#probably even better than C3

[inthehouseoffinwe]

A conversation with my siblings but make it Fëanorians:

Celegorm: Cide means to kill, right?

Curufin: Pretty much.

Celegorm: Regicide… Patricide… What do you call killing your brother?

Caranthir: Pesticide

[delugyu]

i just finished c3 and im ovulating and i neeeDDDD more needy pathetic bsf ficsss!!! but uhmmm can u make one for taehyun 🥹🥹🥹 i need him bad after THAT vid he dropped WHEEW

YESSS i can!!! i got so carried away with this omg

(wc: 3.6k / warnings: taehyun is a teaseeee 😵‍💫, and very clingy, heavy petting, tyun has one hell of an oral fixation, unprotected sex and too much faith in the pull out method)

you truly do love hanging out with taehyun, but you would also appreciate it if he didn’t make trying to leave such a pain in the ass. you have homework to get to, shows to watch, food to eat…

“you can do all of that with me!” he argues. there is no winning against taehyun—you either give in, or you leave him to cry for hours on his own. you hope that’s an exaggeration, but at this point it really might be true.

“but i want to do it at my place,” you say. he grabs your wrist and drags you back into his bed beside him. half-reluctantly, you let him pull you against his body and cuddle into you.

“it’s so much better with me, though. you know it.” he seems to take offense at the way you laugh at his insinuation, because he pinches your waist in retaliation.

“ow!” you try moving away from him after his attack, but he doesn’t let you get far. if anything, he just pulls you in closer. he rests his head in the crook of your neck and inhales like some creep, and you tell yourself it’s probably just a weird joke. “don’t do that,” you scold, pushing his head away. he grins at you, bashful.

“can’t you just stay here tonight?” he asks, propping himself up on an elbow so he can look down at you. his fingers find the thin chain of your necklace, fiddling with the pendant on it mindlessly.

“i slept here two days ago.”

“and? you can sleep here one more night. your laptop still works in my dorm, you know.” he challenges the glare you send him, and with a sigh, you back down.

“you better not bother me while i do my work,” you say. he wears a triumphant grin, patting your head like he’s proud that you finally gave in.

all is quiet and peaceful for the next thirty minutes, and you get a decent outline done for your assignment. every time you glance back at taehyun, he’s just sprawled out on his bed, scrolling on his phone. you’re a little surprised that he hasn’t tried to annoy you yet; he normally breaks around minute ten.

you tap your nails against taehyun’s desk to the rhythm of a bunch of different songs, bored out of your mind while trying to figure out how to write this cohesively. you sigh heavily, slouching down until your head meets the desk. you’ll only close your eyes for a couple minutes, just to push away the headache that threatens to come over you…

it’s definitely been more than a couple minutes when you feel taehyun’s hand on your shoulder, jolting you awake. “what?” you ask quickly, fixing your posture and blinking the sleep from your eyes. you wiggle your finger on your laptop’s mousepad to turn the screen back on, eyes widening when you see you’ve just killed another twenty minutes, and you’re only an hour away from midnight now. every ounce of tiredness drains from your body in an instant.

“did you seriously fall asleep?” he asks, almost sounding amused.

you return all your focus to your assignment, not even looking at taehyun when you answer, “no.”

“liar,” he says, laughing. his hands tuck your hair out of your face, then hold it in a makeshift ponytail. you let him have his fun, it feels good when he plays with your hair anyway.

he stays standing near you long after his hands leave your hair, and you ignore his presence to the best of your ability. it’s a little hard to write down any sentences when you feel taehyun looming behind you and reading over your shoulder, though. you sigh out in mild frustration.

taehyun’s knee nudges the seat of your chair, and you turn your head to look at him. “can i sit?” he asks.

you scrunch your brows. “no, i’m sitting here. go to your bed.” you make a motion towards it and return to your work.

“you can just sit in my lap,” taehyun offers, hand landing on your shoulder.

“or you can just go to your bed.”

“but i wanna hoooold youuu.” he pouts and leans in close to wrap his arms around you.

“i thought you said you’d let me work in peace?” that seems to get him to listen. he finally trudges back into bed, muttering out something that you don’t bother to strain your ears for.

you finish your assignment forty minutes later; it’s half-assed, but at least it’s done. taehyun couldn’t look happier to see you walk over to him.

“finally. i thought i was gonna die,” he says.

you laugh and get into bed with taehyun. his smile doesn’t leave his face for a second as he wraps you in his blanket, making sure you’re nice and comfortable. he wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you into him.

“what do you wanna do tomorrow?” he asks.

you hum in thought. “i got my 8am tomorrow, so i need to head out early.”

taehyun groans, “you’re kidding me.”

“i wish.”

“just skip.” you can hear the grin he’s wearing when he makes the suggestion. “you know you want to.”

“no, i only get two absences throughout for whole semester for that class,” you explain, to which he just groans again. he’s so childish. “you never skip for me either!” you defend.

“you never ask me to. i would if you wanted.” you turn around to face him, giving him an incredulous look.

“yeah right. you’re crazier about your grades than i am,” you say.

“i’m crazier about you than i am about my grades.” he’s biting back a teasing grin after he says that. you smack his chest, trying not to let your face heat up too much at his flirtation.

“don’t say that stuff,” you scold.

“why? it’s true.” he’s still got that amused glint in his eyes as his face moves a little closer to yours.

“stop,” you say with a nervous laugh, gently swatting his chest. it almost looks like his eyes fall to your lips for a second. that would be ridiculous, though, and you’re sure he’s smarter than that.

“can’t you skip this once?” his voice is lower when he asks that. he brushes some hair out of your face and lets his hand linger on your jaw. there’s something forming in the air between you, something that has your heart beating a little faster.

“what are you doing, taehyun?” you ask in a whisper. his lips curl up like he’s been caught red-handed, but he doesn’t respond. you flinch backward when he brings his face closer to yours. “oh my god, what are you doing?”

he grabs your hand like that will keep you from leaving. “i’m sorry.” his eyes hold genuine apology in them, and it makes you feel bad for reacting so strongly.

you can’t even believe the words you’re about to say. “did you just try to kiss me?”

he’s quiet for a moment like he doesn’t know how to respond. “would it be such a bad thing?”

he’s pulling at your heartstrings. you bring yourself closer to him again, pitying him so bad all of a sudden. “no, it’s just—we’re friends. just friends.” you don’t really know what’s happening right now. you never would have thought you’d have to have this conversation with taehyun.

your heart is half-bleeding when you see him pout. you almost want to grab his face and peck his lips just to comfort him. he does look awfully kissable right now.

“you don’t like me?” he asks in a small voice. you have to stop yourself from cooing at him.

“i do like you. you’re my best friend.”

“just your best friend?” you blink at him, not knowing what he wants you to say. he continues, “well, you’re the most important person in my life.”

your heart is beating rapidly, you’re a little scared that taehyun might feel it through the mattress. he can’t be serious. was he drinking earlier?

his face doesn’t falter. he holds no playfulness in his eyes; he’s completely serious. if you weren’t laying down, you might’ve passed out.

“thank you,” you say, because you don’t know what else to do.

“you’re the most important person, and i really want to kiss you.” his gaze is so intense. the only feeling you can discern within yourself is shock.

“why are you doing this so suddenly?” you ask, eyes darting between his.

“i don’t know. i couldn’t help it.” he squeezes your hand desperately, like a reminder that he’s still waiting for your answer.

you gulp. “y-you can kiss me,” you permiss.

