#this feels so obvious now i'm not sure this post is necessary but we all know i can't shut up

[lizardkingeliot]

Okay so we're all in agreement that it was Lestat who pulled Louis out of the wall in the theatre right? The episode doesn't make it explicitly clear and they only show us Lestat saving Louis during the trial. And in fact they have Louis say he knew the blood he tasted upon being freed was Armand's...

But in the context of everything else that... doesn't actually make much sense? Because here's what actually happened...

First, Louis woke up in the sewer alone...

Why would Armand just leave him there if he suddenly decided to choose Louis over the coven after Lestat saved him from imminent death? After listening to him screaming in agony as he starved in that coffin for... how long? The opportunity that presented itself wasn't Louis being saved from death at the trial on the stage and being locked in a vault. Armand could have taken him out at any time. He chose not to. He chose to listen to him screaming in agony for... days? Weeks????

Armand didn't care. He chose the coven. He discovered Louis was gone and only then did he reach out to him telepathically while he was in the crypt plotting his revenge. Louis asked Armand if he saved him at the trial AND if he pulled him out of the wall. Armand gave the same monotone "yes" as an answer to both. And I think we're meant to understand these are both equal lies in hindsight.

And when Armand told Louis to leave Paris it was clear his only aim was to save the coven. If Armand wanted to be with him he would have been. He only decided to choose Louis after the coven was gone and he had no other choice. Armand was at full strength the whole time. 500 years old. Powerful enough to walk in the sun. He could control the coven with a snap of his fingers.

But you know who wasn't at full strength at the time? Who couldn't have just gone to him right away even though he wanted to save Louis more than anything in the world?

Lestat only let Louis stay in that situation for as long as he did because he was so weakened by doing the mind trick that saved him in the first place. We all saw how rough he looked after Louis had been taken away in 2x07. The way he was standing there swaying on his feet...

He had to regain his strength to go back to the theatre, get Louis out, give him his blood at full strength so that it might heal him. And he only left him there because he believed he needed to let Louis go. Because he was not worthy of Louis' forgiveness etc...

This is probably a conclusion lots of you have already come to but I didn't pick up on it during my first watch because I was so emotionally compromised. I don't know why they had Louis say it was Armand's blood, but maybe we're meant to understand it as another misremembering. Louis trying to reason with himself that it had to have been Armand's blood. Because before Daniel gave him the final pieces of the puzzle, he very much believed Armand had been the one to save him at the trial. The one to pull him out of the wall...

[wakkass]

It's impossible to put into words how much I love designing characters, especially for AU.

Yes, I recently had an avatar AU, and I really wanted to draw Katara from there (and also Zuko). I usually draw a static pose in order to display all the details of the clothes. This is such a kind of character sheet that helps me to better imagine the scenes in my head.

If you're interested in reading about the AU itself, then there will be some information about it.

I apologize in advance for mistakes in the text, English is not my native language. But, I hope, this will not interfere with understanding.

In general, my AU concerns the ending of the series, because at some point it seemed unrealistic to me. There is too much positivity with the obvious problems of the post-military space, as well as little logic in some moments (for example, I don't understand what Zuko was doing in Ba Sing Se. Did he abandon his newfound throne to the mercy of fate with the risk of a palace coup? Did he not feel the effects of a lightning strike? The longer I think about it, the surreal it seems to me).

At some point I thought, "this is all like Aang's dream, in which everything is intentionally good. As if this is the ending he wants, but it's unattainable." And then it dawned on me. But it really looks like his fantasy about the future after defeating the root of evil. This explains why Zuko recovered so easily, why everyone is just relaxing and having fun without a drop of post-trauma. Because Aang wants everything to be so naive and simple after defeating the Fire Lord. Because he's dreaming about it.

I know this is a very hackneyed narrative technique. It's pretty easy to say "this is someone's dream" to deny any events. But I found it curious, especially against the background of the episode "Nightmares and Daydreams", where Aang's dreams already simplified the reality around him. For me, it's like a lead-up to the finale, where he actually sleeps.

You ask, "but why is he sleeping?". I also asked this question, and the answer to it killed me. Because during the battle with Ozai, when the stone hit Aang in the wound, he fell into a coma. His body was paralyzed because his brain perceived it as a repeated lightning strike, again fatal. The avatar's state was the only one that did not allow Aang to die, but only to fall into a coma. And instead of an epic battle, we have a little helpless boy spending a huge amount of energy just to maintain his life.

The second Aang collapsed, he disappeared, leaving Ozai alone with the remnants of his temporary power. And no one else saw the avatar…

I'll leave the intrigue for you about this, but for now I'll tell you about the concepts from the art.

Naturally, everyone searched for Aang, and, naturally, they did not find him. Katara and Zuko were the only ones who did not participate in the search, for several reasons:

Zuko was rehabilitated for a very long time after being struck by lightning, and Katara nursed him (I'm sure there are a lot of fics about this topic. The only difference is that there is no romance here. The focus of my AU is not on it, but on the problems of the consequences of the war). He survived, but he had major problems with his heart, digestive system and spine. Who noticed the cane in his hands? Yes, Zuko couldn't walk without it. From now on and forever. He was physically unable to leave the palace, and Katara maintained at least some of his condition.

Even after Zuko's rehabilitation, it was necessary to keep the power in his hands. Imagine what a shock the Fire Nation experienced when not just the former Fire Lord was overthrown, but the country's policy changed dramatically. Now Zuko needed to keep power in his hands and establish a new regime as soon as possible, before his opponents raised armies and people against him. This boy, who recently sat quietly at a military meeting, needed to show unprecedented strength and power to everyone: both officials sought to turn the situation in their favor, and the people who wanted stability and prosperity. But how to do this if Zuko couldn't even breathe normally, and getting out of bed required tremendous effort? It was impossible… Anyone else would have given up, but not Zuko. He has never given up without a fight and has never turned his back on danger, even if he risks dying.

It hurts me a lot for him, too. Fate has never stopped pushing Zuko against obstacles, but this time he couldn't rely on himself. He almost couldn't bend, his body almost didn't obey. He was an easy target and there was nothing he could do about it. This helplessness irritated him, saddened him, oppressed him. The only thing that wasn't broken yet was his spirit, and Zuko was barely able to maintain it in such conditions. If it wasn't for Katara, I don't know if he would have coped in the end. She was now his only support, his only ally in these cold oppressive walls, the only rational grain in his doubts.

You ask, "Where is Iroh? Where is Mai?"

Iroh, along with the White Lotus, took on a mission to liberate the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Army and establish relations with the kingdom. In fact, Iroh now shared power with Zuko: uncle was engaged in foreign policy so that his nephew could focus on domestic policy.

With Mai, everything was much simpler: after getting out of prison, she was completely disappointed in the guy who always left her. She sent him a letter, where she finally ended their relationship, and left with her family somewhere far away. Perhaps she and Zuko will cross paths again and will be able to establish a relationship. But not now.

Katara remained to help Zuko not only with treatment, but also with his policy. As a resident of an almost disappearing tribe, as well as an able leader, she helped him with projects and plans to improve the quality of life of the population and actively participates in them. She performed those missions that Zuko can only entrust to her. After all, she was a friend he could rely on and to whom he could open his feelings.

In her design, I wanted to reflect the combination of two cultures: Fire and Water. I was based on the designs of the "12 Kingdoms" (if you haven't watched this gorgeous anime or haven't read ranobe, I strongly recommend doing it. This universe is no less interesting than the avatar's world, I'm sure you'll like it), because the palace intrigues and the plot with winning the respect of the court reminds me very much of the story from there.

One day Zuko's legs finally gave up, he could not get up. All the stress he was going through was breaking his body so much that at some point the Katara's treatment stopped working.

It was a very difficult moment for both of them. Zuko has just started to promote his ideas and defend his rights to the throne, and Katara sincerely did not know what to do. If the truth about the true state of the Fire Lord had come out, all the ill-wishers would not leave this opportunity and attack, this couldn't be allowed. They urgently needed to create the appearance that everything is in order, but how?

Zuko came up with a very brazen idea. He asked Katara to use bloodbending on him to simulate walking. It was a very difficult request for her, because this skill represented the worst face of the war, it was created to torture people. And the last thing she wanted was to torment Zuko. She hesitated for a long time, he saw it, but he couldn't wait. He couldn't stop, it wasn't a luxury he could afford. Therefore, he went out, trying not to get up and move much.

Naturally, at some point his weakness was noticed at the most inopportune moment. Naturally, at this moment Katara couldn't let Zuko fall. Imperceptibly under her sleeves, she moved her friend's body like a puppet, causing him as much unbearable pain as most would not stand. But Zuko was not like that. He stood it.

It looked like this to me somehow:

They were both very depressed that day. He was suffering physically because of Katara's bending, and she could not believe that she had caused the suffering of a person dear to her. It broke and scared her, she opened the way to the Hama's madness, and was very afraid to fall into it.

Zuko assured her that it was impossible. Hama didn't have people to guide her, while Katara has friends. Maybe Zuko didn't consider himself the best moral mentor, but he promised to be there in the most difficult moments for Katara, and now he won't leave her.

This encouraged her and opened her eyes to her own cowardice. She was afraid of the darkness of Hama, and instead of curbing it, Katara hid it in herself, ignored it. And that's what it led to: the person who needed her help suffered. But she didn't want to run away anymore. She wasn't going to give up without a fight and turn her back on those who needed her.

At the beginning, Katara trained on herself, experiencing the same pain as the victims of bloodbending. Careless movement of blood through the vessels could cause internal bleeding at any time, it was very dangerous. The Hama's voice in her head pressed on her conscience, saying that innocent people felt all this pain, and only Katara was to blame for this.

Later, she learned to control the flow of water on puppets, like Hama. The point was to pass water through the threads without bursting them. Absolute control was required here, and Zuko taught her the techniques of firebending for self-control. This was necessary for Katara, because the Hama's voice in her head did not subside and did not allow her to correctly distribute her forces. It seemed like Katara was about to stumble, but Zuko wouldn't let her do it.

Gradually, Katara mastered this skill and tried to draw blood on Zuko's legs. The effect was unexpected. Her great willpower and desire to help him resulted in healing. Zuko began to feel his legs, and Katara discovered the reverse side of this bending. No, she didn't heal him completely, it's too early for him to get rid of the cane. But maybe one day she will become so strong that she can do it.

Katara realized that there was no evil magic, there was only evil intent. This was her first step towards learning to look inner demons in the face, and not to hide them in herself when it was possible to hurt others.

But what about the other design?

Katara's father sent her a letter asking her to return. Her family needed her help, because she was the last waterbender, a carrier of culture and skills, as well as a healer of a new level, the daughter of a tribal leader.

At home, everything was not the same as before, moreover, everything taked shape as a Northern Tribe. I really like the idea of the comic "North and South" about the problem of assimilation. Only here has Katara accepted all aspects of its culture, even the most unpleasant ones, and she would not give up so easily when this newfound knowledge was in danger of disappearing.

Actually, I wanted to draw her outfit of this arch. I wanted to redesign the costume for myself, because I like to do it. I kept the front strands of Katara, we don't talk much about them.

I would really like to describe the path of the rest of the team and what they do, of Aang and what happens to him. But I'm already tired of typing, and you probably read.

After all, the post is more about designs, and not about the AU itself, so the goal to reveal some of my ideas has been achieved in principle. Maybe sometime later.

Hope you enjoyed reading this :3

[cursedappendage]

Slay the Princess Vessels in Japanese Pt 1

Part 2(Chapter IIIs)>> Part 3(Narrator, Princess, Voices)>> Part 4(TLQ, TSM, Echo)>>

LONG TEXT POST INCOMING though I guess that's normal for tumblr

Anyway I wanna geek and talk about the Japanese translations for the Chapter/Vessel names in Slay the Princess(could also do one for the voices but thats another post probably)

format will be: OG name JP Name(Romanization) [ENG Translation of JP Name](Japanese has no articles so just assume presence of "the" when you feel necessary)

OK LETS START(StP spoilers obvi)

Chapter I The Hero and the Princess 第一幕。勇者とプリンセス。(Daiichimaku. Yuusha to Purinsesu.) [Act 1. Hero and Princess]

Pretty direct translation, not much to say here(voice of the hero is also referred to as 勇者の声(Yuusha no Koe) but that's for the voices post)

Now, most of the chapters after chapter 1 have the word 乙女(otome) to refer to the Princess. The word means young woman, or maiden. This translation will use "Maiden"

Going in the order of the game's "Memories" Menu, left to right, starting with the ten Chapter 2s

Chapter II The Adversary 第二幕。戦士。(Dainimaku. Senshi.) [Act 2. Warrior.]

