#that changed what he was saying from the original to essentially be the complete opposite of what was intended

[hamletteprinceofdenmark]

Aside from the everything else about it, changing twitter’s name to X is just so … short sightedly juvenile?

Like, it’s got the energy of a nine year old calling their superhero villain X-Corp “cause it sounds cool.”

Because X as a letter is cool, it’s unique and rarely used in English because it has a very narrow purpose and sound that doesn’t get used often in everyday speech. It catches the ear … but that’s kind of all it does.

“Twitter” works as a company name, because it rolls off the tongue and, as a bonus, works etymologically. To “twit” or “be a twit” is to be silly, foolish, meaningless — the original purpose of twitter before it became one of the most essential and transformative social media platforms in terms of spreading news quickly and concisely in times of chaos and disaster (and I’m also not about to pretend that twitter has not, on the whole, remained silly, foolish, and meaningless). To “tweet” makes sense to the English brain wonderfully. It expresses exactly what it means. There is no doubt in my mind that it’s name and the way it could be adapted so easily into the language played markably into the platform’s remarkable success.

And how does “X” work in that context? How does “X” work, linguistically? Short answer, it doesn’t. It literally can’t, because of how X is used in the language. We literally use that letter to mark nothing, negative, a blank or rejected space. It represents void. And the way we say it and use it reflects that.

To say you “x’d” something means you ruled it out. You rejected it. Unmade it. It’s quite literally the opposite of creation and creativity. Of generation. On a platform that relies on creativity and constantly generating content.

Every roll out has emphasised how Elon insists on continuing to limit the use of the site, Twitter Blue, maximum posts sighted, I just saw he’s limiting the amount of times you can DM someone.

It’s become an anti-social site, being killed slowly from the inside like a mindless and completely ignorant rot.

[poppyberry]

See, the wild cards are NOT unbalanced. I reject that notion very very strongly. It's complete nonsense to me. If anything, the wild cards have so far all been extraordinarily fair and not biased towards players with any particular skillset. What is causing a massive difference in lives between players in something else entirely.

To start with, the first one? Obviously not biased to any particular skill.

The hunger? What, you're going to argue some players are better at eating than others? Better at resource management, maybe, but with the edible food changing at random all the time, I really don't see how anyone's skills gave them a leg up. Skill is a factor in surviving mobs, not the wild card: if anything, players with less skill could have used the various food-given buffs to their advantage in a fight with good planning.

The snails? There's no skill required to survive them. Nobody died from lack of skill. No particular fighting or parkour ability was needed to escape them.

So why is there such a drastic difference between players' ability to survive? It all comes down to their individual personalities, and how each of them tackles an unexpected problem being presented to them. Some of them panic, others remain calm. Many make the lethal mistake of trying to beat the wild card instead of using it, and that's when they die.

Many of the deaths in the third session happened because players were trying to find a way to trap or destroy the snails, instead of accepting and embracing the mechanic like they should. Once the initial shock wears off, it becomes abundantly clear that the wild cards are intended to be tools.

The size-changing had incredible potential in PVP and resource gathering, but it was just an intro: just a simple mechanic that was easy and quick to get a grasp of.

The food one gave players practically infinite options for making the game easier for themselves. You can fly. You can get all sorts of buffs. Grian himself even gives away the game when he tries to rally Mumbo and Skizz to use the various buffs for mining; that was probably his original intention for how the wild card should be used. Grian deliberately used this session for resource gathering; in fact, I'd say the second wild card encouraged players to gather as many resources as possible in the early game, because you don't know what will be useful on the next reroll (or for future wild cards).

The snails provided new ways to steal lives from players without engaging in pvp; that's why Grian immediately states killing via snail is allowed and encouraged, and even reveals he has his own ideas of how players should go about it. It's clearly part of why the drowning mechanic exists as well; you could drown another player's snail, or force them into having to save their snail from drowning and then dying to it, like what happened to BDubs.

However, some players, such as Tango and Impulse, are naturally the type to try and beat an unbeatable mechanic, and got hyper focused on experimenting to find ways to permanently beat their own snails, and became easy prey. You can't beat the wild card, but they couldn't help but try because that's who they are.

Meanwhile, some players think just as inventively, but from the opposite direction: rather than just wonder how to beat the mechanic, they think about how they can use it to their advantage: Etho (and Martyn) got closest to Grian's intention of the snails essentially being used as assassins. If anything, Etho's invisibility plan improved upon Grian's original vision. They still died due to being occasionally caught off guard, but fared better than those that got stuck on trying to get rid of the snails.

Lizzie, Cleo, Scott, Gem and Joel (and BigB, after his initial ambush death) of course all survived their snails by adapting to the wild card. The difference between them and Etho and Martyn is their lack of risk taking; while Etho and Martyn went running around in the Nether for assassination supplies, all of the still dark greens played really, really safe.

Meanwhile, some players, such as Skizz, Scar, and Jimmy, played it very unsafe, but failed to take advantage of how the snails were meant to be used, even when Grian was trying to spell it out for them, and struggled because of it.

TLDR: the wild cards are weapons and should be treated as such. Trying to circumvent them is what is killing the players so fast, not any inherent imbalance in the cards themselves. Every single one of the players* has equal opportunity to use the cards to their own advantage. It's just a question of whether someone will.

*besides Grian, who is not trying to win anyway

Most importantly, I’m glad the lifers are having fun, and Wild Life has been a blast so far.

[communist-manifesto-daily]

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Part 24

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To the metaphysician, things and their mental reflexes, ideas, are isolated, are to be considered one after the other and apart from each other, are objects of investigation fixed, rigid, given once for all. He thinks in absolutely irreconcilable antitheses. His communication is 'yea, yea; nay, nay'; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." For him, a thing either exists or does not exist; a thing cannot at the same time be itself and something else. Positive and negative absolutely exclude one another; cause and effect stand in a rigid antithesis, one to the other.

At first sight, this mode of thinking seems to us very luminous, because it is that of so-called sound commonsense. Only sound commonsense, respectable fellow that he is, in the homely realm of his own four walls, has very wonderful adventures directly he ventures out into the wide world of research. And the metaphysical mode of thought, justifiable and necessary as it is in a number of domains whose extent varies according to the nature of the particular object of investigation, sooner or later reaches a limit, beyond which it becomes one-sided, restricted, abstract, lost in insoluble contradictions. In the contemplation of individual things, it forgets the connection between them; in the contemplation of their existence, it forgets the beginning and end of that existence; of their repose, it forgets their motion. It cannot see the woods for the trees.

For everyday purposes, we know and can say, e.g., whether an animal is alive or not. But, upon closer inquiry, we find that his is, in many cases, a very complex question, as the jurists know very well. They have cudgelled their brains in vain to discover a rational limit beyond which the killing of the child in its mother's womb is murder. It is just as impossible to determine absolutely the moment of death, for physiology proves that death is not an instantaneous, momentary phenomenon, but a very protracted process.

In like manner, every organized being is every moment the same and not the same; every moment, it assimilates matter supplied from without, and gets rid of other matter; every moment, some cells of its body die and others build themselves anew; in a longer or shorter time, the matter of its body is completely renewed, and is replaced by other molecules of matter, so that every organized being is always itself, and yet something other than itself.

Further, we find upon closer investigation that the two poles of an antithesis, positive and negative, e.g., are as inseparable as they are opposed, and that despite all their opposition, they mutually interpenetrate. And we find, in like manner, that cause and effect are conceptions which only hold good in their application to individual cases; but as soon as we consider the individual cases in their general connection with the universe as a whole, they run into each other, and they become confounded when we contemplate that universal action and reaction in which causes and effects are eternally changing places, so that what is effect here and now will be cause there and then, and vice versa.

None of these processes and modes of thought enters into the framework of metaphysical reasoning. Dialectics, on the other hand, comprehends things and their representations, ideas, in their essential connection, concatenation, motion, origin and ending. Such processes as those mentioned above are, therefore, so many corroborations of its own method of procedure.

Nature is the proof of dialectics, and it must be said for modern science that it has furnished this proof with very rich materials increasingly daily, and thus has shown that, in the last resort, Nature works dialectically and not metaphysically; that she does not move in the eternal oneness of a perpetually recurring circle, but goes through a real historical evolution. In this connection, Darwin must be named before all others. He dealt the metaphysical conception of Nature the heaviest blow by his proof that all organic beings, plants, animals, and man himself, are the products of a process of evolution going on through millions of years. But, the naturalists, who have learned to think dialectically, are few and far between, and this conflict of the results of discovery with preconceived modes of thinking, explains the endless confusion now reigning in theoretical natural science, the despair of teachers as well as learners, of authors and readers alike.

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[musicalmoritz]

Why does tsukasa seem to not care much about himself?

I had a hard time figuring out what you meant by this because to be honest, I don’t focus on the Yugi twins as much as some of the other characters. I still try to read analyses on them and understand them, and I have been talking a lot abt Tsukasa lately, but I haven’t rly grasped their characterization as quickly as I did with some of the others

However, after giving it some thought I believe you’re referring to scenes like these

If this is what you mean, then the explanation is that Tsukasa simply doesn’t want to exist. He is a yorishiro and existence for them is essentially hell, just look at what Sumire went through being stuck in a time loop for 100 years. It is not a reach to assume Tsukasa went through something similar, seeing as he alludes to being trapped in a place before escaping near the start of the series when we first meet him. He reached out to Hanako for years, but Hanako never answered any of his calls. So Tsukasa wanting to be destroyed isn’t really out of any self-sacrificial nature, it would be a peaceful ending for him. He’d be able to move onto the afterlife, or otherwise accomplish any conniving goals he might have with the entity (idk as I said, not a Yugi twins expert)

He views Hanako as selfish for wanting to hold onto the people he loves at the expense of their wellbeing. Part of Nene’e fate is to die young, it’s sad but that is the natural path her life is meant to follow. She herself even tries to come to terms with this and make peace with it, but Hanako won’t let her. He loves her, so he wants her to live a long and happy life. This is completely understandable, but it is also selfish. It is part of human nature to be selfish, and part of Hanako will always be tied to the human boy he once was. Selfishness isn’t always bad, sometimes it’s necessary. But from’s Tsukasa’s perspective, Hanako is robbing Nene of an escape

Tsukasa makes this a personal issue because Hanako treats him the same way. It would be objectively better and more natural for him to let Tsukasa go, especially if the theories abt him killing Tsukasa to free him from the entity are true. That is what Tsukasa wants, to be free, to no longer be a yorishiro. But Hanako is selfish, and he loves Tsukasa too much to grant him freedom

Now, if you’re talking about Tsukasa’s lack of self-care in regards to Hanako “hating” him, that’s a bit different

Tsukasa seems to conceptualize relationships in a very black and white way. You either love someone, or you hate them. He’s interested mainly in how other people feel and react to things, so he’s constantly asking them how they feel about others. I don’t think he differentiates much between platonic love and romantic, it is simply “love vs. hate” to him. The two are opposites and cannot intersect

The most genuine statement I could possibly make about Tsukasa is that he loves his brother. Both versions of him, no matter how you interpret his current existence. The possessed Tsukasa we know now is the one who grew up with Amane, he spent ten years of his life with him whilst Baby Tsukasa only knew Amane for three. Ofc that was still his brother so time isn’t rly relevant to how much love/attachment Amane still holds for the original version of Tsukasa, but that doesn’t change the fact that the brother he knew for most of his life was the possessed Tsukasa. They shared holidays and birthdays together, lived together, walked to school together every single day. Through and through, they are brothers and it would be impossible for Hanako not to see him that way, even if he claims not to. It must be a complicated situation for him, on one hand he grew up with this Tsukasa but on the other he blames this Tsukasa for the old one’s disappearance

Back to how Tsukasa feels, he loves Amane fully. He does describe them as rivals, so I would say the feelings are complex on his end as well, but overall he loves his brother. He loves his brother so much that he doesn’t care if Amane hates him. And he must, he threw him across the room once when they were kids when Tsukasa was bothering him. He knew something was off when Tsukasa returned, and his attitude towards him likely reflected that throughout the 10 years they spent together. He killed him, he freezes up when he sees him, he consistently sides against him. For a character that views love in black and white terms, that sure looks a lot like hate. He recognizes that Amane is sad without him, but he also understands that Amane hates him. At least, from Tsukasa’s perspective, that’s what it looks like

But Tsukasa’s love for Amane is unconditional, he doesn’t really care if Amane hates or loves him. Baby Tsukasa says he wants Amane to be an astronaut with their parents, somewhere far away from him so Tsukasa can never make him upset. He believes Amane hates him, but he doesn’t care as long as Amane is happy. That’s all he wants, for Amane to be happy. His brother is the most important person to him, as long as Amane is happy he doesn’t care what happens to himself. Until it reaches a breaking point ofc, and Tsukasa realizes that the best situation for everyone would be for him to disappear

I’m pulling a lot of this out of my ass so I apologize if I got any information incorrect! Also just to be clear I don’t mind being asked about the Yugi twins at all, people were asking me a lot about Tsukasa yesterday so I get why the questions keep coming. Just beware that I am a self-proclaimed Not Expert lol. I do plan to look more into them whenever I start that series of character analyses tho so stay tuned for that

[thelittlecrookedtalecomic]

Wow, Ariel was only 34?! Poor thing sure didn't age well 😔 Sorry, maybe you're tired of questions about her, but I'm just curious: you said there were many plotholes in the original movie, what are they? (I must sound dumb 😂)

Alright, this is going to be a LONG answer and I hope I can explain myself good enough 😁

The Little Mermaid is one of those scripts you have to completely flip because you're changing the original idea in an opposite way. In the original story, the mermaid is not an exemplary character, but rather proof that we cannot force someone to love us just because we have become infatuated with them. No matter how much we self-sacrifice or try, "no means no." She is a selfish and reckless character who shows growth in the end by letting go of these traits and choosing to sacrifice herself when she had the option to save herself and crown her greatest selfish act.

