaches to trace the scar on his forehead; he leans in again, still seeking more confirmation that he's wanted, that she's longed for him the way he's longed for her: wanting more of her touch, her skin, her self. wanting more of sol. always, always, more of sol.

i'm wholly in love with their love: the burning brilliance of it. aren't you?

[constantcrisis19]

Bleeding Out - Part 3

Simon "Ghost" Riley x GN S/O

Main Page

Warnings: Blood and injury, Needles, Violent thoughts, References to Ghost's backstory.

Ghost grit his teeth when you went limp against his back, his desperate grip on your thighs tightening in a way that would have been painful for you if you weren't currently conscious. He pushed into the medical tent like a man on a mission, ignoring the various moans and cries of suffering soldiers and shoving past anyone who didn’t get out of his way fast enough.

He gently lowered you down onto one of the open beds, your sweaty hair falling into your face as your head lolled to the side, Ghost reaching out in a brief moment of weakness to brush the limp lock of hair out of your face before turning his attention to the wound on your thigh.

The neck gaiter that he had tied in place over the injury was stained a deep red, the cloying scent of iron so thick that Ghost could practically taste it even through the thick fabric of his balaclava as he peeled the sticky soaked cloth away from the wound in order to get a look at the damage. 

He felt grateful for his mask since he couldn’t help how his face twisted up into a snarl at the frankly obscene amount of blood that had oozed into your clothing, soaking your right side all the way down your pant leg to your boots, staining the material a deep crimson.

One of Ghost’s hands released his hold that he had on the cloth that he’d wrapped around your thigh in favor of grabbing the wrist of the person that had made the mistake of touching his arm, his grip so tight that he could feel the bones grind together under his fingers.

“Uh… sir? I’m here to help, what’s the situation?” A soft voice abruptly broke through the rush of blood ringing in Ghost’s ears and he was unceremoniously dragged from whatever haze he’d fallen into, causing him to violently snap back into focus.

He managed to pry his dark gaze away from your sallow figure, bringing his attention to the person who had been brave enough to approach him, the wide green eyes of a medic warily watching him as if he were a feral animal.

Ghost let go of the medic’s wrist as if the touch had burned him and he curled his fingers into a fist in order to hide the way that they wanted to tremble and, in an attempt to distract himself from the panic he could feel lingering on the edge of his awareness, he turned his attention back to the saturated fabric that was plastered to your leg.

“Deep laceration on upper left thigh from a bullet. They were conscious and verbal about two minutes ago before they began showing signs of hypovolemic shock and became unresponsive.” Ghost replied in rapid fire as he pressed down on the wound, continuing to apply steady pressure and trying to ignore how your unnatural lack of reaction to the painful contact made him want to hit something.

“Okay. Elevate their legs and keep applying direct pressure to the wound. We have a category one! I need a suture kit and an IV, stat!” The second half of the medic’s commands were directed to the rest of the staff that were bustling about the packed tent, more medics hurrying over with the necessary supplies, and it took every ounce of self control Ghost had to keep from taking a swing every time someone accidentally brushed up against him in their rush.

“Blood pressure is dropping, start them on two liters of LR.” The green eyed medic warned as someone set up an intravenous drip, pushing the needle into the tender skin of your right arm before taping the tube down to keep it in place. 

More people joined the fray and Ghost viciously repressed the urge to bury one of his knives deep into the eye socket of the medic that bullied him out of the way since he knew that it wouldn’t do him any good in the long run, so he stepped away and allowed the other man to take over, the medic cutting your pant leg away from your thigh and pulling the unsalvageable neck gaiter away, letting it hit the floor with a wet sound before replacing it with a sterile pad of gauze.

Ghost just stood there and watched in complete silence as the medical team surrounding the cot all frantically tried to keep you alive, all their voices blurring together into a cacophony of indecipherable noise as the feeling of something wet dripping down his side distantly registered. 

He looked down at himself and swallowed back bile at the sight that greeted him. The majority of Ghost's right side and thigh had been stained by your blood due to the fact that he’d carried you for so long, the thick red liquid marring his already filthy fatigues. 

He numbly tracked a drop of crimson with his eyes as it slowly oozed down from his hip to his thigh before being soaked up by the fabric near his knee, the sensation of blood creeping down his leg making his skin crawl.

Ghost’s gaze snapped up from his soiled fatigues when someone came up next to him, his eyes darting over to the medic that had been brave enough to approach him, their hand hovering over his shoulder for a moment before thinking better of touching him and dropping their limb back to their side. 

“We have the situation under control now, but we’re already running low on space so we need you to wait outside the tent, sir.” The medic spoke softly, the woman hovering in a way that spelled out her desire to usher him out of the medical tent, but he didn't move. Ghost’s feet were rooted to the spot, medics and patients alike all moving around his still figure as if he were a shark in the water. 

“No.” Ghost declared bluntly as he turned his attention back to the crowd swarming the cot that you were laying on, noticing how the medic shot him a startled look out his peripheral vision, but he didn’t care. Let her judge him, let her question his intentions. Let her think what she wanted, but he wasn’t going to move until he got confirmation of either your recovery or your death.

And the poor soul who drew the short straw and was tasked to give Ghost the news better pray to whatever God that they believed in that it was the former.

“I’m sorry?” The medic asked, their incredulousness battling with their self-preservation in the face of Ghost’s blatant refusal to be separated from you. Ghost turned his head just enough to make eye contact with the medic standing next to him, the rest of his body eerily still in a way he knew other people found off-putting as he leveled the medic with his signature cold stare.

“I’m not leaving until they're either stable or dead.” Ghost declared, his tone leaving no room for argument, but the medic he was talking to was either an idiot or was unaware of Ghost’s reputation because she stubbornly persisted. 

“But-” She began to say before Ghost unceremoniously cut her off.

“How’s their condition?" He asked, his voice low and rough. He could feel the cooling, sticky blood oozing between his gloved fingers as his hands clenched and released reflexively, his fingertips tingling as he wished for the familiar weight of his rifle.

“Uh, it's still too early to tell…” The medic began hesitantly before sighing, seeming to reluctantly accept the fact that Ghost wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon. "But we're doing everything in our power to help." She told Ghost with a worried frown, her concerned gaze like a physical weight, her unwelcome sympathy causing Ghost to glance away before he did something that would make Price give him that disappointed look in order to wipe that fucking annoying look off the young woman’s face. "Do you know them? Are the two of you close?" 

The question caught him off guard and helped clear some of the red from his vision, Ghost’s dark eyes shifting back over to the cot he had deposited you on as if magnetized, his gaze visibly softening from his usual blank stare when he caught a glimpse of your familiar figure in a gap between the medics swarming you. 

Ghost watched as personnel read off stats from the various machines that you were hooked up to, each announcement so bogged down with medical jargon that Ghost could only pick up on a few terms here and there as they worked to keep the area around the wound clean as it was meticulously stitched shut.

"...yes." He admitted quietly and, while Ghost wasn't exactly thrilled with telling some random medic about his attachment to you -in fact, he would rather go through several hours of torture over voluntarily being emotionally vulnerable- it was a necessary risk he had to take if he wanted to appeal to the women's sentimental side and gain more leniency when it came to being kept in the loop about you during your stay in medical. “Are they…? Will they pull through?”

The medic opened her mouth to reply but was unceremoniously cut off when the people that were crowding around your cot burst into a flurry of movement, the medics shouting to each other as they all scrambled for medical supplies. And while it may have looked chaotic, it was clear that there was in fact a method to the madness.

"We have a shortage of A+ and O- reserves. We’re going to need to perform a direct donor-to-patient transfusion if we have a chance of bringing them out of critical condition." A random voice that Ghost didn’t recognize called out just loud enough to carry over to where he was standing, and Ghost's blood ran cold.

"What blood type are you?" The medic next to him suddenly asked, sounding equal parts frantic and determined, her tone pulling his dull eyes away from the medics crowding around the cot that you were laying on to her. Her eyes were wide as she stared expectantly up at him, Ghost eyes widening as he caught onto what she was implying.