Only 7 out of 22 of the vessels don't have 乙女 in their names. 戦士(senshi) means soldier or warrior, referring to someone who fights on the battlefield(not necessarily belonging to an army, in contrast to 兵士heishi also meaning soldier). Pretty straightforward, I guess you could say the JP name is more focused on the fact that she fights rather than her being a rival.

Chapter II The Tower 第二幕。塔の乙女。(Dainimaku. Tou no Otome.) [Act 2. Tower Maiden.]

This can be read as "Maiden of the Tower", but as we know the "tower" part actually refers to the Princess herself(I think). Basically the same as ENG, not much to say. (Any vessels with の乙女(no Otome) can also be read as [Maiden of ___] instead of [___ Maiden])

Chapter II The Spectre 第二幕。亡霊の乙女。(Dainimaku. Bourei no Otome.) [Act 2. Ghost Maiden.]

亡霊(Bourei) means ghost, a dead person's spirit. Another one that's pretty direct. Though, the dialogue in this chapter uses the term somewhat interchangeably with 幽霊(yuurei), meaning spirits in general, and おばけ(obake) a very broad term for spirit/monster(they're a class of youkai).

Chapter II The Nightmare 第二幕。ナイトメア。(Dainimaku. Naitomea.) [Act 2. Nightmare.]

This one is just the straight up english word. Not much commentary besides the fact that i'm not entirely sure why some of them don't have "maiden" in their names.

Chapter II The Razor 第二幕。刃の乙女。(Dainimaku. Yaiba no Otome.) [Act 2. Blade Maiden.]

The JP name is a lot more obvious than "The Razor" but you kinda get the idea with both(sharp stabby stabby woman).

Imma do the Razor III & IV chapters here too cuz they are all considered part of The Razor vessel

Chapter III The Arms Race 第三幕。腕比べ。(Daisanmaku. Udekurabe.) [Act 3. Contest.]

腕比べ(Udekurabe) is contest(usually of strength/skill) and i find it funny cuz this one also has the word arm in it(腕Ude)

Chapter IV Mutually Assured Destruction 第四幕。恐怖の均衡。(Daiyonmaku. Kyoufu no Kinkou.) [Act 4. Terror Equilibrium.]

Or "Balance of Terror" but I like "Terror Equilibrium" more. I think like with the ENG name this refers to how, by the end of the chapter, both the Princess and TLQ are equals in their fight.

Haven't seen any JP streamers not take the blade in The Razor Ch 2 so I don't have the names for "No Way Out" and "The Empty Cup" ;-; I don't have the game myself so if anyone could show me any screenshots or smth of the JP title cards for these chapters i'd appreciate thank you

Chapter II The Beast 第二幕。ビースト。(Dainimaku. Biisuto.) [Act 2. Beast.]

Like the Nightmare, straight up English word

Chapter II The Witch 第二幕。卑劣な乙女。(Dainimaku. Hiretsu na Otome.) [Act 2. Foul Maiden.]

One of only 2 Princesses where an adjective is used instead of a noun. 卑劣(hiretsu) means lowly, mean, base, despicable, etc. This is basically the Witch's attitude(can be seen very clearly in our interaction with her and the fight to the death). This chapter is one of the only ones where the title differs quite a bit from the ENG name, though I also think that's what the English name is supposed to imply, rather than her being magical in some way(though she can call the roots of the wild apparently).

Chapter II The Stranger 第二幕。冷淡な乙女。(Dainimaku. Reitan na Otome.) [Act 2. Cold Maiden.]

Cold as in indifferent or apathetic. The 2nd and final adjective Princess. I'm actually unsure about why this one is named this way, as the Stranger is actually everything at once.

Chapter II The Prisoner 第二幕。囚人。(Dainimaku. Shuujin.) [Act 2. Prisoner.]

Direct translation. Another one where I'm not sure why she doesn't have "maiden" in her name, especially since both her Chapter 3s do

Chapter II The Damsel 第二幕。乙女。(Dainimaku. Otome.) [Act 2. Maiden.]

This one is interesting to me. Like most of the other names, this one has the word "maiden" in it. But here it's just "Maiden". Guess it makes sense though. This chapter we see her as just a damsel, just a maiden locked up in a cabin basement. Anywayyyyy Chapter 3s will be their own post as well as the voices Hope this was interesting for y'all, I wonder what the translations are for the other available languages.

Part 2(Chapter IIIs)>> Part 3(Narrator, Princess, Voices)>> Part 4(TLQ, TSM, Echo)>>

[durgeapologist]

Saw a post complaining that a companion gave too much feedback about Solas to Rook and I was kind of on board with the criticism thinking it was about being spoonfed info but then the rant ended with a snide "I romanced him you didn't so shut up, you'll never know him like I do" and it honestly rubbed me the wrong way. You're playing ROOK. Rook can't see Solas through a romanced Lavellan's eyes. They don't have the events of inquisition to go off of? Idk they lack of distinction between player and character rubs me the wrong way with a lot of Solavellans who dump on Rook. And I feel like that's a big factor in general I see in DAV criticism. That people don't like that people in game keep telling Rook about Solas but honestly I never thought it was a big deal and in a way those are actually good perspectives to have since only viewing him through the romanced lens gives you a very rose tinted window into the man's mind and you don't get to really see how other people are affected by him. Can it be tedious at times to sit through a breakdown of something you just saw? Sure, I can see that, but when they add "I know him better than you ever will because I played Solavellan" it kind of just comes off as them being mad that people were negatively affected by their pookie-bear. Even then it's just the lack of self-awareness or even narrative awareness. Like, I'm sorry not everyone in the fictional universe is privy to your internal perspective that you got from playing the Solavellan route? That Solas had an impact on the wider scope of people he interacted with and not all of the impressions he made were positive? I kind of hate it because I'm a Solasmancer myself but I feel like I don't have many people in the fandom to talk to because they treat it like a dating sim.

OH GOD ANON I THINK I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU.

“only viewing him through the romanced lens gives you a very rose tinted window into the man's mind and you don't get to really see how other people are affected by him.”

“solas had an impact on the wider scope of people he interacted with and not all of the impressions he made were positive.”

^^^^ these have always been my two biggest critiques/points when i talk about the culture surrounding the solavellan ship but also, by proxy, solasmancer culture as a whole (bc some dreadrookers take this mantle up, as well). seeing him as simply yet another romance option, and only seeing him through the lens of his romance, causes a LOT of missed (and absolutely necessary) context and nuance to his character as a whole.

people who don’t romance him, ie. people who have never/will never romance him, are just as valid in their interpretations of him because 1) his friendship path is just as important, and 2) it’s quite literally how everyone else that isn’t a romanced lavellan across thedas sees him in-world. even rook. he has made now over a decade’s worth of modern impressions on those around him, and building on what you said, it’s so very likely a majority of them were not, in any way, positive. especially in the years following trespasser, when he is actively in survival mode and being hunted down cross-continent.

solas comes across as callous and uncaring, or rather— fronts as callous and uncaring to those he doesn’t view as his equal. it was painfully obvious in dai, and even more so in dav with the expansion we got on his character. he is goal-oriented, has a one track mind, and has made plenty points in proving that he will stop at nothing to achieve said goal, all the way up until the end of act 3 in dav.

refusing to acknowledge those characteristics or those very valid viewpoints from others, and instead dismissing them because “well i romanced him so i know him best and therefore i am superior in my knowledge of the depths of his arc” is so shallow in a way that i can’t even begin to describe. at least, no better than you already did, anon.

if you EVER want someone to talk to about this, please dm me. i am obsessed with takes like these and could talk for hours about unromanced solas and how his redemption arc is so much more meaningful when looked at thru an unclouded lens.

eta bc some weird asks are coming my way: i am a solasmancer??? lmao??? hello??? take one look at my account and you will see that. i am just not of the opinion that his romance is integral to understanding his character, whatsoever, either for solavellan OR for dreadrook, or any other solas ship. he is his own character with his own arc and growth/decline/development that happens WITH or WITHOUT a romance. bro needs a friend sometimes, and he is also a morally flawed, egotistical villain. WHO I LOVE!!! i just refuse to make excuses for him or whiddle down his entire persona to his romantic potential. that is all!! can't believe this is in debate pls my rook and solas are definitely together! he is just more than a love interest. and that is A GOOD THING to admit.

[canirove]

Canary boy | Chapter 7

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Masterlist

“Inés, c'mon! We are gonna be late and I want to take some photos before we leave!” Carla says.

“I'm sorry, ok? Going to the bathroom in this dress isn't easy.”

“Oh my God!” Vic gasps when I join them.

“Oh my God what? Did I get the dress dirty? Ripped it? Please tell me I didn't.”

“Your boobs!”

“What?”

“Your boobs, Inés!” Vic says. “Where did they come from?”

“They've definitely never looked like that” Carla chuckles.

“It's because of the dress, ok? Now please stop looking at them, you are making me uncomfortable.”

“Then you better get used to the feeling, because I'm sure many people are gonna be looking at them at the party” Carla laughs. 

“Whatever. Didn't you want to take some photos?”

“Yes, yes. Come here, girls” she says before setting her phone on a table and making us pose.

“Was that really necessary?” I say, rolling my eyes. After a whole ass photoshoot, she asked for one last photo, a selfie. And she's taken it from the top, which means that what you can see the most, are my boobs threatening to spill from my dress. 

“Very” Carla says while typing on her phone.

“You better not post that on Instagram.”

“Too late. We need to find you a boyfriend who isn't taken, Inés. You have to show the goodies” she smirks. 

“Carla!” I say, hoping she can sense the murderous look I'm sending her.

“I'm going to the bathroom one last time. In the meantime, you better repost the story I just tagged you in. Both of you” she says, first pointing at me and then at Vic before leaving.

“You actually look amazing, Inés” Vic says, checking her phone. “Pedri is gonna go nuts when he sees it.”

“What?” I laugh, feeling my face on fire.

“I know he is the one Carla was talking about when she said finding you a boyfriend who isn't taken. I have eyes, you know?” she chuckles.

“What do you mean?”

“Inés, I know you've fancied Pedri basically since the day you met him.”

“I… umm…” Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

“And I'm not mad at you for not telling me if that's what you are thinking right now.”

“Aren't you?” I ask her.

“I'm not” she smiles. “I mean, it has always bothered me a bit that you haven't trusted me enough to tell me about it since we are best friends, but I understand why you haven't. He has a girlfriend, it can get messy.”

“Yeah… That's what Carla says. I hadn't told her either, she found out recently because of Instagram.”

“Oh, so she noticed all your likes on his posts, didn't she?” Vic laughs.

“That, and that I had notifications turned on for his account” I say, my eyes fixed on my hands.

“Inés!” she laughs again. “You do like him, don't you?”

“Yeah” I shrug. I probably do more than just like him.

“Well, I think he likes you too.”

“What?” I say, my voice sounding all squeaky.

“I have eyes, I already told you” she shrugs. “And I've seen the way he looks and smiles at you, and how at ease and happy he is with you. Around you it's like he is a completely different person to when he is with Nerea. With you he is himself, with her…”

“He… ummm…”

“And she knows it. She can see it too, the connection between you two. It is something they've never had, and that's why she is so jealous of you, Inés. Because besides the obvious reasons, like you being stunning and highly successful in your career, she wishes she had with Pedri what he has with you.”

“Vic, this… I…” 

This is crazy. Everything she's saying is crazy. The connection between Pedri and I? Him getting to be himself with me? Nerea being jealous because I'm successful and stunning? C'mon. That's her, not me! 

“Ok, I'm done” Carla says, joining us again. “Inés, are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Did you share the story like I asked you to?”

“I'm on it” I say, finally checking the photo. I do look good on it, Vic wasn't lying. And not just because of my cleavage. Maybe someone like Nerea could actually be jealous of me. “Done” I smile.

“Great” Carla says. “Now let's go party, girls!” 

As I follow her and Vic outside, I check my phone one last time. I already have some notifications from people who have liked my story, most of them football fans. But there are two notifications that stand out among them.

One is from Víctor, who has reacted to it with a bunch of heart eyes emojis, the usual with him. And the other… The other is from Pedri. 

He reacted to my story just a few seconds after I posted it, which has become the norm lately. He has been liking all my posts super fast to be honest, almost as if he had his notifications turned on for my account. But that doesn't make any sense, does it? Why would he… “Well, I think he likes you too.” No. No, no, no. It's just a coincidence. He just happened to be online when I post. Though the emoji he has chosen…

“Inés, did you hear me?”

“Uh?”

“Where are you?” Carla asks me.

“Here, sorry. What did you say?”

“Uber or taxi?”

“The Taxi will probably be here faster than the Uber.” 

“Then taxi it is” she says, leaving me again with my thoughts.

Remember how I once said that no one had ever put a fire emoji on any of my posts? That that was something girls like Nerea got, not me? Well, the emoji Pedri used to react to my story, was a fire emoji. 