In Disney's case, the premise was obviously that Ariel had to be a heroine, carry a moral message, and triumph over evil. To do this, they chose the path of victimization. Ariel had to be a misunderstood social outcast who fell into a trap set by a very evil figure who was then defeated. But the resources employed were insufficient, as they kept too many elements from the original script.

Demonizing the figure of the witch was an obvious step, turning her into a deceitful character with "I want to conquer the world" ambitions to quickly cast Ariel as the victim. The problem with this is the initial premise: literally everyone in the ocean knows Ursula can't be trusted, and she proudly displays her victims in her garden. This makes Ariel look like a foolish character for making a deal with her and downgrades a lot of the "I’ve always wanted to leave the sea" narrative into just a "teenage tantrum." Sure, she’s an impulsive teenager, but the point of this narrative device was to victimize her, and it achieves the opposite. Personally, I would have made Ursula a more discreet and manipulative character, someone Ariel saw as a victim, which could later trigger a sense of betrayal in Ariel.

Then there’s the often-discussed aspect that's always used as an argument: Ariel's fascination with the human world. It’s a great nuance to add to the story, moving it away from being solely about a romantic interest. Ariel needed her own background, hobbies, and goals, like exploring that unknown world. The problem is its execution—it’s insufficient and tedious. Ariel is a fanatic about the human world, with an oversized ego about what she thinks she knows, and her extreme idealization is used as if it were irrefutable evidence against her father. I always use the same example for this: in neutral terms, Ariel looks like someone who idolizes and defends an extraterrestrial way of life she knows only through the garbage she collects, while everyone else knows these beings hunt humans. Essentially, she comes across as an crazy and obsessed person.

This fascination with the human world is sold to us in a propagandistic and absurd way, focused on "we, the audience, are humans, and Ariel says we’re great, therefore she’s right. Her father keeps giving us a hard time, so he’s a tyrant." By the end of the movie, Ariel becomes the "superior species" because her father bends for absurd reasons. During the first half of the movie, Ariel’s love for the human world is heavily emphasized, but it falls flat when the weight of the original script lands on us. It all turns into a race against time for the woman to win over the man, and all the prior development becomes mere decoration that could be removed from the plot without affecting it at all. If Ariel hadn’t met Eric, she wouldn’t have left the water. This is also shown when it’s not until Triton destroys Eric’s statue that Ariel is devastated, unintentionally showing in the script that the rest of the cave treasures (and her character’s corresponding nuance) were mere additions. You can literally erase all the first part of the movie until Ariel meets Eric and there's no difference in the script development. In the end, what matters is the man, and that’s what moves the story. It’s Eric who makes Ariel seriously want to leave the water, and his statue is the crown jewel of her collection. Eric's cracked stone face is what pushes Ariel to take the step, as Flotsam and Jetsam don’t tempt her with exploring the human world but with winning over "her prince," just like Ursula does later too. Everything in the deal and the song, revolves around seducing Eric.

Personally, on this point, as I said, the script had to be completely changed, and that’s why they could have taken more risks by simply eliminating narrative elements that doomed the story to follow its original course. Ariel shouldn’t have fallen in love until she left the water. There are tons of stories they could have told about a mermaid being deceived by a witch to fulfill her dream of becoming human, and then introduced the romantic interest after she achieved her initial goal. This would have not only affected Ariel but Eric as well, who also loses out in Disney’s version. Originally, he was a prince who at least knew he had no romantic interest in the protagonist. Here, he’s a puppet obsessed with a voice while also being attracted to a mute stranger, despite being "in love" with the owner of the voice, and then goes on to marry a third woman who, no matter how much they try to sell us the idea that she "hypnotized" him, her physical appearance raises serious doubts in a realistic context about how much of a womanizer and fickle person Eric is.

Then we have poor Triton, the real victim of this script. He’s the most logical character in the film, battered by forced scenes where he loses control of his temper to demonize his perfectly logical ideas, and suffers absurd accusations of patriarchy against the protagonist (because we can all see how Ariel is locked in her room with no freedom, having tons of real obligations in her privileged underwater bubble). He’s also used as a cheap tool to emphasize human supremacy over the marine world.

Another aspect that should have been more balanced is the presence of animals. Ariel is by far the most dependent protagonist on others because of this. The supporting characters do absolutely all the work for Ariel, whose only accomplishments in the movie boil down to dodging a shark, saving a man from drowning (which was already in the original script), jumping into the water to swim after the wedding ship (for which she also needs help), and grabbing Ursula by the hair. One could argue that Cinderella also relied on her friends to escape her confinement. The difference is that Cinderella herself took the initiative by ordering them to bring Bruno, a course of action that made sense due to the development they had, making it a logical resource to use as a consequence. We are shown how Cinderella built relationships with her friends, so these friends help her in her moments of necessity. But in Ariel’s case, her friends act and solve things without communicating anything to her. Ariel controls none of the situations, and everyone else solves the problems for her.

Considering the decades that had passed, I’m still surprised at how all the nuances of the film end up making Ariel a much weaker woman than her predecessors, who didn’t navigate their plots pretending to be heroines like the case of the Little Mermaid. Ariel doesn’t learn or reason through anything during her experience. She doesn’t control any of the events around her or discover anything for herself, doesn’t apologize for her mistakes, and conveniently gets a rather undeserved happy ending. She doesn’t adapt to circumstances (the circumstances and characters adapt to her needs), she suffers no disappointments from the human world she so idealized because she walks on clouds as the privileged guest of a prince, and nothing happens to pull her out of her comfort bubble.

Essentially, it’s a script that not only retains 80% of the original nuances but also worsens them by making the mermaid’s actions affect more people due to her recklessness, and on top of that, rewarding her for being the most problematic and useless character.

[blasphemousclaw]

Ranni and Rykard as narrative foils: an unnecessarily detailed deep dive

Ranni and Rykard both seek the same thing; the end of the Erdtree’s reign. In the past, the two collaborated on the Night of the Black Knives toward this purpose. But nowadays, the siblings’ paths are diverged, and they seem to follow completely separate agendas. Why? What happened? What drove them apart?

A main point of difference between Ranni and Rykard immediately post-Shattering is that Ranni is said to have “cast aside her Great Rune,” while Rykard kept his. Regarding the Great Runes, Finger Reader Enia says: “Tainted by the strength of their runes, [Marika’s] children warred.” The Great Runes are a source of power that corrupts, which Rykard fell prey to while Ranni removed the temptation.

As collaborators and as siblings, it is likely that they fought about this; Rykard believing that the strength of the runes is necessary to carry out their goals, and Ranni seeing the corrupting power of the runes for what it is. The resulting circumstance is, of course, Rykard’s participation in the war of the Shattering and his descent into power-hungry madness. Ranni, however, never strayed from her original goals, patiently plotting from the shadows.

Set on these diverging paths, the siblings’ actions shape them into narrative foils of each other… putting the rest under the cut because I can’t shut up:

Though both Ranni and Rykard seek to bring down the Golden Order, only one of them is ever called blasphemous. One definition of blasphemy is specifically “the crime of assuming oneself the rights or qualities of God,” and I think this is the definition that most applies to Rykard.

The Taker’s Cameo item states that, “when Rykard turned to heresy, taking by force became the rule. The gods themselves were no different, after all.” Here, we see Rykard directly imitating the behavior of the gods, though he curses them.

But not only does Rykard imitate the gods’ behavior; he also imitates Golden Order and Erdtree practices, albeit in a corrupted way. He utilizes weapons and sorcery that are both intelligence and faith-based, much like his father Radagon’s Golden Order incantations. Even the very concept of the God-Devouring Serpent can be seen as a perversion of the Erdtree… Rykard’s practice of devouring heroes to be togethaaa as famileee echoes the practice of Erdtree burial, where in both instances, a great mass of bodies is brought together to merge into one whole (the Serpent King and the Erdtree, respectively). The Serpent’s actions actually fit the Golden Order Law of Regression shockingly well: “all things yearn eternally to converge.”

The point of these comparisons is to show that Rykard isn’t actually making any meaningful change to the current world order… his plan is to essentially devour the current corrupt gods, and replace them with a new corrupt god (himself) that perpetuates the exact same practices. He and Ranni once sought to free the Lands Between from these corrupt gods, but he has become precisely what he hates most of all!

Ranni, on the other hand, does the opposite. Since the beginning of the Shattering, she has staunchly refused to engage with overt power grabs and warmongering. Instead, she has extricated herself from the system entirely, slaying her empyrean flesh and casting her Great Rune aside.

Regarding her new order, Ranni seeks to “betray everything, and rid the world of what came before,” tearing up the system from the very root. Her master plan is to completely remove the influence of the gods from the Lands Between, so rather than stay and rule as god-queen, she leaves: “As it is now, life, and souls, and order are bound tightly together, but I would have them at great remove. […] I would abandon this soil, with mine order.”

In Ranni's new age, life and souls are no longer directly tied to or influenced by the ruling order like they were during the age of the Erdtree. It makes perfect sense why Ranni would want to remove this influence, as she was born an empyrean with the Two Fingers' influence in her very flesh — one of her most crucial lines of dialogue in my opinion is when she says of the Two Fingers, “I would not be controlled by that thing.” with the most iron conviction in her voice.

In this way, Ranni is Rykard’s narrative foil: Rykard falls victim to the corrupting force of power, but Ranni resists the temptation. Rykard ends up imitating and becoming the gods which he hates, while Ranni is able to truly remove their influence. While Rykard trapped himself within a vicious cycle, Ranni was able to escape, freeing the Lands Between from the cycle as well. It's such a tragic end for two siblings who used to work together.

[an-indecisive-nerd]

Okay, lore drop number three! Sorry it took me so long guys, I appreciate your patience.

This lore drop is about god laws. Meaning the origin of the gods, how they work, etc.

The first god was Ellowyn. She came into being when the universe my worlds occupy was formed. She began to use her power to create her first world, and spent a while watching over her infant world alone.

But opposites attract, and creation without destruction can cause a whole slew of issues. Flash forward a bit and Ellowyn catches the attention of a wandering destruction god. Flash forward a bit more and Ellowyn and the destruction god, Casimir, are married. Flash forward a lot more and they have a bunch of kids and boom, pantheon.

Truly a very detailed origin story. I actually do have a more detailed version but that’s spoilers and stuff and also this post isn't even really about that.

So obviously if you want to be a god on my worlds, the most popular method is to be born into it.

But what about some more accessible methods for the average citizen? Well I've got some good news for you.

There are in fact ways to become a god without being born into it. They’re just extremely difficult and painful and most people die trying. Still totally worth it though right?

You guys remember the prime vessels from the first big lore drop right? (If not, you can find that here)

Well, being a prime vessel is the best way to become a god.

Essentially over their lives prime vessels tend to spend a lot of time gaining more power and perfecting said power. At any point, if a prime vessel feels that their power has changed enough from their god's original power, they can try and turn that power into their own, turning themselves into a god.

What they have to do is find a way for their power to pass through their soul filter instead of overpowering it. It's a very difficult process, and if you fail, you die. Fun times.

The other way is to completely destroy a god. Make sure you do this while they have no apparent heirs to at least one of their powers. Then you simply absorb their power and enough of the energy from the world to tie yourself to it, then accept becoming a god.

Now then, you may be asking, how exactly do I—hypothetically—kill a god?

Well, first you have to destroy the world(s) they created. Almost all of my gods have at least one world. If they don't, they have something else they're tied to that you'd have to destroy. After you destroy whatever the thing is, you then have to kill all their forms. They have one per world they have power on, and possibly more.

Let's say you hypothetically accomplished all this. Even though you destroyed everything physical about the god, their soul will still return to Ellowyn to be reborn, so you need to find a way to stop it getting there.

It's much easier to kill a god if you're also a god though, particularly if you're a more powerful one. If you're a god you skip the soul step, and if you're a more powerful god you skip the world step too. It's also much easier if you know a god's real name. Ordinarily to injure a god you need a god made/blessed weapon. If you know a god's true name however, anything you use will be able to affect them, with exceptions depending on what you're using on which god. (For example, if you tried to use a flamethrower on the fire god he would laugh in your face)

You also need to make sure they don't have any powerful anomalies that might cause trouble. Anomalies are a whole thing, so I'm thinking they'll be a separate lore post.

Okay well I'm sure there's more I'm missing that I really should talk about but this much took me fucking forever and I can't think anymore, so if you have questions just ask me, I'll get to it later. Thanks again for waiting folks

@thelovelymachinery @unforgettable-sensations @littleladymab @megamijadeheart @my-bright-legacy

@ominous-feychild @thecomfywriter @wyked-ao3 @anamelessfacelessnerd @differentnighttale

@mysticstarlightduck @the-letterbox-archives @leahnardo-da-veggie @paeliae-occasionally @tr4sh-p4nd4-404

@lovey-dovey-wovey @sidon0isnt0here @damonk13

[soulntes]

CHAPTER 6: FIRST LESSONS - BABY STEPS PART 2

CHAPTER 7 : LESSONS FROM A WARRIOR PART 1 SOON

five days have passed since meeting the na'vi mother and learning to be na'vi brought major challenges in their side mission that could take an effort with immense time and patience. the recom's knowledge on the language starts becoming sense with simple words about animals, plants, the anatomy, and greetings were sometimes confusing as hell, but the pain of all.. is forming a complete sentence.

some of the recoms struggle pronunciation with their throat or tongue including and others form a sentence well. it was an on and off lessons between spider and ingyen teaching their assigned students since two is better than one. spider's been asked about what he knows about the culture and forest he grew up in, his eyes light up brighter than any star ingyen seen. there were parts of his stories that were exaggerated for the impression he wants to give off towards the recoms but his mother let him be.

in a distance were miles and ingyen practicing more pronunciation because it was what he struggled, complaining that none of what she tries to explains makes sense. everytime he complained, she hits his forehead with her palm and repeatedly calls him a stupid man.

his ears drop back and his tail moves irritated of the treatment he received than his colleagues. his expectations of becoming close with her is drastically further and further away than he originally thought they were in.

