#say what you will about her but there's no doubt she's made an insane number of people happy SO HAPPY that they're crying

[girlivealwaysbean]

it would feel so nice to work towards a career that has meaningful impact and makes millions of people happy

[hotshotsxyz]

7x10 coda. beware the spoilers

Three months pass, and Eddie still isn’t used to it. It’s too quiet at home, and too awful at work, and he still grabs two bowls every morning even though he’s the only one eating.

He thinks about quitting, again. Leaving behind Captain Asshole and following Christopher to Texas. He knows he can’t. He’d promised. Eddie clenches his fists and forces himself to finish buttoning his uniform.

He sends Christopher a text, the same one he sends every morning, then shuts his phone in his locker.

“Line up in five,” Gerrard bellows from the loft. “If you’re late, you’ll be scrubbing the rig with a toothbrush, no exceptions.”

Eddie stands mechanically and walks over to the bay.

Another day, another goddamn reason to bury himself in blankets and hide until the world ends.

Buck invites him over for dinner most nights, or offers to go home with him. Eddie says no more than he says yes, but Buck… Buck’s always known Eddie better than he knows himself. He doesn’t stop asking.

“C’mon Eddie, it’ll be fun—you, me and Tommy, we can come up with ways to drive Gerrard insane.”

Buck looks at him, soft and imploring, an expression Eddie rarely knows how to refuse. But despite everything that’s happened, Buck’s managed to carve out a small sliver of happiness, and Eddie doesn’t want to drag him down.

“You go ahead,” he says. “I’m picking up half a shift at  the 136 tomorrow. Need to get some sleep.”

It’s true and it’s not. He is picking up the shift, but he doubts he’ll sleep.

He goes back to therapy, but he never knows what to say. It was all—everything was in his head, last time. It’s not, now. It’s all real, and it all hurts, and no amount of talking about it makes it hurt any less. He says as much to Frank.

“Then why are you here?” Frank asks.

Eddie looks away. “I don’t know,” he says.

That’s not quite true either.

Kim calls him, and Marisol doesn’t. She leaves voicemail after voicemail, apologizing for that night. Eddie can never bring himself to answer the phone. Eventually, he blocks her number.

He texts his own apology to Marisol, but it never goes through. It’s probably for the best—he doubts the message would’ve made either of them feel better.

Eddie needs—he doesn’t know. Before, he would’ve said time. Now though, he’s got all the time in the world, and he’s desperate to get rid of it.

Buck calls. Eddie can’t answer him, either. He lets it ring out, then listens to the voicemail.

“Hey Eds, it’s me. I uh—just wanted to check in. It’s been a couple days. Call me when you can.”

Eddie tells himself he will, but he has no idea when that’ll be.

Christopher doesn’t text him, but he does text Buck.

Eddie never asks what he says, and Buck usually doesn’t offer to tell him.

“Just—he’s okay, right?”

Buck smiles, a little bit sad, and leans into Eddie’s space. “He’s okay,” he says. “He misses you, even if he’s not ready to tell you that.”

Tears streak down Eddie’s face before he even realizes he’s crying. Buck wipes one away and pulls him against his chest.

“What if he never comes home,” Eddie whispers into the soft material of Buck’s sweater.

“He will,” Buck replies. “He will.”

Good morning, Eddie texts on the one hundred and second day since Christopher left. I love you, and I hope you have a good day.

He drops his phone on the table and tries not to hope for a response. A second later, though, it dings. Eddie’s heart leaps into his throat as he scrambles to open the message.

Morning, Dad.

[evony256]

SPOILERS FOR DRDT CHAPTER 2 EPISODE 13

TW: SUICIDE

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the episode too since I've seen a lot of people do that

By the way I had to watch this like 7 hours after it was released and I have not scrolled through Tumblr yet so I might bring up stuff that have already been discussed. Also all of these notes were written down while I was watching the episode so yeah

-Levi just moved up so much on my kin list it's insane like omg…

- This was one bad day for Acevi fans, huh. I guess the Xanvid came at a price

-Whit I can now see why David told you to shut up I like you but that was bad 💀 (he was probably left affected by how David reacted in episode 12 and is either really uncomfortable or somewhat intimidated by David now)

-Nah nah nah that's definitely not Teruko's secret so I'm gonna start theorizing now. Teruko might have most of the secrets. It's not like they belong to her, but if you think back to episode 8 she said that she doesn't know which secret is hers because so many things have happened in her life. She probably said that she got the family secret because she thought that was the most likely one. Hu's secret might also be accurate to her considering the fact that, in episode 4, she told Arei that failed suicide attempts are painful, hinting at the fact that she might have tried to kill herself at some point (also backed up by the fact that, in episode 3, she says "why save my life if you're just going to ruin it afterwards?" when talking about her medical debt). The idea that she has most (if not all, but I doubt that) of the secrets might tie in with the killing game secret since it says "How could I even select what secret to be your motive?". The wording here is very ambiguous since it could be interpreted as "secrets about your life" or "secrets that are on the board", like the ones that the other cast members have, the latter being something that I bet that nobody in the fandom thought about until this episode. Anyway theory over back to saying stupid shit

-AREI ILYSM YOU ARE MAKING ME CRY YET FEEL HAPPY THAT'S WHY YOU'RE MY FAVORITEEEEE 😭😭😭

-SHE GOT NEW SPRITES TOO SHE IS SO PRETTY

-I MADE AN AUDIBLE GASP NOISE WHEN THAT CG WITH EDEN SHOWED UP HOLY SHIT!!!! I think she might have hurt or killed the girl she kissed? Unless she killed Arei, which is still a posibility, or Levi lied about his secret for Eden’s sake (idea which could contribute to the "Eden killer Levi accomplice" theory), though Charles would have also needed to lie for Eden since he had her secret. Also, if we're going with Eden remorseless murderer theory, in my opinion, it wouldn't make sense for Eden to be a remorseless killer after what Arei said about her making a mistake "that she couldn't take back" (showing that she probably felt remorse for what she did). Also also this is a good time for me to bring up the note with "Eden's motive" that Charles gave to Teruko. That note could be proof of whether or not Eden really does have the girl kisser secret and I want to mention that the note could be anything since we only have Charles' word to rely on. I really hope we get to see what it says because it's been making me more suspicious of Charles (I personally think that Charles is somewhat suspicious so I might make a post about it soon even though there isn't much proper evidence to say that he has something to do with the killing game, there's still a couple of questionable things about what he's done/said). Okay yap session number two over

-Arei moved up even more on my kin list how is that even possible…. I also love how her voice changed so much in this episode. Even in prior episodes, her voice seemed so cheerful and energetic, yet in this one, it's much calmer. Showing that she truly is feeling relieved that there are other bad people in the world like her and that she might have a chance to redeem herself if so. God damnit Mokaui (Arei's VA) did such a good job with all of her voice lines she needs to be credited more

-THE AREI CG I AM CRYING AREI YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME ILYSM I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE BONUS EPISODE AFTER THIS

-They're finally talking about the murder method this is a new evolution for humanity

-Monotv causally breaking the forth wall, now we can blame it on the cast that they were talking about the secrets for an entire year because they didn't watch the Chapter 2 recap

-YESSS FINALLY A MINIGAME I’VE MISSED THESE SO MUCHHHH

-Ooh so that's what the broken handles meant also that Veronika art is so pretty

-I wonder why they would want to break her neck though, it doesn't seem like it would help with the murder at all, but maybe the killer was trying to cause confusion

-This is proving a theory that I've had for a while. If Arei was hung from the ceiling of the playground, then that could be tied in with the broken lights and the movie screening room above the playground. How would they be able to get her into the playground from the movie screening room though…

-J 💀 (that's all I’ve got to say literally)

-That's a lot of very precise information Whit I can understand Veronika but why would you know all that. Care to share something with the class?

-The text animations in the debate are so unique like the question marks with Rose and the one that circles around the top of Levi’s head those look so cool. Also getting to hear a lot of characters talk in a row feels amazing. It gives them a lot of depth showing the contrast between those characters’ tones of voice.

-Also there goes my screening room theory damn

-Everyone just roasting Teruko again is the best thing out of this episode /j

-We got puppy Whit 10/10 episode

-Also THREE CGS AND TWO MINIGANES IN ONE EPISODE??? DRDTDEV YOU HAVE BEEN COOKING 🔥🔥🔥 YOU CAN STOP NOW THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE (IN THE GOOD WAY). YOU MADE AN ENTIRE BUFFET. THIS IS AN ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT YOU CAN STOP NOW-

-Ooooo she's talking about Ace's attempted murder

-(Probably) Nico and Ace focused episode next week Nico and Ace fans are gonna be eating good

Overall, this might be my favourite episode so far. Not like I had a favourite episode before but still this was SO good

Also I just checked my Tumblr notifications why are there 50 like oh my lord 💀

[1moreff-creator]

Matching the DRDT Characters with their Roman Numeral Quote (LGI MV)

So, I immediately fell in love with newest Literature Girl Insane MV, and I have to drop everything I’m doing just so I can talk about it. Although there is so much to discuss I don’t even know where to begin, one thing which immediately caught my eye was the crosswords which flashes on the screen for a moment.

As many have figured out, it’s made up of the names of everyone in the cast, plus Mai Akasaki, minus David. As the footnote on “Now” says, it’s better to use full names instead of nicknames (such as Julia instead of J) and to exclude the protagonist of the MV.

Here’s the solution by raspbeyes, who I believe may have been the first person to upload it to Tumblr.

However, what’s really interesting is that, by the nature of a crosswords, it connects all characters with a Roman numeral. And these Roman numerals show up throughout the video, attached to different sentences. That way, you can connect the characters to these sentences. And so, you get some pretty interesting stuff. With that in mind, I went through and collected all the Roman numerals (it’s not very difficult, apart from one exception), and I wanted to share my thoughts on them.

Now, the numbers don’t actually show up chronologically for the most part, and the only real logic they seem to follow is “they show up after the crossword flashed on screen”. I’ve decided to list them in the order of the actual number instead of the chronological order, as I don’t find the latter to be very important (apart from one case).

