#so its basically intermission

[wireoftheday]

Very special wire of the day!

I saw the manics!!! Nickys outfit is 10/10 with the pink blazer, James had the greatest energy and Sean's drumming was fantastic. And about halfway through their set -

Someone came out and gave nicky a feather boa while he dedicated motorcycle emptiness to richey <3

[felixcosm]

Now is the perfect time to go subscribe to the commentary tier on the woe.begone patreon because this week we're doing the 101 commentary 🙂

[lilac-lazurite]

rn im debating whether i should eat some actual food or just go to sleep (it has been nearly 24 hours again aughhhdjcjjdjdjdjjd)

[r1999isgonnakillmeoneday]

im back 😈with more basic info compiled yippeeeee this one will be abt vertin

possible name references for vertin:

vert means green in french which might be the reference to her hair and eye color that is a greenish gray

vertin is an altered form of a german vertein a nickname for service obligation (vertin working for the foundation)

her CN name 维尔汀 Wéi ěr tīng uses the characters like 維 Wéi can have the meaning preserve, maintain, or safeguard. while 尔 ěr can have the meaning you; that; those. and 汀 tīng having the meaning of low, level land along the river, or spit of land. (might not have any leads but this is how they write vertin in CN) could reference on how vertin tries to preserve things before getting hit by the storm

switching the syllables on vertin's name can turn it into invert

thats it for the name

vertin is 16 yrs old

she's saved 63 unregistered arcanists

she became the timekeeper at 12 (poor girl has been overworked since she was 12 :( )

the youngest arcanist being adopted by the foundation at one month old

vertin's love language is implied to be physical affection and gift giving can be found on john titor, cristallo, sotheby, marcus's voicelines and main story where lil vertin gives little trinkets to sonetto when she was in SPDM and the alcohol she gave lilya in chapter 4? i think

she has a scar on her back with the shape of a moon, an eye, and interesting lines

her immunity to the storm is because she possesses an antibody called Asymmetric Protein G that lets her withstand the storm without getting reversed

on oliver fogs wilderness conversation its said that vertin doesn't know why she chose to become the timekeeper as this might imply that she has dissociative amnesia from trauma (is probably wrong i love yapping 💕)

her arcane skills are weak though she can still cast some skills unlike when she was a child

she is highly intelligent in battle and has a high perception towards arcanum

she has high endurance and strength both mentally and physically

she has a habit of not knocking (click and matilda's greetings voiceline)

she often faked her sickness back in SPDM to visit tooth fairy in the infirmary and get toffees

she used to be covered in bruises and small wounds when she was a child most likely from her exploring

she likes to collect things that she finds interesting

she has a magazine called "1930's Girls Sensual Parts Clippings" in the attic from Necrologist's voiceline (vertin girlkisser is so real dont use this as an excuse to sexualize her tho i will nuke u 😡)

she took a random bottle off the ground and drank it, the drink had a label "The Walden Potion Bar" (from Chapter 1 "In Our Time" intermission)

in kakania's idle voiceline it was said that she can sleep while standing up

will add more if i find more things soon!

[jolys-cane]

TOUR THOUGHTS

Saw the Les Miserables Tour at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto on May 21 2024; here are my thoughts (Long read, sorry I have a lot of feelings)

Prologue/Look Down/Valjean's Soliloquy

We got like, holographic waves crashing and the men are rowing a boat LIKE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE it's awesome

Oh my god the pipes on the background actors were so good. THE SUN IS STRONG ITS HOT AS HEEELLL BELOW

I miss Javert's stupid guard hat. Was bareheaded as he gave Valjean his yellow ticket

PETIT GERVAIS?????????? Valjean steals a little boy's coin when he's roaming the countryside 😭

Randy Jeter as the Bishop blew me away. Not just his voice but his acting was FANTASTIC every single movement was like. I am an old bishop. This is how an old bishop moves. Idk idk it was really good

Nick Cartell did a great job w Valjean overall, but I totally loved him as pre-MsurM Valjean the most. He acts like a feral animal, grabbing the wine out of the nun's hands and the bread from the priest all hunched over and practically snarling - very very cool and awesome

At the End of the Day

Not a negative but when we went to At the End of the Day there was very minimal lighting and my first thought was Oh no the lighting broke hope they fix it and we don't have to have a brief intermission but then when they went 'At the end of the day there's another day dawning' the lights went up and I was like OHHHHHHHHHHHH so that's just me not understanding lighting direction

Foreman killed it, so did all of the factory workers I love all the interactions and ad-libbing in the background it makes me so happy to see

Every time I saw a tall graceful ensemble member I was like '"That's Kyle Adams" and 8/10 times I was right. Otherwise it was Daniel Gerard Bittner

I Dreamed A Dream

OKKKK VOCALS???? Haley Dortch has such a beautiful, clear, emotional sound and she left not a dry eye in the house. Literally the second intermission hit my parents and myself were like. Holy shit dude what about that Fantine

I got her autograph after the show and she was so so sweet 🥺 She accidentally messed up her signature and had to redo it and was apologising to me and I was like GIRL you brought the house down you could stab me right now and I'd be like 'Thanks have a good one'

Lovely Ladies / Fantine's Arrest

Bamatabois (David Andino) was a standout performance, really chewed the scenery and I adored every second he was on stage (Plus his costume was fantastic)

The other girls defending Fantine 🥺

I like that after the police show up and they basically arrest all of the ladies and pimps, regular well-off citizens come out to witness Valjean defending Fantine from Javert. Thought it was a nice touch

Fantine's Death

My first and only cry of the evening, Haley Dortch no one does it like you

The Confrontation

If you've heard me talk about the confrontation you'll know that I absolutely hate the new chain choreography, HOWEVER. I really really liked it this time. Preston in particular gave it a lot of physicality that I enjoyed

Nick Cartell is a little guy and I don't really believe that his Valjean managed to knock out Preston's Javert

For some reason the percussion was really loud and I could barely hear the vocals so I don't have many thoughts on them

Master of the House / Waltz of Treachery

MATT CROWLE YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

Both Thenardiers were fantastic, not a crazy amount of ad-libbing but when they did they made it count ("BYE, BAGUETTE")

Madame in particular was hilarious

Master of the House is very busy in a good way, everywhere you look interesting things are happening. Another number where the ensemble shines and you can tell everyone is having a blast

The Bargain was funny as hell, Thenardier tells Cosette to die in his arms and she goes limp when he's saying she's 'often been ill'

Valjean gives Cosette Catherine!