"I’m A+." Ghost replied immediately, already rolling up his sleeves to reveal his pale skin, his body moving before his mind even caught up with what he was doing, his feet taking him toward you and subsequently all the medical personnel that were currently treating you.

"We have a compatible donor!" The medic trailing behind Ghost yelled to be heard over the commotion as she followed him, easily keeping up with the rapid pace he’d set. It didn’t take long for him to be surrounded, Ghost ignoring how each unsolicited touch reminded him of the smell of petrichor and rot, the telltale squirming of maggots against his skin, and instead stubbornly kept his gaze locked onto your sallow face now that he was close enough to see you.

"We're doing an emergency transfusion." A male said as he rushed over to the pair, giving the female medic at Ghost’s side a needle and a tube while another medic simultaneously rolled up his left sleeve and wrapped a tourniquet around his bicep before tapping his inner elbow with two fingers in order to find a vein.

“Sir, have you had any unprotected sex in the last six months? Or have any blood-transmitted diseases we need to know about?" The male asked as he wiped down a patch of skin before pushing the hollow needle into Ghost's vein, almost as if he already knew that Ghost was clean and was just asking because it was protocol… so it seemed that his reputation proceeded him.

"No. None." He replied, holding eerily still and watching with keen eyes as medics prepped the major arteries in your arm, connecting you up to Ghost on the other side of the tubing.

Ghost felt an odd tugging sensation in his arms as the transfusion began, glancing away from you for the first time since he’d walked over and down at the tubing just in time to see blood so dark that it almost looked black being pulled out of his veins and down the tube, lazily making its way towards your own arm.

"Here, take a seat." The female medic from earlier said as she reached for his arm, Ghost jerking away from the threat of her touch and causing her to pull her hand away, the woman intelligently choosing to instead gesture to the unoccupied chair at your bedside that someone had dragged over. "Let us know if you start to get dizzy or feel nauseous, alright?" She asked as he obediently sat down, her kind eyes a stark contrast to the usual distant and clinical gazes he'd get from most medical personnel who worked for the military.

Ghost gave her a single, succinct nod in lieu of a verbal reply and turned his attention back to the blood that was traveling through the tubing, his free hand loosely wrapping around the arm of the plastic chair that he’d claimed. 

“The blood is dark.” He said suddenly as she began to step away, halting her in her tracks before she once again turned to face him, what was originally meant to be a question coming out more like a statement because of the cold numbness that was spreading from his chest and Ghost fingers subconsciously tightened on the unforgiving arm of the chair, his grip now more of an attempt at grounding himself than anything else.

When Ghost managed to pry his gaze away from you, he noted that the medic looked surprised, the shock only lasting a few seconds before she seemed to some conclusion or another and her features softened into sympathy and understanding. She clasped her hands in front of her and gave him a soft, reassuring smile as she patiently explained the phenomenon to him.

"Oh. It's perfectly safe. What you're most likely used to seeing is the bright red blood, yes?" She asked and Ghost was begrudgingly impressed with her ability to maintain steady eye contact with him when there were even some higher ups that he’d had the displeasure of meeting who couldn’t say the same. 

He didn’t look away as he nodded, confirming what she’d already suspected and she shot him another gentle smile before continuing. "It's just a chemical reaction with the oxygen in the air that makes it that color but, while it's in your veins, it's actually much darker."

Ghost is the one to break eye contact first, unable to keep looking at her kindhearted expression without wanting to scream at the woman that he doesn’t want her compassion, that she shouldn't waste such a useless emotion on someone like him, who didn't want or need it.

He nodded to make sure that she knew that he’d been paying attention and turned his attention back to you, his hands clenching as he resisted the urge to reach out and take your limp wrist into his own, to measure each sluggish beat of your heart from the source despite the slow beep of the machine next to him.

“Give it to me straight. I want to know if they’ll live.” Ghost said suddenly into the silence that had descended over the two of them and the medic took a deep breath, her lips thinning into a thin line.

"Well, due to your help, they’re odds have just gone up exponentially. They'll probably need a few transfusions though, and you'll need breaks between every one in order to eat, drink and replenish your strength. It's not going to be pleasant for you, but it's doable." She stated softly, her hands unclasping as she paused for a moment in order to seemingly think something over before voicing her thoughts. "Though, you're free to stop giving blood anytime you'd like, I'm just saying there's a better chance that they'll pull through if you do multiple sessions."

“I’ll give whatever it takes.” He admitted quietly, his tone determined and reverent in equal measure as he gave in to the impulse to reach out and lightly brush his calloused fingers over the thin, sensitive skin of your wrist, sliding up your arm to the joint of your elbow where the tubing was taped down before just resting there.

He could never tell the medic the truth about how far he was willing to go for you no matter how nice she seemed because the level of devotion he held for you was something that would scare off any normal person. 

He would most likely be stripped of his rank, discharged, and locked up in a padded room with white walls before being drugged up to his eyeballs if he ever confessed to how deep his obsession with you runs.

He would do anything to make sure that you would stay with him. He would destroy cities, tear down governments, kill anyone who got in his way without a second's hesitation. 

He would go to the ends of the world to bring you back, so giving you his blood, that he’d already spilled several pints of over the years -enough for him to be dead ten times over- for a violent cause that wasn’t even his, was nothing compared to the atrocities that he’d be willing to commit for you.

[krirebr]

Saw your conversation about the bloody heart. 👀

that heart ransom’s eating out of your hand is andy’s

AHHHHHHHH!!

Ok, so technically, Andy survives his encounter with you and goes on to participate in @paperweight91 's half of the au...

But if he didn't???

Warnings below for gore, violence, and Ransom and LR being themselves

Ransom would be so proud of you as you reached into Andy’s chest and tore out his still beating heart, offering it to Ransom for first taste. He'd suck the blood from it, maintaining eye contact with you, his hand on your wrist. Then, after kissing you deeply, both your mouths bloody, he'd press the heart to your lips, so you could take the last taste, feel it as it stopped beating.

It's the closure you needed, tearing out the heart of the man who tore out yours.

😈😈😈

@books-and-autumn-leaves

[silviakundera]

The Princess Royal ep 27 and 28

The moment when both Li Rong and Su Rongqing are like SHIT, your brother stepped into our game of thrones.

Damn it Su Ronghua, omg this is making me more heated than in the book.

now they're giving me the future flash of his death to make me sad but NO. NO! ACUALLY IDC. everything is your fault. 😤

blah blah romance with Shauggan Ya NO. NO NO NO. JAIL FOR 10000 YEARS

It's divorce era! SRQ's absolutely full proof plan has NOT devolved into a scenario that will lend PWX more power and cause his ex to soon start humping him like rabbits.... right... right?????

but who caresssss when my bro Cui Yulang is back in town 🎉

THE WAY HE HAS BOTH SRQ AND PWX SO PRESSED because they know he would hit that with the fury of god lololol

Look I do hate Consort Ruo but this whole poisoning the emperor thing is her 1 good idea

I am a simple woman who enjoys watching SRQ realize he's been clowned. And drunk Cui Yulang and exasperated Li Rong passing back & forth messages

Every time he brushes back a tendril of hair, I can hear her from the novel, "Be normal!"

They kept it! So I can be a softy and I admit was a bit charmed by this minor character when LR shared her view of someone with talent and perhaps desire to be of use, but who in her life never accomplished anything... and then he stops pretending to be a shallow pretty face for a moment to confess the real reason he wants to work for her is simply that he thinks she cares about people. I was disarmed by the way he doesn't think she'll believe that - but she immediately does (how few people have believed that about her, how few people have taken him seriously)

They even included PWX's petty ass fucking with the carriage 😭

Oh pleaaaaseeeeee Cui Yulang trying to come up with complaints about Li Chuan and everyone is like ?? ?? 😭😭😭

MY BODY IS READYYYYY for Li Rong digging a big pit with spikes and convincing Consort Ruo to enthusiastically jump in

Please don't let me down drama, I want that whole scheme!