That said, I will actually start by number two, since number one is a bit of a special case. You’ll see. For now:

II - Rose ~ Ego cogito ergo (turbatus) sum

We have some latin to kick things off! “Ego cogito ergo sum” is the ever famous “I think therefore I am” philosophy, but in latin! This phrase (from what I understand) claims that the only thing we can be truly and absolutely sure exists, is our own reasoning and consciousness. This fits Rose decently well, as she’s established her photographic memory causes her trouble separating what’s real, what’s a memory, what’s a dream, etc. Even more so, it sorta fits with the song “Cartoons” from the now vanished character playlist, which some theories placed as Rose’s.

However, there is also the addition of “turbatus” to the saying. Turbatus, from a quick Google search, means something like “disturbed”. Thus, the full meaning is something like “I think, therefore I am disturbed”. This fits Rose even better, considering her scene with Teruko and Nico in the dress-up room. Don’t think I have to go too far in explaining this one.

III - Charles ~ If you doubt brittle things are broken

So, is this about his dead brother he doesn’t remember? As in, “if you doubt your memories, as they’re brittle, they’ll break? Or is this talking about the relationships between the cast? “Distrust will lead to our collapse”, sorta fits the talk he had with Teruko early in chapter 2.

However, I actually lean more towards the brother thing, because of the blue, long quote which is flipped upside down on top of the image.

“And now here’s my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”

So, here’s where the Roman numerals become sorta weird. Does this count as part of Charles’ quote or not? I assume it’s at least related, especially seeing some of the other stuff we’ll see in the background.

Now, to the actual quote. I recognize it as a quote from the fox in “The Little Prince”, a book which if you have not read, you should honestly read. It’s a surprisingly sweet book to attach to Charles, but I can honestly see him blushing while talking about it, so it fits.

The quote itself is simple to understand; the material things in the world are not as important as our feelings, relationships, hopes, dreams, all that which can only be seen with the heart. This could be talking about the group’s relationships like I mentioned, but I lean more on thinking it’s referring to the memories of our loved ones, aka, Charles’ memories of his brother. Yes, the fact the quote starts by talking about secrets influences this interpretation.

IV - Arei ~ Right now, why do you cry?

Not much to talk about here. Arei’s the victim of this chapter, that’s why she cries. You can read into it a bit more and claim it has to do with Arei’s bullying of other people (“why are you crying, you wimp?” is something which could conceivably come out of her mouth), or more optimistically, it’s talking about how Arei used to only cry crocodile tears, but as she’s grown more empathetic, she now cries for her friends. Or some sappy shit like that.

Yeah, it’s still probably just about being the CH 2 victim.

V - Ace ~ Right now, why do you go insane? [flipped]

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda laughed a bit when I checked which character this one belonged to. Yeah, it’s pretty fitting, Ace is always going off for the most inane stuff.

More interesting is perhaps the background quote, “a cat has 9 additional lives”. Considering we’re talking about one of two people who’ve survived murder attempts so far, it makes sense, though I wonder if it’s going to come into play again later.

… Also, this just confirms in my mind the song from the playlist which belonged to Ace was “Yesman”. Undead, undead! and all that. I swear I’ll make a post about it eventually, I’m just more focused on this at the moment.

VI - Arturo ~ mind exercise 1 2 3 4

… Uh, well, as a surgeon, he do be exercising that mind though? Or something like that. Yeah, frankly I got nothing. This is just another moment where we Arturo enjoyers gotta take the L.

(Yes, I did just come out as an Arturo enjoyer-)

VII - J ~ Do it like that, let’s live together!

Another one I have no answer for. Like, what do you want me to say, this implies J’s the mastermind? Because it sort of does, seeing as she’s telling everyone to live together. But I really don’t see anything too interesting in the main quote.

However, the background quote may be more noteworthy. Anything in brackets is covered by something else but can be guessed with context.

“The Moral La[w] causes the people to be in com[plete accord] with their ruler, so that they wi[ll f]ollo[w] [him] regard[less of] their lives, undis[mayed] by any danger”

Had to look this one up. J’s quote is from Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” of all goddamn things. The Moral Law the quote is talking about is, from basic research in Google, some sort of unity of purpose; the idea that if the followers and the rules have the same interests, their side will have an advantage in war.

… What?

Yeah, this one’s a bit odd too. For now, my best answer is that it may have to do more with Mariabella than J herself. If you see Mariabella as a sort of leader, and her fans as the followers, it could be talking about how the combined pressure of Mariabella and the media overwhelm J, the “other side” of the “war”.

But if you’re really into the mastermind J idea, you can read it as “she’s the leader of the killing game, with the followers being the people at home that have the same purpose of wanting to see despair and keep the show running by watching”. But I really doubt we’d be getting this sort of mastermind allusions in an MV from chapter 2 of all things.

If anyone has better ideas on this quote or any other, I’d love to hear them.

VIII - Nico ~ even if i try to think, idk!

Another one I can’t talk too much about. My best guess as to what this means is “Nico tries to think about social cues, but doesn’t get it”. Relatable, but also nothing new. Maybe I’m missing something big, but it’s what I got for now.

IX - Levi ~ look, aside from the usual, give me that medicine

Disclaimer, the words don’t actually appear in that order in the MV, but this phrase makes a lot more sense than “look aside from that the usual medicine give me”.

I really don’t know what this means. I mean, I can guess Levi might take some medicine? Whit did say some people took prescriptions apparently. But I really don’t quite understand why this is the first time we’ve had his character associated with medicine.

EDIT: The last few paragraphs about Levi are dead wrong, I’m just leaving by them up so you can laugh at how stupid I was. Here’s a correction with a better analysis.

The background quote doesn’t make it much better. It’s just talking about the orbit of a thing, something something representative trajectory… something something Jupiter… something something 1930…

Oh shit, it’s about the discovery of Pluto! That’s what Google seems to think when I put those keywords in, anyways. Well, as fun an astronomy tale as that one is, I actually have no idea what it means for Levi’s character. I guess it’s something we’ll see in the future.

… Or maybe, crazy idea. You know how Pluto was first thought to be a “planet” but then got reclassified as”dwarf planet”? Maybe this means my theory is right: Levi will get “discovered” as the blackened of the second trial, but then “reclassified” as an accomplice when they find out Eden is actually-

Alright, I’ll stop. I’m joking, obviously… (unless?)

X - Min ~ Democratic-ly

Wait, hold on a second, you may say. That is an X, but it doesn’t really look like the rest of roman numerals font-wise. There are plenty of times X’s appear in the video aside from here, such as… well, the blank death portrait that’s always in the background.

And yes. To my joy, Min got given a bit of special treatment, since the roman numeral for ten, being an X and all, can be seen all throughout the video. However, there is one reason I believe this is absolutely Min’s X.

You see that tiny little 10 next to the X? That’s a footnote. And footnote number 10 is “The Roman numeral for 10 is X”. Of course, the reason we’re reminded of it here is because that X isn’t just a bunch of blood, it’s a Roman numeral.

Of course, Min gets the biggest numeral because she is just that much of a girlboss.

Anyways, numeral oddity aside, it’s pretty obvious why this is Min’s. The background text is just the description of the rules of a class trial, a trial where the outcome is decided democratically, and the reason Min died. This scene is directly followed by more references to class trials, which although they have some interesting implications for the MV as a whole, only help to solidify Min’s connection to her line.

As for other footnotes, footnote seventeen on the word “democratic-ly” is just an objective fact (“Not a real word. Can’t be found on any dictionary”), though the fact “democratically” is spelt wrong could be a reference to Min’s execution, where she was forced to get a lot of things wrong before dying.

Final note is footnote 12, on the class trial definition, which talks about majority rule and how, because it’s the fairest way to make decisions in a group, “murderers never complained when we voted for them to die”. There are implications here about the fact Teruko also received votes in the first trial, but for Min, there isn’t anything new here.

And yes, Min got three footnotes. As she should.

XI - Mai ~ God is dead

Honestly, I guessed who got this line before even checking the crossword. It just fits what we know of Mai too much. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to know she would get a line as dramatic as this. If you want a proper interpretation, Mai is sometimes treated like a god by the others considering the secret quotes, but now she’s dead or gone or something.

Of course, that’s the literal meaning of that phrase. When you look at it through the lens of Nietzsche (and Wikipedia to make sure I didn’t fuck up anything), the phrase “God is dead” refers to the idea that as christianity became increasingly non-universal, the ethical and sociocultural elements of society which had been built on it would be questioned and revised. So, “growing lack of faith causes shifts in the status quo”, or something like that. It’s something which, again, may fit Mai from what we know of her backstory. Someone everyone had unquestioned faith on, who did something which had consequences, so maybe that caused a breakdown of that original faith, or something? Anything involving this character is always extremely speculative, but I frankly think the more literal interpretation works better in this context.

In any case, this phrase is about as cryptic and dramatic as everything involving Mai, so it fits.

XII - Eden ~ ???: But you’re in my way, aren’t you?

… Alright, Eden, I know I believe you to be the CH 2 killer and all that, but you gotta at least try to defend yourself against the allegations! The hell is this?

In case anyone was wondering, I think she’s the killer who wants to get out to meet back up with the girl she kissed (who I’m starting to get convinced is Mai but I’m not ready for that conversation), so this line reads like something she’d say to Arei in that theory. However, it’d be kind of a weird thing to put in the MV before the chapter ends, and besides, there’s an interpretation I like more.

You see how there’s a triple question question mark there? There’s a chance someone is saying this to Eden. I’ll actually get back to this later, because I have to talk about XVI before I cover my theory on this. Apologies.

CW for XIII: Suicide

XIII - Teruko ~ or

… He. Alright, out of context, this is kinda funny. But if you let the MV play, it’s “… or not to be?”, from “To be or not to be?” Shakespeare and all that. That said, the video does, in fact, only keep the number on screen while it says “or”, so I choose to notate Teruko’s quote as just that. Also, as raspbeyes noted in their original post, the number thirteen is considered unlucky, so Teruko.

With that, I have to talk about how insanely dark it is to cut that phrase off at the “…or not to be” section. For anyone who hasn’t read this speech from Hamlet (which I hadn’t either, btw, had to look it up), the phrase “to be or not to be” is actually about suicidal ideation, with the word ‘be’ serving as a synonym for ‘live’. Therefore, cutting the phrase off at just this section leaves behind only suicide as the option.

