#my most realistic hope for her at this point is for them to a: trap her eldritch form somewhere or b: depower her and treat her better

[grimbeak]

petition for brinknor to remember the desert bluffs citizens who live in night vale exist and to have them help kevin next episode

[jolieblack]

Jolie’s thoughts on

Shoscombe Old Place (Sherlock & Co. podcast)

Good call shifting the environment away from the way too similar horse racing scenario of Silver Blaze.

Thank you also, Joel, for letting our boys go on a holiday. It’s not what I imagined when I said I wanted Consequences after Dancing Men, but it works! And I find it telling that Sherlock especially seems to have offered no resistance to the plan. Seriously, S & J camping by the river (and Sherlock going fishing, because of course he would!) for real and not just as a blind (like in ACD’s story) filled me with happiness and serenity.

I was not prepared at all to learn so much about John's childhood and family circumstances. "Made and then broken in the Army and subsequently fixed at 221B Baker Street", yes, that is the John Watson that we know and love in any universe. 😭

I'm so glad he still has a refuge in his old town now, and I love that Sherlock gets invited totally as a matter of course. I so heard him on the "weird feeling when a place you used to call home doesn’t feel like home anymore", too.

I'm also left wondering a LOT whether John’s canonical unhappy alcoholic brother (also Henry/Harry, like the father?) from Sign of Four exists in this universe. If yes, there should be traces of him in the old family home for Sherlock to deduce… Unless of course he’s a half brother or something who never lived there (from John's dad's earlier marriage or relationship, possibly?). Or maybe the traces are there and Sherlock just never said a thing, and only will later…

I also wasn't expecting John to run into his famous so-far-nameless ex! I found myself hoping that they wouldn’t go down the tropey route of the Crazy Evil Ex. When John called Carrie "evil" when they were trapped in the crypt, that really didn’t seem accurate. But John was being so realistically cranky about everything to do with Carrie, I really felt for him.

Sherlock was being such a sweetie throughout, especially at the start. Doing small talk with the neighbour, NOT pointing out that John rambles exactly as bad as his mum sometimes, not wanting him to have to call his ex in person, repeating over and over that they’re in a beautiful place with good beer and he’s really enjoying himself… Calling John invaluable… Feeling a little bad about recklessly leading them both into danger in Dancing Men, perhaps (not that John didn’t follow willingly and without question)? Or just being happy that he and John are still alive and still around and evidently didn’t fall out over the Dancing Men business, either?

"I'm a big boy. I can do it." - "Would you like me to call her?" - "Yes, please." - "What’s wrong?" - "Poor signal in this village." - "I’m blocked, aren’t I." My heart 🥹 How I love a protective Sherlock.

And our boys getting philosophical in ancient sacred buildings at night is almost a tradition by now. I love it when they do that. The River Thames analogy was so intriguing, too. Who would have thought that Sherlock could be such a poet?

"A sea? A lake? A waterfall?" [10 seconds later] "Shoutout to Professor James Moriarty, who is listening intently to every word." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! 😱😱😱 That was the creepiest moment ever and John was so right to lose his shit.

How close are we to Reichenbach? We might be there by August. Or Joel might be pulling all our legs.

Whatever it may be, don’t deny yourself the pleasure of looking at this absolutely beautiful art by @paperleef !

Oh and then of course there was a case as well, but it hardly seemed to matter for most of the story. No surprises there for the connoisseurs of ACD’s original stories, either.

I’m glad that they did not go down the Crazy Evil Ex route with Carrie after all. I was a little narratively underwhelmed by how John’s dynamic with Carrie and its potential for conflict just fizzled out. But thumbs up for realism there. They’ve both moved on and that’s it. Like so often in RL. And didn’t we all love the fact that John now considers Baker Street his home, Sherlock & Mariana his family and the Sh & Co project his future.

I also didn’t expect Part 3 to turn into an anti-classism manifesto, but it does make sense, especially seeing how the matter bugs John all the time, too. Check out this great meta by @comicgeekery on the matter!

I would also like to contest Mr Emory’s ideas about the founding date of the Adidas shoe brand, but that’s just a tiny detail.

Sherlock: "John Hamish Watson!" - John: "Don’t Hamish me!" 😂 - Wasn’t aware that’s a verb, but apparently it is!

The car chase scene/river rescue scene was so good I literally forgot this was just audio. Also, Sherlock and John diving in a lake together to get Robert out was just… so touching. And so cool. (I think I’m mostly in love with how Sherlock switched immediately from "Watson, get out of there" to "OK, I’m going right in there with you".) And did you all notice we got another "John"? It’s still being saved for special moments. 🥰

Dear Joe, nobody who dies on duty on a peacekeeping mission gets a cheap place in heaven in my opinion. But then, if Harry Watson was anywhere as modest and laid-back as his son is, and something tells me that he must have been, he probably took a cheap place on purpose, not to be a pain, and when an angel came up and wanted to guide him closer to the hero places, he was just, "nah, mate, I'm good here".

Also, Sherlock packing their things before the case was even wrapped up, to make sure John would find it easier to go back home to London, rather than lingering and questioning his life choices, was so sweet again.

"You’re stressed, any you’re lashing out at those you love (!). You’re losing your mind. You spoke to a river!" - "And you put a dog in a bag!" - Possibly one of my favourite ever closing scenes of this show. (Treat yourselves to this lovely observation by @itsnobodysproblem , please!)

[noxiatoxia]

HEY so I know its been a minute since I've sent an ask, but I saw some of your posts about danganronpa, specifically regarding another episode, udg, and I was agasp because I was literally in the middle of playing it for the first time lmao. So after finishing the game last night I really wanted to ask, if you want to ofc, your in depth thoughts on the game and why you like it so much, or even thoughts on the gameplay and mechanics since its so different than the danganronpa staple. I quite liked it personally because of Komaru and Toko's relationship, them becoming two of my fav characters in the franchise so far, and because I became very endeared to the kids by the end of the story. I have some qualms with how Kotoko was handled in chapter 3 at... that part... but she's also my favorite of the kids at the same time lol.

Anyways yeah no pressure at all, I just was really curious because I liked the game a lot and found it so funny that you posted stuff about it as I was playing it. Also because I really enjoy your ouran opinions. But again I get if not, the game has some senstive subjects for sure. Thanks!

THIS IS LIKE THE BEST ASK EVER FOR ME TO RECEIVE. I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS GAME AND HAVE BEEN FOR NEARLY A DECADE AT THIS POINT.

Okay....where to even START....

(I will be referring to UDG as DR:AE or just AE in this. SPOILERS FOR ALL OF DR:AE.)

Firstly, the environment. Unlike the main series, DR:AE does not take place in a secluded area away from the real world. It does the opposite; you are in such a vast area, you are not caged, yet you are still trapped. Even if Komaru didn't have that wristband on her, where would she go? The game is great at highlighting what the world outside of what we are told in the mainline games is actually like, how caged things are even outside, all while expanding upon existing characters' backgrounds by introducing family members, or little pieces of dialogue that serve to flesh out the world.

The gameplay itself, personally, I find VERY fun. I'm not a shooter game person, but DR:AE was a game I could play many times over. I love the different types of ammo, the puzzles, the possibilities with how to destroy the monokumas. Just a fun game all around. It's by far the most replayable Danganronpa game, as the main series games are all about the story. Once you know the story, there's really no reason to replay them. In fact, they are quite slow and boring without the intrigue of the mystery.

But the highlight, obviously, is the characters. As is Danganronpa's specialty.

While I still maintain Hajime is the most interesting protagonist of the series, Komaru serves as a great subversion of the expectations set up by Makoto's actions in the first game. Makoto is someone who preserved no matter what, changed those around him with his hope. He was your quintessential paragon protagonist. While Komaru displays this a little in some scenes (namely rallying the adults under Haiji's protection) this is only the result of speaking from her own wants and experiences. That is to say, unlike Makoto who always tried to help others even if it cost his own life, Komaru is much more realistic. She cares, first and foremost, about her safety. Her helping others to stand up for themselves comes from her own desire to keep fighting so she can live, and so she imparts that onto the people around her. Fight so you can live. She says it herself: she is not like Makoto. She is selfish, she is not endlessly optimistic. She's more like Hajime in this way, but unlike Hajime who find his own brand of philosophy, Komaru really doesn't. Rather, while Hajime's character serves to show you don't have to choose a predetermined path (hope or despair) and rather your path can simply be believing in yourself, Komaru's character shows that sometimes, and maybe even most of the time, believing in yourself or a specific ideal is not feasible. Komaru believes in the people around her - namely Toko. She believes in her friend, and believes with her friend that things can keep going. This in my opinion is an excellent twist on Makoto, who was, by all means, that friend that people believed in, not the one doing the believing.

And, as an aside, Toko and Komaru have the best development of any pair of characters in the series. Yes, even moreso than Hajime and Komaeda (who I maintain never really had "development" between each other than just a very, very good dynamic from the get-go that was influenced at points by outside plot forces on Komaeda's end. Think Light and L from Death Note in this manner).

Now, let me talk about the real meat of the game, and my favorite characters to date in the whole series: The Warriors of Hope.

I won't lie that I'm biased. I'm very biased for these guys. But I think a lot of people don't give these guys the credit they deserve considering this is a Japanese game. In Japan, child abuse is a bit of a taboo topic (that thankfully has been resolving over time). Due to the nature of Japan's politeness system and "family above all else" attitude, many child abuse cases not only go unreported, but are flat out ignored. The epidemic of babies dying in coin-operated lockers being an especially egregious example of rampant child abuse that occurred. Despite being prevalent since 1971, it took till 1993 to be socially addressed.

This is just one example, but I think it serves my point: child abuse is/was an issue in Japan when it comes to socially speaking of it. ( In fact, in the game itself, Nagisa and Kotoko both directly say they tried to reach out and get help, but were ignored by adults). This is why art regarding child abuse is so important. And that's why a huge series like Danganronpa centering a game about child abuse is such a huge deal. It sparks discussion and promotes visibility of the topic. Not to say media before hadn't talked about it - in fact, there is a lot of Japanese media about child abuse for this very reason - but that does not undermine the importance of Danganronpa deciding to portray it so openly. It is even more important, to me, that they do not stop at physical or sexual abuse. Rather, abuse focused on verbal harm and emotional neglect are portrayed as being just as damaging, which is one of the most overlooked and underplayed forms of abuse in general.