Look Down / The Robbery

Gavroche was super charismatic and confident, really great child actor (Milo Maharlika)

Eponine tosses Marius' book across the stage and he goes "I like the way you always ... tease 😐" They're such cute friends together

After Enjolras and the boys are done their preaching Enjolras gets stopped by a policeman and is told off 😭

During the robbery Montparnasse keeps Marius away by brandishing his little knife at him which I thought was cute

Also! Montparnasse is the only member of Thenardier's gang to escape during the Robbery!!! Which is a nice Brick reference

After Thenardier's 'In the absense of a victim' spiel he does this exact pose

Gavroche's little 'Clear the streets' 🫡moment is so cute

Stars

God I love Preston Truman Boyd

His Javert is so stalwart and reserved and dedicated, he's kind of robocop and it really really works, and you get to see just a smidge of vulnerability peek out in this song

ABC Cafe / Red and Black

I DON'T REMEMBER A LOT bare with me

Grantaire was absolutely the standout. Slapped Marius' butt with his coat. Stuck his wine bottle dick in Enjolras' face. Offered Combeferre a sip of his wine (who reluctantly accepted). Blew a kiss at Enjolras

Kyle Adams physicality is probably my favourite aspect of his Grantaire - he moves very assuredly, like a cat, in a way that is like okay he's drunk but he's so used to being drunk that his stumbling is more like dancing. I remember reading a fic that described Grantaire's movements in a similar way and I wonder if that was one of the fics Kyle took inspiration from?

OOH they did the wine bottle keep-away thing with Grantaire and Marius which I didn't know they still did so that was exciting

J.T Wood is such a cute Joly I love his voice

In Do You Hear the People Sing Grantaire grabs a gun and holds it at arms-length like it has cooties before handing it off to another student

Combeferre waves the flag both times (Here and in One Day More) and I'm not sure if it's always Combeferre who does that or if it's because Andrew Marks Maughan is clearly the most physically strong of the Barricade Boys

In My Life / A Heart Full of Love

Delaney Guyer is a really good Cosette in that she has a gorgeous voice and also has a lot of personality and actually reacts to things going on around her

Marius (who was played by Christopher James Tamayo for this performance) is such a cute little nerd. You can see him try to figure out what he's going to do, then he throws a rock at Cosette's window and kind of cringes at the noise - he's so unsure of himself and awkward

Cosette is very excited that he's here and closes the window right away, which prompts Marius' 'I'm doing everything all wrong!' until she reappears downstairs and they get to be cute dorks in love

Attack on Rue Plumet

I don't remember a lot but I DO remember that Eponine was really good here

When Valjean is like 'Tomorrow we'll away' Cosette goes 'WHAT? NO!'

David Andino is so good as Babet he is a chronic scene stealer at this point

One Day More

If you know Another thing about me you know I hate the One Day More box-step but it actually did not bug me this time. They put Grantaire next to Enjolras for the marching portion which is cute

On My Own

Holy shit Mya Rena Hunter delivered the most heartbreaking and powerful rendition of this I've ever heard

The Barricade

Loved Feuilly in his little part

Javert is a good spy. If I didn't know the plot of Les Mis I would've been like Holy shit that's Javert? Crazy. I love him drawing the 'plans' he'd overheard into the ground with a stick

Gavroche flipping Javert off >>>>>

Buff Combeferre is one of the two to drag Javert away to be tied up lol

A Little Fall of Rain

The only version of ALFoR that actually made me feel something

Marius and Eponine get a lot of time to be cute together before the barricade actually notices that she's dying - and Gavroche is the first to notice and gets a front row seat to her death which is heartbreaking

The First Attack

Grantaire's "AND SO THE WAR WAS WON!" was sooo scathingly sarcastic

Javert waited, like, 30 seconds to leave after Valjean freed him, with his back almost against the barrel of Valjean's gun as if he were hoping to be shot

When the gun went off the entire barricade abruptly snapped their heads to look at Valjean and the audience laughed 😭

Telling Valjean 'Well done' for shooting a tied up hostage is a strange choice

Drink With Me

I still hate 'For certain as the eagle flies' I think it's the dumbest line in the entire musical

Grantaire's part was very grand - His voice has like noticeably changed at this point in the musical to give it a sort of hoarse hopeless quality to it which absolutely hits you in the feels

Enjolras comforted him and I swear Grantaire let his hand linger on his cheek for a few seconds longer than normal before pushing him away

Gavroche hugged Grantaire from behind and Grantaire couldn't even turn around at first because he was so distraught and kind of blindly reached for him 😭

Chris Tamayo's Marius is such a poor little meow meow

Bring Him Home

Absolutely jaw-dropping performance from Nick Cartell

He sings Bring Him Home like it's a lullaby - which it's supposed to be

I don't exaggerate when I say that the applause went on for about a minute straight, and was the loudest of the night by far

Death of Gavroche / The Final Battle

Oh poor thang

Grantaire near the end of Gavroche's singing was turned away facing the audience like he knew Gav was going to die and couldn't bear to watch 🥺

Later on in the final battle Grantaire spends most of the time next to Gavroche's body in like a catatonic state

The SPOTLIGHTS representing BULLETS as Les Amis died almost made me lose it

Grantaire dies last, I'm sure he said something before he started climbing the barricade but I couldn't hear it 😭He and Enjolras still have their moment over Marius' body

The Sewer

Javert comes across Enjolras' cart-carried body (Still hate the cart but I can learn to appreciate it) and looks a bit uncomfortable

Then he stumbles upon Gavroche's corpse, kneels, and does the sign of the cross over him

Almost made me cry ngl

DOG EATS DOG WAS SO GOOD I LOVED IT

Javert looked like he wanted to shoot Valjean as he walked away with Marius

Javert's Suicide

HOOOOOOLYYYY SHIIIIITTTTT

It was so good

Preston Truman Boyd you will always be famous I fully believe that Javert had completely lost his mind at this point in the play

I don't have many thoughts on the rest but I loved Marius and Cosette reading Valjean's confession as he walked away with Fantine - and the Bishop hugging him as he arrives in heaven

Also Kyle Adams as Major Domo mincing about the stage in The Wedding was an absolute delight

Am very sleepy now but overall 10/10 I love this cast so much

[girlbowser]

gonna go completely insane for a second here.

was thinking about mspar. who will obviously not. appear in hsbc. bc it makes almost no thematic sense for that to happen

but like… i made a connection. that i want to talk about.

mspar in pq is defined by two things, early on

really, really, really fucking hating the direction the epilogues took the "story", and wanting to take it into their own hands to fix it.

like, the imagery about this being a Bad Thing is pretty unsubtle. in the prologue, mspar literally tramples over homestuck panels, crushing them underfoot. and by the end of pq, what they have done isnt just create a new timeline where "everyone is happy," they've overwritten homestuck to do it. theyve Literally retconned the story and replaced it with their fanon ideas of how to "fix" things. that's why ultdirk and the director have to come and tell you that it needs to stop.