It had already been implied Teruko has attempted suicide before (see: her telling Arei that failed hangings hurt a lot), and that her luck is the only thing keeping her alive. This just seems to imply it’s a much more present issue than we believed.

Then there’s the background text. From my research, the one on the left is a quote from “Murder on the Orient Express” and the one across the bottom is from “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”.

“Murder on the Orient Express” is easy to tie in, as it’s literally a murder mystery novel. Uh, spoilers for the novel, I guess, but it ends with the main detective, Poirot, concluding that the murderer was either no one in the train or everyone there. That sort of ties into Teruko’s hidden quote of “It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust no one at all”, I guess? For the line itself, it seems to be about a character hatefully looking at the detective. You can take Poirot to be Teruko because she’s decent at class trials (as opposed to everyone else being horrible at them), and the person looking at her to be… any blackened, or anyone, or David, take a pick.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a bit weirder. It’s a short story about Omelas, an utopia which is the perfect life for everyone there, except for a young child who is forced to live in mysery for the sake of the others. The quote in the video expresses this pretty succinctly. I guess it’s talking about class trials? How the happiness of everyone hinges on one person being very unhappy? Teruko’s the protag, so it makes sense she gets a line like this. There could be other interpretations, but I think that’s the most straightforward one.

XIV - Veronika ~ Things like substance of the arts

I mean, it fits. Veronika’s talent is artistic in nature. It seems a bit… non-dramatic for Veronika? But I guess there’s nothing wrong here.

… Well, there may be, but I’ll get there in a moment.

XV - Whit ~ Remaining ignorant, isn’t that “happiness”?

(Trust me, that’s the order the words show up on screen)

This one’s also easy. Whit’s secret is “Your mother is dead. You omit this truth”. This, combined with his behavior in the killing game, characterizes Whit as someone who prefers to ignore tragedy rather than process it, remaining “ignorant” in a way. The footnote attached, 15, just talks about the phrase “ignorance is bliss”, which is pretty much what the quote is.

…

The problem is the background text.

Thinking Time: “Subtract 4 due to tetraphobia”

That’s the phrase in the background, which appears as both Veronika’s and Whit’s lines are there. This is noteworthy because this is the only time in the MV that two different Roman numerals appear on screen at the same time. The phrase is also attached to footnote 4, which defines tetraphobia:

“The practice of avoiding the number four; it is most common in Eastern Asia. This superstition arises from the fact that the number 4 can be read similar to the word ‘death’ in several languages”

This connection is further implied because the character with the Roman numeral IV is Arei, who died this chapter. There is special attention brought over and over again to the number four, and this phrase asks us to “subtract” it.

And of course, this phrase chooses to appear when two “characters” are on screen, to make sure we can’t figure it out definitively.

Let’s start with Veronika: If you substract four from fourteen you get ten (astounding maths, I know). That connects her to Min and “democratic-ly”… which is the part of the MV most related to class trials and the killing game. Because if there’s a way to look like the mastermind, you bet Veronika’s hopping right on that train!

Other than being “Veronika playing mastermind footsies” for the fiftieth time, and the fact she sorta enjoys class trials, I don’t see any other connection between her and Min’s section, so.

I should address, too, you can remove 4 from 14 in a more literal way, and end up with 1 (doing it with Roman numerals just gets you ten again). This would connect her to Xander, whose line I’ve yet to cover, but trust me on this, I don’t think it connects to Veronika.

However, that’s for the line itself. Veronika might actually have a connection to Xander himself, because of their lines about Mai. Xander’s is “she couldn’t stand to do nothing” and Veronika’s is “a girl who didn’t foresee the consequences”. These are the only lines which allude to whatever big thing Mai may have done. If Xander and Veronika have a connection, it is likely through Mai.

And then there’s Whit, who is also on-screen at the time. Or, well, his Roman numeral is.

Alright, Whit. Veronika’s being super suspicious, so the tetraphobia line has a good chance of being about her. All you gotta do is be normal about this “subtract four” thing, alright? Good.

When you subtract 4 from Whit’s 15, you get 11, which is Mai’s “God is dead”-

For fuck’s sake.

He really just can’t dodge these mastermind allegations, can he? Anyways, if this is about him, he killed Mai, or something, and thus is likely the mastermind.

I’m joking- well, kinda. There are other interpretations, like maybe he… was the first to lose faith in her, in the Nietzsche interpretation of Mai’s line? I don’t know, but the murder is the more straightforward answer for this, if you ask me.

The problem, of course, is that there’s no way to tell which character the “subtract four” thing applies to. Well, the use of the word “tetraphobia” feels more Veronika leaning, what with phobias being related with horror and psychology, but to counterbalance, the line only appears when Whit’s numeral shows up, so it’s even again.

Anyways, back to the last numeral in sequence.

XVI: Hu ~ ???: Go and cry

Alright, you don’t have to be so mean-

In all seriousness, I believe this relates to Hu’s reaction to David’s reveal. And possibly her secret if it’s the one Veronika has.

However, what’s interesting about this line is that it seems to be a direct quote from a character, because of the triple question mark at the beginning. And this is where my theory comes in.

I believe triple question marks is David. This would fit perfectly with this line, as it’s totally something David would say post-magical girl transformation. And with him being the protagonist of the MV, it makes sense for him to be involved.

And that takes me back to XII. If you remember, I said I would talk about Eden’s line a bit more after talking about XVI.

Well, it’s pretty simple, really. Eden’s line comes right after Hu’s in the video, so it’s reasonable to assume ??? is the same person for both of them. In other words, I believe it’s David who tells Eden “but you’re in my way, aren’t you?” This still implies Eden’s the CH2 blackened, by the way. As in, “you’re getting in my way because now I need to figure out a murder”, or something like that. There really isn’t any other thing it could be referring to. Unless it’s like, “you’re getting in my way because you’re so nice you’re preventing murders from happening” or “you’re getting in my way of manipulating Arei by befriending her”, but the first one is too abstract and the second one doesn’t work since David didn’t know about their friendship until after Arei died. So don’t go thinking I’m giving up on that theory. It just changes the context a bit.

-

And with that, we’ve successfully gone through the sixteen numbers. Except, wait! Don’t think I forgot about the funny British boy!

Well, to be frank with you, there is a reason why I chose to save Xander for last. And that is… I didn’t want to start the list with disappointment.

I - Xander ~ Inconclusive

See, the problem is that Xander runs into much the same issue as Min, but without a footnote to help solve the problem. The Roman numeral for 1 is just “I”, so any time the word I appears, Xander’s Roman numeral appears.

Now, maybe you think this is stupid. Obviously any time “I” appears as an actual word, it’s not meant to be Xander’s numeral! We just need to look for the time it’s not a part of the lyrics or a phrase in the text!

This is obviously the most intuitive solution, and it does arrive at… an answer. So, I present, the First Possibility.

First Possibility

I - Xander ~ (the world of abnormal sentiment dances)

Now, at first glance, this works! You have the numeral next to a phrase, and there’s nothing else it could be!

Except, the problem is that that only extends to the screenshot. In this part of the video, the same phrase is on the screen for a good few seconds, but the “I” disappears and gets replaced by several numbers, then the “&” symbol, more numbers, and what seems to be a “=“ sign, maybe? But could be II sideways. Don’t know, looks like code, not my expertise.

The issue here is that this would be the only time a character’s phrase lingers longer than their numeral. This is pretty inconsistent with the other phrases we’ve seen, which is what gets me to hesitate and wonder if that “I” is actually made to be part of the code and not the crossword thing.

That, combined with the line itself. Because what does “the world of abnormal sentiment dances” have to do with Xander? I looked it up, but it’s not the name of a book or anything. Maybe I’m missing something, but I really don’t think this is related to Xander in any way.

So, I looked for other possibilities. The problem is that, like I said, all other possibilities are part of lyrics or phrases, not a standalone numeral.

And yet, there is one which stands out to me as a good candidate. This has a high chance of being wrong, but I’ll bring it up anyways because I think it’s cool.

Second Possibility

I - Xander ~ I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate

… Well, I know it’s hard to read it in that clusterfuck, but that is what the red text says.

This line has a bit more to do with Xander, or at least, David’s feelings towards Xander. We know he probably did like him based on some scenes from the MV, but he’s sad about his death. He hates him for leaving, but his heart loves him anyways. That could be read as romantic or platonic… hesitant on the platonic-

That said, the problem is explaining why I believe this is the Xander line. And that comes down to the background text.

… Yes, that background text.

You see, in the MV, it slowly fills out in a way which lets you read it somewhat. I’ll tell you what each part of the text means, but if you want visuals, I’ll ask you go to the video.

What first appears is white text on top and the right. The white text on top is Big Clue #1, as it’s a definition of electrocution. You know, that thing Xander died from.

The text on the right, meanwhile, seems to be an excerpt from “Alice in Wonderland”. The specific passage seems to feature Alice lamenting how much “pleasenter” [sic] things were “back home”. And well, for everyone but Teruko, their homes were likelier “pleasenter” than the killing game. However, in this context, it could be an analogy to David missing the past, when Xander was still alive.

Then, more white text appears on the bottom as yellow text appears under the white text on top. The bottom text is, again, more talk of electrocution, but the yellow text is a bit more complex. This is the line (from Google, exact wording may vary):

“To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world...”

Another “The Little Prince” quote, another straight banger (I love that book). Imma need the hornier of you to not focus too much on the “taming” wording and focus on the important part. This one speaks of the beautiful simplicity of relationships; everyone is “just some dude” until you meet them and establish a relationship, and then, they become unique.

This is an especially wonderful quote for Xander and David’s relationship. David truly wanted nothing more than to be “a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes” instead of the idol Xander saw him as. He wanted a genuine relationship with him, where they were not just each other’s idols, but something bigger; each other’s boyfriends :D

Alright, sappy stuff aside, this quote is related to Xander, that’s what you need to know.

Then there’s the big pink text. It says “note: can’t read”. Yeah, fair.

But before that note appears, some cyan text begins sprawling out. It’s not a quote from anything as far as I can tell, so here’s a transcript:

“…man crushed by reality puts on a s[how]…

…[of end]urance. If that’s beyond your

[com]prehension, dear reader, then you a[nd]…

[I’ll n]ever understand each other. Life’s…

[short?] so we might as well make it…

[count?] real life is a realm th…”

So, yeah, I’m sort of guessing half the words here, and I can’t even tell what the last line is, but I think we can get the gist from this. Reading this with the context that Xander’s probably connected, it’s easy to figure out. David was crushed by reality when Xander died, and he put on a show of endurance after that. The insult to the reader is a bit uncalled for, but I don’t particularly care, it fits David.