Their portray of abuse also is rather accurate. I will make a confession: I was definitely a bit too young to play danganronpa when I did. Definitely not 18 yet. But I was a teen, and very aware of different types of abuse, sexual abuse included. But despite all the PSAs, books I had read on my own or even ones assigned to me for classes, I had never seen a sexual assault victim be portrayed as hypersexual before. In fact, I didn't even know such a thing was possible. Yes, it is very, very likely I just got Komaeda levels of unlucky to not encounter that in any of my reading or research material at the time, but I think it's common, nonetheless, that people to this day still have the misconception that sexual abuse victims are all afraid of sex or anything sexual. While that is true for some, many people are now becoming more aware that sexual abuse survivors can often display hypersexual tendencies. In this way, I DID learn a lot about the effects of sexual abuse based on how Kotoko acted, and was able to do my own research from there to learn more. Furthermore, the game is good at portraying things like specific triggers in the form of words, smells, items, or specific phrases. Again, I feel it's mostly stereotyped that most triggers are objects that "make sense" like cigarettes or alcohol (much like with what Masaru was afflicted with). But the game made sure to include ones that were "non conventional" like specific words ("gentle" in Kotoko's case) and portrayed both triggers, no matter how common or uncommon, as equally severe. The game also shows negative effects child abuse can have on those around the children. After all, the WoH would not be doing the things they were doing if it weren't for how they were treated in the first place.

(Aside: This is particularly WHY I get so mad when people hate on DR:AE for being "icky". If you are personally uncomfortable with topics of child abuse, that is wholly reasonable and you do not have to play or even like a game that centers on that. You are in your full right and perfectly valid to say "I think this is gross and uncomfortable, therefore I do not like it" or "I don't like this game because I felt personally overlooked/triggered by it" or "I don't like this game because I felt it was not fun or well written". But to say it is objectively "problematic" or "disgusting" to have a game like this exist? That is just spitting in the face of people trying to advocate for visibility of child abuse. You are doing nothing but making people like myself who felt vindicated, seen, or educated by this game like bad guys. Sincerely, please do not call a game that does not shy away from the uncomfortable realities of child abuse "problematic" based on that alone.)

(Aside aside: there are "problematic" elements in the game and things to criticize as is true of all media. The Kotoko minigame I would say is the biggest "why is this in here" moment and is definitely just a fan service scene. I don't like it either. This does not mean the game itself and as a whole is valueless or bad.)

That leads into my next point: I love how morally gray the "good" and "bad" guys are. The WoH aren't doing what they're doing (save Monaca) because they want to hurt people for the lolz (though they have fun with it, as kids would). They think what they're doing is genuinely good. It's a good way to rival Junko, who knew she was evil and batshit crazy, but didn't care. These kids think they are helping children and keeping them safe. And they're kids - young kids can't really think in very complex manners. If you were treated horribly by most adults in your life, and your peers were as well and shared the same sentiments as you, you would be 100% convinced your convictions were righteous then. Hell, I've met adults that think this way (pretty much all extremists who think anyone part of x group, race, gender, religion, etc is evil). A kid thinking this way is very realistic. They are also all different levels of "morally gray". Nagisa, for example, ends up helping Komaru because he feels that a paradise for children is more important than the sole idea of killing all adults. Meanwhile, Monaca, perhaps because of the abuse she suffered all her life, has become a person that we can assume will just enact similar abusive tactics on everyone around her till the day she dies. While it's a misconception that people who suffer abuse often turn into abusers themselves (they simply just have a higher chance to commit crimes, anything from petty crimes to violent ones) there are undoubtedly cases where this does happen. A real life example is Douglas Spinx (HUGE TW; CSA & BESTIALITY). My point is: the portrayal of abuse victims in many different lights from people who can inflict harm unintentionally but with help and intervention can make recoveries to those who, in the rarest and saddest of cases, will turn to a full life of inflicting harm on others intentionally, is important - for someone like me, at least. Without the proper care or attention, horrible things like these can happen. I find this a very important thing to be open about.

Then we have Haiji. Haiji is supposed to be a "good guy". He's cowardly, yes, but he does fight to help the adults being killed. He attempts to bolster moral. But...despite having good intentions and even doing some good things, he's kind of horrible. After all, he's the one who contributed to Monaca's abuse and made her the way she is now. He's just like the kids except reversed; he thinks all children are evil because they're the ones killing everyone. And in his position, I do think most people would feel that way. I mean, if literally every kid in your area was wearing a helmet that turned them fuckin murderous and were killing all your friends and family would you, after enduring months of this, still bother to be like "not all kids though!". Likely not. Even though it is wrong, it is still a realistic way these things would pan out, much like how it did for the WoH. I mean, for a real life example, one need not look further than one of those extremist radical feminist blogs here on Tumblr that believes every single person born male is a brute. Most of those people believe that way because they have personally been hurt by one or several males in their lives, and y'know, fear and pain leads to hate and all of that.

Speaking of, I like the brainwashing in this game far more than in DR3 the anime (spoilers for that later on but tbqh DR3 is not worth anyone's time). I never liked brainwashing as a trope - I feel it is lazy. However, in DR:AE and DR1 they're utilized pretty well. In DR1 it's literally glossed over as "does it really matter? The outcome is more important than the means" which considering DR1, moreso than any other game in the series, is a satire and is supposed to focus on absurdity, I think having the brainwashing LITERALLY be hand-waved as "eh, it just happened" makes a lot of sense thematically with the goofy writing. But as you know, as DR went on, it became more and more serious with itself (for...better and worse...) in DR:AE, I like how the brainwashing affects only the nameless children. DR3's anime was lazy by having all the main characters get brainwashed by a funny little video, both in future&despair arc. In AE, it's a helmet. I think this makes much more sense as theoretically the helmet could be attached to the actual brains of these people. Plus, as said in the game, they blow up when the controller is destroyed, giving credence to that theory. The brainwashing in AE is not a vehicle to explain why main characters act the way they do. Rather, it's just a device used to create background conflict/build up the main villains, leaving the main characters to be affected by persuasion and manipulation (the objectively better version of "brainwashing").

Circling back to the WoH, outside of their thorough portrayals of abuse and standings as "villains who think they are doing the right thing", they're just fun. Like, legit, I just think they're fun. Outside of their trauma, they aren't very complex, but that's the point. The game is a commentary about abuse and how it affects you, the people around you, and the world. The WoH are not the characters meant to be developed and complex entities who undergo deep changes - that is left to our protagonists. As most series with static characters do, they assign each member a core personality. Every Warrior of Hope has a number of traits influenced by this personality (the "sporty" one, the "smart" one, etc) that make them vastly different from each other, making them not only distinct but just fun to watch their personalities clash. After all, if they were not bonded by their trauma, they probably wouldn't be friends at all. it's honestly like a Teen Titans situation in that way, and I've always loved stuff like that. Of course, their personalities are also heavily influenced by their trauma, again a realistic depiction of how trauma can and will change who you are as a person and present itself in many facets of your actions.

I THINK that's all my MAIN points. Suffice to say, DR:AE is my favorite game in the series. I think it's the most fun, has the best character developments and dynamics, I think its story is the most emotional and deep-cutting, and it really spoke to me during a time that I needed something like this to reach me. I won't say it's the best DR game in terms of overall narrative (that honor goes to SDR2) but it comes close. And I know not everyone will feel the same way about this game that I do. Thanks for this ask; yet another reminder I need to do my bi-yearly replay of this game.

(Footnote so I don't get "so you hate waffles"'d: my bringing real-life examples into this is not to say those instances are exactly like what happens in the video game nor to say they are on the same level of importance. Obviously real life is far more important and complex than anything that could happen in a game. I only bring them up to support my points about certain aspects being realistic by using, well, real life examples.)

[pagesfromthevoid]

Sparks Fly | r. | VI

Rolan x Sorceress!Tav

Word Count: 2.0k

Warnings: Mentions of brothels, mentions of murder

Author's Note: Minthara is rubbing off on Tav a little bit, I think, in this chapter.

Series Masterlist | Talk to Me!

The journey from the Shadow Cursed Lands to Baldur’s Gate is the most uneventful experience Tav has had in a long time. No one tries to attack them, there’s no one that needs to be saved, and for the most part, it’s a straight shot. They get to a border town and set up camp, and everyone is in good spirits as they settle in for the night. Tav falls asleep dreaming of Rolan’s lips on her body, hoping against all her odds that she’ll get to see him again. 

Until they’re awakened by a portal in their camp, just outside Rivington, and are ambushed by Githyanki. Then have to enter the godsdamned Astral Plane. And now she’s aware that whoever this “guardian” in her head is —is actually a godsdamned mind flayer, and there’s a trapped prince who is living inside the prism she carries in her backpack. 

What she would give for uneventful again.

Following whatever that experience was in the Astral Plane, Tav and her companions get whatever rest they can and head into Rivington. They need supplies, and Gale is eager to get into the city to find some shop that may have a book about Karsus. Tav is less interested in the book and more interested in handling everything else, but she lets Gale take the lead on this little quest. Besides, she needs to keep a close eye on Astarion —he’s been talking about ascending and she’s pretty sure that’s the worst idea imaginable. 

Well, one of the worst ideas imaginable, at least. 

Through various side jobs and almost being murdered by a fucking clown then also being harassed by Orin, they finally manage to get themselves into Wyrm’s Crossing, only to be harassed by Raphael next. 

Tav is about this close to having a breakdown, because everything just keeps piling up. 

“Perhaps you need to let off some steam,” Astarion suggests as they leave Sharess’s Caress. He’s motioning around them, as if she’s going to take part in something here. “Plenty to choose from. Though, there’s no tieflings.”

Tav eyes him in annoyance. “Shut it, you.”

Minthara, who has steadily become an excellent, if not mildly alarming, addition to their group, pushes Tav forward. “Do not listen to the vampire, Anastasiya. We have much to do today.”

“Thank you, Minthara. At least one of you —,”

“Once our problem has been resolved, then you may seek the carnal pleasures of your devil.”

Tav throws her hands in the air before jumping off the last two steps of the brothel. Shadowheart falls into step with her as they head towards the Lower City gates. 

“Ignore them,” the cleric says, bumping her shoulder with Tav’s. “I think what you found with Rolan is very sweet, even if it’s a bit poorly timed.”

“Yeah, well,” Tav sighs, running a hand through her hair. “Feelings can’t be controlled and all that.”

“Perhaps we’ll see him before we take down the Netherbrain,” Shadowheart offers, though her tone is less hopeful and more sympathetic than anything.

“You and I both know that’s unlikely,” Tav reminds her, and she has a wistful smile on her face as she looks down. “I have accepted that, whatever the two of us may feel, that it’s fleeting at best.”

“You’re supposed to be the optimistic one,” Shadowheart points out as Minthara pushes the cleric aside.

“Optimism is not going to win battles, cleric. Anastasiya is right to remain pragmatic,” the drow cuts in, looking around them as they approach the Flaming Fist at the edge of Wyrm’s Crossing. “Our odds of survival are low, however we will destroy all those who oppose us until the bitter, bloody end.”

