#not CHRONOLOGICAL world history anyway

[achronalart]

World history, USA style, a story in two pictures from a 1937 history series spotted at a charity booksale.

[niteshade925]

Saw these tags in a reblog of my Chinese museum posts, and thought I have to make a response just so everyone is clear on how archaeological studies are carried out in China:

^Well, the Shaanxi Archaeology Museum is a Chinese museum displaying artifacts found in China, it's not the British Museum lol.

But anyway just so everyone knows, modern Chinese archaeology has a rule, which is that unless it's absolutely necessary, an ancient tomb/mausoleum should not be disturbed. This means that many of these artifacts in the museums are found in a few main ways:

Tombs that absolutely had to be excavated because there were clear signs of grave robbing present, for example when tunnels left by grave robbers were found near a known tomb. This is called "excavating to rescue" (抢救性发掘), it's done by teams of archaeologists, the artifacts found will then be studied and eventually find a home in museums in China. In comparison, actual grave robbers would steal artifacts and sell them for money; many stolen artifacts would end up in auctions, mostly outside of mainland China. This is why there is no "general positive sense" in the phrase "grave robbing with grant money" when it comes to archaeology in China. Modern Chinese archaeology and grave robbing are simply not comparable in any way whatsoever.

Tombs that absolutely had to be excavated because new infrastructure will be built in that location. Such exacavations are also included in excavating to rescue. Examples include tombs in Xi'an city that had to be excavated because a metro was being built. Since Chinese people and Chinese culture are native to China, there are no ethical problems whatsoever, this simply a question of what matters more, the welfare of living Chinese people or the abstract afterlives of ancient Chinese people. Obviously, the welfare of living Chinese people is a more important matter. As for the argument of "but this goes against traditional culture", first, a culture is only alive if the people of that culture is alive and doing well, otherwise that culture is as good as dead; second, a major part of traditional Chinese culture IS focused on the welfare of descendants (ex: the belief that the spirits of ancestors will protect their descendants), so I'm sure our ancestors would be proud to see us doing well.

Tombs that were excavated because archaeologists were absolutely sure that artifacts discovered within would make major contributions to the study of Chinese history. This is pretty much the only exception to the rule of "excavating to rescue", and it is very rarely allowed. An example is the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project (夏商周断代工程), where the main focus is to gain a clearer picture of the timeline of ancient Chinese history, when dynasties began/ended, when major events may have happened, etc.

Artifacts that were found when arresting grave robbers. These are called "recovered artifacts" (追回文物).

Artifacts that returned to China from foreign countries, these are called "returned artifacts" (回归文物). A big portion of these artifacts ended up in foreign countries precisely because of grave robbers, and another big portion were and are still lost for the same reason as why the British Museum has so many artifacts from around the world.

Artifacts that were discovered scattered throughout China. There are three facts to consider here: 1) China has a long history and as a result, there are vast amounts of existing artifacts; 2) tombs are material things and thus are subject to the elements; 3) not everyone is an archaeologist. Combine these, and you have situations were valuable artifacts were found in places like the chicken coop of a farmer (this is how the eagle-shaped pottery ding was found).

Donations. Some artifacts were family heirlooms that were donated to museums.

[dailydragons]

I am not immune to this propaganda…

Do you like long fantasy series, but are tired of authors never finishing them?

Do you like interesting magic systems?

Do you like when characters form intense even psychic bonds with animal companions?

Do you like your heart getting ripped out of your chest and then stuffed back in full to bursting and but then ripped out again to get stomped on but it turns out you like that too uhhh let's call it... intense yearning

Do you like dragons? Of course you do, why else would you be on this blog!

WELL DO I HAVE THE BOOK SERIES FOR YOU!

The Realm of the Elderlings is a 16-book series is comprised of four trilogies and a quartet. All of which have been finished. Yes that's right, Robin Hobb saw other authors who can't seem to finish their multi-book fantasy epics and said "I will finish mine 4 different times to show you it's incredibly easy actually." She also has written multiple other series (some under the pen name Megan Lindholm), set in different universes.

So, where to start?

The components of RotE are:

The Farseer Trilogy

The Liveship Traders Trilogy

The Tawny Man Trilogy

The Rain Wild Chronicles

Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

The three bolded trilogies above are told from the perspective of FitzChivalry Farseer, one of the main/major characters in this universe and my eternal blorbo. The Liveship Traders trilogy and Rain Wild Chronicles are told from several points of view, and happen in chronological order between the series above and flesh out the worldbuilding, lore, history, etc.

For the most complete look at the universe, you can of course read everything. However if you want to stick with just one character, you can read the three bolded trilogies only. And of course, if you don't want to commit to a metric ton of words either way, you can just read the first trilogy and see what you think. Though I do think the levels of joy/pain/adoration increase with each work as you get more invested in the characters, of course.

OR. You can in fact read the Liveship Traders trilogy or the Rain Wild Chronicles quartet completely independently of the others. I actually started with Rain Wild Chronicles because those books have the highest concentration of dragons--it was actually a follower of this blog who recommended them to me, and I decided to jump into those rather than commit to The Whole Series (which at the time was only 13 books not 16). But I loved the writing style and wanted to learn more about the world, so got into the rest, and now I actually think the Rainwilds books are the weakest of the bunch (though I still enjoyed them initially)!

But You're Following This Blog, DailyDragons, So Here's The Part Of The Pitch You're Actually Invested In

Now I will be up front that you don't get many dragons in the first trilogy. There are a kind of dragons that appear at the end but dragons are not the main focus of this one. However Hobb learns from her mistakes about not including tons of dragons in her fantasy world and you get more in the next parts of the series.

The Liveship books deal with sea serpents and dragons in very interesting ways I don't want to spoil, though it's a slow build. But VERY fascinating reveals into the dragon's biology, life history, and magic.

The plot of the later half of the Tawny Man Trilogy revolves around dealing with how the world of this story used to have dragons but they have practically gone extinct. Less direct contact with dragons but still a dragon-centric last book.

Rainwilds is chock full of dragons. Including as POV characters. Can't complain about lack of dragons here at all.

Fitz & The Fool Trilogy is lighter on the dragons at first and then they show up en force at the end. Ta da!

anyway please read these books and join me in my eternal suffering. wait, suffering? nevermind who said that. shhh. it's fine. you will love fitzchivalry farseer. you will love the fool. you will never be the same again.

[curioushabitforarivergod]

dark(ish) academia books that I don't see recommended enough

I read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction, and a lot of the stuff I've read over the past 2-3 years has had underlying academic tones. I've tried to include books I've at least enjoyed, although there are a few 3 star ratings. All of these books are ones I haven't really seen mentioned in compiled dark academia lists (mainly because some of them fall outside the general scope and are more ✨vibes✨). Feel free to add more less well-known books. I've included my own blurbs of the books but I've got shit memory and some I read like 2 years ago so yeah

Fiction

"Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world." Voltaire

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Takes place over 10 years and explores family and the destruction left behind after WWI. It discusses the feminine vs. masculine in art and while it can be a little slow to read (took me close to 3 weeks!) theres some really beautiful passages and also some funny ones as well — the characters spend several chapters at a dinner party convinced everyone hates them and constantly hating other people too.

The Dark is Rising (series) by Susan Cooper

Okay, yes this is a kids book series from the 70s/80s but it explores English, Cornish and Welsh mythology and has really good characters and world-building. Even though chronologically the series goes: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree, it's best to read The Dark is Rising first and return back to Over Sea, Under Stone. Anyway, I love this series and I read The Dark is Rising every Christmas because it corresponds pretty much with the days and is easy to place and that's kind of what makes it feel very cozy and academic. Also, theres some brief moments of time travel to the past.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

This is a beautiful written masterpiece set across the 20th century featuring plenty of train rides across Europe and vampires. It explores some of the history of Walachia and Dracula, as well as the Ottoman Empire and European politics of the time. It's a hefty read but I loved it because it combines history, dark academia, fantasy and vampires.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

My favourite of Shakespeare that I've seen so far and honestly murder is so dark academia I don't need to talk any further. Strangely, I don't see this recommended enough.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

This was quite popular a year or two ago, and honestly for good reason. I think it's only really academic because it's linked to Shakespeare and explores the less well-known lives of Shakespeare's family, but it's very good and I thought I'd include it anyway.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

This one feels really light academia to me, but I think it's mainly because of setting. It's set in this fantastical old and crumbling mansion that goes on forever. It's filled with statues and it floods and only two people live in the world. The story is told entirely through diary entries, but it's so well-written because it defamiliarises the reader entirely. It was a light and easy read for me, which is probably why I'm associating it with light academia rather than dark academia.

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

This book kinda mixes chaotic academia and cottagecore academia and is a reflection of girlhood and youth spent in the French countryside in the 50s. There's a toxic relationship between two friends who write a book together before one of them attends prestigious girls' school in England. Also the opening lines are amazing: "You cannot cut an apple with an apple. You cannot cut an orange with an orange. You can, if you have a knife, cut an apple or an orange. Or slice open the underbelly of a fish. Or, if your hands are steady enough and the blade is sharp enough, sever an umbilical cord."

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Another classic! I love Waugh, and Brideshead revisited is amazing and my favourite of what I've read of his. The book is quite homoerotic — explicitly so at times, which is fascinating for something published in 1945 — and deals with romanticisation. It nestles quite snugly between Picture of Dorian Grey and Secret History in terms of a dark academic literary canon.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

This is more gothic than dark academia, but it's also a satire of the gothic genre so I feel like it counts. It's definetly not as well known as some of Austen's other works and feels much more raw, particularly because its her first work (although not published until after her death). It's not my favourite Austen, but I love it all the same, especially because of its commentary on warning the romanticisation of other peoples lives and the gothic/dark academia. Although dark academia wasn't a thing in Austen's day!

Possession by A. S. Byatt

I love the main story but because its so metafictive and explores the relationship between two made-up poets (one of whom is bi and cheats on her gf with the second) from the perspective of modern academics, it can get quite hard to read sometimes. It's also really long, but definitely worth reading.

Non-Fiction

I feel like non-fiction is pretty over-looked when it comes to the academia aesthetic which really says something, given that its… kinda the whole point of academia?? Anyway, I read a lot of history books, but I only put down the ones which I found interesting or easy to read, so they're more popular histories than academic histories. Also; essays.