My very first fire emoji… has been from him.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“What did Lucía say she was dressed up as?”

“Barbie.”

“But which Barbie?” Vic asks again.

“I don't know. Just Barbie” I shrug.

“Great” she sighs. “Because this party isn't full of girls wearing pink and blonde wigs.”

“I feel like I missed the memo” Carla chuckles.

“Yeah… Anyway, gonna see if I can find her” Vic says. “Here is your phone, Inés. Keep an eye on it, I'll let you know if I've found her.”

“Ok” I say. Since my dress doesn't have pockets and she is dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, she offered to carry it for me in her basket.

“Well, well, well” someone says behind us. “If it isn't the most beautiful girls in Barcelona.”

“Has that pick up line ever worked for you, Mario?” Carla says, turning around to look at him.

“You tell me” he smirks. “You look amazing as Lara Croft.”

“Thank you” she smiles.

“And wow, Inés. You look…” he says, trying to look at me from head to toe but getting stuck on my cleavage. “Who are you? Some kind of princess?”

“Anne Boleyn” I say, pointing at the B necklace I'm wearing since his eyes still are focused on that area of my body.

“Never heard of her.”

“Henry VIII’s second wife? One of the two who got beheaded?”

My original idea had been to put some fake blood around my neck to make my costume Halloween appropriate, but since Pedri and I had left the shop after our almost kiss without buying anything, and then I had been busy…

“No idea” Mario says.

“How can you not know who she was?”

“I don't know” he shrugs. “Was she kind of important?”

“Kind of… Carla!”

“Anne Boleyn is Inés’ favourite historical figure, she is completely obsessed with her. So not knowing who she is, is like an insult to her” she explains.

“I'm sorry, Inés. I just… History isn't my forte” he apologizes.

“It's ok, don't worry.”

“Anyway, have you guys seen Pedri?” he asks us. “He told me he was going to pick up Nerea hours ago and I haven't heard from him since.”

“Have you tried calling him?” Carla says.

“And texting him, but he doesn't reply and I'm starting to get worried.”

“I'm sure he's fine. Maybe stuck in traffic or something” I say. Because I can't just casually tell them that he liked the story I reposted. One, because of the look Carla would give me, and two, because it would only make Mario feel as if he was ignoring him and some boobs were more important than him.

“I hope so” he sighs.

“Why don't we go get ourselves a drink while we wait, uh?” Carla says, linking her arm with his.

“Good idea. Inés, are you coming?”

“I am, yes” I say as I follow them, taking advantage of them starting their usual flirting to text Pedri, getting an instant reply.

Where are you? Mario is worried about you. Almost there.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Really? No way” Carla giggles.

“Yep” Mario says, whispering something in her ear and making her giggle again.

This is what I've had to deal with for the past half an hour: Carla and Mario shamelessly flirting while she giggles like a teenager.

And you probably are asking yourself, why haven't you gone to find your other friends and leave them on their own, Inés? Well, I've tried. But they are nowhere to be found (the house where the party is being thrown this year is huge), and the couple of times I've attempted to move away from them I've noticed how some guys who have been checking me out have also moved to follow me and talk to me and… No, thank you. Not interested. The only man I'm interested in talking with tonight, hasn't shown up yet.

Where the hell are you, Pedri?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Ok, I've had enough” I say to myself when Carla and Mario start to properly make out. “Guys, I'm gonna go find Vic and the others!” I tell them. Have they heard me? I don't know. He has his tongue so deep down her throat that it may have somehow ended up in her ear.

But it's been an hour and I'm tired of third wheeling, so since most men are already too drunk to pay me (or my cleavage) any attention, I'm gonna be brave and go out there. On my own. You can do this, Inés.

Where the hell are you? I text Pedri. Now I'm the one who is worried something may have happened to him. What if he had a car accident or… “Shit, sorry” I say after bumping into someone dressed up as Spider-Man.

“It's ok” I hear the guy say from behind the mask. I can't see his face, but for some reason I know that he is looking me in the eyes, that his gaze isn't going to where everyone else's has. And for even a weirder reason, when he moved his hand from my arm after I bumped into him and he caught me to make sure I didn't fall, it left a tingly sensation in my skin.

“Sorry again for… I was texting a friend and I…” 

“Are you dressed up as Anne Boleyn?” he asks me.

“You know who she is?” I gasp.

“A friend of mine is kind of obsessed with her” he chuckles.

“Really? Then you have to introduce me to your friend. I want to be their friend. I need to be their friend.”

“Nice way to let me know you aren't interested in me” he laughs.

“What? No, no. I just… I mean…”

“I was just teasing you, relax” he laughs again. “Though if you want to have a drink with me to make up for it…”

“Ok” I reply. 

“Then follow me, your majesty” he says, doing a curtsey and offering me his arm.

If only Carla could see me right now, accepting a drink from a guy I just met… I wonder if she would be proud of me. Or maybe she would tell me that I should not trust strangers whose face I haven't seen yet. But for whatever the reason, I trust this guy. 

“What should we toast to?” Spider-Man says after getting ourselves some beers. 

“I don't know… You being the first person in this party who isn't a friend of mine and knows what I'm dressed up as?”

“To me, then!” he says, lifting his mask just enough to drink.

“To you” I reply before doing the same, my eyes focused on his lips while I try to imagine how the rest of his face looks like. And then, as he puts his cup down and I see his lips… “Pedri?” 

“What?”

“Oh my God, Pedri. It's you!”

“I think you are mistaking me with someone else” he says with a nervous laugh.

“I know it's you, Pedri. I would recognize those lips anywhere.” Inés… What did you just say, Inés!

“Would you?” he smirks, that smile confirming that it is 100% him. 

“I… Umm… Why have you been lying to me? Why are you dressed up as Spider-Man? Where is Nerea? And why didn't you tell us you were here already?”

“Those are too many questions, and I don't see you making me dinner or cleaning my kitchen, Inés” he says, still smirking.

“Not funny, Pedri. You had us all worried” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. Which has been a huge mistake, because even if he still has his eyes covered by his mask, I've noticed him looking down at my chest. And unlike with all the other people who have done it before, him doing it makes me feel… things. Mask and everything, yes.

“I'm sorry, Inés” he says, taking a step forward and closing the space between us. “But something happened and I just… I needed to be on my own for a while.”

“And the part about not telling me who you were?”

“I don't know, it just happened” he shrugs. “I'm sorry if it bothered you.”

“Nah, it's ok. I think part of me knew it was you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don't know how to explain it. But I felt like I already knew you, like we had already met.”

“Interesting… Does that mean that you aren't mad at me even if I'm not going to be able to introduce you to my friend obsessed with Anne Boleyn?”

“I'll survive and keep annoying you all” I shrug. 

“You aren't annoying for talking about something you like, Inés” he says, closing the space between us a bit more. “And you actually already know her.”

“Do I?” I ask with a confused look.

“I…” he says as he leans forward. “Was talking about you, Inés.”

“You… I… What?” 

How does he know about it? Instagram again? And most importantly, why has he moved so close to tell me about it? Is it because he now knows I have a thing for his lips?

“Inés!” someone says behind me, making me jump. “Hello, Inés.”

“Nacho, hey. I hadn't seen you yet. Where have you been?” I ask him, seeing through the corner of my eye how Pedri has put down his mask. Goodbye, lips.

“Here… There… Maybe making out with a Barbie…” he shrugs. “And also trying this white drink they have that woah, it hits hard” he laughs. 

“White drink? That doesn't sound too safe.”

“It's a cocktail, Inés. Relax” Nacho chuckles. “Who are you?” he says, suddenly realising that I'm not alone.

“Spider-Man” Pedri replies.

“I'm not that drunk yet, bro” he laughs again. “I meant who are you under that mask. Have you met a guy, Inés?” Nacho says, looking at me and raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe” I shrug, drinking to kind of hide my face behind my cup.

“Well done, girl! Though you look smoking hot tonight, I'm sure it hasn't been too difficult. And it was about damn time you forgot about Pedri, you know?”

“What?” I say, almost choking with my beer.

“We all know you have a crush on him and that he feels the same” he laughs. “And my cup is empty, I'm gonna go get a refill. Enjoy your night, Inés. And maybe try the white cocktail. It may make things more… interesting” Nacho winks before walking away.

I'm killing him. I swear to God I'm killing him. How am I supposed to look at Pedri now, mask or not? Can the floor open and shallow me whole, please?

“Pedri, what he said… He… Pedri?” I say, looking around. Where has he gone now?

“Over here.”

“Holy shit!” I scream after someone taps my shoulder.

“Sorry, Inés. I didn't mean to startle you.”

“It's ok, don't worry. Where did you go?”

“To get us this” Pedri says, showing me two small shot glasses with a white liquid.

“Is that the cocktail Nacho was talking about?”

“Yep.”

“Thought it would be bigger.”

“Sometimes great things come in small packages.”

“Speaking from experience?” Oh… my God. Can someone please tell me to shup the fuck up? I'm not even drunk!

“Such a naughty girl, Inés” he says, giving me one of the shots and lifting his mask. And yes, you've guessed it. He was smirking. “To naughty thoughts” Pedri says, lifting his little glass.

“To naughty thoughts” I reply before drinking. “Woah, it is strong. And sweet. But strong” I say, trying not to cough.

“Want another one?” 

“Maybe later.”

“Then let's go dance” he says, the little glasses suddenly gone as he takes my hand and makes me spin, my dress moving in all its glory. The dress, and the shot/cocktail in my stomach.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Pedri!” I giggle (yes, now I am the one giggling) when he makes me twirl for the millionth time since he dragged me to the dancefloor, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me as close to him as the skirt of my dress allows him to before starting to swing from side to side, my back against his chest. 

“Such a great dancer, Inés” he says in my ear, sending goosebumps everywhere.

“Sure” I snort.

“One of the best” he says before letting go of me to make me twirl once again. I still don’t know how I’ve managed to keep my dinner and the two shots of that white cocktail we’ve taken inside my body. Because we took another one, yes. One that has made us both stop worrying and just enjoy the party and each other’s company by getting very touchy. 

His Spider-man suit leaves very little to imagination, and while dancing, I’ve run my hands all over his arms, his back, his chest… Even his stomach, something that he seemed to enjoy judging by the way he gasped and how I was able to feel his abs tensing under the fabric.

And even though my dress doesn’t allow you to touch too much from the waist down, it has been enough to make me gasp and maybe something else when his fingers caressed my arms, when he whispered my name against my neck, or when the hand that was around my waist moved up, teasing to touch more. Which is what he is doing right now, his arms wrapped tightly around me, his lips on my neck.

“Have I told you already that you look beautiful tonight?”

“You kind of did earlier with that fire emoji on Instagram.”

“That emoji meant that you looked hot. Because you look really hot tonight, Inés” he says before kissing my neck. “But right now, in this moment, you look beautiful. The way you are smiling, laughing, moving in my arms… Simply beautiful.”

“I… Pedri” I hear myself moan when he kisses me in that spot somewhere close to my ear that he knows drives me crazy.

“That also was beautiful to hear” he smiles. I can’t see his face, but I know he is doing it. I somehow can hear it in his voice. “And your neck… Your neck is bloody gorgeous, Inés” he says, one arm still tight around my waist while his other hand is holding my head up, allowing him to have access to more skin to kiss.

“Does that mean that I don’t have to worry about ending the night like Anne Boleyn?” I giggle.

“I would never dare to do such thing to something this beautiful” Pedri says, his fingers now following the path his lips had before. 

“You already left it covered in hickeys once, tho.”

“Did I?”

“In my kitchen a few weeks ago. But thankfully no one got to see it because that’s when I got sick. My teammates would have endlessly teased me about it, and I don’t want to think about the way Carla would have reacted.”

“Then I better find a place a bit more… private for my kisses” he says before turning me in his arms to face him. “Maybe… here?” he smirks before kissing my collarbone. “Or maybe a little lower?” he says as he starts to leave kisses all the way down, following the shape of my dress’ neckline and getting very close to my…

“Pedri!” I gasp when I feel him… when he… he… Jesus Christ. Did he just give me a hickey on my boob? 

But he doesn’t stop there. He keeps moving to the other one, kissing, sucking and licking my skin like he had done that day in my kitchen, probably leaving a few more marks too. 

And I’m melting. If his arms weren’t around me, I would be on the floor already. This is the hottest and sexiest thing anyone has ever done to me. 

“You are driving me crazy, Inés” he says when he makes it to my other collarbone, also kissing it. “So fucking crazy… Look” he says, taking one of my hands and making me touch his… You know. His churro.

“Pedri…” I whisper, not daring to look him in the eyes. The mask still is covering them, but I’m pretty sure I could see them even through it.