"darling, we're not getting anywhere with this if you keep doing that and i am trying to understand- just it's a pain to even say it right, take pity on me." miles displays his exaggerated hurt expression he tried multiple times on her but it didn't budge her in the slightest.

"you are their leader so you get extra lessons that will benefit your position when you run into another na'vi. if you are trying to learn our ways you have to find whatever is holding you back. it's a struggle within you.. in your memories demon. you have much to learn and that will help you discover what's inside of you that truly wants." she guides his hand over his chest over his heart, holding hers against his as a way to hunt himself.

the hand under hers felt rough but delicate at how tenderly she placed them, looking at him with sincerity. miles takes it as a semi step in their relationship.

something he hasn't ever felt since he was born a few days ago basically. the memories consume his daily routine in reminding himself that he is colonel miles rick quaritch, someone important and valuable to the mission and not some confused man in a na'vi body. at this point he's going with what the rda put him because they know much more in the previous years than he and his soldiers. he just woke up with a burden weighing on his shoulders he'd have to endure.

ingyen takes notice of the silence in timid air they're experiencing so she pulls her hand away which made him kind of missed her touch, "well your na'vi is getting there, you are a skxawng when it comes to creating a sentence. meanwhile we make through the forest, me and seykxel will be teaching how to hunt and herbs that'll be essential in any case of situation."

with a playful scoff to shrug off her change of attitude, "oh come on sweetheart, we were havin' quite a romantic moment."

"quite the opposite what you think of. you are a demon and i am a mother teaching babies learning how to walk. you have the mind of a teenager looking for a mate which is unlikely." nonchalantly tells him every other day he attempts in his failed flirting.

a mate? he wonders when he could bring up the topic someday in their days that come they're adventuring since he's not oblivious what she meant. his curiosity goes where he can gget the chance asking her if she is mated or not so he'd see what else he can use to his advantage other than the kid. the more insite he learns about her and spider's life.. his advancements to find jake sully will be closer.

before she could stand, the demon wanted to know about something that night spider sang the same song she sung on the first night. he was curious at how they could be related.

his hand reaches to grip hers slightly to stop her and she's startled by the contact looking at him with a questionable expression.

are you touching me? her body language said and he took the warning to back off, " sorry sweetheart i wanted to ask you about something, princess? i genuinely want to know.. truly." he says putting his playfulness aside for now.

the woman nods with a calm expression at his serious nature and passes this incident only once to know what was on his mind.

in her perspective, only as few days spent with the demon she learns there's something heavy in his heart and soul that causes him switching personas.

"uh.. it's about this song." he says scratching his head looming over the thought he's had for a days now. "a song?" she tilts her head to the side, quipped curiously.

"i don't know the words but spider was singing it the day before we came to the forest. the lines were about a birth within and thanking eywa." after he explained what he catched on that night, ingyen understood his explanation.

ingyen reaches into her small pouch, grabbing her son's song cord protected in a cloth, decorated beautifully with colored beads by the hands of a loving mother. she gently extends the song cord horizontal to present it properly to the demon, "what seykxel sang that night is a song from his song cord. waytelem. it is what i sing to him every night, what na'vi sing to remember of the story of our lives and with each bead like this one" she points a vibrant green from starting point on the thread, "is what we put at the start of our birth. i put this bead for my son when the great mother guided me to my baby and view it as his birth within me, as he grows i add another that makes his life important. there are other ornaments used such as crystals, bits of bone, and plant material. children's song cords are shorter in length than adults because of their young age but we sing what is close to truth in a different version. "

miles sees the hand made cord with small and big beads showing the significance, listening what she describes a meaning in life here on pandora. it's fascinating that instead of photographing the memories of that person's birth and accomplishment what he remembers in his memories but with songs and the cords.

songs that were sacred to the mother in front of him when she drops her stone cold demeanor for a second and changes back. he smiles at her slight grin staring at spider's cord so he's curious if he reached out to touch it but fought against it, it didn't hurt to ask.

"may i, sweetheart?" his extended hand asking permission. at first she retract her hand to hold it protective of the boy's cord but if she was going to be a positive influence them on the great mother's will, she'd withstand letting him on a hint of the culture with process.

ingyen reaches putting the cord in his large hand and by the way she acted a few seconds ago, his careful touch on the thread and beads that meant so much to put her at ease of his actions.

there wasn't much decorations on it since spider is still a child and still human pushes him back than any na'vi kid.

in his hands it felt nice. he can't imagine the work and love and care out into a wonderful ritual that signifies life of someone. her threads and jewelry represent spider well and has a meaning to how he lived on pandora.

a human child with a na'vi mother.

the wonder floating in his mind on how the child survived for so long among the mother's people and life style to be included in their culture and raised as a fearless kid. his resistance against humans who treated him as a delusional, savage kid and doesn't know the betrayal all those years ago was treated less human.

the humans in bridgehead city treated him far different even if they were the same race. the child was treated a savage and delusional, living a false life of lies because his biological parents died in battle.

they didn't see what miles saw. his blurred memories with his mother. someone who raised him as her own which makes him who is today

this kid is proof of his survival even when he was with the remaining humans on pandora.. this na'vi woman, ingyen, raised him as her own son and loves him and fights an eye for an eye if harm is done against her boy.

the song cord tells his story. a kid more na'vi than the avatars and recoms together.

ingyen's observes his characteristics in the way he held the cord. every touch and glance does something to him she's never seen in anyone.

at home everyone is accustomed with the culture and traditions including the scientists were willing to learn but with this demon taking in her son's cord and gentleness about it felt.. warm. no other avatar took his time in looking over the details and held it like a delicate flower in the palm of their hands.

miles is an interesting being she came across. other than avatars and scientists and her brother jake, she's curious on how he became into this life and who he truly is by the way he shows himself in front of others and times he is conflicted about himself but turn a blind eye.

just by watching him has her decide in showing them deeper into her and her son's way of life to connect and see everything through their eyes. embrace what life lead them here.

looking at how mesmerized he is at seykxel's cord gets her thinking, "i will be making song cords for all of you." miles is bewildered at her statement, "are you sure darling? there ain't much about us we know ever since we woke up."

she flicks his forehead what seemed the billionth time much to his disliking, "does not matter demon because you were born from the skies and the skies brought you here to the forest which eywa can embrace all of her children, you just have to believe what you can do with your new body if you put your heart and soul into the way of the na'vi."

"you like my body princess?" his smirk creeps onto his face and there no hint but a show of disgust on ingyen.

"i mentioned your body because you demons are not used to navigating with that much clothing holding you back. we wear loin clothes and anything we make so it'd be easier to run, hunt, and fly."

miles chuckles shaking his head handing her spider's song cord, "you ain't forcing me into those strings you call clothes lookin' like a joke. i am fine like this."

she shrugs with a whatever face, "suit yourself demon but i do suggest in cutting this part," hers hands moves to demonstrate the length of his pants, "traveling with only your feet helps better grip and agility in your ankles."

"alright cupcake i'll keep your little secret between us." he sends a friendly wink that causes her to push her ears back and tail rapidly move.

she scoffs, "there is no secret and no us, only me and my son. i mentioned your body because it does have a great shape by your shoulders that'll help you in your hunting but your posture is what i'll help you fix. your hands have a nice grip on things that'll be an advantage for you in hand to hand combat but your lower body lacks more muscle. with proper nutrition and work in the time we are stuck with each other, make it count."

she sees how he doesn't pay mind to what she says with his body in a relaxed position leaning on one of his hands. to keep edging the demon into a corner, she thought of a way to encourage him with minor manipulation.

by questioning his abilities and compare him to who he sees competition.

"jake sully didn't see a problem in withstand learning to be na'vi. in fact, he learned quick in a few weeks.. he's inspiring for the men in my village to become good warriors and the women swoon over him even when he is mated with neytiri. oh let me tell you how he helped rescuing my son one-" as she goes to ramble on and see the look on his face but meet an annoyed, bothered demon with his fists clenched.

with her smirk hidden under a stoic one, "what's wrong?"

miles tcks while he stands on his feet staring down at her, "i can do it quicker than sully did."

"really? well he finished his iknimaya in three months, i don't know how you're going to do that in a short amount of time. you have to be serious about it."

the demon smacks his lips with an exaggerated sigh, "i can do it in two months."

she catches her giggles by covering her mouth with her hand, "oh you demons make me laugh. let's make it one and some days, i feel we are going to have a tragedy." she stands on her feet facing face to face even when she a few inches short.

both of them didn't retreat from each other showing who's more dominant in this game of cat and mouse. standing tall and confident in their own skills. ingyen learns the way this new type of demon can improve what the great mother has in store for him that can alter everything in their lives and paths.

"well if, by any chance, make it to complete that ritual before sully you owe me a date sweetheart, without backing out." he suggest of getting the upper hand in developing a mutual relationship.

ingyen already figured out his true intentions just like every man and demon she's confronted but this demon somehow differs from any of them.

but she won't let her guard down showing her wrinkled expression in disgust, "you probably won't survive to accomplish that ridiculous ideal mission."

a finger settles below her chin, raising her head to meet his line of sight, yellow eyes dilate from the intense tension none of them are going to admit and their heart rates changing rapidly, "we'll just have to see and find out princess because i never heard you mentioning a mate."

at the moment, both back down and head back to their camp. there they see the recoms learning more na'vi with spider squatting in front and waving his hands around.

the young boy notices her mom's foot steps and stops what he was teaching them, sending her one of his pure smiles and immediately bolt towards her. he calls out to her like a small child showing his mother a rock he found just for her. ingyen smiles softly to welcome him in her arms. not too far from where she was, appears miles out of the shadows catching spider's attention so to make matters difficult and mildly out of reach, he puts his arms around her neck and jumps in her arms to carry him like a syaksyuk with it's baby.

without hesitation she went along whatever he pleased and spider used his thumb to go over his throat indicates that he'll kill him if anything harms or saddens his mother.

miles rolls his eyes not feeling an inch of threat he's been receiving for the past few days. jealousy over his mother's attention is something he thought he'd never seen from spider.

"good. everyone is here now i can tell you what's next on our lessons."

one by the name of alexander spoke, "what kind of lesson are we getting?"

"lessons that will help you survive on your own in any case of emergency or danger. become fierce warriors for the na'vi after you complete your iknimaya."

zdog raised her hand, "pardon my lady but what is a iknimaya?"

ingyen shakes her head out of kindness that they have no clue about the passage. she'll teach them about the training and hunting and fighting from na'vi and jake's lessons he taught her.

"iknimaya is a rite of passage for young na'vi hunter in order to become a warrior and taronyu.. hunter. this will be a difficult task that little have passed theirs in order to select one another and successfully bond with your ikran. a mountain banshee who will choose you if it attempts to kill you, their future partner."

now it was lyle's turn to ask, "wait a damn minute! you mean the ikran chosen when it wants to kill you! how does that makes sense?"

she chuckles at their sudden reaction that their is more to what she wants to say, "when you make tsaheylu with your ikrans, they will only bond with one na'vi for life and each of you spend time training and learning each other so you'd become close in the beautiful skies above our beloved forest. to build trust."

"yeah the rites of passage are sacred and important for warriors among the tribes. ikrans come in different colors with awesome teeth and as soon they come into contact with your sight they.. attacks!" spider exaggerated on the experience with the laughter he's getting when the recoms flinch. he's witnessed his friends complete theirs and he wishes he can do it.

the mother pats her son then to see how tense they all are.

"but before we can talk further about it; i teach you how we navigate the forest with our hands, feet, bodies, ears, and eyes. they're to be important when you hunt for your own food and water. you will learn to thank the great mother for hunting." she points out and miles butts in, "alright then ladies, gather your weapons we're goin' hunting."

the recoms start grabbing their armed guns and pistols when ingyen holds her bow out to whack the demon's head, he groans holding his throbbing skull, "sweetheart i think you're enjoying this a little too much. what did I do now? you said we were going to learn and you smack me." she hums, "exactly demon but not with your demonic tools, make too much noise and useless in the forest. you'll torture the animal."

"then what the hell are we suppose to use?" she puts her bow and arrows and dagger out to show them the obvious.

"this is what na'vi use to hunt and finish. it'll be more quiet and useful than a loud machine that can scare the prey." ingyen explains bringing out a handful of bows giving them a few arrows, and hand carved daggers she kept in some bush that surprised the recoms.

they didn't know how the hell she crafted them quick within a few day and kept them hidden well but they rather not question. they noticed each dagger is designed its own color and styles that are almost similar to theirs in their pockets. these daggers have their own signature to who holds it represents.such detail and work put into these gems.

miles was the first to get his own bow and analyzing each detail from the woods to the string attached then eyes his own crafted dagger, "this is what were going with?"

she nods, "yes and if you have problem then you can not complete your iknimaya to earn your ikran. if seykxel could, he'd done it less than jake and when you wish to do yours." spider puffs his chest out at his mother's high praise she gives.

"alright darling, how do you suggest we use them since all we used is our demonic machines."

