#mainly i would want to know in case there are elements of my life where im currently like

[august--and-everything-after]

I've never been formally tested or diagnosed but I'm p sure I'm some flavour of autistic

[shan-yee]

𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 [ 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 ; 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 ] ๏𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 = Death. ๏𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 = 700 ๏𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 = Alien Stage is a series of MVs featuring humans in a sort of musical battle royal after the earth is invaded by aliens. The goal is to be the last survivor on stage by winning the alien votes, only one can survive at the end. ๏𝙰/𝙽 = Just saw the final round and yeah, i was sure that you know who would die- and i’m in my Wind Breaker era soooooo —How many times did i used « will » in this headcanon…?

——— 𝐒 𝗨 𝗠 𝗠 𝗔 𝗥 𝗬 • • •

𝐈 :: 𝙐𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙮𝙖

𝐈𝐈 :: 𝙉𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙞

𝐈𝐈𝐈 :: 𝙎𝙖𝙠𝙪𝙧𝙖

𝐈𝐕 :: 𝙎𝙪𝙤

𝐕 :: 𝙆𝙞𝙧𝙮𝙪

◌◍┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⿻*.·

┏━━───༻༺───━━┓

╰─► 𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗨𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘆𝗮

┗━━───༻༺───━━┛

⇰ Sorry for my Ume stans but he clearly wouldn't have the heart to fight against his friends and watch them die one by one for the entertainment of these filthy creatures.

⇰ Umemiya has the heart of a big brother as we can see in the manga, with Choji for example, where he tried at all costs to bring back the “good side” of him.

⇰ He will prefer to sacrifice himself and give a chance to those he considers his family, not even taking into account the trauma he could cause them by giving his life for them.

⇰ He will die in the first round and won't even bother to grab his microphone.

◌◍┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⿻*.·

┏━━───༻༺───━━┓

╰─► 𝐈𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗡𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗶

┗━━───༻༺───━━┛

⇰ Just like Ume, Nirei doesn't have the soul to fight against his own people, mainly due to lack of confidence and fear.

⇰ I could see him having the will to live but being terrified once on stage in front of his opponent and the crowd, even more so if the person he has to sing against is Sakura or Suo, whom he considers as brothers and protectors.

⇰ He’ll surely try to sing but his voice will deviate into an unbearable sound which will annoy the spectators, leading them to not vote for him.

⇰ The more he sees the votes for his opponent increase, the more he will find himself unable to produce a single note and will broke down in tears on stage.

◌◍┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⿻*.·

┏━━───༻༺───━━┓

╰─► 𝐈𝐈𝐈 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗿𝗮

┗━━───༻༺───━━┛

⇰ The case Sakura is a little more complicated than the others, for me it could be a potential winner but only if certain elements align.

⇰ Let's imagine that there are other participants than the Bofurin, Sakura will make sure to win at all costs but will refuse to use manipulation or low blows, compare to some.

⇰ He wants to win but can't bear to get his hands dirty any more than they will be at the end of his rounds. His determination and fair play will be what seduce the aliens and destabilize his opponent.

⇰ But if unfortunately he finds himself against Umemiya or Nirei his first instinct will be to refuse to sing. Facing Ume, the leader will ask Sakura to win and if the boy refuse he’ll ensure to be disqualified. Nirei will have no chance even if Sakura refuses to sing, he will annoy the aliens so much that they will vote for the other boy just to see the blond get executed.

⇰ The death of his loved ones will motivate him to win at all costs.

◌◍┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⿻*.·

┏━━───༻༺───━━┓

╰─► 𝐈𝐕 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗦𝘂𝗼

┗━━───༻༺───━━┛

⇰ I think I'm going to surprise no one but Suo clearly has what it takes to win the Alien Stage just with his imposing aura that will captivate the spectators.

⇰ I don't really like to say this but I have the impression that behind his big smile and his kindness towards his friends could well hide a dark side who would push him to betray his friends if he found himself face to face with them.

⇰ Nirei would surely be the only person to make him doubt but as said earlier he would be eliminated in any case which leaves the victory to Suo.

⇰ I imagine Suo with a smooth voice and a captivating charm emanating from him on stage and he would surely become the darling of the aliens—especially the females—.

⇰ He will not hesitate to use the weaknesses and traumas of other participants even if it means disgusting those close to him.

◌◍┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⿻*.·

┏━━───༻༺───━━┓

╰─► 𝐕 ･ ｡ﾟ☆ 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝘆𝘂

┗━━───༻༺───━━┛

⇰ For me Kiryu would be the second potential winner, after Suo the master of manipulation and lies.

⇰ As we saw in the manga, he can be very cold and serious, which leads me to believe that for X reasons, he would be capable of turning against his friends.

⇰ The audience would be attracted to his unusual style and cheerful personality which would be reflected in his music.

⇰ A bit like Suo, I see him having a slightly deep voice which would surprise the aliens and accentuate their curiosity.

⇰ I tend to think that Suo would win but I also think that Kiryu could have more than one trick up his sleeve that would push the creatures to vote for him at the last minute, who knows.

𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 ?

[bookology]

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Plague. Shakespeare. Cultural History of the Sixteenth Century.

As someone who has studied and specialised in these things throughout my UG/PG, I was very excited to hear that they were front and centre in Maggie O'Farrell's novel about the family of the Bard.

However, ultimately, I have mixed feelings about the book and the narrative inside. Mainly, I want to have a coffee with O'Farrell and talk to her about her research and her approach to such a famous life. I want to know about the decisions she made; Agnes and her herbalism and 'witchcraft', John and his relationship with his son, and the writer taking on the role of the King Hamlet.

Within the novel, I found the prose to be beautifully written. The use of tense helped with the playful approach to time and lack of linear narrative, and the handling of more 'magical' elements of the novel. However, I often felt a distance from the characters.

Being such a central part of the novel, and it's namesake, I thought Hamnet would play more of a role and be allowed more of a personality. That wasn't the case, and whilst I could suppose that his role of both realised and not could be reflective of the outcome of the novel, it was also sadly a trait that carried over to his sisters too. In fact, the only consistent character was that of Agnes, who was the main voice in the novel.

This didn't make her a well rounded character, however. She was an amalgamation of modern feminist approaches to life, in a way that made her feel false. Her exceptional presence in the community of the novel didn't make her an exceptional character, and I found her a little bit weary.

Whilst I would have like more development on the characters, I still enjoyed the setting of the novel. I struggle with historical novels normally, but this one felt real and like a place where people lived. It didn't feel like a space that was drawing heavily from tropes and the understanding that the past is a distant and untouchable place. The novel felt very much like you could step out of your front door and find this world, from 400 years ago, waiting outside.

I will definitely try and find more Maggie O'Farrell books to read, and I look forward to the upcoming adaptation.

[coolcataetheryte]

Say You Love Me Series (1, 2, 3, 5)

Pairing: Thancred x Joker (mWoL) x G'raha

Summary: during the last calm before the storm, Joker, Thancred, and G’raha make a promise for the future. Also works for Vierapril prompt 29: Future

Note: what would have happened during the Returning Home room cutscene (the one where you choose who visits your room) since Joker is dating Thancred and G’raha. Spoilers for that, as the dialogue is very derivative of what is canonically said. I changed it slightly, mainly because I didn't want to just copy paste. I hope it isn’t boring with me including it >.< sorry

Word count: 1,317

Background info: This is a series of snippets of Joker’s life with Thancred and G’raha in my Magical Heroes AU, during any part of the entirety of the game. The AU elements may not be entirely prominent in all stories, but know that they do take place in an AU, and so some things may be different from canon. Not every part will be in chronological order. I’ll just be writing them as they come to me. I’ll always give a bit of context of when it takes place. It isn’t necessary to read the previous ones, but they may help with understanding some things, such as specific gestures, or phrases they do/say to each other.

Thancred had come into the room, unnoticed, to find Joker holding his head. He knew by now what that meant, and hurried to his side. He very gently placed a hand on his back, knowing it would startle him regardless, but ready in case Joker collapsed.

Joker came back to himself. He was shaking. He jumped when he noticed Thancred’s presence, just as he’d predicted, but he held him close.

“Sorry,” Joker said with an awkward laugh.

“What did you see?,” asked Thancred. “On second thought.. maybe it’s best I don't know.”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Joker said. “Where’s G’raha?”

“He’ll be along. Actually.. there’s something i wanted to ask you while he isn’t here.”

Joker looked at him.

“It’s nothing so dire,” he assured.

They moved to sit on the bed, facing each other.

“I’m ready to listen,” Joker held his hand.

“Well, we may have quite literally entered our final days,” Thancred said. “and if that’s true, then everything we did for Ryne and the first was meaningless..”

He squeezed Joker’s hand, “If it comes to it.. If running is our only option.. I don’t know if I'll have it in me to make the right choice. I trust you and the scions with my life, and I hope that’s mutual at least sometimes. I’d never forgive myself if my stubbornness put any of you in danger.”

Joker brought Thancred’s hand close to chest, listening carefully.

“If you see me turning a blind eye to reality,” he continued. “Beat some sense into me, would you? I trust you to be the only one able to keep me in line.”

Joker smiled at him. “I can do that. I know how hard it’ll be, but I'll be here to help you through it. And give you the slap you need.”

Thancred chuckled, hugging him. “I knew I could count on you.”

G’raha slipped quietly into the room, closing the door softly.

“Oh, good,” Joker perked up. “I’m happy you’re both here now.”

“Ah, sorry to keep you waiting,” G’raha smiled. “I’m glad you’re awake. I thought maybe you’d be resting, so I was trying not to disturb you.”

Joker reached a hand out to him. G’raha hurried over and joined them.

“Since you’re still up,” G’raha fidgeted a bit as he spoke. “Can I say something?”

“Of course you can,” said Thancred, making more room for him on the bed.

Joker nodded in agreement.

“Well..,” G'raha hesitated. “I'm afraid this might be our last quiet night for some time. I.. I worry about you, Joker. You’ve bested all your enemies-Zenos, and even Zodiark- but the victories have come at a cost to yourself.”

G’raha’s ears were downturned. He held Joker’s hand a bit tighter and closed his eyes.

“Everyone has limits, even you,” he said sadly. “I’m worried the weight of the Final Days will be too much.”

He looked at Joker resolutely now, and held his hand to his chest, much like Joker had done to Thancred moments before.

“You needn’t bear it alone,” he said. “Let me share the burden. I may not have the capacity you do, but I can shoulder a few more satchels from your mountain of um.. baggage.”