“really?” his eyes are shining with hope now. you can’t say no to that.

you nod, and suddenly his hand is in your hair and his lips are on yours. he kisses you much sweeter than you expected, soft lips capturing yours in an easy, unrushed rhythm. your hand falls onto his arm, grounding you to reality and keeping you from slipping away.

you’ve thought about this before, but never did you think this would happen. every time you thought about kissing taehyun, you imagined the two of you drunk and stupid, foolish and impulsive. you never even considered it a possibility that you’d agree to this sober and sound of mind. maybe you like taehyun more than you thought.

he is hot, and you’ve always thought that, but you don’t think you ever wanted him before. so the feeling growing between your legs is frighteningly new—you realize with a great sense of horror that you’re getting wet, and it’s because of taehyun. what the fuck. what the fuck.

“what the fuck,” you say breathlessly, pulling away from the kiss as taehyun attaches his mouth to your neck. “fuck, taehyun. what are we doing?” you tangle your hand in his hair as he laves his tongue over a spot he just sucked. his hands go up your shirt, clinging onto your waist.

“i don’t know,” he answers, just as out of breath, just as needy. he hovers over you now, breathing hotly against your skin, looking up at you as his teeth catch the collar of your shirt. the sight sends a rush of arousal to your core.

he pushes your shirt up just enough to expose your stomach and nothing more. even that feels raunchy, especially when he dives down to lick a stripe up your skin. you tremble as he gets his tongue familiar with your flesh, and he eventually has to hold your hips down to stop you from moving.

you’re biting your tongue to hold back your whines, but you can’t handle the heat that keeps growing between your legs. you don’t know why you’re so soaked, you’ve never been so affected by such little things. why does it feel so much hotter when it’s taehyun doing it?

you gasp when he takes your shorts and panties between his teeth, pulling them back so they can snap against your skin. you can’t hold back your whine this time, and the noise seems to encourage taehyun, because he brings a finger to your waistband to replicate the action again.

“taehyun,” you moan, hands gripping the sheets. you don’t know why you’re so sensitive suddenly, it’s like you feel everything times a million with him. he hasn’t even touched you anywhere that would elicit this reaction.

his mouth is on your thighs now, nibbling and licking the skin, moving between the two like he can’t get enough. he keeps his hands busy, too, massaging the back of your thighs. you use all the control you have left in your body to not let your hips buck into him. it’s an incredibly hard task.

you don’t know how much time passes like this—enough to drive you insane, to have you spiraling and at risk of losing your mind. you might start crying if taehyun doesn’t just take care of you at this point. you don’t know how to ask for it. you don’t want to ask for it. you just want him to know, to read your mind, to fuck you mind-numbingly good and just get it over with.

your whines are pathetic at this point, and taehyun has still yet to take mercy on you. you must be so wet that he can smell it through your shorts, you might even be leaking through your shorts. there’s no way he doesn’t know that he’s torturing you.

“taehyun, please!” you cry out, hand tangling in his hair. he finally gives your thighs a break, pulling his head up so he can look at you. god, even he looks delirious. his eyes are blown out with lust, mouth hung open as he catches his breath.

“what do you need?” he asks, but he seems to have a pretty good idea because his hand cups your clothed cunt. the reaction that pulls from you is embarrassing—your whole body jolts as you moan out, and taehyun has to steady you with a hand on your hip as he grinds his hand against your center.

“i need you, please,” you beg, legs shaking and closing around his hand. that doesn’t stop him, though; he still keeps rubbing deep against your cunt, watching you in amazement.

“yeah? fuck, you’re gonna cum for me?” he asks.

you shake your head violently. “no, please, wanna cum on your cock, tear me open—ah, taehyun!” you don’t want to cum like this, but he seems more than determined to push you over the edge already.

“wanna see you ruin your panties, cutie.” he kisses your navel and holds your hip down with more force as you start trying to wiggle away. your back arches, and you want to run away from the feeling so bad, but taehyun won’t let you. your moans get high pitched and whiny, stomach tensing up as your orgasm nears.

“tyunnie, oh my god, please!” you don’t even know what you’re begging for, but your body can’t stop shaking and it’s all taehyun’s fault. he soothes you with some heated kisses to your waist.

“soak my hand, come on, drench me.” there’s a tone of command in his voice, and he moves more frantically against you now. you think a tear actually slips from your eye as you finally cum, letting your orgasm hit you after trying to run away from it for so long. taehyun’s spewing out praises that you only half pay attention to, but they’re all something along the lines of just like that, did so well, good job.

taehyun takes his hand off you and peels your legs open, staring proudly at the dark mark on your core. you’d shut your legs if you had the energy, but you’re far too mindless for that right now. you jump when he brushes a finger against your ruined shorts. your legs tremble, so weak under him.

“pretty baby looks so good cumming for me,” he says, stealing a quick kiss from you. you can barely reciprocate, still recovering from your orgasm. “can you give me one more? i’ll split you on my cock this time, fill you up so nice…” he runs his hand down your waist, then brings it to your face and pats your cheek lightly to bring your attention to him. “hm? will you?”

you’re too far gone to even consider the consequences. all you can think about is how bad you want to feel his cock stretching out your walls. you’re dripping with arousal, he could slip right in. you ache for it.

“need it, tyunnie,” you say, grabbing desperately onto his shoulders. he huffs out a laugh and gets his dick out of his pants, kissing you deeply as he does so. he strokes himself a few times, and you spread your legs wider, dying for him to just rip off your clothes and fuck you already.

he’s slow and teasing as he pulls your shorts and panties down your legs, smirking at how you squirm and try to kick the clothes off to get this over with faster. he bites his lip when he sees your juicy folds, bringing two fingers to your cunt to separate the lips, watching your pathetic hole flutter with need.

“isn’t that pretty?” he says, circling a finger against your entrance. you can’t control the way your hips start bucking against his finger, instinctively trying to bury him inside your warm walls. you’ll go fucking crazy if he doesn’t fill you up soon.

“fill me up, i’m dying, i can’t even think straight,” you babble, hips rolling up against the finger he keeps running down your slit. you can’t handle any more teasing. your eyes sting. “don’t make me cry for it,” you plead. you even sound pitiful to yourself.

“poor thing,” taehyun coos, finally taking mercy on you. you moan when you see him stroking his dick, getting himself ready to fuck you. “are you on birth control?”

“no,” you answer. “do you have a condom?”

“no, fuck. can i pull out?” he gathers your arousal on his dick as he waits for your answer, sliding his tip through your folds. “i promise i will. i promise, seriously. i just need to fuck you.”

your head’s spinning, and you know you shouldn’t let this happen, but fuck, you need it too. “yes, just fuck me already,” you cave, arching your back invitingly.

taehyun moans as he starts pushing the head of his cock into your hole. you can’t believe how sexy he looks, and how you’ve never thought to fuck him before. you’ll never be able to go back to normal after this—you don’t even know if you’ll be able to fuck another man after this. taehyun’s ruining you.

“so fucking tight, shit. i’m not your first, am i?” he grunts out as he pushes in another couple inches. you wince at the stretch.

“n-no. i slept with a couple other guys before,” you answer, gasping when he nearly bottoms out in one slow thrust.

“you don’t have to sleep with other men again. just come to me. baby, fuck, you’re squeezing me. relax.” you try to stop your walls from clamping down around him, but you’re so turned on you just can’t help it. he hisses and brings his forehead to your shoulder, pushing forward the last bit and holding your legs open so he can press his hips flush against yours. you both sigh out at the feeling, needing a minute to adjust.

taehyun growls when he feels your walls continue to clench around him. “i’m sorry,” you apologize, not knowing how to control it for him.

“i’ll fucking bust inside you if you keep doing that,” he warns, pulling out just a couple inches and ramming himself back in. you cry, feeling so deliciously full, it’s almost overwhelming.

he continues thrusting into you shallowly, never pulling out more than halfway, letting you take him deep inside your cunt. “oh my god, don’t stop,” you urge, nails digging into his neck and shoulders.