"to use tsko you got to have good posture with correct breathing and your aim requires full concentration. i will show you." she waves them to walk behind her with spider on her back.

with the speed she was going it's difficult for them to catch up as they stepped on rocks, overgrown roots, slippery grass, and plants in their way. they're all out breath which got her smirking because they were all cocky and think some demons can out smart a na'vi woman and her child who loved here all their lives.

they all arrived with tired expressions to an open area where the sun shines through the outline of the trees. around the circle were placed with targets.. small, large, wide, narrow, high above the trees and few in between plants and branches.

she slightly bends down for her son to get off. as spider stood next to his mother, she let out a bird calling out to in the area and in the distance was a long screech. their ears flicker trying to locate the sound when a flying creature flew above them searching which the mother let out another call.

it locates her sound as it dove at a high speed where they were, making them think it was going to attack. they felt vulnerable but the creature spread it's wings to have a swift landing. looking at it closely is an ikran with a rider's seat strapped on it's back and screeches with ingyen offering a piece of meat to her ikran that accepts. she soothes the creature with a smile petting it, "this is tsìlpey. if you want to live, do not look at her in the eye." the recoms were too shocked in seeing one so soon that they averted their sight somewhere else fast before it offended the creature.

ingyen pats her ikran's neck to the chest as she grabbed a bow that was attached offering it to the child, "seykxel." her son saw the bow she brought with her knowing they were going to meet again, "nga tsko ma'itan. fkew tsamsiyu kin sneyä tsamsä'o."

your bow my son. a mighty warrior needs his war weapon.

spider grabs the bow to lay it down before he hugs his mother, appreciating that she brought his gift, "irayo sa'nok." thank you mom.

her smile grew everytime she feels his touch and warmth nature he brings. miles observe their interaction what seemed like a gesture of appreciation since the bow looks rather new without use and what he can understand is the bow of a warrior. it's different from what she showed them hers. there was a probability of earning your own signature to it.

the kid goes back to hold his bow in his hands and sits a nearby rock making a few adjustments to his comfort, "with the bows i made for you, we'll practice on correct posture and aim before you can shoot your arrow that may determine i let you hunt on your own and prove your skills."

"i think we'll get the posture down in no time sweetheart. we're military." miles spoke that caught the recoms to look at him to not push it and spider's wide eyes, side eyeing him like he didn't just hear what he told his mom since they've been seeing how much ingyen punishes the colonel everytime he got something wrong.

she quirks her blue, striped eyebrow while crossing her arms over her chest, "if you are a great demon warrior then show me. you fail, you run around the circle and do it again with what good posture i show."

miles takes the bow off his body and in his hands ready to show her what he's made of. with arms ready to raise at shoulder length with his right hand gripping the string and the other holding the base and placed arrow aiming the tree in front of him. he tries to imagine it with a gun when he locks eyes where he wants to shoot and he lets go. it hurt like hell holding for a few seconds by the texture he felt at his finger tips.

a smack and a tug at his tail burned his rage turning his head a full degree towards the mother. what the hell could he have done wrong this time like his posture wasn't bad? ingyen points her finger where he supposedly shoot but was no where to be seen, "you fail demon. i want you to go run, wait for your turn once your back."

she orders him since he doesn't have a choice, "my posture was at least good. i held the bow how you na'vi do it even if my shot is by a long shot perfect."

"you did not. your arms were low. your gear is in the way checking if you were sucking your stomach in properly and the way you held your bow is on wrong side so you did not do any. now go before your punishment gets worse." with those demands the man groans and starts his one lap.

it's staring to feel like military training all over again.

his team began to snicker when he left just by seeing him give in easily, let alone be a na'vi woman demanding him like a sergeant. they found it amusing and hilarious as spider ran beside him to taunt straight in his face.

ingyen turns her head in their direction and they quit their horse play to focus in avoiding of facing her rath.

"who wants to be next and what do you prefer? i teach or test your skills blindly?"

...

hours and hours of bow training spent the recoms in cardiac arrest, with punishments they faced of any slight error ingyen notices.

you miss a shot.. run.

your posture is in incorrect. smack!

your fingers get cramped. you get cussed out by her.

you didn't raise your arms right.. just pray to the great mother the looks she gives doesn't drop you dead immediately.

it went worse for their colonel. his left hand became more cramped and gained bruises, his body aching has come intolerable for him to move a muscle, his head hurt like bitch from the whacking, and is done being cussed out by her.

the worst is the kid watched the whole thing as soon her back was turned making the situation worse by taunting him.

finally the day full of clouds were adorned by stars in the eclipse, they can rest for another learning experience of the na'vi life. nobody said it was going to be easy but they didn't expect it to be this challenging with learning the language at the same time.

miles spent his few minutes of break on composing himself as quick as can before she comes back from her hunt, "you know you can always quit dude. just tell my mom and she'll see how unteachable you are compared to the others.."

spider appears in his line of sight smiling at watching him suffer at the aftermath, groaning to even consider the thought in quiting.. not when he's close.

"give you the satisfaction? no way i'm doing that. quite frankly i am starting getting used to this and your pretty momma." he spits back to shut him up which works everytime he changes his cocky look to a displeased one.

"don't look at me like that kid, you were poking fun at me."

spider crosses his arms over his chest, "yeah that's funny but mentioning my mom isn't."

miles chuckles at his immaturity thinking that he'll be with her in the slightest.

i mean.. he does find her attractive. her face holds an immense grudge but once her walls are knocked down, she looks beautiful smiling and laughing whenever they mess up. when she's teaching him how to hold a bow, makes him look at her with a fierce personality and a passion for teaching her culture and lifestyle. the colonel only seen a small glimpse of her features.. like her eyes have a nice shade of vibrant yellow, her lips hold a blush of purple that suits her blue skin, her braided hair moving swiftly as she goes, the way she cares for spider in her motherly nature; even if he's human she holds him dear to her heart watching the love she gives to the boy.

the hardcore training is just the tip of the ice berg but with the their training and development on getting to know more of their culture and lifestyle.. he'll be able accomplish his goal soon.

he admits he admired her fierce personality and rude behavior because he's usually not the one receiving orders including punishment. no matter how much he got smacked, yelled, and punished he handled it professionally so he'd investigate on how she acts, the way she speaks, and how she comes off as.

miles dozed off when the snap of the kid's fingers brought him back to his senses as he is now sitting near where he laid.

spider's hesitant on asking the recom about something but in the end, "so you just woke up with the memories of the demon?"

"what?" he turns his attention back to him.

spider sighs, "did you wake up with the memories of that man? like that's all you know about yourself? no memories or anything that makes you different from him?"

the question he made is a good one. is that all he really knows? was he someone before the memories? he's thinking the last time his memories were suddenly input into his system as he suffers the consequence of questioning his identity. there's no recollection of who he was before he woke up. that is until-

those dreams he's had.

miles hasn't developed a head ache for a while now which is odd because they were down right painful.

"i guess no but there were dreams i've had about the forest." he explains as he moves his head to look up the sky.

"the forest? how? when-" spider spoke but got interrupted by him.

"i haven't born or ever been on pandora. i do not know, same thing i'm asking myself kid." miles sighs covering his face with his arm.

they stay in silence with no clue what else to say but spider did the talking again, "these dreams of the forest, what are they about?"

the recom thinks about what he dreamt about since he didn't have time and proper way of coping with such unknown thoughts he can't even mention in reports.

"i was running through the forest basically and that i barely noticed i was bare foot, let alone being in na'vi attire." this caught the boy's attention one hundred percent, "i just realized in it, i could manage a bow and was hunting."

"nah i don't believe dude! you managing a bow when you've sucked the whole day!" spider laughs at his confession loudly to embarrass miles.

miles grunts and sits up beside him, "ha ha ha. laugh it off squirt, have your little laugh off."

the boy wipes his fake tears regaining his composure after awhile, "okay i'm good now. so what else have you dreamt other than false information?"

miles glares at him for a second and places a hand under his chin, "from what i remember is a woman and a child. they were acting like if they were my family or something."

spider looks at him to see if he's lying and making stuff up to sway him into becoming close but there was no such sign.

the recom continues, "i don't know much but it seemed a happy family in my perspective. there are times i do have memories of human quaritch time to time when that dream vanishes but you can say it's a reminder about who i supposedly am. i was basically birth to do this. what do you think it means?"

the way he explained what he truly felt is a strange experience for the young boy to hear when the recom is the embodiment of his biological father. watching and hearing him be vulnerable for a moment pulls his heart string a bit. he sees what miles can't understand himself.

a confused recom born into this world with the memories who he should take revenge upon betray and disloyalty when he doesn't know the purpose of his life. born into someone that he thinks is him but not himself.

spider shrugs now acting mature in this kind of conversation, "to be honest.. i don't even know. i also had stranger dreams of a na'vi man being mated with my mother. i never seen so happy with someone. my mother may know something about these dreams because my grandmother is tsahik, they talk about these kind stuff. i can ask her."

miles nods in accepting the kid to find the information he needs for personal reason aside from finding jake sully's whereabouts. it doesn't hurt to find out what he's been wanting to find out more about himself and what his purpose is from what happened with the glowing jellyfish.

he had an idea to get closer to spider, "hey i've been meaning to ask your mom but i never got the chance since she seems she has it out for me," it earns him a genuine chuckle from the boy and shares a soft smile, "why does she call you say- saylkeyel cay? something along those words, i'm curious if that's your name?"

spider's eyes widen a bit at his question. it was so strange he manage to catch a small detail that as an enemy wouldn't take into account.

maybe- spider thinks maybe this miles quaritch is far different from the stories he's told by the omatikaya and jake.

he doesn't know where to begin, "it is my name. from what my mother told me is when guided by the great mother, an atorkirina led her where i was asleep at hell's gate and she saw me.. my mother basically didn't question her fate or hesitated in becoming a mother to a human child. she hated humans especially at the demon for causing so much pain and nightmares that she couldn't stand none of them when war was over. her hatred and resentment grew more in her heart."

miles listened carefully what can be useful for a future purpose and spider continues, "many thought eywa led her to her doom because of her hatred and spite against sky people but it was the complete opposite. she called me her syawn." the man picked up what it meant, "blessing."

the kid nods with a cute smile that ignites a sentimental sensation inside miles, "in the beginning she didn't like the idea of asking the help of humans to raise me but she decided it was the best she has knowledge on my growth and health that'll be safe for me to grow strong."

"i bet you looked really tiny in her arms." they laugh simultaneously that you see them carefully.. they were identical to a great extent.

ingyen watched afar of her son's interaction with the demon between the large leaves. her skills of hiding in silence helped her witness their alone time to an advantage if the demon was going to take action in manipulating her son.

but she saw for a second how lively seykxel shined brighter than a star when he was asked about himself. no disgust or fear in his entire life radiating off of another being.

"dude i was compared to a an animal called a kangaroo and her joey. the scientist showed me pictures because they thought it was cute on how i cling to her in a prrsmung." he shows how as a baby his mother took him everywhere.

they were like in their own little world that ingyen wished her son had someone to call a father because of her prise to choose someone who accepts her son just the way he is but it cant be him..

truly not in her years she sees the first someone genuinely interested in her son about himself would be a demon who appears as the sky demon but not entirely.

"then when she asked of my name, she disliked it because it wasn't unique and wouldn't have a strong meaning. seykxel is strength.. emotionally and spiritually as she intended on how i will be facing hard ships with the people accepting me as her son and omatikaya." he continues his explanation, "kay is from now in the future that can be combined together. seykxel kay. 'your strength from now in the future'. if your new it's complicated to understand but she chose this name to be meaningful. i guess i never saw that until i felt i would never se my momma again."

spider became vulnerable in front of someone other than his mother and kiri. ingyen never expected him to feel comfortable around the demon in sharing his feeling and thoughts in his life he kept inside long enough that to tell it to him.

miles didn't know how to react or how to respond but he does know this kid never had a father figure that he always wanted and his mother had to fill in the role so he'd be accepted. to the point he is wiping a tear away before it could fall down his face, "but now I have her here with me. she must've felt at a loss when i couldn't go back. thanks by the way for torturing my mother without me," he sarcastically says and quaritch rolls his eyes, "either way we're stuck here with you and planning to kill you at some point."

miles laughs, "you killing me kid? i bet you don't know hand to hand combat."

"hell yeah i can cuz! jake taught me what was taught to me."

"hah! sully learned that shit from me so it is my training. i have to knock in some sense into you brat. see if you are capable landing a punch on me." he nudges him with his elbow, leaning half way to his shoulders.

the young boy pushes with all his strength barely moving the recom sitting stiff. ingyen smiles at their interaction but keeps in mind that he plays mind games to gain what he needs most from them.

for now she'll let her boy be a child that need acceptance from someone who willingly heard him and sees him.

she knows the demon doesn't know the concept of 'i see you' in their culture but she can teach him into becoming someone far different than who he's suppose to be. she just wants to go home with her son away from war, in that case she will try accepting this demon into learning their lifestyle.

ingyen disappears into the woods to not alert their instincts and come back to seem she never heard their conversation.

she is rethinking her mother's words wisely before her son was taken.

"sa'nok i've been experiencing these dreams of a man. a man i do not know or familiar with because nobody here has the exact image. no long hair, small ears, five fingers that are touching me and looking at me with admiration. we act like mates in what i dream and i am frighten by what it'll mean for me and seykxel. what do i do mother? what does it mean?"

mo'at experiences in this kind of field where one dreams of another at where they could possibly meet or their destiny even when they have never met.

her mother knows something is upon her daughter and her grandson. she takes a deep breath before she spoke, "'ite, what is upon you you choose what is right and whatever the path you are lead to, helps you in what you're looking for. what seykxel desires in his life. there's someone waiting for you both."

ingyen now is frantic what got her mother to the conclusion of finding what she was looking for as someone was waiting.

she didn't need anything else other than her child. and this someone she doesn't know, are they looking for them as well?

mo'at continues, "my child. there is someone who changes your life for better or worse it's what you want and decide in accepting this person. in their downfall, mistakes, and sins. whether it be demon or not, it's what the great mother chooses. the sign she gives is what has been waiting to be searched for a long time but there is darkness upon this person. that is all i can say." she pecks her daughter's head and creases her face.