“This is all you, Inés. You make me feel like this, want you like this. But there is something I have to tell you first. Something very important. Come” he says, moving my hand from his… you know, and starting to walk away, kind of dragging me behind him since I'm still trying to understand everything that has happened. Has all that been real? Like, have we been dancing the way we have? And has he kissed my neck and especially my cleavage the way he has? And has he said that I drive him crazy and that he wants me while my hand was touching his… his… Bloody hell.

“I think we can have some privacy out here” he says as we go outside into the garden. There are some couples making out on the sofas next to the big pool (everything in this house is huge), and someone is doing more than that at the back behind some bushes. Thankfully we can’t see them, and as Pedri walks us away from the garden’s door, we also stop hearing them. “Are you cold?”

“What?”

“Here it is a bit more chilly than inside” he says, finally taking off his mask, his hair looking a (very sexy) sweaty mess.

“I’m fine, don’t worry” I say, not being able to contain myself and running my hand through his hair, trying to somehow tame it.

“Good” he smiles, taking my hand as move it down and kissing the inside of my wrist. “I broke up with Nerea.”

“I beg your pardon?” 

“I broke up with Nerea” he repeats, now both my hands on his. “That’s why I was late to the party, because I went to her house to end things with her once and for all, and wasn’t in the mood to see anyone. But then I saw that photo you shared on stories and… well” he says with a cheeky smile. “I needed to see you looking like that in person. In the flesh. So I went back home, got this costume Mario had in his wardrobe from last year, and…”

He broke up with Nerea. Pedri… He broke up with her. With Nerea. 

Holy. Shit.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“Why?”

“Why do you have to say something or…”

“Why did you break up with her?”

“Because I don’t love her, Inés. I’ve never had, to be honest. And I was tired of her behaviour, of her jealousy, and of her treating me like a prize, as if I wasn’t a real person with real feelings. And also because of my feelings. Because I couldn’t keep hiding them, hiding that I…”

“Lidia!” someone screams before we hear a big splash. “Oh my God, Lidia! Help!”

“What the…” 

“Help, she can’t swim!” the girl screams again.

“Take this” Pedri says, giving me his phone and the mask before running towards the swimming pool and jumping into it, making me do the same after realizing what is happening. And by doing the same I mean running towards the pool. If I jumped while wearing this dress, he would have to rescue us both.

“Lidia, Lidia!” the other girls cries.

“He’s gonna help her, don’t worry” I say, stopping her from trying to jump into the pool. 

“I didn’t mean to push her, it was an accident! We were arguing and I… Lidia! she yells when Pedri comes to the surface, the girl in his arms.

“Give him a hand!” I tell one of the boys who also is in the garden. “Stop staring and help him, do something!” 

“Yes, of course” he says, helping Pedri get the girl out of the pool.

“Oh my God, Lidia! Lidia, can you hear me?”

“She isn’t breathing” Pedri says.

“No! Lidia!” the girl cries again.

“Let him help her!” I say, stopping her when she is about to throw herself at her, Pedri already performing CPR. “He’s helping her, give him some space.”

“I’m calling an ambulance” someone says behind me. But I only have eyes for Pedri and Lidia, for the way his hands move over her chest while he murmurs something to himself, her friend crying in my arms. 

“Lidia, please. Please wake up, please, please, please” her friend keeps saying. And then… “Lidia!” she yells when the girl starts coughing water, Pedri moving her so she can let it all out. 

“She’s ok. He saved her, she’s ok” I say, letting out a big breath I didn't know I was holding while still hugging her as she falls to the floor, maybe now crying with her too.

Because Pedri had done it. He had saved Lidia's life. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Here” I say, putting another blanket around Pedri’s shoulders.

“Thank you” he smiles.

Not more than five minutes after Lidia, the girl who had fallen into the swimming pool, had reacted to Pedri's CPR, an ambulance had shown up at the house, the party getting cancelled.

The paramedics had checked both her and Pedri and confirmed that they were ok, but they had decided to take Lidia to the hospital just in case, leaving him in the garden with one of those golden blankets they use. 

“You should have gotten one for yourself too, Inés. You also are cold.”

“I’m not the one who jumped into a pool in November to save a girl's life, Pedri” I say, sitting down next to him. “You are. And I'm so proud of you” I say, running my hand through his hair like I had done earlier.

“You are gonna make me blush, Inés” he chuckles.

“Good. That way you'll know how I…” How I feel when I'm around you. “You'll know how it feels to be shy.”

“You aren't shy.”

“Have you not been paying any attention to the colour of my face?”

“I have been paying a lot of attention to your face, Inés. That's why I know you aren't shy.” 

“I…”

“Inés!” Carla yells, running towards us. “Oh my God, Inés. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine” I say while she hugs me. Or squeezes me, if we are being accurate.

“When we heard that a girl had fallen into the swimming pool and a guy dressed up as Spider-man had saved her from drowning, I feared the worst. I had seen you dancing with one and…”

“I’m fine, Carla.”

“You really got into character, uh?” Mario chuckles behind her. “Also, is that my costume?”

“Yep.”

“Pedri?” Carla says when she recognizes the voice, moving to look at him.

“Hi” he smiles.

“You are… he… what?” she says, looking from him to me as if she was watching a tennis match, her eyes growing wider and wider as realization hits her.

“Yeah.. umm… We should probably go home” I say, standing up. “The paramedics already checked him and said he is ok, but if he stays out here in that wet costume, he’s gonna end up getting sick.”

“I already called an Uber, let’s go” Mario says, helping Pedri get up. “Are you girls coming with us? We can stop by your house first, Inés. It is closer.”

“If you don’t mind… And I could do with my best friend sleeping with me tonight after what has happened” I say, looking at Carla.

“Of course” she smiles.

“Then let’s go” Mario says, he and Pedri starting to walk, Carla and I following them.

“I owe you an explanation, I know” I whisper when I see that she is about to tell me something. “But tomorrow, ok? Too many things have happened tonight” I say, resting my head on her shoulder.

“Tomorrow” she nods, putting an arm around me and hugging me.

[humbledragon669]

S2E3 - I Know Where I'm Going Write Up P1 - up to the credits (present day)

Tiny bit of trivia about me that I’m sure nobody really cares about - as of Christmas just gone, I own my own version of Jim’s mug. It’s definitely one of the top three presents I got (one of the others is a GO themed long-sleeved t-shirt), and I absolutely have been using it to drink hot chocolate out of. I LOVE it.

Anyway, it’s Easter egg time! Yeah, that’s right, this one appears right at the beginning of the episode. And I suspect that many people will already have noted this one, but as I’ve said before, you never know. So here it is:

That’s the music instrument shop across the road from the bookshop, called “Arnolds”, presumably for the soundtrack composer for Omens - David Arnold. Obvious though it may be, it’s a bit “blink-and-you’d-miss-it”, so I felt like it was worth drawing attention to, just to reiterate the level of care and attention on display in this show that we all know and love. And whilst I have my attention-to-detail hat on, I have a brief point of speculation to make about Jim’s location in this opening shot. Given his view across the street, and the limited view we get into the room behind him (I’m thinking mostly about the lamp you can just about make out over his shoulder), this would appear to be Jim’s bedroom. In front of him is a tray with his mug and a container of hot chocolate on it. There’s even a trail of hot chocolate powder in between the mug and the container, as if someone has been a bit careless when spooning the cocoa from the pot into the cup (no judgement, I do this ALL the time). Before breaking away from this shot, we see Jim pouring boiling water into the mug from an electric kettle. All perfectly understandable actions for a set-up to show a man looking out over his neighbourhood, right? So my speculation is this, and I am jumping ahead a little. Why is it necessary for Crowley to leave the room when offering to make Jim a cup of hot chocolate in a later episode? It would seem that all the equipment required is right there in Jim’s bedroom. Sounds like another instance of scriptual convenience to me, albeit a small one. Anyway, enough pedantry, let’s move on.

It's taken me ages, but I’ve worked out what the music is playing in the background of the coffee shop. Unsurprisingly it’s another Queen tune - “Radio Ga Ga” this time. Given the lyrics, which speak of a fond farewell to a medium that no longer has relevance given more modern offerings, I wonder if this might be a reference to the state of Nina’s relationship with Lindsey at this point? Aside from that potential insight, I can’t really say there’s an awful lot about this scene that I like. Obviously Nina is still being her unlikeable self (checking her phone whilst she’s in the middle of serving someone? Not being funny, I would genuinely walk out of a coffee shop if a barista did that to me), but now we’re “introduced” to another fairly abrupt character, but this time we don’t even learn her name. Poor Mrs. Sandwich, she turns out to be an incredible likeable addition to the show, but in my opinion, she really doesn’t get to shine here. And what’s the point of this scene really? So that we can get a long shot of Muriel’s arrival and have it hammered home that their appearance is visible and noted as odd by the people in Whickber Street? If that’s the case, honestly this whole scene feels pretty unnecessary, but perhaps that’s just me.

Now. I did a little bit of digging about the way that Muriel introduces themself, because this stereotype is familiar to me, but I have no idea where it comes from. There’s a lovely bit of hive mind research been done here, which suggests the origin of the phrasing is over 100 years old but personally my money is on this being a nod to Monty Python (as detailed in that forum post), particularly as it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a Python reference in the show (NIAT RUC, I’m looking at you). I think there might be another little homage here though, and this one if a bit more niche. It’s to do with the whistling in the soundtrack, heard here:

It rang bells with me, and unlike the backing music in the coffee shop earlier, this one didn’t actually take me very long. Back in the mid-90s, there was a sit-com show here in the UK called The Thin Blue Line, which followed the personal and professional lives of a group of policemen from an English town. The policemen in question were of both the uniformed (commonly called “bobbies”, or “on-the-beat”) and non-uniformed variety. Muriel is most definitely dressed as one of the former. Here’s the theme tune from that show:

Not too dissimilar, are they? I couldn’t find any evidence for whether the theme we hear in the Omens soundtrack is an homage to the theme from The Thin Blue Line or not. Perhaps it wasn’t even a conscious thing, though I highly doubt that. I would so love it if this was an intentional reference to that little copper comedy from the 90s - it ran for only 2 seasons, but I remember watching every episode when it aired and finding the whole thing really funny. I don’t know how well it will have aged, but I do remember that (bearing in mind this was the mid-90s) its casting was progressive - an Asian woman and a gay man both playing lead roles and part of the police force, with the characters most commonly ridiculed for being wrong and unreasonable being the middle-aged white men.  It was perhaps a little slapstick in places, and intrinsically “British” in its humour, but I still feel like it was a delightful addition to our televisions, so if this is a tip-of-the-hat to the show, I feel it’s well placed. Right, time to move on, this is supposed to be a write up of a Good Omens episode, not an appreciation post for long-dead British TV shows.

It's pretty difficult to say with any certainty, but I don’t think Aziraphale recognises Muriel when they arrive. Granted, he wouldn’t have seen or spoken to them in quite some time (since his defection from Heaven at the latest, though the only time we see them interacting is in the Uz flashbacks), but given the conversation he had with them during the Job debacle, you’d think he might at least realise he’d seen their face before? Particularly given the memories he has so recently lived through. Don’t get me wrong, he clearly knows they’ve come from Heaven, but that outfit pretty much gives the game away on that front, and he has been told to expect a visit from an auditor. Doesn’t take him long to decide to play along either.

I really love this moment - I’m pretty sure that this is where he decides not only to pretend he doesn’t know Muriel is there to check up on his miracle claims, but to be gentle about his interactions with them. He's recognised the joy that Muriel is getting out of the situation and decided that the nicest thing to do will be to let them enjoy the ride, which can only happen if the pretence is maintained. Subtle as it is, I actually think this is one of Aziraphale’s clearest indications of his Good nature - faced with a similar situation, many people (Crowley included, as we’ll come to see shortly) would openly mock Muriel for their apparent lack of intelligence, and given their visit’s true purpose I don’t think anybody would have been too displeased if Aziraphale had just closed the door in their face. It’s such a selfless act of kindness, and in not shunning Muriel, we are treated to some truly beautiful comic moments throughout the rest of the season.

Oh hold up. Was I just waxing lyrical about how kind and considerate this angel is? I take it all back. I almost feel like Crowley has suggested this to him, it’s that mischievous. And not the first time he’s done it either, except the last time he tricked another angel into sullying their body with a liquid intended for human consumption, that being was suffering from complete amnesia. Vulnerable you might say. Which is actually not that dissimilar to Muriel, who is clearly in a very precarious position and not doing a particularly good job of hiding their discomfort and mild panic in trying to maintain their cover whilst staying in character. He even manages to sound as if he’s trying to coach them on proper human responses with no hidden subtext. At least he has enough of a conscience to show pity for his visitor and the position he’s put them in:

Bit of a tangent here - why doesn’t Aziraphale recognise that the fact that Crowley is bringing his plants into the bookshop gives the game away that he’s living in his car? Don’t get me wrong, I am in no doubt that the reason Crowley removes them from the car at all is because he wouldn’t trust anybody else to look after them, not even his angel, so I do understand the reason for them to be removed. As far as I can see, there are four possibilities for this:

Aziraphale doesn’t make the connection between Crowley having his plants in the car and what means for his living situation.