For once the Su Rongqing and Li Rong scene actually worked for me. I did feel that moment where she bluntly references that this battle is heading in 1 direction: one of them will fall. We can see the blow hit both them. SRQ has been stubbornly in denial that this fight is against her faction but he's not taking her down - not truly. Not this time. But she just ripped all pretense away.

(this is where the story gets me to care about their dynamic. not as a love triangle, which it never really has been. but as 2 broken things that used to huddle in the dark to keep warm, now with a new chance in the light... and this is what they're going to do with it? fight to the death? it's sad.)

My darling Pei Wenxuan has not actually lost in brains from jealousy. Good for him.

(In the novel during this time he's secretly plotting shit about the exams and hiding it from LR, because of the whole 'we used to be the leaders of 2 competing factions in the last life' thing that LR was originally concerned about but then the glow of love made her stop being concerned about it, but guess!! what!!)

(I'm 98% sure they are gonna simplify that conflict.)

"Would you like to have the Inspectorate Office?" yaaasss lets goooooo

Su Rongqing, having no idea of wth is going on: Am.... I about to be clowned ?

as of Round 3 (work in progress):

Li Rong: 2

Su Rongqing: 0

Cui Yulang: my sincere love & devotion, whatever what's worth

[preview shows that next 2 episodes start some horny sneaking around ! whee!]

[magadauthan]

Ep 25: Live Through

@trigun98watchparty My time has come.

I watched "Live Through" in Japanese and English for this recap. For science. It's not because this is my favorite episode, no. That has nothing to do with anything.

--How did Milly and Meryl get Vash away from LR? Does 1 ile = 1 mile? Did they swipe Legato's Cinderella coach?

--that floppy hair *swoon*

--Some have criticized Meryl for ducking outside as soon as Vash begins to talk. Perhaps that is merited, and she does carry a good measure of guilt for following him, but it felt to me more like she wanted to give him space and / or privacy. Having loud emotions all over the place is frowned on in Japanese culture, and Meryl is very, very polite. Maybe she just doesn't know what to do and panics (Vash has not always been encouraging in terms of having her around, in general). Either way, it tears her up inside to hear him wailing in despair.

--Obviously Meryl has been home tending to Vash while Milly works. It's nice to see Meryl recognize that Milly is busting her butt, but she doesn't know how to address Milly's feelings, either.

--Vash should not be up and about - he's weak and feverish and not a little delirious. Good thing Milly can carry him.

--Get in there, big sis, and tell Meryl it's okay that she loves him. She's absolutely right in that Legato would have found a way to make Vash shoot him whether or not the two of them were involved. Never hold back in matters of the heart.

--My favorite scene. Meryl, alone in the light of the fifth moon, diligently mending Vash's coat. She wants to put him back together and make him whole again, even if she gets hurt in the process. She's desperately in love with him, and she holds the kind person he is close to her heart... but he was the one who put the hole in the moon. How can she reconcile that?

--Vash does look happier.

--He tries to pet the kitty, and Kuroneko gives him a swat, which some interpret as the Trigun Goddess telling Vash to get it in gear. This is incorrect. Cats are just assholes.

--It didn't stop with Legato, now, did it. Knives is pressing harder.

--"Sound Life" must be a song they teach in NML kindergarten. Many people seem to know it, including Kaite and Meryl. (the lyrics really need to scan better, it's so awkwardly phrased)

--This scene is such a tough one. It's lovely - two lovers out under the stars, right? And Meryl is so happy that Vash is considering staying with them. But it's also plain to see that he might have given up. It would be easy, wouldn't it? Let the girls take care of him while he hides. Don't do anything, and wait for an answer.

--What were you doing up so late, Meryl? (we had some ideas)

--There's no way that the townspeople could have captured someone like Vash if he hadn't let them do it. He's so broken that he won't fight back. He's a sinner now, like Knives, like Legato, beyond redemption.

Except...

...Knives assumes that Vash would sacrifice himself for everyone else. Someone else sacrificing herself for him had never been part of the equation.

--So many have stopped believing in Vash, or he thinks they have. They turn their backs on him and he accepts it as the normal course of things. Jessica's crush was childish (I was gonna marry Luke Skywalker when I was four, just saying) but even she ran away after what happened to the ship. That's why it's so important that Meryl loves him. She has made her decision, and she's steadfast in it.

--Maybe Vash doesn't realize how much she loves him until she puts herself between him and the gun, and he hears Rem's words from Meryl's mouth and sees Rem one more time. If Meryl still loves him, then Rem can still love him too. Mistakes happen but you can learn from them, and if you have the right people in your life, they will love you through your mistakes and help you to make it better.

--And finally, Vash realizes that Rem's words apply to him, too, and that he is no less deserving of a second chance and a future than any of the others he's impressed those words on. Does that make Meryl the analogue to Alex? I think it does.

--Awww, such a sweet snuggle. And then Vash has to go doof it up like normal and Meryl has to freak out like normal. It's their love language. (TBH I'd punch my husband too if he rubbed his stubbly face on me like that.)

--What happened after that? (we have some ideas)

--Vash gets ready to go. Seeing him wash up and shave is oddly pleasing, a reminder that despite his Plant-ness, he's a regular dude who has to wash his face and brush his teeth and get haircuts and have breakfast and do all that human stuff.

--Meryl wants to say something to Vash, but she's gotten wiser too. She recognizes that even though there might be a lot that she wants to tell him (and, I think, he might want to tell her too), stating her feelings in the open would be a distraction (or even a burden) he doesn't need right then. Milly is right. There will be time when he gets back.

It doesn't come through in English, but he's so gentle with her in Japanese. He knows what she wants to say. In his own way, at that time, he's saying I love you too.

--Vash takes WW with him, with Milly's love and blessing. May you go with God's protection.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

so making that post about meif'wa in headscarves and such made me think about religion in my rewrite and i remembered that i haven't spoken about religious headwear at all, so here is some stuff for Avra. I might post about other religion stuff for LR at some point too.

These are mostly aph-specific since no one religions the way she does lmao. Except for the coin-chain, that's a little something she starts doing that ends up being a cultural thing for Phoenix Drop because surprisingly the way rulers dress does persuade their people to dress similarly.

Coin Scarves are a Scaleswind thing, and quite an old-fashioned one. You're more likely to see a little old lady (or man, it isn't gender specific) in church wearing one than your average individual. Only hair that is longer than shoulder length is typically put beneath them (hence Avra's little microbangs being out) however in some parts of Scaleswind it is seen as more proper to cover the entire top of your hair regardless of length.

Different colour + metal combos refer to different divine, and multiple can apply to a singular Divine. People often wear them based off of the divine they follow most of all (Irene, for most), however those who only wear them for prayer will wear them according to the divine they're praying too. Pre-O'Khasis/Scaleswind war, royal-blue and gold was the most common combination as those were the colours most associated with Irene, however they're also associated with O'Khasis, so it changed to white and gold when the war began.

Avra gets hers during her little excursion to Scaleswind. Those who worship the Destroyer often thought of her quite highly for reasons, and she is quite recogniseable, so when she was just walking around a little old woman pressed a red and cold coinscarf into her hand and walked away. Red and Gold are colours associated with Shad only by his worshippers, however black and silver is more often used by the gaggle of elderly folk in Scaleswind that dare to worship him as they aren't ashamed of their religion. It is however seen as heresy, so any youth that continue the practice + worship Shad will often wear the red variant.

Avra honestly just thinks its cute (she is wearing it in my recent Shadmau/Shavra drawing :})

This is a coin veil, inspired by catholic veils because they're so goshdarn pretty. They're the predecessor of coin scarves and while coinscarves are made with opaque, typically thicker material, coin veils are made with lace or sheer fabric.

It is not practiced anymore, it kind of went out of fashion when the elaborate worship of the gods was replaced with the more humble and accessible worship of the divine. Coin scarves were kind of made so the church could try and make those that were fond of veils convert away from the gods, under the idea that 'they're basically the same thing anyway!!'.