“fuck, i’m not,” he promises breathlessly, fucking you a little faster as he leans down to kiss you. this kiss is much more messy than it is sweet—more tongue and teeth than anything else. you let him claim your mouth, his tongue licking into you like it belongs there. his hand inch up until they’re at your hips, positioning them up a bit so he can hit a better spot inside you. it leaves you whimpering nonstop into his mouth, gasping pathetically when his pelvis grinds against your clit.

“i’m not gonna last,” you say, staring at him with big, watery eyes. he looks like he wants to eat you alive.

“then cum for me, cream my cock, show me how much you love my dick,” he grunts out, moving with reinvigoration. you can barely catch your breath, the pleasure surmounting and becoming too much, and your climax blinds you with bliss as sweet relief hits you again.

“nngh! so good! you’re so good!” you cry out, not even knowing if your words are comprehensible from how intertwined they are with your moans.

“fuck, i’m gonna cum,” he warns, pulling out of you just in time to spill his seed across your stomach and thighs. his noises are sinful, even through his bitten lip, and you try to memorize everything about this moment. you seriously think your life just changed.

his chest heaves as he regains his breath, staring at the mess he made on your skin. his eyes dart down to your soaked center, your thighs a mess of his cum and your juices. you hope reality never hits you. you want to live in this bliss forever.

“we have to do this again,” taehyun says, soothing his hands down your thighs. “i’m not letting you go after that.” he laughs when he says it, but you think he’s being serious.

“this was probably really stupid,” you say, looking down at the mess you made. taehyun still looks insanely hot. you don’t think you’re going to get over this.

“stupid? this was like, the best thing i’ve ever done,” taehyun counters with a sweet smile. “so what happens now?”

you sigh. you don’t really want to think about that part. “you go grab a towel and wipe your cum off of me,” you answer.

taehyun laughs, “yes ma’am.”

[utilitycaster]

Do you think the god debate and narrative around it in C3 would be more compelling if Ludinus only focused on killing the Betrayer Gods a la Cassida? As many pointed out, the impact that Primes have on mortals is largely positive. Aside from cool abilities, they give healing, meaning and comfort to their followers. Up until very recently (Braius) we haven't seen Betrayers do much of that and their followers are, more often than not, people who would cause great harm to others.

I actually do not. There's multiple questions in here, and honestly I could probably write 5000 words on any of them, which I'm not going to do, but I will split this up into components.

First: I don't think Ludinus is the problem at all. He is unambiguously the villain, but he is always narratively compelling. It is fun to make fun of him because he is genuinely a fantastically crafted villain. When I dunk on villains who are boring, it's nowhere near as fun because all you can say is "wow what do you even do. boring-ass" whereas Ludinus is full of interesting possibilities and hooks to be like how can you be so smart and have lived for so long and seen so much and come to the fucking worst conclusions. There's a reason why people have been side-eyeing him consistently since at least his first speaking appearance in Campaign 2, if not his first appearance ever, in Felderwin, and it's because he's a great character who I hope dies horribly. So his motivations are fine. I'm not saying the possibility you suggest wouldn't be a very interesting different story, but my complaints about narrative and the gods debate do not require anything different from Ludinus, who has been a consistent bright spot within the muddied narrative by being a consistent blot on Exandria and also sometimes the moon.

The narrative and the god debate are intertwined - the issue is a dull indecision that plagues both of them - so I'm splitting this one up a little differently.

What do I as a viewer think is the most reasonable stance regarding the gods based on my understanding of the worldbuilding of Exandria?

What is interesting to watch?

And therein lies the problem. I, as a viewer, think that killing the gods is a bad idea, and I've articulated this in various spaces and am not going to write another 5000 words about it right now, but between the events of past campaigns; the events of this campaign including Downfall; who within the narrative supports the choice to not kill the gods; and the complete uncertainty regarding the fate of existence let alone mortaldom should they be killed or chased away I have come to this position. Any counter-argument tends to rely either on entirely false statements, or a nebulous "a better world is possible" without any assurances that the allegedly better world is, in fact, probable. Ironically enough, I am not willing to take a leap of faith.

But as for what's interesting to watch? That's an entirely different story. My issue with the the gods debates is that they are endless, circular, indecisive, and between the least informed group of PCs we've had by a large margin. They say the same 5 sentences in different words over and over. It's like watching a bunch of high people while you're sober. It only hits hard if you're stupid. For more on this see here and here. If Bells Hells had decided 30 or 40 episodes ago to side with Ludinus, or to try to only kill the Betrayers, or to oppose Ludinus but kill the gods? Great. Fantastic. I'm not saying I wouldn't have had my critiques of it given the worldbuilding setup as described above, but I think it would have held up infinitely better as a standalone story, at least, than it does now. My problem is that instead they had endless circular indecisive conversations during a bunch of (comparatively much more interesting) fetch quests, finally came to some kind of conclusion that gave the end game some structure and direction like 4 episodes ago, and then had yet another wrench thrown at them. And convention panels and Cooldown have consistently confirmed my suspicions about the lack of planning in the places where this campaign really needed it. In my conversations after the latest episode, multiple people independently used the term "sludge" to describe their feelings about the plot.

In actual play, I want characters who have clear conviction and make bold and decisive moves because handwringing forever in such a slow-moving medium is excruciatingly boring. Like, do I think Percy in the Briarwoods arc is making good, informed decisions that make him a moral person? Absolutely the fuck not. Do I think the story where he's shooting first and asking questions later is infinitely superior to one where Vox Machina can't decide what to do for 50 episodes? Yeah.

The god debates are ultimately a symptom of this narrative aimlessness. The lack of an answer is the problem, not what the answer is.

[revvethasmythh]

in the end with all the problems you saw with cr 3, did you have fun and enjoy it?

I've sat on this question a little, and have been pondering it since the finale. As someone else said, I needed to excise the demons the finale awoke within me before I could circle about around and answer this with the genuine thoughtfulness it deserves.

The answer is complicated. If I may use a visual aide, this is what the campaign was like for me:

At a certain point, it's hard not to get frustrated with the story feeling like it's yanking my chain, making me think we'll jump into something interesting (WE ARE SO BACK) only to then resolve the thing in a half hour so we can get back to doing something bland that will take up too much of our time, such as spending twenty irl minutes trying to catch Ashton from falling (IT'S SO OVER). The narrative culmination is not one I enjoyed or found particularly coherent, and I often found the gameplay in general to be more boring in this campaign. I was always LOCKED IN when the Nein was airing, you know? And I found my attention wandering much, much more throughout this campaign, but also I was watching with friends so that helps and it was a group activity for us, so it was fine until the things that I found boring dragged on and on and inevitably baked themselves into the endgame.

Does that mean I disliked all of it? No! I genuinely enjoyed Dorym quite a lot, I loved the vibe of Imogen's backstory and family relations even if I feel we didn't get to explore them enough. This is, perhaps, the first time I've ever been more invested in some NPCs than PCs, which is a totally new vibe for me but I DO love those NPCs (Relvin and Rashinna, you will always be famous to me). I loved the moon exploration we did and I wish we could have spent more time in Kreviris just exploring and I loved FCG and Braius's arcs and the Solstice split and THE CITY OF YIOS I WANNA GO BACK, and ultimately i feel like it was the failure to dig into all of that stuff in favor of the Moon Plot that was the ultimate detriment of the campaign.

So, did I have fun and enjoy it? Yes and no. Some things I loved, some thing I thought were stupid and boring, some things were hard to enjoy in a fandom context because some people have been so precious over their blorbos they spent most of C3 harassing anyone who doesn't share their opinions! In a timeline where I didn't get harassed and vagued about for weeks over writing ONE 150 word post about Relvin Temult, I probably would not have ultimately stanned him as hard and as loudly as I did. Which in itself is both good and bad because I like him but the way we got here...we never need to do that again. To anyone. It was absurd.