The Year 1000: What Life Was Like At the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey

This explores early medieval life in England based on the Julius Work Calendar, an Anglo-Saxon manuscript believed to date to 1020BCE. It's honestly a really light and interesting read and it talks about what everyday life was like, which I think is important in history. It's in a narrative style so it's quite easy to read even if you don't consume history often.

Oh, to Be a Painter! by Virginia Woolf

This is actually a short, published collection of Virginia Woolf essays on art. I read the essays all in one sitting because they're quite short, but if you're into art and art academia, I'd highly recommend. There's also an essay on the cinema which provides some interesting insights into todays world particularly as Woolf was writing at the time when cinema was only just becoming widespread and an industry in its own right.

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

This is a satirical essay on attitudes towards the poor and it suggests that poor people might sell their children as food for the rich, highlighting the callousness of the upper classes. It's available free online and very much relevant today, despite being written close to 300 years ago.

The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer

Very useful if you ever find yourself stuck in the Elizabethan period! It's read as a sort of travel guide but includes plenty on history as well, providing a picture of what England looked like in the late-Tudor period. Also people will think you're a time-traveller if you carry it around, which adds to your intrigue and mystery.

A Memoir of Jane Austen by James Edward Austen-Leigh

If you like Jane Austen and haven't read this memoir, you should. It's written by her nephew, so it's quite biased and it's not amazing in any way, but it provides a lot of context to her life and is a good light-read or coffee table book. Also my copy was pale pink so win.

Thats it folks. Feel free to include your own less well-known book recs that follow dark/light/chaotic, etc. aesthetics! I'd love to compile a huge list and read more outside my comfort zone.

[skylinx2o]

Admittedly, I've been feeling terrible lately. I didn't even finish my weekly drawing and broke my now months long streak. I thought I would be able to do it, but my emotions weighted me down too much. I might go back to drawing one art every two weeks.

Anyway, I feel like I should do more fun things. I mean, drawing is fun, and I love creating stories for my OCs, but I do have a lot of other interests. And tho I'm sticking to talking about LEGO today, I want to talk more and get out of my shell. And maybe give you more insight into me as a person.

So today I'm going to talk about my favourite LEGO themes and why I love the series, plus how I personally got i to all of them. It's not a normal review whatsoever, just an excuse to ramble about my interests freely. Just remember this is my experience and my feelings.

(And it's not at all like I'm making this post because I need all of this to prepare for a speaking class and the only way to motivate myself is by making a post about it o _o Come on, I'm killing two birds with one stone here!)

Okay, so, my all-time favourite themes are (in chronological order to when I found them):

1. Bionicle

Honourable mention: Hero Factory

2. Ninjago

3. Legends of Chima

4. Monkie Kid

5. Dreamzzz

1. So. Bionicle. I have a weird history with Bionicle. My dad's friends used to get movies for us, and one day it just happened that my dad's friends gave us a pen drive with Bionicle: Legend Reborn on it. I think I would be around... Seven or eight when I watched it I've seen fans say that it was a pretty weak film, but I didn't know Bionicle back then, and I really enjoyed it! That movie was a soft reboot of the series, and as someone who started their Bionicle obsession with that movie, in my opinion it worked really well as a standalone supposed to capture new audiences. I really loved the sense of mystery that was probably lost on new fans. It wasn't exactly explained what or who Mata Nui was, besides him being a warrior who lost his people. And the ending... I really thought there would be a sequel to it, and was really intrigued by whom the great beings were, and what happened to the world, why Mata Nui knew them, what the giant ahh robots were supposed to do.

Of course, when a few years later in middle school I looked for the sequel, I didn't find it. And to be honest, the ending was disappointing to me. However, there was a whole other storyline in Bionicle to catch up on! And so one faithful summer was spent reading all the comics I could find, reading wiki pages one after another, playing Mata Nui online game obsessively, refusing to use a walkthrough. Believe me when I say I was obsessed!

And then out of nowhere in 2015 g2 came out, and I was stoked since I missed out on practically the whole g1 as it was being made. (I mean, it's understandable, I was born the same year the first Bionicle movie came out.) I mean, can you blame me for being excited? A dead franchise that I just started becoming a devoted fan of is suddenly revived from the grave. I felt like the luckiest person on earth that day. Honestly, g2 was a lot simpler than g1, but I really like it, even if most people said it sucked. Sure, it wasn't exactly like g1, and even I cringed a few times when watching the g2 show, but for what it was, it was cool in my eyes, and loved finding all the g1 references. And there were quite a few of them! The story of g2 was simpler, but for little kids I think it would've been fine. But alas, LEGO did a crap job promoting it, and it died early, with an ending that was so bad even I can't defend it. It just didn't make sense, and it was rushed as hell. But I still wished it would've continued.

I love both generations for different things, and I'm sad I didn't get any g2 sets when they were out (Lewa was my favourite one). But years later I managed to get a promotional anniversary set of Tahu and Takua, and you wouldn't believe my happiness when I was building it. It's strange being a relatively new fan compared to others I see online, but I still remember seeing Bionicle commercials, and even have a very vague memory of seeing a Phantoka commercial on our ancient TV. I mean come on, I was so into it, I even learned the Matoran alphabet! My mom had to listen to my countless rambling, and if I ask her about Bionicle today, she still remembers some answers, that's how much into it I was. Hell, this blog started as a Bionicle blog before I moved fully to Monkie Kid content.

Okay, this Bionicle ramble is getting a tad long, so I'll wrap this up. Would I recommend Bionicle to anyone? Well... Not really, unless you like long lore researching adventures. The story is so convoluted, with many sides stories, and it went on for so many years, that despite my obsession I still probably missed like, 40% of the lore. G1 at least, wouldn't vibe with casual audience probably. G2 might be easier on the brain, despite it having some deeper lore too. Plus, there's the cultural appropriation issue, that I'm not qualified to talk about, but others already made pages long blogs and articles about. Plus the weird gender situation. But, it's still a good story in my eyes, despite its many faults. But that's just me, and if you didn't catch on yet, I'm already deep in this hole and there's no getting out of here now.

Honourable mention: This brings us to Hero Factory. I watched the first few episodes at around the same time as the first Bionicle movie. Came from the same source as before. I think it deserves a mention, because I still loved it, and did some lore digging, but I wasn't as obsessed with it as the other positions on the list. I didn't like the later stuff as much, tho some concepts were really cool too. But the story of the first episodes was really well done, and worked great as a movie. The fights were tense, and when watching it for the first time, I couldn't really know if the characters would be okay. Honestly, it got me really excited and invested. A factory of heroes is a unique concept, and I always found it intriguing how they made the robot society work. But, I don't think it needed more time than it needed, unlike Bionicle, where I didn't like the ending of either generation. I think it wrapped things up quite well with the first episodes, and the later ones just feel like cool side stories, and it works in my opinion.

This one I would definitely recommend, because I feel like it's underrated, and it's not long. Like I said, the version I got was just a one movie like compilation. I checked and there's just 11 episodes. It would probably take 1–2 hours to watch it, not counting the later movies and all.

2. Next one is Ninjago! I started watching it almost from the start. I must have been around ten or so... The episodes aired on TV, so I had easy access to it! I almost never missed an episode, and watched even the reruns. And believe me, I was hypnotised when watching it. Tho, starting from rebooted I watched the episodes online, first in my native language, then in English since I started getting too impatient to wait. This was my first obsession. For the longest time, when people asked me what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to be a ninja. One of my oldest OCs is Mika, and she grew up with me. Whenever a new season was to come, I would design a new suit for her. I have a whole dedicated blog to her, I wonder if you all can find it lol. Anyway, for a kid's show, the first seasons were really well written, and the show could be dark when it wanted, but it didn't lack jokes, and most were very funny. And honestly, Ninjago had a really big impact on my life. It taught me not to give up, and it made me want to make the world a better place. Grade school was a horrible time for me, and Ninjago was like my escape. Tho, I might have daydreamed about it too much at one point...

I started distancing myself from Ninjago around hands of time. I didn't watch the show as regularly, catching up on seasons long after they aired. I think that's also where the writing quality started dropping… I just didn't like it as much any more. But it should've been expected with a series that went on for so long. I'm not one of the people who think old Ninjago was better than anything. It wasn't perfect at all. But I didn't like the short format of newer seasons. But then secrets of forbidden spinjitzu dropped, and i as a person started getting better too, so I went back to Ninjago, and while it wasn't still the best and people had a lot of issues I loved those few next seasons. I mean, they somehow hit right into my interests with those seasons. First the adventure movies like atmosphere with the Egyptian like tomb, then they get sucked into a video game, then the very DnD like feeling Shintaro. It was right up my alley. My love for Ninjago was back in full force by then. So you can imagine how sad I was when the word that Ninjago was ending started going around. The series has been with me for half my life. My friends even knew how much I liked it, my best IRL friend even bought me a Ninjago set for Christmas one time. But you know, I thought it was probably Ninjago's time. Nothing can last forever after all, and it had a very good run. Why not end it when the story was still quite alright? And then… Crystallized happened. I didn't watch Crystallized. I heard the spoilers, and I wasn't… thrilled. Especially with Harumi. And people hated that season. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. It didn't feel like a send-off Ninjago deserved.

So you can imagine how damn happy I was about Dragon Rising! And surprise, it's the best Ninjago has been in a while! I absolutely loved the first season. The new characters are wonderful, and that change was certainly what Ninjago needed. And the fact that it's merged with one of other of my beloved LEGO series only makes it better. And that's probably my cue to move to it hehe

So, would I recommend Ninjago? Yeah. Its story is easy to follow, you just need to watch the show. If you're ready to watch sixteen+ seasons that it! Even the worse seasons have some value to them I'd argue. But I may be biased with how close to my heart that series is.