“G’raha,” Joker said softly. He couldn’t help but smile at him.

Meanwhile, Thancred couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty as he listened to G’raha’s speech.

“You’ve done so much for me, and it’s only fair I return the favor,” G’raha continued. “Of course, it needn't always be troubles we share. Moments of joy seem few and far between but we’ll look back and remember all of this fondly. Every part of it, because we got through it together. And of course there’s all our journeys yet to come. To the ends of the world and beyond!”

“And beyond,” Joker nodded, and hugged him tight. “Thank you G’raha. I know I always have you both behind me.”

He noticed Thancred’s solemn expression, and touched a hand to his cheek. “Don’t feel guilty.”

“I only hope I haven't added to your burden,” Thancred said.

“I promise you haven’t,” Joker responded.

G’raha blinked between them, confused. Thancred gave him a soft smile.

“I asked Joker to be the one to make sure I'm pragmatic about the situation,” he explained. “But now I realize I should've spoken to you both. I was afraid to burden you, G’raha, while I burden Joker too easily.”

“I know you’re worried about her,” G’raha said, immediately knowing what Thancred was referring to. “I’m here for you, too. If Joker can’t knock sense into you, I will.”

Joker smiled at them. “We both will. I’ll never think of anything you ask me as a burden.”

Thancred nodded. “All that being said.. there is something else weighing on my mind.”

They looked at him with concern.

“I was going to wait until everything had calmed,” he said. “but G’raha’s words have made it unbearable for me to hold it back. And there may not be any better time than the present.”

“What is it?,” G’rah prodded, growing increasingly worried.

“I’ve been thinking,” Thancred was suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. “Well, I've been thinking I want nothing more than our souls to be eternally bonded.”

G’raha gasped, his ears twitching. He looked at Joker happily. “Oh, Joker, he wants to marry you!”

“You really want that?,” Joker asked, tears already beginning to form.

“I do,” Thancred smiled. “Ideally, it would be both of you, and I hope I haven't hurt you by asking this, G’raha. That is the other reason I held off on the notion.”

G’raha shook his head earnestly. “No, never. I completely understand. You two have been together much longer. It’s natural you would choose him for this. I’m really truly happy you chose to ask.”

“I would love to,” Joker said, the tears falling. “We’ll get married, and then we’ll have a private ceremony to include G’raha at least in spirit.”

G’raha’s own tears sprung from his eyes as he hugged Joker tight.

“And as a last request,” Thancred said seriously, taking G’raha’s hand. “Should anything go wrong.. should anything happen to me..”-he looked into his eyes- “I want you to marry Joker.”

G’raha nodded, holding his gaze. “I promise.”

Joker hugged them both, taking a moment to press his forehead against each of theirs. “We’re all going to make it out of this together. I won’t let anything happen to either of you. To anyone. We’re getting through this, one way or another, and all of our friends will be there for our wedding.”

The three of them held each other tight. Scared and unsure, crying.

Eventually, they’d made themselves more comfortable. The light was turned off, and they lay on each other and caressing anything they could reach. Hair, arms, a furry ear. Just as they always did.

“Should I wear a dress?,” Joker asked suddenly, breaking the silence and making them all laugh. “I mean, I don't mind a good dress every now and then.”

“You look pretty in dresses,” G’raha smiled. “You look pretty in anything.”

“He’s right,” Thancred agreed. “You could wear a sackcloth and you would still be the most gorgeous man I've ever seen.”

Joker nuzzled into Thancred's chest. “Aw, what did I ever do to deserve you two?”

“You deserve everything your heart desires,” Thancred mused, stroking Joker’s back and scratching G’raha’s ears.

G’raha hummed in agreement, starting to purr softly.

The trio was finally drifting into sleep. A sadness washed over Joker as he remembered his most recent vision. He tightened his grip slightly on both of his lovers.

“Say you love me?,” he whispered into the darkness.

But the other two had already fallen into slumber; he was met with silence. He took a shaky, deep breath. He forced himself to empty his mind. They were here. He could feel them. He would protect them. He needed to.

[wisteria-tarot]

one more ask about the chateau des amerois im wondering then if they used the rail system at the town of muno cause other than that its in the middle of nowhere even i didnt know about this place or the evil shit going on there. will more victims speak out about it any time soon? if theyre still around ofc. also did it connect with the marc dutroix case as well as that was happening in belgium at the time during the 90s and earlier than that probably?

were colin and connor of the paranormal files youtube channel right about the chateau being a hunting ground to hunt humans?

Disclaimer: This reading is only for entertainment. Take it with a grain of salt. These are my personal interpretations of the cards with a sprinkle of intuition. Tarot is not set in stone it is not the end all be all of someones life.

Will any past victims speak out about what went on in the house?

king of cups (rx), 5 of wands, 8 of swords, 2 of swords:

Past victims may struggle to speak out about what went on in the house, mainly due to a combination of emotional manipulation, internal conflict, fear, and self-imposed limitations. There are significant psychological barriers preventing them from coming forward, and even if some of them want to speak, they may hesitate or feel trapped by their situation. This indicates that, while it is possible that some will eventually speak out, the process may be slow and difficult, with a lot of mental struggle and emotional turmoil along the way.

Is their any connection between the two cases?

9 of wands (rx), knight of pentacles, the magician, the star:

The connection between the two cases appears to be one of slow and methodical uncovering, potentially obscured by hidden influences or manipulation, and tied to a history of frustration or feeling overwhelmed. However, there is a sense of healing, hope, and eventual revelation, suggesting that despite the obstacles and hidden elements, the truth about how these cases are connected will eventually come to light.

Where they right about it's use?

7 of pentacles (rx), 10 of swords, 9 of pentacles (rx), 5 of cups (rx):

No, the perception of what the house was used for was likely not correct. The real use of the house seems to have led to disappointment, harm, and loss, with the house being associated with failure, betrayal, or a tragic ending. While the situation may have been misunderstood at the outset, there is an element of regret or pain connected to its true purpose, and it likely caused instability or negative consequences. If there is a chance for healing or moving forward, it would take time and reflection to fully understand the true nature of what occurred there.

[jonmcbrine-author]

Discussing your desire can be embarrassing. Exposing your ambitious passion can often times make you feel as if you’ve mutated into cringe incarnate. The dream that accompanies every waking thought - which essentially dominates your brain to the point where it’s difficult to talk about anything other than your creative goals - is the same concept you suppress from casual conversation. If these fantasies and lofty career aspirations make up such large portions of our gray matter (and can even feel physically beyond, seemingly flowing within our whole body’s bloodstream), then why is it sometimes awkward to publicly display?

The reason for me (most of the time) is to not sound pretentious. Who am I to boast of any ideas? Have I sold a bajillion copies of anything? Compare and despair plays a big part in my hesitancy to share my deepest daydreams of making it big as an author. I don’t want to sound like the middle-aged dude in a go-nowhere band, or the man-child all-day gamer. Even writing that makes me feel like I should apologize and that I don’t have anything against late-in-life goals or hobbies. Heck, I fit the bill when it comes to both, though I’m not much of a gamer, and a lot of my extracurricular activities are brainless time-wasters. A large chunk of my hobbies, though, are ultimately contributing to an even huger target. Still, the creative pursuit can at least look like a frivolous endeavor that friends and family humor. Writing fiction is, of course, a passion of mine, but it’s also a frustrating one when there isn’t much in the way of instant gratifications.

A lot of the time I resist the urge to indulge in my author-related projects unless the topic of conversation is initiated by someone else. Despite having a legitimately intrigued audience, I will still attempt to limit the info-dump I’m avalanching upon the well-meaning yet unsuspecting person. The self-censor is partially out of politeness but mainly for myself to not sound like an utter weirdo. Recently, however, I had the gift of a certain kind of freedom - a liberating moment where I could fully immerse myself in inspiration.

This flow of exciting ideas was a silent, internalized experience - and brief - but it was a welcome release of fretting over any outward appearances. No, there wasn’t an opportunity to shout these story ideas from the rooftops, but my mind’s unraveling of characters and their fantastical actions didn’t need to be anything other than an interior wandering. Normally, taking a trip into my “mind palace” would be reserved for spare moments throughout the day or perhaps a random idea would manifest itself within my brain and I’d follow for however long I could before resuming whatever daily work or routine I’d be doing at the time. This particular instance from only a few days ago at the time of this writing occurred at a time where it was appropriate and okay to mentally lose myself in a sequence of scenes for a piece of fiction I’ve been developing. My muse in this case was none other than the ocean.

Beach vacations are known for the relaxing times of peaceful meandering and/or serene introspection. My recent trip provided these things, sure, but like with many excursions, there are planning elements, as well as the stress of navigating through a different environment. My sandy getaway may not have offered as many thought-clearing states as I may have liked, but the idyllic moments the vacay did offer were priceless gifts.

I stood knee-deep in cool seawater, enjoying the mercifully mild weather, and permitting myself to know that at that very moment, my situation was a safe and acceptable one. I had achieved the stress-free comfort that soothing shorelines are capable of giving. It was during a time where few others occupied the beach, so the atmosphere was even more freeing. Even the stronger waves’ crashing carried dulcet tones, and the soft breezes blew around my body, reminding me of how wonderfully insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things - while simultaneously assuring the importance of me and everyone and everything else. It’s a good place to be.

The moment evaporated as it reached what was apparently its natural conclusion, but I was gifted the time of mental exploration. Undisturbed yet swirling with activity like the ocean itself, I allowed for some unadulterated imagining. I believe what made this experience more noteworthy than any other time I happen to think of soothing that would be cool to throw into a story is that this was fully acknowledged and embraced. At the risk of coming off as strange or humiliating myself with “gee whiz” naïveté, I am publicly posting this blog that may or may not get read. Cringe or no cringe.

Stay in the loop for more details by following Jonfiction Blog on Substack and be sure to check out jonmcbrine.com for more info about this and all my books.

Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon Kindle store.

https://a.co/2XAtxvH

New blog every Monday. Newsletter first Monday of every month.

[xviiperr]

hello! just wanted to ask: what is your favourite writing format? (headcanons, oneshot, character analysis, etc.)

