#my musing

[sayakxmi]

Finishing chapter 6 in Reverse1999:

Thoughts under the cut. Including spoilers, obviously.

Boy do I have thoughts. Most of them already shared with Yudja, as usual, but I felt the need to post them, too, lmao.

These bitches weren't lying, when they were saying that the writing of this chapter [6] elevated R1999 to one of the best written gacha games, because, man. Don't get me wrong, R1999's writing is fantastic in general, but the last chapter especially had me go through such a rollercoaster of emotions and opinions that I found myself changing my pfp to Kakania on discord out of respect. It sounds funny, but after going on and on as to why I liked her, I thought, you know what? Time for a change. I don't think I've ever changed my Sayaka pfp there, lmao.

Anyway. Silly thing first is that I was super proud of myself, bc in the 5th chapter when that plane appeared, I guessed that it was around 1914. And kept guessing until I had it confirmed in the 6th chapter. Listen, if it was stated earlier, I overlooked it, and I just went on my history knowledge & I'm very happy with myself.

Which also kinda made me go "uh oh" when I checked the date under some of the parts early on, and saw 1/7... and then I realized it was the USAmerican date format, so it's just January. Lmao.

Anyway, the chapter was a ride, and the sheer amount of dread it had caused me was something else. You just things were about to go horribly wrong, but I had no idea how and what exactly would happen.

Also, funny thing is that aside from the fact that it was supposedly super well written (turned out to be a fact), I also got spoiled on two things, Hofmann's death (I just knew she was going to die, not how), and that yuri was doomed.

Man, was that yuri doomed.

Honestly, I'm super glad I got spoiled on this factTM, bc I ended up with assumptions, which ended up being compltely wrong in the best way.

Ngl, maybe it was some internalized ableism from me, but I kind of expected Isolde to be the "victim" in the doomed yuri, as in, Kakania doing something that would cause Isolde to turn away from her. But I was wrong in the best possible way, because I think it managed to write a tragedy for the both of them that wasn't some form of character assasination.

I think the writers took a bit of a risk with Isolde that ended up paying off. I mean, they wrote a mentally ill character who causes lots of deaths, but managed to do it in a way that didn't demonize her, but also didn't excuse her actions. Imagine stricking that kind of balance these days... And aside from that, you can even understand what led her to that kind of state of mind. I mean, aside from curses and expectations and being deemed hystric, she was a medium for ghosts, which included ghosts from the future. I'm fairly certain she references both world wars when she explains things to Kakania, and all in all, it's difficult not to sympathize with her. And it's easy to see why Manus sought her - she was suffering, especially from her mental illness, and aside from Kakania, nobody really treated her with respect and gentleness she deserved (no wonder she fell for her), so she made an easy prey for them.

But, you know, she still got a bunch of people killed.

It's as good time as any to talk about my favorite character of this chapter, Kakania - it took me by surprise. The media made me really distrustful of fictional doctros & psychologists, huh. But anyway.

What I loved about Kakania is that she wasn't fine with any of this. Even if Isolde said she'd done it for her, to realize her dream, it was so refreshing to see a character be genuinely horrified by another character's actions, regardless of the intentions or mental health.

It's such a popular trope, accepting somebody who'd done awful things because of love, and I do like it (when it's well written), but it was so incredibly refreshing to see R1999 not go for it. Reverse1999 really said that it was still awful, and there was no justification for that.

By God it was all so painful - it was painful for Isolde, because she just wanted to make Kakania happy, and it was painful for Kakania, because she was essentially betrayed by her dearest friend, and indirectly caused so much pain and destruction. You'd truly want nothing but for these two to make up somehow, for Kakania to hold Isolde close and tell her everything's gonna be alright - but Kakania doesn't do that. And you know what? I fucking respect her for it. She values human life too much to budge out of love. Even if it hurts. Isolde has simply caused too much pain and destruction to swipe it under a rug.

And, god, the last part, the hypnotism. As if I wasn't in enough pain already. It hurt to see Kakania, who hates hypnotism with burning passion, use it on somebody she cares so deeply, and it hurt to see Isolde in the end just accept that. Even if it gave the Foundation a fighting chance against the Storm, it was still hard to watch. It still meant Kakania crossing the kind of boundary she'd never wanted to cross, and for yet another person to take Isolde's agency away from her. But in the span of this entire chapter things changed, they changed. And Kakania was willing to do anything to help, after indirectly causing that hell.

I think in a way that ending... honestly this entire chapter speaks volumes about the dangers of "idealism" and "meaning well". There's a reason why the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" exists. Idealism alone can lead to a catastrophy, and at the same time, sometimes something that goes against your principles might be more helpful in the long run.

As Madam Hofmann had said.

Honestly, moving to another character - Madam Hofmann. Not gonna lie, if I didn't spoil myself that she's gonna die, there's a chance I would've grown more attached to her... but watching Marcus beg her not to die was still heartbreaking. In general, her death was painful to watch. For most of the chapter she was so composed, but in the end she was stil just a person, and being in so much pain naturally broke her. Seeing her fight with her thoughts, clinging to her more rational side was painful.