At the end of the campaign, I think my biggest emotion is that I'm relieved. I didn't want to be relived that it's over, but I am. I had huge ups and down this campaign and did love and have fun with parts of it, less so with others, so I suppose I'm leaving it behind with a strongly mixed opinion and experience, but I am also looking forward to what comes next with hope for it to be better for me personally.

[pocketgalaxies]

Since you’ve now watched the wedding do you have any thoughts on Derrig especially with how important he is to Orym? I remember the first time I watched it I found him boring compared to Lieve’tel who came before him and he didn’t do much, like you said nobody really did for a while there, cause it was mostly role play since it was a wedding and he was just out of place in that aspect too as Keyleth’s bodyguard who they were just meeting for the first time; and even after all this time and knowing he is incredibly important to a main character in C3, I still can’t shake this initial impression.

hello sorry for answering this late i wanted to catch up on c3

it got kinda long. didn't realize i could have so many thoughts about this dude!

i actually really enjoyed derrig! i think liam established him very quickly as someone who is fatherly, practical, and friendly. no-nonsense when shit hit the fan but also i just Know that he loves dad jokes and he makes his kids cringe so bad with how much he brags about them. he went home after the wedding and played scanlan shorthalt records nonstop until everyone in the house went crazy. he has also lost hours and hours and hours of sleep over what might happen to his family if he ever dies in the line of duty, and he knows that he might, and he knows that he Would if keyleth needed him to.

i think in general he's just such a Dad and that makes him very endearing to me. he is significantly older than all of vm and was very patient fielding all of their super nosy unprofessional questions about what he "intends to do" with keyleth. he watched her grow up and he knew vax (probably a bit better than he let on) and i think he has seen how that loss affected her, and i think he understands that the worry he's felt for her over the last several months could only be a fraction of how vm feels. so he entertains their questions, and he stays by her side when she's panicking about her speech, and he tells vex he's sorry, and he's just there, in case he's needed. not just by keyleth but by any of vm. which speaks volumes imo!

SORRY you asked about orym not keyleth. i think it's all about how derrig's interactions with vm reflect what his family must be like. derrig is a bit of a jokester and he's a bit of a boomer (affectionate) but he is diligent and dedicated and very skilled. in my mind orym was always this constantly Serious person while will had more of that silliness in him and pulled orym out of his shell a bit. i think will took after derrig as a jokester but orym took after him as a Soldier. and it's very easy to imagine how orym fit in to this family – an only child, quiet and severe, who loves his single mother deeply, being welcomed into this bustling loud family with the pranksters and the annual vacations and the spontaneous competitions with dad that are judged by mom. they love him like one of their own. they love him because he is one of their own

and i think losing derrig and will was zephrah losing two brilliant sparks of life, and what was left was a family mourning joy and memories and unconditional love. and i think that explains quite a lot about orym, actually.

[chaifootsteps]

I really don't understand takes like this?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HelluvaBoss/comments/1dfx7q8/stolas_helped_blitz%C3%B8_get_his_life_back_on_track/

Title: Stolas helped Blitzø get his life back on track while also making his own worse Ending comment: Stolas helping out I.M.P. but mainly Blitzø with his contracts, and those things are great and his help is useful, it’s sad to see that it’s no longer really needed as Blitzø can now travel freely and most of all legally to Earth and back and will probably get a better pay. He’s slowly getting his life back on track but Stolas is very rapidly losing his... I hope Blitzø returns the favour one day. I hope he can pick his life back up, he deserves it.

Like what? Blitzo's life was already getting back on track before he met Stolas - he had an adopted daughter, busted Moxxie out of prison and (presumably) hired Millie on too. All he was missing was a way to get to Earth and if Stolas hadn't leant him the book he probably would have just kept trying elsewhere. Also the other main way his life has been getting back on track - mending fences with Fizz and attempting to do so with Barbie - had nothing to do with Stolas at all.

But more than that - the whole post is framing it like Stolas really supported Blitzo and sacrificed things for him to have his dream of a company of his own and... where, exactly?

Real support would have been working out a respectful business exchange or letting him use the book or telling him about Asmodean Crystals so he could apply for one.

Stolas didn't give a damn about Blitzo's company in Murder Family, he just wanted sex. He wanted sex for the majority of the first season. Then he changed gears to wanting a relationship but realized he couldn't have one while treating Blitzo like his sex toy.

He showed some consideration for his company when breaking off the deal but that was after extorting Blitzo for sex for months on end. And again his main motivator for ending the deal wasn't so Blitzo wouldn't have to rely on him to keep his company running, it was so he could immediately suggest they be a real couple now instead.

Stolas has only ever been motivated by his own selfish needs. The Crystal was a nice gift but it would only count as supporting Blitzo if he'd done that in the first place. Handing one over after months of making Blitzo sleep with him is more an apology than anything else.

Also like - I don't like how the framing implies Blitzo is the one who wrecked his life.

Blitzo did not make Stolas cheat. He didn't make Stolas neglect his daughter. He didn't make Stolas decide to keep breaking law since it was a convenient way for him to extort sex out of his imp sex toy. Stolas did all that himself. He ruined his own life and he's only got himself to blame.

Blitzo does not need to "repay the favor" - not even close. He needs to tell Stolas to get out of his life for good so he can find someone who does actually support and care for him, so Blitzo's own love won't be wasted in return on some selfish bottomless pit like Stolas is.

All of this. Stolas ruined his own life and Blitzo's at the same time, and anything positive that might have come of the crystal gift was dashed to pieces the second Blitzo's reaction didn't align with the romcom in his head, and the nice mask came right off.

[mahi-does-some-art]

Mahiru and Kuro are getting absorbed into the team M polycule

I think that they all would get along really well. Like genuinely once they sort through the things they've done to each other during the war, probably starting with Kuro apologizing for nearly biting Belkia.

And poking a hole in his hat, which may be more unforgivable.

Team M by themselves have a variety of different personalities and different interests so it's not so out of the blue to have Mahiru and Kuro's personalities and quirks to the mix. And even then, the usual trauma that surrounds any of the Melanchonies actually still somewhat applies to the both of them; Mahiru who has suicidal ideation and would rather die than be alone again and Kuro who, pre-realizing he needs to help Mahiru like he helped him, would have taken any chance to die and stay dead.

Also all having beef with C3 in some form or another is something that can tie them together rather nicely.

Kuro would be far more awkward with the Elites than Mahiru would simply because he's just like that but he's gonna try.

Kuro recommending good games to Sakuya, Belkia and Otogiri. He learns and factors in their taste. He keeps beating Belkia in Mario Kart and he gets all pissy about it.

I hc that Kuro is more creatively inclined and writes/has written so once that fact slips out he and Higan have at least a little something to talk about (Art, meaning. The artist and writer friendships are real and Strong.)

Mahiru and Shamrock joining together in their housekeeping skills. Mahiru's apartment and Tsubaki's penthouse have never sparkled more. Going grocery shopping together and teaching/learning tips and tricks. They get along swimmingly.

Kuro @ Shamrock: Damn theres two of them now

Belkia and Mahiru is something im not yet sure what to do with but we'll get there.

Otogiri and Mahiru would work and it'd start when Mahiru asks about her thread/string and Otogiri answering questions which leads to the both of them sharing pictures of their latest sewing projects.

Kuro and Otogiri would chill but also she thinks his kitty form is really cute and wants to pet him. It takes a bit but Kuro eventually allows it willingly.

Mahiru and Higan just Works. Somehow. They def get along better than Higan and Sham so theres that at least.