there's a lot more about mspar's actions in pq being like… pretty unambiguously villain shit, in my reading, but thats a sort of separate ramble to what i wanted to be insane about (let me know if you want me to ramble about. mspar being the bad guy. another time.)

basically. mspar's design looks a hell of a lot like doc scratch. obviously. theyre both round-headed narrators.

doc scratch's textbox is literally just mspar's inverted. theyre foils, in a sense. scratch enables canon while hurting everyone to do it, and mspar enables fanon (…while hurting everyone to do it, differentways.)

and that got me thinking like. a lot of this description i just wrote applies to another character too.

someone in the text who was introduced as a reader of the stories of the heroes, as an author of fanfiction and fanart

though, obviously meat and candy calliope are accounted for. it's not literally that mspar is calliope. besides, its not even like calliope wears a similar hooded black outfit to them, or makes a huge fucking deal about loathing the complexity of postcanon,

hey wait a minute

and theyve got a lot in common. even beyond the superficial. for example, they both just. appoint themself as the guardian of their timeline, because they have to "fix" homestuck. (whether the characters in homestuck want this or not.)

jade harley literally tells *both characters* "well, what if we don't want your protection!!!! why won't you leave us alone!" and then they just sorta ignore her wishes

and the connection keeps going. like. mspar and altcallie have both stood outside of the green sun with aradia and absorbed a canon into themself so they can rewrite it.

this extremely specific thing they have in common!!!! kinda fucked up!!!!!!

like, im not saying this because i literally think mspar is going to crack their head open and reveal altcallie a la Lord English in that intermission.

but THEMATICALLY.

they have a lot in common.

way more than i realized until literally two days ago!

like mspar is LITERALLY another narrator at least on the scale of ultdirk and doc scratch and the like and LITERALLY ALL OF THEM ARE VILLAINS shdashjfhasfhsajdhgashfkgshjdgsdfgsdhjg. there is stuff to think about.

(conspiracy brain.) and of all the outfits mspar wore in friendsim, it's specifically the black hoodie up that they got sprites for….

anyway.

obviously pesterquest and hsbc werent referencing each other because the second one did not exist yet.

but like! i think theres something there. in terms of da Themes and Motifs.

(if there are more close readings of pq, id be SUPER curious to find em :3)

[spidermanifested]

okay so. since the other post hasnt gotten any takers and i am still broke im opening up more general commissions as well lol. shoot me a friend request on discord @spidermanifested if youre interested in any of the following:

regular commission fare

flat color headshot ($20): a shoulders-up drawing of any character you want, human or furry or robot or Watever. my specialty is, as always, old people. lineart and flats only.

painted headshot ($35): a shoulders-up drawing but this time i get to go hog wild with the shading. i like doing this better so youre basically getting swindled that it costs more

flat color full-body ($40): a full-body drawing in a pose of your choice. please feel free to give me some kind of reference for how you want the pose to look. even if its a stick figure. its So much easier that way

painted full-body ($55): a full-body drawing with shading. pose references also greatly appreciated

The Special Stuff

anime screenshot redraw ($30 per character in the shot): i love doing these also. if youve ever had a really good anime screenshot and you wanted an artists more detailed semirealistic rendition of it. even if its just that one of the guy from naruto kicking his leg up and saying "pathetic". especially if its that. i am your man

oc design collab ($10 per day): give me the details on an oc youre having trouble designing, from a description to existing reference material, and ill provide feedback and concept sketches until we settle on something youre happier with. it can be as much as asking me to design them from the ground up or as trivial as "do you think their hairstyle looks dumb"

fma eyecatch ($40): one of the intermission cards where the guy goes Full Metal Alchemist. with your character, matched to the fmab style to the best of my ability, which is preddy good i think

further info

if you want me to draw naked people or horny stuff thats another 20 bucks on top of whatever the price is

no horny art of characters under 18, period

i dont want to just open up ship commissions point blank because drawing people interacting is so much harder. but if the ship is something i am into as well i MAY be open to it. itd be double as expensive though

im allowed to tell you something is going to be too hard or i dont want to do it for any other reason

i take payment via paypal or cashapp, whatever works better. payment details will be given via discord. please have the money ready upfront and if for whatever reason i cant complete the commission ill refund you. once again thats spidermanifested on discord, or you can dm me on here if you dont have discord but i Vastly prefer it 👍

[justonemorechapternicercy]

Watched Hadestown. Had some Hadercy thoughts.

“That's fucked up,” Percy murmured as the last note of the Hey, Little Songbird trailed off.

A scoff came from his side, and a deep voice replied, “Well, it's Hades, isn't it?”

And that was just it.

It wasn't Hades. Not the Hades Percy knew. It is the Hades everybody believed him to be; cruel and cold, unfeeling and malicious. It was the Hades Camp Half-blood tried to turn him against; the one Chiron was adamant to be the one behind the stolen lightning bolt. The one nobody trusted in.

Not the one Percy got to know.

“No,” he whispered, eyes never leaving the stage. It was a captivating play - he’d never really been to theater before -, and the story was something he love-hated. Still, it made him so mad to see Hades portrayed like this.

“No?” Asked the person sitting next to him in a surprised tone. Percy didn't reply - it would have been rude. The play was still going on, after all.

-

The intermission came as a surprise. He was captivated; the songs were beautiful, the music something he didn't really experience before. Everybody had been so quick to dismiss his interest in the show, thinking that theater was too good for him, but if all musicals were like that, he wouldn't mind visiting other plays as well. It was not the best going to places alone, but maybe he could take Estelle with him, sometimes. She would probably love it - and she deserved a better childhood than his was.

“Well, Little Songbird, what did you mean by no?” His neighbor’s words brought him back from his thoughts. He blinked, looking back to the person next to him, and.

Well.

Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't stupid. Oblivious, maybe. Scattered brained, definitely - he had ADHD for fuck's sake. But stupid? No.

So, when he saw the gorgeous guy next to him, he knew that it was a god. Not because he was unfairly handsome, but because gods who tried to blend in humans tended to still stand out - in Percy's opinion at least. He didn't know who he was, but that guy was definitely a god. And a god, who tried to trash talk about Hades in front of Percy.

He narrowed his eyes, and said, “What? Do you have problems with understanding a simple word? It means that I disagreed with your statement. I understand that it might come as a surprise, but keep up.”

The god looked surprised, then laughed. It was a good look on him, Percy noted distantly.

“Little Songbird got a sharp tongue, I see. So, if you are so opinionated, what’s your opinion on Hades?” asked with a calculating look.