Avra gets hers because it was a practice she partook in during her life as Irene, so she kind of was drawn to it. For Donna and Logan's wedding, she had an excuse to wear fancy stuff, so she asked Cadenza to help her make a coin veil. She doesn't remember what it's meant to actually represent, she just thinks they're pretty and comforting. Cadenza makes her a red one, using a bunch of lace she had already made, and it is very long. Avra only typically wears it for events or whenever she's stressed and needs to chill out.

Similarly to coinscarves, colour and metal indicate certain gods, but so does lace pattern and veil length. Worship of Judgement/Death (The destroyer/shad) was often indicated with long black veils with golden coins and the lace covering the face as well as the hair, with the lace usually having patterns of wilted flowers and animal skulls to represent the very decay they worshipped. Of course, this could only be afforded by the very rich, however the rich were often patrons of his temples in larger communities and would supply them with veils for the worshippers to wear. The addition of coins to veils was thought to have started with Judgement/Death worship, as it was believed that if someone was buried in their veil and brought back, you would be able to hear them by the chiming of the coins. Which was good because you didn't want an SK sneaking up on your ass, even back when Shad was thought of highly.

Worship of The Mother (Irene) was done through medium-length white-lace veils which were usually not adorned with coins (though were still called coinveils) but had beads instead, and were typically tied or pinned closed around the chest. The lace usually had floral patterns on it, though not always. Irene herself wore one, however due to lace being very hard to carve, most of her statues depict her wearing a hood instead.

I could get into the impacts of Avra wearing her red little coin veil but naaahhhh.

[letraindemanu]

Agenda : Savoie Modélisme 2023 à Chambéry

Agenda : Savoie Modélisme 2023 à Chambéry

[styrmwb]

I Beat Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

I went ahead and I did it

The urge to go ahead and finish the XIII trilogy after beating XIII-2 won out, and I can finally say I cleared this off the ultimate list of FF games.

Lightning Returns is an interesting one. It's a slow burn kind of game; it took me a bit to really lock in with it, but once I did, I got into a nice flow state with it. It's also a game that simultaneously could work very well by itself, but also feels like it's essential to be the act 2 of XIII-2. It's weird. Not bad! But weird.

Day 1: Gameplay

I think this is where LR shines the brightest.

Combat is. ALMOST like its predecessors. Rather than it being menu selection, you're pressing buttons like an action game; and rather than swapping paradigms, you're swapping between 3 "schemata", which are basically customizable job types that are also a dress-up minigame. You also still have an ATB system... kinda. Rather than a bar that fills up and executes all of the commands you put into it, it's more like an action meter. You can do so much in each schemata before you run out and you gotta wait for it to refill. On paper it sounds entirely different, but with the ATB filling and the schemata switching, I still felt that echo of paradigm switching (especially since I essentially gave myself a commando, ravager, saboteur setup), and the ATB in practice still felt like the ATB of classic. It's different for sure, but still has enough connection to not feel like it's a complete jump away from its prequels. Also, you have these points called "EP" that you get from day start or killing enemies which you can use for things like full cure or esuna, but the big thing I used it for was "Overclock" which slows down time for your enemies while speeding it up for you. It gives you a unique ATB bar that I essentially used to keep up my assault when needed. Very fun once I had enough EP to not worry about using it all up.

Where XIII was a straightforward, classic RPG story that had some side quests, and XIII-2 was more side quest heavy but still sectioned, LR feels like it's ENTIRELY made of side quests, in a way. Even the main story is split up into quests that sometimes require you to do side quests (which was weird if you gotta do them why are they side), plus it had a board of collection quests that you could turn into. If you just looked at XIII, you'd be like "what the fuck happened", but going through the trilogy, I can feel the natural progression. As someone who enjoyed the XIII-2 style quests (plus I'm MMO brained so quests are ingrained in my DNA anyways) I quite enjoyed this style of game organization. It allows you to move back and forth between the areas and their stories, which mixes really well with:

Time management. The big deal about this game that I think MOST people look at and think "oh no". I also thought "oh no" at first. There's not exactly a Majora's Mask style time reset or anything (which I gotta talk more on this topic later) and you don't really have time to sit and rest unless you're in a menu, meaning every single step counts, but it does give you a temporary time stop ability, that uses the same resource as your big combat abilities. I was really unsure of it at first, I didn't know how to handle it, but once I really got the hang of things, I realized that I didn't need to time stop nearly as much as I did, and I was able to strike a good balance. Like I said, I found the flow state of managing quests, travel, teleportation, and still leaving myself with enough for combat buffs. As time passes, different enemies come out, different NPCs appear and disappear, different stores open and close, it makes you think about where you have to be, when you have to be where, and you have to think about your travel time. There's a quest I have to do but they don't appear until 14:00, so I'm gonna sit here and kill guys until like 13:00 where I'm then gonna take the train over there. It was scary and weird at first, but it's a system that I think is improved with knowledge of just how much is in the game.

One last thing I wanted to talk about, is Undertale. This game has a fucking Undertale genocide mechanic (I know Undertale came after but hush shush). There are actually limited enemies in the game (save for a couple), and you can actually completely extinct a species by killing all of them. When you've killed all but one, that one becomes a Last One, which is a hyperpowered hot pink version of that enemy that drops better loot. This also interacts with time management well because as the days go by, enemies drop better abilities for you to use, BUT, you also have to make sure you're giving yourself enough time to do shit AND kill all of everything. This is cool! It's also grindy, which does kinda suck. Having to kill 30 reavers (behemoths) gets mindless after a bit, which CAN be enjoyed, but can also be ugggghhhhhhh. I think I felt both of those emotions. This is at its worst in the final dungeon where there's 3 new monster types that can be killed off, meaning if you wanna kill all of em for the quest that makes you kill all of em, you HAVE to last second grind. Stinks when I just wanna finish the story.

Together, Lightning Returns offers an experience that's actually quite fun, but I think you REALLY HAVE to have the knowledge to make the most of it. It gives me the vibes of something that would be better on subsequent playthroughs, where you really know just how much is in this space.

Day 2: Story

The story this time about is weird. After the world Fucking Explodes in XIII-2, and Lightning turns herself into crystal to have Serah live forever in her memories, she's woken up (numbers) years later by God Himself, who said "hey shit's boutta explode in a few days can you go save a bunch of souls so I can put them in a new world I have your best friend here (he's a kid again don't worry about it) and I'll give you your sister back" and then Lightning goes "ok (unfeelingly)" and does it. Rather than a single focused story, it's split up into 5 main quests you can move back and forth between, all centered around a character from previous games. You got Noel, Snow, Fang, Yeul/Caius/Odin, and Sazh. Between these, and the many side quests, the game is very character based rather than narrative based, I feel, which I certainly don't have a problem with. Characters, I'm coming to realize, are my absolute favorite part of any media and the most important thing to me ever (which I think is why I end up making 20 hour long character sections (coming soon)). As you help people and your friends, you realize God is A Bitch And A Liar, so you go to Kill Him. This culminates in an ending that is 1. INCREDIBLY CHEESY, 2. A nice little celebration of the entire XIII trilogy, and 3. A little stupid. It's nice. It's not the greatest in the series or even the trilogy, but it's nice. Again, it feels like it's the second half to XIII-2, wrapping up everything that that game set up, which stinks a little cause it means it can't hold on its own well, but is nice when you're doing it in sequence.

Day 3: Characters

I've lived with this cast for 3 games now, and LR is, for the most part, a nice bow on everyone's stories/a cool way to take all their characters.

Lightning - Lightning in this game felt more of what I knew than XIII-2. Unfortunately, a major plot point was that her emotions were essentially stripped away for most of it, but it didn't stop the game from showing me her caring about her family and other people, and despite her being God's Servant, it does not prevent her from rebelling against the higher powers when they're being assholes, just like in the original XIII. She's not my favorite protagonist out of the entire series, but I think LR ended her story in a way that made me a lot happier than XIII-2. I also find it really funny that Square's IRL usage of her as a fashion model seriously had its impact on this game with the garb switching, and the fucking ending of her going to France.