Sakuya's getting smooched either way by everybody so its all good ww

[zalou]

As for some reason this whole episode was extremely controversial (and I dunno why, the players know these characters much better than us, they are just doing what their characters would do, whether it is the “right thing” or not), here are my thoughts on C3 E78.

I think every reaction of the characters was just a valid emotional response to something stressful that happened. Even if hypocritical (others have also lost control and done stupid shit etc), it is logical to be angry/stressed/scared because your friend almost blew himself up. Or DID blow himself up. We saw that happen, that is incredibly traumatic. And I think the reason why everyone is more emotional this time around is because they were almost completely helpless and having to watch Ashton do this to himself, (at least in their eyes) voluntarily.

They don’t understand why he did what he did and their emotions react to the conclusions they subconsciously make about Ashtons motives. Of course Laudna thinks it is a betrayal, a voice in her head has been talking about it to her non-stop. Of course FCG thinks it was a selfish action, because he doesn’t understand how Ashton’s insecurities and anxiety manifests (and of course he doesn’t, because Ashton hasn’t talked about it). And of course everyone was angry, because Ashton apparently (in their eyes) thought leaving them, possibly dying, was worth taking the risk on this unstable power. And I think none of those things were actually Ashton’s intention, but that is what the stressed-out emotional response was in the other characters around (to the best of how I can unpack it, at least).

And yes, Fearne definitely has partial blame for what happened but that doesn’t mean her emotional response to being scared out of her mind is invalid. She was scared to death because of almost having lost Ashton because of something stupid they did (keep in mind, Fearne is bad with consequences so she probably didn’t even think of how bad this could all turn out) and her reaction to that fear is “how dare you almost die on me, I’m gonna kill you”, which I think is a valid reaction (not the killing of course, but the overwhelming anger and aggression yes). She might have to be just as angry towards herself as she is towards Ashton, but her anger in itself isn’t invalid. And I think she is also angry at herself, that she let this all happen.

And for how emotional everything was, I think some of the characters managed to defuse the situation pretty well. They got emotions for everyone down pretty quick and made a rational decision on how to move forward now trust has been broken on many sides. So I think all of our bells hells are going to be fine after some conversations.

Anyways, I think the role play was fucking great (I missed Liam, he would have shined here). For the characters (and us) to understand where all these reactions came from, they are just gonna have to have a big talk about it. Do some development in their relationships. Get more emotionally mature. Hopefully this nana morri resort is gonna give all of them some time to work this out. A lot of mistakes were made to let all of this happen, and to make sure they don’t happen again these idiot characters I love so much gotta TALK TO EACHOTHERRRR. TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS YOU LOVABLE IDIOTS.

Anyways, that was my little (long) piece on the situation.

[joltai-showa]

currently planning on doing a long post as a reply to someone else's thread, so in the process of putting myself through unimaginable pain (rereading Naruto chapter 599 and onwards)

and stumbled upon this curious line

(chapter 614)

so the context for this is that delulu grandpa and the guy who spent most of his life acting like the delulu grandpa just threw a Tailed Beast bomb at the Alliance HQ and are now arguing about who is gonna fuck over the other harder

and here we can see Obito explain that the reason Madara didn't, you know, just BLOW THE FUCKING ALLIANCE UP using Ten-Tails' Bomb is because that would for some reason kill Obito as well...

but it literally isn't true lmao?

(chapter 363)

now sorry that I won't go into the whole "exact comparison for all types of explosions within Naruto plot" thing, because I don't have neither the time nor patience for something like that, so I'll just be referring to a video that I have seen a while ago where a guy literally, like, took all images of Tailed Beast's bombs and such and compared them with the regards to the surroundings, and basically the conclusion was that Deidara's C3 (the one he dropped on Suna during fight with Gaara) has about the same size of explosion as a regular Tailed Beast bomb, while Deidara's C0 is about the same as Ten-Tails' bomb

(yes insert an angry rant about how absurdly powerful Edo Deidara was and how Kabuto and Obito seemed to have decided that it would be better for him to sit out in the entire war in bondage somewhere quiet instead of wiping off literal divisions🤬🤬🤬🤬)

But here we can clearly see Obito getting caught up in C0 and he was clearly fine following that (except I guess emotional damages of having to go through "sitting on his ass, chilling, watching birds chirp and squirells munch on nuts" to "BEING IN THE MIDDLE OF A NUCLEAR BLAST THAT WILL CERTAINLY SEND YOU IN PAST TENSE" in a span of 0.001 seconds)? Like, what is exactly the argument that Obito is telling Madara? The main difference I see between C0 and Ten-Tails blowing up the area where they are standing is that Obito is connected to Ten-Tails to keep it under contol, but Obito can just disconnect and send himself into Kamui, and even if he is afraid of Madara keeping control over Ten-Tails while Obito is away, BUT LOL MADARA AIN'T KEEPING IT EITHER if the bomb goes off, Edo Madara will be decimated along with the alliance and only recover after a while, so like???? why is Obito trying to bargain his life in front of Madara like that???? both of them know he isn't dying??????

I really have no clue what is going on here other than "villains chose to be dumb so that heroes can survive"

P.S. this chapter also has this gem

I'm actually about to cry from Obito's expression, he HATES Madara so much😭There's pure DISGUST on his face😭😭😭to be fair Obito did have to glaze Hashirama at every opportunity while acting as Madara, I would probably hate the old man's guts if I had to keep up this bullshit for 16 years straight😭😭😭😭😭😭

[danwhobrowses]

Okay I've had a sleep, I've seen a lot of what the fandom has to say and I'm gonna just talk about my thoughts on the episode 118 stuff in more detail too.

Spoilers under the cut and it's a little bit (5 paras and a tl/dr at the bottom) long

I have never liked the Release Predathos option, but it had been very apparent - since probably as far back as the vorbing - that Matt had been pushing the narrative towards that option whether Bells Hells wanted it or not. The lack of alternatives provided meant that yes, the Hells had little choice but to deal with Predathos themselves; Ludinus was likely not dead, they were low on strength and resources even after a short rest to fight another full-strength Ludinus, and even if they caved in the core and killed Ludinus again someone else would've tried to come and release Predathos. On that I can't really fault the cast for playing ball with the DM and I can't say what the characters are doing is out of character or with bad intentions, it simply annoys me how close we were to entertaining the idea that should've been discussed earlier of putting Predathos somewhere nobody can get to. Objectively it was still a terrible idea, one that even in delivery could've been better prepared with Imogen not in range of the two saving throw buffs or having any Inspiration as she took on Predathos knowing from previous experience that a wisdom save is likely to be involved. But again, the alternatives offered up to them are sparse, nothing else in the narrative had offered a clear solution and if something did suddenly come up it would've felt too much like a deus ex machina. The Hells are not doing this because they want to do Ludinus' plan, but doing so is by proxy doing Ludinus' plan, and thus the problem as of current lies in the Plot.

Right now, they're at a very high risk of the plot not justifying a story, because why did we have this campaign if the outcome is gonna be the same? If the plan is to reset Exandria why didn't we have C3 in the post-reset era and trickle in what happened as lore? Bells Hells have often lacked agency when it came to the Predathos portions of the campaign, but even when they took agency to try and be more than what they were made to be they found themselves punished or being withheld the catharsis they needed to grow. Regardless, the plot is currently failing the characters, and thus the characters are failing the audience - to the point where some in the fandom now want them all to die or for Braius to betray them all - because we the audience don't see the appeal of the direction.