"and if it affects my son. mother i don't what i i'll do if something were to happen to him." she starts to tear up and her lips wobble at imagining her seykxel in any kind of pain.

"then choose how you act on it my daughter. there are mistakes to be made other wise how would the great mother balance the way of life." she explains playing with her hair for comfort.

her mother was right.

how she approaches these challenges and obstacles are the balance eywa measures within us.

if her son choose his own path then it's something she'll accept as a mother.

she can't shake off the idea of the demon being the possible mate she chooses because out all the bachelors to choose from.. it can be the sins of the devil.

all of them were aware of their coincidental dreams but none of them want to go specifically into detail in any case something happens or doesn't. depends on what they chose and how they react to such vivid memories.

...

after some time miles returns with spider bumping into each other like friends to see who's stronger. of course miles was by a long shot knocking him into a couple of plants on the way and left leaves in his hair as evidence at their childish play.

they see ingyen in a distance cutting the animal in focus to prepare the meal correctly. spider runs to her, ready to help in anything she will need.

"oel ngati kameie sa'nok." he motions the greeting and she does it back with her kind smile. i see you mom.

"fyape aynga lu ma'ite? nga tìsop nìltsan?" she questions on his weird, euphoric behavior. how you been my son? your adventure went well?

"säro'a. miles kar oe tsyokx wä' tsukfäru!" he shows a pretend move against nothing in front of him to show off his skills. it was great. miles taught me hand to hand combat skills.

she giggles watching him be a child again with everything going on. nothing can defeat the flame within him.

she tells him she needs a few things in the forest for the meal. he happily obliged to help her in anything possible.

as he made his venture out alone, miles watch him disappear in the depths of the forest, "you think it's fine he goes alone in the forest?"

she scoffs at his worrisome, "he is a mighty warrior. he is my son. i am his mother. this is his home and it's where he belongs. he knows his way around and if he was in any kind of danger i can get there. i found him and you in a day."

miles squats to her level on the ground and reaches a hand out under her chin since she keeps avoiding eye contact, "seems to me you are an overprotective mamas but you give whatever the kid wants, darling."

she hisses a warning, shrugging off his touch, "of course i am. i am his mother."

he sighs knowing he won't get nowhere with how she acts and does his thing again. grabbing her chin gently to move her attention towards him as he gets close to her, face to face.

he knows he's not repulsive when it comes to appearance and is physically fit making him think how can she resists. he has charm to the authority he radiates within him. there's gotta be a way to sway her heart.

"yeah you did found me and him. what else did you find?" his low sultry voice made her heart a bit tingly but disguised it with a blatant look.

"a son of a bitch." ingyen spits back showing off her fangs in a threatening manner.

miles smirks, "bet those little fangs of yours can give me a heck of a bite like your dirty mouth. right, cupcake?"

she slaps it away clearly showing disgust. before she responds her son comes back with the tools his mom needed with a huge smile.

talk about right timing. miles thought looking smuggling towards her.

her eyes tell him that when they're alone.. he's dead meat like the animal she's skinning.

thinking how this woman is the one in his dreams has him question some stuff that are unanswered. just as spider said about a na'vi man mated with his mother.

he wonders in asking her at the right time because she still seems hostile and closed off to goof off a bit but it makes her unique to him.

what do you think your doing boy? use the kid against her?!

huh? who is it? is it the same voice?

seems you forgotten your place as colonel, soldier?

miles is getting the severe head aches once again. his vision starts getting blurry seeing a blurry image of a man. a human.

the human stood there in military attire staring in his direction.

you haven't got soft have you? is this pathetic savage and boy getting you butterflies and rainbows? no!

why are you holding back?!

holding back.. you mean ingyen and spider? i don't know what you mean? who are you?

you are me and i am you. do what you born to do!

it irritated him how much he keeps hearing that voice constantly. like a virus fighting its way to spread through his body. poison him into it's bidding every time he speaks.

are you tormented by memories my child? a soft and influential voice spoke. miles felt torn between everything. the woman and spider. human quaritch's voice and memories torturing his mind.. manipulating. now another figure or something.

ingyen observes how quickly he changed the way he act a second ago. she feels this intense vibe or curse weighing on this demon battling his inner self.

spider felt his mother's aura full of overwhelmed emotions as she carefully watches over the recom, gripping his head with heavy breath, ears pressed back, and tail swaying in anguish.

spider goes to stand in front of him and place his small hand on his arm for comfort. in response, miles looks at him with eyes full of hesitancy, misery, enragement and doubtful expression he can't manage to tell.

ingyen drops her resilience to join her son to condolence the demon. both of their touch slowly decelerates his heart beat and regains his senses but there is still doubt and immense fear in his eyes. it kind of hurts the mother, she goes as far as bringing him into her arms, pulling her son in as well.

she doesn't know why she's doing it for his sake but there's a curse among him that haunts his day to day life. she's noticed his change when he enters into this state.

the three stayed in silent.

miles close his eyes, taking deep breaths to regain his conscious, and does what he can on making the figure of human quaritch disappear for a while.

ingyen somehow thought of petting his head slowly and started to hum of a lullaby her mother sung to her child self.

little one, do not fear

for i am here, just let go

let your worries disappear

you are everything to me

here i stay

release your fears and nightmares

as i cradle you in my arms

close your eyes and take a breath

feel the love and joy i see

i am here to see that precious smile

brighter than the stars

i see you little one

for i am to protect you

daughter of mine

the mother repeats the melody in hopes of calming the demon which in the end actually worked since her son hums along. miles goes to grab onto each hand and rubs their knuckles.

as soon as he recovered he looks at ingyen, thanking her with his eyes. communicating with one look says it all.

spider watches the moment closely how they give each other the look of sincerity displayed. it's different than how they usually show their own character.

his mama never gave someone a gentle, concern expression.. much less a man who's tried flirting with her and teased her on many occasions.

miles was a different story. the young boy witnessed different scenarios when miles acted different than who he met on the first day. one moment he's a colonel doing what he thinks is right and ordered to do. an intelligent bio weapon the humans rely onto completing what they should've in the beginning. a lost na'vi with the memories of the demon haunting him to influence his choices. someone with a resemblance of his biological father who was never there in the beginning, is acting like they were buddies since the beginning.

he's conflicted with the variety of miles in his eyes that he believes there's only one that can determine the truth of miles identity.

just as the emotional moment slowly died in a pregnant silence, ingyen moves her body away from the demon with her son following.

"you seem to have calm down." she says trying to avoid eye contact again, "i have to prepare our food for the night. i will see you with your friends."

ingyen excused herself and walks where her prey was to take back to camp where the other recoms are. miles and spider stay in their silent bubble trying to grasp what has happened.

"are you feeling alright?" spider asks with eccentricity.

miles nods, "yes it's something that stuck ever since so i'm figuring out what's causing this when it's reoccurring for me. i have to report it back at bridgehead city of my condition. bummer delivering the bad news, both of you have to come with us."

the boy whistled a long one rocking side to side, "my momma is not gonna like this one."

the man chuckles, "yeah. you are right in something."

"you gonna tell her now?"

the recom sighs readies himself before he interacts with the na'vi woman, "have to."

eclipse has started to set in the night sky as everyone prepared their bedding on the trees.

ingyen is set to lay down with her boy when the colonel appears behind her, along his presence known.

he fake coughs to catch her attention which she took her time to look back at him, "yes?"

"i need a word with you, sweetheart." he turns where he'll lead her to a secluded area to talk privately. she tilts her to side at his awkwardness but pushed it behind her as she pecks her son's forehead and a whisper prayer.

she smiles fixing his hair and leaves him to rest to talk with the demon. the recoms all watch this happen until they can not be seen and zdog decided to release the tension.

"so how much we betting that one of them falls for the other? i'm putting two hundred colonel does first."

the recoms choked on their last bit of food and with a croaking voice mansk rebuttals, "what the hell are you on about z? we're on a mission and you seem to forget she and the kid are sully's allies."

"yeah but doesn't hurt a little complicated romance waiting to build. the classical forbidden romance. have you seen how the colonel looks at her!"

brown shrugs, "i'm betting four if ingyen turns smitten for him. she may look as if she can't tolerate and wants him dead but there's care in her heart. she told me my balance was off by tilted my arm this way and it worked! she says i am getting there to earn my ikran."

"i'm putting eight hundred if both of them fall at the same time!" lyle states loudly eating his last bit of meat which shocked the recoms at his theory.

"that's certainly impossible wainfleet. it looks like a one sided if we're speaking on facts." mansk rebuttals.

zdog scoffs, "as if you know women. i know my girl better than anybody."

meanwhile the recoms are discussing among themselves on their bets, miles and ingyen reached where it was far from the group.

"look cupcake, i know you're not fond of us or the humans but we're gonna have to take you with us. i have to be checked on and we can't just let you go." miles explains seeing how she didn't take it lightly.

"me and seykxel are not going to that place." she plainly says to get her point across.

miles sighs knowing it's not going to be an easy task in convincing her, "well sweetheart agree to disagree whether you want to or not, you're comin'."

she hisses at him displeased at his response.

"i get who you're trying to protect but it's risky enough spider has a mask with a tracker on it and if you take him, it'll lead us right where your home is," he holds her arms to think straight of what he's saying, "i promise with me around, nobody won't touch you or the kid."

her ears perk up at his offer to keep them out of reach from harm.

"i can not forgive what they done to my boy.. he is a child. why use innocent children to gain what you need?" she gasps in between breaths, rage filling her body to even think they'd use a kid to manipulate the situation.

"i'm asking myself the same thing but i guarantee that you'll be close to where i'm at. just follow what i tell you and everything is fine."

she hesitates, "if they hurt seykxel i will kill all of them. i swear to end you for not holding what you are promising-" miles interrupts her declaration of slaughter on those she calls demons in her eyes, "they won't touch him and you. not a single fingertip doll."

he seemed true to his words by the way he looks at her and in his voice with determination. she doesn't know why in her heart she's going to believe the vivid memories of the very demon who took everything from her and her people.

there's a battle between the now and past. both have a role in her life changing how she acts and how she lives with her life. by seeing this demon telling how her what could be empty promises.. has her thinking differently about him.

her eyes keeping searching for an answer in his manipulation tactics to trust him and give into his sins.

through his eyes... there was only promising.

they only known each other for a couple of days but somewhere along being stuck.. both of them have the impression they'll get along some day that is destined by these dreams.

they for sure want avoiding in and hesitate when the time comes of war because in the end... no one wins.

it'll be their doom if it counts a face off and they have a choice of choosing in their belief and motivation, ingyen saving and defending her home from the sky people's return for her son. as for miles, all he knows is jake sully betrayed the man who's memories engraved in his system and nothing else. he can't acknowledge himself because of the sole purpose of being created as back up in case the humans didn't accomplish what they were sent here for.

they met at a wrong time.

for sure there's nothing they could do about it but live how life is goin right now and prepare for the worst.

TAGLIST

@skinmittensgoblin @eternallyvenus @winxschester @perseny @cleverzonkwombatsludge @reallysparklychaos @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @liyahsocorro @violet-19999 @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed @ratchetprime211 @analuw @alexandra-001

[tigreblvnc]

BLUE LOCK MATCHUP — @m1ckeyb3rry

Your match IS...

— Chigiri Hyoma

✦ …………………………………..

✦ …….. I rewrote the whole matchup……

✦ …… because I realized halfway through that my first choice wasn’t the right one at all :D

✦ YAY.

✦ I think this is the first time I’ve ever done a complete rewind like this.

✦ It doesn’t bother me because I prefer being accurate in my choices, but wow, I didn’t expect it, lol.

✦ SO.

✦ Back to square one.

✦ I’ll explain at the end of the post why I changed direction, but essentially the only other choice that came to mind while reading your description was the red panther. It perfectly fits all the traits you love and hate in people. Honestly, my choice could be summed up in just those few paragraphs since your lines scream “princess” more than any other character…

✦ In this case, you two share a lot in common, which leaves no room for any other potential match. I can only see Chigiri by your side :) Believe me, he’s a great partner, both from what we see in the manga and what I interpret about his character off-screen.

✦ Let’s start with the common points!

✦ "I’m quite smart but I don’t really try to be?? Like I mostly play on my phone or watch shows/read in my classes but I have perfect grades anyways." Without calling Chigiri lazy (far from it), he easily succeeds at what he sets his mind to. When it comes to sports, he's a smart guy with a sharp, critical, and curious mind that quickly grasps things and learns easily. We know that from an early age, he made a breakthrough and gained popularity because no one could rival his talent. Nature also blessed him physically, but we’ll get back to that later, Monica Bellucci.

✦ "I’d say I’m also pretty quick-witted and good at thinking on my feet BUT I’m kind of judgmental." Yes. Chigiri.

✦ "I was the one in high school who knew ALL of the tea because people would just tell me their secrets unprompted." Well, it’s not quite the same for Chigiri, and this is where things get interesting: for him, it’s the opposite. Since he’s so talented, many have high expectations of him, and he has high expectations of himself too. His knee injury was a taboo subject at the beginning of the manga until Isagi brought it up and got Chigiri to open up – though I like to think it was Isagi’s therapist-like aura that encouraged Chigiri to confess everything.

✦ This is where you complement each other well. Highly talented and productive people often hide their failures and vulnerabilities, and when they do confide, it’s a real sign of trust.

✦ For this reason, I think one of Chigiri’s love languages is quality time.