Hope - My favorite boy felt off at first. Why was his voice acting like that? The reason? God is a bitch. My boy was relegated to being a child sized costume for a motherfucker; and unfortunately, this half self of him kinda got on my nerves as he Kept Telling Me Things All The Time. I know it's an hour until I get called back. Please stop. At least I can be happy about the fact that the real Hope was actually the force that helped Lightning at the end, right as she helped him. I love the relationship between the two of them, one of my favorites in the series.

Snow - I genuinely think that his role here was NEEDED for his character to go into. For two games, he's been the extreme positive force. A heart of gold and a brain of brick. Challenging this with the failure to protect the one person he loves the most, plus centuries of stagnation and trauma, pushes Snow in a way that I think was really important. I can't say I LOVED seeing him so despondent, but I do think it was the right play. Seeing him at his lowest, yet still coming out on top, and finally, FINALLY, being rewarded with time with Serah, Snow feels like he actually went through the challenge he needed to get the ending he deserved.

Fang - I actually really enjoyed Fang here, because for most of the game, it was between Fang and Lightning. I will say, Vanille is not one of my favorite characters. At all; and unfortunately, Fang's primary character trait is that she is completely devoted to the one person she loves (you CANNOT tell me that this shit isn't romantic), Vanille. This is a good character trait, I just don't care for how it's aimed. But being able to enjoy Fang and Lightning's friendship, as well as Fang starting that fire of rebellion that I loved in XIII, it made me happy. I don't understand your crush girl but go off

Vanille - Going off that point; I understand Vanille. I really do. She feels like she did a lot of pain and wants to make up for it. I just... I can't. I dunno. The vibes are off for me. I think I could have appreciated a little more insight or explanation on WHY she has the power to hear the dead, and How Exactly she's going to save them and not kill them.

Sazh and Dajh - Once again thrown to the sidelines?????? Like, ok. I get it. Compared to the fighters, the ancient warriors, Sazh and his son are pretty much civilians! So in that way, I get it, they get the easy life compared to everyone else. But to see Dajh reduced to a plot point yet again upsets me. I want to see some growth for these guys, cause they deserve it. I even feel that Sazh got snubbed in the ending cause he didn't even get to appear alongside his own Eidolon like everyone else did. I love these two, and I love seeing them happy, but... gimme a little more, man.

Odin - Can I just say, it is SO funny that fucking Odin, classic FF summon, insta-killing warrior, majestic horse transformer, reincarnated into a chocobo? Hilarious. I do love that narrative of him being by Lightning's side, though. I think it could have been strengthened back in XIII-2, but it's still nice.

Noel - This poor fucking guy dude. Living with centuries of failure and loss. He never got a chance to really enjoy and be happy; it made me so sad to see him in the place he was in, and to have that fight against him. I am incredibly glad that he finally got to have an ending with Yeul; it feels like he really got what he deserved after all his torment.

Yeul - I still think she's more of a plot device than a character, but I did really appreciate that LR completed what she is on top of giving more explanation onto Chaos. Chaos is souls, and since every Yeul is intertwined, constantly dying at a young age, all being the same, yet all being different, that's A LOT of soul juice that congeals yet contradicts each other. The reveal that the Yeuls Are Chaos was literally the one thing I needed that completely solidified all the confusion I had from the last game, and how that turned into keeping Caius around, and them entering Etro's place in the new world, made complete sense. Sure, the Yeuls might not be a character, but they're a very VERY cool world aspect. Also they let the last one be with Noel :))))))))))

Caius - He remains an incredibly cool character. LR might not add much to him, but it doesn't ruin him in the slightest. He's still completely devoted to all of the Yeuls, and their wants affect his very being. Him becoming essentially the lord of death was a very cool ending, simply because it means he still reached the only goal he ever wanted. I love Caius, man.

Lumina - She's.... confusing. I didn't understand at a single point what her deal was, and honestly I still don't think I do, but that might just be me being stupid and not literate enough. Why was she summoning cyclops, why did she break Lightning's sword, why did she cause chaos. Just for funny? I guess? Other than that though, I do think the concept of her character was cool. The part of Lightning's soul removed from her; not only is it the part that had Serah, but it's her childhood self, her childhood emotions that she pushed away. The reveal that Lumina is Claire, and not Serah, was a huge one, and I think it was honestly foreshadowed in the fact that Lumina's eyes look more like Lightning's than they do Serah's. Wait, I'm just realizing it now, was she just fucking around cause she was a kid? That makes a lot more sense actually. Anyways, I think I would have liked a little more overt acknowledgement to her appearance. Give me one verbal "why do you look like that". I also enjoyed the bits where she was actually shown to care, like in Sazh's story.

Bhunivelze - God Himself. The biggest ASS that ever lived. What a douche. I think my favorite part about Bhunivelze was the consistency of the fact that he can't do emotions. It was shown in Hope's voice acting and lack of feeling, it was shown in the one part of Lightning that he took away; and it was his ultimate downfall, when that bit of Hope reversed on him, and made him feel shit he cannot comprehend. It's cool to see something so consistent in a character like this. He also serves as your typical JRPG "church bad" archetype, God only cares about his followers and nothing else, which does give me a bit of schadenfreude, shitty as it is. He is willing to lie and manipulate to get his way and get around what he cannot do. Very cool antagonist. Not the best, but very cool.

The game's just a nice tale ender for everyone (except for like, maybe I could have used an extra moment or two with real Serah). It serves as a good celebration of the trilogy, bringing everyone back in some form. Hell, even Cid came back, even if he was just a bunch of souls in a Cid costume.

Day 4: World

I should have mentioned this sooner, but whatever. The world that the game takes place in, Nova Chrysalia, is SUCH a cool concept???? Like, with the gameplay being what it is, if they just separated the story/characters, the world being super unique could absolutely make this game stand on its own. It's the remains of the normal world mashed together with the realm of death. Since the realm of death is also related to time, and it's broken, people Don't Age. Also, since the goddess of death, who deals with reincarnation, is dead, people can't be born. This world is the perfect stagnation that makes the setting of finite time until the end work. It makes systems like the Last Ones work. It's just super cool. It's split up into 4 zones, each having a sort of unique mechanic. You got Luxerion, the holy city and the capital, with a really cool gothic and checkerboard aesthetic spread around; you got Yusnaan, the city of "we're gonna party til we die (think Eulmore from XIV)", that completely changes vibes at night, as well as having a cool coliseum, and a bunch of for flavor restaurants; there's the Wildlands, that serves as that kind of Archylte Steppe-like big area, and is the only place with a chocobo for you to ride; and then finally the Dead Dunes, a big desert with a ruin underneath it. They're all very unique feeling, and I don't feel bored, especially moving between all of them. I think the Dead Dunes are my favorite zone, simply because you get to slide down the sand and it's really really fun. Yusnaan is probably second.

I think the one gripe I have is that the game needs to sell you a little more on the fact that everyone has been exactly the same for like 500 years. I don't know why, but it just feels like it needs a little more fuel in that department to fully immerse me in it. Maybe some more stagnation or apathetic feelings. There was a quest with a girl selling her tears that I think did this right, give me more of that. Also, uh, with this all said:

Day 5: This Is Just Majora's Mask

Hi yeah let's make a game about the end of the world. We're gonna give it a time limit. We're gonna split the world into 4 sections. The game is mainly going to be focused on side quests where you help the people of the world reach their final wishes, and some of them will be based on time of day. Not to mention, in the final dungeon, we're going to let the player either go straight to the final boss, OR they can do 4 mini trials that give them a super powered upgrade right before the final boss.

I could put some of these separately as a coincidence but I'm gonna be real that final dungeon solidified something to me: something's off. There HAS to be inspiration here lmao (none of this affected my enjoyment it's just really really funny)

Day 6: Music

As usual, the music is fucking phenomenal. It's beautiful, it rocks, it's terrifying, it's amazing. Lightning Returns might have one of the Best final boss themes in the entire series and nobody knows cause it's the weird last entry in a trilogy people hated.