Percy had no trouble with putting gods in their places. So, he started, “Well, first of all, he is portrayed as a villain everywhere. But like, for what the fuck? He is the Lord of the Underworld, not Death. He does not decide who dies and who lives, he just rules over them. And I would also be pissed off if my realm would be overcrowded. He did not kidnap Persephone without consent. He is not cruel, not compared to basically any other god. And-”

Before he could finish his tirade, he was pulled out of his chair, onto the lap of the god. Who was-

Oh, of course. He wasn't even surprised.

“If you don't want me to kiss you, tell me. Otherwise, you will experience what it is to be kidnapped with consent at first hand.”

“Not before the end of the play,” Percy huffed, pulling away from the tempting embrace. He wanted to enjoy his first time at the theater at its fullest, damnit!

A pause, then, “After the play, then.”

It sounded like a threat.

For Percy, it was a promise.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Characters with Bothersome Traits

Debut: Tetris Blast

I am the kind of person who is delighted by, among other things, a certain pairing of words that many (sad) people may never think to consider in their lives. This pair of words is "Tetris Characters". I have already told you about some of those in the form of personified blocks, but there are even more, and this will certainly not be my last time mentioning the topic!

Tetris Blast is a Tetris spinoff, in particular, a version of the Bombliss game mode made for the Game Boy. It is like Tetris, but each Tetri- or Tri- or Domino has at least one Mino that is a bomb! The standard completed row does not automatically disappear, but if it contains a bomb, that bomb will detonate, destroying blocks around it. And this is what I was doing, playing the standard mode, when every five stages, I was greeted by a new little critter dancing on a stage! What a lovely surprise! But who were these creatures?

It turns out this game also has a Fight Mode! Where you Fight some guys! The manual refers to them as characters with bothersome traits, so that's as close to a band name for them as we'll get. Let's meet them all RIGHT NOW!

Cubit Cubit is a bit spunchlike, but if our favorite sponge was a grumpy nudist! It is the most basic of all these creatures, and just wanders around. I like its round armless hands. A very easy guy to obliterate.

Scraptor No offense to Cubit, but Scraptor is already way more interesting! It's a very geometric creature, a square "diamond" whose body is split into two halves. It is actually one big mouth, and the halves detach on a tiny hinge to open and eat bombs! This was the very first of these creatures I saw, because it is the first one that dances in the intermission scenes. What an incredible first impression!

Gloop Gloop is a little cutie! It is like a drop a dollop a squeezing. It also looks like an extremely simplified cartoon whale! You know how there is a whale emoji and also a cartoon whale emoji? Gloop could be the next stage of evolution. I also really love the way it laughs. It looks so innocent, but then laughs in a way that looks SO mocking, it feels like the cuteness is a facade!

Creepa Creepa is another little cutie, which there are bound to be many of when looking at little guys exclusive to a Game Boy game. I like that it is cylinder-shaped, like it came out of a can, or is a can! Though it looks cylindrical, its bothersome trait is to make extra blocks. And I also like its shoes. If it didn't have the shoes, it would be as basic as Cubit, probably. But basic isn't bad!

Squidly Squidly is my favorite of these guys! Look at it!!! It is like they distilled everything cute about Creepa into an even cuter form! Its smile is smaller, more gentle. Its eyes are bigger and bulge from the sides of its head, like its namesake, a squid! It has no arms to make it feel even more like a Video Game Creature, and yet still wears those excellent shoes. I guess the shape isn't necessarily an upgrade from Creepa, but this would be precious regardless of shape, and I am neutral about the change. Actually, it reminds me of a well-used eraser, and now that I thought of that, I like the shape even more! If this wasn't enough, Squidly has the ability to make entire rows of blocks, and after it does this, it dances happily, like it knows you can't get it now. This would typically be rude, but it's so cute that it can't be rude. I think it is truly just delighted!

Dug Grub Dug Grub probably has the best name in the game! Any name related to larvae is a winning name to me! If my name was Maggie I would always specify "like maggot" when telling it to people. Dug Grub is like a blob with a frog's head, and its eyes bulge SO much that they sometimes even appear to be floating! It has the bothersome trait of eating Mega Bombs, which is one of the most bothersome traits of all, because those things are precious resources. But if anything has to have an Eating Something Large Special Attack, it would be a Frog Blob.

Shadow Shadow is a cheeky little potato of a cyclops creature. Oh so cheeky, but also seems to be a bit of a sore loser! Get over it, am I right? It's just Bombs. It has Squidly's row creation ability in addition to probably the coolest ability in the game: it is able to enlarge its eye and envelop the playing field in darkness, which momentarily freezes the player's actions! I guess that is how it gets its name. I also must assume that the reason the screen goes dark is that its eye gets so big and effective that it is Seeing all that light before any of us gets a chance to. Save some for me! *Shadow's pupil burps*

B-Boy Finally we have B-Boy. Probably short for Ball-Boy. But there are so many possibilities... Buddy-Boy? Buckaroo-Boy? Boisterous-Boy? Maybe his real name is Baby-Boy and his parents dote on him so much, and he changed it out of embarrassment. He also adopted a new persona. Smug. Mischievous. Don't worry, he'll probably grow out of it after middle school. But for now, he is a real Bothersome-Boy! He ALSO has stolen Squidly's row creation ability! Squidly is such a trailblazer and I think would be justified in suing. Worst of all, though, B-Boy has a Bomb Attack that can actually regenerate his own health! Not an orb to be underestimated! Indeed, this is an orb to restart the level multiple times as a result of. A real Bad-Boy!

[silverskye13]

I am turning EB around in my head like a microwave and I have a couple questions:

What is EB and EX's relationship like? I know they view each other as family and EX gets EB's booth, but will we see how they interact more?

Did anyone wind up telling EB that hels!zedaph is dead? If not, does he have suspicions that he is?

and a more general Hels question (that is totally not related no siree) - what is the upkeep for the remembrance walls like?

EB and EX are on friendly terms! They previously saw each other,,, not as rivals in the traditional sense. They didn't openly attack or oppose each other. But EB viewed EX as a challenge: How do I stay distinct from my brother's shadow? Anyone looking for it would find it obvious. EB got Bigger and Louder whenever EX was around, and he used to be much bigger and much louder than he currently is. It's less that he was mean, and more that he was prideful. Becoming friends with Helsknight changed him for the better in that regard. Since he's mellowed out, he and his brother have become closer. They enjoy visiting with each other during Colosseum matches [EB will often stand with EX in the box and talk both before the events, and during intermission] and EX invites EB to a lot of parties, where they shit talk the guests together. We'll see them together once during RnS, but EB is a secondary character, and outside of the one appearance, I don't intend to have EX very involved in the story. He's kind of the unspoken god of the world: he gets a lot of mentions because he's very important to hels, but he's not very important to the plot lol.