✦ Another reason this match makes sense: you two naturally balance each other with your respective temperaments. But there are also striking similarities, like your general popularity. People gravitate towards you both, seeking your presence.

✦ And honestly, it was when I reached the “likes/dislikes” section that I completely reevaluated my choice for your matchup because everything you mentioned just screams Chigiri. That’s what ultimately pushed my original choice aside and made me rewrite everything!

✦ "People who are passionate about things, people who are very kind/gentle, they NEED to have a sense of humor though so definitely someone very comfortable being sassy or sarcastic, people who are on the calmer/quiet side because that balances me and my high-maintenance self out, people who don’t get angry very easily." I’m quoting this because it almost directly describes Chigiri. To me, he’s a boy who started off very confident and arrogant, but his knee injury taught him humility and introspection. This balance brings a lot of nuance to your relationship. He knows how to switch between being highly competitive and cocky on the field, yet he becomes very calm and kind off the field. Chigiri is the type to dish out sarcastic remarks without getting upset by them.

✦ There’s a little note about him that says, "He thinks his strong point is that he's proactive when it comes to things he likes or wants to do." Sure, most of the Blue Lock characters are passionate about what they do, but the fact that Chigiri is the only one with this specific note in his canon profile shows how central this trait is for him.

✦ "Traits I dislike in others: people who explain things I already know because nothing makes me crash out like a mansplainer, people who are overly pushy, people who are way too nonchalant and don’t pay attention to me, people who are overly blunt to the point that it becomes mean, people who look down on me or are condescending, people with no social awareness." Similarly, Chigiri strikes me as one of the most balanced characters in the Blue Lock roster, and I see him as someone who would be respectful in everyday life. In fact, I think this applies to most of the manga’s characters, but once they’re off the field and not in high-pressure situations, they’re just regular humans like us. Well, most of them.

✦ "Hobbies: Horseback riding (I do dressage, which is kind of like horse ballet)." Why do I feel like this is a sport Chigiri would absolutely enjoy? Maybe it’s because dressage requires technique, precision, and elegance—qualities that define Chigiri well.

✦ "Writing." If I remember correctly, Chigiri enjoys reading. Short stories, specifically. While I see him sticking to his preferred genres, your love for writing would definitely pique his interest. Writing is a pretty personal activity, and not everyone is comfortable talking about it, let alone sharing their work. Since Chigiri is receptive to art in many forms, he’d be intrigued and would want to know more about your writing style, your characters. You can learn a lot about a football player’s mindset from their gameplay; similarly, a writer’s work reveals much about their inner world.

✦ "Making tea." I’m picking up on all the tiny details because everything aligns so perfectly with Chigiri, and I’m still wondering why he didn’t come to mind during my first attempt. Also, I remember reading that you love autumn, which creates a fun link with Chigiri: "His favorite season is winter because he enjoys drinking tea and eating sweets while sitting under a kotatsu."

✦ "Doing makeup/hair/skincare." Chigiri again :) Along with Aryu and Kaiser, Chigiri is one of the characters whose appearance is meticulously maintained. He genuinely cares about looking good.

✦ "Taking pictures (both of myself to post online and also just of scenery/animals/flowers/pretty things)." Except for Nagi, Shidou and Sae (surprisingly), we don’t know much about most Blue Lock characters’ online lives, but I can easily picture Chigiri scrolling through Instagram, checking out fashion, beauty, and wellness accounts. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a Pinterest board for home decor, hairstyles, and inspiration.

✦ "I like being told that someone loves me and I also like being looked at." Funny you say that because there’s a line about Chigiri: "He likes when he is praised for his talent or admired for how fast he can run." You two were definitely the queen bees of high school, huh?

✦ "In terms of giving, I think it’s gift giving because I love finding little things that remind me of someone." Spot on. I think Chigiri would love receiving gifts, especially books, clothes, or stylish items. He strikes me as someone whose house is the most well-decorated out of the whole friend group, and everyone loves visiting.

✦ When it comes to public displays of affection, I see Chigiri as someone who’s more reserved. He might be with his partner in public, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he acts—he keeps it private.

✦ So… YES. I said I’d get back to appearances, and now is the time.

✦ … Monica Bellucci is one of the most beautiful women of her time, and nothing and no one can convince me otherwise. The fact that she speaks more than six languages (including Italian, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Persian) makes me absolutely crazy. And honestly, if people compare you to her, it means you’re turning heads just like Chigiri :) So yes, the couple goals are present, and that’s why I rewrote this entire matchup to highlight it on my blog.

✦ Cancer and Capricorn have one of the best compatibilities in the zodiac, thank you and goodnight.

✦ And just because the analyst in me can’t help but dissect every brain: the ISFP and ENFP combination is very interesting and draws heavily on creativity. Both types are known as free spirits who don’t like to conform to norms, and they want to create and invest in things that resonate with them. These two types share Introverted Feeling (Fi) in their cognitive stack. It asks, "Is this good? Bad? Do I like this?" Your ideals guide your decisions and preferences. You can’t be forced into something you’re not in tune with, or you’ll become unproductive—or worse, completely stuck.

✦ I haven’t even touched on the headcanons yet, so the curtain rises now :)

✦ You met at the end of autumn, early winter, when the season was still clinging to its russet leaves, but the white of the ground had already started to appear.

✦ Back then, Chigiri still had short hair and ran faster than light. You, as usual, were surrounded by people, admired by the teachers. Good grades. Your profile was enough to make others envious, but it was so distant from you that it didn’t really affect you.

✦ In any case, it wasn’t a concern you showed.

✦ The fact that you didn’t speak right away, even though you probably knew Chigiri from afar—everyone talked about him. People talked about you too, but it was hard to tell if Chigiri was aware of you. In truth, apart from soccer, there wasn’t much that could hold his attention for more than five minutes.

✦ … And you liked that. The fact that he always gave everything for his passion. That he was bold, laughed in the face of the slower ones. There was a part of you that didn’t necessarily approve, but another part that admired this confidence. Only the best can afford to act like that.

✦ You watched him play from the stands. Soccer wasn’t something you always understood—the rules or the appeal—but the team spirit, the way people fought hard to score goals; that you liked. You understood the excitement of gathering around the field to cheer on one side and then the other. It was a moment shared with others.

✦ What eventually made Chigiri approachable was, ironically, the very thing that shattered his rise.

✦ During a match, his leg twisted, and you didn’t see the redhead on the field again after that.

✦ You were there. You saw what happened.

✦ And you also noticed how everything changed for Chigiri once he returned to school, without the weapon that set him apart from the rest and elevated him above others. His knee now had a brace.

✦ Most people scattered, lost interest. The strongest had fallen, so there was no point in orbiting around him anymore; there were other heroes.

✦ You saw him, sitting under the isolated tree behind the school. He was alone, and instinctively, you knew he wasn’t seeking company.

✦ But you couldn’t help it.

✦ You joined him, announcing yourself politely. You were alone, so it was easier for Chigiri to accept you sitting beside him.

✦ From your backpack, you pulled out snacks from the konbini—you knew Chigiri liked them. He always opened a pack after training.

✦ The fact that you remembered this moved him deeply. Everyone only defined Chigiri by his abilities on the field, never by what he liked. You remembered that he liked sweet snacks and even brought some tea in a thermos.

✦ You shared the food while talking until sunset, and even now, that remains one of the best autumns Chigiri had ever known.

✦ Even at the end of high school, when your paths diverged, he kept in touch by phone. He regularly sends pictures of landscapes he finds beautiful. Cats he finds on the street. Cherry blossoms in spring.

✦ Time and obligations sometimes keep you apart for long weeks, even months, but you always end up crossing paths again in the shopping streets of Tokyo. More specifically, near the clothing stores.

✦ You both followed each other on Pinterest and enjoyed pinning photos to your shared boards. You smile when you notice a new picture added and see the other’s name beneath it.

✦ "Look, this reminded me of you."

✦ Skies with changing colors are your favorite photos.

✦ Even with his busy schedule, he always comes to see you during your horseback riding performances. These shows are particularly beautiful, and his respect for your understanding of horses is immense. Anyone good with animals is undoubtedly a good person.

✦ He claps without shouting, always with a smile on his face. He knows you’ll spot him in the crowd.

✦ He keeps the little trinkets you give him, attaching them to his phone, keeping them in his fanny pack.

✦ When he’s in town, a thought of you always wanders through his mind, and he takes out his phone: "I’m near the mall. Want to meet up? It’s time to see who’s kept the best fashion sense."

✦ Always a slightly teasing remark, but never mean.

✦ Like you, Chigiri remembers the little details and the things you like. He’s even become surprisingly good at gifting you the best stationery—cute and colorful pens, notebooks, everything.

✦ When he was able to run again without fear of injuring his knee, you were the first person he told.

✦ "The match against the U-20 is coming up soon. You’ll see me on the field, Mira, and I’ll be running."

✦ ONE SHOT TIME.

The match against the U-20 had passed, and Blue Lock had won.

Blue Lock. You hadn’t heard much about it, only what Chigiri had told you. And Chigiri wasn’t the most talkative guy in the world, especially when it came to his own affairs.

But one thing was clear: he had joined the program and was running again.

Running.

It was something that defined the one who earned the nickname of the Red Panther. And you had seen him dash faster than anyone on the field. There was something beautiful about watching Chigiri play, whether it was his fluid, controlled footwork. His straight trajectory along each wing of the field while everyone else was crowded near the goal. His red hair gleaming above his shoulders like a dancing flame.

You had found Chigiri in all his former glory.

When the final goal was scored, signaling the end of the match, everything inside you tightened with joy. Your first instinct was to suggest to Chigiri that you meet up in the city during the break, at the café you used to go to in high school. The sign hadn’t changed, and luckily: you could still enjoy your favorite dishes there.

The Cat’s Corner welcomed you with its Parisian café tones, its wooden tables, old paintings, and tiled floors.

Chigiri had just arrived at the table where you were already seated.

"Hey, champ! So, you’ve been hiding the fact that you’ve become super strong from me!" You say with a big smile, opening your arms to welcome your friend in a hug.

"I’m just saving the surprise to make my comeback more epic, what do you think?"

"You were amazing. That was an incredible match, I can’t believe it!"

"Me neither, you know. It wasn’t looking great at first; we were all a mess."

Chigiri sits down, reaching for the menu, but your hand stops on his wrist.

"I already ordered! Karinto manjuu and green tea for you, sir."

"Wow, what a memory! Good thing I haven’t been getting that for ten years!"

"Tsk, amateur. You think just because it’s been months I don’t remember what I brought you under that tree?"

"You remember that?"

"How could I forget? With your funeral face, it looked like the world was ending."

"That’s pretty much how I felt."

"And now, how do you feel?"

"Now…"

Chigiri glanced away, looking at the passing crowd. The constant noise rocked the rhythm of his thoughts.

"… peaceful, I’d say. To be able to… play like before. I’m not scared of blowing out my knee anymore."

"What happened then, while you were stuck in a new block with just guys?"

You smile, and quickly, a teasing expression crosses Chigiri’s face.

"Don’t start imagining things—it’s just teammates, nothing more!"

"Yeah, yeah… We all went through the yaoi phase in middle school, Hyoma!"

"Maybe you did. I was training to be the best."

"And now?"

"Nothing’s changed. I’m still training hard. To beat who I used to be… and to finally be the best striker."

Chigiri’s order arrives, and the steaming tea seems to plunge him into deep thought.

"This time, I won’t slow down. I’m not afraid anymore. I’ll give it my all to get there, even if it costs me my tendon. Hey, Mira. Will you follow me in this new ascent?"

There was no need for an answer to understand the obvious, which only made your smile grow.

A word about your match: As I mentioned, I revised my choice because I believe that with Nagi, the spark just won't catch. There are too many differences between the two of you, and even though I love opposites-attract dynamics, considering the traits you like and dislike in someone, Nagi is, rationally, not a good match for you. Nevertheless, I still posted the matchup I had originally planned with him (because, well, why not) HERE in case the draft analysis I made interests you. Enjoy!

© TIGREBLVNC 2024 | SEPTEMBER '24 MATCHUPS EDITION.

[evenstar0600]

Hello. I had an idea for Simm!Master and his partner.

The idea is based off the song Love Like You from Steven Universe. Specifically this line "I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true. Cause I think you're so good, and I'm nothing like you"

The idea is that Simm!Master has a companion who's his complete opposite. Caring, nurturing and sweet. They don't judge the master for his actions and are there to support him as best they can and in their own special way. He originally took them as a captive but soon realized that he was lonely and craved their company. The reader while scared did their best to get to know him and soon watched him change from being hostile to less so abd soon they realized they didn't want to leave and they wanted to help him. Fastforward they now have a more equal relationship and the master isn't anywhere near as nasty to them. One day the master has a bad day and is irritable and snaps asking how someone like them could want to be around someone like him. He starts breaking down even further and gets more violent and the reader just rushes to him and puts him in a bear hug and touches foreheads in a soothing manner. The Master stops and they fall alseep like that

I hope this makes sense😅

SUMMARY: essentially, the request ^^^

REQUESTED: yes/no

AUTHOR'S NOTE(S): hey! thank you for requesting and it does make sense. love your corinthian pfp. i absolutely love this idea!! i did use they/them pronouns for the master and the reader.

PAIRING: simm!master x gn!companion reader

WARNINGS: human/time-lord relationship, angst, the master being themself, mental breakdown, hugging, fluff etc

SECOND PERSON POV

You often found yourself reflecting on your relationship with the Time Lord known as The Master. Anyone with eyes could see you both differed. Polar opposites. Your respective personalities clashed and repelled, like trying to force two magnets with the same poles together. Near impossible.