I have. One flaw though. I don't... really like how previous battle themes were used as normal battle themes, cause it feels like it takes away the impact. I was walking through the Wildlands at night, when I ran into a Dryad, and suddenly Desperate Struggle starts playing. I think "oh fuck I just ran into a mini boss" and I thought I was right when this dude started doing massive damage and summoned a bunch of clones. Then I ran into a slug and the same song played. I'm not sad to hear those songs because the XIII trilogy does not miss at a single point, but it makes me sad when they all have the same meaning. I'm also really upset since Worlds Collide doesn't ever get to get to the good part since all the Hoplites are dead before it gets going

Day 7: Graphics

XIII's sauce remains. The game still looks good, and they solved that weird facial expression thing that XIII-2 had. I love the consistent checkerboard aesthetic that the Chaos has, spread throughout the game. Also, that fucking final boss battle? Holy shit. Beautiful. How the floor turns into Bhunivelze's fucking robe??????? That's so cool. The final prerendered cutscene was absolutely peak.

just gonna sleep in the inn for a bit now to get to

Day 13: 0 Days Until The End

Lightning Returns is a game in a weird place. I definitely do not think it deserves the reviews it got; I think that is a result of a time mechanic people didn't really give time (lol), as well as being the 3rd entry in a trilogy where people Did Not care for its first entry, but it really doesn't deserve to be one of the lowest rated FF games.

It could honestly work as its own game. You remove all the actual FF bits, and you have a wonderful standalone action JRPG. But in the same vein, it really Only works as a finale to the XIII series. The story, the characters, and even the evolution of gameplay, it only works/it's at its strongest when you've played the previous games. It wraps up bits from XIII-2 in a way that it feels like it was MADE for doing that.

When I started the game, I wasn't vibing with it. You need to give it time. You need to understand it, and know what it offers and how it works to really appreciate it, it's not going to be instant. Although, towards the end of my playthrough, it was getting a little grindy cause I really frontloaded my experience, not really knowing how much content I had, and in how much space. Especially with the NG+ feature, I imagine this game goes hard on your 2nd-on playthroughs. I'd love to see a speedrun or a fully optimized playthrough, that's GOTTA be sick.

7/10. A bit of an awkward experience in places, but in the end a fun, unique experience that also serves as a nice ending to an overhated trilogy. It's also Majora's Mask. Bhunivelze's Savior.

[hjemne]

I'm on the brink of collapse but am powering thru to write transmac vashwood sloppy toppy and LR & WW hangovers and I have absolutely no clue how it's going to fit in with the rest of this fic that I wrote 7 months ago and it's no doubt out of character both canonically and within the fic but also I'm making myself laugh

(nsfw snippets under the cut)

"I don't, like, have a dick. Well, not a dick dick.”

“Spikey, I am genuinely fascinated to know what that means.”

Vash snorts. Loudly.

Wolfwood has never been more enamoured.

[...]

“Mr Saverem I am quite literally on my hands and knees begging you to show me your not-a-dick-dick dick.”

Vash whistles. “Now that’s a whole lotta dicks. You gotta be careful talking like that or people might start thinking you’re... gay.” He mouths the last word, eyes widened in mock-scandal and ending with a gasp.

“If you’ve somehow got multiple dicks I think my brain might actually start melting out my ears.”

Vash actually barks out a laugh at that. “You sure it hasn’t already? How do you think testosterone works?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think I ever really thought about it before today.”

“Well, I hope you’re ready to learn.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” he goes to raise a hand in mock salute, then pauses half-way. “We’re ridiculous.”

“I think it’s just you, actually.”

[...]

“Vash whatever-your-middle-name-is Saverem,” Nicholas hears himself say above the roar of blood in his ears, “I have literally never been so turned on in my life and if I can’t get my mouth on you in the next 5 seconds I think I will actually explode.”

[...]

Nick draws small, haphazard patterns on Vash’s back, fighting the exhaustion that threatens to drag his eyelids shut.

“In the morning, ’m gon do so much googling. ’M gon be the world expert in testosterone, you have no idea.” Vash smothers his laugh against Nick’s shoulder, body quaking as he continues his diatribe.”I’ll read all about every-” he breaks off in a yawn, “everything.”

“You’re very conscientious.”

“Nhuh, ‘m just ver’ dumb.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“So mean.”

“Just the worst,” Vash agrees, pressing a kiss into his shoulder.

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

HISTORICAL PRECURSORS TO THE RADA AND PETWO RITES

In the historical record, there appear to be two prominent sects of colonial Voodoo: (1) snake worshippers (2) followers of Don Pedro. The snake worship sect appears to be the precursor to the Rada rite, while the Don Pedro sect appears to be the precursor to the Petwo rite.

Key historical documents pertaining to the snake worshippers include:

Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

Malenfant, Colonel (1814) Des Colonies et Particulierement de Celle de Saint-Domingue: Memoire Historique et Politique. Paris: Audibert., p. 217-220 https://archive.org/details/descoloniesetpar00male/page/215/mode/1up?q=vaudou 

Key historical documents pertaining to the Don Pedro sect include: 

Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, E 182, Ferrand de Beaudière to the Naval and Colonial Minister, translated in “Prophet or Cook? The Real Don Pedro” in Geggus, David. The Haitian Revolution: a documentary history. Hackett Publishing, 2014. 

Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

Descourtilz, Michel Etienne, and LECLERC, Charles Emmanuel. Voyages d'un naturaliste France, Dufart, pere, 1809. https://archive.org/details/voyagesdunnatura03desc/page/180/mode/2up https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voyages_d_un_naturaliste/wOzA6FsbqJAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Drouin de Bercy, Léon. De Saint-Domingue: de ses guerres, de ses révolutions, de ses resources, et de moyens a prendre pour y rétabilir la paix et l'industrie. France, Chez Hocquet, 1814. p. 176 https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FxYWAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=176#v=onepage&q&f=false 

These documents are described in:

Chapter 2 “The Evolution of Colonial Voodoo” in Laguerre, Michel S. Voodoo and politics in Haiti. Springer, 2016. pp. 22-38

Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A Transatlantic History of Haitian Vodou: Rasin Figuier, Rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. United States, University Press of Mississippi, 2021.

Excerpts from these documents are included below, with commentary:

[RADA1] MOREAU DE SAINT-MERY’S (1797) DESCRIPTION TOPOGRAPHIQUE, PP.45-51

In  Description topographique, (1797) Moreau de Saint-Méry described two variants of Vodou (“Vaudoux”), which seem to be the precursors of the Rada and Petwo rites respectively. 

The first variant of Vodou is described between pages 45 and 51, introduced like so:

“Selon les nègres Aradas, qui sont les véritables sectateurs du Vaudoux dans la Colonie, & qui en mantiennent les principes & les règles, Vaudoux signifie un être tout-puissant & surnaturel, dont dépendent tous les événemens qui se passent sur ce globe. Or, cet être, c'est le serpent non venimeux ou une espèce de couleuvre, et c'est sous ses auspices que se rassemblent tous ceux qui professent la même doctrine. Connaissance du passé, science du présent, prescience de l'avenir, tout appartient à cette couleuvre, qui ne consent néanmoins à communiquer son pouvoir, & à prescrire ses volontés, que par l'organe d'un grand-prêtre que les sectateurs choisissent, & plus encore par celui de la négresse que l'amour de ce dernier a élevée aurang de grande-prêtresse.”