So, with the idea that this little breakdown is related to Xander, it’s safe to say the line “I hate the things that I love, and I love the things that I hate” (not a quote from anywhere I could find btw) is linked with Xander as well.

And, well. There are other references to Xander, but they’re never paired with an “I”. And there are other instances of the word “I”, but never in relation to Xander, at least not as much as this little breakdown.

This clusterfuck of text also forms directly after the crosswords shows up. And while most of these aren’t in chronological order, number II through V do. Wouldn’t it make sense for I to appear right after the crosswords and make I through V in chronological order?

In any case, I believe this is a decent alternative to the “world of abnormal sentiment dances”, whatever that means.

Conclusion

This was really fun! I am satiated for now, the content drop was awesome, I loved it a lot. There’s so much more I want to talk about in this MV, but this was priority number one in my mind.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve your own Roman numeral, all for yourself! Take care!

[drowninnoodles]

are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?

how crafty/resourceful are they?

how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

what languages do they speak? how fluently?

are they any good with numbers?

how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?

are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

how would you describe their voice? can they sing?

do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?

do they smell like anything notable?

how would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.

Valerie pls? 🥺🥺 sorryyyyy I'm curiousssss

YOURE INSANE XDDDD

1. Color is faded purple imo. Although she has a lot of red clothes

2. She would chill with any music on the radio. You know, that moment when you're sitting at the reception desk painting your nails when no one is there and a nice song is playing on the radio... She probably doesn't have any favorite bands either, I doubt she'd pay attention to that

3. Probably dogs, but rather the short-haired ones.

4. She only has the nickname Valie used by her friends. She usually sticks to her name because she likes it, after all she chose it herself

5. She really likes salads. Like, all. Give her some salad and she will love it. She's not too picky, but she doesn't like sweet tastes.

6. I don't really have much in common with her, apart from my aversion to sweet taste lmao

7. She works at the hotel reception, yeah, she knows a few numbers

8. You can steal, lie and kill as long as her salary doesn't suffer.

9. She is exceptionally calm and it is difficult to throw her off balance, working at the reception has taught her patience

10. I don't think she can sing, I've never thought about it tbh Uh, she has a rather low and calm voice, the kind that could read bedtime books

11. She has four ears, so she can hear quite well. Her eyesight is fine, nothing out of the ordinary

12. I doubt she ever stumbles, she has this type of grace that just exists

13. Rose perfume

14. This is the type of person who pretends to be overly happy when receiving a gift and then hides it and never uses it. And she's probably not a big fan of giving them as well

15. Knocking her nails on the counter, a habit that drives her coworkers crazy

16. She would say something about her nice appearance and charming personality and then roll her eyes and walk away lmao

[pseudowho]

Hello once more, sorry for the inbox spam!!!

I wanted to give you an update on the 30 year old guy hitting on me (insane cause when he was my current age of 21, I was 12 years old, LIKE WHAAAT the heeeell). Context for memory: met him at an event I was volunteering at. He wasn’t in the volunteering event but stopped by to help, and stayed a while to chat. He got my social media and messaged me that evening. Very quickly off the bat he started flirting and taking EVERY chance he got to do so, ie when i said im more of a mountains than lakes person, he said, “it’s not gonna work then ;)” and a bunchhhh of other stuff i don’t remember. And when I told him that my “(possibly) my favorite person in the world is the only person I message consistently” he replied with, “Favorite? Damn, don’t know if I’ll get there, but I’ll try to be your second favorite.” And this was literally like a day into messaging. It was SO weird because I never thought somebody that much older would go for me AND he doesn’t even Know Me. (Even though two 33 year old men did try to pursue something with me when I was 19 years old). Like, 25 is the max age I’ll date being that I’m 21, and the brain stops developing at 25. I was strictly platonic and didn’t even flirt back/reply to those weird messages.

So the update: I think it was after your advice that I made it clear to him that I am 1. Not interested in a relationship with anyone, 2. I only feel safe around women because of past experiences with men. // So here’s where things get a bit stickier. He keeps saying that his number one value is empathy and that he learned he can trust his morals and values, and that he learned to not doubt himself. He keeps saying he wants to get close with me and see where “this connection goes” (in my head I’m thinking, what connection?). At this point, I told him my 3rd boundary: That I Am Not even Guaranteeing Friendship. I don’t trust guys, I have a very finicky social battery, and I told him that I have been left much more jaded than my naive, optimistic, overly caring 19 year old self after a string of incidents with straight guys that left me feeling confused and used (was used emotionally and also they wanted to use me physically, but I didn’t let the latter happen. These events are not even including the 33 year old guys incidents). So this 30 year old, I’ve been on and off messaging him to give him a CHANCE to be a FRIEND. Because he’s desperate and honestly I love making close friends IF they’re good people. But I noticed that whenever I mention (not trauma dump, mention), more sensitive things such as the consistent, TW, abuse and neglect I’ve faced for years, he goes radio silent for a day or few days. The only time he DOESN’T reply quickly is when it’s about sad stuff— the only other time I said anything sad was when I told him I was grieving my late kitten, and I Literally gave the gruesome, truly awful details of my 1 month old kitten passing due to leukemia (it was devastating. She was precious, amazing, resilient, kind, and wonderfully adaptive— ie her siblings would cry during socializing and she would WALK UP TO THEM AND LAY HER HEAD ON THEM. She would also go to Me instead of her Mama cat for food, as she was too weak to compete with her siblings (but she gave her BEST awesome efforts.) Despite her resilience and intelligence, she was too young and her immune system didn’t work. It’s devastating, and I’ve been processing it in healthy ways as months go on and on. She was wonderful, demonstrated kindness and she was a fighter, and she deserved a long life. Anyway, to this he responded with “😮” …LIKE. I WAS SO confused and a bit irritated at that reaction. He DID later say a few short words of sympathy but wtf was the “😮😮”…So a week or so later I thought about my lingering irritation, and now I’m MAD. He expects me to be empathetic towards him, and I am, but whenever I even BRIEFLY mention struggles beyond himself he won’t give it the proper care it deserves. Ie one time I mentioned women’s struggles with gross men and then I also talked a bit about men’s struggles being hard too, and he said, “I’m glad you acknowledge men’s struggles!” and it’s like yes I did but… the first and main point of this particular convo was women??? Are you so self absorbed and stuck in your head??? At least acknowledge women too? He preaches about empathy but doesn’t live up to it, or at the very least, doesn’t realize his own need to grow. So, I’m quite tired and irritated. All these guys have the same thing in common, and it’s that they see me as some sort of saint for them to be loved and validated by. They seek me to use me for their own benefit, but they do not CARE about ME, AND they think of themselves as top shit. I know they need love. I sympathize with them. Trust me. But they don’t see me for me, nor do they treat me well. I am no saint, though I want to be a good person, the best person I can be. They idealize me because I’m a friendly and curious and caring person, but they don’t treat me as a person.

I’m teetering on the edge of cutting him off. But I know he went through a breakup 2-3 months ago, and I personally believe he’s acting this desperately and strongly because he’s lonely. I sympathize with him and I wonder if I judge him too harshly… But the red flags are raised. A 30 year old going for a 21 year old??? Am I crazy to think that that’s weird as fuck?? I feel bad for him. I’m irritated. I’m tired and I need to put myself first, as I’ve already got a hard life to deal with before I can be stable and give more of me. At least, this is the thought process I currently have. Do you think so too? Did I miss anything or see something inaccurately— what do you think?

He’s the fourth guy who is significantly older than me (30+) to try and get in a relationship with me. It keeps happening. I don’t even go out much. I don’t even interact with guys much. It’s insane. Everytime I go out and interact with people and the world (like coworkers and meeting people when I volunteer), this happens. They all told me they love my care/empathy (which is, of course, a work in progress). I think my natural curiosity made them think i was interested in them, even though i never flirted with any of them or even thought about a romantic or sexual relationship with any of them!! I even told some of them from the start that I only like women!

Is this normal, do most guys do this?

Tough constructive criticism towards me always welcome.

And you don’t have to answer!! Ty for reading :)

- m <3

That's me, pushing you over the edge you were teetering on, r.e. your decision to cut him off.

There's nil else that needs to be said. You have suggested to him in many ways, without actually saying the words blatantly, that you are not interested. By continuing to pursue you despite your discomfort, going so far as to think this is a matter of simply convincing you, shows that he's not empathetic, and is in fact, absolutely in this for himself.

What women aged 30+ tend to find (anecdotally, on average, from discussions with my cohort) is that men who routinely target younger women for relationships/sex, do so for a number of reasons, none of them good, but some of them being: recognition of reduced confidence and therefore vulnerability in younger women, average lower standards of younger women due to life experience (not a crime at all!), and the mens' underdeveloped emotional maturity, and age fetishization.

It's all about Power.

"You're so mature for your age!" Yeah yeah-- 'for your age', but not for his age. Women his age are simply more likely to not tolerate his bullshit, and he's probably underdeveloped emotionally with bad habits that make him a bad partner.

If you're being routinely targeted by these men, which is, I must absolutely clarify, NOT YOUR FAULT, try to have a little self reflection; is there something about you aside from simply your age, that makes you seem more vulnerable to these men? Because your chances of ending up in a badly balanced age gap relationship are higher the more associated vulnerabilities you have.

My only criticism of you? Take this opportunity to strengthen your spine. Lash out hard, and if you are absolutely not interested in these men, make it brutally, savagely, immediately clear. Don't be wishy-washy. Give them absolutely zero soft answers because unfortunately with men like these, soft answers make them think they have a chance.

Stop being kind to people who try to manipulate you.

It's sad that being nasty is the only way, and they'll try to make you look like the bad guy ('oh I was just being friendly, you're safe around me'), but you're not, and you should give them the middle finger they deserve.

I guarantee that they will age but will continue to target women and girls your age. Our current 'daddy' and hyperfetishisation of age (especially for young women) culture, sadly, gives them support to do this.