Yet, you found yourself travelling with them in their TARDIS. Your stay on their TARDIS had started out as a hostage and it wasn't a pleasant one. It was about almost a year ago when you found yourself being abducted by a strange man known as The Master, who had ties to The Doctor, whom you'd travelled with alongside Martha Jones.

It'd been one of fear when you'd been held hostage by The Master, who despised you, just simply for being a human. You were more one to look at life through a glass-half-full type of perspective. A rose-tinted one. You were called many things. Caring. Nurturing. Sweet. You didn't judge The Master for their past actions, just like you did for anyone.

The past was the past, you'd thought. The Master, however, had other ideas. When they had abducted you that one day, it'd been to spite The Doctor. Their best enemy, The Master had been described as. It was a fitting moniker. Then he'd met you.

What was so different about you from The Doctor's other companions he'd encountered? They'd initially kept you around for reasons they didn't know. Then the realisation sunk in after you officially started travelling with them. The Master was lonely.

They craved your company. Coveted it. Initially, they'd been hostile. A beast, some might say. They were cruel to you, disliking you openly for being human. Yet, you still intrigued them. You adamantly attempted to get to know them, all the while scared of what they'd do to you if you pushed the wrong buttons.

Nowadays, you both shared an equal relationship with each other. Platonic to the touch. The Master was significantly nicer to you. You'd even gotten a bedroom of your own aboard the TARDIS and travelled to places of your choosing.

One day, things changed.

You absentmindedly walked into the console room, finding The Master gripping the console unit with unnaturally pale knuckles. You thought if they gripped it any harder then the TARDIS would break. The Master was prone to foul moods in this incarnation, the maddening drumbeat lingered in his mind. That insane four-rhythm beat that he'd drum occasionally.

"Master?" was all that escaped your mouth, wary in both your voice and tracks.

Their eyes darted up at your nervous figure. They laughed mockingly. "How?" was all they snapped, before shaking their head, "How can a human like you, (Name), even stand to be around me? I'm horrible. To anyone, especially you,".

They slipped down the console unit, as the drumbeat got ever more maddening. They were breaking down. Immediately, before they got more violent, raced over to them and embraced them in a bear hug. They stilled momentarily before you felt them relax into your embrace.

The drums were quieter when you were around. The hug was relaxed, pulling away so you could look into their brown eyes. They pressed their forehead to yours, in a soothing manner, as if the very action silenced the drums instantly.

I always thought I was bad, now I'm sure that it's true. cause i think you're so good and I'm nothing like you...

[skeletap]

How much did Spinal Tap's personality change over the years? Any core values or traits that are different?

He's the complete opposite of how he was when I first made him. Originally he was a self insert and had no real personality seperate from me.

Then when he became a 200x oc, where initially he was from 'hell' and had no connections to starseed. He was the one with the borderline obsessive crush, and was more than willing to kill because he was a generic demon character w/no real background. I also didn't really have any traits 'rules' in set for him as a character.

When I began Prima Materia is when he became what he is now. Nothing's really changed since except maybe a few details about him. But he essentially is what I consider "Spinal Tap" now. The thornimp prince from Coreternia, who became the Pananacean 28 years prior to the story, and was locked up and medically experimented on by his older sister who wanted his power for herself so she wouldn't be kicked off the throne.

As for the rules/character traits I have for him now;

Spinal Tap speaks Eternian as a second language learned through books, and has a 'posh' manner of speaking where he doesn't use contractions (ex. he does not use 'doesn't'), and will say big or extra words to pad his sentences. Words or concepts he hears but doesn't know are immediently written in his journal to look into later. A rule I ammended recently is he will slip into speaking in Preternian when he's in distress.

He's deeply religious (afterall he is the chosen one to a god) and has more reserved values than his counterpart Skeletor. He dresses modestly compared to his Evil Warrior peers, and will not say or do things he considers innapropiate. He also abides to thornimp courting traditions in terms of relationships but its more how his species chooses mates rather than a societal construct. But he's also a hypocrite and reads a ton of erotic novels and freely breaks the dress code he insists he abides by.

As before, he's religious, and as a follower of Starseed he cares a lot about health and wellbeing. So he would not kill or cause grave bodily harm, and approaches conflict as "knock out and flee", and will heal his opponents before leaving. He doesn't treat himself with the same kindness due to being tortured for years and having to cover it up w/his healing powers, and is prone to be self destructive when distressed.

Spinal Tap is also emotionally and socially stunted, even if he puts up a demure of a modest prince. He's a bit awkward at times, and will prattle on about things he likes of knows about. He is also prone to tone switching very quickly and can turn from one emotional to another on a dime, and can easily be at the mercy of his own emotions as he doesn't handle stress very well.

In terms of what he likes. He loves alchemy and botany, and will go on lectures about either subject. But he also enjoys reading romance novels, foraging, and doing stereotypical royalty nonsense like going to the opera and drinking wine and fancy cheeses. He will get his work done as quick (but quality) as possible to dedicate as much time to his freetime, which is primarily taken up by gardening.

And theres a bit more... but you can read my stories to get a taste of who Spinal Tap is as a character :)

Anyway I gotta eat my breakfast I let get cold writing this, tata!

[felinespooky]

Ramblings of a madman

So, people are speculating on what or who Sliver is the twisted version of. I’ve seen a lot like Princess Aurora, the sword of truth, Aurora’s blessed gifts, and the last spinning wheel. All are good with more conclusive evidence. But you’re reading a post done by someone who wants to really throw a curveball about this! My hot take is that Sliver is a Twisted version of one of Sleeping Beauty’s offsprings, mainly the Grimm Brothers’ version.

Yes, I can see you rereading that last sentence. I also want to add that maybe Yuu is the other offspring. While Book 7 (Diasomnia) isn’t really available in English to my knowledge, I have read that Sliver in the pre-realize trailer mentioned to Yuu that he feels like he’s met them before. “But that wouldn’t make sense because Yuu comes from another world!” I hear you, but a counterpoint is that if everyone remembers way back in the beginning, you are given a choice of saying “I’m from another world” or “I’m from a different dimension.” While they don’t really have much of an impact besides a slight change in Crowley’s response, I feel like this needs to be brought up. Yes, they can and are basically the same, however I feel like we can twist the perspective on those choices.

To me and my insanity, to come from a different world is more or less that, a different planet entirely. To be from a different dimension, however, would imply that Yuu had been taken through space and possibly even time. I get that a world vs dimension debate shouldn’t even be a thing, but I’ve also been talking nonsense! Now, just about everyone and their mother has gone the “different world” route from the looks of it. Fine and dandy choice, and I’m probably losing some of you here because this is about Sliver and Yuu somehow being siblings-but-not-siblings here. Well, that’s part of the reason I bring this up! Yuu may or may not have some sort of connection to the Diasomnia dorm, mainly Sliver in this case, but we don’t know if it’s true or not. Because them being twins would be quite the twist. Only one gets sent to an alternate dimension because maybe the twisted version of their parents were pretty shitty and saw that only one has magic. Course they are “good guys” and don’t like the idea of a baby’s death on their conscious so boom! Free baby to another set of parents in a completely different dimension where magic just doesn’t exist.

“But why specifically the Grimm version? This is all about Disney!” I hear you cry, and I have to point at Jack for this one. Jack is most likely a twisted version of Kimba, which is essentially a Disney knockoff of the Lion King. Not everything has to be strictly Disney related it seems. And besides, this lets me segway to my next point, which is Yuu is taking care of Grim. It’s not like it’s lost on us on where Grim gets his name. Plus, the Grimm tales are essentially the starting point for a good portion of the stories used in the Disney franchise. I have seen a theory floating around that Grim and Yuu are one and the same, just one’s more of the other’s magic manifested into a being of itself. Again, a twist in and of itself if Yuu was originally born in Twisted Wonderland and most likely had a low magic read compared to Sliver and got yeeted into a magicless place so bad that it knocked the magic baby Yuu would’ve had literally out of them. Which could also explain the whole “ominous” speech about Yuu basically being empty but still able to be summoned to a more magical place.

While twins don’t have to be near carbon copies nor be complete opposite of one another, I do want to point to some of the similarities Yuu and Sliver have. Notes of Yuu’s can be found with these folks. Both are pretty good with animals, though Sliver’s is with the more tame while Yuu is with the wild (Grim). Both can stay calm under pressure, though they have different levels of calmness. Both also have certain looks (technically everyone does but we’re mainly focused on these two) that get pointed out by others. Vil commenting on Sliver’s looks for a film, and a few others commenting on Yuu’s appearance to name a few. I would dare say that both have a heavy sleep-code thing going on, though we know more about Yuu’s POV than Sliver’s.

Sliver does make a comment saying that Yuu could be good with a sword; could be a note that they had some physical similarities that are so minimal no one would make such bold connections like they were related yet Sliver could subconsciously see it. If both were twins of a Princess (or a twisted equivalent that doesn’t have to be royalty per say) that was blessed by the good fairies, I wouldn’t find it hard to believe that they both received those same gifts through blood. Sliver just happens to have more in terms of the gifts, though that’s not to say that Yuu never received them either. Like Yuu’s potential magic, it was more noticeable in one baby than the other. This would follow with the common trope of “twins separated at birth” but instead of the whole separated by miles bit, it’s separated by actual space! Both also get along with the fae pretty well, different reasons but still there.

Anyways, if you read it this far, don’t think about it too much. I feel like I was losing myself here and trying to gather all my braincells on this one shit post. Probably doesn’t help that I’m hella tired but wired at the same time!

Edit: I made this at like 1 in the morning. I feel like I can refine it once I get sleep. X-x

[liverbiver9]

Act One Notes: 後悔莫及 (Too Late for Regrets)

On AO3

Relationships: Jiāng Yànlí & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Jiang Yanli/Original Character; Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín & Wēn Qíng; Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxian

Characters: Jiāng Yànlí; Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Original Characters; Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín; Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī); Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín and Wēn Qíng's Mother; Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Jiāng Yànlí-centric; POV Jiāng Yànlí; Genderqueer Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Trans Male Character; Kid Fic

Hello!

TBH I considered posting this fic here but I truly can't be bothered to figure out how to put all the links and everything so I'll just post the whole fic once it's finished on AO3. In the meantime, I have literally So Much to say about this fic because it's been rotting my brain for weeks now, and there's only so much I can fit in the author's notes, so here we are!

DON'T READ PAST HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS

So, act one:

This chapter really just sets everything up; there's not a whole lot of plot, and the purpose of it is to mainly set up Jiang Yanli's character and her motivations.

I didn't want her to be the perfect Shijie that Wei Wuxian (and therefore we as the audience) see in the novel, but I also wanted to stay true to her characterization. The first bit at Nightless City is taken directly from the novel, with some formatting, grammar, and small narrative changes. It was while rereading this part of the novel (Chapter 78: Nightfall--Part Three, Exiled Rebels Scanlations) that I really got a revelation about Jiang Yanli:

Jiang Yanli, "I'm... I'm here to tell you..." To tell him what? That it's fine? That I don't hate you? That everything is fine? That I don't blame you for hav[ing] killed Jin Zixuan? It was impossible. But she couldn't say anything that was the opposite either. And so, she didn't know what else she could say to Wei Wuxian, under such circumstances. It was just that she felt she had to see this brother of hers once more.

This scene part is gut wrenching. It is obvious that Jiang Yanli doesn't forgive Wei Wuxian nor thinks he's innocent. In fact, the whole reason she's here is to see him "once more," or one last time; she doesn't think he can turn this all around. I don't think she wants him to die, but I definitely think she's expecting him to be exiled and to never see him again, which is why I added the reference to Dongying (Japan), because I could see Jiang Yanli refusing to kill Wei Wuxian but agreeing he's too dangerous and shipping him off in exile somewhere.

She has resentment towards him, but she also loves him. In general, she just has a lot of conflicting feelings about him, and I think she feels guilty about it. No one wants to think the worst of their family. So I think a lot of this fuels her snap decision to take the blow for Wei Wuxian.

Of course, in this fic she's too distracted by her conflicted feelings to notice the blow and he ends up taking it like intended. I had a lot of fun with this twist!

Jin Furen also has quite the role in this chapter despite never actually showing up. I think after the death of Yu Ziyuan, Jin Furen found it her duty to take over the motherly role in Jiang Yanli's life. I do think she genuinely liked Jiang Yanli, but I also think she had her own ulterior motives in play.

To be completely frank, the paragraph about Jiang Yanli's pregnancy and birth being hard, and Jin Furen essentially condemning her to an early death because of it, was kind of an afterthought? Jiang Yanli is often characterized as ill or of poor constitution, despite this not really being in the novel (I blame CQL), but I chose to give her chronic illness for purely selfish reasons.

I recently got diagnosed with Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that affects my body's connective tissues. One of the things the doctor told me when I got my diagnosis was that pregnancy would be much more dangerous for me because of it (I won't get into the details, but it did scare me shitless). I never really wanted to be pregnant tbh (too dysphoric) but the option had always been there. This diagnosis pretty much destroyed that option. So, I projected my illness onto Jiang Yanli because, why not?

I had completely forgotten I added this in chapter one until I posted it and got several comments talking about how fucked up it was LMAO

The real reason I wrote this fic was because I wanted a fic where Jiang Yanli gets to raise Wei Ying. She already raised him in canon (fight me on this I dare you) and sort of raised Jiang Cheng; I say sort of because as gentry, and especially as heir, he would've had tutors and nannies and all sorts of people helping to raise him. Communal childcare was the norm back then!

But Wei Ying wouldn't really have that, unless the senior disciples decided to take him under their wings, which we have no evidence from canon saying they did. We do have evidence of Jiang Yanli caring for him like a mother, though Yu Ziyuan says she acts like a servant to him (which really just says SO MUCH about how she views parenting). We also have evidence that Jiang Fengmian wasn't all that attentive (Wei Ying's clothes and shoes were too big for him; ill-fitting and worn clothes are a super common sign of child neglect). I would imagine that servants and disciples would be nervous to show Wei Ying any favor as long as Yu Ziyuan was around, so any care he did get was probably inconsistent.