TRANSLATION: 

“According to the Aradas, who are the true devotees of Voodoo in the colony, and who maintain the principles and the rules, Voodoo signifies an all-powerful & supernatural being, on whom depends all events that happen in the world. Now, this being is the non-venomous serpent or a kind of grass snake, and it is under its auspices that all those who profess the same doctrine gather. Knowledge of the past, science of the present, prescience of the future, all belong to this grass snake, which nevertheless does not consent to communicate its power, and to prescribe its wishes, except through the organ of a high priest whom the sectarians choose, and even more through that of the negress whom the love of the latter has raised to the rank of high priestess.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

The ceremony resembles snake worship of Ouidah, where it centers around a snake god (couleuvre). It was presided over by two ministers, who were called “King” (Roi) & “Queen” (Reine), “master” (maître) & “Mistress” (maîtresse), or “Papa” (papa) & “Mama” (maman). With the snake secured inside a box, the ceremony begins with an adoration of the snake and an oath of secrecy. The congregation was then allowed to make appeals to the snake. Many of those present were slaves: “La plûpart lui demandent le talent de diriger l'esprit de leurs maîtres;” (p. 47)

This is followed by spirit possession by the snake god: 

“A chacune de ses invocations, le roi Vaudoux se recueille; l'Esprit agit en lui. Tout-à-coup il  prend la boîte où est la couleuvre, la place à terre et fait monter sur elle la Reine Vaudoux. Dès que l'asile sacré est sous ses pieds, nouvelle pythonisse, elle est pénétrée du dieu, elle s'agite, tout son corps est dans un état convulsif, & l'oracle parle par sa bouche.”

TRANSLATION:

“At each of his invocations, the Voodoo king collects himself; the Spirit acts on him. Suddenly he takes the bok where the snake is, places it on the ground and makes the Voodoo Queen climb on it. As soon as the sacred asylum is under her feet, a new pythoness, she is is penetrated by the god, she becomes agitated, her whole body is in a convulsive state, & the oracle speaks through her mouth.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 48

https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/48/mode/2up

Offerings are then made to the snake god, and a second oath of secrecy is taken. This is followed by a sacred dance, where the song “Eh! eh! Bomba, hen! hen!” is sung, and the “mounting” of an initiate is described: “alors le récipiendaire se met à trembler et à danser; ce qui s'appelle monter Vaudoux” (p. 49)

This key historical document is worth reading in full. It pertains to the history of New Orleans Vooodo, as it was copied by the author of Souvenirs d’Amerique et de France par une créole (1883) in her description of Nouvelle-Orléans. 

SEE: [Hélène d’Aquin Allain], Souvenirs d’Amérique et de France par une créole (Paris: Bourguet-Calas, 1883), 144. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1314161/f158.item.r=vaudoux 

[RADA2] MALENFANT’S (1814) DES COLONIES ET PARTICULIEREMENT DE CELLE DE SAINT-DOMINGUE

Malenfant’s account is similar to Moreau de Saint-Méry’s (1797) Description topographique. Malenfant likened Vodou to Freemasonry, and there is no mention of “Don Pedro”.

Below is an excerpt:

Les voyageurs qui veulent parcourir l'Afrique devraient se faire initier à une secte connue sous le nom de Vaudou , secte très-sévèrement punie par les blancs, et aussi cruellement que les francs - maçons par les Espagnols et les Portugais.

Il y avait à Gouraud une grande prêtresse du Vaudou, et un noir, grand chef; je n'ai jamais voulu les dénoncer; ils eussent été pendus ou brûlés de suite. J'ai su ce fait par une négresse qui était initiée. Il y a un mot depasse, mais elle n'a jamais voulu me l'indiquer : elle disait que les femmes ne le connaissent pas. Elle m'a donné les signes pour la reconnaissance avec la main: c'est , à quelque chose près , celui des maçons. Très-peu de créoles sont initiés; il n'y a que les enfants des chefs du Vaudou. Elle me le dit sous le secret, en m’assurant que, malgré que les nègres m'aimassent beaucoup , je serais tué ou empoisonné si je cherchais à découvrir le grand mystère de la secte.

Il existe chez les prêtres du Vaudou, une grosse couleuvre privée, cachée sous terre, dans une grande caisse de bois, qu'on lève dans les cérémonies en forme d'autel. On fait des serments entre les mains de la grande prêtresse. Les danses conduisent à des convulsions, qui cessent lorsqu'on boit une espèce d'huile , qu'elle m'a dit être de serpent ; on en frotte aussi les tempes , les jarrets et les aisselles.

Le chef du Vaudou mourut lorsque j'étais à Gouraud. Il avait un grand ascendant sur tous les noirs ; ils lui ont fait des funérailles magnifiques ; on y a dansé le Vaudou. Je n'ai point voulu troubler leur fête : je lui ai donné au contraire vingt bouteilles de vin.

Cette secte me paraît tenir aux illuminés. Il n'y a que des fanatiques , des sots , ou des imbécilles, qui puissent s'inquiéter d'une secte, qui me paraît à peu près celle de la maçonnerie.

Il faut espérer que les philantropes qui ont établi sur la Sierra Léona une colonie libre , parviendront à trouver l'origine de cette institution, qui remonte peut-être aux temps les plus reculés. Les Arradas sont ceux qui m'ont paru y être le plus attachés…

MACHINE TRANSLATION:

Travelers who want to travel through Africa should be initiated into a sect known as Voodoo, a sect very severely punished by the whites, and as cruelly as the Freemasons by the Spaniards and the Portuguese. 

There was in Gouraud a high priestess of Voodoo, and a black, a great chief; I never wanted to denounce them; they would have been hanged or burned immediately. I learned this fact from a negress who was initiated. There is a password, but she never wanted to tell me: she said that women do not know it. She gave me the signs for recognition with the hand: it is, more or less, that of the Masons. Very few Creoles are initiated; there are only the children of the Voodoo chiefs. She told me this in secret, assuring me that, although the Negroes loved me very much, I would be killed or poisoned if I tried to discover the great mystery of the sect.

Among the Voodoo priests, there is a large private snake, hidden underground, in a large wooden box, which is raised in ceremonies in the form of an altar. Oaths are taken in the hands of the high priestess. The dances lead to convulsions, which stop when one drinks a kind of oil, which she told me was made of snake oil; one also rubs the temples, hamstrings and armpits with it.

The Voodoo chief died when I was in Gouraud. He had great influence over all the blacks; they gave him a magnificent funeral; they danced Voodoo there. I did not want to disturb their celebration: on the contrary, I gave him twenty bottles of wine.

This sect seems to me to be related to the enlightened. There are only fanatics, fools, or imbeciles, who can worry about a sect, which seems to me to be more or less that of Masonry.

It is to be hoped that the philanthropists who have established a free colony on Sierra Leone, will succeed in finding the origin of this institution, which perhaps goes back to the most remote times. The Arradas are those who seemed to me to be most attached to it…

SOURCE: MALENFANT, COLONEL (1814) Des Colonies et Particulierement de Cellede Saint-Domingue: Memoire Historique et Politique. Paris: Audibert., p. 217-220 https://archive.org/details/descoloniesetpar00male/page/215/mode/1up?q=vaudou 

[PETWO1] “PROPHET OR COOK? THE REAL DON PEDRO”

13) Prophet or Cook? The Real Don Pedro

These letters by the judge of Petit Goâve parish reveal that the original Don Pedro was not a freedman but probably a maroon slave, and that Moreau de Saint-Méry (doc. 11) was mistaken in thinking he was Spanish rather than African. Due to Portuguese influence in Africa, Pedro was quite a common name among Kongolese, both for African kings and Caribbean slaves. Significantly, the author uses the Portuguese “Dom” not the Spanish “Don.” Petit Goâve lies west of Port-au-Prince on Haiti’s southern peninsula.

(1 May 1769.) In June/July 1768 and on into 1769, [I] carried out the very extensive investigation for the criminal case against the infamous black slave Pierre, of the Congo nation, who called himself Dom Pedro, and his adherents and accomplices to the number of forty-two imprisoned Negroes, mulattoes, and Negresses. The Negro Dom Pedro was extremely dangerous. He went from plantation to plantation dominating the minds of the blacks by means of performing crude tricks. He informed them that they would soon be free, and he had the slave drivers of each plantation whipped, telling them that they could no longer flog the slaves in their charge and, moreover, that they would not be punished by their masters. He demanded tribute in either money or animals from initiated or compliant slaves, and he imposed it on those who did not remain loyal to him. This investigation involved some 300 documents, and it was brought to an end in February by order of the Council, because the Negro Dom Pedro had been killed in a hunt. 