“I have to agree with Minthy here,” Astarion offers, wrapping an arm around Minthara’s shoulders. She shoves him away with a sneer. “Be realistic, Shadowheart. Anastasiya and her little devil are star-crossed lovers at best.”

“Can we stop talking about my love life?” Tav asks, glaring at them all as she fishes the Lower City pass out of her pocket, holding it out to the Flaming Fist at the gate. They shout to each other and the gate lowers, and Tav and her companions have finally made it into the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate –somehow in one piece.

Minthara splits off as they get into the city, with Astarion following her, and she’s saying something about finding better lodging than the ground. Tav does not argue with this, absolutely in agreement that sleeping in a bed would be much better than sleeping on the ground. Shortly after they disappear into the crowd, Gale is leading the way through throngs of people, pointing at an ornate domed roof. 

“That’s Sorcerous Sundries –if they don’t have anything on the Annals of Karsus, nowhere else will.”

“You have high hopes for this book store,” Tav comments idly, walking now with her hands on her head. 

“Oh, ho, ho. It is not simply a ‘book store,’” Gale corrects, pointing at her. “It is the largest purveyor of magical items on the Sword Coast. Anything we might need for the coming days –scrolls, potions, enchanted weapons –they have it all.”

“Very deus ex machina,” she teases, grinning as they approach the shop.

“Just because they provide the means to be successful doesn’t mean we will be,” he reminds her, though he’s putting his hand over his chest. “Though, at any rate, I’m very ‘deus ex machina.’”

Tav steps in front of him and stops, and Gale stumbles some as he looks down at her. She’s narrowing her eyes up at him, one hand on his shoulder and the other pointing at him angrily. 

“You are not blowing yourself up, just because Mystra told you to,” she snaps at him, jabbing her finger into his chest. “I don’t give a damn what the Goddess of Magic has to say. I’ll fight her too.”

Gale takes her hand and smiles softly. “You need not fight Mystra for me, Tav, though I appreciate the sentiment. We will see when it comes time.”

He’s pushing past her and Tav is looking to Shadowheart with pleading eyes, asking her to talk some sense into Gale. But Shadowheart just shrugs, saying it’s his choice and no one else’s. Tav does not like this answer and crosses her arms over her chest, mumbling to herself that wizards all have a death wish, it seems. But her two companions are ignoring her, entering Sorcerous Sundries without looking back at her. Tav groans and picks up her pace, sliding past the animated armor to enter the shop.

The first thing she notices is how overwhelmingly loud it is. There’s people everywhere, all doing something different. On one side, someone is summoning an air elemental, then on the other someone is reviving what looks like a corpse. Behind them is a teenager, trying to cast a spell. 

The shelves are lined with thousands of books and items, all of which seem to be alarmingly easy to just touch and thus break. Gale has disappeared and so has Shadowheart and now Tav is just standing there, looking around herself. She doesn’t know where to look first and she moves to lean against the pillar beside her –

Only for it to disappear and she falls over, hitting the ground with a thud and a groan. The sounds around her soften as she hits the ground, with people peering over to check on her. But she’s still overwhelmed and being stared at doesn’t help. She’s pushing herself off the ground, trying to act like she totally meant to do that, cursing as she does.

“Godsdamned fucking illusions –,”

“Miss Anastasiya?”

Her attention snaps up at the familiar voice, eyes widening as Rolan is approaching from…behind the counter.

“Rolan?” 

He extends his hand to her, and she takes it without hesitation –not really because she needs help getting up but because she wants to feel him again.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, hand lingering in hers as she finally stands properly, but he’s not looking at her. She’s in no rush to let go either, and she’s trying to get a good look at him.

“Gale wants some book,” she explains, but she’s not focused on the words she’s saying because she’s looking him over closely. “What are you doing here?”

“This is…part of my apprenticeship.” He still won’t meet her eyes, though, even as she’s trying so hard to catch a glimpse. 

His attempt at hiding from her fails, however.

Bruises litter his face, darkening his cheeks. There’s cuts that have not healed and dried blood like he missed it from cleaning up. His lip is cut –badly bruised itself and slightly swollen –but he’s pulling away from her and hurrying back to his post at the counter, and Tav doesn’t finish her examination of him. The bruises on his face lead to his neck, and she’s certain that they extend well below his collar.

Now she’s rushing after him, practically jumping across the counter but he’s pushing her back over. “What’s happened to you? Who did this?”

“It’s nothing,” he insists, eyes cast down as he restacks the flyers that she knocked over. She glances at his hands again, which are just as bruised as his face. “You said you were here for a book?”

“No book is more important than you telling me what happened,” she presses, putting her hand over his. He pulls it away though, slipping a flyer into her hand. Her eyes catch the word Nightsong, but she’s not processing that just yet. 

“It’s fine, Miss Anastasiya,” he promises, but it falls on deaf ears. “Please, leave it be.”

For a long moment, she simply stares at him, counting the bruises and cuts, and determines that whoever did this to him will get double the amount of pain. Her heart is pounding in her chest, threatening to burst through her ribs. This isn’t how she wants to be reunited with him —him refusing to look at her, beaten down. 

But she knows if she pushes, he won’t tell her anything. 

“Why are you passing out flyers about the Nightsong?” She asks, changing the subject as she looks over the flyer. Her eyes narrow as she reads over the reward, as if Aylin is some object to be bought. 

Rolan seems to appreciate that she isn’t asking about him anymore. “It’s all I deal with —some relic that Master Lorrokoan is after. If you have any information —,”

“Oh, I have plenty of information,” she hisses, crumpling the flyer and throwing it behind her. 

Rolan looks surprised, though she isn’t sure why. At this point, he should probably know that she and her companions know way too much about various things. But she doesn’t point that out, instead leaning over the counter. Rolan stares at her, hesitating a moment before he leans in closer to her. 

“Two very important things,” she starts, holding up two fingers. She drops one. “One, your master isn’t going to enjoy the information I have for him or its outcome.” She holds up the second finger again. “Two, when I find out where Astarion found lodging, I’m going to send for you and I’d like you to come see me.”

“Miss Anastasiya, I cannot get away as easily as you’d think —,”

Realization strikes her and Tav narrows her eyes, looking up at the portals at the top of the stairs then back at him. 

“Three things then,” she corrects, putting up a third finger. “If I find out Lorrokoan is the one who did this to you, Ramizith’s tower will have a new master before the end of the week.”

His eyes widen, and she can tell he’s about to argue with her but she’s pressing a quick kiss to his cheek, wishing her lips could heal the pain he was in. Rolan freezes in his tracks, breath catching as Gale and Shadowheart are returning to her side. Then she pulls away with a little half wave. 

“I’ll see you soon, Rolan,” she promises, winking at him. “Either here or when you come see me.”

Rolan is touching his cheek, watching her with wide eyes as he simply nods. Tav turns on her heel and storms out of the shop, eager to tell Aylin what she’s learned. 

[kkoct-ik]

what are we thinking

(explanations / elaborations under the cut)

confidence: ★★★ = most, ☆☆☆ = least

★★☆ mew-chan: there's a popular theory about Gin's apparent significance that suggests any number of things are hidden in mew-chan. i dont feel strongly on one theory or another, but i think it's a solid idea

★★★ Sara does not win (the game): i think it would be poetic if in spite of her win rate / being favoured she refuses to win or otherwise destroys the game

★★★ one bad end: like the mindbreak / Q-taro escapes ending, i think it would be fun if there was a way to fail during the minigame segment

★★☆ Keiji gets decimated: he's overdue and if i don't get to see his mangled corpse i'll be very disappointed. i do not think he is surviving to the main game, and if he does, i think he will be the Sacrifice (there's a convincing argument about how this is the only card he has not had thus far)

★★★ Kai & Joe: this is a loose end i hope is tied up. i'm very invested in Joe's relevance and how suspicious / strange some of his behaviour in chapter 1 is

★☆☆ mishima's head / collar: Midori assumes his collar is how Keiji 'cheated' the russian roulette, so the game clearly hasn't forgotten about it. assuming he is actually dead, i speculate it will be used to cheat / cause issues at some point in 3-2, depending on who actually has it

★★★ Meister doppelgänger: Safalin's clue that floormasters die after meeting their doppelgänger is never used during 3-1's russian roulette. one version of Sara's father and Meister have the same sprites. if Mr. C is not Meister, he is his doppel. if Mr. C is Meister, Dummy!Mr. C is his doppel (see two Mr. Chidouins square)

★☆☆ hospital bed: this is a loose end im looking out for. i've seen some insane cope theories about it & i'm not huge on any in particular, but i would love to see it cleared up

★★★ BANGER music: this should have been the free space but i'm really looking forward to it

★☆☆ we cannot save the Dummies: sorry dummy fans. the game has made a point to make the cast come to terms with the fact that human lives are more important than dummy lives. i think this theme of the value of life will become relevant at least one more time

★★☆ Hades' descendants: Q-taro is an orphan, Reko/Alice & Shin/Kanna are siblings (ie. have one set of parents between them), Gin has a step-father, Sara may or may not be adopted; i think there is some link between the participants' parents and why they were sought out by ASU-NARO

★☆☆ Midori's doll body: it's still out there. where did it go. this is not an insane cope that we see Midori again, i kind of hope we don't, but his fixed dummy body is still in the equation

★★☆ ASU-NARO Gin: ties into the mew-chan theory, elaborates on it. i don't believe he's a liar, but i do think there are a lot of inconsistencies around him. also Miley mother theory is solid and we are definitely not all delusional

★★★ Shin revenge: Shin swears to kill all of us. i specify Keiji because he could realistically be killed (Shin has a soft spot for Gin, and we are the protagonist). i don't really think Shin will anybody, but i think he will be given the opportunity to. (that said if there is an ending where he loses his mind and kills us all i will not complain)

★★★ suicide: whether it's a noble one like Kai's, or a deranged one like Gashu's, i am almost certain there will be a suicide

★★☆ floormaster collars: hey it's the reason i made this bingo at all. i think every single floormaster being trapped by the game (bar Midori, but i'll get to that) is an insane reveal (not just Gashu; if you look at them, all of their necks are hidden from us exactly where a collar would be). i'd love to see a floormaster executed or have their lack of autonomy highlighted in some other way

★★☆ cast revival: i think this would be fucked up, and the technology exists. it also ties into the theme of the value of life, the theme of grief, et cetera

★★★ two Mr. Chidouins: this is my personal tinhat theory that combines the fact that Mr. Chidouin has two distinct sets of sprites, and the fact that the Mr. Chidouin Kai speaks to says he is not Sara's 'real father' (commonly interpreted as adoption, but it's possible this is because this Mr. Chidouin is a dummy). accordingly i think Meister-like Mr. Chidouin (that we see in the winner's room with Sara) is his real/human version

★★☆ memorandum author: i have no strong copes on who (Mr. C / Meister / anyone else), but chances are they will become very relevant as the purpose of the game is finally revealed, and i am assuming we will meet them in person (ie. that they are not long dead)

★★☆ massacre / slaughter ending: either a Sacrifice win or a 'contestant kills everybody in a brutal bloody way' bad end. i will not accept anything ambiguous; i'm looking for an ending where everyone is Dead

☆☆☆ vows & trials: i was going to specifically manifest Gin's first trial being revealed, but i've decided this is my cope square. i want to know about all of them

★★★ Keiji's vow: Mr. Policeman had a kid. "jou" pun. i firmly believe Joe is Mr. Policeman's kid and Keiji's vow was to atone for / get closure for his crime by meeting Mr. Policeman's kid. i hope it recontextualises Joe's initial suspicion of Keiji / attitudes towards police too

★★☆ three new characters: in my mind: Ms. Shortcake (we know of), the dummy version of Mr. Chidouin (previously only seen in Kai's flashback, but likely to become relevant), and a secret third thing. i know this square is a little cheap, but you never know

★★☆ Midori is a huge liar: Midori is at the Least not a traditional floormaster (not a dessert, openly antagonistic & violent towards participants, can remove his collar, was originally supposed to participate), so i speculate that he does not have to follow the floormaster's code, and therefore is able to lie. this boils down to the fact that i simply don't believe that Joe was a handicap, and am suspicious about what is being told to us about AI Sara as well

[agenderpunked]

just finished lost. will not be recovering, ever, me thinks...