Oh good gosh! It's a real challenge for me there Anon! I tend to lean towards head canons/analysis rather than one shots or storylines, mainly because of how easy they can be! The two go hand in hand together and many times and bring me joy! Here's why:

Headcanons are nice because I get to make up an idea of what I'd think one character would do based on their traits and actions. It's a good brain boggler that I like and sometimes throws me in for a loop because I get so transfixed on making the assumption so perfect that I tend to forget that a head canon, is just a head canon. In any case, it's always fun to share an opinion! Characters, from fandoms or just peoples' ocs, are just really cool to look at and think about. You get to see an element of the creator out into these designs and you can add your opinion to it based on different versions, like what if bad guy good guy, ooo? Again, real fun stuff! It's what makes head canons really nice to write for.

Analysis helps me to break down the said character or series of characters because I can understand the actions. Or in other cases, feel frustrated because the main character is doing something that I don't like and while I would know why, I still would feel a right to be upset. Furthermore, I can use this analysis to develop a profile for a headcanon or story! So many people on the Internet go and make these awesome videos that I'll just sit down and listen to, (even for characters I've never even heard of lol) because they are taking a piece of media that's impacted their life and telling you why it did that. Why the character does this! Why the character does that! Why these actions make the character so unique! Why the character existed. You get to see so much from analysis, really. (Haha I almost sound like Grand Admiral Thrawn 😭).

Writers who are able to orchestrate a whole oneshot and let alone an entire novel are awesome and I love their skill. That skill, man, I just want to take it and eat it, (the artistic urge to devour another's skill runs rampant). The only way I get myself to that level is if I try real hard or think I'm doing a roleplay with another person, (where I can develop a whole storyline). But in general, I find it tougher to write a whole story because, well, writing an impactful story can be hard! Any writer can vouch for that and I can understand those awful writer's blocks, THE WORST. But when I write a successful story or maybe just a story that I genuinely like, it does get easier. For me, it really just depends on what fandom I'm fixated on.

Currently, I'm shifting from my whole Sonic fixation to STAR WARSS AAAAAA DA NA NA NAAAAA NAAAA DA NA NA NAAAAA NAAAAA BUM BUM BUM BUMMMMMMMM— anyways!

That is a very good question and I'm so glad you've asked, Anon! I like getting little pop quizzes like this!

[shinxeysartgallery]

so tell me about your other planet colbat 7. is it like copper 9 where people gotta be in space suits all the time? what are the natural resources like? why did people go there? is cyn gonna eat it lmao

It's an exoplanet very much like Copper-9. In my AU, JCJenson took over a lot of exo-planets, some also similar, and others not. mainly to spread their influence across the galaxy and mine elements from said planet. In Copper-9's case, it's probably mostly copper that's mined from it, as implied by its name. Cobalt-7's mostly getting cobalt mined from it. There's probably one exoplanet for each of the precious stones and metals, but my AU only focuses on two planets (being Copper-9 and Cobalt-7).

I don't think people had to be in spacesuits constantly on Copper-9 prior to the core collapse. The humans we see in Episode 1 and Episode 7 are in what appear to be something more akin to hazmat suits, rather than spacesuits.

Understandable, considering all the blood and gore that they were seemingly exposed to on a daily basis in the labs. More evidence is seen in Episode 3. Uzi's, V's, and N's prom outfits were all canonically stolen from human corpses littered around the planet.

Uzi's skeleton is even holding a popsicle! If the air was as toxic to humans prior to the core collapse as it was afterwards, why would these skeletons be wearing normal clothing (and the one eating a popsicle out in the open)? It's doubtful people would be wearing these underneath a spacesuit (and since these clothes weren't damaged/decomposed at all, why wouldn't they have been wearing a spacesuit?). I think the air only got toxic to humans after the core collapse.

So based on all that, I believe Cobalt-7's atmosphere is similar, making it habitable to human life. I think they were both similar to Earth's climate, having some warmer and some colder parts to it. Cobalt-7 has a ton of natural plant and animal life, very similar to what you'd find on Earth. In addition to mining for elements, JCJenson was also studying the Solver. I still maintain my theory that the Cabin Fever Labs were created to experiment on Drones in order to study the Solver, how it spread, and find ways to counteract, harness, or outright destroy the Solver. In my AU, labs were put on each of the exoplanets, and several Drones were sent along with - some to be experimented on in the labs, and the others to help mine. Much like Copper-9, Cobalt-7 also has its own labs where Drones were experimented on and the Solver was researched. There were no labs on Earth and they were spread out amongst the exoplanets in the instance that something escaped or the facility were to be compromised - they didn't want anything to happen to Earth (it's okay if something happens to another planet though! lol what are ethics and morals?). Oops, guess that didn't help them in the end. If the Copper-9 labs were compromised or the planet destroyed, for instance, the Cobalt-7 (and other planets') labs would be there as backup. Each of the labs were connected to one another, so the scientists in the Cobalt-7 labs know what happened to Copper-9 and to Earth. This also means there's a backup of the Cabin Fever Labs' data on their servers. This is part of why Cyn is sending Disassembly Drones to each of the exoplanets.

I haven't gotten that far in my AU to develop it further, but there's vague plans to have Uzi's group find out about the backup and head to Cobalt-7 to retrieve the data. Also, in canon, it seems like the series is gearing up for Copper-9 to explode or otherwise be completely destroyed in Episode 8, so there's vague plans to include a bit of that as a plot point and get my OCs on there off the planet, too.

But anyway, that's a bit off-topic. Back to my AU.

In order to hide what they were doing, JCJenson sold seats on spacecraft and gave away free trips in raffles in order to send normal people to the exoplanets, too. With them doing this, it seems just like they're trying to solve population issues by colonizing other planets; why would you think they're doing something more nefarious? From the outside, people wouldn't think much of it or be overly suspicious of what they were planning. The general public didn't know about the labs, and normal people getting sent there to live helped to camouflage their existence. A few Drones were sent with them to further cover their existence as well. "What? You think they're doing crazy experiments on the Drones they're sending to the exoplanets? Naw, look! Those two Drones that boarded that spacecraft are helping that lady with her coffee shop!" Everyone, human and Drone alike, appeared to be accounted for, living a normal average life on the planets, according to the outside perspective.

Then the gala massacre happened... Then Cyn sent the Disassembly Drones to destroy Earth... Then she sent them to destroy the exoplanets...

Since we know now that the Solver wants to destroy (and seemingly consume) the planets, we can infer that once Cyn has finished her job with Copper-9, Cobalt-7 is going to be one of her next targets.

However, Cyn is a bit behind schedule with taking over Cobalt-7. She hasn't obtained a proper host to collapse the core there yet, so the humans are still alive for the moment. In order to speed up the process, she sent one of her abominations to try taking over, but that hasn't gone well yet, so she sent out a team of a Disassembly Drones to assist. But because she's so far behind, they've gotten a bit suspicious and are starting to ask questions...

Aaaaand that's about as far as my development has gone as of now! But yeah, Cyn is planning on destroying (and likely consuming) Cobalt-7 eventually, too.

I should write out a full, proper timeline for my AU when I've got the time.

[amazing-spiderling]

.✨🎀💝💌.

✨What’s a fic you’ve posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Haha, man I don't think there's anything in the world I can do to get people to read/comment on "Getting the Band Together" but it sure would be cool. It's just one of the downsides of fandom events where a lot of fics and art get posted at the same time, so things can get lost in the shuffle. I've had kinda a rough stretch of luck with events with giftees dropping out/not being on AO3 to leave comments/forgetting to read and comment etc and while I got a nice reblog on this one, it's kinda hard to go back and find that and appreciate it as opposed to an AO3 comment etc.

IDK maybe it's bc it's a band AU? I don't really know who usually goes for those, so maybe I missed the mark on it, but I thought it was a good effort. XD

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

WORKS WELL WITH OTHERS

haha, um, that is to say, I think I'm a pretty good writing partner? I mean, it doesn't always work out with everyone, but I have had some pretty successful collaborations in the past and I think that's due to me being not just good at coming up with ideas, but figuring out how to piece together the ideas both of us come up with in a logical (and hopefully satisfying way). Some of this happens in the planning stage, a lot of it happens in edits. I've gotten pretty good at meshing my writing with a partner's during edits so that it's not TOO terribly obvious when one person or the other has taken over. Anyways, it's just a skill I've developed over the years that I think not everyone has (because not everyone works that way).

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

"Bound in Volumes" was my fic with the most reviews for a long time. It was the first time I wrote a fic based on a random tumblr prompt, and I sorta started it from a "haha, let me bang out this one shot real quick" mentality. It grew to be a multichapter, and while I felt myself a little out of my depth writing about some topics I don't have personal experience with (namely PTSD) I tried to do my due diligence in regards to reading up on people's experiences and coping mechanisms. My expectation was that people would enjoy reading a fic about their OTP in an AU, and that would be that.

What I did *not* expect was to get several comments from people who experienced PTSD themselves (or had a partner who did) writing to tell me how much the story resonated with them. To read comments from people saying they felt like I'd transcribed their experience perfectly really shocked me, in a good way. Mainly, I take it as a lesson that you don't have to be or live everything you want to write about, you just have to be willing to put in the work, approach things with respect, and focus on telling the best story you can with what you've learned.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited

Things are starting to get real in "Homes Around the Corner"- a lot of history has been aired out between Matt and Foggy, which means we're able to move forward with some of the plotty elements, particularly the case that Foggy has been laboring over. I don't usually put a lot of case stuff in fics, so it's been a fun challenge to try and sort something out (even if the terms are still general) to include in this one.

[tays-literary-life]

Beast of the Southern Wild

Beast of the Southern Wild is a magical realist film that focuses on the lives of the hidden people of the Bathtub in Louisiana. As we follow Hushpuppy’s narrative as she navigates through a post apocalyptic version of her home we watch as she matures into a possible savior of the Bathtub. A possible allusion to our own children taking control of the world in a world full of climate crises.  Going into this section of my playlist project I felt like the only applicable picture for the cover of this playlist would be a screenshot from the movie. I chose this scene specifically because it's a representation of Hushpuppy’s resourcefulness when faced with being on her own.

I arranged these songs specifically to mirror the perspective and storyline of the movie. I chose to start with “Lost Boy” by Ruth B. and “Mother Nature’s Son” by the Beatles to align with the whimsy feeling that Hushpuppy feels before the storm. With “Lost Boy” I wanted to highlight the fantastic element as well as mirror the emotions of finding a reprieve from the reality of a home without stability or a place to feel safe and then finding a new home or identity where you do feel safe. Though Ruth B’s song is about a Lost Boy finding a home with Peter Pan in Neverland, the story is quite similar to Hushpuppy’s. Hushpuppy, through an unimaginable crisis finds herself and her home with a new family after her parents are gone. She finds a new family in those left in the bathtub. When it comes to “Mother Nature’s Son” I again chose this song to mirror the whimsy of Hushpuppy’s life before the storm. The song has similarities in both the fact that it is in the perspective of a poor child living amongst nature. Like Beast of the Southern Wilds it highlights the freedom that is associated with living in the country or in Hushpuppy’s case the Bathtub. Both the narrator of the song and Hushpuppy share the love for a home that isn’t typically the ideal place to live. 