So yeah, Jiang Yanli was probably the most parental figure to Wei Ying growing up, which is all sorts of fucked up. And she already has so much conflicting feelings about him at this point that I simply had to make it more complicated by adding the parental love in there. I don't think the jump was too quick either; she seems to be a person that is very aware of her own feelings, she just doesn't share them often, so I think she would instantly recognize her love for the type it is--the world view adjustment will come later, of course.

She's just so fascinating!! I had so much fun writing her. Cannot WAIT to discuss chapter two OMFGGGG

[papabearbobbynash]

I agree that some people have been VERY weird about the couple dying and Buck getting the kid, but there's been a lot of confusion and change in the storyline about whether or not Buck was going to struggle so I don't think it's totally fair to say people are babying Buck and "ignoring" that he made this choice and is fine with it.

It was set up in the show and they said in multiple interviews that he was going to struggle, and the storyline could have been really good and dealt with the spare parts of it all and with him giving himself away to help others at the cost of himself. Who knows what the original plan was now, but the interviews saying Buck is fine with the decision and won't struggle are the complete opposite of what they were back in December, and I think that's why people hate the storyline so much. It's about the fact that it COULD have pushed Buck's arc forward into setting healthy boundaries for himself and instead, since he's not struggling at all and they've treated it like a joke, it's feeling like, what is even the point of this storyline? If there's no drama with Buck's decision, it's gotta come from somewhere and it looks like Connor is struggling now and some BTS look like Kameron maybe in the ambulance so it's all about them instead of character growth for a main character. That's why I'm annoyed with the arc, it's actually nothing about sperm donation at all and entirely about the show fumbling the storyline and then backtracking to just do nothing with it but waste time 🤷‍♀️

Hi again anon (who I suppose to be the same who asked for the link)

I actually mentioned the person was very mad when venting exactly due how they said these people with those theories were simply babying Buck. I believed this would annoy a lot of people who would read, also it's something I don't agree with (in this case).

However I do agree with the whole point about how those theories basically invalidade adoptive parents x bio parents (what is very relevant on Buck's character who's actual family, the one that is looking up for him and loving him, is the found family, not the biological one -excluding maddie-. It's also very relevant to other relationships in the show such as Henren and Denny, Buck and Christopher, Buck and the 118. Essentially on how blood doesn't mean family).

My main anger regarding this storyline was about how to me it didn't make any sense for Buck's character. The post (and some of the comments under) made me actually see how it could serve to Buck's development.

The new eyes I said, weren't entirely positive. I still think the storyline has it's very low points for example how they didn't show us Buck's mentality over his role at all and we had to rely on Oliver to actually believe on it. The way they pulled a comical side of it by making an episode about how Buck didn't cum for weeks, when they could have actually spread awareness over the sperm donation process. How they made the couple so damn antipathetic what is basically making the audience create antipathy over a couple who is trying to have a kid by the sperm donation process. How they wasted the opportunity of relating the decision to Buck's "born for spare parts" trauma, as they could make Buck finally choose to do it rather than others (his bip parents) making that choice for him.

The arc itself is far from being well executed, and people have all the right of being mad about it, because it could have been way better than it was.

Your view of the arc is completely valid, the post only happens to have made me understand how the arc was even a thing the writers thought it would work for Buck as a character, since I couldn't relate it to Buck as a character. Before, I was annoyed because i didn't understood what the arc had to do with Buck, now I see it mostly as possible lost potential even if they manage to end it in a decent note. (what is surely a progress regarding my initial feelings over this arc)

[seraphirism]

Hallo again!! I’m the Falin-anon turned 🍀anon and yeah, honestly I thought the Sanrio collab was at least coming in December cause of the presumed Halloween event like the last two years did. But nope, popped up and luckily my wallet was saved because I got the Lucas card I wanted (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`) I shall forgive him for the full year that his cards have been avoiding me. I do hope the event story stays cause I’ve honestly been too busy collecting up those butterfly gems for June Bride and leveling up Bellen to lvl 16 to unlock all his memories. If not then…oof.

Yeahh…honestly I’ve been stacking up tissues in preparation for the potential angst fest they’re gonna give us knowing their record of happy to bad things happening to the butlers. Darn you Studio Wasabi! Let the butlers be happy I say! (I’m a liar, I like angst too much to truly be mad at them). Personally though, I think the twist may be the reveal of the fourth angel or something like that? Or perhaps a deeper understanding of why the ring exists and how it even came to Aruji? Since we still don’t really know how the ring came to be, if there were any other masters before Aruji, or the black cat that appears every so often.

Butler wise, yeah I think they’re gonna wait at least another year to introduce the last two butlers since we haven’t really gotten to know Bellen or Shiro that well yet. To establish their fans and all and to get to know their personalities and motivations better. I mean, compared to the other butlers (including the first floor villa ones) we don’t really know them all that well aside from what others have told us (in the case of Bellen) and the little snippets they’ve given to us (Shiro). Still a big fan of Bellen but I am trying to hold onto my loyalty to Lucas.

On a different topic, Senjyushi!! I honestly did not think I’d find another active Senjyushi fan after all this time ever since it ended service (╥_╥) my prayers have finally been answered. My favorite (not saying that I don’t like all the musketeers it’s just…some hit different in a good way) are Marks and Fal tied for first place. Kinda..opposite in terms of personality and how they interact with the Master but ahhh! I couldn’t decide! Who’s yours 👀?

Story wise I got to Japan before it shut down 😭 I’ve been living off of YouTube to remember those days since I can no longer go back and reread the stories. And yeah, the original game ended pretty spontaneously (within one year) and has a really rushed ending.

SPOILERS (SKIP IF YOU WANNA READ THE OG STORY)

Basically the Resistance is able to push through and defeat all the modern musketeers and, with Like❤︎︎Two’s help, was able to reach the World Emperor. Before they can finish him off, Ashley (World Emperor) essentially crumbles down and is shown to have what the Senjyushi mc has whenever their modern musketeers overuse Absolute Ruthelessness and is dying. The og mc feels bad and decides to save Ashley and heal his wounds. However, Mauser disappears because of this and Ashely, who’s been defeated, tries to end himself but Mauser (in gun form) refuses to do it. This, presumably, changes his mind on how he should bring peace to the world + the og masters mercy and is what leads to his actions in Senjyushi.

Since the og master healed Ashley’s wound completely, their wounds starts fading too (this is hinted by a few scenes before as the musketeers had gathered beforehand to discuss what’s going to happen after the final battle) and the musketeers say their goodbyes and return to gun form. We don’t really know what happens to the og master after this but there is a short scene at the end of the og game where I think an old guy (or perhaps the master themselves) is cleaning a gun in a cabin in the woods surrounded by guns. The translation is pretty bad but that’s what I could get out of it. According to this and what’s hinted in game, the og master may have the og Brown Bess (?) and Chassepot (?) wherever they’re hiding.

SPOILERS END

Yeah I don’t think we’ll get a new game out of the Senjyushi universe after this one either ;-;. It’s such a compelling story and the mc is written decently well from what I’ve seen even if they’re supposed to be an insert self. So much trauma in the poor mc…wait I just realized when the switch version comes out we’ll probably have to witness Vivian’s death again. . . NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

HOPEFULLY, it does do well and the story can continue on (also delusional) as the stakes are pretty well thought out. Actions have consequences and the development of the characters are great. The gameplay should be improved in the new version though as in the og game it was…kinda lackluster despite the pretty graphics whenever Absolute Nobility/Ruthelessness was used.

Long LONG ask but I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

hello 🍀-anon :D!! I hope you’re doing well! congratulations on getting Lucas (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)!! (no, anon, he deserves a little bit leniency, not forgiveness. because why was he avoiding you the entire year, huh 🤨?)

and the ‘twist’ could be both, the probabilities are high!—maybe something related to Aruji, the fourth angel or even the room in the basement of the Prison of Chaos (Sardis’s prison from Lato’s arc.). because the room was so creepy and we ended up getting no information about it either.

now that I think about it, the whole matter of the ‘traitor to humanity’ is still pending as well; maybe a hint could be dropped towards who it is? lol.

yep, we still don’t know much about Shiro, like at all. so I think we need a lot of information about him revealed—with Bellen he himself doesn’t remember much about himself or anything really. I read 2 of his 3 initial card stories and in them, you can see how he’s trying to adjust to everything—the world, the fact he’s not as strong or experienced as the other butlers, his memories (which were supposed to be important in figuring out a lot of questions) are fuzzy. he’s going to take quite a while to adjust, figure himself out so we do need time before the next butlers ✨!

coming to senjyushi (*≧∀≦*) Mark and Fal 😭? they’re too different my friend, in a lot of ways.

(in case of their interaction with MC and it’s sharp contrast, Mark got a leash and collar for MC to use on him, so they could be together 24/7. then there’s Mr World Army soldier who, (in his affection story?) told MC that if it had been up to chance, it could have had been him who would have executed MC’s parents 😭)

(though, I never ending up finding out about Fal’s past or why he his the way he is 🤨 /j)

ahem, well who am I to judge? the reason why I even became obsessed with Snider (like the push for me) was that he told MC that he wanted to put a collar on MC to show everyone that they belonged to him (in the older game, affection story) so uhh yeah 🫢 you like ‘em crazy, I like ‘em crazy; just in different ways.

I also loved Mark 😔 our adorable meow meow. oh! and I loved Like-two too! he was the first tsundere character I had liked in a while! I loved all the characters but my favourite were definitely Kathariste, UK and France’s factions 💗

[also, for Rhodoknight, it’s entire main story and (most if not all) event story + card story content is still available as fans recorded it and posted it on a certain website, in case you didn’t know 👀 ]

and man, that’s a whole lot of stuff that happened in the original game 😭 I haven’t read the complete main story (so my feelings may change afterwards) but I don’t think the ending of MC healing Ashley’s wound was a good decision. like after all they did, letting them go scotch-free doesn’t seem appropriate.

I’m so looking forward to the game on switch (even though I don’t have switch 😭) but I am not looking forward to our girl-boss vivian dying again. I grew really attached to her in the main story and then boom! she’s dead? 💀 MC and Vivian were soul mates!

and yep, they need to work on the game-play mechanics. while it was easy to play (just had to leave it on auto), the game play wasn’t entertaining or engaging. (the delusional part of me would love to have that battle mechanics similar to PGR or HSR; they aren’t open-world but the battle system is pretty engaging. it could work out well because we fight outragers or the World Imperial Army soldiers.) i hope it works out well enough; i love the story too much to let go of it 😭

thank you for the long, long ask (I really enjoyed reading it!) believe me when I say talking about senjyushi to someone in such a long time is therapeutic 💗 it felt so lonely when I played senjyushi because there was no one I could talk to about my favourite characters, the main story, gacha etc (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

by the way, do you play any other games, anon 💗 in the joseimuke genre or any other?

(I had your ask answered on the day you sent but I completely forgot to post it lol 😭 but I hope you have the loveliest day possible, 🍀–anon!)

[boobookiss]

I will literally always remember and go back to the speach Mark gave at the end of the DAMIEN explanation stream:

If you don't have the time to watch, he reminds the viewers that the name "Darkiplier" is literally never used for any character in any of the egoverse story videos, no one is named or dubbed darkiplier in the actual canon. Then he essentially says that if there was a character to be named "darkiplier", it would be a character completely opposite of his IRL self, someone who is narcissistic, an asshole, does whatever he can to get ahead in life, etc etc...essentially describing Actor Mark.

I personally don't think "darkiplier" as a concept actually exists in the in-canon universe of marks story videos. I think that's just a term that we call the combination of celine + damien + house entity. Mark is saying that if there was any character to be called Darkiplier, a dark version of himself, it would be Actor Mark. Which tells me that Dark is really his own separate thing.

I've always believed that both Damien and Celine dieing and combining into the same body unequivocally changed them both forever. Even WITHOUT the house entity inside their fusion, screwing around with their motives and personalities, they would never truly be the same people again because the act itself of becoming one person just...completely fucked everything about them up. But, the house entities influence; also being a part of them, makes it so whoever is in control at any given point becomes a warped funhouse mirror version of themselves. Whatever they view as their "worst traits" become amplified and focused, and they sort of lose any of the nuance and abiliity to accurately reason in the way they did before. They are still a collective which makes them their own unique person, but the influences and threads of their old selves are still there.

Example being how the Dark we know, mainly controlled by Damien as Celine is "asleep", is vengeful, unpredictable, theatrical, emotional on a hairs trigger....as well as nerdy, and trying waaay too hard to seem suave/put together when you pull back the curtain. He acts the part of the perfect looming villain, when in reality he has no idea what the hell he's doing. (Honestly I think if you view Dark in this way, his personality actually tells us a LOT about Damien)

From everything we see of him I really have the feeling he has distanced himself from his past life and completely hyperfocused on the task of getting revenge on actor, in my eyes as a coping mechanism. It's probably easier to leave it all behind and not think about how you've changed, pretend that that person isn't you at all, than mourn them and what you could have been.

I think Dark is a lot less Damien than we think he is, but WAY more Damien than *he* thinks he is.

All the gaps in the Markiplier Cinematic Universe™ do make me wonder

Does Darkiplier still view himself as Damien? Or did he want to move on and leave that identity in the past?

Did he name himself Darkiplier, or was it Actor so he could have a named villain? Or is it the case that "Darkiplier" as a concept is an opposition to actual Mark himself (being selfish, conceited, etc.) and that in reality, it's Actor? What does that make what Damien ended up being?

What do you think?