Someone did wind up telling EB about hels!zedaph, though yes, he did suspect before he was told. EB hadn't gone looking for HZ for a reason. He didn't want to be the one to find out he was gone. If I can't see it, maybe its not really there.

And the Remembrance Wall Ramble got long so its under the cut!

[Hello future me cutting in here because I just realized you were probably talking about what individuals like EB would do to upkeep a name of a loved one. Mostly it involves regular visits. Keeping the stone clean, replacing it if it gets cracked, making sure it doesn't wear down. Nether bricks to me are a bit brittle, and the ones on the bottoms of the walls will crumble and break down over time. Most of the time, the Order of Remembrance is pretty good at getting them replaced, though they encourage individuals to do it themselves, to decorate the stones, paint or carve them, and overall keep the care personal. People will also sometimes leave gifts of food, flowers, and favored items at walls where loved ones names are kept. Walls are very colorful spots in hels, full of a lot of care.]

The Remembrance walls are, basically, graveyards. Alongside friends and family, who will make sure loved ones names are put down and remembered, the Order of Remembrance manages all Remembrance Walls in the city. We'll get into it a little in the upcoming chapters, but the Order of Remembrance church, and its knights, have a very active presence in hels. They are the cloaks seen most often roaming the streets, in twos and threes. They have regular routes they walk, with walls they are assigned to tend. They make sure the stones are stacked straight and don't fall, replace broken ones, and help people carve names. Many knights have prayer chants where they intentionally try to memorize every name on the wall. Their focus is on the idea that no helsmet is truly gone as long as some memory remains of them. They welcome helsmets approaching them with fond memories of loved ones, and will take testimony from people who know their time is coming. Their church is a glorified library and house of memorization. Part of their worship in remembrance of people is also in the remembrance of history, and they have at least one copy of every book, memoir, and journal in hels they can get their hands on. They have one private collection in the church, and one public library in hels, which they regularly update with copies of originals from the church library.

The only place outside the Order of Remembrance's domain is the shady side of town where Cleo's gangs keep the peace. For control reasons, Cleo doesn't like any opposing force on her claimed land, which includes Order of Remembrance knights. She does still have Remembrance Walls on her side of town, but they are up-kept by the people that live there as a community project. People get together once every few weeks, make food, talk about those that are gone, and make sure none of the stones are broken or stolen.

Erasing memory is a big taboo in hels, understandably. The universe is already cruel enough in taking people, and people, once taken, are woefully easy to forget [they were never meant to exist in the first place, after all]. On the sides of town where the Order of Remembrance upkeeps the walls, anyone caught stealing or destroying stones is tracked down by their paladins, and subjected to community service under close supervision. They're often roughed up in the process, but the paladins won't kill you for breaking a stone. Depending on whose stone you break, and how angry hels is that day, the same can't be said for anyone else who catches you. Repeat offenders, or people who destroy many stones at once with the express intent of erasing memory, are branded by the Order with a mark somewhere visible, normally on the hands. Anyone with that unlucky brand will see increased hostility from their peers, ostricization, lost of livelihood and home -- it's a great way to make everyone in hels hate you. Anyone on Cleo's side of town caught destroying a stone is hunted actively in the streets, and leaving her side of town will not save them. She offers high bounties for that kind of thing.

[theninth09]

Something that I love that is basically canon is how in tune Theo and Liam are. Like post season 6 I imagine the pack find it so startling to the point where it’s almost creepy.

I like to imagine that sometims when theres a break or intermission after/during a meeting or get together one of the pack will be like, “where’s Liam/or Theo?” And the other will know the exact location just immediately before any other supernatural has picked up the other’s scent or hearing. There are also totally times where someone will ask them both a question or for their opinion and Thiams eyes will just meet and everyone else watches as the two have a whole conversation without any direct communication. You could argue others in the pack can also do this like Stiles and Scott or Derek and Stiles or even Mason and Corey. BUT Liam and Theo are on a whole other level. What’s the best about this concept though is the absolutely hilarious faces the pack makes when they do anything like this in front of them-Liam the angry beta and Theo the chimera of death are so universally understood by one another that no words are needed between the two, and that is just shocking to everyone else. Both boys have so much trouble verbally communicating how they’re feeling/thinking with everyone, and so for both of them to find someone that can literally just tell with a look is so meaningful.

No one even knows how to describe the two of them separately anymore, including each other, because they are just so unanimously ONE. One soul, one brain, one heart. They love each other but it’s also just SO MUCH MORE than that!

oh absolutely and as you said, i love that this is canon. there's so many instances of this in s6 and while liam constantly tries to deny it, hes always looking for theo. and its so lovely how they just get each other. even in s6a when theo hasnt been back yet for long, they effortlessly fight next to each other. obviously s6ep20 is an even better example of this because they're so in tune, they easily work off of each other cues, and they even get so physical with it??? they stay right by each others side, liam literally rolls himself over theos back and theo gives him a little boost to further his momentum. like its actually so cute of them how well they understand each other.

and that's not even getting into their whole eye contact thing... them wordlessly communicating during the confrontation with gabe in the locker room and liam turning to look at theo when peter complains about his car getting destroyed are two moments that immediately come to mind for me. also, theo turning to look at liam after they leave the police station, when the pack fakes leaving beacon hills. they have so many moments where they look at each other and literally just. stare. they dont say anything, the pack doesnt fucking address this either??? its just them looking into each other's eyes and it makes me crazy. like that scene in s6ep16 where mason asks liam "should i come with you guys?" and instead of answering, liam looks to theo. theo looks back at liam and THEN answers mason. like. ok. just liam expecting his bf to answer his best friend and said boyfriend immediately reacting. whatever.

scott, at least, actually canonically sometimes looks at them a bit suspiciously (heres a lovely compilation of that by my dear oomf on twt) and its absolutely hilarious to me. i dont doubt that the pack would side-eye them occasionally but i feel like they'd accept thiam being thiam relatively quick, because they're already so used to their gay antics in canon. like when theo dragged liam into the bathroom at the police station in front of the entire pack?? and no one stopped him? liam didnt try to fight back either??? like, alright. their surprise wouldnt stay for long because even before they're in an actual relationship, they already act that way with each other.

going away from canon, i totally agree with them knowing where the other one is. i think they become obsessed with keeping track of each other's scent and heartbeat, but in a very sweet way. they find it calming and reassuring. theo unconsciously listening to liams heartbeat as a background noise. just in the back of his mind, because it makes him feel more comfortable. and being able to pick out liams scent literally always bc hes spent so much time looking out for it. i feel like for theo its more of a soft indulgence. he loves liam and automatically does these things. it makes him happy, even if he wouldnt admit it.