The next three songs I chose are to mirror the storm and the aftermath of the storm. “Skies” by Protest the Hero is full of images of natural disasters the first being one of a cyclone not especially stated as a hurricane but with the opening onomatopoeia of  “Cough, gasp, and sputter,” (Protest the Hero) gives the feeling of wetness, which could be interpreted as a hurricane cyclone.  Originally that is why I chose this song. It mirrors the storm in both tone of the song and its words. However, upon further inspection it is also about the anxiety that comes with knowing the inevitable destruction of the planet. This anxiety is one of the major challenges that we see through Hushpuppy’s take represented both in the melting ice caps and in the ever looming auroch invasion. Along with “Skies” I chose “Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash and “Where Do the Children Play?” By Yusuf (also known as Cat Stevens), where “Skies” focuses on the Storm and the anxiety that Hushpuppy felt before, during, and after the storm these songs are a little more targeted toward the storm and its aftermath. Cash’s song is about flooding with a hurricane; it's mainly focused on the experience of the rising waters. The Cash’s narrator’s questions toward his parents and Hushpuppy’s worried glances at Wink during the storm are equivalent. Then comes “Where Do the Children Play” though this song is about rising waters after the ice caps melt it asks the question of what will the children or humans do after everything is destroyed. The song mirrors the girls’ aimless wanderings after the storm and after they are released from the government facility (the waterless fishbowl). Both ultimately ask “what do we do after everything is gone?” 

Finally the last section of the playlist is more focused on strength, both in Hushpuppy and her future. “The Seed” by Aurora talks about overcoming circumstance both environmental and economical by blending travesties and the obsession with making money at any costs. She starts with comparing herself and humans to seeds using simile to make the point that we change and grow the same way pants do. Aurora is calling to think that way about our planet instead of focusing on the things that destroy it like unbridled industriousness. The same is said for Hushpuppy’s story she grows and flourishes alongside nature despite adversity and little means, proving Aurora's  recurring line “You cannot eat money,”  Finally, I used “Brave” by Sara Bareilles to represent the moment Hushpuppy braves all the intertwined problems at the end of the movie. Sara Bareilles song is about finding your voice even when you’re scared. Hushpuppy’s final acts in this she has found herself and her voice against, her father’s death, the future, and climate disasters. Overall this playlist mirrors Hushpuppy’s journey into the unknown.

Citations:

Aurora. "The Seed," Spotify.

B, Ruth. "Lost Boy," Spotify.

Bareilles, Sara. "Brave," Spotify.

The Beatles. "Mother Nature's Son-Take 15," Spotify.

Cash, Johnny. "Five Feet High and Rising," Spotify.

Fox Searchlight Pictures, et al. Beasts of the Southern Wild. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2012.

Protest the Hero. "Skies," Spotify.

Yusuf, Cat Stevens. "Where Do The Children Play?" Spotify.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Ah I'm the market expansion into the asia-pacific market anon, I vaguely remember sending your something on the topic before around a year ago when BTS did their LV thing. But I can can be Anon 2 or Needle Anon or what, I don't mind, it's neither here nor there.

I've only jsut had time to catch up on the fashion shows, life gets in the way, and the delightful interactions with your other Fashion Anon, the perspective is interesting. Because as much as I keep up with Modern fashion my focus and a lot of interest is mainly on fashion history and observing different elements which can be found in the contemporary scene vs. previous eras. And then of course how fashion penetrates and has penetrated different markets due to history and stuff. So I believe our skill sets are different. I will share some of my observations and feelings? of the shows I've had time to watch in a bit. Maybe I'll do that in a separate ask because this might get long and it'll be easier to keep the topics together…

I, however, first want to re-address the initial ask where you answered me on the consumer side of things and decisions of brands to employ certain idols for promotion. It is of course very smart to employ lots of different idols/celebrities in general who, may have a fanbase in similar age range, but other demographic factors which diversify them as to reach a wider audience. All the odious infighting of the fandoms over their idols' ambassadorships is a waste of energy because I believe it is very likely just a case of "oh have we reached this demographic yet, who can we get on board to solve that" mentality on side of the brands. It is of course very possible that particularly fashion affine people will be chosen or it comes down to a fit with the brand, but this might also change with different collections over years since usually taste and fashionable silhouettes and bodies in particular are ever evolving too.

I think at this point everyone is aware of these luxury brands but may not endorse them until their idol of choice decides to and that may well be a growing number of middle class or working class people too. As you write it is very possible that they might look for items they can afford in the brands repertoire. Talk about real Spine Breakers when a lip gloss suddenly has to be Dior or LV for a 16 year old or a Uni student when food and accommodation prices are ever rising. Either way, as we have established it's a win-win situation for the Brands.

As you may well know, a fan/consumer base that is brought along is worth a lot. It's why influencer marketing is so prolific, and nowadays a reason why books are published by people with large followings, and everyone and their cats start their own fashion label or whatnot. This is all a global phenomenon, it's all mutually beneficial for those in these deals.

So this has, as expected got a bit long. I will be making a separate ask on the actual FW stuff now.

Welcome back! Yes, I do remember we talked as well back when BTS had the brand deal with LV. I knew it was familiar.

You mentioned something interesting here, about the changes over the years in collections and how the brand's image is prone to change, an obvious development anyway. My question would be, how much is that connected to the ambassador they appoint and how long? Let's look a bit contextually and historically. From what I know and read about and I'm talking here about Dior specifically but I'm sure it applies to others, some ambassadors have held the title for many years and even decades and stood the test of time, regardless of the trends and how the brand changed. For example, Sharon Stone or Isabella Adjani, and then you also have Jude Law who was an ambassador between 2008-2012 for Dior Homme fragrance. Pattinson helds the title as GA since 2013 and ongoing. But there is a difference between having actors and singers who historically have very specific means of reaching an audience and most of them have established themselves in another generation, not fully internet based. Now we see the shift with reaching a more globalized and vastly larger consumer base by employing public figures that have completely different methods of reaching their audience, the k-pop idols. And we've also been living in the influencer era, which is a part of an idol's role too and that changes the game. Pattinson doesn't bring the same consumer base in terms of social media engagement as Jimin might, or Jisoo. Trying to get to my question here, do you think that being a long time BA for today's hot trending people is something possible? Could Jimin or any other other be replaced faster due to how fast relevancy on social media changes and the type of following they have and if these public figures can become long term partners or they are merely relevant as long as they fit to the brand's vision for a certain period of time? (Meaning a few years and that's it)

I also want to note another aspect here which I know people easily dismiss by saying everyone can do whatever they want with their money, but that's a very obtuse capitalistic way of viewing things, but I don't have a problem addressing that. I think it's a problem that points out a lack of self awareness and how such discussions are burried or easily dismissed because the fandom mentality doesn't allow that. They see their consumer habits as part of their support for an artist. Fair, but I'm afraid we'll see a rise in purchase competition (it already exists in this generation, but it will be exacerbated in this particular case) and some hidden shaming towards some economic classes. But it's also the reality we're living in and we're most likely entering a recession, while part of this fandom will enter their big luxury brand purchases thanks to BTS. It's just how it is. And lastly, you mentioning Spine Breaker also shows the massive changes in the status and message the group is putting out and I'll leave it at that for now.

P.S. I received you other ask on the actual collection, I will post it as well.

[beautifulbows924]

Of Gods and Men

Marc Spector & Steven Grant x Gender Neutral!Reader

Masterlist

A/N: This is the longest fic I’ve ever written- I’m so proud of it. The first part has elements of a request I got from @fangeekkk and the second half closely follows the events of Moonknight episode three. As always, I hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave any feedback you have in the comments and if you like my work consider leaving a tip! Thanks:)

Word Count: 3K+

Warnings: MAJOR MOONKNIGHT EPISODE 3 SPOLIERS, Khonshu x Reader if you squint, Angst, Several mentions of death, Reader is self destructive and critical, Layla is in this part but is Marc’s ex-wife.

Summary: You’ve been friends with Marc your whole life, always secretly wishing you could be something more. So when he goes missing for months and suddenly turns up at your door asking you to help make sure one of his alters, ‘Steven’, doesn’t find out about the mess his life has become- of course you say yes. But what does that mean for you and Marc? Especially, when you’ve started to fall in love with Steven too.

Previous Part: Reflections

Next Part: White Lies

The moon taunts you, serving as a constant reminder of Marc and Steven.

Your nights are blending together again. You spend them awake and worried, a painful ache in your chest that never goes away.

It hurts. You don’t know where they are- if they’re safe.

You assume as long as Marc is needed that Khonshu will keep him alive, but what happens when their work is done? Will he simply leave him to rot?

You try not to think about it.

You wish you knew where they went. You’re no mercenary, but you can hold your own in a fight. You trained with Marc for years in case you ever needed to protect yourself. He was always terrified he would somehow put you in harm’s way.

You’re certain that’s why he didn’t tell you where he was going, and why he refuses to take any of your calls.

You’re calling him again, unsure how many voicemails you’ve left, but you don’t care. You’ll call until the end of time if you must.

It rings, over and over again, until it stops. You try again.

The last ring has the phone meeting the wall in front of you with a loud smack, leaving a dent behind. The impact shakes the mirror above where it hit, the same mirror privy to everything that happened between you.

You’re angry still, not thinking of the consequences of your actions. Your chair scrapes against the kitchen tile.

You walk towards the mirror, intending to destroy it, hoping it will alleviate some of the hurt you’re feeling. You’re mainly furious at yourself, upset you didn’t tell Steven the truth when you had the chance, heartbroken you may never get the time to explain.

Your hands clasp the mirror, bringing it down to you and your reflection makes you pause.

You haven’t slept or eaten since Marc forced you to go that night, and you can tell it’s taking a toll on you. You know he’d be mad that you’re neglecting yourself if he was here and the thought has you sinking to the floor, hugging the mirror like it’s the last thing you have of both of them.

“Good, I don’t need to intervene”, a low voice says, the sound filling the entire room. Your eyes dart around, trying to find the source, but all you find is open air.