There is a caveat though: it's not yet over. We expect that there will be a fight between the Hells and Predathos!Imogen (we need a name for that) and possibly Ludinus swooping in with the harness to try and steal a victory, but that does mean that the theatre of imagination can come into play in dealing with Predathos itself. There is of course uncertainty whether Predathos can die, since Vecna at 0hp would've just discorporated them for a bit, but there are a lot more options for the Hells to entertain now than there was at 118, including having to kill the vessel - be it Imogen or transferring it to another like Ludinus or Liliana, being able to expel Predathos from Imogen and entrapping/banishing/killing it with the knowledge that yeah that was a terrible idea, or somehow having Imogen suppress it and remain control over herself (and hope that the same rule doesn't apply to her as it does with Delilah being free when Laudna dies), which all can involve exciting twists and turns and creative solutions befitting of a conclusion. In that hope is the opening for a more exciting and satisfying end, and while the plot has had rightful criticisms a good ending can make up for them just as much as a bad ending can ruin a good plot.

So in short; I don't like that Imogen did that, but I know why she did it. And why she did it is more the plot's fault because we never saw it as a good idea, just the only decision that was pushed to be made. There's hope though, and all is not lost, but the plot as well as the characters are gonna have to earn it.

[delugyu]

soooo i had a thought, who do you think best fits an exes au? 🎤

astrology anon btw also i saw that c3 pt2 is coming i’m going to die

AHHHHH!!!!! great question. i’m a lunatic so i am envisioning something for each member

yeonjun - staying as friends after breaking up w him, which works fine at first but eventually he starts missing the way things were. friendship isn’t enough anymore but he doesn’t have the guts to say anything cause he doesn’t want to know that you’re moving on. lots of silent pining until he feels suffocated by unexpressed emotion, then he’s rambling about how breaking up was a mistake that he regrets every day, he loves you and thinks about you more now than ever before, and he needs you to know this even if you don’t feel the same.

soobin - THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY!!! he’s the one i see most fitting for the exes trope… he’s the kind of person who never really leaves you, even when he’s gone he still lingers in your mind as a constant buzz. you see him again by chance and you can’t let the opportunity pass, and u find out he never really wanted to leave in the first place. reconnecting and being able to understand each other better now, more mature than you were back then, able to see now that your future was always him. he would have never dated anyone again, he would have spent a lifetime waiting for you, but he’s glad he didn’t have to wait quite that long.

beomgyu - the break up was mutual, but beomgyu realizes when he sees you dating some other guy that he wasn’t over you as much as he thought he was. the dude’s a prick, what on earth could you possibly see in him!!? beomgyu was literally better in every single way, he’s sure of it. he even texts you to make sure you’re actually you and not some alien clone of yourself, cause he’s so sure you’d never stoop this low. he wasn’t a jealous person in the relationship, but he sees red every time you walk across campus with that asshole on your arm. he should probably do something about this. yeah, fuck it. he’s going up to you.

taehyun - he will become your enemy once u break up… he doesn’t spare you a single glance anymore, refuses to talk to you, drops contact with all your mutual friends who took your side. his friends get the real story though: he’s a mess without you. he’s not sleeping the same, he’s drowning the pain with whatever routes of escapism he has access to. he can’t stand that you’re not miserable without him, but he doesn’t dare talk to u about it, cause that would mean he lost the break up. it gets to the point where one of his friends comes to you like “hey. can u talk to taehyun. he’s kinda going through it.” and you’re confused asf cause you thought he hated you now

kai - the one to try desperately to win u back, coming to your front door with apologies and a tender heart and red eyes from crying all night. you broke up with him yesterday, and you thought it was best for the two of you to go no contact, but clearly he thinks otherwise. there’s no hard feelings, you just wanted different things from the relationship. with him pleading at your door in the middle of the night, ready to do anything to get you back, you’d feel bad to not at least let him sleep here for the night. okay, maybe a part of it is also that you’re missing him too.

[davekat-sucks]

So right now I think about how Kanaya began orbiting kismesitudes to interject it into an ashen dynamic, first to keep in touch with Vriska by attempting to make in-rounds with Eridan. Later on when that collapsed and Eridan and Vriska fucking DIED Kanaya tries and fails to even attempt an ashen bond with Gamzee and Terezi, kind if as a way to make up for Kanaya not addressing Terezi and Vriska’s actual unhealthy kismesitude, and so she can comfort someone who was also hurt by Vriska. Kanaya also could have tried something ashen between Eridan and Sollux, but she was kind of betting if those two would ever break out into violence Feferi could step in as mediator, being Sollux’s matespirit and Eridan’s ex-Moirail.

Now, the retcon has passed and John revived the omega8itch. Vriska and Kanaya have made up and split ways even though Vriska still reads Kanaya’s mind, since Vriska always saw her as the meddling fussyfangs, ironic.

Kanaya has now filled her red quadrant with rose, and probably her pale with Karkat. Now she has 2 quadrants left, but has no qualms or rivalries with anyone… so who to fill than DESPERATE EMPTY DEREGULATED ashen quadrant??

Well there is a Kismesitude that when unchecked killed someone and forced a timeline to split. It’s not fully developed but the emotions are broiling. One person is an aimless upbeat open book who makes friends easy and doesn’t catch on to when someone is clearly manipulating him. The other side is a frustrated mastermind brat who knows how to move people around and loves to act two-faced and only reveals true intentions when emotions need to come out or blood needs to spill.

And both of them swung with Vriskas in different timelines.

Kanaya c3< Terezi and John is better than Davekat.

Kanaya ♣️ John and Terezi is better than Davekat.

[notyouraryang0dd3ss]

https://www.tumblr.com/shitswiftiessay/749223380728889344/taylor-sees-her-prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9-out-charting-her-for-the

saw this in the anti tag and i have so many things to say (it's gonna be a bit long):

one: those tweets prove further that the reason taylor keeps coming on billboard hot 100 lists is because swifties are chart obsessed and have no problem streaming her songs all day if it means it'll appear on charts. they've got nothing else going for them except 'she keeps topping the charts' because there is zero songwriting, melody, performing or visual talent in any of her songs or tours.

two: taylor distanced herself from/turned on olivia (i still don't know the details of the deja vu suing case so i won't make assumptions as to what exactly happened between them) as soon as olivia started threatening her fame. in my biased opinion, i would also say that olivia is a better songwriter and overall artist than taylor (i love her guts album), and taylor didn't like seeing that a young artist could potentially outshine her. so they're not friends anymore. taylor then latched on to sabrina because she wasn't as threatening to her career as olivia was, but now that espresso has the potential to top taylor's song on the charts, swifties are turning on her too. and if this continues, i have no doubt that so will taylor. (side note: espresso is such a fun summer bop!)

it's extremely pathetic that taylor feels so threatened and insecure because of up-and-coming 20-something year old artists despite being arguably one of the biggest pop artists in the world right now.

i also feel bad for both sabrina and olivia. imagine just starting out in the music industry, and your childhood idol seeming so eager and genuine in being your best friend, but completely flips around when you show any potential of being successful. taylor is a vile person.

also! you are my fav anti ts blog! i love your takes on all this stuff. keep doing what you're doing queen

“you are my fav anti ts blog!” omg stop 😳 i’m blushingggggggg

sorry this took me so long to respond to. personal life events are occurring and i also have the attention span of a goldfish now for some reason. im going to answer in order of your points:

one: swifties are the streaming farms they keep accusing sabrina of using. also taylor swift herself has probably bought and used streaming farms more than any other person on the spotify top 10 list. its this and taylor is sinister enough to drop new releases to block artists from getting #1’s (she did this recently with billie right?). also swiftie chart obsession just shows how insecure they are??? toxic by britney spears never went #1 and its her most popular song. i’ve never seen a fanbase as insecure as swifties because the way they lash out over even the perception of a threat towards taylor is just…so inappropriate? its such a disproportionate reaction to whatever the “threat” is (in this case, charting). like the fact swifties keep coming into the anti tag just demonstrate how intensely insecure they are. no other fanbase is so fragile they go out of their way to go and bully people for not liking their fave. like its usually the other way around, antis harassing stans. but you have swifties coming into the anti tag (where we appropriately tag and do not engage with swifties) and harassing us? for not liking her? in the anti tag? its really a testament to their insecurity that they must bulldoze anything that threatens them and their fave. which ties into the second point-

two: wasn’t sabrina like olivia’s opp because olivia’s ex cheated on her with sabrina? is that correct? that’s makes it so nasty that taylor went out of her way to purposely befriend sabrina after cutting ties with olivia. and immature! and petty! and just reflective of how low taylor stoops to make people feel like shit! not only that, but someone who is almost half her age! how awful do you have to be to do that? olivia is more talented than taylor and poses a massive threat to taylor because the music they both make appeals to the same demographic of people. the problem is olivia is actually a part of that demographic, which threatens the fuck out of taylor. how lame do you have to be to feel threatened by other female artist success all the time? and not only that, but the same people you know who adore you (and therefore easier to manipulate because you know they will trust every word out of your mouth) because you’re their childhood idol? what a horrible person.

and espresso is a reallyyyyyyy good pop song!!!