3. Yeah boy, Legends of Chima! I started watching Chima around the same time I started watching Ninjago, and I was equally hooked. And yes, my mom remembers this one as well, I watched it every time it was on too. Actually, I think the first fanfiction I've ever written was about Chima. With a pencil on paper. I think that, while the other series captivated me because of magic or the setting or the action, in Chima it was the characters and their dynamics mostly, despite there being plenty of magic powers and action too, plus a unique setting. The main characters all have distinct personalities, and it's fun to see how their personalities clash or work together. I think it's cool because the conflict between lions and crocodiles takes the main stage in the first season. Later seasons are great too, and they shake things up to make things interesting quite well. The lore isn't as broad as in other series, but it's pretty cool and interesting either way. There were some unique concepts there. I can't explain my love for this theme as well as with other series, because I don't think there was anything big that made me like it. It's just a cool show. I think what there was has been satisfying, tho young me was really sad and angry it ended anyway. But it's great for what it was. But I can't say I'm not happy that Chima is now merged with Ninjago, and it works so well together, and I absolutely love Lord Ras.

I would absolutely recommend it. It's a fun show, and only three seasons long. It can be both fun and serious, and I definitely had a blast watching it.

4. Now one of my newer obsessions! Monkie Kid! I watched the pilot in Chinese when it came out, then I promptly forgot about the series and binge-watched it all when season 3 came out. I was reading about Journey to the West long before the series was announced, since I have a liking for old stories and legends and myths and stuff. And Asian cultures fascinate me. I blame Ninjago with its Japanese influence and all the martial arts movies that were on the TV all the time. Plus Mulan and Kung Fu Panda. Anyway, I can't say much about how accurate it is or anything since I'm not Chinese, but I think the show is great. I noticed a lot of references to Journey To The West. No shocker here, it's inspired by it. But being in this fandom made me learn a lot of new things about China, tho I still have a bunch of things to learn. I'm no expert yet. Tho, I try my best to be respectful.

Umm... Like I said, not much to say about how accurate the story is. But I really liked Journey to the West, so naturally I like Monkie Kid too. Plus, MK i really relatable to me. I feel like my personality is really similar to his, tho I'm more introverted. For some reason, I relate to this portrayal of Macaque and Wukong as well.

I dare to say that from all the series so far, I find this one to be the most well written. I just find the writing to be the most impactful. Plus, the artstyle is very different from other LEGO shows. Action scenes are really fun. The artstyle definitely works in its favour. And yeah, I would recommend this show 100%.

5. And finally, the newest addition to the LEGO series, Dreamzzz! The show is really new and just starting, but I love the concept and the writing! Plus again, I really relate to Mateo. The characters feel like real people you would meet, and how they interact feels realistic. And I found myself liking even the characters that annoyed me, because their personalities were the realistic type of annoying, one that you might find out in the wild. And the concept of a dream world just really speaks to me. And it gives the creators a lot of creative freedom. All wacky things can happen in a dream after all. One thing I didn't expect in the show was the secret agency, and I think it's a clever addition to the story.

I would recommend this series. I hope it'll have a bright future, and that the writing will stay this good.

Well, time to wrap all of this up. Whoever suffered through this whole ramble deserves a juice and a cookie 🍪🧃 For a few finishing thoughts... I noticed a lot of the series I like blend magic powers and technology together. I just thought it's interesting. And I wanted to mention that the songs for Bionicle, Ninjago and Chima absolutely slap. I used to listen to them on repeat all the time lol Even my mom really enjoyed those songs

Yeah, I don't know what this post was for, I just felt like writing all that :v

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 44

The second half of a two-parter! And in a sensible order, which in this project, is not to be sneezed at.

So, Matt Smith, Amy, Rory and River, in America AGAIN (is this the third time of going to New York? The fourth?). Last we saw, Amy was shooting a terrified child through the head. Let's see how that resolves!

We open with one of those classic Moffat openings, where everything is slick and fast moving and tries to pull the wool over your eyes before a quick pull-back-and-reveal but regrettably has a few plot holes. Only minor, though, it's not bad. Amy, Rory and River are all on the run being hunted by Sterling-From-Leverage while they build a prison around the Doctor. He "shoots" all of them and then takes them to the prison, but it's a magic special prison that doesn't allow any particles of anything in or out (presumably including air) so they're safe from the penis-fingered aliens and off they go in an invisible TARDIS. Eh. It's fun.

Then there's about 15 minutes of classic horror as they try to track down the little girl (it's River) in an abandoned children's home to find out who she is (it's River) because she's Presumably Important (we literally know this it's River). They're all given a lil' recorder in their palms so when they see a penis-fingered alien they can record into it, and it will flash to let them know they have a message when they look away. They also draw tally marks on themselves so they know when they've seen one. These two things mean lots of creepy shots that are fucking great - I know I often shit all over this era of the show, but the jumpscares and the scary stuff are great.

The only problem really is that the characters are required to be a bit stupid and useless to maximise the horror. There's a GREAT scene where Amy is exploring an abandoned dormitory in the orphanage by torchlight (she looks out the window and we see her reflection, and then there's lightning and her face and hands are now covered in tally marks, fucking FANTASTIC), and the door closes and locks... somehow. Unexplained. Anyway, she suddenly realises her palm is flashing and the message is "I can see them! But I think they're asleep! Just get out!"

Useless. You see them WHERE Amy. WHERE are they. Turns out they're on the ceiling. That would have been useful to know. FFS.

Anyway Amy sees the eyepatch hatch lady again, and then gets kidnapped by penis-fingered aliens. Sterling shoots a penis-fingered alien and takes it back to the prison to film it, and we get a name for them - the Silents. Silents! An answer! We've heard of them. The rest spend a while looking at the space suit the little girl (River) was in. The Doctor claims the Silents steered the development of humans because "Why does humanity suddenly decide to go to the moon?" as if there isn't a long-attested record of humans wanting to go to the stars tracking back to the ancient world, but look - we can't expect the writer of a sci-fi show about history to waste his time knowing things about history.

Also, they've already been to the moon at this point. We've seen Victorians on Mars, with Capaldi and Bill. Lol, this show. How funny that it forgot that little detail that only came a few episodes ago in this watch order. Trololol.

Rory listens to Amy's recorder, which was removed from her palm but is inexplicably still broadcasting everything she says in spite of being nowhere near her. She says some deeply tedious things about wanting to see him BUT WHICH ONE IS SHE TALKING TO it is honestly the most boring thing I've seen on television in a while. "You have a stupid face," she says. Rory looks happy. "My life was so boring before you dropped out of the sky", she says. Rory looks sad.

And then! Interesting!

The Doctor sits next to him.

"Do you remember spending 2000 years as a Roman waiting for Amy?" he says.

"Sometimes but I try not to," Rory says, which is fair.

But interesting! We've had that mentioned before. Is Rory still plastic, then? Must be, he was plastic as a Roman. It wouldn't make any sense whatsoever if he was now human but remembered his plastic memories, after all. Still plastic! Gosh.

Anyway, Sterling gets the Silent he shot to say the sentence "You should kill us all on sight," which he duly videos and sends to the Doctor. The Doctor interrupts the moon landing to play it, which fair play, actually is quite a clever and pleasing way to get rid of the Silents - we won't remember it because it features a Silent, humans then kill them all but don't remember doing it... it's all meta, look. I could have killed one just today. On my way to work, like. Pushed it in the Tawe. Who knows? Fun.

They rescue Amy.

"I didn't know if you meant me or the Doctor," says Rory.

"Obviously you," says Amy. "Why would I mean him?"

"Because you said he "dropped out of the sky"," Rory says

"It's a figure of speech, you dribbling imbecile," mocks Amy.

It's not. There's no such expression. And if there were, I struggle to see how you would apply it to Rory, a man you have known for literally your entire life, apparently. "My life was so boring between the ages of birth and three until you came along" bitch how the fuck do you remember

Anyway it turns out she's NOT pregnant, but the Doctor scans her again and it's inconclusive, which... lol that is the only mystery in this episode, actually. We know all the rest! Amy will have baby Melody who will be the child in the space suit who will regenerate into Mels who will become River who will kill the Doctor. The ONLY part of this storyline we haven't yet seen resolved is why the pregnancy scan is inconclusive. This episode is Badly Served by this watch order.

It finishes with the child regenerating into Mels. This is just as well, because the Doctor decides out loud that he's not going to bother trying to rescue the terrified abused little girl he's been seeing because he wants to have an adventure instead, and so quite literally and without hyperbole abandons her to die on the streets.

Oh and Sterling turns out to be gay and dating a black guy.

Plot threads! Let's update the board!

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest. The Thijarian planet was destroyed by some sort of impact). Is this the Flux?

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy. Nope: she is definitely not blown up)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again. NOPE, back to not working.)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)

Why is Amy’s pregnancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?) She’s deffo pregnant and the baby becomes River, but why inconclusive?

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri (Not anymore, somehow)

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory? How did she forget a Dalek invasion?

Is Rory plastic or not? NEW INFO: Yeah, must be, he couldn't possibly remember being plastic otherwise

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

What’s happening with the bees?

What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?

What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?

What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”

If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?

How did the rest of the Time Lords die?

How and why did Amy melt?

What’s the question that will make silence fall?

Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?

How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?

How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?

What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?

Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?

What happened with the space whale?

When does Rory defend Amy for 2000 years? NEW INFO: since Roman times, it seems

How does the Doctor survive River? He doesn’t, apparently

How does he erase himself from history

Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?

When did the Doctor send the Daleks into a void to save the universe?

What’s with the weird crack in the wall and is it affecting memories?

Why do Amy and Rory think the Doctor is dead? Is it because of River as an astronaut?

Is Matt Smith’s Doctor a tree racist?

Why is the beautiful geode woman stealing people into a Passenger form?

Who are the penis fingered aliens? RESOLVED: The Silents!

River says she’ll die one day when the Doctor doesn’t remember her, let’s hope she doesn’t mean it

[calicohyde]

My WIPs in chronological order of when they take place.

undisclosed transgender allegory vampire thing: 370s

One Feeling Only extended and improved edition: 820s

undisclosed anti-colonialist alternate history romantasy: 1490s

wild west au of the golden age of piracy: 1870s

mafia boss/unethical journalist epistolary romance: 1920s

"witch noir" standalone spinoff novel #2: 1920s

"witch noir" standalone spinoff novel #1: 1950s

"witch noir" main series: 1960s to 1990s

the devil as an allegory for student loans: 2010s

Paid Training and Vanilla: the ambiguous Now

Any Publicity Is Good Publicity: 2040s (subject to change)

deliberately heavy handed satire of late stage capitalism: 3008 lol

The undisclosed ones are undisclosed because I might not ever write them due to the fact that the current iteration of both of them is, how you say...? Problematic? and I haven't figured out quite how to fix them yet or in fact if they can be fixed. Or perhaps I might be overthinking it lmao. Anyway. That's a problem for future me who has already finished the rest of this shit.