That is, again, not your fault; doesn't it look so clear now that they don't have your best interest at heart?

While not all age gap relationships have a power imbalance, a great, great many do. Consistent targeting by fully adult men should be a massive red flag.

Again, in the job I'm in, I witness and examine a great great number of heterosexual relationships in intimate detail, and I assure you, big age gap relationships are amongst the most likely to leave the women (because it is almost invariably the woman being the younger one) on a significant back foot.

Brief reminder that women aged 30+ aren't 'jealous' that lots of men their age target barely adult women; we see them as the manipulators they are, and we want to protect you.

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[ann7av]

You ever notice how Violet barely interacts with the regular citizens of Navarre? She goes to Rhiannon’s house twice and never talks to Raegan despite having more conversations with Rhiannon’s on-and-off girlfriend.

Idk if there’s a scene I skipped in Iron Flame where she goes around talking to people, but it kinda reads like Violet doesn’t actually care as much as she should about their plight (which makes sense considering she’s a military nepobaby). I think this is one of the reasons why the world feels so empty to me.

Yess!!! I've commented about this with a friend and thank goodness someone else noticed it too. I have issues with how the Tara/Rhi situation was done but that's for another day.

Sorry in advance for the essay, I have a lot to say about this and am very happy someone asked.

I can't remember any interaction with a non-military on the page, which is weird considering there's a little village in Aretia, but RY never bothers to show it to us, just like she never showed us Shantara (the little village near Basgiath) and instead opted to include Xaden and Violet having the same fight for the fifth time. (the romance in IF took too much off the plot for my taste)

It's weird that Violet never interacts with civilians, (who are probably the ones keeping things clean/cooking/sewing/etc) but again, including civilians would require RY to develop the world beyond surface-level and I don't think she's too worried about Navarre's culture/currency/lifestyle beyond war, death, and dragons so why include a character who's not involved in either.

Now, on a character level, Violet is often used as a self-insert (unfortunately, because my girl deserves better) so we can say that, just like RY, she understands the value of civilian life abstractly since she was raised in the military. Civilians are numbers, casualties, workforce and must be protected on principle but she doesn't interact with or consider them on a personal level. That has nothing to do with her own morality, it's simply the way she was raised and could be an interesting arc for her character (there's already a moment during Resson that it really hits her that those numbers are people) and I hope it happens but I doubt it.

Another thing that drives me insane is that we never see a child in any of the outposts (even tho Violet says very clearly that she grew up going from outpost to outpost) in fact the only time besides Rhi's nephew that children were included in the story was in Resson, and they were only used as cannon fodder to show how horrible the war was.

That itself wouldn't have bothered me so much if we had seen a couple children playing in Montserrat to at least show us that the officers have lives and aren't just soldier-shaped cardboard cutouts, BUT when we take the way children were written in addition to RY's Instagram post about the "conflict" in Palestine it gets weird with the whole idea of "a perfect victim" she sprinkles here and there in her books (I can elaborate if someone wants to)

Anyway, that's it, I hope it made some sense and that I answered what you were asking

[imaginmatrix]

college sports au where annabeth is a star soccer player for nyu who’s dream is to eventually make the women’s soccer team and percy is the assistant coach.

I cannot believe you are making me, a person who understands all of 0 sports and played soccer when I was 8, try to write like I know anything about how any of this works. How dare you. Here you go.

I’m so mad at you.

A crooked smile should not incite such fury as what Annabeth currently felt.

But for the record, it shouldn’t make her heart flutter the way it did, either.

Both at the same time was just confusing.

“What did you just say?!” She hissed under her breath, glancing anxiously out the dark tunnel where her team waited to sprint onto the horrifically wet field— it had been raining since the night before, and Annabeth was already dreading the mud and the cold.

Well, now she would happily take that over Percy Jackson’s stupid dumb annoying crooked smile.

“I asked,” he spoke slowly, his voice patient as if he were explaining a basic concept to a child, “if you would like a kiss for luck?”

Annabeth sputtered, glancing again to ensure the rest of the team wasn’t paying attention— they were not.

Though that may have been because their star striker getting royally pissed at the NYU Violet’s assistant coach was not a novel scene.

“This—you—hitting on players is creepy!” She snapped, face red and only growing brighter as Percy leaned in to speak low in her ear.

“But hitting on girlfriends, even secret ones, isn’t.” He paused. “…Unless I missed the memo.”

Annabeth huffed, tugging on the hem of her jersey as nerves about the upcoming game were replaced with nerves about the stupid man in front of her referring to her as his girlfriend.

It was a new development, and one that made her feel insane to think about for more than ten seconds at a time.

“So…?” Her boyfriend (boyfriend?!) pulled back just enough that she could see his stupid terrible grin, “What do you say?”

The poor hem of Annabeth’s jersey was now a bunched up mess in her hands, twisting in her fists without her even noticing. “If we win—“

“When.”

“If!” She heaved a breath, “Then maybe I will think about giving you a celebratory kiss. But we’re going to lose, so it doesn’t matter.”

Percy’s grin didn’t waver, “No, we’re not. We’ve been over their weaknesses, know their plays— and everyone is gonna be playing their best with the club scout out in the stands.”

Annabeth groaned, “Don’t remind me!”

“Not to mention, the best center forward on this side of the continental US.”

“The best center forward in the world.” She muttered, though there was doubt in her voice, her usual confidence shaken by the fact that the opposing team had won every game against the Violets for the past 3 years.

“‘Atta girl.” Percy knocked his forehead to hers, their eyes meeting, “Give them hell. Especially so I can get that kiss.”

He dodged out of the way of Annabeth’s fist, laughing as he jogged through the tunnel to the sidelines to join their coach. Annabeth forced a deep breath, and turned to the team to give a pep talk that would rival any pre-battle hype speech in the history of the universe.

And when they won, covered in mud, 2 to 1, Annabeth Chase, center forward, star player, flashed a grin at Percy Jackson, assistant coach, new boyfriend, the promise in her eyes meeting the excitement in his. Who knew when they’d tell people— but while Annabeth was happy to share this and any future wins with the rest of the world, Percy?

Well, for now, he was all hers.

And their kiss behind the shuttle to the team’s hotel was nearly as satisfying as the business card with the pro club scout’s number in her hand.

[dujour13]

Thanks for the tag @kaleido-scope-lady! 💕 This was highly appreciated for procrastination purposes.

Tag game: Give your KC’s first impression and final opinion of each of their companions!

Siavash's (not spoiler-free) hot takes:

First impressions

Seelah – A paladin with a party spirit. Now this is someone I can really get behind. (wink)

Camellia – Not even a smile? How about a little half-elf solidarity? ...Not that either? Give it time. I’ll find her angle. She can’t be as bad as she seems.

Lann – Weird combination, and not just the body parts. Pessimism and determination. Seems like a reliable guy and since that’s one thing I’m not, he’ll be good to have around. Also – perfect straight man for my routines.

Wenduag – Tough as Hell. I wish she didn’t beat Lann up about his idealism because that’s the one thing that might save him. I wonder if she has any idealism left to save herself.

Woljif – Dreamboat. I do look like the kinda guy that would work on, don’t I? He’s got my number already. …and he can have it.

Ember – Dreamer, this poor child. The things she says are so crazy they’re almost inspired.

Daeran – The folly of feudalism: exhibit one. Surprised nobody’s slapped him yet.

Nenio – Curious, for someone who knows so much trivia I don’t think she knows how funny she is.

Ulbrig – This towering barbarian calling me warchief is excellent for the bit

Galfrey – Exhibit two. No, that’s uncharitable. She’s had a lot on her plate, and for longer than most people could stomach. She needs to lighten up. Maybe I can show her running a crusade doesn’t have to be soul-crushing. It can be fun!

Sosiel – I think this kid is tougher than he seems, coming all the way here from Carpenden. I sure hope so, because I’d hate to see that freshness turn sour.

Regill – Who invited this guy?

Trever – This is what happens. Dreamer, don’t let it happen to me.

Arueshalae – This is one of those times when Desna tests you – gives your heart the choice of Cynosure or cynicism. I’m going to believe in her if it kills me.

Greybor – You know what, I’m just gonna prove him wrong. “Professional” doesn’t have to dress sober.

Aivu – Best. Friend. Forever.

Final opinion

Seelah – Biggest heart in the world. And after everything - party spirit intact. Dreamer I’m lucky I crossed paths with this woman. Wouldn’t have made it without her hugs. Well, also without her as body shield.

Camellia – How could I have been quite that blind? Only saw what I wanted to see. It’s hard to admit but I’m not sure there was anything that could have been done for her. For all his faults Horgus did try. Even setting her free to find her own way would have ended badly for her, because it wouldn’t have been freedom.

Lann – Love this guy. I’ll never forget that moment, seeing him look up at the starry sky and see possibility for the first time.

Wenduag – Ironic how trying to claw her way up is what brought her down. Probably because she never looked up far enough to see the stars.

Woljif – My love, forgive me if I ever doubted that your heart was stronger than your shadow.

Ember – What was it Lann said? A saint or insane, or maybe both? Both. She doesn’t believe mortals can save ourselves, so all we can do is be kind to each other. I have so much to learn from her.

Daeran – You know what I admire most? This man knows what he wants out of life – and fiercely, unapologetically pursues it. I count myself lucky that true friendship is one of those things because it turns out he's great fun and I'm surprised how fond of him I am now.

Nenio – I think she cited me in her entry on “Friendship.” By name. Sometimes I regret taking my pants off that one time. But actually no.

Ulbrig – I can really relate to having two more-or-less incompatible halves pulling opposite directions. I’m glad he let his guard down with me eventually because behind all the stubborn bluster the poor guy really felt lost, and commiserating with someone helped us both. Second only to Seelah for great hugs.

Galfrey – The best thing about her is her humanness. I wouldn’t like her nearly as much I do now if she hadn’t had indulged in a little spite. Just kinda wish it hadn’t been directed at me. No no, we're good. It's fine. Would you guess she can be surprisingly funny?

Sosiel – He did turn out to be tough. Strong enough to face terrible things, temper his idealism and still keep his heart. That portrait… (he starts to tear up) …if that’s how he sees me there’s no greater compliment.