I'M GONNA RAMBLE BECAUSE WHAT WAS THAAAAT OUUUUUGH I DIDN'T SEE ANY OTHER WAY FOR IT ALL TO END BUT THE FACT THAT IT *IS* WHAT THEY WENT WITH hURTS

I have so many thoughts and many of them are spoilers so if you haven't watched Lost (2004) stop reading this and go watch it instead.

- Jack dying in the same place he started. The cinematography and spiritual implications of making a trek back to the beginning and finally closing his eyes... DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON VINCENT LYING DOWN NEXT TO HIM I CRIIIIIIIIIIIED. THE DOG KNOWS "LIVE TOGETHER OR DIE ALONE" AND HE MAKES SURE JACK DOESN'T DIE ALONE IM IN SHAMBLESSSSS DONT TALK TO ME

- rose and bernard. i care you so bad. i want a bob ross energy survival show spin off that just follows them making their cabin and garden and traps and such and exploring the area around their cabin. Unproblematic favs, truly. THE FACT NO ONE BELIEVED ROSE WHEN SHE SAID SHE KNEW HER HUSBAND WAS ALIVE???? who visited you and told you that? are you just that faithful??? Did that hope, faith, and love protect both of you from dying on the island before you found each other??

BC ALSO. sorry but i view faith as energy, and when you focus and devote that energy to something it becomes concentrated, and what do our brains run on? electricity. what is everything about Lost about? electromagnetism. What can spirits fuck with? electromagnetic frequencies. That energy can be used to attract what you're searching for. Rose is such a necessary character ESPECIALLY for Jack's development because of how she displays such radical acceptance when she knows there are things she cannot change, ie. cancer, being trapped on the island, being surrounded by danger, and focuses instead on what she can, confirming her husband's status, creating an environment that feels safe, and enjoying the time she has left with the people she loves.

- Boone and Shannon getting into a bar fight at the end??? Boone walking up to Hurley and chatting??? Boone and Shannon are severely underrated characters in my opinion, and it's 100% from the emotionally incestuous aspects of them, which is a shame because I truly believe they are one of the most realistic depictions of relationships like that that I've seen in media. I didn't immediately like Boone. I thought he was an asshole because the show presents Shannon and Boone to you as they would an unhappy romantic relationship, but they never confirm it, even joke about it, to the point I nearly immediately realized 'They're not dating at all. They're siblings that were emotionally neglected by their parents and are codependent as all hell.'

Watching further, I was so scared to think I'd find Boone slander all up and down in the fandom while Shannon gets victimized and absolved of her fucked up actions, because of the way we immediately see Boone treat her without the context for understanding their relationship and that Boone was only on 815 to bail her out of another abusive relationship. But what I actually got from the fandom was NOTHING. ABOUT EITHER OF THEM!!!!

HOW ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT BOONE HALLUCINATING SHANNONS DEATH AND ADMITTING THAT HE WAS UTTERLY RELIEVED 😭😭😭 IM GONNA BLOW MYSELF UP ABOUT IT GOOD GOD.

The fact that Shannon also does find a potentially healthy relationship with Sayid, and that Sayid can allow himself to feel and care for someone and have gentle and tender moments in such a hostile environment while serving as the groups main mercenary, and make her feel safe, regardless of her clearly morally skewed history of dating. Sayid has morals, and he wants to stick to them, but he's been put in environments that do not allow him to adhere to that. He has restraint, and emotional intelligence. The glimpse we get into Shannon's life shows she hasn't been around men of those qualities, at least recently, save for Boone, who even then, doesn't compare next to Sayid. Imagining how Shannon would have felt about Sayid being brought back in the temple and seeing how extremely empty and different he is 😟

- Thinking about the general implications of what the island is, as well... Did they ever survive the initial crash? When they leave the island, were they alive? or was it merely an illusion of life? Is death on the island equivalent to someone accepting that they're dead and moving on for realsies? Is the island symbolizing purgatory? The themes of duality and shadows and light and twins are also not lost on me and rank this media even higher because these were not on my bingo card or prior knowledge of the show and they are damn near a critical criteria for intriguing me and getting me into a media.

Are the souls whispering in the forest of the island trapped there? Michael says they can't move on, but is it a personal choice grappling with what they did? Or is it related to actions done after death, while passing through purgatory, that decides whether you are bound to a place or able to move freely???

Oooooooough.....

[sepublic]

I love how Wu and Lloyd, when they were younger, had a female friend who ended up using and betraying them, after hiding key info about their motives. Said former friend blames them for failing her (in a manner practically gaslighting), and is obsessed with revenge for this reason. It's like it runs in the family or something, and that makes Misako an outlier with Garmadon.

This isn't Harumi/Aspheera hate, for the record; I freaking love these characters. Which gets me to my main point about what a wasted potential it was for Crystalized (like many other things...) NOT to explore a dynamic between the two as members of C.O.C.K. because they can both relate to one another about their grudge against a member of the FSM family.

In particular, I can't help but feel like Aspheera could've played a role in Harumi's change of heart, given she was already given a surprising amount of screentime in the first half of Crystalized. Because if we're being realistic, learning the Overlord corrupted the Great Devourer in the first place wouldn't make Harumi A-okay with the ninja all of a sudden; I doubt she ever blamed them for creating it, but she still blamed the ninja for failing her. Identifying the Overlord wouldn't cause Harumi to reassign the blame to him, he'd just be another target on her list to get back at; At most, Harumi might help the ninja defeat the Overlord because only they can, and then go back to planning revenge on them right afterwards.

And that's where Aspheera comes into play, as someone who is a mirror to Harumi, who can unwittingly help her self-reflect. With Crystalized already pointing out how pathetic Aspheera's obsession with revenge is, I think Harumi recognizing the similarities she has with Aspheera would help her realize, Oh dang! Is this what I sound like? Is this who I really am? Like Pythor, she also finds Aspheera annoying, and/or her and Aspheera bond over their shared grudges.

But when C.O.C.K. needs a way into the Monastery, Aspheera reveals she knows a route and when everyone asks her how she knows this, she explains how she made a deal with the ninja, went back on it, but then Lloyd still honored the deal by helping her escape. I think that's a really important moment because it really gives an opportunity for Aspheera to self-reflect after being genuinely surprised by Lloyd's grace... Only to return to old habits by accepting the Crystal King's offer of revenge; At which point, she really did make her choice to remain bitter.

And learning how Aspheera continues to spit in the face of the ninja could make Harumi pause and ponder if this is really the kind of person she wants to be, someone who continues to trap themselves in and choose petty, miserable vengeance. In canon, she explains her motive as wanting peace through any means, even through the Crystal King, so this could be a way to explain that Harumi has actually been weaning off of the revenge angle, even if she's found a new motive to wreak havoc.

But with the Crystal King, you could set up Harumi as desperate and in despair, because he holds a lot of power over her and literally brought Harumi to life when her previous idol Garmadon got her killed. By this point, she IS tired, so a part of her really does hope that the Overlord can put an end to all of the conflict. And between this and Harumi realizing what a mess Aspheera is and how uncannily alike they are, it sets things up more for her to let go of past grievances, while also being pragmatic about a 'better world'. At that point, the revelation of the Overlord being the one who created the Great Devourer makes more sense for her arc, because now Harumi is less oriented on being personal, and instead being more practical about lessening harm.

Speaking of other dynamics that we could've seen...

Pythor and Harumi is incredibly obvious, everyone has already said it before. I really do wish they bonded over how they manipulated Lloyd at a vulnerable moment of his life, and are both people who hold that sort of emotional leverage over him; They know what makes Lloyd tick, they pretended to be a friend only to betray him, he's still a scared child in their eyes and they know how to bring out that scared child. Pythor even takes credit for Garmadon's death! Their synergy when it comes to traumatizing Lloyd is eerie.

But at the same time, the Great Devourer in the room is acknowledged with Pythor's role in the whole mess. And Crystalized could then clarify Harumi's feelings towards Pythor; Harumi could explain that Pythor and the Serpentine WERE on her list of targets and still technically are, but during the Sons of Garmadon era, she was also focused on resurrecting Garmadon. And because the ninja are heroes, that inevitably pits them against Harumi even if she didn't have a grudge, so her vendetta towards them had more opportunity to reveal itself, whereas the Serpentine, who were sitting things out, didn't invoke that rage on-screen.

But now Pythor IS here... And like with Lloyd, Harumi is pretending to be chill and demure, totally peaceful, no grudge at all! But then when she and Lloyd are alone in the jungle, she admits that she does plan to get revenge on Pythor and the Serpentine; She's made a deal with the Overlord that once his victory is secured, Harumi will be allowed to command his troops in taking vengeance upon Pythor and the Serpentine. For now, she lets Pythor think she's focused only on the ninja, so he doesn't suspect anything and doesn't attempt to sabotage the Crystal King to avoid his fate.

Conversely, Pythor admits (in Harumi's absence) that he's predicted all of this; However, he feels assured that the Overlord will choose him over Harumi. Because while Harumi only serves the Overlord because he revived her, because he has power over her, Pythor went out of his way to rescue the Overlord at a vulnerable moment in Rebooted, which led to him becoming the Golden Master.