“I'm certain Marc wouldn’t want his pet injured, even if they themselves were the ones to cause it”, it continues, close enough to make you jump.

You breathe in shakily, tilting the mirror up, and directing it towards the empty space beside you. A grey beak nearly leans on your shoulder, sharp tip close enough to stab you in the eye if you turned slightly to the right.

"K-Khonshu?”, you stutter out, certain he’s the only god who would pay you a visit.

The beak moves, allowing you to see him more clearly. “I will only say this once”, he tells you, “Marc refuses to ask for help, human pride. Instead, I do it for him”.

“I offer you a deal. When Harrow is dead, I will leave them alone. If and only if, you make yourself available to be mine”.

You’re not entirely sure why he wants you as his avatar. You’re certainly not as capable as Marc or as intelligent as Steven. You feel overwhelmingly average when compared to them, despite your obvious advantage over the general population.

“Tick Tock, little one. Remember, I will not ask again”, he chides you.

You think it over. It’s clear they’re both being heavily affected by all of this, and you don’t want them to have to carry this burden any longer. All you want is for them to be able to rest.

“Yes”, you tell him, “I’ll do it”, as soon as the words leave your mouth, you feel a searing pain directly beneath your collar bone. You bite your hand not to scream in agony, and when the burning subsides you raise your gaze back to the mirror, but nothing is there.

All that’s left behind is a crescent moon branded into your skin, marking you as his. And when ‘Cairo’ bounces around your head like a thought, it’s without question who put it there.

People bump into you, clambering to buy all sorts of trinkets and items, but none of them have what it is you’re looking for.

You’re about to give up, when suddenly, you notice him. It looks like he’s trying and failing to get information out of the civilians.

You see Layla come up behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. You can see he’s irritated that she’s there, and you decide that this isn’t the best time to reveal yourself.

You remember her from when you went to their wedding. It was one of the worst days of your life, seeing the person you love getting married to someone else.

Seeing her again makes jealousy boil in your blood.

You know Marc said he was done with her, and it’s not like you have any say in the matter- you’re not even sure what you are to him and Steven, but seeing them standing so close to each other makes you feel like you’re having your heart ripped out all over again.

You follow them. Disguising yourself as a part of the wedding party on the small boat they get on.

You hold your breath when one of the passengers calls Marc’s attention to your end, but he doesn’t notice you. He seems wrapped up in something Layla is saying and it makes you want to throw them both overboard.

You restrain yourself.

You make sure to get off first, trying to not bring any unnecessary attention to yourself. Neither of them notice you, even when you hang back a bit to listen to their conversation. You decide to keep an eye out for Harrow’s men, you assume whatever Marc is doing has to be important and you want to buy him as much time as possible.

It’s a decision you regret.

A man entirely in black sees you, some kind of security for the party.

“What’s your name?”, he asks you.

Your certain you could knock him out but there’s too many people around.

The way he’s looking at you makes you think you’ve taken too long to answer. And suddenly, he’s made the decision for you, gripping you tightly by the shoulder, dragging you where Marc and Layla disappeared earlier.

You can see them held at gunpoint, before the man who grabbed you is throwing you to your knees next to them.

“One of yours?”, the man in the red robe asks Layla.

She doesn’t respond.

Marc turns to you, and if you thought he was angry to see her earlier, he looks absolutely livid to see you. But he keeps his mouth shut.

The man across the way, who you can only assume has to be Arthur Harrow, begins to walk toward all of you.

“Each one of you has so much more in common than you know”, he says, “Layla, you keep thinking that distance will prevent the wounds from your father’s murder from reopening. But something stands in your way. Your husband doesn’t tell you the truth”.

Ex-husband, you want to correct him, but you don’t.

He continues speaking, “And Marc, you don’t tell her because you know that if you do, she’ll see you exactly as you see yourself, as unworthy of love”, you’re not sure what he’s referring to, but you assume it’s bad.

He ignores you completely, he must have no idea who you are.

“You piece of shit”, Marc grinds out angrily.

“Anton.. the lore that surrounds these relics, I offer proof that it’s real”, he says, holding up his cane, the eyes of the crocodiles glowing purple with power.

“This sarcophagus doesn’t belong to anyone”, the lights begin to flicker, wind whipping around you, “Anton, would you like to see for yourself?”.

“Yes”, the man responds, “I do”.

Harrow starts chanting in a language you’ve never heard before and the sarcophagus is destroyed, the man looks at him in awe.

“That’s just a taste of the godly power I offer” he says as he walks away, your eyes following him.

“He’s gone!”, one of the security shouts, gaining your attention. Marc has disappeared from the spot he was next to you.

Your eyes search for him, finding him atop one of the glass pyramids. He’s described his suit to you before, but it’s nothing like seeing it in person. He swoops down, knocking over a man that’s trying to shoot him.

You and Layla pick up guns, killing the line of men trying to shoot you. She acknowledges you, nodding her head in admiration.

You hear more shots coming from behind you and Marc drapes you both in his cape, covering you from heavy gunfire.

“By us some time”, she tells him.

“I can do that”, he responds, his glowing eyes flickering from yours to hers.

As soon as he turns, uncovering you, you’re running behind her into one of the pyramids.

“Help me find these”, she says, holding up some kind of fabric.

You find all the pieces you can, until you’re satisfied you have them all. Turning around, a man stands behind you, smug look on his face, like he’s been looking forward to this.

Layla picks up glass throwing it in his face, before kicking him in the gut. You grab him by the upper arms, trying to hold him in place for her, but he flings you off of him.

Your back hits the ground and it knocks all the air out of you. From your position, you can see him try to stab her, but she gets the better of him.

She yells for you to help Marc, that she has it. So with all the strength you have left, you run to him.

He’s been impaled several times and you can tell he’s hurting. You try to get to him faster, but you get knocked in the head by the man in the red robe.

You fall to the ground. You can faintly hear Marc yelling your name, but everything is fuzzy.

He’s running to you when you’re impaled by a metal rod.

You scream in pain.

“Don’t worry I will mend their wounds, just as I do yours”, you hear a familiar voice say, and you blackout.

You wake up to both of them standing over you. Marc is clearly distraught, he’s not even looking at you, pacing like a maniac.

“Hey”, you say, letting him know you’re alive.

He’s on you in seconds checking you over for wounds, but when he notices the mark underneath your collar bone, his eyes narrow.

“What the hell is that?”, he spits out, “is that why he healed you?”.

His chest is heaving, eyes unwavering, as he waits for your answer.

“Probably”, you tell him softly, your voice failing you.

“Probaby, probaby!”, he mocks you.

His words come angrily, but his intentions are good. You can tell he’s worried, upset that you got hurt when he was right there. His fingers come down and trace the newly formed scar, reassuring himself that you’re still here.

“Hey, I’m okay”, you remind him, forcing him to look at you, “I’m okay”.

He’s calm now, pulling you into his arms, “You can’t do that to me again, I thought I lost you”. He buries his face into your hair and you both let yourself enjoy the moment.

Your bodies mold into each other, trying to explain what words can’t.

You’re deep in the sands of Egypt, fitting the pieces together to make a constellation. You can see Marc getting frustrated as he puts his head in his hands, trying to calm himself.

“Marc, we need Steven”, Layla says, you’re surprised she knows who Steven is, but you don’t let it show on your face, “He understands all of this, I really think it’s worth giving him a shot”.

“She’s right”, you tell him, “we need him”.

You can see her send you a thankful glance in your peripheral.

Marc seems to be thinking about something, then he grunts in anger, ripping the car mirror from the door. He collects the pieces, walking a bit away, before raising the mirror and letting Steven take control.

“Cheers, thanks a lot”, you can hear him say, starting to put it all together.

You crouch down next to him, “Steven?”, he looks at you for a full moment, like he’s expecting you to disappear, before he starts speaking again, “Egyptians invented modern navigation. There’s not a lot of landmarks in the desert, so they came up with a way to get about using the sun and the stars. It’s bloody genius isn’t it?”.

He looks back at the fragments, using tape to put them all together, before handing it to you, “Et voilá”.

“This is amazing Steven”, you tell him, “I could kiss you right now”.

He looks away at your words, gods- he missed you.

He wants to tell you how sorry he is for getting so angry with you. He knows you were only abiding by Marc’s wishes.

You stand up, walking back to the car. Layla takes the star from you, “Whoa”, she says, “How do we use it?”.

Steven grabs it back from her. “I’m not quite sure, but I think- hang on wait a minute, you see that? You see those little pinpricks there, those are constellations”, he tells both of you.

She gets closer to it, “We should be able to triangulate the stars into coordinates, right?”, she asks, moving to scan the stars with her device.

“Well- um, actually… Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.”

You stand behind her, looking at the screen, “Yeah, it’s not working”, you tell him.

“Why is it not working?”, she says, annoyance seeping through.

“Yeah, yeah- you see Senfu- Senfu marked that tomb, like, 2000 years ago”, he says, and you interject, “And stars drift over time, not much, but still, enough”.

He looks at you like you’re the most beautiful thing in the world, like you told him you hung all the stars just for him.

He looks away, realizing he’s staring, and scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, “Yeah, they’re right- it could mean the difference between looking miles and miles away from where we’re supposed to be looking. So unless we know exactly what the stars looked like that night, we’re buggered”.

You sigh heavily, hand running through your hair.

“I remember that night”, A voice booms, both you and Steven look in its direction as it continues, “I remember every night”.

Steven turns his head and gapes at you, “You can see him?”, he looks shocked and horrified at the same time.

“I guess I can now”, you mutter, following in the direction the god is walking.

You wonder if you died earlier, and that’s why you can see him now- since it seems only people who died or have been brought from the brink of death can see the gods.

“Khonshu?”

You search the area for him.

“I can turn back the night sky”, he tells you.

“How?”, you ask.

“It will come at a cost and I cannot do it alone”, the wind starts to pick up around you and some of the sand gets pulled into the strong current.

Khonshu appears behind Steven, towering over all of you, “When the gods imprison me, tell Marc to free me”, he tells him.

‘And if he can’t, you must’, his voice rings in your head.

A white suit forms onto Steven’s body, the same glowing eyes that Marc has when he’s wearing it.

“Do what I do”, he instructs you both.

You lift your hands up, holding the stars in your grasp and start to turn.

“Oh man, this is mental!”, you hear Steven yell.

The stars begin to whip around you in a kaleidoscope of colors as they move back to a time long before any of you.

“This is the night”, the spinning pauses, and you can tell the stars are in a different place than before.