Aziraphale does make the connection but, perhaps due to the current awkward situation panning out in the bookshop and his plans for his Edinburgh road trip, doesn’t mention anything about.

Aziraphale already knows that Crowley is sleeping in his car.

Crowley isn’t really living in his car at all, and the plants are simply kept there to maintain the cover story.

I think Aziraphale is smarter than the first option, even with his innate inability to pick up on Crowley’s cues. And I can’t really comprehend that Aziraphale would have taken the revelation that Crowley is living and sleeping in his car without any sort of protestations (let’s not forget that Crowley openly offered Aziraphale a place to stay when they thought the bookshop was gone, and that was before their respective defections). The third possibility has legs, but it doesn’t sit right with me - I just can’t see that Aziraphale would tolerate this living situation for Crowley, even if it meant buying or renting a place somewhere else for the demon to call home. The last of those possibilities is where my head canon lives, as I think I’ve mentioned in previous write ups. We’ll see Aziraphale “reacting” to the confirmation that Crowley has been sleeping in his car in a future episode, so I’ll hammer this point home one last time when we get there. And regardless whether you agree with my ideas or not, you can’t deny that Crowley’s confident swagger when he bursts into the shop really goes to show just how comfortable he is in this environment, and that he has no qualms about asserting himself there. Almost like it was home in fact…

See? No problems asserting himself at all. The subtext here is pretty glaring - his joining Aziraphale gives a clear message to Muriel about the fact that they’re a team (a group. A group of the two of them), and despite the fact that there surely must be A LOT of body contact going on here, Aziraphale’s expression doesn’t change at all. Not a muscle moved. It feels to me as if this is the sort of close proximity contact that the two of them are very accustomed to when not in the presence of other beings that might see it for what it is. And not only is Crowley comfortable with his position, he’s really enjoying himself:

I’ve mentioned it before, about us not getting to see much of Crowley’s mischievous side in the present day in this season, but this is it on full display. I’m not sure why I love more about this interaction with Muriel - Crowley’s cheeky grin or the fact that Aziraphale does absolutely nothing to reprimand him over his behaviour. That angel is having just as much fun partaking in the mischief as Crowley is, and I find it really adorable to see him indulging his playful side, even if it does eventually result in another one of those pitiful compassionate looks he throws Muriel’s way.

There’s a potentially interesting use of pronouns in the conversation that follows in the back room:

Interesting, see? Crowley refers to Heaven as “your lot”, despite the fact that Aziraphale has openly admitted that he no longer works for them. Not only that, the angel takes the baton up with his reply, grouping himself together with his former workplace using the “we” pronoun. Perhaps it’s just the habit of the previous multiple millennia, it just strikes me as odd, not least because Crowley’s questioning of them being “in charge” would appear to imply that he feels Heaven has the upper hand in the Heaven/Hell power play. Semantics aside, there’s something about this conversation that I really love. They’re both actually listening to one another, the tone is congenial, and they’re engaging in teamwork, and it all feels so natural. There’s no emotional stress going on, no arguing, just two people working together to try and achieve a common goal. I think this is probably the closest we come to seeing them in their normal relationship state, and it feels so relatable.

Well, it looks like Crowley’s plan has changed somewhat following his streetside conversation with Nina - now it needs a “fabulous kiss” for it to be successful. Considering his previous plan was so obviously a retelling of the love story between he and Aziraphale, I find the addition of a kiss at this point to be a notable one. Yes, my head cannon has our hero couple very firmly established in a relationship in the present day, but no, I do not believe that they kissed during either of the two “shelter-under-an-awning” moments that they have shared. Not to mention that I feel like there’s an element of heartbreaking foreshadowing going on with his throwaway comment (though to be fair, I don’t think there’s anything “fabulous” about that kiss in the Final 15, but I’m getting ahead of myself). What is it that makes him add the need for a kiss for his plan to be successful? Consulting my head cannon again, I suspect there might be some further revelations to be had about when he and Aziraphale shared their first kiss, and that this might tie into his updated plan somehow, but whether we’ll get to see that in the space of our final 90 minutes, I don’t know.

Oh I love this. Like, so much. It’s such a MARRIED COUPLE mini spat. It’s so obvious that Aziraphale takes the role of the stereotypical wife - there’s no negotiation, just the thinly veiled threat of extreme rage if his wishes aren’t complied with. And just as obvious is Crowley’s adoption of the stereotypical husband role - downtrodden, with the resigned knowledge that he’s been beaten and can’t worm his way out of a situation that whilst he knows he doesn’t like, he has no logical argument to counter. It’s so lovely. Beautifully delivered and excellently timed. The more I look into the episodes for this season, the more I seem to find that feels stilted and somewhat unnecessary, but moments like these are most definitely not one of them, and in fact I think they’re probably largely responsible for our intense love of the relationship between our hero couple. There’s another one coming up, but I’ll get there in a moment.

Despite being at the tail end of a spat, and that Aziraphale is clearly both disappointed and distracted not to have put his hands on the car keys, we’re about to see a lovely example of Aziraphale and Crowley showing a sixth sense for knowing their roles in the relationship. Regardless of the fact that there is no verbal communication between them following Muriel’s entrance to the room, Crowley knows instinctively that this is his cue to step up and perform a mini rescue, and Aziraphale knows to simply let him do his own thing. He doesn’t say a word once Muriel bursts in on them, just allows Crowley to do all the talking, with the instinctive knowledge that they will be in a better position soon. Which of course leads to this OUTRAGEOUS look from Aziraphale:

There it is, another one of those moments I was just discussing! I remember the first time I caught this look from Aziraphale, it was like a bomb had gone off in my head. It’s… well it’s pure filth, isn’t it? We all thought the look Crowley drew in the Bastille was the best example of a mental undressing we would ever see, but this just blows it out of the water. And why wouldn’t Aziraphale be feeling particularly enamoured of his demon at this point in time? There he is, doing his little rescue and invoking feelings of his knowledge of love (“love”?) at the same time. It’s pretty clear to see how much Crowley’s little speech has affected him, because he barely manages to catch the keys that the demon throws to him mere seconds later. He doesn’t even argue when Crowley continues to assert that the Bentley belongs to him alone, and even manages a wink, which I can only assume is supposed to be reassuring that he’s on the same wavelength about the current situation, and that he appreciates the olive branch just offered to him by way of Crowley’s accepting of the mission he’s been given.

Apart from a quick note to say that Aziraphale’s driving looks worse than Crowley’s, and that Crowley’s reaction to seeing his beloved car driving away speaks (to me, anyway) more of boredom than it does of worry or possessiveness, I think that’s all there is for this instalment, seeing as we’ve arrived quite neatly at the opening credits. As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome. See you for the next one!

[broodwoof]

Thoughts on the Solavellan emphasis in Veilguard; somewhat fandom critical

usual caveat that this is not @ anyone - i care about people who have expressed frustration with this, and i am not using this space to criticize any individual 💖 however, this is in response to generalized hatred towards solavellan shippers/the ship itself in fandom spaces

The short version is: I think the narrative emphasis on a solavellan worldstate makes perfect sense.

In DAI, all romances get closure. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this point, as I haven't gone through and fully done all of them, but all those I have done certainly have closure at the end. I'm including Trespasser as part of the DAI narrative arc, for clarity, but a lot of the relationships had a sense of closure even without the DLC.

Solavellan is the obvious, major exception.

Now, is Veilguard for Solavellan shippers? No! It is its own game, a narrative continuity of a series that has been going on for a long time. But Solas is a key character in both DAI - though we don't realize just how key for most of the game - and DAVG.

Solas being a key character means, by extension, Solavellan is a key romance. Note that I am not saying it is the "canon" romance. But Solavellan has ties to the overall narrative of both DAI and DAVG in a way no other DAI canon ship does. It's not necessary to the narrative of DAVG or the conclusion of the game, but it does play a significant role. As such, of course they paid more attention to it.

And what I said earlier, about closure? The only way for the Solavellan ship to gain closure is through concluding Solas' narrative arc - so it could not be achieved in DAI, only DAVG. For the original Solavellan shippers when the game was new, they've been waiting ten years - I think they're allowed a little excitement and satisfaction.

Now, would it have been nice for them to pay as much attention to the other romances the Inquisitor could have? Of course! I also imagine they wanted to. But game dev in general is a nightmare industry and this particular game went through so many hurdles. So I really can't blame them for focusing on developing the Inquisitor romance that had the most potential bearing on the plot of this game, and kind of losing the others.

None of this is to say that complaints about that are wrong or should not be made; rather, this post is directed at people who are angry at/blaming (somehow???) Solavellan shippers for the state of the game.

Similarly, it makes sense to me how Solavellan dominates the Solas shipping field. I'm a multishipper at heart and I love writing rarepairs with him, but honestly, every ship with him that isn't with a female Lavellan is a rarepair. And this is natural! It's about that lack of closure. People had a canon romance with their canon Inquisitor and they didn't get any closure on that relationship for ten years, of course they're going to be prevalent in fandom.

I just don't understand the deep frustration/outright hate at times for Solavellan as a ship or for Solavellan shippers. It's weird. Their - our - presence, even dominance, in fandom spaces has an obvious reason. You're allowed to not like it! To be disappointed or annoyed or whatever. I have no problem with that. But there are always people taking it too far.

Blaming a specific group of shippers in fandom spaces for the outcome of a videogame made by a big industry sure is a choice.

[three--rings]

God that David Jenkins interview collection post I just reblogged...

I hadn't read the Paste interview and my god David I have to just...marvel at some of this.

In particular:

"But I think him becoming a father figure to Ed in the last episode didn't really dawn on us until we were breaking the last episode. Asking what would this man say to Ed at the end because they've been together through everything? He went from a troubled and downtrodden employee to a jilted lover to a discarded employee, to someone that is just trying to find his footing again—no pun intended—to actually becoming this guy's parental figure on some level. And he's one person who kind of raised Ed right, because Blackbeard usually kills his parental figures. So, it felt right and it felt like that's how the mentor dies. The mentor in a story usually dies in the second act and then our hero has to go on and try to do it without them. It felt like the right journey for Izzy and a gratifying one for Con."

Like, okay we, the writers, hadn't considered him a father figure or mentor at all until the very last episode where we killed him. But we came up with it as we were writing it.

And then we didn't put anything about it into the episode at all, and then we talk about it in interviews about how obvious it is as a mentor relationship and like...I'm sorry. Yeah it was surprising to all of us as well, because you may have suddenly thought of it like that when you were DESPERATELY trying to justify this death to yourself as NECESSARY because you'd decided it WAS, but you also

DIDN'T PUT ANY OF THAT ON THE SCREEN.

So no, the audience is not on the same page, cause we weren't a part of those discussions you had. That only came up in the last episode. You can't in like 4 minutes of a 25 minute episode, the very last episode of 18, introduce a character dynamic when one of the characters is dying.

That's not how writing for TV works! Does he really think he put the Izzy is a father figure stuff on screen somehow in that death scene? Cause like, sure Izzy is showing AFFECTION for Ed in that scene, but there's nothing there that is PARENTAL. And family, which Ed says, doesn't mean that either. The ship is family. Queer family is different. IDK IDK.

And like it reminds me of something else he said in another interview, about Jim and Oluwande and how "in the writer's room we always thought of them as a friend relationship that got romantic" and that's why they got other partners. But like, okay, if your intent was they were more friends than romantic (which, I'm not sure that's what you mean, but if you're using it to say that's why they are now into other people, okay?) then did you convey that to THE ACTORS? Because it feels like the actors were definitely playing ROMANCE in S1.

That's what ended up on the screen. Two friends falling in love, sure, but actually falling in love and not just two friends who sleep together, as S2 tries to imply.

IDK but I really want to be like, dude sometimes it's not about writer intent. Sometimes it's about what ends up on the screen and you need to step back and look at what your audience is seeing. Because your actors are doing a lot of things that may take things to different places.