Thus, Pythor has proven himself as unconditionally loyal, and with him having no qualms nor hesitation about destroying the ninja, he's convinced the Overlord will go back on his deal to spare Pythor anyway; And if Harumi keeps trying to do something about it, the Overlord WILL choose Pythor to keep, while casting out Harumi for defiance.

Meanwhile there's Harumi and Vangelis, who were interacting with one another even before Crystalized, and knew about it. Harumi was right there during the events of Master of the Mountain, so Vangelis has been helping her even before the Crystal King and his council were a thing, and Harumi has been funding his ivory city.

So it'd be nice to bring that up, have Vangelis and Harumi already regard one another as professional acquaintances. Vangelis knew of Harumi's survival before anyone else (sans the Overlord of course), and went with her plans even before he knew about them. Without Harumi, there wouldn't be someone paying for a vengestone operation that would require Munce and Geckle slavery. They've been partners in crime who might superficially express sympathy over whatever issues the other has going on.

Given Harumi killed the Emperor and Empress of Ninjago, how does she feel about Vangelis, another king? Does she consider all royalty to be hypocrites whose perfection is built on dark secrets? How does Vangelis regard Harumi, who killed her royal parents, and now has a daughter who he believes betrayed him? Oh god what if Vangelis adopted Harumi to replace Vania. Of course maybe Harumi has given up on the 'surrogate father' thing after both failures, but man.

Likewise, I could see Vangelis sucking up to the Overlord by constantly bringing up the fact that it was HIS Shintarin vengestone that created the Crystal Army, that's his land that's terrorizing Ninjago now. Meanwhile, Harumi brings up how she funded his kingdom, and can bring it back to glory with Vangelis once more as the leader.

Maybe Pythor and Vangelis can both compete for the Overlord's favor; Does Pythor dislike Vangelis, as someone human (or close enough to it) who imprisoned multiple inhuman species underground to achieve his perfect civilization? Maybe he sees some kinship between the Serpentine, and the Munce and Geckles. This could be an opportunity to delve into his motivations for serving the Overlord, back in Rebooted and now; Does he see the Overlord as a means for revenge, even if he was the Golden Master that his own kind dreaded? If he still claims to fight on behalf of his kind, Pythor might have thoughts about Vangelis' dynamic with the Munce and Geckles.

And that extends to his relationship with Aspheera, given they're both imprisoned Serpentine operating on vendettas, but under very different circumstances. Aspheera completely missed out on the Serpentine Wars, their entombment, their return, the Great Devourer, and reconciliation with humanity. For Aspheera, this may have all been a natural evolution of the uneasy truce between human and Serpentine that in Mambo V’s case, was very easy to interpret as violated. Even if she didn’t have any particulate spite or wariness towards humans at the time, she didn’t seem to be all too much for them either.

But now Aspheera really hates Wu. So in addition to all that, it's feasible that Aspheera, who at this point is looking for an excuse to be angry, would just feed into Pythor's larger vendetta against humanity, and participate in it. She'd see he hates Wu and encourage him. All the while, Pythor could've known Aspheera as a Serpentine legend, so that makes her his elder by technicality. Maybe he even related to her, as someone who (in the Serpentine’s version of events) got done dirty by a human!

So maybe he isn't mocking her obsession with revenge, maybe he fully agrees; Or Pythor is kind of a hypocrite who dismisses Aspheera as merely being salty over how she failed to seize power, whereas HIS rage is actually righteous and justified because it speaks on behalf of all Serpentine, never mind the fact that he's an outcast to Serpentine society now, as is Aspheera. Maybe he hears the full story from Aspheera and is disappointed she isn’t as much of a perfect victim as she claims to be, but is emboldened by how Aspheera tried to push the Serpentine into taking over Ninjago before he did.

Aspheera may or may not be ticked off by Pythor's hypocrisy and they're both awful idiots and Harumi is dreading that she's actually like them, which makes her second-guess her grudge motives so that when the Overlord's role with the Great Devourer is exposed, she doesn't even have peace as a reason to support him/oppose the ninja anymore.

As for Aspheera and Vangelis... I guess compared to Pythor and Harumi at least having more claim to sympathy, their original motives were already based in wanting more power and glory. I guess they might bond over feeling personally betrayed by one specific person they once cared about, and acting as if that person is at fault, and not their attempted power grabs; Those people being Wu and Vania respectively.

They might share in leveraging the claim that these people should be grateful to them for what they did, whereas Pythor and Harumi can't even pretend to say that to Lloyd. So Aspheera and Vangelis both wallow in self-pity and are baffled over how anyone could ever do this to them, but it's much more openly pathetic and a sham with this duo.

Tbh I don't really have anything to say about Mr. F or the Mechanic; Mr. F is silent and doesn't have a personality, just programmed loyalty to Harumi, so he's only really an extension of her. And alas the writers, despite having an opportunity to bring back the lost Echo Zane/Mr. E plotline, didn't do that by making Mr. F a different a character entirely, and having Echo interact with Jay between Seabound and Crystallized in a separate side story.

As for the Mechanic... I just feel like there's not much to talk with this dude, he's just a power-hungry thug to annoy the ninja between their actual villains. Although Prime Empire did give him a bit more motive and depth, what with his grateful reverence towards Unagami for restoring his sense of feeling. Of course, he chickened out when Unagami actually showed up, so maybe someone can bring it up to call his efficacy into question; How do they know he won't do the same when the Overlord performs a big display of power?

The Mechanic does mention allying with the Overlord for safety, so it may just be that reason, whereas Unagami was just lashing out angrily and without much rhyme or reason. I wonder if he can at least convince himself that the Overlord is what he expected out of Unagami, a savior who will make a new paradise, so maybe him and Harumi have that similarity there.

Man... Both waves of Ninjago that brought back past villains ended up being a letdown, particularly in the villain dynamic part. Day of the Departed at least has the excuse of only running the length of two standard Ninjago episodes; Crystalized ran the length of fifteen!!! That's the longest any story arc of Ninjago has gotten, even longer than Seasons 1 or 2!

But instead we had to waste several episodes on that frustrating cop and prison subplot with Hounddog McBrag, who didn't even do anything and should've been a non-issue. Between him and the mayor who disappears as soon as the Overlord actually starts attacking, and the writers should've instead allocated screentime towards fleshing out C.O.C.K., addressing the ninjas' trauma and/or dynamics with the villains, etc. I do not care at all for the rushed redemption of an annoying wannabe cowboy who doesn’t even show up to help at the end of the series.

[dogshit-enchantment]

okay i was joking about writing an essay about Cid and while i don't have the brain power or time to do all that, i will expound my thoughts on his relationship with Shera. They're coworkers, first and foremost. She's a rocket scientist assigned by Shinra to stay in Rocket Town and help with the space program. Why exactly she lives with Cid is ??? I don't know if it's ever explained or if its just a matter of them being roommates. Regardless.

I will state that it is wrong that Cid yells at her, but in the same instance I will also say that she herself is also in the wrong for what she did. She's supposed to be a professional in charge of checking equipment and making sure it's all working as it should, and when she notices a problem she doesn't say anything. She doesn't tell anyone and get the launch delayed, she doesn't tell Cid so he can stall for time, she instead decides 'yeah I don't care if I die' and silently continues working while within the blast zone. The scene of the launch gets translated as "Are you trying to make me a murderer, Shera?!" because that's how Cid assumes it to be: She is trying to commit suicide by his fucking hand. That would make anyone fucking pissed off. Imagine having to live with someone who tried to get you to tie their fucking noose. Yeah, he probably shouldn't be yelling at her and it's shitty that he does and they should talk it out, but how realistic is that? They don't have therapists at Shinra, and they sure as hell don't have therapists in the boonies. Cid copes by chain smoking and holding onto hope that the one thing that almost destroyed both of their lives will still come to fruition. And it does, and Shera is still fucking there, and it come full circle with the oxygen tank exploding and almost fucking killing him. Her failure to alert others almost cost Shera her life and almost cost Cid his life on two fucking occasions. Neither of them are blameless, and even the small "sorry" when he's trapped under shrapnel is monumental. He knows he's being too much, but what the fuck else is he gonna do?

Clearly they make amends and become better friends considering in Advent Children he names his newest ship after her and in DoC apparently they get married??? (I don't agree with that one but its at least something to show that he did finally make it to the other side of like, all that)

Cid went through the trauma of almost killing his fucking coworker/roommate/friend because she wouldn't speak up, lashes out because of that trauma and the fact that her inaction cost everyone on that team the hope of space, not just himself. He's flawed and he's aggressive, but he comes around, he makes the effort, and most of all he cares, whether the people around him want him to or not.

Shera is not entirely blameless and Cid is not off the hook by any means, they both got issues and they both need therapy but alas, they are video game characters and this is all just bullet points to make the plot go forward.

me, a liar: I'm not gonna write an essay about Cid >proceeds to write a mini essay about him instead of doing whatever the fuck else i was doing with my day

[bohemian-nights]

I don’t know, I feel like actors don’t always get the character they play ‘right’ and that’s the problem with these movie/show adaptations of books. Hotd was a big mistake, I don’t think I’ll ever change my stance on that, mostly because of all the racism and hate in the fandom and from the producers/directors. If the show runners just make a fanfic version of a book, I really don’t understand the point, it’s infuriating, especially to the original book readers. I get attached to minor characters and it really just fucks with me because they rarely get treated well or are as uplifted as they should be! I go a little overboard with this stuff, it’s a problem and I know that, but it would just be so nice if showrunners didn’t diverge so much from the original canon material! With the hotd promos, they genuinely piss me off. I’m not team black or team green, I’m really not, I only genuinely like a few people on the show (which do happen to be team black, but I can’t really say that I like the other people on said team). I regret watching the show and getting into the fandom, I wish I could go back and never watch it, that’s how messed up it’s got me. I just hope s2 is not as disrespectful as s1 bc I’ll still watch it, but I must admit I don’t have much hope of that, especially with how the actors speak of it, it just gives me the ick. It’s not wrong for “family” to hate each other or have problems with eachother. Team black is not this perfect family (and team green isn’t either, not at all) and it’s so stupid for people to try and say they are. At the end of the day it’s fiction, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be the least bit realistic with strained dynamics. For example, it’s okay if the dragon twins have some resentment for rhaenyra and daemon, I’m not saying that they do, but it would be perfectly fine if they did. It would be normal. It doesn’t mean they ultimately hate daemon or rhaenyra, but it doesn’t have to be one or the other either. Team black loves to act as if rhaena&baela adore rhaenyra and they very well might, but if you were to argue that they might dislike or are just not close with her for very understandable reasons, all hell would break loose. As someone who primarily follow people who are team black and pro rhaenyra I know I would be hated on hard if I even suggested the dragon twins held some resentment from when they were younger (which is why I’m saying this anon rn lmao). And I’m not even hating on rhaenyra, I’m just trying to step in their shoes ig. At the end of the day I wholeheartedly believe laena will be the most important woman figure to them regardless of how they feel and that can be enough. I just love mother -children relationships and hotd fandom loves to ignore minor ones :/

Sorry for the rant, I’m honestly just rambling and trying to get some ridiculous frustration off my chest. Hopefully you don’t think I’m too crazy lmao

🫂I feel you anon especially about the going back in time part. Funnily enough I almost wasn't going to watch this crap because I was still upset with how GOT ended.