“It’s working!”, Layla yells, using her device to triangulate the coordinates.

“It’s working, yes- good”, Steven groans.

A few minutes pass before anyone speaks again, and you can feel every last ounce of energy you have leaving your body.

“I can feel my energy leaving me”, Steven grinds out, voicing your thoughts, as if he could somehow hear them.

Khonshu falls to his knees beside you. You can hear him groaning in pain, trying to hang on to what little strength he has left.

“God, I don’t know how much longer I can do this”, Steven tells Layla.

“I got it!”, she yells, “29 degrees north, 25 east”.

The power holding you and Steven upright wanes, causing you to fall, him no longer wearing his suit.

You watch from the ground as Khonshu fades away, crackling apart until nothing remains.

You help Steven up, trying to stand, when he throws his head back, falling into you.

“Steven!”, you scream, terrified, holding him in your arms.

You try to wake him, but nothing is working.

“Where are you?!”, you yell, sobbing into Steven’s shirt, “Please- you have to be okay, he promised me”.

“Steven, Marc!”, you cry into the night, “You can’t do this to me”, you tell them, but no one responds.

It’s quiet.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want to be tagged or un-tagged down below <3

Moonknight Taglist:

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[apompkwrites]

reader impact || first meetings: unreconciled stars

series masterlist characters: scaramouche, fischl, mona genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: i'm sorry fischl and mona's aren't that good :(( this is actually my first time writing for them but i hope you enjoy <33

scaramouche's playthrough -

oof scara

scara scara scara

this boy hates his chat and at this point they don't care.

it's not like he'll badmouth them, right?

think ludwig.

that's him.

he's a very angy boy please--

as for what he does?

much like childe he'd do a lot of pvp games.

he's not too keen on showing off his personal life.

he prefers that boundary between his viewers and himself, y'know?

he honestly doesn't even understand why his viewers like him.

he knows he's a mean person and yet here they are :/

he doesn't take requests from his viewers he just kinda plays whatever he wants.

imagine his viewers' surprise when they see him streaming genshin--

they asked why a lot.

"it seemed cool."

this man just wants to play some good ol' anime games.

his chat calls him soft and he just glares.

anyway now he's actually playing.

he's not really into mondstadt's characters they're all... okay to him.

he feels a bit better in liyue.

not because it's pretty oh no no no.

because look at all the enemies outside >:))

he'll clear the whole field don't test him.

anyway, now onto the unreconciled stars event :00

this man really doesn't like katheryne--

anyway at this point he's tasked with find fritz, which he doesn't really want to do.

he sees the dude on the ground but that's only after he sees someone standing next to him.

and then he sees someone standing next to him :0

"is the guy on the floor sleeping?"

"i believe so. i've tried everything, but he won't wake up."

he will pause to look at your outfit.

it's so complex but it's so cool!!!

his chat suspects something's up but... he'll just snap at them like he normally does.

but he'll silently admire you <3

also yOU'RE T I N Y ! !

and then paimon points out your clothes and the cameras pans up your body--

"heh... and by "this person over here," you mean me, right?"

he will choose the "those unique clothes are quite beautiful" option in a heartbeat.

he doesn't care that his chat is teasing him, he just wants you to know :))

he's kinda sad when you leave, though...

"please come back soon..."

his CHAT HAS NEVER SEEN HIM SO SOFT BEFORE

skip to a few events later when the constellation is revealed to be leonard's.

the sudden cutscene catches him off guard because he's prepared to fight someone.

"hi! sounds interesting... mind if i join you?"

he won't say anything but he will physically relax at the sight of you.

you make this man soft please--

he's lowkey angry when his character is teleported away from you :(

(name): the sixth of the eleven fatui harbingers

HYPEHYPEHYPE

YOU'RE SO COOL!

of course he doesn't say that but his chat can tell that's what he's thinking.

this man's eyes go wide when you order the fatui around.

please help he really likes you. you're so assertive and cute and cool and just AGH--

fischl's playthrough -

fischl can and will do cosplay streams.

her fans like to watch her because of the "character" she puts up for the camera.

honestly she just does this because she genuinely enjoys cosplaying and bringing characters to life.

oz is the nickname for her pet bird :))

she definitely gets a lot of trolls in her chat that make fun of her for her cosplays and "dumb" way of speaking.

in which case she'll just yell at them using her "dumb" way of speaking.

she really does care about how people see her but her chat comforts her a lot after, so she feels better after a few minutes :))

the games she plays are very fantasy based and take place in worlds that don't exist.

once she gets into a game, she'd pick her favorite character and cosplay as them everytime she streams that game.

sometimes she does sewing streams where she actually makes her own cosplay with her fans.

they like to make it with her if they have the materials :D

genshin impact was a game her fans recommended because they actually want to see fischl cosplay the characters.

they will beg her to do the cosplay creation on stream.

(they defintitely know who she'll choose to cosplay but it's fine)

when she reaches the unreconciled stars event, she's really excited to learn about the fated meteorite granting sleep upon touch.

she's ready to go around teyvat in search of an answer when...

"katheryne! vassal of the immernachtreich, do mine ears deceive me, or didst thou cry out mine holy name in earnest supplication not one moment ago?"

some of her chat is obviously confused by your speech but her long time viewers can understand some of it.

oz, who fischl had brought with her to play, seems excited to see your familiar flying to you :)

fischl is just as excited as he is!!

please you speak just like her and you're voice is so nice and it actually sounds like the developers put thought into what the speech would mean in "proper speech."

"a pleasure to meet you again, katheryne."

YOU'RE FAMILIAR IS JUST AS COOL AS YOU ARE!!

some of her viewers will beg for her to skip through your dialogue.

when she sees those comments, she will purposefully let your dialogue play out, proceed to read out that same dialogue, and respond to you as if she was actually talking to you.

not just to spite them but because it's also a lot of fun for her <3

"it would seem the gods have blessed us with meeting such a well-respected being!"

translation: she's really excited to have met you.

as soon as you spoke she decided she would cosplay as you.

she's already planning out all of the materials she'll need and how much time it would take.

if your familiar is a bird, you best bet oz will be in her photo shoots for your cosplay.

most of the time you're on screen, she'll talk to her viewers about you in her classic chuunibyou style <333

she's really sad when it's time for you to leave :(((

"... goodbye, fischl. you are a good listener. i enjoy chatting with you. to be honest, most of the other adventurers in the guild only ever talk to me when they wanna hear (familiar)'s reconnaissance reports... this little journey we had... it was a great adventure. i'm just sorry that is has to end so abruptly..."

she might cry wait--

she relates to you even more now :(

"ah! what am i doing? i totally broke form..."

you're too cute pleas--

mona's playthrough -

mona does a lot of nightly streams.

it's very rare for you to catch her streaming with daylight.

she likes to share things about astrology while sitting outside drinking something warm.

she'll do a lot of nightly gaming streams as well.

mainly calmer games that people can vibe to in the background.

she prefers to keep her streams lowkey and chill, much like the life she wants to lead.

if only she had the money to do so...

yes, mona is still struggling with money even as a streamer.

she greatly appreciates any donations her fans give to her because she practically relies on them to pay her rent and daily necessities.

of course, it's not like she's completely struggling, just enough to barely get her by.

anyway, her fans ask her about playing genshin impact, inticing her with their talk about the stars and night sky in the game.

she's the type of player to take her time in the environment and take a lot of pictures of her character at night.

she's actually really excited when she hears about this new event centering around the stars and sky :D

soon enough, she gets around to the part where she is need of an astrologist.

she's HYPED to hear there's an astrologist in the game.

"someone looking for me? who is it?"

she will squeal, please.

look at you!!!

your whole design has stars and is space-themed and you're so cute and you're voice is so soothing ! ! !

she really likes listening to you talk about astrology because your voice gets even softer than before.

that scene where you go to the cliff??

please she has that scene as her lockscreen <3

you just look so cool when you start to do your process.

you're so focused and the way they animate your process in the game is beautiful.

and then the fatui harbinger interrupts one of your meetings :00

you grab onto mona's character and teleport away in a cloud of stars and specks of your elemental vision.

she's kinda embarrassed when you scold her about getting involved with the harbinger--

but not only are you really cool and awesome, you're super strong, too!

please be sassy more she really likes how proud you sound :))

[not-the-tie-youre-looking-for]

Something that's been bugging me for years since the Legends finale. If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do you think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out? On the one hand, from Legends Thrawn's portrayal I imagine he would without a second of hesitation. On the other, Canon Thrawn has been much more... restrained? And on a third point, there's the fact that Legends and Canon Thrawn seem like they really could be the same person just at different points of time. cnt in next

...I'm just curious if anyone else was curious if Zhan agreed with that direction taken. Which, on that note, did Zhan ever say anything about his thoughts on how Rebels handled Thrawn? Both from a writing standpoint as well as an acting and musical one (Thrawn's various leitmotifs)?

Oh man. Ohhhhhhhh maaaaan. My friend, you have asked exactly the right person this question, because not only have I wanted to talk about this multiple times before, but I also have ~receipts~. 👀

⚠️Spoiler warnings for Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian, the canon Star Wars novels Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising, and Thrawn Ascendency: Greater Good, and the legends Star Wars novels Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and Outbound Flight.⚠️

Oh man. Where to begin.

Lets start with who Thrawn is, because depending on who you ask, you're gonna get different answers—whether you're strictly a Legends fan, Dave Filoni, a guy who's only seen Thrawn in Star Wars: Rebels, Timothy Zahn, or just a writer/artist fan like me.

To Timothy Zahn, the man behind our favorite chiss, Thrawn is a character that is constant in both attitude and personality throughout all of his content. In multiple interviews, ranging from Thrawn's debut in Rebels to the latest about the writing of the Ascendancy Trilogy, Zahn states that Thrawn in canon and Thrawn in Legends are indistinguishable.

And so I present the receipts:

In a 2017 interview with The Verge on writing the first canon Thrawn book Thrawn, Zahn is asked the following question and responds as such:

How do you navigate bringing back a character who already has an extensive backstory and audience expectations, with telling a new story that fits in the new continuity?

Actually, I didn’t find that to be a problem. I’d never written Thrawn in this part of the Star Wars timeline, so it was simply a matter of bringing him into the Empire and chronicling his rise through the ranks. It’s still the same character as in the 1990s books, just a decade or two younger and in a very different military and political environment.

In another interview with The Verge in 2018 (a few months after the finale of Rebels aired) about writing Thrawn: Alliances, he repeats this sentiment twice:

Thrawn feels like if it had been written before the canonization purge a couple of years ago, or if you squinted a bit, it would serve as a perfect setup for Heir to the Empire.