for liam, it stems more from insecurity and fear. liams abandonment issues ("hayden left me. scott's leaving, too." his reaction when he hears that morey are planning to go to the same college (possibly "leaving liam behind") and as a hc: his bio dad leaving him and his mom) and the way theo throws himself into danger for liam. liam would keep track of theos scent and heartbeat to make sure that he's still around, that he's still alive. liam feeling relieved everytime he has proof that theo hasnt left. that theo hasnt gotten himself killed. as you said, they kinda suck at verbally communicating so liam wouldnt be able to articulate this to theo. that liam has this anxiety of theo leaving, in whatever way, like everybody else. thankfully, theos actions would be enough to calm liam. he himself would never think this of himself, but hes incredibly reliable when it comes to liam.

i love this concept of them going from being liam and theo to liam and theo. in s6ep16 there's two scenes where characters refer to them as a pair (nolan talking to the hunters about them and scott mentioning them to malia, lydia & argent) and its something so simple but it makes me so giddy. they're a pair. they belong to each other. they're liam and theo. and they fit each other so well. they mirror each other in a lot of things, but they also complete each other. theo is the calm to liams anger and vice-versa. they make each other angry, they make each other happy, they suck at verbally communicating but they effortlessly understand each other. they each think of themselves as a monster and help each other learn that thats not the case. they're liam and theo and im insane about them.

like yeah them as a ship is obviously something i love. but its not just them in a relationship that i find interesting about them. even if you dont ship them, their dynamic is so fascinating and their interactions are really fun. the way liam goes from "hating" theo to trusting him but still being in denial about that so he keeps lashing out at theo (threatening to kill him, saying scott will never trust him, etc) and the way theo goes from only being interested in his own survival to deeply caring about liam, saving his life and staying for him. all this is extremely romantic and homoerotic to me, but even if, for some weird reason, you do not read it that way, you still cannot deny that theres a bond between those two. they're linked to each other, no matter how you view their relationship.

[dingodad]

Since they mentioned the next week timeline in beyond canon, I thought about it again, and I think that timeline is what was going to happen before Spades destroyed the vault, sending him to to an unfavorable timeline. The intermission doesn’t actually start in the alpha timeline despite what you think when you first read it. It’s only when Slick travels to the “unfavorable timeline” that he is in the alpha timeline. It basically says that despite the fact these are events that are supposed to happen, the timeline is still highly unfavorable. It can’t be a doomed timeline he’s in because he talks to Karkat right after this, and never changes timelines after this, yet is in the alpha timeline for the rest of the story.

The original timeline of the intermission still had Droog be alive albeit a week in the future, and Boxcars and Clubs Deuce are alive as well as Clover, Cans, Doc Scratch, and Snowman. The Slick we now is obviously originally from this timeline, and so this timeline would no longer have a Slick in it?Presumably problem sleuth took place here as well?The Lord English of this timeline is even mentioned to be alive by Jasprose in chapter 5 of the update. I don’t know if this can be counted as a doomed timeline since it still exists for some reason, which makes this whole thing very strange. I guess though if the midnight crew is a separate comic in universe, then perhaps this could be at its own level of pradox space separated from everything else? After all the shenanigans of the midnight crew and felt don’t seem to create any doomed timelines in the intermission anyways. Sorry this is a long ask. But I haven’t seen anyone bring this up yet.

i'm not totally sure what you mean by "next week timeline", but i guess you're suggesting jasprose's midnight city is the same as the intermission's midnight city? this can't be true, though, because the intermission takes place on alternia with pink and green moons in the sky, and catnapped takes place under the same single golden crescent moon that we see in the midnight crew comic - and presumably the same crescent moon the carapacians created in earth c orbit back in december of 2016.

as for which intermission timeline is "doomed" and which is "alpha": a timeline doesn't strictly have to fall into this binary. slick opening the vault released a wave of temporal distortion, which seems to be the same kind of temporal energy that allows the scratch to create "Offshoots of promise, rather than futility." it brute-forces a completely new "beta" timeline out of the alpha, sort of like a retcon. presumably this kind of thing happens a lot when the felt are involved, which is why their alternate selves are always hanging out way longer than they would be if they were doomed

[alchemicaladarna]

Demon Royalty AU part 3

I haven't really thought that much about other characters' roles in this story, so for now the only eggs that I've fully fleshed out the story for are Em, Dapper, Pomme, and Richas :D

Empanada: Vampire

Co-adopted by Bagi and Niki and taken care of by her clan when she was a very small child (4-5)

A group of rogue and wild vampires that fed on humans, demons, etc. massacred a human village and fed on all its inhabitants

Bagi and Cellbit arrived at the village almost too late as there was only one survivor that hasn't been devoured or turned into a rogue: Empanada

The little girl's parents were dead and she was on the brink of death too

The only way to save Em was to turn her into a vampire and she had to drink Bagi's blood to complete the transformation and save her.

Niki would also often care for Em, as Bagi's right-hand

Keep the wild/rogue vampires in mind because they'll most likely be important later

Richas: Vampire

Wild vampire child that was found running in the forest by himself when he was only 4

Had to fend for himself by feeding on animals until Cellbit, Pac, Mike, and Felps found him while hunting for food

No one knows who his parents are/were- it seemed as if they just left him to survive on his own

Was missing a leg since birth and was likely left behind

Cellbit's clan adopted Richas of course- it took a while for Richas to trust or be able to communicate properly with them at first

Was found 2 years before Em

Children typically aren't vampires because they would need to have vampiric venom in their blood and they'd have to feed on blood too. If they do become vampires as children, they still grow up normally, but stop aging in their 30s.

Dapper: Demon

Son of Bad, Prince of Death

Rumored that Dapper's other father was the Prince of Diamonds from the Overworld, a gem golem- no one dares to ask Bad though, he never gives a clear answer or dismisses the question entirely

How? Use your imagination d:

Dapper loves exploring the Nether and is very fascinated by magic, alchemy, science

Encouraged by her father to pursue her studies of the Nether Kingdom

Also studying as a reaper apprentice

Rare occassion Dapper can go to Overworld when Bad must collect souls as the grim reaper and train him for the job

Gives Bad a heart attack when Dapper would wander off when they're in the Overworld

2 years older than Pomme

Demon children can be born in different ways because there are many types of demons, but regular low-class demons are mortal and age normally living up to 300 years max. Royal blood demons grow up normally but the older they get, the slower their aging process becomes because they have longer lifespans than regular demons. Dapper has a much longer lifespan because he's the son of a demon and what is basically a diamond.

Brief intermission to talk about the French kingdom/land/it's a working title XD:

Leaders aren't monarchs, but have titles called "Royal Governors" that represent the people in a council

They have sub-regions that each leader represents- but the people are also included in discussions relating to the kingdom- their respective leaders just represent them during the meetings

The Council leaders: Étoiles, Aypierre, Antoine, Baghera

All have close ties to Bad and the Nether Kingdoms

Pomme: ???