However, they got to me with of the addition of the Black cast. I should've known though that it was a fucking trap to get Black people to watch this shit show and that they had no actual intention of doing right by the Black characters, but nope I decided to be a dummy.

Two years later and now I’m here 🤦🏽‍♀️ Having to witness take after take on how every Black(ish) character is unimportant, irrelevant, interchangeable, and only there so the show can appear to be “woke—unless of course they need them to bash a character they hate more.

Poor Laena gets shafted constantly and mocked for being second best and people barely want to admit she’s her girls mother, but then when it’s time to bash Alicent then they want to admit she was shafted.

Baela and Rhaena are barely talked about unless it’s to say how they can replace Nettles(or to mention how Missy Anne did in fact have daughters…. daughters who refer to her as my queen or princess and named their kid after who again? I believe it starts with a L).

Daenaera is non-stop depicated as the lightest mixed girl (if even that) that one can find(and that’s a feat cause there aren’t any actual Black women on this show), but then they want to use her being “Black” to accuse people they have beef with of racism.

Laenor is made into a bum(that’s more the showrunners fault, but people go in on him unnecessarily).

Vaemond is absolutely hated and Corlys, Addam, and Alyn are liked so long as they don’t go off script(which anyone who has read the books knows that Corlys and Alyn are going to go off script)….

Don’t get me started on Team Green who is less outright with their racism, but they aren’t right either.

Can't say that this fandom is the worst or the most racist cause unfortunately I’m seeing the same pattern play out in several other fandoms I’m apart of, but a large portion of this fandom shouldn’t interact with other people until they’ve seen a shrink.

The show is just not good enough for people to be going this crazy about it, but I digress. Honestly though I say all this, but I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t care for this show or fandom anymore.

I mean I’ll get re-energized when Nettles shows up, but outside of that I couldn’t care less on what happens. I’m not going to even bother watching the new season, I’m just focusing on completing these fics(I’m determined to have What We May Mend done before the end of the year) and then I’m bouncing till 2026, and if Nettles isn’t there—

🤣🤣🤣Okay I shouldn’t be so dramatic cause I’ll still be on here and this ask box will always be open, but my time of being in the HOTD fandom will have reached it's conclusion.

[lafayetteworld]

Hi - I’m reading what if we were other people - and I’m absolutely obsessed with it! The characterizations of Damian and Fay are so strong and consistent with a lot of growth as well! I’m only on Chapter 22 (still reading through the Euro-Trip) but I absolutely cannot wait for them to officially get together although I’m thoroughly enjoying the slow burn that is building.

Fay just feels like such a lived in character with a real history and very legitimate and realized flaws and anxieties. I adore the way you also integrate her therapy into the growth and her growing self-awareness around her self-destructive thoughts and tendencies. The portrayal of self-care, mental health and mental health maintenance are so realistic and refreshingly wonderful in this fic! I love all of her small idiosyncrasies that make her so real - the same lunch she has every day, all of the little Knick knacks in her room, all of the random jobs she has (which we now know is an honestly v relatable trauma response).

I also love your version of Damian - he has such a strong internal voice that comes through. There’s still the slight sneakiness and sass that I’ve always loved in his character that has softened into a sort of endearing teasing towards Fay. The way he thinks through how he feels about Fay as he is realizing his feelings towards her are so in character - highly logical but sort of frustrated at his own inability to parse through and control his emotions because they’re so new. I also really love how much he respects Fay and her trauma - his compassion and empathy are not obvious at first but they’re so heavily present in all of his actions.

I also love their relationship!! I love that they are putting themselves and their friendship first because they’re so scared of hurting each other. It makes the slow burn so much more endearing because they love and care about each other too much to make a move. I adore how Damian acknowledges that they are both complete and whole individuals but she is his choice which makes her all the more singular - it’s such a healthy and wonderful way to see love depicted - especially when people can so easily fall into the trap of being co-dependent and “needing” your partner so much that they become a crutch and a barrier to healing yourself. It is so much more romantic to me to have someone choose you and continue choosing you. I also love how much they challenge each other - Fay allows Damian to be vulnerable and Damian calls out her putting herself down - it makes them grow together rather than one of them “healing” the other. Ugh and the innocent touchingggg- I kicked my feet and screamed into the void when Fay began stroking his arm. I can’t wait for this to progress!!!

I also love the family dimensions you depicted as well. Moma and Cora are such wonderful additions that I love reading about that add so much depth to Fay’s character. And the Wayne clan is so interesting to read about! You can see how Bruce loves his children but he isn’t present most of the time and tries his best when he is. I love that you maintained the closeness between Dick and Damian - it’s one of my favorite relationships in DC! (Also love that Kori and Dick are together in this!! My ship heart is singing)! I can’t wait to see more of Jason - I’m so intrigued by his fiancé! And I can’t wait to meet Tim officially in the fic - I wonder if him and Damian wi still have major beef in this iteration haha.

The entire story arc with Archer was also beautifully written. I was so proud to see Fay stop being so passive and take action when she started kicking ass omg. I was so so stressed when she went to confront them - but when it was over, you could feel the catharsis in her that she didn’t have to suffer anymore. I truly hope they stay gone because Fay deserves peace above anything else at this point.

Anyway, this has gotten much longer than anticipated - sorry for that! I just love love love your fic so much and I know it’s on hiatus but I just wanted you to know that I will continue to be an avid reader whenever you update! I look forward to whatever ending you have planned! Honestly at this point - this fic is better written than a lot of published romance works I’ve read haha! - 🌻

Hi there,

I just want to say thank you for taking the time to provide me with such great feedback and all your thoughts on my fics. I really do appreciate it. While I haven't replied yet, I did read this post many times over in the past. Through your and others' comments, I can remember why I enjoyed writing these fics in the first place. I've always wanted to see a particular type of romance - both slow-burn but intense yet avoids tropes like romantic dependency or the characters 'needing' one another, like you mentioned. I love many published novels and fics with these tropes, but I wanted to see something different, so I decided to try my hand at it. I am so glad to see that I succeeded to the best of my ability and that my work excites someone. I am a sucker for characters that have to go through a lengthy process of working on themselves and depicting the struggles that come with it. I am sorry for leaving you hanging on both works. I am currently re-writing What If (just addressing grammar issues!) and hoping to complete it in early 2025. Providence is much more complex, so that'll take longer, but I would like to return to it very soon, as well. Thank you again, and I hope you have a lovely day!

[ancientevangelions]

Hello! I'm new here! Just the other day I was going through the AsuShin tag, found your fics, and loved them! I also spent some time reading your thoughts and theories. Which brings me to ask, how do you perceive the changes and (lack of) relationship between Asuka and Shinji from Evangelion, EoE and Rebuild?

Specifically regarding Rebuild, I found it disheartening how they set Shinji and Asuka aside so easily. I'm not talking strictly nor only about shipping. I grew up watching the 90s Evangelion. And a big part of the story and its exploration of psychological themes and characters's psychology and motivation was Shinji's relationship with Asuka. Most of all in EoE, which, to me, is the ending I find most fitting.

It was dreadful to watch the redone beach sequence where Shinji thanks Asuka for admitting she used to like him, then him saying he used to like her back. Only for them to have that "everything is suddenly happy now" ending. This sequence seems to discredit most of the themes and sacrifices made in the original story, and does not satisfactorily brings their story to a close, but instead seem to try to brush it aside or bypass it somehow. Again, I do ship AsuShin but my grievance has much more to do with the way Rebuild handled them, I don't think in a story like Evangelion we could ever have had hopes of them living happily ever after or even be together necessarily

Hello!

Thanks for being here. I wanted to answer this as thoughtfully as I could! Asuka and Shinji are definitely a complicated pair. Regardless of shipping, they require care and attention to understand.

In NGE/EoE, the focus of the series is on their interactions, especially with the End of Evangelion. Episode 9 onward is focused primarily on the interactions between Asuka and Shinji, their highs and lows, the back and forth and their eventual downfalls. I always find it funny how people are highly critical of the interactions between the kids. From my memory of high school/being a teen (2004 to 2009 mostly), it was very much like this. A lot of back-and-forth denial of feelings and messiness trying to avoid pain, not wanting to speak your feelings due to embarrassment, and a lack of knowledge on consent or anything romantic or sexual. It all was a very realistic portrayal of my teen years, primarily because of the depression and mental illness (spoken as an undiagnosed mentally ill teen).

The realism with Asuka and Shinji and the non-linear progression/recovery felt extremely important to me. It was evident that they had a massive attraction to one another. Still, they fell into the trap I had in my youth of being unsure how to communicate my feelings without being rejected or experiencing pain. Even without romantic or sexual feelings, Shinji and Asuka live together, attend school, and work together. They are often abandoned by Misato at home alone, left to their own devices. They are two kids competing to see who can grow up faster. They have a compelling dynamic because they are so messy! In NGE, we see their ups and downs, learning about each other, fighting together and building trust, kindness, rude words, misunderstanding, poor communication, etc.

I love End of Evangelion. I don't need to see what happens after Asuka returns; I know now Yui was telling the truth that anyone can return when they are ready. Of course, it would be Asuka next after Shinji; their destinies are intertwined. She has every right to show him compassion AND to still be angry after all he did to her. The point of the ending scene is that there is love and affection in the world, but it's not forced; it's not a given; it's realistic. No one owes you anything, not love, not compassion, but when we choose to be kind, how amazing is that? Asuka and Shinji can continue to learn, grow and survive together. There is hope; they can be happy, but they must rebuild, work together, and try to find that happiness. 

Rebuild of Evangelion is so Shinji-centric at times it feels like it doesn't care about anyone else's motivations or backstory. Rebuild disappointed me so much with its focus on cinematic fights over substance. Rebuild also falls into the trap of forcing a perfect happy ending, which is unrealistic and annoying. Real change is messy and takes effort, years and years of action, and instead, we find perfection in imperfection. It's okay and expected if everything doesn't go exactly as planned. Rebuild needs more focus. It's evident that there was no overarching plan for the 4 films and that they underwent rewrites and delays for years. Of course, ideas would change. It took years to finish the series. It went from "Evangelion for new fans, a retelling that doesn't require you to watch NGE" to "The action sequences are good; let's make money off of sexualized children."