Also, all of these except the undisclosed vampire thing and One Feeling Only are set in like alternate-world equivalents of these time periods so that I don't have to worry about things like specific world leaders or events that complicate things in a way I don't want things complicated like covid or whatever and, like, the murky waters of representing brands and celebrities and shit. Not interested in all that. Also there are several alternate things in some of these. For example, the "witch noir" universe is much more environmentally-friendly than we were in the real 1990s and in some cases than we are now.

Tagging @jezifster @vacantgodling @kudzucataclysm and @concealeddarkness13.

[ruibaozha]

HEY RUI I'VE GOT A QUESTION my sister and i are trying to come up with a conceivable LMK Nezha backstory which is... difficult, and you know more Nezha history so I was curious what you might think.

Nezha was a warrior in Heaven long before Wukong was born, and the whole Ao Bing happened almost a thousand years before Wukong came into existence, so Wukong probably never actually knew that much about Nezha's actual story- only bits and pieces. Yet at the same time, Wukong saying 'when did you stop being fun' implies that Wukong knew him when he was a rebel

and in actual JTTW, Nezha is still kind of a hotshot, so it comes to ask, how/why did Nezha become so much more serious?

JTTW: Wukong and Nezha beat the shit out of people together in between the 8 years of JTTW: (apparently deeply traumatizing thing happens to Nezha that alters his whole personality) the fire sealing: "well great job Wukong, you nearly got us all killed!"

which, honestly, doesn't make much sense?

of course, LMK is very casual with accuracy when it comes to characterization/chronological set up, so…

just interested in what you might think, if you have any thoughts. thanks! :D

Hello hello!

Ahhh this is something I’ve wondered myself and think about every so often. To be honest, I was very confused when Lego Monkie Kid started to use parts of Canonization of the Gods because it is so different from Journey to the West. The publishing of both stories is separated by nearly a full century and from two very different people.

It’s obvious from character dialogue that both Nezha and Sun Wukong have known each other for a very long time. At least within LMK Nezha had consistently been portrayed as overly responsible until the Season 4 specials came out. Honestly I liked seeing Nezha act with sarcasm and a snarky attitude, which is more accurate to how he’s typically portrayed anyway. Maybe being injured interferes with his serious attitude haha.

At least personally I believe a very severe type of betrayal may have happened between them. Again based on character dialogue Nezha used to trust Sun Wukong, probably back when he was still “fun” to be around. Even as a deity serving under the Jade Emperor (or Buddha) he’s responsible but still childish and can be very arrogant at times. As a whole LMK Nezha is confusing to me, as is the rest of the show. And like everyone else I also have to wait to see how this is explained, if it ever does get elaborated on.

This does make me wonder now just how familiar with Nezha’s background Sun Wukong actually is. It’s completely possible that Nezha never spoke to Sun Wukong about what happened at Chentang Pass. If I keep writing this answer I think I’d go into a rant about how LMK handles its own world building - so I think this is sufficient for now.

[ineffable-rohese]

Oh hey, I've gotten a few followers/mutuals, so I guess it's time for a pinned intro post?

Demographic info (because it gives context to my words): Early 40s white fat cis queer poly pagan woman living in the wet corner of North America. My nearest and dearest are almost all trans/non-binary.

Personal (public facing): I'm an Aziraphale-coded hobbit. Like, so cozy and wholesome you might want to puke. I rewatch just the first disc of the LOTR extended edition because I love the Shire so much. I drink Earl Grey with milk and one sugar. (Or a good scotch, cause every Aziraphale needs a little bit of Crowley inside them, right Sheenie?) I read mainly historical fiction, especially anything set in (actual, not fantasy) medieval Europe and I was at one point a medieval music history nerd. I wear cozy sweaters. I love rain on ferns and April flowers. I make soup with things I've tended and harvested. I work a Wholesome AF job. I unironically hug trees. I'm in love with the world.

Personal (in private): I'm deeply kinky. I'm primarily a Sensual Sadist with a significant Dominant streak. I often play as a Panther. I love consensual violence, and get great joy from hurting people who want me to hurt them. I've only really given myself permission to be that in the last year or so.

Fandoms: I fell in love with Good Omens in 2000 when a college roommate gave it to me. It was genuinely the funniest, greatest thing I had ever read, and I evangelized about it to anyone who would listen. S1 of the show immediately became a comfort show, and it got me through a time of massive loss and upheaval. I put it on when everything was too hard and I needed something that made me feel like everything was going to be OK. S2 - well we're all here still, aren't we? It dropped when I desperately needed One Good Thing for my brain to latch on to as I got through some intense pressure, and boy howdy did it lodge itself in me.

Other fandoms in roughly chronological order: Star Wars (original trilogy made me a child nerd), X-Files (first real social fandom, and intro to fanfic!), Buffy/Angel/Firefly, LOTR, Doctor Who, Torchwood (the only other show I've been driven to write fic for), Sherlock to an extent. OFMD and WWDITS are great fun, though not obsessions.

My Writing: Writing Index Here I'm really enjoying writing right now! I don't know how long this ADHD hyperfocus will last, but I'll take it while it lasts. My goal in writing is to challenge myself, create things I'd want to read, and have fun with it (for a definition of fun).

I'm also definitely working on being comfortable expressing the things I like and want and being unashamed about that. I worry too much about how my 😈 side might reflect on my 😇 side, and honestly, these shades of grey lovelies are helping me with that a lot. It's probably why I love writing Dom Aziraphale so much, because he is just so sweet and good and bright, and also a toppy BAMF who can make demons (and their Bentleys) do whatever he wants and wields a flaming sword against Satan himself.

So yeah, every time I make Aziraphale go to a dark place, and then come back again to being a ball of delight, it's helping me create a map that allows me to do the same (to a, you know, more reasonable extent). And when others read and like the things that come from the darkest corners of my brain, it makes me feel seen.

Anyway, you made it this far. Here are my cats for tax. Yes, I have one of each of the Kinds of Cats.

[darlingvernon]

bitten 02 | jeon wonwoo.

↳ a series of non-chronological drabbles + one shots about crown prince wonwoo and his lover

◇ wonwoo x female reader ◇ vampire au ◇ rating: 18+ ◇ warnings: none in this drabble ◇ 1.2k [2/?]

Author’s Note: As I said in the short summary, these will not be in chronological order and I don’t know how many parts it’ll have. If it generates enough interest, I may open either requests or suggestions on what you would all like to see next from vampire!Wonwoo. Also, I write these differently to how I normally write my fics. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and please let me know what you think!

PS. this is unedited i'm sorry.

Disclaimer: In case someone does catch it, this is a repurposed work from a different fandom I wrote for. If there are any concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out! This will be the last repurposed part and the next drabbles will be new.

Staring out the window of his balcony, Wonwoo wonders at the blanket of white snow that covers the land. Whilst most despise the winter season due to being forced to stay indoors and hibernate, he revels in it. Though, it isn’t like Wonwoo is like most people. No one even refers to him as a person.

Wonwoo is a creature of the shadows.

Wonwoo is… a vampire.

Unlike most of his kind, his origin story is vastly different. With Royal blood coursing through his veins, he was conceived by the King and Queen and was birthed into this world, the first of his kind.

Not one to usually care about his status or the politics of it all, Wonwoo mostly keeps to himself, locking himself in either his room or the castle library. He spends his time reading up on his ancestors and the history of the other creatures that inhabit his world. Every single creature fascinates him, but not as much as humans do. So, he spends his sleepless days and sleepless nights learning about them.

Being around for centuries, the Queen worries that he’ll never be able to find his ‘blood singer’ if he keeps his nose buried in books. So, as a doting mother does, the Queen constantly sends him multiple women — human women at that — to see if any of them will turn out to be the Crown Prince’s soulmate.

Wonwoo will never admit it to his mother, but he hates it when she does this with a passion. It is true that he is centuries old and without a heart, but he is a fool who believes in the notion of love. Lucky enough to witness it with the King and Queen, he wishes the same for himself.

And lucky he is, because he then meets you.

At least he thought he was.

Meeting you was a complete accident — or maybe it was fate.

Wonwoo was hiking, a few hundred miles away from the castle, and stopped by the river to rest when an enticing scent wafted through the air, almost knocking him off of his feet. Staggering to the nearest tree, Wonwoo clung on for dear life — almost snapping the whole tree in half. Curiosity got the best of him and he continued to inhale the delectable scent, allowing it to overwhelm his senses.

The feeling was foreign to him and as someone who had never met their soulmate before and never understood the concept of it, he was left completely unaware of the predicament that he and his soulmate was in. With the threat and consequences far from his mind, Wonwoo followed the trail of the scent until he ended up outside a cafe, another hundred miles in the opposite direction of the river. When he finally regained a bit of his senses back, he quickly looked around to try and find his bearings and it dawned on him that he was somewhere he had never been before.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by and it was almost like everything was happening in slow motion. Wonwoo felt the hairs on his skin rise and saw his own breath in front of him and that was when he finally understood that something was horribly wrong. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he turned to see the cafe door slowly opening.

Before he knew it, the scent that assaulted his senses had returned tenfold. The smell was so intoxicating and it consumed him, rendering him temporarily immobile and without control of his own self. It wasn’t until the door fully opened, that he was finally able to move — and almost wished he hadn’t.

By the door you stood, looking dangerously inviting and Wonwoo almost lost it. You tilted your head in confusion as you spotted him and when your innocent doe eyes bore into his crimson ones, it all started to make sense.

With his incredible speed, he was standing in front of you in a blink of an eye and was barely able to stop himself short of the door. In horror, Wonwoo felt his cuspids slowly become elongated when he caught sight of your neck. He could almost taste your blood on his tongue and he realised that he was getting closer and closer to doing something unthinkable. Something unforgivable.

Like you were put on this world to test him, you spoke and he swore he would have ravished you already if it wasn’t for the simple fact that you hadn’t invited him in. For once, his vampiric existence and their laws were of use to him. Wonwoo prayed that he remained uninvited.