[verdemoun]

number one kieran duffy fan here i need to know more abt mac or i think ill die. not even with kieran just. tell me abt this silly goose

MAAAAAAAAAAAC

silly goose is the perfect descriptive because mac is just a goose. he is bill but with a sense of humor. he just also happens to be a) ready to escalate to violence at any given second b) shares the john marston curse of happening to look like a really, really intimidating guy and not knowing how to switch it off

he's serving guy who does a little too well in a zombie apocalypse. sure mac enjoyed being an outlaw, sure the one thing in life he is really good at is shooting to kill, but also he was raising his brother from such a young age he really didn't have any opportunity to be anything else.

when he gets out of prison and hosea puts his foot down like no robberies no guns no outlawing we are going straight (well-) mac is kind of like a retired hunting dog learning to be a house pet. he doesn't know how to relax or do things not for survival. there was the necessary push back of what the fuck am i meant to do i'm not good for anything else and hosea shouted back to get a damned hobby or a job

but also post-timewarp post-prison was the first time in his life he's just been safe enough to have a moment to breathe and figure out who he is outside of outlawing (gay). who would've guessed mac callander could read? not only that but he enjoys reading now that he actually has time for it. also one of the only members of the gang to get into sports and will shout at the tv in the last quarter

mac and kieran's friendship works so well because they both identify with 'my resting heart rate registers as a panic attack' but in opposite directions. mac will watch kieran look in the pantry for two hours because he has a craving and hasn't figured out for what yet before suddenly asking mac to walk with him to the local mexican food truck because if he doesn't have a taco he will lose all ability to function for the rest of the day. mac doesn't know what a taco is so 'sure is it dangerous should i bring a knife?'

mac also deeply loves horses he's not taming wild horses riding bareback in love with horses like kieran and arthur but he does love horses and just feels warmth and peace at just the sight of them. he doesn't care if it's the 7th showing of war horse that week he will sit down and watch it with kieran. he will also cry while trying to not make it obvious he is crying like still gruff voice 'course i'm sad the horse collapsed and it's not getting up' while frantically wiping tears away when someone else enters the room

mac is also working through gay panic internalized homophobia. he is fine with the gays and is very dismissive of how much more visible the community is in modern era because why would he, a straight man, care - but gets aggressively agitated when people suggest he is gay. because he is absolutely gold star gay. wouldn't ever formally come out but eventually gets to the point of being able to say he lives with bill without looking ready to kill someone

has a job at a wholefoods stacking fruit before joining bill as a farmhand and thus acquires a really bizarre knowledge of all things fruit and veg. can go on a 20 minute tangent about what classifies as organic produce and which apple is superior for apple pie and how to pick the perfect watermelon without slapping it. still doesn't know how to talk without sounding like he's threatening someone but is genuinely excited to know about something other than where to shoot a man to guarantee they'll bleed out.

trust getting an invite to bill and mac's dingy trailer for dinner is going to be the best meat and veg roast of your life

[genericpuff]

Can’t wait for someone to make a copy of RS’s coveted “signature” stamp and just buy a few dozen books, stamp them, and sell them as “autographed” at a huge markup, and goofballs will buy them all.

I mean seriously, that stamp will be incredibly easy to copy if it’s not already been copied, it’s the polar opposite of exclusive or personal. Why anyone would pay $20 for that is beyond me but it proves that RS is a shrewd business person by any means necessary and will be richer than I ever will be. No wonder Hades is her idol.

No joke, there are pictures of Rachel using the stamp at SDCC and-

That stamp is literally just a standard one that you could order through any custom manufacturer. It's not a roller in any way, there's no unique cut they're working off of, it's just a round press stamp.

And it shows because this is the quality of the actual ink when it's on the paper-

Basically low grade printer ink on glossy paper. It's not gonna last at all, and it turned out exactly how I was expecting - there's too much solid color with too thin empty areas so the ink is bleeding into what's supposed to be 'white' (we deal with the same concepts in tattooing so I knew this was gonna happen as soon as I saw the stamp design).

Anyways so that's my long-winded way of saying that I took the stamp that was on Rachel's IG from her promotional posts, desaturated it, added a tone curve layer to adjust the sharpness/clarity, and threw it into VistaPrint. Just for science, and because I'm an asshole trying to prove a point.

Would literally only cost me $20-$30 for the stamp after shipping.

Now for obvious reasons I'm not saying anyone SHOULD do this, like... I'm showing you this for science but really, don't go making counterfeits because of this LOL This is really just to demonstrate how easy it would be for anyone to make a convincing replica, which is the unfortunate drawback to using stamps as your "signature" - and with a very low quality printer shop stamp to boot - because it makes it pretty easy to copy. Not to mention showing off the stamp design beforehand through social media means that people (like me, oop-) can rip it out of your image posts and reverse engineer it into something that can be uploaded and purchased. I get she wanted to make sure that people knew what they were getting, it would have been a HUGE piss off to go see her for a signature just to find out she was doing a stamp, but like... these are the risks that come with stamps.

Don't get me wrong, you can just as easily forge a signature, but it's a little harder to nail someone's personal signature vs. a stamp and you can usually find ways to make it more unique (like what Junji Ito did by giving out little doodles on each signature). It also doesn't help that that stamp is made so cheaply that a poorly done replica would probably be on the same level of quality as the authentic one. And of course she added insult to injury by deciding to sell ACTUAL HAND-SIGNED BOOKS WITH ONLY ONE BOOK THAT HAS ONE CRAPPY DOODLE INSIDE AT ONLY ONE SPECIFIC BOOKSTORE A WEEK AFTER SDCC WAS OVER THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR EVEN IF IT MEANS YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AN EXTRA COPY OF A BOOK YOU ALREADY OWN-

sigh This isn't an uncommon thing to do, it's not unique to Rachel, but it gives me grifting gacha vibes and it feels like such a fuck you to the people who travelled all the way out to SDCC and paid for the ticket prices just to get a shitty printer ink stamp and then find out a week later after they've undoubtedly gone home that one bookstore in San Diego actually has hand-signed copies. I've seen Youtubers pull this kind of shit with vinyl printings and Youtooz figures and it's equally tacky.

If she had done it either with handwritten signatures or at the VERY least a better quality stamp design and higher quality ink, then yeah, it would be harder to make it seem legit for anyone who's not privy to creating things like lino cuts or using roller ink and thus make it a much more valuable collector's item. But the books at SDCC were literally made with a stamp that anyone can replicate for $20 and then the hand-signed ones were offered at only one bookstore after Rachel had already flown home. It feels so impersonal and cold to the audience that has supported her through all the bullshit she's pulled in the last year.

[moltensmusings]

Time to rant about the Alvarez arc and issues I had with it once more now that I've posted some spriggan redesigns. This might be long.

The largest reason Alvarez and anything following Tartaros fall so flat is because you can almost tell Mashima was checked out by that point. That his excitement for the series had dwindled.

I have this theory that Tartaros was meant to be the last arc of the series but there were still things unanswered meaning that he was forced into adding more on. Now I don't say this as someone who thinks tartaros should've been the end, but because none of the villains after this point have any weight to them when honestly they should. All the reveals feel like they're done to surprise the audience more than flesh out the story.

I'm someone who always hated the Irene as Erza's mom plot because we really didn't need it. It was a trend of "villain is a blood relative" twists mashima kept throwing in and by that point it was honestly more annoying than anything. Erza never had questions about her family. She was never focused on her past so introducing her mother felt so out of left field. Irene literally could've just been the person who was in charge of creating the tower of Heaven, maybe she was even the on who corrupted Jellal, and that would've done far more towards making me invested in a showdown between her and Erza than anything in canon.

In general the Spriggan 12 being set up as characters involved in the various arcs would've been so beneficial because it would've given readers actual reasons to be angry or upset. What if Invel was the one who created Deliora and consistently tried to create new ice demons to impress Zeref. What if Layla's death was originally believed to be an accident but as time goes on Lucy uncovers more deaths and incidents connected to her mother that eventually lead back to Brandish. The tartaros group answering to August, who is still devote to Zeref, giving us a more solid reason to believe him as a Wizard king and actual tangible terror at the thought of facing him if tartaros itself would bend to him.

And this isn't even getting into how all their designs seem so slapped together causing them to look more like mid level/filler villains than actual final arc antagonists. Compare them to any of the tartaros characters and it just instantly becomes so obvious which ones Mashima actually cared about. By that point he knew he just had to make the women scantily clad and his die hard fans would ignore everything else. Jacob Lessio is one of the first Spriggan I think of whenever I get angry over how rushed their designs are.

Even Zeref himself felt so disappointing as a villain because any hype built for him really peaked during the tartaros arc. I was sure he'd be the one to appear instead of Mard Geer. It felt like that's what tartaros was building to. But instead we someone new and Zeref was pushed back. We could talk about him torturing Mavis and how Mashima still wanted to paint things between them as romantic because heaven forbid Mavis actually be a human with emotions who gets mad and vengeful when she's hurt, but we'll move on.

Beyond just this, Alvarez kingdom could've been so very interesting to have in the background, mentioned every now and then off handedly by side characters or guild members when discussing the world around them. This idea of it always existing but just never seeming important to our leads who aren't thinking about the political side of things. Us getting Alvarez hints early on and Alvarez only increasing in importance would've been something for fans to hold onto and engage with.

Mashima really dropped the ball on the series following Tartaros from the gray villain arc that amounted to nothing, a 1 year time skip setting up Natsu and Lucy collecting guild members that ended with everyone miraculously back at the guild with no persuasion necessary, to his final antagonists carrying non of the weight he wanted because titles don't create fear. And it makes me so incredibly furious because all it would've taken was actual care and interest in his own creation.

[bitchy-peachy]

Advice Somewhat and Some Shit to Sensitive Haters Stalking My Posts

My area is getting ready for those wonderful Trump import tariffs.

A cheap deodorant in a local pharmacy that costed $3.45... Now costs $8.45. Saw it just this morning.

Yes, that's how local businesses are preparing for your totally-going-to-lower-prices Cheese Puff Papi's economic plan.

Pretty sure certain people will blame democrats for it but hey, republicans love to break it so democrats can fix it. I don't even know how this shitass party still gets votes but then I see its either rich people that get big tax cuts and brainwashed people that were unfortunately taken advantage of through disguised lies that vote for this crap.

Also including racists and phobes because that's another tier in this dumbfuckery cake of ignorance.

I want my mutuals to be ready for what's coming next year. I've lived long enough to know shit will get bad for everyone that makes under a certain level of money in their finance bracket.

I want you to buy stuff that's necessary before these businesses keep hiking up prices and I want you to be try to only use money for necessities. Even I have cut my budget in wait to see what happens next.

I'm somewhat ok financially (for now. Now I will have to recalculate everything with the potential and percentages of Trump's Tariffs looming over all of us) and unlike the 6 times bankrupted god, I know how to actually use and administer our finances without destroying my whole family and leaving us in the poor house.

I will probably have to write a guide at this point cos I even know survival skills after natural disasters as well as the banking system... A bunch of simple acquired knowledge that I never thought would be so necessary with what's coming up ahead.

This morning was a wakeup call and reminder that we need to take things seriously to prepare ourselves and our families. We'll need to save, stock up, be a little more frugal

I'm frugal af as it is until I have "fun funds" accumulated to finally relax. People think we only got to "survive" rather than actually "live". Don't ever let someone tell you you can't have nice things and good food and a good quality life just cos you are poor. Rich people act like our existence is to do cheap work for them while only eating stale bread and drinking contaminated water. They see everyone that isn't wealthy as part of their serfdom to do their bidding.

You deserve better.

Anyways, I'm rambling but right now... These times up ahead are a challenge even for me who has survived homelessness and natural disasters that lead to darkness for 6 months. I now feel like I'm in school again doing mathematical exercises and sorting to be ready for another terrible event looming up ahead (we never can catch a break, huh?)

I joke around a lot on here about maga getting what they voted for but the reality is that they're not the only ones getting effed up for them being so painfully stupid and completely lacking in basic critical skills when voting.

I want my mutuals that are in vulnerable situations to do everything to be safe. This is the best advice I can give for now because I sincerely want those that can be potentially affected to be mentally and emotionally ready. I'm here for my friends and even though I'm ranty I am still strangely at ease that we will as a community be fine.

On to another subject.

It's obvious to everyone that follows me that I despise maga. Especially with my relative ones that think I'm morally obligated to help them mitigate the consequences of their own actions. They can't even admit when they fuck up and can't handle confrontation with facts so I don't see a point in saving them. Considering how they voted, they really don't give a shit about me or my own family.

The help that was going for them will go for other people that are flying in next week that definitely need more help than my relatives. My relatives can ask Trump for help in their housing, medical bills etc since they spat on my help by endangering my entire family that falls almost into every category Trump wants to fuck up and make "illegal".

If I do this with actual blood relatives... Imagine what I do to strangers trying shit with me as if I owe them friendship, activism or my time.

I've been ranted at and blocked 5 times over the past week by maga that just can't handle shit I had to tell them. They also mostly approached me so they're the ones going around like the biggest Loser Winners on everyone that isn't pro Trump.

Most recent fun times was a loser calling me mentally ill (weird, cos I'm pretty sure the one that studied criminological psychology is me and not some unappealing mediocre male that reblogs naked women that will never fuck him) and after he raged he blocked me.