(15 October 1773.) [The jails of Petit Goâve were full of] the accomplices of a black slave calling himself Dompèdre who stirred up the workforces of the north and south coasts [of the southern peninsula] inciting them to rebellion and to be independent of their masters. 

(Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, E 182, Ferrand de Beaudière to the Naval and Colonial Minister)

SOURCE: Geggus, David. The Haitian Revolution: a documentary history. Hackett Publishing, 2014. 

[PETWO2] MOREAU DE SAINT-MERY’S (1797) DESCRIPTION TOPOGRAPHIQUE

In  Description topographique, (1797) Moreau de Saint-Méry described two variants of Vodou (“Vaudoux”), which seem to be the precursors of the Rada and Petwo rites respectively. 

Moreau de Saint-Méry describes the second variant of Vodou on page 51:

“...Qui croirait que le Vaudoux le cède encore à quelque chose, qu'on a aussi appelé du nom de danse ! En 1768 , un nègre du Petit-Goave , espagnol d'origine, abusant de la crédulité des nègres, par des pratiques superstitieuses , leur avait donné l'idée d'une danse analogue à celle du Vaudoux , mais où les mouvemens sont plus précipités. Pour lui faire produire encore plus d'effet, les nègres mettent dans le tafia qu'ils boivent en dansant , de la poudre à canon bien écrasée. On a vu cette danse appellée Danse à Dom Pèdre, ou simplement Don Pèdre, donner la mort à des nègres ; & les spectateurs euxmêmes, électrifés par le spectacle de cet exercice convulsis, partagent l'ivresse des acteurs, & accélèrent par leur chant & une mesure pressée , une crife qui leur est , en quelque sorte , commune. Il a sallu défendre de danser Don Pedre sous des peines graves , & quelquefois inefficaces.”

TRANSLATION (borrowed from Laguerre):

“Who will believe that Voodoo gives place to something further which also goes by the name of dance? In 1768, a slave of Petit-Goave, of Spanish origin, abusing the credulity of the blacks, by superstitious practices gave them an idea of a dance, analogous to that of the Voodoo, but where the movements are more hurried. To make it even more effective the slaves place in the rum, which they drink while dancing, weIl crushed gun-powder. One has seen this dance, called Dance to Don Pedro, or simply Don Pedro, induce death in the slaves; and the spectators themselves, electrified by the spectacle of this convulsive exercise, share the drunkenness of the actors, and hasten by their chant and a quickened measure, a crisis which is in some way common to them. It has been necessary to forbid them from dancing Don Pedro under grave penalty, but sometimes ineffectually.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

This second, more “fiery” variant of Vodou (“Don Pedro”) seems to be the precursor to the Petwo rite.

[PETWO3] DESCOURTILZ’ (1809) VOYAGES D’UN NATURALISTE ET SES OBSERVATIONS

Descourtilz mentions the precursor to the Petwo rite in Chapter 4, “Idée des Vaudoux”:

 « Les vaudoux , me dit la véridique Finette (1) , sont de nations différentes ; ils tombent en crise par suite d’une sympathie imconcevable. Réunis sur le terrain qui doit être le théâtre de leurs grimaces convulsives, ils sourient en se rencontrant, se heurtent avec rudesse, et les voilà tous deux en crise ; les pieds en l'air, hurlant comme des bêtes féroces , et écumant comme elles.

» Je passois un jour , poursuivit-elle, auprès de deux de ces espèces de convulsionnaires, et soit que leurs prosélytes aient eu l’intenuon d’accréditer leur système, soit que par ces preuves irrécusables , ils aient voulu profiter de mon jeune àge pour m'initier dans leurs mystères , on m’introduisit dans le cercle, et il fut ordonné à l’un d’eux, par le chef de la horde, de prendre dans ses mains du charbon allumé qui lui fut présenté, et sembla ne point le brûler; à l’autre de se laisser enlever des lanières de chair avec des ongles de fer, ce qui fut ponctuellement exécuté, sans que je remarquasse le moindre signe de sensibilité.

» Dompète ( c’est le nom du chef tout-puissant de la horde fanatique ) a, disent-ils, le pouvoir de découvrir de ses yeux , et malgré tout obstacle matériel, tout ce qui se passe , n’importe à quelle distance ; propriété ficuve bien faite pour en imposer aux crédules, et tyranniser les incertains dont le défaut de confiance est puni par le poison qui leur est familier , et, dans les mains du Dompète, d'un usage journalier et impuni.

» Les acolytes de cette secte ont aussi entre eux des moyens magiques d’exercer leur vengeance. Un homme a-t-il essuyé les rigueurs d’une amante, ou l’infidélité d’une maîtresse habituée ? un piquant de raie jeté dans l’urine de la coupable, le venge de son outrage, en frappant soudain l’infidelle d’unemaladie de langueur, que le vaudoux fait cesser à volonté par une préparauon différente.

MACHINE TRANSLATION:

"The voodooists," the truthful Finette (1) told me, "are of different nations; they fall into crisis as a result of an inconceivable sympathy. Gathered on the ground which must be the scene of their convulsive grimaces, they smile when they meet, collide roughly, and there they are both in crisis; feet in the air, howling like wild beasts, and foaming like them.

"I was passing one day," she continued, "with two of these kinds of convulsionaries, and whether their proselytes had the intention of accrediting their system, or whether by these irrefutable proofs they wanted to take advantage of my young age to initiate me into their mysteries, I was introduced into the circle, and one of them was ordered by the leader of the horde to take in his hands some lighted coal which was presented to him, and seemed not to burn it; the other to let strips of flesh be removed from him with iron nails, which was punctually carried out, without my noticing the slightest sign of sensitivity.

"Dompète (this is the name of the all-powerful leader of the fanatic horde) has, they say, the power to discover with his eyes, and despite all material obstacles, everything that happens, no matter how far away; a fictive property well made to impose itself on the credulous, and to tyrannize the uncertain whose lack of confidence is punished by the poison which is familiar to them, and, in the hands of the Dompète, of daily and unpunished use.

"The acolytes of this sect also have among themselves magical means of exercising their vengeance. Has a man endured the rigors of a lover, or the infidelity of a regular mistress? A stingray prickle thrown into the urine of the guilty one, avenges his outrage, by suddenly striking the unfaithful woman with a disease of languor, which voodoo can stop at will by a different preparation.

SOURCE: Descourtilz, Michel Etienne, and LECLERC, Charles Emmanuel. Voyages d'un naturaliste: et ses observations ; faites sur les trois regnes de la nature, dans plusieurs ports de mer francʹais, en Espagne, au continent de l'Amerique septentrionale, a Saint-Yago de Cuba, et a St.-Domingue, ou l'Auteur devenu le prisonnier de 40,000 Noirs revoltes, et par suite mis en liberte par une colonne de l'armee francʹaise, donne des details circonstancies sur l'expedition du general Leclerc. France, Dufart, pere, 1809. https://archive.org/details/voyagesdunnatura03desc/page/180/mode/2up 

[PETWO4] DROUIN DE BERCY’S (1814) DE SAINT-DOMINGUE

Drouin de Bercy describes the threat “Don Pedro” posed to the white colonists:

Le Don Pedro et le Vaudou sont une association d'autant plus terrible qu'elle a pour but la ruine et la destruction des blancs, et de persuader aux negres qu'ils ne seront jamais heureux, s'ils n'y sont pass associes. Pour etre Don Pedro, il faut etre bon filou, effronte, entet, endurci aux coups, et ne jamais reveler de ce qui s'est passe dans leurs rendez-vous.

TRANSLATION

Don Pedro and Voodoo are an association all the more terrible because their aim is the ruin and destruction of the whites, and to persuade the Negroes that they will never be happy if they are not associated with it. To be Don Pedro, one must be a good rogue, brazen, stubborn, hardened to blows, and never reveal what happened in their meetings.

SOURCE: Drouin de Bercy, Léon. De Saint-Domingue: de ses guerres, de ses révolutions, de ses resources, et de moyens a prendre pour y rétabilir la paix et l'industrie. France, Chez Hocquet, 1814. p. 176 https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FxYWAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=176#v=onepage&q&f=false