“Are you okay?” you asked timidly. In this day and age, you had encountered many of his kind, but none of them reacted to you quite the same as he had. Something about him piqued your curiosity, made you unsure of yourself, and you were desperate to find out more.

Wonwoo couldn’t figure out what it was about you that had him behaving that way. Though he was the Crown Prince, he had been around plenty of other humans before as he encountered them during his travels, but no one had affected him the way you had. There was something about you, something that made him want to consume you whole and protect you at the same time.

With all of his strength, he made his choice.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Wonwoo finally spoke, forcing his gaze away from your throat. Determined, he gripped the edges of the doorway hard and started to push himself away from the threshold. “I beg of you, do not permit me entry. Please.”

You gasped, finally understanding what made him so different. He was your soulmate, and while it pained you that you were unable to help him, you agreed with him, knowing that he hadn’t quite understood what was happening yet.

Wonwoo saw the gears in your mind turning but he was surprised when he realised he couldn’t read your mind. Neither could he compel you, which shocked him once more as it dawned on him that you actually listened to him on your own accord. You were such a mystery to him and he grew even more curious, but he didn’t want to satisfy that curiosity now. Not when he would be putting you in danger.

“Forgive me, but I need you to do one last thing for me,” Wonwoo pleaded urgently. He felt his strength leaving him the longer he was in your presence. “I need you to ask me to leave.”

“I can’t—”

“You must!” he begged you.

“I don’t even know your name. I—”

“You won’t get the chance to know anything about me if you don’t ask me to leave right now,” Wonwoo beseeched you. “Please, ask me to leave.”

You saw how much pain he was in and how difficult his position was. So, you ignored your shattered heart and nodded, speaking the words he needed you to speak. “I want you to leave. You are not welcome here.” 

In an instant, it was like a burden was lifted off of his shoulders. Wonwoo threw you a regretful smile, took one last look at you and etched you in his memory then turned to run.

As far away from you as he could. 

A stray tear slid down your cheek as you wondered if you would ever see him again and what it would mean if you did. 

He was your soulmate.

He was a creature of the shadows.

He was a vampire.

Why was fate so cruel?

© darlingvernon

pls do not copy/repost my work

[tobiasdrake]

The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato, Episode 1.

I like how, back in Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, I said they should just stop the movie halfway through and end it on everyone settling into the new reality and accepting this world as it is. But the movie disagreed with me.

But then they cancelled the show and when they brought it back they decided that they want to make a show in the new reality instead of going back to the original canon.

So I feel kinda vindicated by that.

Anyways, Yuki show on Crunchyroll with screenshots provided by shady piracy website, let's go!

I am so confused by the status quo of Yuki World. Specifically Kyon. But also specifically the continued existence of Yuki World post-Disappearance.

Melancholy was always pretty up-front with the fact that it does not operate on Multiverse Theory. There exists only one timeline, with time travelers moving back and forth between points on the single line - and, in fact, the presence of people from the future in the past is already baked into the present.

Kyon had to travel back in time to meet Kid Haruhi on Tanabata and give her the idea to go to North High because that's how the history goes. Kyon was always there on Tanabata giving Haruhi the idea to go to North High.

So I am already baffled about what this world is. Kyon is part of the Literature Club and has dinners with Yuki and Ryoko, which implies that he remembers the events of the movie. We don't know much about Alt Kyon but we do know that he and Yuki never spoke two words to one another.

So it could be, like, a What If scenario if Kyon chose to stay and not end Yuki's new reality. But this can't be Original Kyon because he's on good terms with Ryoko. Our Kyon was quite understandably freaked out by the girl who tried to stab him with a knife.

Are we in "Out-of-continuity Loosely Based On" territory? Because they're making references to the movie in the first two minutes so it feels like a direct spinoff. Even though it's metaphysically impossible to be a direct spinoff, because this reality doesn't exist anymore.

(Also Haruhi made her intentions pretty clear that she wanted to form an SOS Brigade on this side of the temporal fence so the fact that Yuki World still has a Literature Club is another mark against a direct spinoff.)

I dunno. My mind is spinning.

RUN YUKI

RUN LIKE HELL

"But she has no powers in this reality--" SHE'S STILL HARUHI

Wonder if Yuki still has Haruhi's powers in this reality? Huh.

Also, I like how Yuki Show begins where Disappearance was. This world was created in the days leading up to Christmas, so it figures that a Christmas Party would be the first thing we're doing. The chronology is consistent.

Which. Again. Makes it so baffling. Are we spinning canonically out of Disappearance or doing our own thing? Make up your mind!

That being said,

New Yuki is such an neurodivergent disaster girl. XD

Yuki: I want to be able to experience a full range of emotions and feelings. Monkey's Paw: I mean you're like 15 which is a pretty overwhelming time hormonally but sure. Here you go. Unlocking full range of emotions to process for the very first time ever in your life.

I wonder how much Ryoko knows? Her appearance at the end of Disappearance implied that she retains at least enough understanding of the situation to kill Kyon with a knife without even questioning why he was trying to shoot Yuki full of science gun.

I don't think she's still a Space Robot because if she had Space Robot powers that fight would have been much different. But she fully understood the situation when she showed up with knife in hand. And I think we can be pretty sure that she did that on her own; Yuki did not intend for her to kill Kyon.

But also, it's not clear how much of Disappearance actually applies to the reality of Yuki Show since Yuki doesn't remember meeting Haruhi and Haruhi hasn't formed this world's version of SOS Brigade.

One way or the other, at least she's still secretly vicious. I love her. Ryoko is making a compelling argument for Best Character and we're only six minutes in.

And then they put a knife in her hand hahahahaha.

Spinoff or alt continuity, they at least know exactly what they're doing with Ryoko.

I like how Ryoko is filling our Crazy Asshole quota but she's a very different flavor of Crazy Asshole from Haruhi. Haruhi was a gleeful crime person while Ryoko (who I think I recall being Class President?) is Lawful Menace. She'll stab you, sure, but she's not about to permit a hot pot on school premises. That would be inappropriate.

And she ships it.

Yeah. Okay. Ryoko is definitely Best Character. She isn't my character, of course; My character's Haruhi. But she is quickly making a name for herself as this show's MVP.

She ships it so hard that she's prepared flirtation cue cards. Everyone should have a bestie like Ryoko Asakura. She reels in the crushes and knifes anyone who looks at her bestie the wrong way.

Oh shit it's them.

I guess it was too much to hope that Mikuru and Tsuruya still hated Kyon's guts in this reality.

How does he even know these two? They're upperclassmen. He only ever met them in our timeline because Haruhi violently abducted Mikuru.

I would like to have a moment of silence for Mikuru.

Because Tsuruya just got her stabbed. She is so stabbed.

The "Yuki vs. Mikuru" fight is definitely going to end with Yuki, Kyon, and Mikuru going out for lunch while Ryoko and Tsuruya resort to street brawling each other.

They have the space heater!?

The one they got for performing in Haruhi's film? The absence of which from this reality was specifically one of the ways it deviated from the original?

...come to think of it, they don't have the computer. The presence of which was one of the ways it bizarrely did not deviate from the original.

This really is a continuity-free Loosely Based On, isn't it?

Lawful Menace. Ryoko found just the right hoops to jump through in order to obtain formal permission to violate the rules.

I love how she brings just enough Haruhi-esque attitude to the show while still being so distinctly separate from Haruhi in personality and behavior.

AWWWWWWWW They kept that! YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Oh no, she is going to be part of the show.

Yuki. Yuki, run. You have no idea. You have no idea. RUN.

^_^ This show is so cute. I think I'm going to have a good time with it.

[bonefall]

how long is the gap between the clans being founded & firepaw arriving?

About 80 years

I'm working with the authorial assertion that Turtle Heart (canon: Turtle Tail) got flattened by a Model T, which had its height in popularity in England around the mid 1920's.

So, Bonefall DOTC, which takes place over a span of 10 years, is somewhere between 1925 - 1935. In terms of my History Lesson, that is called the Dawn Era of the Ancient Period.

The Ancient Period is chronologically the longest of any age, because it's not very well remembered. The Clans didn't really teach history until post-Ripplestar, many years later, so it's more of a collection of parables.

Anyway, Code Era of the Ancient Period lasted from about 1935 - 1950, and yes, overlaps World War 2 lmao. The geographical region I model experienced carpetbombing.

But here's where it gets interesting-- the Skyfall Era overlaps with the postwar boom, the worst ecological disaster since the Victorians back in the late 1800's. If you remember my other redux, Hollyleaf's Century? I mentioned my plans to model Victorian environmental destruction for that one. The first British motorway, the Preston bypass, was completed in 1958.

Logging, road construction, suburban expansion, it got REALLY bad in this period. That's what canonically happened to SkyClan too-- Chelford expanded. Seems to line up perfectly. It's safe to say that the Skyfall Era was something like 1950 - 1970, bringing us up to the modern age.

First Era of the Chivalric Period was the Ripple Era, and Ripplestar was an experienced cat when he took over from Dawnstar, so we can say that it was at least 1976. One year of war later, at least 1977.

We had another generation between this point and the events of Darkstar's Commandment, creating the Queen's Rights and starting the Crusade Era. 7 years is a reasonable amount of times for all 4 leaders to be dead, so it's safe to guess that the Crusade Era takes place around 1984, funny meme number

Attacks on Chelford, BloodClan forms in response, Pineheart is born towards the end of this era, Heatherstar kicks off the Campaign Era by challenging ShadowClan over the Mothermouth Moorland. The year is looking like 1991, it's been 7 years.

(side note: it's too bad that my timeline didn't line up perfectly for the Great Hunger to happen around the height of DDT's popularity in the early 70's. I would have loved to have talked about the environmental impacts of pesticides... maybe I'll bend it a little bit just so I can. Then again, I am basing my desire to talk about DDT off being American, maybe there was a different pesticide that was prevalent in England? Will do more research.)

Bluestar, Rosetail, and her friends are looking at retirement by the point TPB opens up, which in this redux, is about 10 years of age. We're going to say that Rusty enters the Clan in the year Into the Wild came out in England-- 2003. Seems right on time! Bluestar being born around 1993 lines up.

[lutiaslayton]

Hi! I really love your timeline analyses and have been thinking about them a lot as I try to write my own Layton longfic. (I hope you don't mind me referencing your timeline and puzzle research for it ^^;) It's very well done! I have a hard time figuring out so many details at once like that, so it's been a huge help.