[utilitycaster]

I read your posts regarding c3 and what could be done differently, and I’ve always thought the way they handled Bertrand Bell was weird. He’s only in three episodes, then dies — c3 was my first campaign, and I had no idea who he was before, nor sure why I should care . Emotionally he didn’t leave an impact on the other characters (although I love Fearne’s jazz monologue) or the audience who has seen him one time before. They use his name for their party name but then don’t bother to see his grave, or remember him at all.

His death also means that we are tied to the moon plot very early on with an emotional weight so it feels like the group have to follow that story thread early on, setting up the mystery too early which then becomes exhausting to the audience. I wonder if c3 would have been better off if they didn’t bother with him, or if Matt and Travis agreed to really wait a while before killing Bertrand off, when they actually want to escalate the plot (would have had accusations of ‘scripting’ but who cares if it’s better narratively.) I think if he died around when Molly died then it would have been stronger (maybe too close a copy of c2, but at least that worked?)

I think a planned player character death can still be shocking and dramatic to the other players who weren’t expecting it, but how c3 executed it feels like a nothing burger and a waste of time. I don’t really know what would have changed if we just had Chetney at the start.

I'm going to be totally honest: I disagree strongly and I think you are assigning blame to a completely wrong place. That doesn't mean that you can't feel this moment failed to land (though I think that too is a criticism more of the overall campaign) but the concept of having a character show up, be quickly killed, and be replaced by the actual character isn't a particularly new one, doesn't require you to have a pre-existing attachment to the initial character for it to be a fun concept. It also, in my opinion, did serve a good purpose and frankly Bertrand had, in his three episodes, a stronger and clearer arc than several party members who have had over a hundred episodes.

I may put this specific piece in a separate post because I believe it's a requirement for understanding the failings of Campaign 3 but: A lot of discussion positions Campaign 3 as the story of Bells Hells, who were ill served by the Moon Plot. This is, in my opinion, incorrect. Campaign 3 is the Moon Plot Campaign, in which Bells Hells are ill-suited characters pushed through said plot because they happened to be played by the cast members. And to that end, I think that actually, introducing the moon plot immediately was a good idea. The problem was that the execution of that mystery was very poorly done. Bertrand led the party to Eshteross, and was then not long thereafter killed by a group of people working to destabilize the Chandei Quorum on behalf of Armand Treshi, so that he could bring in the Paragon's Call as a means of reinstating order in Jrusar. This presumably would also help them because then they wouldn't have to use Jiana as a middlewoman for the shipments they were receiving via her in Jrusar, and would generally increase their power. Bells Hells found out this was happening and thwarted it, but Treshi escaped.

This is when the plot began to become a mess, and while there were plenty of further opportunities to right it, I think basing the entirety of the early campaign in Jrusar and Bassuras, and severely paring down what was done in Bassuras [probably a whole other post but I'd have had Treshi remain captured in Jrusar but give up the information, making Bassuras entirely a data gathering mission, thus freeing up a lot of time in Bassuras for personal errands and bonding time] would have fixed a lot of the issues.

Again, that doesn't mean the concept worked for you, but this isn't even rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic - it's complaining about the meal that was served on the titanic 4 days prior to them hitting the iceberg.

[seysei]

To think that Mikado developed a habit of never finishing a simple chess game with his youngest son after having the little confidence he ever had in himself completely and entirely destroyed by his eldest, who was just five years old at that time.

To think that just like his daddy, (point and laugh yall) Mikuni also pushed misono around while playing chess when they were younger and ended the game very similarly to how his father did with misono, telling misono it's late and that he should go to bed.

To think that Mikuni quite literally planted a false and traumatic memory in Misono's head, the fact that misono was never there and witnessed what happened, the fact that it was such a cruel thing to do to your little brother who was just a child back then, yet somehow you knew that it was essential in order for him to find out the truth about his life that you knew your family was going to keep away from him. No matter how much they lied, that lie you planted was much stronger than theirs. (everytime misono was made to forget, told off or had his memories manipulated by lily, it would always be that one memory Mikuni planted in his mind that doesn't fully disappear, the one reason he needed to visit the east wing for, trying to fully remember, and its always because of that image that he once again tries to make it into the east wing regardless of how many times lily has stopped him)

To think that shuuhei resented the vampire that killed his father, while Mikuni willingly spends day and night with the vampire that killed his mother right in front of him.

To think that Jeje is accepting of Mikuni using him for his own benefit. To think that Jeje is accepting of Mikuni throwing him away once "he no longer has any use of him". (I will literally cry, and I almost did when Jeje thought of it and said "all that's left for me is to see things through, once I lose this name-" LIKE WDYM)

To think that Jeje has gone through many eves and continuesly had to see them lose themselves, become insane and engulf him & he had no control over it. ( and yet.. He still made a couple more contracts in hopes of that "maybe this time it will be different") (it never was)

To think that Jeje volunteered to be sealed away by C3 without even knowing when he will ever wake up again, "hopefully not" is what he most likely wished for, considering his character and how he was looking for a way to die to begin with. (yet something deep inside of him couldn't help but be a little.. Perhaps happy..? grateful? When Kiriko broke the seal on him)

To think that Mikado thought of and gave a sincere gift to the woman whom he was having an affair with, while neglecting his own wife who was one of the sweetest and greatest supports to him and his lack of abilities.

To think that abel is just that 'coincidence' of a gift that Mikado's wife (Kiriko) received from him, yet Mikuni still holds it dear to him as keepsake that once belonged to his mother, regardless of him knowing the disappointing truth behind it.

To think that you thought this post was going to end soon.

To think that Mikuni knew of his father's affair far before his mother even figured it out, (you do the math on how young he was then) Yet of course kept quiet, lived with it, decided to be mature about it, understanding that no good would come out of telling her, understanding that you cannot change what's already happened and that his mother was bound to find out soon enough anyway-..Because, according to him, his father wasn't that good at keeping it a secret. (even so, I feel like deep down mikuni felt very guilty, like he was betraying his mother by feigning ignorance to it and was no different from the others in the house who tuned a blind eye to his mother's heart & feelings)

To think that Mikuni grew up too fast & Misono grew up too slow due to one knowing too much for his own good (although he probably thinks that knowing too much is better than knowing too little, and perhaps he's right about that) while the other was kept in the dark so he doesn't meet the same fate as the one who knew too much.