Regill – The thing is, I trust him with my life. Because even if there’s a perfectly logical reason why he ought to kill me he’ll be three chess moves ahead with an even better reason not to. One thing I resent about the lawful types is the arrogance in thinking they’re following some universal order when it’s really just their heart all along. Yeah, you can tell him I said that.

Trever – When I visited the Vaenics in Carpenden after the war I saw him with his lathe, and as he worked there was such peace in his face and hands. Scarred as they are. He made me the most beautiful rosewood writing desk, a true work of art. There’s so much hope in that.

Arueshalae – One of the strongest people I’ve ever met. I have an idea what it’s like to try to keep your eyes fixed on an impossible star even with the claws of the Abyss pulling you under. Where we connect is that we both want to be better people, and to do that you sometimes have to look back and face what you’ve done wrong.

Greybor – Is he happier now? I like to think so. Being an assassin was easy for him. Being a father, not so much. He needed a new challenge.

Aivu – Best. Friend. Forever.

Tagging no pressure: @the-raging-tempest, @dragonologist-phd, @arendaes, @yunessa, @bite-the-bloody-hand

Everyone please take a free tag if you want one!

[darishima]

puppy your game collection is beautiful i dont know what most of those are except like the disgaeas (because youve explained them before), disco elysium (the occasional meme crosses my dash), roblox, and undertale maybeeeeee you could give me a tour of the others you like and what theyre about and stuff! whats muse dash ouppy that sounds like a rhythm game ^w^

thank you i know its incredible :3c soo here it is again i will go game by game and yap my ouppy little head off im sorry

starting from the left! desmume is a DS emulator that i got to play puyo puyo fever, a fullmetal alchemist ROM and a lucky star ROM and PPSSPP is a PSP emulator i got for uhh. i cant remember which game i specifically installed it for. i think it was puyo puyo fever 2?

roblox is. you know. roblox

my hero one's justice is a demo i downloaded from steam which i have not actually played LMAO i got the demo to see if i wanted to buy the full game but i guess its pointless because i havent bothered to check out the demo

class of 09 and class of 09 re-up (the sequel) are visual novels, hard to explain what theyre about.. basically its all about toxic evil yuri and drug abuse and self harm. its like if needy streamer overload was about coked up high school lesbians

disgaea pc is the second best game ever made

disgaea 2 pc is the number 1 best game ever made. no further explanation necessary

i have not actually played dont starve yet, it was recommended by a friend so i bought it during the steam summer sale for like 2 bucks. from what ive heard, its a survival game, kinda like minecraft if minecraft was way harder and the game hated you

disco elysium is the same, recommended by a friend, i bought it for super cheap during the summer sale, and have not touched it yet LMAO

muse dash is a rhythm game yes and its FUCKIGN INCREDIBLE. AND IM AMAIZNG AT IT. LOOK AT THESE SCORES BONESY ARENT YOU PROUD OF ME

full combo means i hit every note and didnt miss a single one >:3 im genuinely really good at the game not 2 brag,,, and YES you saw that right, hatsune miku and kagamine rin and len are playable characters!! they come with two respective DLCs which also come with a bunch of vocaloid songs and i bought them both <3 these are their sprites in game!

and if you buy it it gives you a bunch of adorable art on the loading screens :3 this isnt even all of them just a few i screenshotted. if i screenrecorded myself killing it in muse dash would you watch the video teehee...

ok back to game yapping. leaf blower revolution is an idle clicker game i got for free on steam, which i got insanely hyperfixated on for three days and played for like 14 hours straight once and then gave up and never touched it again

yume nikki is a little pixelated adventure game where you explore around a girl's weird dreams. the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE especially this song. its transcendental. listen to it while youre high trust me you have to

DDLC requires no explanation i think. its ddlc. you know what it is theres no way you dont

the song of saya (saya no uta) i will be yapping extra about because i LOVE IT. its a horror eroge visual novel about a guy named fuminori who, after a brain surgery, sees the entire world and other people as a disgusting fleshy abomination, whereas everything looks normal to other people. for example this:

is a completely normal hallway. but it looks like that to him. then he meets a girl name saya, who is the only thing in the world that looks normal to him, and he falls in love with her

and i reeeally really dont wanna spoil it cause its really good and i highly recommend you go watch it (theres a full playthrough on youtube) but lets just say saya is Not as normal as she looks.

celeste is a game ive only played a little of, but i love it so far. its a platformer about a trans woman named madeline climbing celeste mountain, and encountering a personification of her self doubt that she has to overcome to get to the top. i lovee the style of the game its so pretty and way easier than i expected it to be, which is great for me because im garbage at every game in the world that isnt muse dash or disgaea

disgaea 4 and disgaea 5 are self explanatory. i ADORE d4, though im not super far into it, but i havent started d5 yet im waiting until i finish d1 and 4

phantom brave is a game set in the same universe as disgaea which crosses over with it, i havent played more than a few minutes of the game but obviously i love it so far cause its similar to disgaea. im waiting to jump fully into it until i finish d1 and d4 though

OFF is an rpg also recommended to me by a friend, i downloaded it online but havent touched it yet 😭 pro at owning games i dont play

omori is also very self explanatory. i downloaded it off my friends steam account and he and i have been playing it together, im not far in but obviously i like it, i knew i would. aubrey is sooo mecore <3 i really need to keep playing it... i should have gotten into omori sooner. actually no i take that back because i think 14 year old me getting into omori would have been so world-ending that it would have shattered my psyche

spore is spore. idk how to describe it. you make a fucked up little creature and you make the fucked up little creature do shit thats the whole game

undertale is also very self explanatory. and boom thats all my games :3 well i also have animal jam classic which didnt fit in the screenshot but theres not much to say about that. other than the fact that i own a super rare nonmember mantis pet and im proud of it. and my den fucks

okay thats more than enough yapping im sorry .. stop asking me questions because i do not know how to shut up. ily though thank you for asking :3c

[cynthiav06]

idk if you take asks but enchanted is such perachel (esp from rachel pov on how like she was so wonderstruck by him and his life/world)

Enchanted is definitely Perachel coded, and some sections work for both Percy and Rachel pov.

Percy pov:

Percy is sure his fatal flaw could have been hindsight. The number of times he has lamented the choices he has made, more so on the fact of whether he could have done it better differently; much like now that he's finished regretting his Nico conversation his thoughts finally return to one Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Yes, he remembers her full name, he has a good memory and even if he didn't she would be hard to forget.

For one, she saved his life despite him running her through with Riptide (he had never been more glad that his sword didn't harm mortals).

That and her face was a bit too memorable to ever forget. It's logical, too; he remembers Annabeth telling him the statistics for facial features. Red hair and green eyes were the rarest pair, and of course, Rachel Elizabeth Dare had both. It's not his fault he was enchanted, the sort of enchanted you get when you see a once in a lifetime thing cause that was what it was. He hoped, however, desperately that he would see his red-headed nightmare again; after all he had a debt to repay. Given that she probably lived near Hoover, chances were he would never see her again.

He shouldn't have doubted how much the Fates love proving him wrong because he sees her just a few months after the orientation of all places. He's equal parts glad and embarrassed, for he certainly couldn't apologize enough, and that makes him do something insanely stupid like run away. She finds him like she did last time, and he is so caught up in staring at her that he forgets he needs to run mostly cause he can't give her the answers she wants.

It starts out as he knows it would with her wanting an explanation. He wants to explain, too, but he's always been bad at it, and it's not like he got a good one from Chiron. Then came in the demon cheerleaders. They were so well disguised that he wouldn't have known if not for Rachel screaming. So yeah, it's now the second time he's gotten her involved in something dangerous. The empousai, something women, seemed to have it out for his blood, which wasn't new, but he drew the line at them attacking Rachel. He killed the first one and was almost on the second one when Rachel realized her scheme. Now Percy could definitely say thinking on his feet was his strength but between Rachel being attacked and Paul Blofis showing up he was a bit slow on the uptake. Rachel, brilliant Rachel gets them both out of there, they are almost out and he is half ready to drag her with him so they could both talk and so he could apologize again right until Annabeth shows up. So yeah, that ruins almost all his plans. Annabeth's in a hurry, and he should be too given the burning school, but he couldn’t just leave Rachel Elizabeth Dare on her own. If not for her insistence, he would have taken her with her. Deja vu is quick to catch up to him as he flees with Annabeth, leaving Rachel to deal with the mass chaos he left behind yet again. This time, though, he has her number scrawled on his palm, and he memorizes it for good measure because now he wouldn't need the Fates to run into Rachel.

Rachel pov:

Rachel can't stop thinking about Percy I-am- not -a mortal- guy weeks after her trip had ended and the cold was long gone. Made sense. After countless years of thinking herself insane, she finally met someone who knows all the answers to her questions. Perhaps that's why she is so ridiculously obsessed with him. What's more ridiculous is that she can't stop sketching. No matter what she starts with, she always ends up with the same visage of a sea-green eyed boy. The only reason she remembers his face is because she's good at that sort of thing; being an artist requires good memory, not because he was excessively good-looking even in that awful lion fur.. Had he not run her through with his stupid sword, she would have gawked at him. Listen, she was an artist, and she could admire a good face. She was almost at the point of hiring a P.I. under her father's nose to look for Percy something. She was sure he was from New York , call it a feeling. But if so, New York could have like hundreds of Percy and what if he lived in some strange place only people like him,no, people like them could see.

Rachel had a barrage of such weirdly eerie encounters, but something about this one was far more enchanting than any other. He had seen what she saw and heard what she heard, and when she told him to hide, he listened to her no questions asked. Nobody had done that ever before, but just before he slipped into the stall, she was sure that the uncertainty he felt was less over hiding and more over leaving her alone. "I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he had said to her with so much belief in the fact that they would meet again that she almost believed him as vain as it felt.