...I don't want to be annoying or overly nitpicky when I point this out, but I just thought I'd mention something.

We know that Dropstone was founded on August 12th (by the JP version) and Layton travels there on its 50th anniversary (also August 12th). In your deduced timeline you have that arrival date down as Wednesday the 12th, 1963. The year with a Wednesday on an August 12th is actually 1964. In 1963, the 12th falls on a Monday.

I don't know if the day being a Wednesday specifically matters at all, or if Layton's days of the week aren't in sync with ours, but from what I understand, your timeline might be 1 year behind. (Or that date was meant to be Monday the 12th...?)

I figured with SLS (one of my favorite fics ever, by the way!) being in 1953, a detail like this could be important to you, but you can totally ignore this ask if I'm wrong! I just wanted to let you know just in case.

Hi! The fact that you picked up on this is a true testament to your dedication and rigorous work, congratulations!!

I haven't touched this timeline in a long while for a number of reasons (far too many other projects + "um actually I think there might be multiple timelines and you can't put every single game/novel/manga/movie/other in the same chronology but it becomes soooooo much more interesting if you start placing them in multiple ones, also puzzle theory makes that not only plausible but also quite probable"), so sadly I have forgotten most of the details of how past me from over a year ago reached the conclusions that she did. From what I remember, however, the quick answer to your question is simple: yes, the days of the week in the Laytonverse are out of sync with ours.

(I kinda like how I take it as a bigger reminder that the Laytonverse really is disconnected from our world's History in a number of ways, from the mention in the novels of kings and queens that do not exist IRL to the simple logical fact that there is no way History happened the same way when mechas are a thing, the Azran happened, Targent happened, and also puzzles break the laws of physics daily. But that's just personal preference.)

I think what started it was the fact that London Holiday takes place on a Sunday and that I could not find any way to make the whole "a few days ago" for both Curious Village and Diabolical Box work alongside the "They arrive in Dropstone on August 12th." I won't redo the math right now because schedule and to-do list and other stuff (+ I trust you more to check it since your brain cogs are already warm and revving in the middle of it, so you would be more efficient at figuring it out as well as more critical than present me), but if memory serves, this was the best I could manage at the time, and I never went back later to recheck the math. I really just stopped at "Yes, there is a desync, so what? That's not supposed to be the real world anyway. Also huge kudos to whoever notices."

---

My mind is set on the fact that the Layton timeline places the original trilogy on the year 1963 because of the promotional UF artwork implying that UF would take place during the winter between 1963 and 1964, but that part is personal preference since I know (and stated on the timeline web page iirc) that in-universe, this date does not appear in the game. I know other people use for example the "Year 1960" unused artwork which had been datamined from Curious Village. I also know that the World of PL interview just says "There is no official date, it's inspired from the 1960s but we are never going to give a date because we don't want to." I also also know that some others, who consider the PLvsAA crossover canon, take the Ace Attorney timeline and thus completely yeet the "1960s" part into oblivion.

So the choice is ultimately up to personal preference, and you're free to choose a different one! The only reason I put 1963 in the timeline instead of "Year YYYY ; Year YYYY - 50 ; Year YYYY + 1" and such is for obvious readability reasons... and because past me had not thought that perhaps there could be a Javascript way to say "hey put here the year you'd like the original trilogy to take place in," have the user click on a button, and make the whole page do the calculations and display the new dates according to the user's chosen year of reference. darn it now I'm going to be nagging myself into implementing that but it would also be so tedious.

---

Anyway TL;DR yes I was aware of this, and past me either forgot to mention it or thought "Eh it's not like anybody will notice/care" hahaha. Rather insensitive from past me admittedly, I do now wonder why I didn't add that as a small paragraph in the preliminary notes... Most likely reason is that the thought just didn't cross my mind at the time.

Good luck on your own longfic, don't hesitate to send me the link (no promises on reading it the day it comes out because there are SO many fics already on my to-read list, but nnngnfhghh I wish I could read other people's works as well as continue working on SLS), and thank you for your ask! Even though I was personally aware of it, you can absolutely feel proud of having picked up on it, and don't hesitate to come back to me (and make me sweat cold bullets) if you figure out a way to make "1963" + "London Holiday on a Sunday" + "No week day desyncs with the real world" work. Thanks to you, other people can now be made aware of this detail which I had apparently forgotten to explain explicitly!

Lastly, I don't remember whether I mentioned it here or not because it's still far from done and isn't going to be truly useful before a LONG while, but just in case what little info is on there could still be useful to you or someone else in any way: among many other things, I'm working on a Lore Map. Imagine having the ENTIRETY of EVERY SINGLE CANON FACT we have been given, in a single web page, with a whole list of tags so you can filter only the trivia that is relevant to your fanfic research <3

---

(Now this paragraph is completely unrelated to your ask, I'm going to leave this here for a different person (or not? would be good luck if you're the same anon): I am so sorry to the anon who asked me if I considered the LMJ ARG event canon or not, I uhhhhh... got carried away and I don't think the answer will be posted anytime soon, because for the sake of answering it in an exhaustive way I wanted to re-read the entirety of what has been preserved of it + add every bit of trivia I could find to the Lore Map mentioned earlier. And I'm juggling between many other projects too so progress is very slow. TL;DR version of my personal opinion so far: as for everything else it is up to personal preference, but I could theoretically see at least parts of it being canon. The trickiest part I found by reading just the introduction of the ARG is the fact that Kat would apparently make livestreams. Which implies the existence of the internet or a similar technology, the existence of streaming platforms, and the fact that she would have a decent-ish enough following for her random viewers from all around the world to want to help her. And if we go with the hypothesis that there could be multiple timelines, I could see that happen in an Ace Attorney-based timeline such as the one in which the PLvsAA crossover is canon, for example! I don't know enough about AA to be able to speak about it with confidence, but I think that 20+ years after the original AA trilogy, internet technology is indeed quite advanced enough for this to be possible? anyway. Just thought I'd give you a first short answer so you don't have to keep holding your breath and/or think I completely forgot about you. I'm sorry :'D)

[sweetfierceimagines]

Welcome back - Aemond x Targaryen fem reader 

WARNINGS - MAJOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SPOILERS

Request by @marvelita85, thank you so much for it, absolutely love it !

Synopsis : Reader is Rhaenyra's younger sister (from Vicerys and Aemma's marriage). She is trained by Daemon and shows great talent. She meets again with the rest of the family when Rhaenyra and Daemon come back to Kings Landing (episode 8 timeline). Although she's feeling very fond of her stepbrothers and newly encountered cousins, she feels something special about Aemond.

Disclaimer : this is not meant to follow House of the Dragon chronology and realness. In this fiction, Reader rides Vhagar and Aemond doesn't (it'll be explained in the fiction, as I go back to ep 7 timeline). Please keep in mind we're just having a good time imagining a scenario :) Enjoy !

There has been many years since nothing very special had happened for Y/N. She was Vicerys and Aemma's second daughter and last child, before her Mother died giving birth. Since that moment, everything changed. Rhaenyra was named Heir and Y/N remained rather unbothered. When Vicerys remarried to Alicent, Y/N stood with her sister. She couldn't accept the treason either and hated that Vicerys could be manipulated in that way. She loved her Father to the moon and back, but she had eyes and brain.

Fortunately, neither Rhaenyra nor Vicerys were feeling responsible for her. She was able to learn what she wanted to learn, which included history and fighting. She could travel, which was the most special thing. She had been far, very far, as far as Penthos ! Can you imagine ?

She loved her uncle very much, and valued his strength of mind and capacity of action. When Rhaenyra got married to Laenor, she asked for permission to leave Kings Landing and move with Daemon and his soon to be wife, Laena Velaryon. Since then, she had been following a strict training from Daemon, and a very good education from Laena. She grew with their children and loved the sisterhood bond their formed. Everything was fine, right ?

Yes, everything was fine, until Laena got through the same thing her Mother Aemma went through. Birth would kill her, and she decided to end her life heroically, as a dragon rider. Vhagar burnt her body and left Penthos after that. Funerals were settled in Driftmark.

For the first time, Y/N met her stepbrothers Lucerys and Jacaerys, as well as her cousins... or other stepbrothers? Anyways, Aegon, Helaena and Aemond. Although she was as sad as Baela and Rhaena for Laena's tragic death, she felt a bit more serene being that surrounded. She got to hug her Sister again, and to discover what time had brought to the family. Corlys and Rhaenys were also very happy to see her, considering her in a more tender way that they viewed Rhaenyra, as they knew Y/N was not ... problematic.

This night, Y/N couldn't find sleep and she wandered in the dunes of Driftmark, by the sea side, when she felt something. She felt.. a presence, calling her. And she followed it. What she discovered was Vhagar, the largest living dragon of this world, asleep in the sand. She got closer, closer, and when she arrived next to the beast eye, it opened it. Instead of being scared to death, Y/N looked into this beautiful eye and fell on her knees, finally letting herself cry the death of Laena. She was sobbing, putting one hand on the dragon skin, and stayed here for a while. After a few minutes, Vhagar actually moved her head and pushed her aside. Y/N got back on her feet and the dragon moved again, gesturing toward her back. Was Vhagar asking her to ride her ? Y/N didn't have a dragon. It was not an opportunity, it was fate.

This night, Y/N became Vhagar's new Rider and enjoyed for the first time flying a dragon.

When she got back to the castle after that, all children (except Aegon) were gathered here. She explained to Rhaenyra's and Laena's what happened, and although some (especially Baela and Rhaena) had a hard time accepting it, they agreed that this was the way it was. But Aemond didn't. This night, he lost an eye fighting the other kids, and instead of joining, Y/N ran upstairs and called for help. The rest of the night you know of.

(Time Jump)

After the whole thing, Rhaenyra and Daemon got married, and Y/N, although a bit surprised, got the pleasure to be able to stay not only with her sister but with her favorite uncle and the kids she liked most. Being separated from Baela and Rhaena was hard, but she had full authorization to fly to see them when she wanted to. In the meantime, she kept training with Daemon, hard, harder with the years. She became so good at it, quick and strong, clever and determined, that she was beating him more often.