I'm online for fun and friends so I do act unhinged and unprofessional af. Why am I gonna bore myself online with a professional veneer (and before some useless maga tries get me "fired". I retired ages ago, sweetums. LOL) when I'm supposed to just relax on here?

I like explicit horror and cats, rats and bats. I write weird shit. I don't have to act like I'm at work all the time with proper diction and I'm not the only "shitlib" that is like this online. One of my best friends who plays horror games with me is surgeon and we both cuss like truckers and have slumber parties.

Meh.

Despite all this, I am appreciative of me, a retired old goth witchy lady, being fake diagnosed by someone with impressive 5th grade level knowledge. I gave easy to find facts and it somehow hurts people into calling me "retarded". I'm done being nice to your ilk and will be giving out just as much shit back as you have done to me.

There's nothing worse in an election than an uninformed voter in an echo chamber. You guys got fed your "facts" from echo chamber social medias and outlets. It's not my fault my factual words hurt you. It's your own for not waking up out of that propaganda induced coma. A lot of you don't even know what communism and social democracy actually are before calling everyone you don't like those things.

After these elections, I now know there's no helping you. You're too far gone and our side is truly packing up and leaving you behind. Blocking, avoiding... We are done as we should have been ages ago.

If you go low, I will go lower. Tired of only one side playing nice and getting trampled on and then you hypocritically clutching at your pearls at the slightest pushback.

We will be meaner and you deserve it. You had it coming. And I'm saying it nicely on here but I've called some yall literally fucking country destroying dumbfucks that actually hate everyone, including America. (that "patriot" some of you have on bio along with Christian crosses will never fail to make me laugh. You guys hate America so much you might as well wipe your ass with the flag. Well you already do put it to your genitals with the undies and swimsuit lines with flag print. Yikes)

But what do I know? I'm just a shitty lib (not really. A lot of libs hate me cos I'm pro guns and support answering violence with even more violence meh)

I don't hate to say "I told you so". In fact I love saying it now.

Now that both of these things are outta the way, I will relax and watch some horror movies in my list. Might live post some of them.

PS: To my haters... I have a statcounter on my blog. Stop being stupid.

[shellem15]

So I mentioned in another post that I had issues with Bells Hells' conversation with the Matron, and I thought I'd expand on that here:

Aside from the obvious "Bells Hells took the completely wrong conclusion from what the Matron was saying", I have some… gripes…with how that convo went.

To preface, I fucking CALLED the "Matron and Old God of Death (OGOD) had a thing" SO long ago!!! As soon as I heard fucking Purvan Suul say "none of the primes have felt challenges to their domains" I was like oop-- HOLD ON A MINUTE! The brainworms were COOKING can I say.

The only thing I didn't expect was that the Matron and OGOD worked on the rituals of ascension TOGETHER. I figured that they had a close (possibly romantic) relationship, I figured that he knew she was gonna replace him ahead of time and ultimately okayed it, I figured it was terribly tragic. I just didn't expect that he was an active participant in the process.

(If you want to see the full extent of my original Matron-OGOD theory/headcanon, you can find that post here.)

Anyways, I have mixed feelings about this reveal. I like most of it, for sure, and nothing about it is specifically problematic, but it just feels *off* to me for some reason. (Maybe because I had a whole ass headcanon laid out already lmao).

I think it's the part that he actively helped her create the ritual that bothers me. I remember another post discussing this more than me, about how it almost devalues her accomplishment, y'know? Almost implies that she *couldn't* have done it without his help.

I'm sure that wasn't the intent, of course, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. It's just not a necessary detail to have, I feel like. She could have her own ambitions for godhood, and could have loved him and wished to give him peace, and could do all of that without him *actively helping* her.

Now, we don't know what her ambitions for godhood were before they met, so we don't have all the context surrounding the situation. But that in itself is a problem: Why *don't* we know those ambitions? That feels important to mention, even briefly, so why was this part of the conversation *solely* focused on her relationship with the OGOD? BELLS HELLS DON’T CARE ABOUT THE GODS, this didn't really sway them either way.

Actually, I do know why there was so much focus on their relationship, which leads into my major issue with this conversation: The Raven Queen survived her ascension because of her love for the OGOD, and Bells Hells can do the impossible (contain Predathos as a vessel) through the power of ~love~.

*Big Sigh* Okay, here's the thing: I would be perfectly fine with this plot point if we HADN'T JUST COME BACK FROM DOWNFALL. AKA "LOVE WAS THERE, IT DIDN'T SAVE THEM" THE SERIES. WHAT DO YOU MEAN "You can do the impossible through the power of love"??? (The spirit of Arthur Aguefort possesses me) WE LITERALLY JUST SAW THAT NOT BE THE CASE!! Unless what we saw in Downfall was WRONG, apparently!? I guess the gods just DIDN'T LOVE EACH OTHER ENOUGH to reconcile huh? Pack it up, folks! We've solved the riddle! The gods just need to LOVE EACH OTHER MORE to fix all their problems!

(If I was one of the gods, and I overheard this shit, I would SMACK HER. The AUDACITY of this b1tch)

*Ahem* Anyways, now that I've calmed down, let me reiterate: Normally, I would be perfectly fine with this plot point. I quite enjoy a good "the power of love" story. But here's the thing: You cannot do this "power of love" thing immediately after you've *already disproven it* in a whole ass flashback-miniseries. Not only have you undermined the tragedy of the previous storyline, you're also setting yourself up for future plot holes and inconsistencies! Why bother playing out Downfall in the first place if it's major themes are just going to be immediately undermined?

It's just, the gods are beings of pure conviction. They are defined by their domains, and cannot act outside of them. The tragic thing is, when they fled Tengar so long ago, it WASN’T love that saved them, that made them real. The ACTIONS they took are what made them real, and they are bound to be ONLY those actions FOREVER. Whether they were motivated by love or not is ultimately irrelevant, because love didn’t define them, their convictions did, and still do.

They were doomed from the start, the actions that made them real are what damned them in the end. Because as beings of pure conviction, compromise is impossible. The Dawnfather HAS to be a guiding light and the Ruiner HAS to destroy and the Lord of Hells HAS to burn and the Everlight HAS to reach out to him and he HAS to lie and burn her in return because that’s *all they are*. And if their convictions are fundamentally at odds with each other, there is no room for reconciliation; it’s as unattainable to them as suddenly sprouting wings and flying is to us. That’s just not something we can do; no amount of love will make wings sprout from our backs. No amount of love between the gods will change their natures.

(And this logic applies to the gods and mortals as well! Aeor didn't fall because the Prime deities don't love mortals! It fell because the Gods' natures apply BOTH WAYS: The Dawnfather HAS to be a guiding light so Ayden HAD to try to save both Aeor and his siblings, he can't just selectively choose his nature when it's most convenient. And that ultimately doomed Aeor, because saving mortals and saving the Betrayers are inherently at odds with each other. Conversely, Asmodeus HAS to lie and lies hurt people so he will ALWAYS hurt both his siblings and mortals, so he was ALWAYS going to drop Aeor out of the sky. There was no other course of action. Love or hate was never going to change anything.)

The love was there, and it didn’t save them. In many ways, it just made things worse, desperately clinging to each other and hurting each other and the world in the process because the thought of separation is too painful to even consider. They love each other deeply but the love they have cannot outweigh their convictions, so the conflict of this inherent contradiction ends up destroying themselves and the world. Isn’t that what Downfall was trying to convey?

Bells Hells are seemingly the exact opposite of the gods. What conviction do they have, really? Except Orym and maybe Ashton, they all seem to just be along for the ride. No strong opinions either way. Which makes me question why Downfall was even included, because (ignoring the obvious in-text reasoning), a flashback sequence like that is, narratively, supposed to parallel your main story. It should highlight flaws within your main characters and show them what NOT to do. It should serve as a cautionary tale that motivates them and encourages character growth and self-reflection, not draw them into more indecision. Downfall didn't really change anything about Bells Hells, it didn't really influence their decisions much at all.

(This sucks, because I fucking LOVE Downfall! Why didn't it have more impact??? Why was it seemingly just forgotten about except to be used in cyclical debates that ultimately didn't go anywhere anyways???)

As Downfall established, love isn't a saving grace. Love is a motivator at best, a hindrance at worst. Love is second to conviction, to tangible action, which is what Bells Hells has been severely lacking. The gods failed Exandria and each other because their natures make them incapable of compromise, not because they didn't love each other enough. What should have been taken from this (in my opinion), is that Bells Hells MUST have strong convictions when taking any sort of tangible action, but they must ALSO have the flexibility to cooperate with others and compromise on certain issues for any actual positive change to occur.

The conversation with the Matron should have supported Downfall and helped guide Bells Hells towards this conclusion. It didn't actually have this effect, however, because although she did call out Bells Hells' indecisiveness (good) and encouraged them to decide for themselves (also good), this effect was immediately undermined by the whole "power of love" thing. Which only served to exacerbate Bells Hells' indecisiveness, which has ultimately culminated in the disappointed responses to the Big Button Push which just happened.

So yeah.

[blueskittlesart]

i've been occasionally watching critiques of totk just to hear differing opinions and a lot of them feel really nitpicky but the one that stuck out to me the most was the guy who wholeheartedly believed that the stories in these games could be improved by. removing link as the main protagonist. it should be pretty obvious that this take sucks ass but i wanted to see if you'd share your thoughts since you're good at putting your thoughts into words with this kind of stuff ^_^

ok this one is. strange to me. I'm not sure i'm equipped to critique it without getting the full argument from its source, because i assume that if the argument is that link SHOULDN'T be the protagonist, then they're arguing someone else SHOULD be instead, and not knowing who that is makes this a little harder to dissect. for the sake of this post i'm going to assume we're arguing for protag zelda, because she's the character who is the vessel for most of the story in botw/totk so i think she's the only character that makes sense. I'm also curious if they're advocating for removing link as a character from the story entirely or if they're just advocating for a change in framing from one character to another.

in any case, If i'm right about the above assumptions this seems to be another case of someone missing the central themes of the games. Because I concede that, at a glance, link kind of doesn't have that much presence in the story of either game. both games very heavily focus on zelda, with botw's primary story being about her struggle pre-calamity with her agency and her powers, and totk's primary story being about her journey in the past with sonia and rauru. arguably, the protagonist of these games in the traditional sense, i.e. the character who primarily experiences the highs and lows of the story and goes through an arc of growth, is ZELDA. link is, for all intents and purposes, the framing device through which we as players are witnessing ZELDA's story.

(full disclosure this turns into an essay on the way link is used as a character and a plot device bc i have no self control lol)

so why is link necessary, then? what is the point of the player experiencing the plot through a framing character like him instead of through zelda herself, the active protagonist? I think there are several layers to what makes link's presence in these games both necessary and irreplaceable.

the first and one of the most important reasons to have link in the active role is interactivity. I'm incredibly interested in video games as a modern art form and storytelling method, and imo the thing that sets video games apart from other methods of storytelling is their interactivity. In order to tell a story, an rpg drops the player into the middle of it. the player is an active participant in the story as it unfolds, and the player gets to experience and potentially alter the events in real time. from a consumer standpoint this may seem obvious and uncomplicated to execute--just take a prewritten story and put the player in control of one of the characters, right? but from a writing standpoint, it becomes really complicated really fast.

most stories are written linearly in a sort of cause-and-effect model, meaning events and actions will build on each other throughout the progression of the story. e.g: a monster attacks a village > because of the monster attack the villagers lose their homes > because they are now homeless, one of the villagers decides to slay the monster to take their village back > the villager slays the monster and the village is saved. each event builds upon the one before it, and if any of the events in the sequence were altered, the events after it would also be altered as well. if the villager decided to leave the village instead of fighting the monster, the event after that one would be altered and the village wouldn't be saved. What this means for interactive storytelling is that, if you want to have a single set course of events and ending (the standard model for zelda games) you can't allow the player to alter any events in that sequence. whatever character you give the player control of has to be able to experience the story WITHOUT substantially altering it. this becomes a dilemma because you as a writer need to toe the line between giving the player too much choice and altering the story/creating plot holes and giving the player too little choice and limiting the interactivity of your story. this is where the silent protagonist comes in handy.

the silent protagonist is a term for a player character which takes no action outside of what the player specifically orders them to. Link is one of the more famous silent protagonists, but other well-known ones include frisk from undertale and joker from persona 5 (worth noting that SPs don't have to be PHYSICALLY silent to be SPs, they just can't take any story-altering action without player input. joker actually has voice lines & is still considered an SP!) the silent protagonist is a popular model for RPG player characters because it basically solves the interactivity dilemma. A character with no personality is incredibly easy for players to project themselves onto, making them FEEL very in-control and immersed in the story even if they're not REALLY making any story-altering decisions. As long as your protagonist never breaks from player control and makes decisions on their own, the player feels like they ARE that character and will be much more susceptible to being thrown around by the story. A character with no personality or backstory is also conveniently lacking in outside motivations, meaning they're unlikely to need to substantially alter the story in any way that they aren't directly prompted to. for example, if we go back to that monster & villager story, if we turn our heroic villager into a silent protagonist, it puts a layer of distance between the hero and the villagers. the hero CAN choose to save the village, but they likely WON'T if the game doesn't prompt them to. this opens up several possibilities to us as writers--we can prompt the player to save the village, if that's the way we want the story to end, but we could ALSO prompt the player to side with the monster, or to ignore the village altogether, depending on what the story requires. when the hero has a backstory connecting them to the village, it's difficult to rationalize any response other than them attacking the monster, but removing that backstory gives us as writers more control AND keeps the player more engaged with the story at the same time.

so why does this matter for link? as previously mentioned, link is arguably the most famous silent protagonist of all time. this is something that's VERY important to the developers of these games--throughout the entire franchise, you will NEVER hear link say a word, and you'll also never see him take any action without the express confirmation of the player. link isn't a character through which the player is experiencing the story, link IS the player. thus, link is silent and takes no action outside of the player's control. relative to the story of botw/totk, link feels like he lacks presence in the story because HIS story takes somewhat of a backseat to zelda's. link's story in botw/totk is a relatively straightforward one--he wakes up, regains his memories, and saves the princess. that's his arc, and that's the arc that we as players are physically experiencing through him, but it's NOT the primary story arc of the games. the primary arc is ZELDA'S. at a glance, then, it almost would make more sense to make zelda the playable protagonist of the games. why are we required to witness her story as an outside observer in a medium which allows players to experience a story firsthand? why not drop us into HER body instead of link's?

because zelda isn't a silent protagonist.