Turns out Rachel didn't have to believe in vain for too long. She saw him at this new high school she had picked against her father's wishes. It was so random that she thought she was hallucinating. She almost doesn't catch up to him, which makes her next words angry, and then he just stares at her as he blurts out her full name, and she's forgotten entirely why she was angry. The fact that he remembered her name made her weirdly happy until she remembered he tried to kill her. He had finally begun answering her questions until demon vampire things came along. Percy couldn't see them, so she had to ask him to run. Even now, he believed in her without any hesitation. Percy was negotiating. She could tell when Kale something and her trainee cornered them. Negotiating to get them both out. Then the trainee lunged at her. Faster than she could process her fear, she lay dead sliced clean by Percy. It was gross to be covered in monster dust, but she was happy she was alive. The Kelli one attacked now, and Percy swiftly put himself between us . For all her bragging about being thousand years old, I had a feeling Percy could defeat her. Maybe that's why she didn't feel any fear, just adrenaline and awe. Percy was extremely good with the sword, and the demon thing probably caught that cause she tricked us into ducking as she exploded and started a large fire. Even that would have turned out fine is some professor who knew Percy hadn't interrupted and made Percy freeze.

As she called out about the fire he seemed to recover as he quickly counted his options and settled for jumping through the broken window. Because she was now certifiably insane she jumped after him into the alley. By the time she caught up to them some blond girl was standing with him. By the looks of it she knew him but Rachel hadn't seen her at orientation; as soon as her grey eyes settled on Rachel her smile disappeared but Rachel didn't much care about that. Percy had gotten her into this he was going to pay her back with at least a fee explanations.

She ignored the pang she felt when he told the blond girl Annabel something that she was a friend. But friend was good it was better than nobody. As Annabel was about to drag him away, possibly preventing them from meeting ever again, she scrawled her number on his hand in permanent marker. Contrary to her thoughts, he didn't call her crazy nor did he back away. It might have been her speech about him owing her, or maybe just maybe he was just as enchanted by their first meeting. As she ran away to make up some story, she could still feel his eyes on her. This time, it was he who would look for her maybe, just maybe as fixatedly as she had.

This turned out to be rather long but it's such a good theme it might deserve a part two. (Yes I do take asks , just takes me bit of time to deliver.)

I will never get over the fact that Percy Jackson called Rachel his redheaded nightmare. I can't-

[morwensteelsheen]

Easily the most insane story idea I’ve ever had under this cut

Rosgondren: And that’s a timeout called there by Edoras’ Coach Háma, with just under a minute left on the clock here at the thrilling final game of the 3016-3017 NUAA women’s basketball season.

Alweth: For sure, for sure—and Coach Háma is right to take that timeout here, he’s got one of the best clutch players in the game in Éowyn Éomundsdottir, he’s just gotta have faith in her.

Redhangol: The numbers don’t lie, but you know, in moments like these with everything on the line, the stats fall away and it’s all about the hustle mindset—and does Éowyn really have that? I don’t know, I don’t know!

Alweth: (laughing) What? You don’t know if she has the hustle mindset? C’mon man—we’ve watched her entire career and she’s got nothing but hustle—

Rosgondren: —that’s us about to go back into play, Edoras spaced nicely around the arc—

Redhangol: —well she’ll have to prove it in the big leagues—

Alweth: —big leagues? She’s in one right now! The Towers are already clambering for trades to secure her at this summer’s WMBA draft—

Redhangol: —well league talent has been a little thin on the ground lately. She’s good no doubt, no doubt, but how good?

Alweth: (laughing) Come on!

Rosgondren: —And we’re back, that’s a clean pass from Leofric in—oh no, tipped away by Dunland’s Angwun and—OH! Recovered by Éowyn!

Alweth: Wow! Would you look—

Rosgondren: —Derwent forces Éowyn back behind the arc, reinforced by Cledwun, oh this is a tight spot she’s really being forced back here—fifteen seconds left on the clock, it might be an ignoble end to a remarkable season for the University of Edoras—and THERE IT IS!! THERE IT IS LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WITH TWO SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK, AN INSTANTLY ICONIC LOGO THREE BY ÉOWYN ÉOMUNDSDOTTIR. (Excited laughing) It’s not often we get to see legends born in real time, but Éowyn has done it—wow! What an end to the season.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

It would be a stretch to call it a positive omen that the Minas Tirith Mariners’ esteemed head coach had called his first timeout not a minute into the potential series finale of the Northern Conference Finals. In fact, the mood of the Dagorlad arena crowd had gone from nervous to gleefully hostile as soon as the call was made: if the Mariners were already showing their bellies, the series might yet be extended.

Within the team huddle, the mood was no cheerier. Coach Denethor, a veritable giant of the sport in his prime and an even mightier coach after it, gestured pointedly at his whiteboard. He was not one for theatrics, and he raised his voice only to be heard over the thundering crowd.

“We have practiced this extensively—you are to stay out of the paint after executing your screen.”

“It makes no sense here,” answers Faramir, his youngest son and the team’s beleaguered (point) centre. “Damrod’s a way better size match for Abarrán. If I hold back here it slows the backcourt down—we can’t afford that.”

“You mean it puts you in a better position to grab the rebound, but the rest of your team trusts in Damrod to follow through.”

Damrod, a rather compact guard, looks immediately uncomfortable to be dragged into the argument.

“So do I,” says Faramir, a touch defensively, “but they’re faster than us in transition, we need whatever we can get to gum them up.”

Cut to Faramir preparing to go out for the Minas Tirith Mariners in the Northern Conference Finals against the Dagorlad Aurochs; he gets into an argument with his head coach father about something, and Denethor says something about Boromir knowing how to do it better. Faramir still has to go out and play, and it’s immediately clear how dominant a hooper he is; the Mariners win the series to proceed to the league finals against the Harad Warriors.

Resources

Moach playbook

W playbook

Arike Ogunbowale highlight reel

Bill Russell highlight reel

[megaawkwardhuman]

don't mind me I'm just going insane over nandor's rings

OK OK OK SO idk WHY but my brain suddenly remembered this post by someguywife and it got me wondering how long has he owned those rings?

disclaimer: 100% looking too deep into this and most likely going insane also for the most part I only focused on old photos in the show since I doubt they would go out of their way to edit the rings onto the paintings for nandor

first I looked through the intro and for the most part the rings are nowhere to be seen.

(side note: didn't notice that the last photo was taken on the same night as the new years eve photo :D)

anyway I say for the most part cause of this fucking photo...

Now I don't know shit about polaroids but there's some numbers at the bottom of these photos.

This probably means something but after looking it up all the info I could find talks about numbers on the BACK of a photo so that's fuuuuuuuun. I would keep looking into this but I keep going in circles so please if you have any idea what 090111225 4 could mean please let me know It's driving me fucking crazy. I'm assuming it could translate into a date but idk it could mean nothing.

now looking at the outfits in the photo I'd say this is in the 70s maybe? idk I also suck at analyzing clothes so for now this photo is a dead end WHICH SUCKS CAUSE IT'S ONLY GOING TO GO DOWNHILL FROM HERE!

IF this is the 70s then on we have a rough estimate of WHEN he got them but that's just the intro what about in actual episodes.

if we go back to s2e8 collaborations we get a look at nandor in the 70s when he shows us photos of him and is old familiar benjy aND GUYS GUESS WHAT? N O F U C K I N G R I N G S

the latest date we see on one of those photos is 1974 so around the mid to late 70s he got his ring grea- oh what's that? there's more? greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat...

so going from season 2 to season 3 on s3e3 gail we also get to see some more old photos of our fav cringefail. he says they've been on and off for 30 to 40 years and doing the math that means they met around the early 80s so surely he should have his rings by now right? RIGHT?

at first no BUT THEN

DING DING DING I SEE A FUCKING RING FOLKS

so the next photo shows him celebrating new years with her and she looks to be around the same age SO THAT MEANS HE GOT THE RING IN THE LATE 90- wait the fuck a minute...

huh... WELP SHIT THIS GOT COMPLICATED!

so looking at the photo booth photos again it's most likely the rings nandor usually wears so you'd think he'd be wearing them since you know HE WEARS THEM ALL THE TIME!? but NOPE he's wearing this red ring instead.

and in the next photo you can't tell at all what ring he's wearing.

so what does this all mean? well here's my current theory:

at some point when he was first with gail he got his rings (whether it was a gift or something he picked up idk) so around the 80s or 90s but he didn't wear them as often as he does now.

head cannon: after guillermo complimented the rings we see him wear in the show he made sure to wear those specific rings everyday

thanks for watching me go crazy coming to my TED talk

[oscarmild]

I saw this photo when I was on the bus right after reading the news and was almost crying laughing. The way Stassi is winding up, her expression, Kristin being totally unaware. Literally looney tunes shit. This reveal after all the time Kristin spent playing the victim in her and Tom’s relationship and spending the whole summer insisting nothing happened with Jax . The payoff of this moment was insane. GOD. VPR was truly lighting in a bottle. Not all seasons were good but when they were good, they were incredible.

Kristin having a meltdown while on some low budget photoshoot because one of the other models had hooked up with her boyfriend years before. Season 1 Stassi’s birthday, everyone fighting, Schwartz pouring a beer on her head, Jax showing up in that fuckass white sweater and all the boys taking their shirts off to fight in the parking lot. Any subsequent birthday “it’s MY BIRTHDAY” and having everything go wrong.“I’ve been very judicious with my drinking!!!” Kristin bringing miami girl to sur, chain smoking cigs and telling her boss to go suck a dick because she’s trying to fuck up tom and Ariana’s relationship. How they all responded to the pulse nightclub shooting which ended with a bunch of straight people in LA saying they didn’t feel safe going into work . Sandoval calling Schwartz a battered woman while they’re in drag at his bachelor party and the insane smile Schwartz had on his face. “IM THE NUMBER ONE GUY IM THE GROUP!!!” Jax coked out of his mind and lying to everyone on screen and then lying about not lying. “IM ON THE BRIM!” Kristin draining bottles of wine and huffing darts while calling Lisa while they were on vacation to tell her that her and Tom split up. They all bullied Scheana mercilessly. Brazenly using the most obvious code words for all the drugs they were on. “I don’t know what I did to you but I’ll take a Pinot Grigio”.

Obviously, the later seasons proved it wasn’t what it once was, but still. I doubt any new cast will be able to recreate the dynamic formed by having an organic friend group filled with the most delusional, mean, selfish, shameless, fame hungry alcoholics who all hated each other and couldn’t stop fucking one another.