She tried not to look too much into politics, leaving that to her sister, but she was clearly favoring this side of the family and would always defend them. No matter the cost.

When they departed for Kings Landing, she was anxious. What would happen? The Greens seemed to have taken a major step toward the Throne and Viserys, her Father, apparently was close to dying, and in pain. She was not sure she wanted to join that kind of feast.

-Do you think our cousins will be less foolish and arrogant this time ? Asked Lucerys to his big brother. The brown-haired smirked. - Don't count on that. They grew. And Aegon married his sister, can you imagine how worse he's going to be ? - Hopefully he'll be too drunk to speak evil of us.. - Yes, hopefully.. Y/N stepped in : - Brothers, we can't have fight between us, this has been going on for too long ! - Easy for you to say ! Everyone loves you, you ride Vhagar, you're closer to Rhaenyra and Daemon than any of us.. Seriously, Sister, if it was for popularity you'd be crowned ! Explained Jacaerys with a kind smile on his face. She shook her head and got between the two, holding them close to her. - You are next in line, boys, and the Sevens know I have no desire for crowns. I'll just make sure you two pay respect and deserve what is given to you.

When they arrived in the Red Keep, things were... gloomy, changed. Symbols of the Sevens were everywhere, and tapestries gone. Rhaenyra and Daemon got to Vicerys first, and when they left the room, Y/N had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with her Father. When she left, she made a few steps before putting her hand on her mouth, trying to keep her sobbing quiet. She was devastated, purely devastated, by how in pain and how weak he's got in just a few years. He would die during this year, and she was not ready to see what would happen next.

And talking about what's next, things became tense pretty quickly. In the Great Hall, everyone gathered to listen to succession claims. This was abnormal, as the next Lord of the Tides had to be Rhaenyra's second child Lucerys. By birthright. Y/N looked at Otto Hightower, literally sitting on the throne, and she clenched her jaw.

They were already usurping her sister's right and her father's will.

She then looked at "The Greens", and discovered that years had changed them a lot. Aegon looked as pathetic as he used to, except he cut his hair, Helaena still seemed in her own world, and Aemond.. well, Aemond had an eye patch, consequence of this night in Driftmark, but except for that, he seemed completely changed. He looked.. well, he looked very strong of body but even more of mind. He looked like a boy who decided he would draw his path himself. And when he looked back at her, she didn't break the bond and stared deep into this single, almost maleficent eye. She slightly nodded her head, and he nodded back. "You're back".

A man had died and a feast was planned. In her night gown, Y/N wondered how this family was supposed to enjoy a "good time" together after this day's incident.

She got at her place around the table, facing Rhaenyra, and dared glancing at the others from time to time. Visery's speech this night was moving, and Y/N fought the urge to run into his arms. She missed being held tight by her Father's embrace. She missed having a Father, actually. What she didn't notice was that Aemond (and Aegon) was looking at her the whole time. Nobody could tell what he was thinking, his face still, but the Prince was actually feeling quite the same, except he never got held by his Father at all. He seemed to experience feelings through her eyes, and was holding on to them.

Viserys left the table and kids being kids, still, things went south. Lucerys seemed to mock Aemond, and despite being older, the silver-aired Prince still reacted in the same way : anger. Y/N got up when he threatened her half-Brother and she actually made the exact same steps as Daemon, instinctively. She then took Lucerys by her side and sighed when Aemond left the room.

(I'm also taking a creative freedom here, imagining the court scene in the beginning of episode 8 happens after the dinner and Rhaenyra stayed a day longer, delaying Vicery's death as well)

The next day, Y/N joined her two half-brothers who decided to wander the Keep, ending up in the courtyard where they explained to her that when she was in Penthos and them in Kings Landing, they first learned how to fight there, with Sir Criston and Sir Harwin. She smiled and followed them, joking about how she would have smashed them even at this time.

In the court was in fact Sir Criston, but this time he was training an Aemond that seemed very trained already. Boosted by yesterday's events, he was pushing hard and going quickly, eventually defeating his opponent. Y/N smiled a bit and clapped. He had won fairly, after all.

Driven by this hate Y/N didn't understand fully, Aemond turned toward them and started provoking his nephews.

-Nephews, have you come to train ?

Not letting them speak a single word, Y/N responded, taking a step forward.

-No. They didn't. They're not in Kings Landing to show off, they're here to show respect to their Grandsire the King and bring support to their Mother. As the Princes they are.

Aemond looked more fiercely at her and smirked.

-Oh really? Sad.. I've been dreaming of an opponent from Princess Rhaenyra's family for so long. But I guess they're not ready.

Y/N turned around and saw the boys fuming, ready to jump on him at any second. Again, she went ahead before they made any mistake. She took off a few layers of clothes, as people were gasping to see her having a full training suit under her dress (always be ready, said Daemon), and asked Lucerys to go get her sword, quickly.

-You want someone from Rhaenyra's family ? I give you the sister. - I would not fight a woman, this is not right. - You would fight a warrior, and you'll most likely never even be able to touch a single strand of my hair, don't even worry.

He laughed and nodded, accepting to take the challenge. As Y/N stepped into the ring, she could feel adrenaline building up, and a form of excitement new to her. She was actually... sort of turned on by this little game. And loved that Aemond was a good opponent to fight with.

He took the first step, and quickly realized she was not joking. Her moves were precise, quick, strong. She was showing skills he knew he didn't have, but nevertheless, he fought hard. Y/N let the show growing longer, simply blocking his moves and occasionally giving him a punch here and there, always followed by a smile she couldn't keep for herself. Lucerys and Jacaerys were beyond smiling, and almost broke their own jaws each time Y/N's sword touched Aemond's breastplate.

-Getting tired, my Prince ? She sarcastically asked. He looked at her, breathing heavily, and with a grunt, made a last step forward, hoping to charge her. This time, Y/N, in a couple of moves, disarmed him and Aemond, laying on the ground, had no choice but to recognize his defeat. She smiled and gave him her arm, helping him getting up. He didn't let go of the arm and held it firmly, looking in her eyes as he was only a few inches close to her.

-You are, truly, fascinating. He simply said, before leaving the courtyard.

After this moment, Y/N had trouble keeping up with her thoughts. She had never been interested in boys, love, physical touch.. in a way, she almost though she was different from the others and would never get into this. But she had to admit that Aemond Targaryen, technically also her half-brother, was a new intrigue in her life.

She had loved fighting him, as it was a way for her to demonstrate her strengths and prove that her self-confidence was well-placed, but it was not only that. She had been fighting many opponents, as a training. Not only Daemon, fierce, but also guards and even occasionally knights who came by. She was always glad she could show her skills and feel this adrenaline rush, but with Aemond, she felt something else. Something of a more.. physical nature. A tingling, a spark, something difficult to express but that filled her entire body. And when he kept his grip on her arm and said these few words, she felt her soul fainting.

This was the last day, before she would go back to Dragonstone. After the training in the courtyard, a last lunch was planned with the family.

She couldn't wait.

She had kept her training suit, not bothering to put the dress back on. When she entered the room, Daemon smiled.

-Training without me, niece ? And who was the unlucky opponent ? - He fought well actually. But not nearly as well as I did. She smiled and dared a wink in Aemond's direction, who seemed to suddenly get tense on his chair. Not in anger, but in surprise.

Daemon burst laughing and nodded his head. He was terribly proud of her fighting abilities and even prouder that he was the man who inspired this passion.

The lunch went well, with light talks breaking the silence occasionally. Y/N was mostly talking to her sister and uncle, and could feel Aemond's eye constantly on her face, making her feel like the place was burning hot. When lunch was over, she was first to leave the room, wanting to take a last stroll in the castle before going back to Dragonstone's dark environment.

-Princess Y/N.

She turned around, seing Aemond walking fast in her direction. He had left just a few seconds after her and as the door was closing, she could see Daemon looking at her, raising his cup as to toast for her and Aemond.

-Yes, Aemond ? - You fought very well. - Thank you, I'm aware. She smiled widely, amused to be able to be so cocky. He smirked a bit, apparently alleviated that she was not playing any "lady of the court" role but simply was herself, light and funny.

-You've been away for long. This castle must feel very different. - Yes, very. It's.. darker. I've always loved how fresh it looked and felt. But it's not the case anymore. Your Mother and mine have very different tastes.

Her heart tightened a bit as she said that, suddenly remembering the warmth of her Mother's smile and a shadow of sadness veiled her eyes. Aemond seemed to notice.

-Do you want to go in the city ? She arched an eyebrow, suspicious. - You'll be back an hour before having to leave, no worry. She didn't answer, keeping the suspicious glaze. - I'm just thinking you'd like to be with your Mother a bit.

After getting permission, Aemond and Y/N got on horses and, escorted, left toward the Great Scept, where she, Rhaenyra and Alicent often came to pay homage to their respective late Mothers. Y/N didn't come back for years and when she entered the windy halls, she was suddenly taken by emotion and stopped for a moment, making sure she's be able to control herself before actually stepping in. Aemond was following her, always a step back, as she moved toward one of the rings of candles and got on her knees, her hands together. She didn't know for how long she stayed there, eyes closed and praying (actually more talking). She imagined she was in direct connexion with her Mother and could tell her what was happening, how she was doing. She broke down when she said she wished she could be there, not for her but for her Father. As much as she wanted to remain emotionless, she simply couldn't, even after all these years.

Aemond, who had remained a bit further back, finally took a few steps to kneel by her side, joining hands and remaining silent. When tears stopped, Y/N looked at him.

-You must think I'm very weak. - No, I don't. She didn't say anything, feeling a bit dumb to even care for his opinion of her. - My Mother still fights the urge of crying when she talks about hers. His face was enlightened by the candles, making him look warmer. - There are pains I don't wish to know, and will not place judgements upon. He turned his face toward her and she could see a smile, not a smirk, not a challenge or a provocation, just a soft, very sincere smile. She nodded softly and thanked him in a whisper, glad she had the opportunity to come here. Without quite knowing why, she took a candle in her hands, facing him and closed her eyes again. Instinctively, he joined his hand with hers, around this candle, and she wished for him to not know this pain for a thousand years.

END - Hope you'll like it !

[kerres]

First 3 eps of Solo Leveling thoughts! From someone who has never read it!