Oh, I don’t think you need to squint at all. I wrote him in these two books to fit in with everything else I’d done. So if someone at Lucasfilm snapped their fingers, and suddenly all of my other books were canon, and there would be no real retrofitting that would have to go in. It would all fit together.

Thrawn: Alliances feels more at home in the new canon, especially because Thrawn has been fleshed out a bit more in Rebels. Was there any adjustments for that?

Not really. I’m getting to play with more canon characters like Vader and Padmé and Anakin, but the character himself, I still see him as the same person. He’s got goals, and he won’t necessarily share them with you, but he as long as you’re going the same direction, he’s happy to cooperate and assist along the way.

...and this is referenced again in a 2020 interview with Polygon about writing Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising:

Along with Thrawn’s appearance in Rebels, Zahn would pen a new novel, Thrawn, that chronicled the character’s early days as an Imperial officer. Zahn didn’t have to change anything with the character, telling me in 2017 that “he’s like an old friend who I understand completely.” While Heir to the Empire was no longer canon, a reader could easily read Thrawn as a precursor to that classic novel. Thrawn went on to become a major presence in Rebels, and Zahn continued to explore his origins in Thrawn: Alliances and Thrawn: Treason.

The next day, an interview with IGN was published on the same subject:

Thrawn is an especially unique case because Zahn has been able to effectively continue the work he started way back in 1991 with Heir to the Empire. That novel may not be a part of official Star Wars lore any longer, but as Zahn explained, Thrawn himself is basically the same character regardless of continuity.

[....] The closest comparison between Chaos Rising and Zahn's earlier EU work is probably 2006's Outbound Flight, which is set during the Clone Wars and details the first encounter between Thrawn and the Galactic Republic (while also retroactively laying the groundwork for elements of Heir to the Empire). That novel is no longer canon, but Zahn told us he prefers to operate as if it were. He's making a concerted effort not to retread the same ground as Outbound Flight and to avoid contradicting the events of that novel as much as possible.

So yeah. In Zahn's opinion, Legends Thrawn is Canon Thrawn is Book Thrawn, and there is no difference whatsoever between Thrawns in, say, Outbound Flight, Heir to The Empire, Alliances, and Chaos Rising. I wholeheartedly disagree, but lets move on.

Now that the books are out of the way, its time for Rebels.

In July of 2016, after the trailer announcing Thrawn's canon debut aired, Dave Filoni had the following to say about Thrawn's character in regards to Timothy Zahn:

“I was pretty adamant with a couple of people saying, ‘Listen, we need to have Tim sign off on this. This is kind of a waste of time [otherwise],'” says Filoni. “We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns, but without Tim’s okay, what does it mean? That’s not going to be good. Once we had some stuff, we wanted to do what we thought was right and make the character. Then we brought him in. We had the production fully prepared. I said, ‘Look, if there’s something that Tim says that I think is really valuable, even if it changes something dynamically, we need to be ready for that and see what we can do.’ I wanted to make sure we did this right by everybody. We brought him in and we didn’t really tell him why. We just flew him up to Lucasfilm and sat him down in a theater and said, ‘Hey, we’re bringing Thrawn into the show.’ He was like, ‘Wow.’ and I said, ‘Yeah, wow. And I’m going to show him to you right now and you let me know what you think.'”

(Before we continue, keep that first highlighted sentence in mind for future reference. I'm going to come back to that later.)

Fortunately, Timothy Zahn was delighted at the show’s approach to the Empire’s imposing blue-skinned Chiss.

“We showed him some of the scenes with him,” Dave Filoni recalls. “He looked like a kid in a candy store. I think it meant a lot to him not just because it was his character, but because you have to imagine what he went through when it was announced that everything is Legends now, not Expanded Universe. I get that and I’ve always appreciated the work that goes into the Expanded Universe… For Tim, I think it was us saying, ‘No, no, no. We really like your character. We want him to be part of the real thing. The canon universe.'”

So in 2016, before we even saw Thrawn in action beyond a trailer, we were told that Zahn gave the OK, and he was chill with the way Thrawn was created in the show. In 2017, he gave a little more of the background of this process in an interview with FANgirl Blog:

The events of Thrawn dovetail closely with Rebels and shed light on some of Thrawn’s more seemingly surprising actions on the show, like when he appears to lose his temper and yell at Lieutenant Lyste. What was it like to see Thrawn come alive onscreen? Is he how you’ve pictured him in your head?

I don’t see my characters in terms of voice or appearance, but rather as personality or attitude. That said, I very much enjoyed the way the Rebels team brought him to life, in his appearance, voice, and actions.

I also appreciated the freedom I had to tweak certain incidents, such as the one you mentioned, and give additional or alternate explanations for the viewers who may have thought those were somewhat out of character for him.

He doesn't really elaborate on this, but we can assume he had SOME creative input on Thrawn's character, and he was overall pretty happy with the choices made in the show.

But then, we have this from that earlier 2017 the Verge article:

When did you learn that Dave Filoni was intending to bring Thrawn to Rebels, and did you have any input into how the character would be handled?

[...] I didn’t have any real input into how Thrawn was going to be handled, mainly because the lead time of an animated series is so long that much of season 3 had already been finished. But I trusted Dave and the team to do the character right. After all, why bring him into Rebels if you were going to drastically change him? Having seen the entire season now, I think we can agree that my trust was completely justified.

So... he didn't have "any real input," but was satisfied with it in the end? I guess? I don't know. We're getting into some contradictions now.

The last thing I've got in regards to Rebels is an interview Zahn did with the YouTube channel Star Wars Explained after the finale aired, where he responds to the following:

“So, maybe let's jump over to Rebels for a little bit. Now that it has wrapped up, how do you feel Thrawn was represented in Star Wars: Rebels?”

“They did a really good job—they not only understood the character and how to write for him, but they also understood the meta around how you defeat him. The only way to defeat Thrawn is to throw something at him he can't control, or can't anticipate. Given perfect knowledge and control, Thrawn will always find a way to win. But they understood, this is how you defeat him, these are the things we can use against him... so his portrayal in general, is very good; he's smart, he's anticipating, he's a step ahead of everybody, he's looking at clues and picking up on them, so I was very pleased with how the Rebels team handled the character."

I think these quotes answer many of your questions, so to answer your initial question: If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do I think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out?

Yes—but ONLY because at that point, the only established™️ Thrawn content was found in Legends, where Thrawn was a ruthless and calculating warlord.

However!

I do believe that if given the chance to re-write the Star Wars: Rebels finale using his now-canon novels as a solid background TODAY, Zahn would choose to not let Thrawn bombard Lothal's Capital City.

I believe this because he made one single very interesting creative choice when writing Thrawn that completely overwrote Thrawn's pre-established Rebels character: Thrawn was not responsible for the civilian deaths on Batonn—Pryce was.

And that's that on that.

A few months ago I would have ended it there, but today, Thrawn's story is no longer just contained in the novels and Rebels, but also in that of The Mandalorian.

This is where I will proudly say I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Before The Jedi aired, I was 100% sure that the next time we saw Thrawn, it would be nowhere NEAR the Empire, because Zahn was pretty adamant in the novels that Thrawn was only in the Empire to help. His. People.

So now he's apparently doing fuck-knows-what in fuck-knows-where and is STILL associated with the Seventh Fleet and Imperial Warlords???

Huh??? Despite the fact that he held no true loyalty to the Empire or to the Emperor??? It's been months and I'm still confused as fuck. Add to the fact that Zahn also doesn't know what the fuck is going on to the equation and we get a big fat question mark with one pretty clear answer that Filoni said himself that we have to keep in mind:

"We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns."

So I don't think Zahn has much control over Thrawn as we would all like to think. We can hope he gives us the crazy Thrawn and Ezra Space Adventure™️ novel all we want, but ultimately, Thrawn's fate does not rest in his hands.

If you guys have more to add please let me know!!! This is, obviously, a topic I am very passionate about, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[jonmcbrine-author]

The Fandom Game

I’m not that kind of nerd…”

I like to say this when it comes to repairing equipment like computers or knowing how to write code. If it is more of a technical skill or a problem that requires practical knowhow, then, well, I’m not that kind of nerd. If you want useless sci-fi trivia and deep-seated opinions on superhero costumes, then I am the dork you are looking for. When it comes to video games, I am definitely an outlier.

Not possessing any talent for playing games from any generation’s console isn’t the only reason why I am not a gamer. The hardware and downloadable content can get expensive, but the cost is only a partial factor for my gaming negligence. Like so many things in life, it comes down to time and the lack thereof.

Gaming continues to develop its own broad subculture, and like any major form of entertainment, video games are varied among not just genres, but fandoms as well. When I was kid, of course I played. My gaming habits dwindled as I entered my late-twenties and gradually evaporated further as I crossed into my thirties. Now in my forties, playing something as simple as solitaire on my phone doesn’t interest me. I don’t feel superior to gamers, but the fact remains that when I do have recreational time, it is never a choice of mine to fire up the gaming console. The older PlayStation in my home mainly serves as a way to stream series and movies - and that’s the machine gets activated at all.

A lack of spare time plagues many people, and it is true that the older you get, the less interested you are in the hobbies of one’s youth. This is the case for me, but the video game industry is still producing games and content. The video game business takes its wins and losses like any other, but the gaming community remains active and steadfast. They certainly don’t need me, though I like to think I’d be welcome. But would I actually be, though?

It’s very easy to focus on the ugliness of a fandom. Comment sections and forums are rife with negativity, and the nasty gatekeepers seem to be the most prevalent. On any end of the gaming fandom spectrum, there will be bitterness and rage, so it is not difficult to be turned off and ignore the whole thing. Despite this, I have a curiosity about what goes on in the gaming universe despite not playing myself (it’s not too far of a stretch since my appearance is that of a standard nerd). This peripheral interest is nurtured by what my social media feeds think I want to see. Even my digital presence is misconstrued as a gamer.

Dipping your toe into a new fandom can always be daunting, so what is it about gaming that feels so unwelcome? Especially when I have a preexisting fascination? Perhaps feeling like an uninvited outsider isn’t accurate. Numerous gaming communities and channels are fun and operated by friendly folks who encourage noobs to join in. The unappealing element of gaming belongs to anything that makes seem not fun.