I also loved her relationship with Marcus, especially since at first I was a bit unsure, given her rather cold demeanor, but, again, that one was on me and my assumptions. Hofmann was a great mentor. [*] A few quotes that I especially liked:

I think I like this one especially, because it manages to explain the problem, reassure Marcus, and at the same time doesn't bagatelize the issue. Like, that's how people your age are, but that's still not great and you need to get your shit together eventually.

A different quote, from Kakania's monologue this time:

But anyway, last but certainly not least, Marcus. I'm gonna be honest, I don't care about her all that much, but that is to no fault of her or her writing. Sometimes you just don't vibe with a character the right way. That being said, watching her growth throughout the entire chapter was a fantastic experience, and by the end I felt proud of how far she'd come. You did it, Marcus, you saved that mission. Madam Hofmann is definitely proud of you, too.

What a banger of a chapter.

[thetoastedalmonds]

Fun (?) Visual musings regarding Simon's white streak

You think that over time this could've at least been partly spurred on by the fact he has gotten so many electrical shocks over the course of the seven years in prison?

Oh right also I hc he has tremors cause of the whole electrical shocks thing- nerve damage is no joke people

[fullofsunsetwhispers]

Let's pretend it's an alternate reality in which little Omi is raised by the Spicers. Omi is 4-5 years old now and 10-year-old Jack helps him to learn English.

Jack: Alright, Omi. You know how to say 'bird' and yesterday I taught you about bird species. So, how about we go outside for you to practice naming them?

Omi: yyyyyyees!!! :D

Jack, pointing at a crow: Let's start with something easy. Call this birdie!

Omi, clearly having difficulties saying anything, stuttering: Erm um eagl- cr croo???

Jack: It's ok, buddy. Take your time.

Omi, getting angrier at himself because he can't make himself clear: HMPF!

Jack,taking Omi by the hand so they could move forward: Don't worry, you'll get it next time.

Omi, out of a sudden: HALLOWEEN EAGLE!

Jack, taken aback: That... was NOT what I was expecting.

Omi, getting embarrassed by his mistake: Um... I'm sorry.

Jack: What!? Don't be! In fact, you came up with something cool. I LOVE IT! From now on, crows are Halloween eagles for me.

Omi, his eyes almost glowing: Really!?

Jack, rubbing Omi's head: Sure, you did! Hey, let's go over there! Maybe we'll find more Halloween Eagles!

Omi: Ok! Let's go! :D

Inspiration taken from this tweet:

[cupcraft]

The Ed Sheeran concert may make me late to lovejoy and jts general admission so I need to get there early oh my goddd

[knockknockwhosthereartistism]

I was inspired

[deadlypoetacademia]

[thicc-astronaut]

I've been having fun drawing zombies lately

[the-crafting-gremlin]

I just sat down and looked at the pattern I was planning for my next sweater...and it just dawned on me that I could use this yarn to do some kind of colorwork sweater outside of stripes and blocks. I've done those. I've done cables (which the next pattern has). It's a more advanced pattern than any of the others I've done, but it's still not anything that new for me.

I have a sufficient amount of two colors (and a bit of a third color) to actually try one of the gorgeous fair isle sweaters or something that I keep adding to my ravelry library. This is an excellent opportunity to try a new technique, and it would be on a yarn that's fairly forgiving to being ripped out if I mess up. (Which some of my other yarns would probably not be, so I've been hesitant to use them on anything I haven't done before.)

So I've decided to change my plans and find a colorwork sweater pattern instead, and now I'm even more eager to finish my current sweater!

[weewtomee]

Retrowave Rin and Len

[baeglbites]

My boys… 🥺😢

[sayakxmi]

Feferi and Equius are very fun to analyze together, because they are each other's opposites in a way.

While Equius loudly proclaims his support of the Empire and hemospectrum at any given opportunity and even attempts to convince others, his actions prove he isn't all that dedicated to it himself.

Meanwhile Feferi loudly claims that highbloods and lowbloods are equals, and that culling (as it is) is wrong, but her plans for it prove she is, in fact, very hemocasteist and apparently completely oblivious to it.

[nothatsmi]

The foxhole court, chapter five

First books monsters were something really.

On an aftg reread, which is very useful to survive school these days. Currently into the raven king, i'll make more fanart cause this brings me so much joy (which - idk what it tells about my mental state). If you have suggestions on what I should draw next I'm taking em.

[fullofsunsetwhispers]

Ok, but Confrontation from Jekyll and Hyde but it's either

Raimundo being possessed by Hannibal Roy Bean or

(the more interesting version) good!chase with regular heylin Prince Chase Young in HB's control.

The possible amv would end with Chase yeeting Bean through the portal to Yin-Yang World

[selenekallanwriter]

Person: What's your book about?

Writers:

I'm both somehow 🙃

[o0kawaii0o]

4 hearts

[mad3lyncline]

𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑾 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑬𝒀 & 𝑴𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑳𝒀𝑵 𝑪𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑬 . Outer Banks ( 2020 – ) .