A lot of the AsuShin content is added on later in canon bonus material later added to 3.0 + 1.0 to clear up misconceptions about the relationships. It's subtle, and it feels tacked on. Shinji spends so little on-screen time with any of the characters that we don't get the same interactions, world-building, or character development and the flatness of the characters bothers me so much. What are their motivations? "Well, he cooked for her, so she likes him." Okay… that seems flimsy since she spends all her time alone, and he spends all his time alone… 

Shikinami might as well be 14, screaming that she is an adult now. For all the ways she has changed between 2.0 and 3.0, stewing in her anger doesn't seem very adult. The children telling us they are adults really doesn't convince me. The time skip accomplished nothing as no one reflected on 14 years passing in a realistic way. Shinji didn't grieve lost time or grapple with being an adult in a child's body. The deus ex machina at the end might have been "And then Shinji woke up, and Wonderland was gone" or "Asuka clicked her red heels and said there's no place like home."

Pixar films are popular because "Life doesn't always go according to plan, but you can still find happiness in the mess of life." The idea is that things are imperfect, and we make the most of what we have. Sometimes, what we want is different from what we need. Rebuild fails to capture this and instead falls into a trap I see in YA novels where the epilogue is much too neat. We see ourselves in the characters, and we identify with the struggle, but then the ending is too tidy. The protagonist gets a hetero-normative end with children and a picket fence and marries one of the love interests introduced early on. The protagonist becomes unrelatable to us because they fall into complacency where they have a 9 to 5 job and do nothing to better anything after the "fall of the tyrant." To quote The Who with their song Won't Get Fooled Again: "Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss." How can we, who are struggling daily for our survival and happiness, find the changing of one problem to be satisfactory in solving all issues? No more Evas, cool, but now he is under capitalism which we all know SUCKS. Sounds perfect, Shinji. Thanks for making your lives miserable in a new way. Trapped in wage labour sounds excellent. 

That's why I'm not a fan of "happy" endings. I only need some of the problems solved. I want to see work to build a new world. In the Rebuild ending, I dream of Asuka and Shinji working side by side to rebuild cities, prevent new child soldiers and be active in a community that fears them. We don't need a dream of paradise. We need hope that WE can make a difference, too. 

[marofdawn]

Fucking character limit didn't let me write you my bible hahaha so if you're ok with this, i wrote you something in this doc in drive (change the x's in docxgooglexcom pls): (docsxgooglexcom/document/d/16pos0YwhMHJEh7jaPZhqqyh7bsQJz_dHJdMbN84_rl4/edit?usp=sharing) Thanks for everything in IAL, Mar!!

Omg, babe, tysm for your words 😭, seriously. Don’t apologize for writing sm bc I literally love long comments; it never annoys me. I never get tired of them. To know people feel this strongly about my story literally never fails to make me feel so fulfilled - like I’m doing something right in life, somehow

I like to give lengthy replies to long comments, so I hope you don’t mind either…

- I’m happy to hear my story has motivated you to write as well. Definitely do it! I had a lot of doubts about specific areas of my writing, as you mentioned, but I’m really happy that I didn’t listen to those negative thoughts and pushed through regardless. Writing for yourself can honestly feel very healing at times.

- Love to hear that you identified with Eden and Levi in some ways. Eden definitely has certain qualities I can relate to as well - moreso her inner qualities as opposed to outward. I’m happy it helped you reflect and value situations :).

- Sorry for the tears, but I also love knowing my writing impacted people this much 🥲. I’m happy it moved you.

- I definitely made Eden suffer so much in this story 😭 maybe a bit too much, as you said. Her mother died, she had a shitty father that practically disowned her (then all of a sudden wanted to enter her life again), was raised with shitty propaganda against her kind that, as a result, allowed them to get murdered, broke the heart of the man she loved, etc. The list goes on.

- Levi and Eden’s relationship post-reveal was definitely one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the story. Levi said a lot of things he didn’t mean, and ik many readers were wondering why Eden didn’t put him in his place sooner 😂. It was very toxic at that point; they’d constantly go back and forth with Eden trying really hard to lighten the mood, but Levi would go back to square one and say something indicating he didn’t care about her anymore, even though it was a flat out lie. He probably could have handled his feelings differently… but honestly, even though he was being an asshole, I feel like some of Eden’s attempts at reaching out to him were realistic in some ways? Like, he was being toxic and a complete dick, but she was also very deeply in love with him and missed him. Love can blind you sometimes, and she still wanted a little piece of him back. But then the whole hate sex scene happened and she had enough sjsjdjdkf. That was the moment she realized she needed to stop trying because it didn’t seem like he was ever going to change his perspective of her.

- I feel like I owed everyone a happy epilogue, so I’m glad you enjoyed! Honestly, I made them suffer so much that a happy ending was necessary lol. I considered killing Eden off plenty of times, but I don’t think anyone would have forgiven me skskdfjs.

- “Loving you made me feel free” is also one of my favorite quotes. It really put into perspective how guarded and trapped Eden felt when it came to her emotions, and how falling for Levi helped her find herself, in a way.

- I feel honored that you plan to write this in your book journal! Literally such a huge compliment.

- Happy you enjoyed the playlist! I feel like I might do that for future fics too. We’ll see :).

- I am fluent in Spanish! It’s definitely not perfect, but I do speak it :). English is my stronger language, but Spanish is practically all I speak at home. I can still read, write, and speak it, so I don’t mind messages in Spanish :). I could use the practice with reading tbh bc I don’t read in Spanish often anymore 😅.

Thank you so much for your words, my love. I truly, truly appreciate it. I say it all the time, but I really do value these kinds of messages. Thank you for taking the time to write this for me :).

Take care ❤️.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure Drama CD 3 (Character Song + Mini Drama 3)

The final part in this drama CD trilogy! There are other Digimon Adventure CDs for me to go through, but this is the end of the character song + mini drama collection. So great that these are easily accessible online. I've had a lot of fun going through them.

Download link

Translation

The Stolen First Dreams of the Year - Parts 1 & 2

The gang realizes that none of them had a New Year's dream (it's a Japanese tradition to analyze your first dream of the year). Yamato and Takeru go to investigate and Bakumon reveals he ate everyone's dreams! Dun dun dunnnn

Gotta love the totally realistic conversations of people being like "you didn't have a dream either, so weird!" I feel like I don't remember my dreams most nights lol.

I've always known that tapir were associated with dream-eating in Japan (due to anime and video games), but I've never looked up the origins of this. According to Wikipedia the nightmare eating, supernatural "baku" and the tapir are both called "baku," but they're different...but also baku look just like tapir lol. Not confusing at all!

In part 2 of this drama Yamato and Takeru are trapped in Takeru's dream. Takeru is a cat, Patamon's a kite, and Gabumon's a shishimai. I thought it was funny that Takeru had a profound reason for Patamon to be a kite, but Gabumon was a shishimai because...he just kinda looks like one lol

Takeru uses the power of lucid dreaming to defeat Bakumon and escape his dream...that's a pretty obvious weakness

Image Song 1 - Walk on the Edge (Yamato Ishida)

Translation

A very "cool" song for Yamato, very fitting. A lot of it is directed at Taichi, telling him to stop being so hot-headed and just be cool, like Yamato.

I feel like there's some conflicting vibes here because at one point in the lyrics he's like "we're the chosen children, we can do anything!" but then he's like "I'm fine on my own." Kinda jarring that both ends of his arc would be put into one song like that. Like...pick a personality.

I liked that they incorporated his harmonica in the song's intro. Smart.

Image Song 2 - Be All Right (Takeru Takaishi)

Translation

This had a similar vibe to Hikari's song, kinda abstract and hopeful about the future. (Makes sense since Hikari and Takeru become a duo).

I feel like Takeru's voice actress didn't even try to do her character's voice when singing this. It just sounds like some lady lol. In my opinion, when it comes to image songs, I prefer the song to sound more authentic to the character than to sound "good."

The Digimon’s New Year Performance

This was definitely the best gag drama yet! They threw a lot of dumb jokes in there that made me laugh/roll my eyes. Best bits were probably: Gabumon finally taking his fur off (in the AUDIO drama), Tentomon speaking without his accent (cursed), Sora and Joe praising Piyomon and Gomamon for their lame tricks and Hikari judging Tailmon for acting cutesy.

I felt bad for Agumon for being booed, glad he got his revenge at the end lol.

Image Song 3 - Shinka de Guts! (Partner digimon, minus Tailmon)

Translation

This one snuck up on me. It's so cute!! I feel like this is one of those anime songs that make you feel like you can do anything and everything's gonna be alright ;w;

Love hearing the digimon sing. This is what I was talking about in my critique of Takeru's song. I love in-character songs that aren't worried about sounding kinda goofy.

The digimon sing about their power together and their love for their human partners, very wholesome. There were also some lyrics thrown in there about taking it easy and stopping to smell the flowers. Cozy.

[ahundredtimesover]

Omg the mysteries have been unveiled!!!! Can't put into words how much I love this story. Thank you endlessly for putting so much effort, time, and care into it. It's amazing that we get to share the fruits of your talent! It's even crazier that you managed to build a story that just ticks all the points for me and scratches my brain just right.

I commend you for not falling into the common traps of fanfic writing by rushing into things and buying into scenarios that are just not realistic for a non-fantasy fic. As much as the characters' decisions, actions, and attitudes might frustrate us, that's what being human is like! That's real! That's life! We are so contradictory, and we say the wrong thing or the right thing at the wrong time, or we fail to say what must be said.

I will admit that I've been frustrated by both jk and oc throughout the story, and thought they made things more complicated than way they needed to be but now I understand why it's taken so long to get to this point. I get oc's desperation to break free. At first, I was so confused. Why walk away from a job that gives you a decent wage and is prestigious? Surely not everyone likes their job all the time, and would like to have more money, more free time... Now, I understand her fully, and I empathize. There's nothing worse than feeling indebted, subservient, ashamed... it's like she has been walking on eggshells all the time. Even if the family didn't see her in a negative light or looked down on her, sometimes your insecurities get the best of you and your brain convinces you that the worst case scenario is indeed happening right under your nose.

I'm excited to see her heal, grow, and THRIVE! I want to see her comfortable in her own skin, to believe and KNOW she deserves positive things in her life, to feel invigorated by her job, to feel more relaxed, to have time for herself, to find hobbies and passions. Who knows... maybe she dabbles in writing in the future? 👀👀 (She did mention she loves storytelling and the creative process). Of course, healing is complicated and I predict she might have hard times ahead, wondering if she did the right thing, if walking away from jk means losing him forever...