I don’t expect to enter any new fandom thinking I am familiar with every nuance that exists within lores as well as the history of the subculture. A casual scroll through X showcases several hot takes by gamers displaying their thoughts on the app formerly known as Twitter. There is an abundance of accounts posting what at least seem to impulsive opinions on a character’s appearance or how they are used in a story. Welcome to the Internet, right? I’m not even going into the whole “toxic” territory. Frankly, it doesn’t matter much which sect of fans it is or where their extreme views come from. Eventually, it all becomes, well, not fun.

A legion of nerds with bad taste isn’t exactly a new phenomenon or enough to dissuade me from simply trying something new. Board games, films, television series, sports, comic books - no fandom is immune to the eye-roll-inducing cringe-base that seem like they are only around to purposely turn off potential newcomers. Again, you’d think it’s day two of my online journey and I’m just now discoveries that meanies log in and tweet out things other than kittens and fluffy pillows. What I’ve deduced after considering so many similarities shared by multiple forms of entertainment is that yes, there will be unpleasant people who “well actually” folks while they themselves need to be well-actually’d - and sure, I will disagree with the majority of my my fellow fans other opinions - but the bottom line is, I only have so much bandwidth.

In my early forties, there isn’t enough motivation to shoehorn yet another obsessive pop culture hobby thing into my already taxed fan-brain.

Play on to those that play. I’m sure the gaming universe will continue just fine without this kind of nerd.

Stay in the loop for more details by following Jonfiction Blog on Substack and be sure to check out jonmcbrine.com for more info about this and all my books.

Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon Kindle store.

https://a.co/2XAtxvH

New blog every Monday. Newsletter first Monday

[untouchabyeolman]

DFTF & the gist of everything; a theory

(warning: long post, no cut)

*cracks knuckles* OKAY. so i’m about to give my two cents on the theories surrounding the comeback but this is gonna be a long one so strap in and enjoy the ride i guess??

but before i get started on the DFTF stuff i just want to do a bit of recap on the members’ powers and their counterparts back in mama era (yes i’m going all the way back bear with me). from the beginning, we are shown that each member has a special power and those from exo-k have a counterpart in exo-m and the pairings went like this:

xiumin (frost) - suho (water manipulation)

luhan (telekinesis) - kai (teleportation)

kris (dragon’s flight) - chanyeol (phoenix’s fire)

lay (healing) - baekhyun (light)

chen (lightning) - kyungsoo (enhanced strength/earth?)

tao (time control) - sehun (wind manipulation)

i think these parings are fine but for me a couple of changes could have been made to make more sense to their powers. in my opinion, i think it should be:

xiumin - suho

luhan - sehun

kris - chanyeol

lay - baekhyun

chen - kyungsoo

tao - kai

obviously, xiumin/suho make sense bc their powers are related to each other where suho’s is the foundation of xiumin’s more refined control of the element. kris/chanyeol also makes sense for the same reason. for lay/baekhyun, healing powers can reconstruct damages from wounds and even bring dying flowers (maybe even people) back to their full health. basically, lay restores a living thing’s energy. but light is a form of energy too. flowers need light to survive and so does the rest of the planet for that matter. but i think baekhyun uses that light to be able to concentrate the energy into his hands to form a beam powerful enough to blast anything in its path (who are u? tony stark??). 

tbh, i’m still kind of unclear about ksoo’s power on whether he can actually manipulate earth (like an earthbender) or if he has enhanced strength. either way, he can shake the earth and obviously he’s more powerful on the ground. with lightning, it can travel three ways: cloud to cloud, cloud to air, and cloud to the ground. you can think of their powers as being related by how the fissures in earthquakes are similar to the patterns of lightning. kyungsoo causes the rumbling in the earth, while chen causes rumbling (thunder) in the sky (hence why they are parallels of each other in mama mv)

for those i think should be switched, we’ll start with luhan/sehun. sehun has the power of wind but throughout the history of their powers i don’t think we’ve actually seen him have full control of his ability? in mama, he’s in the desert (this is gonna come up again later!!) with a raging tornado behind him. i mean, i guess he could be doing that intentionally but for the sake of this entry i’m going to assume he can summon the wind but he can’t fully control it. meanwhile, luhan can easily manipulate objects and we could think of this as him just actually manipulating the air around that object. luhan’s control of the air is more stable whilst sehun’s is the opposite. 

for tao/kai i think it makes more sense for them to be counterparts since kai travels through space and while tao’s power is to stop/start time, he has the to potential to travel through time as well. these two go hand in hand because if they’re together, they’d be even stronger as traveling through time could be faulty since the time you might want to go back or forward to isn’t going to be in the same exact location as you are now. 

BUT WAIT! we’re left with 9 members so what happens now?? 

i actually made a “theory” about exo having new counterparts back in 2016 but i’m scrapping the main idea from it and will just be referring to particular points going forward. so for now, let’s go with the assumption that their counterparts are as they are in my version. this means that sehun, chanyeol, and kai no longer have their counterparts. now what?

let’s first make two assumptions: 

their powers become stronger when they are with their counterparts: like i’ve mentioned above, they’re stronger together than they are apart. but additionally, it’s a bit safer for them to be separated since they are much more easily located by the red force if they are all in one place.

if one loses their counterpart (i mean for good and not just separated by distance) then eventually, the power of the one who was lost will manifest itself in the one who is left

for (2), it would make sense then as to why in sehun’s pathcode teaser, he finds the toys floating in mid-air. at this point, he’s unaware that he’s actually the one doing this. (@raven-rin​ points out the similarities between luhan’s scene in mama with the orbs and sehun’s “planet” in the DFTF teaser photo which supports my theory that they are connected in this way). 

in chanyeol’s pathcode teaser, he seems to have lost some control of his power whereas in mama mv, he was able to keep a small flame in his hand under control. 

for kai, we’ve mainly see him teleporting on earth and he’s had quite a good control on his power since the beginning. but i think now, with tao’s power manifesting itself in him, he’s now able to teleport beyond just earth. we can take his mmmh mv for example too where he’s teleporting between worlds and currently, his power symbol is that of a hexagon with a keyhole in the center; he is the door between worlds and the main connection between the others. 

SO THE POINT TO ALL THIS IS there was a theory posted by @vampwrrr​ and pointed out by @loeyarc on twitter about how the members are not in their own planets but they actually landed in someone else’s. i think this could be true since xiumin is in a planet with aurora’s (baekhyun’s planet), kyungsoo is in a red planet that could possibly be chanyeol’s. kai’s might be in kyungsoo’s and baekhyun’s in a planet where there’s ice which could mean he’s in xiumin’s planet. i’m not sure about the power swapping (tho i absolutely love the idea) but i think they might have just landed in planets they were closest to. 

but i want to point out how chanyeol is in a planet that looks like a desert 

now, this could actually be sehun’s planet in parallel to where he was in mama. sehun, on the other hand, is actually in luhan’s planet (going back to the reference @raven-rin​ made). 

i think here, he’ll finally realize why his powers have been glitching (from pathcode) and how he now has the ability to move objects like luhan did (disclaimer 1: since not all members are present for this comeback, who’s to say they can only land in the planets of the active members’ planets??. disclaimer 2: not saying luhan is still member, he clearly isn’t. i meant for members who are enl*sted. for all we know, one or two of those planets could be chen’s or lay’s, etc.)

idk if DFTF is a pre-quel to power or a follow up but *if* the latter was the case, then the end of power makes sense. throughout the mv, we see suho, xiumin, kai, chen, chanyeol, sehun, and kyungsoo fighting the giant red force robot in possibly a different planet (i’m thinking the exos actually banded together to track down the red force themselves to get their powers back and in every planet they encounter these RF bots who keep destroying the planets they occupy) but for most it, baekhyun isn’t there fighting with them. he does show up near the end which confirms that he’s in the same place as the others but why isn’t he fighting?

let’s recall that their powers are stronger when they’re with their counterparts. if we go by the theory from lucky one that some members lost their powers, then it makes sense why none of them were able to fight off the bot with their powers alone (which they regained by defeating it in the end). i do think they are still strong at this point but their powers are weak. as for baekhyun, his counterpart is far away. lay hasn’t really been with them since monster era so he was probably playing it safe by not actively fighting alongside the others. (if he’s powerless and separated from lay then he’s the most vulnerable compared to the others)

at the end of power, we see baekhyun falling into the water/ocean. how did this happen? if exo left the planet they were in in power, it’s possible that after defeating the bot, it triggered the red force of their location. the red force then proceeds to destroy that planet in an attempt to kill exo once and for all

(disclaimer 3: screencap is meant to show an example, not that this is exactly in the same timeline as power)

but the exos manage to escape in their ship in time but their ship malfunctions (could be hit by debris from the planet’s explosion) and they have no choice but to leave the ship. i think their ship has “escape pods” meant for each one of them as a way to escape safely in case of an emergency. but let’s say these pods will immediately head for the planet they were set to (again, kind of like a safety protocol type thing where they get sent to different locations to avoid detection from the red force). to add, say that in the chaos, the exos just went into whatever pod they got to first which is how they end up landing in different planets. 

maybe something happens to baekhyun’s pod and he has to manually eject himself from it. but we see he lands in the middle of an ocean 

and in his DFTF photo teaser, we see he’s in a planet with ice caps and water

you still with me? i’m about to tie everything together and finish i promise!

remember the second assumption we made? “the power of the one who was lost will manifest itself in the one who is left”. what if the red force know this? what if the reason they’ve been after exo is because of this fact? but if that were the case, where would the powers manifest in if the exos are gone? i know the lot of us skip the intro of mama but it states that an eye of red force “coveted the heart of the tree of life and the heart slowly grew dry” which meant that the tree of life is the source of the twelve force’s powers. 

everything started with the tree of life and in an attempt to save its remaining powers, they split it in half and hid the halves from the red force. the power of the tree of life is what connects exo. but as mentioned, if one is lost, the power will continue to live inside another. if the red force destroys all of exo, the powers they possess will be returned to the tree of life and if the tree of life is whole again, the red force will in no doubt abuse its power and continue their plans from the very beginning. 

then we can say that in lucky one, it was another tactic used by the red force to extract their powers. those extracted powers were then used to create x-exo. since x-exo are under the red force’s orders, if they manage to destroy exo, their powers will undoubtedly go to their x-counterparts. but as the red force control’s x-exo they still have the upper hand once this plan is set in stone. i mention this to get us back on the current timeline seeing as DFTF may be strongly connected to power which precedes obsession. but then again, i’m not even sure about the exact order of the timeline but this is just my theory so it’s just for fun!

/end.