This girl's origins are a complete mystery because like. No one really knows where she came from?

She was found in an ancient city in the Deep Dark. A baby, barely one, just sitting in ancient ruins, surrounded by cornflowers

Pomme was found by Étoiles and Aypierre during an expedition into the ancient cities

The crazy part is she wasn't crying until the two found her, so they had to bring her to the surface very quickly

Brought her to the kingdom, back to Antoine and Baghera- they all loved her instantly

Soon, they noticed her powers get very out of control, and it's difficult for the Overworld leaders to manage alone- especially since she covered the kingdom in darkness and almost single handedly brought a plague upon them at one point

They know nothing about her powers so they visited an old friend who might have some answers: Bad. He has a lot of knowledge about the Deep Dark, but he's never encountered a baby just- mysteriously surrounded by cornflowers in an ancient ruin

The Four asked Bad to watch over her as well because Pomme was truly an anomaly and they needed his help

He hesitated for a bit because he already has Dapper, but eventually agreed to adopt her too

They agreed to have Pomme stay in the Nether with Bad until she was 17 and she can fully control her powers, and Antoine, Baghera, Pierre, and Étoiles would visit her regularly too

I thought about writing Chunsik as another demon child, but I remembered his parents, right now, are only Acau and Jungryeok. He hasn't met YD yet, and also something else to keep in mind is YD being a demon is still just a headcanon.

[dlthedescent]

INTERMISSION I-IV: BEFORE WE PART WAYS...

Segment taken from Side Quest Story: Lending A Hand

The prosthetic arm looked crude and clunky, a skeletal framework of scrap metal, bolts, and screws. It was functional but basic, powered by an old battery pack.

Nobody expected miracles, but the flaws became more apparent the longer Noam worked on it. The biggest issue was the fingers—they had to be controlled manually with joystick switches, requiring clumsy extra steps.

Clank!

Two fingers and a thumb clamped too hard, shattering a cup in the test.

Jack's eyes widened, alarm bells ringing in her head. There was no way they would put this on the lad and everyone agreed silently.. Noam swept the shards away, terrified as the fingers twitched, almost as if the contraption wanted to grab him, only stopped by its heavy weight.

"That's a bear trap," Freakazoid stated the obvious.

"You don't have to tell me twice. Doesn't help that it needs a 35-kilo battery, and a controller that short-circuits!"

Frustrated, Noam yanked out the wires, watching the disastrous metallic beast power down.

"Alright. What do we need?" Crane asked.

"Nothing," Noam replied, slumping in his seat. "Hate to break it to you, but you're gonna need hardware. Know anyone who can help?"

"If we were in the Outskirts, the Grads might have an idea," Jack offered.

"Any chance they can help out?"

Jack shook her head. "It's hard enough traveling along the Coastline without the military breathing down our necks."

Crane wasn't an engineer, but he knew this mechanical upgrade was a long shot. The prototype on the table wasn't even the first attempt.

"...What about asking Tolga and Fatin?"

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief for hearing the worst suggestion possible. Noam, however, looked confused—those names weren't as infamous to him as they were to both Runners.

Crane already regretted the suggestion before he said it. They were the last people on Earth he'd ever want to ask for anything.

"No," Jack said firmly.

"I don't like it either," he admitted.

"Absolutely not."

"They're difficult, sure-"

"That's not my problem. You're asking two mad scientists to work on a child's arm."

"They're not going to strap a rocket launcher on him," Crane said, though Jack immediately picked on the slight doubt in his voice, narrowing her eyes further.

Because he could actually see those two do the impossible. Not for a kid, hopefully.

Still, what other options did they have?

"Let me talk to them."

All of a sudden, Jack crossed her arms, brow furrowed. Why?

This was the first time Freakazoid had volunteered to talk to someone, let alone two people Jack could barely tolerate.

"I mean, sure. Give it your best shot."

"Trust me. They'll make that hardware for us."

No backing down from Freakazoid—another first for Jack. Was he really sold on the brothers' brilliance for making that harpoon gun? Jack glanced over to Noam, hoping for an alternative. Another safer option.

"I got nothing," Noam said, still lost in the conversation. Any solution seemed better than his failed contraptions so far.

Jack didn't feel any more confident, but she decided to let it play out.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she muttered, both amused and puzzled, as she walked out of the garage.

Crane followed, initially confident. But as soon as he left the garage—with no one paying attention—he groaned, his steps feeling heavier.

"...Maybe they won't recognize me. My voice's fucked anyway."

Quest Stories, Special Delivery, Out With a Bang and Lending a Hand can be found at these links: FFN and AO3.

[hall0wedwyrm]

FINALLY posting about my Sonic and Mario AU!! I had some weird fixation on the Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, and this kind of came from it.

It's currently named The Intermission AU in reference to the fact that it takes place in the spaces between Olympics. Its basically both casts getting to hang out with each other.

This focuses on the INCREDIBLY UNDERAPPRECIATED dynamic of Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails having a brotherly bond. and i will now talk about that a little bit:

Mario and Sonic are the typical like older wiser brother and his young carefree brother. Mario ALWAYS tells Sonic to PLEASE be careful... and Sonic ALLLWAAYS ends up getting scratches or a bruise. They also have a kind of mentor and protege dynamic... Sonic makes a bad protege though.

Tails and Luigi are very much like the younger brothers who watch the older brothers doing dumb stuff, and judging but also supporting them.

Luigi and Sonic are very much the middle children who have a lot in common. Sonic's cocky comments sort of rubbed off on Luigi a little, and whenever he makes a comment like that, Mario just yells WHAT DID YOU SAY??

Mario is very much the dad trying to help Tails with his math homework, but Tails is assuring him its really easy and he can do it on his own and thanks him for the offer anyway. Mario strolls up to Tails' workshop, asking 'hey kid, what are you up to today then?' and Tails (very unintentionally) says what sounds like word vomit... but Mario does not have the guts to say he doesn't understand so he just nods and says "oh! nice!"

Mario and Luigi trying to understand and help out Sonic and Tails in any way they can, but they can't keep up half the time.

Since Mario and Peach are together, she's very much older sister. She crosses her arms and she goes 'aHEM' and Sonic knows hes in trouble. Sometimes Tails too, but he's not as much of a trouble marker.

and here's an extra from my notes:

"Peach, Luigi and Mario watching their blue hedgehog brother hit on all of his male rivals, and whatever hes doing is clearly working. The three of them are a pretty impressed."

i will be coming back with some AU designs i sort of did some in the past, but i wanna do more updated ideas.