I hope the time apart (hopefully not too long 🙏, although it makes the most sense) allows them both to see things more clearly and approach their feelings in a new light, without the baggage of power dynamics. Starting a relationship with your boss is just yucky, BIG no. For the people saying that's what should've happened... how would that have made her look like? Oh, yall helped my mom and I escape domestic violence, pay for my uni education, gave me an internship and a job (although my girl earned this, but yk negative self talk), AND then I start sleeping and dating one of the company heirs whilst still working as his assistant? Absolutely not.

Also, jumping right into the relationship after her resignation seems too rushed as well, oc more than jk (imo) needs to sort herself out and find herself, find her identity away from the shadows of her past and jk's family and company. How can she be in her first actual relationship if she feels like she can't stand on her own two feet? How can she do good by her and jk if she feels insecure, lost, and unfulfilled? Love and intimacy don't solve all your life problems. That's the heartbreaking realization they both are starting to have. I will say that seeing the more romantic side of jk and oc was soooo cute. His reasoning (although flawed) of wanting to keep her in the company in order to ensure her being respected and safe warmed my heart. I agree with that other anon that jk might not take the separation too well, and might revert back to his old ways, which could potentially put off oc? She might be at a point where she wants to reconnect, and he's just not there yet (I won't mind this possibility because I, too, LOVE angst 😭)

Also Mr. Ri's backstory :( Bless his heart. He has done so so good by oc and her mom. He deserves ultimate happiness, as well. Also, what about Mr YOONGI! I can't wait to read his opinion about all this and how he will try to help out both of them.

Overall, what a chapter. It has been my favorite yet (hard choice cause you have a goldmine here). I can't wait (I can and I will) for chapter 12!! Much love ❤️

(I'm usually an anonymous fan, but this story is just so good I'm powering through my shyness and panic to send this message off anon 🫣)

HIII oh wow, so much to absorb here and I love it! 🥹Which is also why I took a while to respond. I loved reading through this and knowing what you thought. This story took months of frustration and stress to come together haha but I'm glad it’s able to resonate with readers and you guys can see what I was trying to say through the characters. 😌😌

It's a slowburn for the reason that it's important to get to fully know them, from their pains to their hopes because it's how we understand why they do what they do; it's how we connect with them, too. Bc these very flawed humans have bits and pieces of us in them. Especially with OC - no matter how 'good' a job seems to be, if it doesn't fulfil your desires, if it makes you doubt what you've achieved, it's gonna constantly eat at you, and it finally became too much for her once she realized that her feelings for JK would keep her in a place that she's not happy in, even if the man who makes her happy is right there. Obviously there are the hindrances given their positions, but ultimately it's OC making a decision for herself.

It's also interesting to note what you and other readers propose or believe must be the way forward. They both need healing, but clearly all the years they've spent alone and on their own haven't really done anything good to them. And also, they didn't go through a breakup. It's more like a rejection of requited feelings, and like I said to another reader, they don't know what happiness with each other feels like, and they may not exactly need healing from each other. As we've seen, they find comfort in each other. But I totally get what you're saying about needing time away. Much of OC's feelings of being lost and insecure and unfulfilled are tied to her job, and now that she no longer feels bound by it... it's a good thing! This is actually what I was hoping that people would see because echoing what you're also saying, being apart isn't always a bad thing. 😉

We love Mr. Ri! He's such a comforting character, so is Yoongi. And together with Jimin, we see that OC still has good men around her despite the other assholes she dated. 😌 and also, if u think this JK is romantic... AWW WAIT UNTIL rich boyfriend jk happens 🤭🤭 hahaha but anyway. I loved this. Thank you so much for coming out of the shadows and dropping by. I super appreciate it. It makes me feel fulfilled that I could give you something to ponder and hope about. 💕

I hope you're well! Stay safe always! 🫶🏼🫶🏼

[shmowder]

Hii I’m cringe free so here is my self-insert as I don’t have any other pathologic ocs :(

Name: Katerina Katina

Age: 27 years old

Job/Credentials: painter! I imagined she would do portraits for the Kains and the other leading families but can also do paintings for anyone in town

And she would just be an NPC

Katerina was born in the town and has lived her whole life there, though she did want to go to the capital to study in art but unfortunately for her she took too long to decide and ended up married to a guy who wants her to stay so she does

She does like the town and since she feels it’s too late to study art anyways she doesn’t want to leave anymore, maybe she’ll just visit the capital one day

She doesn’t have much friends she just talks to the Stamatins often, she WAS once friends with Vlad Jr. but not anymore (I thought he was just a pathetic kinda guy but nope I do not fuck with racists)

Also friends with Verdell Popov another oc which I hope my partner submits here!

She believes in the Mistresses at least Nina and Victoria still not really sure about Katerina Saburov or both of them for the matter

She does believe the steppe legends as she is friends with Verdell who is from the kin and even enjoys hearing about them

Not sure about authority she tries not to get in trouble and doesn’t really like any of the families especially after doing portraits for many of them

Definitely tries to help the Haruspex the most even if she was scared of The Ripper at first, later she’ll offer him to sleep at her house if he needs and if her district is plagued would give him quests and when he’s done she’ll give him food in exchange

Sorry if the writing is wonky somewhere I’m not good at telling info in English shshdh also I’m including a drawing I made of her in Pathologic 2 dialogue

Yes, a painter! I always wondered where all the ruling families got their portraits from? Especially since the paintings shared a similar style, one which clearly contrasted with Peter's more abstract and fluid works.

She is woven into the story seamlessly, I really like the fact that she has an already repeated name. It makes it just more realistic, yk? It makes sense for the most popular names of the time period to get repeated a bunch in a town this big.

Saburov and Block, Victor and Victoria, it's a small detial but provides a touch of realism. We've all known multiple people who shared the same name throughout our lives.

Her connection to Andrey and Peter does make sense. They're both interested in steppe legends and art. Maybe she did the paintings in the brokenheart pub, too?

I love her blue scarf. I know it's not intentional, but it matches Artemy's blue sweater. Poetic how he's the one she'll willing to help the most, does she believe in his cause and the Termite ending? In destroying the Polyhedron, despite the agony, it will put her two friends–the Stamatins–through?

Including the wedding ring in the art is such a good detail too, her curly/wavy hair is very lovely. God, I wish we could've seen more diverse hairtypes in pathologic.

It is lowkey ironic that she doesn't like to get into trouble yet befriended The Stamatin and used to be friends with Vlad Jr. Honestly, even if she does, she is a little too useful to the ruling families for them not to let her go with a slap on the wrist.

Keeping such a talented painter under their thumb and inside the town? Especially an artist who never went to art school, so she doesn't realise her actual worth or talent. Her only other point of reference is Peter, a literal genius in his field whose talent is beyond comprehension. So much so, Nina had to drag the twins to town no matter the cost.

It's also sad in a way, like a beautiful buttefly who may never see its own colourful wings. Who's trapped inside an artificial greenhouse, never wandering to the lush garden outside, and for love to be the one thing chaining her too? That's just amazing.

Your art is amazing! I can tell a lot about Katerina from the body language alone, the nervous side glance, the tendency to touch her fingers.

The wedding ring being silver rather than gold. Ouch.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him" Is she referring to her husband? Do they fight often? Or someone else entirely.

What a lovely and flushed out OC you have! <33 I'm so happy you told me about her, I can't wait to see your partner's OC as well. It's a unique thing for two OCs to have a slightly intertwined story, to be friends in every universe.

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unrelated, but I wanted to thank you for the lovely ask you sent before. Encouraging me after the person pretending to be a different anons thing. I never got the chance to reply because the matter was resolved. Still, thank you greatly for your sweet words.

[juliettedunn]

The “Luzura” outfit and my interpretation of its symbolism for Luz.

The thing about Luz’s current outfit is that it is a remix of an outfit she wore before. In Lost in Language, she briefly wears an Azura costume (here they are side by side for comparison).

While similar, there are clear differences between the two, and both the changes and similarities are a reflection of her attitude toward her own heroism.

While similar, there are clear differences between the two, and both the changes and similarities are a reflection of her attitude toward her own heroism.

At the beginning of the show, one of Luz’s key flaws is her naïveté, and tendency to treat the Boiling Isles as though it were an entirely scripted, whimsical fantasy story.

This is most clearly seen in Witches Before Wizards, where she is sucked into a fairly obvious trap because she believes she is the Chosen One. Throughout Season One, she makes constant references to how things go in fantasy stories.

For example, that there is a chosen one, that the hero always returns home after their fantasy adventure, etc. Many of these tropes are subverted, though sometimes they are indeed played straight (befriending her rival, for example).

Through Season 1 and into Season 2,Luz gradually begins to mature and have a better understanding of the world. In some ways, this is healthy. Her concept of a whimsical world of predetermined destiny and happily ever afters isn’t real,and believing in it leads her into trouble.

However, Season 2 shatters this concept so intensely and abruptly that she goes too far in the opposite direction.

Luz is so removed from believing herself the hero, she sees herself as a villain.

This is highlighted with The Good Witch Azura movie in Thanks to Them, showing a villain with a similar outfit and design to her that she now believes herself to have more similarities with than Azura.

Even though she has many heroic qualities, she is unable to see them.

While The Owl House critiques the concept of happily ever afters and chosen ones, it also celebrates fandom, including stories like this.

You see it with The Good Witch Azura for Amity and Luz, and Cosmic Frontier for Camila, Hunter, and Gus. They are ridiculous and unrealistic, but it’s clear they have a positive impact on the characters’ l, such as Hunter relating to the clone character in Cosmic Frontier.

So Luz suddenly feeling like she is nothing like her favorite fictional character is portrayed as a negative, despite the naive attitude she had from it prior to Hollow Mind. This is why Luz taking on the Luzura costume is a very meaningful action.

She doesn’t fully believe she is worthy of it, but she dons it anyway, notably with some differences to how she made it previously. She is taking the comfort and inspiration of her fandom, while also making it unique to her, and giving it a more practical side than initially.

She wears boots and tights instead of a cumbersome dress, and she has a fanny pack equipped. Luz has grown out of her belief in an idealistic fantasy, but she also is allowing herself to return to that sense of whimsy and adventure.

She’s starting to believe in the possibility of herself as a hero figure again, just in a more realistic sense. She isn’t a chosen one, but she is a strong and kind person who CAN make a difference in the world.

It’s a wonderful way to call back to Luz’s beginning while also showing how Luz has changed.

How the maturity and wisdom she has gained can be balanced by a returning belief in wonder and heroism.

She herself hasn’t reached this point; she is still struggling heavily. It’s no coincidence it is Amity and Camila who encourage her to put on the outfit, trying to bring back that hope and joy she used to have.

“A good witch always has to have her hat”is such a powerful line, especially with Camila too finding comfort in fandom. It’s a show of respect for Luz’s interests,and an encouragement for her to regain that wonder she m had. Only this time, balanced with wisdom and maturity.