Rebooting VPR with a different cast is so futile. What made VPR special is that They were all adults (mostly) in their late 20s trying to make the most of their dead end restaurant jobs while grappling with the fact that they weren’t going to make it in Hollywood all the while filling the void with toxic relationships and partying. They saw the opportunity they had from being on VPR and were completely shameless and let themselves be filmed getting blackout and lying to each other and being generally despicable human beings. People just don’t let themselves do that on tv anymore. Social media has made everyone way too self conscious. No new cast will be able to recapture that magic. Obviously it’s way too profitable at the moment to just end completely, but rebooting it with a new cast just goes to show that there’s a fundamental misunderstanding about the appeal of the show. I don’t care about servers at SUR- I care about this insane group of assholes who all hate each other but are forced to be in each other’s lives because they got exactly what they wanted.

This show has brought me so much joy over the years. Rest in peace, Vanderpump Rules, you will always be the pinnacle of what it is possible to achieve with the medium of reality tv <3

[likeadevils]

Do you know if the 150 vault tracks for 1989 was true? I’ve always assumed it to be false/exaggerated but it’s something I’ve seen being talked about on TikTok constantly so i’m doubting myself

as far as i've seen, that particular number comes from a secret sessioner. there probably some truth to it-- there's this aside from her New York Magazine article (which she gave on September 22, 2013) "While on the Red tour, she’d been writing songs and stockpiling ideas: reams of lyrics, thousands of voice memos in her iPhone," and she also mentioned in a video (i think in the grammy listening session when she's talking about ryan tedder?) that she tried to bring 3-5 ideas to a producer before they got in the studio so they could choose what they wanted to work on. which is like, an insane amount of backlogged song ideas when it comes to taylor, so it makes sense.

that being said, i don't think they were full songs (at least the vast majority of them). based on the voice memos and the interviews i've read, it seems like taylor would have a verse/verse melody and a chorus, and then once a producer chose a song she would flesh it out more. there are some exceptions, but by in large, most of the voice memos she brought to producers were varying degrees of unfinished. furthermore, the stuff that didn't get chosen by a producer was likely not recorded in any real way, and therefore not legitimately considered for the album.

here is a list of all the vault songs we know about

she was in the studio in early october 2012

jacknifee lee implied her and harry wrote a couple songs together that fall

she's tweets about being in the studio in february 2013

she's photographed entering one in early march

she posts on instagram implying she's writing a song in late march

in november of 2013 she says a couple times that she has seven or eight songs that she knows she wants on the album. by that, taylor had likely recorded 10 songs that went on to make 1989, 7 that had been made since taylor and jack had a big conversation about 80s music in may, and 5 of which that were likely recorded in the past two months. so, depending on how taylor was judging "songs she knew she wanted on the album", that leaves room for about two or three songs from late 2013 that almost made the album but didn't.

she writes one with diane warren in january 2014

she's photographed entering a recording studio in march 2014.

by may 2014, she had likely wrapped recording and done the album photoshoot. so being generous, that's roughly a dozen mostly complete, unreleased songs. there's always the possibility of more, but i would still say that would bring the total up to 15, tops. furthermore, only 5 of those songs that we know about were written after taylor and jack had had their conversation about 80s music (x, x, there's so much more pick like any piece of press jack does about 1989) and taylor starts building the album around it (x, x).

so like, despite having a lot of rough drafts, taylor likely had a fairly small amount of songs she legitimately considered for 1989 but cut. which is what the vault songs are-- not a complete record of every song she halfway made while writing for the album, but a collection of killed darlings.

[justamessedupdisneyprincess]

Lost in labyrinth mall! Part 2

A Barley X OC (Izzy) fanfic!

There was no getting out of it, Laurel made that abundantly clear. Barley had no choice but to go shopping for new clothes. At least things should be that much more interesting with Izzy by his side. He grabbed ahold of his phone and rang Izzy’s number.

At the time the imp was in the middle of playing a video game, when she hears her phone ring she groans at first. F**king scammers…” she mumbles, she had assumed it was just another person trying to call her to scam her. It had been happening a lot lately and it’s been driving her mad! Still, she knew she had to check and when she saw Barley’s name appear, nicknamed “🐻Barley Bear🐻” she instantly got all excited! Her scowl changed into a huge grin as she answered the phone. “Hey, snuggle wuggle!” She says sweetly.

Barley chuckled a bit once he heard the name she had given him. “Good evening, Princess! I hear that you’re still able to come up with new names for me?” She had dozens of nicknames for him, all with a similar theme. To many it would make them cringe but Barley finds it rather endearing how she gives him so many special titles like that. Deep down he actually likes it as well, even when he was a tiny bit flustered when it first started happening.

“Ah- sorry. Is that ok?” Izzy says nervously over the phone. She was very affectionate but was always so fearful of ever annoying anyone with her quirks and whatnot.

“Oh that is perfectly fine. I gotta hand it to you with that, you’re pretty creative with some of the nicknames you’ve given me. What was it you called me the other day? Bar kins?” Barley said in response, a slight teasing tone to his voice.

Izzy blushes and giggles shyly. “Y-yeah. I just can’t really help it I just- I really love you. That’s uh…that’s not weird right?” Izzy was an interesting person to date in this regard. She kept going back and fourth from being highly affectionate to insanely shy. The change can happen within a matter of seconds as well, but that of course all depends on how the partner responds.

Barley couldn’t help but find that endearing about her as well. He laughed a bit more as he tried to imagine how bashful she might have been in that moment. “Hahaha! Hey you know me, I love weird! And you’re the best kind of weird too!”

Being called weird was not at all uncommon for Izzy. Barley was the only one who ever used the term weird as if it had a positive meaning to it. There was a moment of miscommunication between the two before because of this. Once when Barley called Izzy weird as a term of endearment she immediately took it the wrong way. When they were able to work it out though, he made sure to try and refer to her as good weird and how he loves it so she doesn’t forget. She is unique and he loved that about her. Although he did say those words before, Izzy still had a tiny bit of trouble understanding his type of logic but she loved him regardless and their love was new. “Really?” She says with a small hopeful smile.

“Heck yeah really.” Barley replied. “Anyways…Mom has kinda been bugging me to head out and buy myself some new clothes. As an adventurous young warrior…I find that stuff totally boring. But I figured it might not be so boring if you could accompany me? Perhaps we could have a look at any other store’s you like the look of? Pick up a plushie or two?” He knew she would be happy too of course and he had no doubt that she would refuse. Izzy made for a very loyal partner as well and was always eager to accompany those she cares for.

“Yeah! I’d love to tag along.” Izzy says, she already got excited as she began to wonder what kind of treasures await her. Although while Barley’s idea of treasure was more related to the far more literal term such as ancient relics lost in the labyrinth, Izzy’s term for her was any adorable plushie or figurine she could get her hands on. She is quite the collector.

Barley grins. “Then it is a date. I’ll pick ya up at nine in the morning! That should give ya enough time to prepare yourself for our little adventure right?”

Izzy nodded her head, even though technically he wouldn’t be able to see it without FaceTime on. Her tail started to wag as well. “I’ll be ready by then, Barbar!”

The next day Barley drove in as far as he could towards Izzy’s home. It was tucked away in a dense forest so Guinevere can only go so far sadly. She had moved into a home that once belonged to a very successful warden. A warden is a type of class in quests of yore and much like every other part of the game it is historically accurate. Wardens have a special connection with animals and nature, they can tame any beast and help any plant bloom even in the harshest of environments. Their skills are beyond just having a green thumb or love for animals. Much like how Ian happened to be a wizard in modern times, Izzy happens to be a warden in modern times.

This old hideout which was once a sanctuary for magical creatures is covered in dense strangle weed that not even construction workers could tear through. The mystical vines only move and allow passage for warden’s and those who they trust. Because of this Izzy was able to move in easily and help fix the place up. She is now continuing the legacy of the warden who once lived there centuries ago, to take care of animals in need.

The strangle weeds opened up an archway that allowed Barley to enter. The place was out of control when he first got to lay his eyes into the place. But they were able to fix it up nicely. Barley was eager to help Izzy!

He looked to the stable and saw some of the wild unicorns she picked up from the streets, they were already looking much healthier. Then he looked to the coop that was full of Phoenixes who had been left behind, some flew above his head and landed onto the thick branches that covered up the skies like a giant tent made from nature. Large exotic flowers bloomed around almost every corner. It was like a piece of paradise. Back in the day it was not uncommon for warden’s to have sanctuaries like this, a warden’s nest is what they used to be called.

Barley had not even arrived at Izzy’s doorstep, she just dashed right out and ran over to him. Barley eagerly opened up his arms and scooped her up the moment she wrapped her arms around him. He lifted her into the air and twirled her around, the butterflies dance around them as they laughed. She wore a plaid blue and pink dress with a purple shirt underneath it, ribbons were on the straps of the dress that rested on her shoulders. “My little Izzy! Looking as beautiful as ever I see.” Barley says cheerfully.

Izzy had always been bashful when it came to compliments, her cheeks went rosy but she hid it by complimenting him back. “And you’re looking as adorable as ever!” She says as she squishes his cheeks.

Barley chuckled a bit and the two kissed. “So are you ready to join me on this new…not exactly so exciting quest? I’m certain your company will help make things far more interesting.”

Izzy nodded her head. “Yeah! But you know…shopping isn’t actually that boring if you look in all the right places.” Izzy says.

“True true, you might discover an old tomb that lies underneath the mall itself!” Barley said with a glimmer in his eyes, he began to walk back, still carrying Izzy.

“Well there’s that. But I am thinking more along the lines of finding cool collectables.” Izzy says with a giggle.

“As much as I would love to seek out any old relics for sale…mother will have my head if I spend my money on something other than clothing.” Barley replied.

Izzy tensed when she imagined how furious Laurel might get. She felt bad for Barley in that moment, especially knowing her family allowed her to spend the money literally however she liked…only scolding her on occasion when it came to her love of collecting many things. “I’m so sorry about that.” She says as she gently cuffed his cheek. “But y’know…maybe you can get at least one thing you like the looks of? I mean you should be able to treat yourself at least a little, she can’t really argue if it’s nothing too expensive too, right?” Izzy offered.

Barley grinned at the idea. “I like the way you think, little imp. Ooooorrrr…maybe she doesn’t even have to know about it at all.”

“I get the temptation but if you sneak too many goodies she will notice the clunkiness of the bags.” Izzy stated.

Barley sighed, she had a solid point there. Plus his mother was always clever enough to figure him out. “Yeah, you’re right. Hardly anything gets past her eyes!”