For my tastes, the first two episodes were pretty jarring. Blood isn't a huge deal to me, but watching someone suffer that intensely wasn't fun. I do appreciate it for the storytelling though! Elsewise, let me tackle this chronologically henceforth.

Everyone loves an underdog story, and I think the "isekai"/adjacent category needs more of it! Sure, they can start out pretty lowly, but their special skill spikes up their usefulness unnaturally so. Of course, I'm sure that will happen anyway, but I'm at least satisfied that it isn't a pure isekai in that the show has taken a GATE approach. All in all, the dungeon gate dynamic is pretty neat to me -- really reminds me of mmorpgs.

The fact that these characters are from a modern world looks more interesting to me than arbitrarily requiring a death from a previous life to get to the fantasy world. Getting to have a full life's worth of information then relatively starting over somewhere else without the same technological advancements makes the protagonist able to just.. "invent" them there, drastically boosting their overall status for no real effort of their own.

Back to it though, a character being known as The Weakest is a compelling enough beginning to me. Of course, there has to be some amount of concrete scaling, so the rankings were inevitable. The precedent of an inability to change your base power-level was of course gonna be a part of the story. (I will say, the "second awakening" gimmick already feels a little suspicious/dull to me, but we'll see how it's handled.)

The fact that the token weak girl healer character is actually not all that weak of a healer just really doesn't like the job much and only does it out of necessity was a great angle imo. Just like the average mmo, nobody wants to play support, and for someone who didn't even want to play the game, having that responsibility sounds tough to argue with. Using the kind of trauma she ended up with as a fridging method didn't bother me at all. That's a very reasonable reaction!

Though the protagonist looks like he's going to have a pretty generic story given the title, I do also like that he doesn't have a history of gaming. Nearly every protagonist is a NEET or gamer otherwise, but he had to ask his sister. He gets the hang of it, which is to be expected, but he has to ask her what to look for initially. That just furthered the narrative that he's had to work extra hard this whole time so she could live a peaceful and average life. I appreciate that kind of consistency and detail!

---

I drafted this, then didn't get back to it for a week or so whoops! I'd like to be more consistent, and I'm sure I will be, but let me just get this out of my drafts for now. I'm excited to eventually get a reasonable pacing out of this project!

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically 28

Fun fact! If we were watching normally in a normal order, Rose would have just left, and this would be a Christmas special. But we're not. Instead we suffer on.

Last episode was 1913 - this time we're jumping a whole year, to 1914. Small jump! So this shouldn't be too weird. After all, we had a lot of discussion in the previous episode about what 1914 would be like.

It's Twice Upon a Time. Lol

OKAY so there will be a LOT of new questions here, Jesus. We begin with old Hartnell footage! Fun! Which fades into David Bradley playing the First Doctor as he refuses to regenerate and tries to die instead. Turns out Capaldi is here doing the same thing?!? So interestingly, we've now seen Capaldi's first AND last episodes. Fascinating.

("708 episodes ago", reads the caption, showing Hartnell grouching about. "Lol", says I.)

Anyway, there are two (2) main threads here, and one is the relatively minor but fairly fun (albeit very hole-y) sci-fi plot; the second is Double Doctor Fun, but unfortunately this was written by Steven Moffat who thinks 60s Man = Misogynist UNLIKE CAPALDI OBVIOUSLY so it goes, um, badly. I'm getting ahead of myself, hang on:

Mark Gatiss is pulled into the same moment in time as the Doctors because they're causing a timeline error. He was, in fact, about to be shot in the head by a German soldier in WW1, but then time froze around him, so he climbed out of his crater and got pulled here; I can't help but feel the director could have made some better choices, though, because on climbing out of the crater we're treated to multiple shots of other soldiers just drinking tea and chatting in their trench rather than, you know, helping Mark Gatiss. This is not how we work as a team, lads. Where's Tim when you need him.

It emerges that glass people are taking people from the instant before they die, harvesting their something, and then returning them to their timestream to die and avoid fucking up history. Harvesting what? Well, for zero reason other than "The Plot Requires It", we don't find out right away. But both Doctors climb aboard Capaldi's TARDIS (there are some fun quips about the size of the windows that must have given several folks on Gallifrey Base a dry orgasm) and promptly get abducted by a spaceship shaped like a Sims plumbob. It's the glass people.

... and then Bill turns up.

... and Capaldi FREAKS THE FUCK OUT.

Because it turns out that Bill! Is dead! After having turned into a Cyberman! And choosing to die to save others!!

MASSIVE NEWS. What a strange choice to tell us this before showing her conversion and death. Honestly, you'd almost think this is a terrible viewing order for this show.

Except this Bill is a copy, but with all her memories, so this kicks off a running theme about how memories maketh the man except the Doctor disagrees. But this Bill also says she didn't die because she pulled a woman in a puddle called Heather so now I have a LOT of questions.

The glass people show them the original forms of the Doctor from Hartnell to Capaldi, and call him the Doctor of War because Moffat really loves his Mary Sue elements. They escape the plumbob, jump into the original TARDIS ("Aren't the windows the wrong size?" asks Bill), and run away to try and find out who the original person was that the main glass alien is mimicking. This is to find out what the glass people are actually harvesting. For literally no reason at all, the glass people didn't just tell them that.

Meanwhile! The First Doctor is a raging misogynist who keeps suggesting the women clean the TARDIS, and Capaldi is in an agony of embarrassment trying to stop him! And it's funny, sure, these are good actors, but FUCK OFF AND DIE IN FIRE. That is NOT the First Doctor. The First Doctor was a gentleman who respected all the women he knew and met, and his favouritest and best friend in all the world was Barbara, and like fuck did he devalue them like this. It was the men he used to devalue and see as brainless useful muscle. Meanwhile, it's fucking Capaldi who straight up abuses the women he meets including his companions, and it's Matt fucking Smith who yells "Do as you're told and go back to the TARDIS!" at Amy (who complied meekly, let's all remember.) This is absolutely fucking enraging. Hartnell was LESS SEXIST than anything Moffat puts out, and yet here's Moffat acting like he's a bastion of progression fuck off fuck off FUCK OFF

(ahem)

Actually I'm not done because then there's a "men's browsing history" joke Jesus FUCKING Christ okay I'm done

Anyway, after a last bit of misogyny for good measure, which Bill somehow wins by looking the First Doctor in the eye and going "I'm a lesbian and I get more pussy than you", making David Bradley's monocle fall out in spite of him not even wearing it at that point, they land on a sort of fantasy red war torn forge planet inhabited by mutant octopuses. Capaldi inexplicably tries to make Bill stay in the TARDIS. Naturally she puts up token resistance and then obeys.

Anyway, Capaldi goes up the tower. There's a Dalek! We know those, we saw them by the Pandorica in the second episode, and also once in the Doctor's dream journal in the last episode. This one is called Rusty.

"Remember when I shrank down and went inside you and showed you that Daleks are bad?" says the Doctor. "Good times."

I don't remember that. That has not happened yet. Intriguing.

Anyway, Rusty the Good Dalek shows them that the original glass alien woman is a researcher from the year five billion and 12. What they're harvesting is memories, so that the dead can then be resurrected of sorts to speak again through the glass bodies.

"Oh," says the Doctor. "Not evil."

One can't help but feel most of this episode was extraneous and could have been avoided if the glass aliens had just... said that.

Anyway, Bill is also glass, and also knows all of this, so again, she could also have explained this.

They return Mark Gatiss to die in a crater. Except the Doctor shifts the timestream by a couple of hours, so the 1914 Christmas Armistice kicks in and saves him, which is just as well, given that the rest of the army was uselessly drinking tea like 20 yards away. It's genuinely quite moving. Also it turns out he's a Lethbridge-Stewart! Nice touch. The First Doctor has a moment of sagaciously staring into the middle distance and saying "So this is what it means to be a Doctor of War," which is nauseating but you know, fine. He wanders back to his TARDIS and regenerates into Robin Hood in the TARDIS files.

Meanwhile Capaldi heads back to his own. Last conversation with Bill, who tells him that the most important thing about a person is their memories. "Look," she says, "I'll prove it," and turns into Clara.

Except??? It turns out??! The Doctor had somehow FORGOTTEN CLARA (so many questions)

Then Nardole turns up as a glass alien too, so I presume that means he's dead and all. "I have glass nipples and invisible hair," he volunteers, and I think I will never not have questions about Nardole.

Anyway, the Doctor flies away to regenerate alone. He has a great monologue, right, and Peter Capaldi is of course an absolutely superb actor, just completely nails it, except for the fact that the monologue does not remotely suit this Doctor.

"Never be cruel!" is his opening line.

Yes you read that right. Mr "Clara you're so ugly and stupid." Mr "If you try to fight off your abuser you're a child who needs to grow up." Mr "I mock and belittle women until they cry and then accuse them of sulking." Mr "I make fun of people's cultural artefacts." That guy. That guy's opening line is "Never be cruel!" Followed swiftly by "Always try to be nice! Never fail to be kind!"

Fucking hell.

Here's a good bit though:

"Never tell anyone your name. No one would understand it anyway. Except children. Children can hear your name, if their hearts are in the right place, and the stars are too. But nobody else, ever."

Fascinating! We have heard nothing so far about the Doctor's real name.

Also he includes "Never eat pears!", so but for a deleted scene in Human Nature/Family of Blood this is a two-parter about the Doctor not liking pears.

And then; Regeneration!!! The first one we've seen!! We saw Capaldi's first episode, but he was post-regen then; this is our first on screen. Destroys the TARDIS, lads. Just completely fucks it up. Doors everywhere.

And we get Whittaker! A ring drops off her finger. Wonder if that was important?

Anyway she immediately crashes the TARDIS and falls out to her death

SO MANY NEW QUESTIONS?!?!?????

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest.)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” NEW INFO: Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

What has happened to all these companions and where are the new ones coming from?

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

What’s With The Silence?

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Who is Captain Jack Harkness? (Is he the one who gave the companions a warning about the lone cyberman?)

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window?

What’s with the Doctor’s future involving getting shot by an astronaut?

Is Amy pregnant and why is it inconclusive?

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

Who did the Doctor lose to Cyber Conversion?

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What’s with the Weeping Angel statues, and why can’t you blink at them?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi. NEW INFO: Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

What happened with Amy’s pregnancy?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill's puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor's name?