Part 2!!! - talking about some plot :)

[halliescomut]

Love Sea Ep 6 Post-watch Thoughts

- Overall, I think this was a really good episode. There was a lot that happened. Story was moving super quickly but it was good. It was entertaining. I liked it. I might get somewhat confused on actual timeline chain of events, but it's fine.

- We do kind of pick up where we left off where they're shopping in the mall for new clothes for Mut, and we see a little bit more of compromise happening between the two of them.

- I like the storyline that revolves around Mut calling P'Vi to ask about Prin and us learning more about both who print is, but also through the course of showing those conversations we learn more about who Mut is, which is the more important part. I think us as the viewer who are seeing all sides of this would forgive Mut for prying into Rak's history, but I think it's important that Mut recognizes that it's important for Rak to be able to tell his own story.

- Short intermission to apologize for the misinformation from my episode 5 post. Prin is Rak's cousin, their mothers are sisters. I wasn't paying attention to the actual words being spoken, and I'm pretty sure she just called Rak 'Hia', which in Thai is translated to mean older brother but is really a title/ term for older males, generally family members, though not always. It is also important to note that in this case she's using it almost sarcastically and so it doesn't actually indicate the level of affection that its use in everyday Thai life would indicate. I will comeback and link a language post about the term hia and other common Thai words here.... eventually.

- I was kind of surprised to learn that Rock's father is straight up just a paid man, a gigolo. I thought they were using the concept more as a euphemism and that he was more along the lines of like a gold digger. That's not to say there's anything wrong with that line of work, but it's very clear through his behavior that he was using it to manipulate Rak's mother as well as probably multiple other women. I'm not necessarily surprised to find out that there was an aspect of physical abuse, to go with the emotional that was happening. I do have an appreciation for how it was presented. And when I mean by that is while we did see like a flashback Mame didn't have a child actor act out that abuse. We are learning now that having young children even talented actors who are very young act out those kinds of situations is detrimental to them even if they're not necessarily aware of it. So the small snippet we got was fairly vague and while we do see the younger version of Rak crying with the wound, he's not having to act out the actual act of abuse and I think that's a good thing.

- I was excited when we got the preview last week that we were going to see and meet Kom directly, and we do get to hear Connor but we don't get to meet him and I'm not sure if we will or not but I would like to. One thing I appreciated specifically about the conversation between Kom and Mut is that you can tell Kom doesn't think Mut is stupid, but he also knows him well enough to know how soft-hearted he is and you can tell. He's worried that this is a case of him kind of picking up strays in a way. He's concerned that Mut doesn't see the slippery slope, and wants to protect him.

- I think the jealousy, storyline or story beats more accurately are interesting because we saw references to jealousy in the last episode, but here it's much more direct. Why? I think they're interesting is kind of how they end up being handled. Rak doesn't want to admit to himself that he's jealous because he knows that's basically a confirmation that he truly likes Mut and that it's more than just the agreement and it's more than just sex, so he wants to pretend that he's not jealous at all and so he kind of swings in like the other direction of trying to be nonchalant, which doesn't truly succeed. Mut Is kind of toning down his jealousy or attempting to kind of because he doesn't want to come on too strong. He's already been very direct about his feelings for Rak, but he's still holding back a lot of the time because he doesn't want to push too hard too quickly. It makes the scene of them getting into bed and Rak cuddling against Mut more amusing but also endearing. In the end they're both getting what they want, but neither wants to truly admit it. (Also Rak's grumpy nonverbal direction to Mut was just flat out adorable)

- Bringing the niece into things was fun. The actress is very adorable. I do think we're playing a little bit too much into the precociousness trope and the niece being treated a little bit too much too much like an adult. And this is not necessarily horrible, but it's an easy pitfall for a lot of storytellers. I recognize that every kid is different, there are plenty of kids who get talked to and treated like adults, but just because a child is very smart and can understand more mature subject matters, even vague ones, it's on the adults to maintain the appropriate level of maturity. So basically just because she can understand what their arrangement is, I don't think Mut or Rak should have been as blunt about it as they were, and I also feel like they encourage that behavior rather than shutting it down, which I think would have been the more appropriate tactic.

- In relation to that, I did like how Mut more offered his services in terms of picking up the niece (whose name I've forgotten, sorry) rather than just asserting that he would do it. Both Mut and Rak have histories with unstable homes, so they do want to be decision makers, have control, but Mut recognizes that putting the choice in front of Rak and letting him decide is important to building the trust between them. You can also see in the acting in this scene, the way. Fort and Peat look at each other and portray the characters, that Rak is recognizing that Mut has an awareness of the seriousness of the situation and how much Rak's family means to him. Rak understands that Mut is willing to do the task, but also that he's committed to making sure the niece is safe because she matters to Rak, and by proxy matters to him.

-I'm kind of done with P'Vi as a love interest for Mook at this point because of the lying storyline. Besides being unnecessary, because Vi could just confess to Mook her feelings, those types of lies sit wrong with me because I'm from a superstitious family. You're setting yourself up for the universe to make your lie a truth. But I truly think nothing would be lost if Vi had simply come to Mook and explained that she's lonely and that she wants company, even if she's too scared to confess her true feelings. That's an emotion and a feeling that's pretty much universal and that Mook would be able to sympathize with and I think would be more willing to be company to Vi because she's being honest.

-We did get a short little spicy bit towards the end of the episode, which was kind of nice after them being basically cockblocked the whole ep. It was short, so there's not a lot to read from it, but there was a level of playfulness, especially on Rak's part that we haven't really seen before, and I think it bodes well.

-Sidenote question for ppl who read the Love Sea or Love Sand novels- we're given the implication that Connor and Tongrak might have had a sexual relationship in the past. And I say implication because what Conner says as far as the subtitles is, "who do you think hugged him at night when he had writer's block??" Which given what we know about Rak's writing process, would lead you to believe that he's not talking about them just cuddling in bed. So is there, in the novel, clear confirmation that they were in fact in a sort of friends with benefits situation before Conner met Kom? I'm just curious because this isn't a subject that Mame has delved into before, at least not in her shows, so I'm curious.

As far as the preview for next episode, I am excited to see Boss and Noeul in what appears to be a weird twist of them playing themselves in a way, but I think it's fun. Another visit from Prin and I'm assuming a clearer idea of whatever it is she's after.

I think that's all for now. As I stated at the top I thought this was a really good episode. I thought it was excellently paced, to be honest, which is something that Mame struggles with sometimes. I think as far as seasonal pacing, we're doing pretty well as far as things being fairly reasonable and realistic in terms of the level of emotional intimacy. The lack of clarity in the timing made it feel like Mut and Rak were becoming too comfortable emotionally too quickly, especially in episodes 2 & 3, so it's good to see things a bit more even this last couple episodes.