To think that Mikuni wanted people to perceive him in a bad way/as the perpetrator/as a bad person, and according to himself & Jeje it will be for his own benefit... (perhaps because its easier to control or fool others when you know how they perceive you? Who knows. Furthermore, to be fair, he isn't far from a bad person if not one, undeniably a criminal with a variety of different crimes, makes Jeje do the dirty work so his own hands remain clean and pure)

To think that Mikuni burned down the east wing, the place that holds both good & bad memories for him. His diary, his books, his secrets and feelings, things that he never told, feelings that he left behind, equipment from his childhood such as the violin that his mother gave him for one of his birthdays along with the many music sheets spread all over the floor. The place where his mother died before him, the place where he first made his contract with Jeje, the place that holds so much importance to his story. It All burned to ashes, all possible pieces and traces of himself that remained in that place, for seven years after he left- its gone. Turned into dust.

To think that some still hold hope for the alicein family to become one piece once again after allat? I won't even blame Mikuni if he suddenly decided to burn the rest of the house. (/hj) (I'm not) (jk lol)

(I'm really not)

[beneathsilverstars]

Silver's Quadrant Lessons

Copied and updated from a post I made in 2015. (And I haven't kept up with much past the epilogues, so homestucks if I missed any crucial developments in quadrants lore, pls lmk.)

Quadrants are the romance system used by trolls, the aliens in Homestuck. To humans, some of them would seem completely platonic or rather abusive, but to trolls they are all romantic and (supposed to be) healthy. When shipping outside of Homestuck, sometimes people mean the quadrant in all senses of the word, other times it’s a milder or platonic human-friendly version. Either way, they can be a useful shorthand for explaining ship dynamics!

Here’s a chart of the four kinds of weird alien romance for you, with explanations under the cut.

<3

First is the flushed quadrant. It’s often referred to as red, even though <> is actually red as well. People in the flushed quadrant together are called matesprits, and the symbol is heart <3. It's concupiscent, so trolls in this quadrant are expected to procreate. It is the closest to human romance, but not exactly the same: a matespritship is supposedly based on pity rather than love. Troll culture is very violent, so if someone is strong and dangerous, it's safer to keep them at a distance. If someone is weak and cute enough to pity instead of fear, they're a safer bet for filling your <3 quadrant.

Some fans like to really get into the difference between human love vs troll pity, but some fans treat them as different words for the same thing. Especially when using quadrants to ship characters from other fandoms, it's common to treat troll <3 as equivalent to classic human romantic dating.

<>

Next is the pale quadrant. Partners in the pale quadrant are moirails, and the symbol is diamond <>. This quadrant is conciliatory, so it's not sexual, but it's still equally romantic and important. Moirails talk about their feelings and problems, and help each other work through their issues so they can be their best selves. In troll culture especially, higher class trolls are stereotyped as more unstable and prone to violent outbursts, and they’ll often have a lower class moirail who calms them down so they don't go on too many murder sprees. While that cliché of strictly divided roles isn’t always true, this conciliatory aspect of moirallegiance is what defines it.

When someone is angry, anxious, or otherwise experiencing unhelpful bursts of emotion, their moirail will help calm them down. The classic troll way to do this is with “shoosh paps”, as demonstrated here, with Karkat bringing Gamzee down from a murderous rampage:

It is also common for moirails to have "feelings jams", where they sit and cuddle and talk about their feelings. This is usually a private affair, so if moirails start jamming in public, they'll probably be told to get a room. Feelings jams often occur in a "pile", which is a nest made out of items the characters find important, such as hobby paraphernalia.

But of course, especially with humans, the exact methods of the moirallegiance will vary! What makes it pale is the dynamic of talking about your problems and emotions and calming each other down.

<3<

Next is the caliginous quadrant. It’s often referred to as black, even though c3< is actually black as well, or sometimes pitch. A caliginous partner is called a kismesis, and the symbol is spades <3<. It's concupiscent, so it's just as sexual as a matespritship, but based on hate instead of pity.

Kismesissitude is best described as arch-rivalry. Kismeses hate each other, but in a way that drives them to do better. If one actually succeeds in substantially overpowering the other, there’s no point if the relationship anymore; a good kismesissitude is balanced. There’s often an aspect of “you could be so great, why do you devote yourself to such weird things” or maybe “you’re so awful, why do things go right for you”, respect and disdain intertwined in a hatey mess.

This is a popular dynamic in fandom, as many enemies-to-lovers or perpetually-divorced ships tend to have caliginous dynamics! This is the "I hate your sexy face" quadrant. The "aw man I did this whole evil scheme but you didn't show up to foil me, kicks rocks, I thought you valued our rivalry" quadrant. The "I'm the only one allowed to kill you, but I might not ever actually do it" quadrant

c3<

Last is the much-overlooked ashen quadrant! The symbol is clubs c3<, and the relationship is called an auspisticism. There are three people involved; one is called the auspistice, and they mediate between two others who tbh I'm not sure what you call them. Perhaps the auspisticees or auspisticized, or I've seen ashenmate. This relationship is conciliatory, so, not sexual, still romantic. While a moirail prevents chaos by calming one person down, an auspistice prevents chaos by mediating between two people, making sure a feud doesn't escalate into a kismesissitude

There are many reasons why it would not be good, wanted, or possible for two people to be kismeses; maybe they already have that quadrant filled, maybe they’re too unevenly matched, maybe one is taking rejection as a challenge rather than an end… the list is endless! For whatever reason, two people hate each other and shouldn’t be kismesis, but they find themselves antagonizing each other anyway: this is when an auspistice steps in! The general atmosphere is most likely one of fond annoyance.. “gotta break up a fight between those two idiots again, smh”. Ashen is a hate-based quadrant, but the whole point is to keep it at a simmer, instead of the raging hate of kismesissitude.

Summary

Matespritship, <3, flushed/red; a relationship between two matesprits; the closet to human romance.

Moirallegiance, <>, pale; a relationship between two moirails; involves cuddling and discussing and calming down.

Kismesissitude, <3<, caliginous/pitch/black; a relationship between two kismeses; best described as a sexy arch-rivalry.

Auspisticism, c3<, ashen; a relationship where an auspistice mediates for two other people; prevents a feud from turning caliginous.

Other terms

When a relationship's dynamic changes from one quadrant to another, that's called flipping or vacillating. Flipping is more of a one-time event, while vacillation is a pattern of flipping back and forth. Vacillating is a known phenomenon, but trolls are expected to settle into one quadrant per relationship eventually, because flipping often creates a lot of drama! After all, if you flip flushed with your kismesis, but you already had a matesprit, well now you're cheating on the matesprit. And the whole point of the ashen quadrant is to prevent a relationship from turning caliginous, so vacillation between ashen and caliginous means the auspisticism is failing. For trolls, vacillation can be seen as a sign that the relationship isn't well-matched, because they don't work well in the quadrant they're aiming for or they both have different aims. But it's a common trope in-universe, and common when shipping characters in other fandoms.

Quadrant smearing is when a relationship involves aspects of multiple quadrants simultaneously, instead of flipping back and forth between them. One type that has a catchy name akin to friends with benefits is 'rails with pails, i.e. moirails who have sex (because buckets are associated with troll reproduction). Quadrant smearing is taboo in troll culture, though it does happen; one of the Homestuck characters experiences multi-quadrant feelings, and is seen as deviant for this. But it's common when shipping non-trolls, since obviously humans aren't trying to neatly fill quadrants! Many human romances and friendships look weirdly pale to a troll, for example.

Serendipity is when you find your perfect match, akin to the concept of soulmates. If you find serendipity in each quadrant, you are set, no vacillation drama, no getting in trouble with the government for not procreating, just five life partners slotted neatly into one quadrant each. It doesn't usually happen that way, but it's the cultural romantic ideal.

That’s it!

Non-homestucks, feel free to ask questions if you're confused, I love explaining things. Homestucks, feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong or missed anything relevent, I haven't been active in the fandom for over a decade so I may have missed some developments.

Happy shipping everyone!