Nearly all of zelda's story in both botw and totk is driven by her backstory and her internal struggle. she makes the decisions that she makes in botw because of her history having her agency denied by her father and being scorned by the goddess, and because of her passion for ancient technology and science. the plot of totk is similarly driven by choices she makes based on her emotions--most notably, her choice to become a dragon requires her to have complete faith in link and the courage to take a step that means losing herself. Because of the way these choices rely on zelda's internal emotional state and the context and backstory of her character, a player dropped into her body can't be expected to make them. We actually saw it a lot with criticisms of the way she acted in botw--people claiming that if THEY were in her shoes they wouldn't have been so emotional, they would have been nicer to link, etc. And it's true that a player who hasn't experienced the things that zelda as a character has gone through may have been able to have more rational or logical reactions to the situation she was in, but it's crucial to the plot that zelda COULDN'T set aside her emotions or the way that her past colored her perception of events. zelda is essentially the anti-silent-protagonist. she is the VOCAL protagonist, whose backstory and voice and autonomous choices are so crucial to the plot that removing them becomes nearly impossible. in order to tell her story in an interactive medium, she requires another character who CAN be controlled and whose decisions can be altered somewhat without derailing the plot entirely, hence why link becomes the vessel through which we see her story.

no less important a point is the fact that link is thematically important to these games as well. As previously mentioned, zelda's story serves as the primary narrative to both games. Link's story is still present, however, and it serves to reinforce and expand upon the themes present in zelda's.

in botw, zelda's story centers around her lack of agency. she is expected to inherit her familial power from the goddess hylia, a power which is required to stop the calamity. she spends her entire life training for this purpose despite the fact that she resents the pressure and wants no part in the war against the calamity, and when her powers don't manifest she is treated like a failure for it. she ends up believing she is worth nothing if she can't contribute by awakening her power and develops a harsh internal conflict between her desire to be accepted and needed and her desire to break free from the oppressive role she's been forced into. Initially, both she and the player believe link to be the polar opposite to her--the golden child to her black sheep. he's her age, but he's already mastered HIS power and is more than ready to take on any challenge, including the calamity. he's constantly receiving praise, he's well-known and well-liked, he's everything zelda isn't. however, as the story progresses, it's revealed to both the player and zelda that link is actually essentially in the exact same situation as zelda. He finds the role he is playing just as oppressive as zelda finds hers, despite being able to play it so well, to the point where he goes mute due to the pressure to perform. he functions in this story as a foil to zelda, the character who she plays off of. In learning about him we learn about zelda, and vice versa, and both characters undergo growth when they work off each other. much of botw's theming centers around growth, healing, and change, and link serves as a vessel to propel zelda's change by giving both her and the player a different view of their situation. He is confirmation that even if she DID perform correctly, zelda STILL wouldn't find the happiness and validation she's seeking, which in turn forces her to stop seeking validation from her father and hylia.

this same utlization of link is present in totk, though in a slightly different way. in some ways, totk link is more of his own character than a foil to zelda a la botw. Totk has two main central themes: the first being that hope is not lost due to one mistake, and the second being teamwork and community as an essential tool for survival and happiness. rather than playing off each other in totk, since link and zelda spend so much of the story so far removed from each other, they both play off these themes in their own ways, with both of their narratives coming together to reinforce the theming. zelda finds friends and community in the sages in the past, and her trust in her friends and community in the future is what allows her to send the master sword through time via draconification. In the future, link repairs communities that have been fractured by ganondorf and forges bonds with his own sages that will become his greatest assets in the final battle. Zelda works tirelessly to prevent the first rise of ganondorf, and even when she fails, link is there in the future to fix it. zelda loses her humanity in order to bring the master sword to link, but link manages to bring her back in the end. link loses his arm when he fails to save zelda under the castle, but when he DOES save her in the end, he gets his arm back, too. each of their stories play off each other and reinforce each other thematically.

I'm ngl this did get away from me the second i started talking about silent protagonists as a narrative device (i am crazy <3) but anyway. I do sincerely think that link is an irreplaceable part of these stories and I also don't think it's feasible to tell the story from any other angle. I think using him as both a framing character and as a narrative foil to the active protagonist was a really smart way to tell zelda's story while still keeping the player active within it. tldr link is the specialest amazingest most important boy in the world if you don't cheer and clap for him i'll fucking blow this whole building up

[aroacesafeplaceforall]

I’m sorry to see that you took my earlier ask the wrong way! I didn’t quote you in that, but I’ll quote you now so we can both be on the same page as to what I was responding to.

You said “the term actually asexual started as an aphobic or ace spec exclusionary tag/label.” Then you went on to explain the gatekeeping sub-community that used the term a couple years ago.

I’m not disputing that that happened, I am saying that that is not where the term “started”. It started in 2012, inspired by the actuallyautistic tag, as a method to avoid spam in the main tag. At that point it had no exclusionary connotation. Using actually- tags was a trend on tumblr in the early-mid 2010s so that members of marginalized communities could make sure their voices were heard. This use went out of fashion after that era of spam dried up, so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about it, and that you would overestimate your knowledge of history and make such a confident but incorrect statement as you did about the term’s true origin.

I know that emotionally it can be really difficult to deal with a message online correcting a statement you’ve made. It can feel like I’m telling you you’re wrong and you should feel bad for it, so I want to make it clear that this is not anon hate, just somebody who cares about aspec community memory. Nobody is right all the time! I’ve been confidently incorrect plenty of times in my life so I understand how the embarrassment can feel like a slap in the face. That’s ok, and those feelings aren’t always an indication that you’re being put down or judged. It’s necessary that we as people can hold discussions where we’re trying to figure out what’s correct collaboratively and not argumentatively, and that means recognizing when the people you’re speaking with are well-intentioned and responding in kind.

Anyway, yeah, I remember being younger and I remember how mortified I would have felt to read the message I sent, so no judgement at all. The good thing is that as life goes on you get more experience, more desensitization to those extreme feelings, more contextual knowledge to recognize that it’s ok, etc etc.

I’m not asking you to respond to this ask in any way, I just want to make it clear that I wasn’t trying to put you down at all. Have a good night!

lmao bestie, reading this was a wild ride and I wish i kept your past post as you back tracked twice.

Yeah i think this was mostly a misunderstanding on both sides and we were both wrong, however I will say in your OG ask you stated the tag started in 2022. But the reason you gave was the same.

I don't know how active you were on the "actually asexual" tag back in the day, but people were still not being the greatest over the split attraction model. It wasn't suddenly a safe haven for all asexuals (just like the current ace tags).

"Using actually- tags was a trend on tumblr in the early-mid 2010s so that members of marginalized communities could make sure their voices were heard. This use went out of fashion after that era of spam dried up, so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about it, and that you would overestimate your knowledge of history and make such a confident but incorrect statement as you did about the term’s true origin."

Yeah I know actually. I've been here since around 2016/17 and I do deep dives into tumblr and older posts a lot in my free time. I'm not new here actually and to give a rough est. of my age, I was never under the age of 13 on the site. "actually-" tags are still quite popular, actually asexual being the most known in my circle for obvious reasons. "I know that emotionally it can be really difficult to deal with a message online correcting a statement you’ve made. It can feel like I’m telling you you’re wrong and you should feel bad for it, so I want to make it clear that this is not anon hate, just somebody who cares about aspec community memory. Nobody is right all the time!"

You are right here, and I agree. But the way you originally phrased your "correction" was not only incorrect, but spiteful and hateful. It might not of read so to you but saying shit like "clearly you don't care about" and "you're to young to understand" isn't constructive criticism, its in-fact quite annoying and patronising. Statements like that are meant to enrage people, which is why I did not respond to you OG asks as I don't want to spiral a small matter. I would also like to say you final statements, while correct, are also quite sarcastically sweet to almost (very) patronising. Please do not talk to me like you would a small child.

[innerchorus]

Chapter 127 of Arslan is ahead… Forgive me for the cruel thought, but… Will anyone from Arslan’s squad die? This is the denouement. It will be strange if they all survive.

Well, as I mentioned in my initial thoughts on the chapter, I'm not convinced this is the final confrontation against Zahhak (I feel like the purpose here is to establish that 'oh fuck the Snake King is back' and the final fight will happen at a later point).

So in terms of what we might see in Chapter 127, I'm not actually expecting any major character deaths there! Perhaps we might see some of the Zot get eaten? But the snakes are already pretty well-fed, and if as I've theorised Zahhak isn't fully resurrected and conscious yet, the snakes are what's in the driving seat. (Consider the fact that from the views we've had of the snakes alone, it strikes me that Zahhak's body might actually be lying down/underground? Which gives more support to the idea that Zahhak's actions right now are solely the instinctive ones of the shoulder snakes. Hopefully they're full for now, and hopefully they'll sense Rukhnabad and be repelled by it once more. Quick, everyone in Team Arslan group hug Don Ricardo right now!)

But to leave that aside for the moment, do I think anyone will die during the final fight against Zahhak, whenever that happens to be? Honestly, it's possible. Those of us who are familiar with novel spoilers will know that many characters met their end this way, but I do think Arakawa will go about things a little differently.

It could be that, having now had warning that the Snake King is free, Team Arslan manage to disrupt whatever ritual the Master is brewing with those head jars that are probably beneath Ecbatana (my current working theory as that this is something necessary for Zahhak's true resurrection) and they kill Zahhak off at that moment. Or even though I don't think it's likely, because to me a resolution right now would feel rushed, perhaps they really will kill Zahhak now and get to throw that fact in the Master's face whenever they encounter him (because he surely has to die before the end, too). But if there is a dramatic battle against Zahhak at a later point, how will that go down? Who will face him in combat? Who, if anyone, will fall, and who will survive?

I keep wondering whether any of the other characters will be on the scene at that point. If it's post-whatever happens with Andragoras and Hilmes, maybe all of Team Arslan will be united once more. My main hope is that Kubard is around to tell them that the notion of fighting the Snake King one on one in an honourable duel is a really fucking stupid idea.

As should be obvious by now, this post covers some novel spoilers, and these are about to get more graphic because I want to talk about the characters who canonically died against Zahhak in the novels and what I think might happen to them in the manga. As such, I'll place this and some other thoughts about who else might die under a Read More.

Okay, I'll go through these in chronological order.

Don Ricardo (okay, known as Parahuda in the novels whereas in the manga he's not exactly a member of Team Arslan) — it feels a bit mean to kill him off now? He's so traumatised there's no way he'd be able to bring himself to fight against Zahhak in the near future anyway so I feel he's going to live, and maybe he'll go back to Lusitania with Estelle.

Merlaine — I don't think so. If he dies right now then there's more pressure on Alfarid to become Zot chieftain, and actually what I think we might see is a begrudging agreement by Merlaine at the end of the series that he'll shoulder this role, leaving things open for a relationship to develop between Narsus and Alfarid.

Kishward — slightly more likely than the previous two but again I really don't get that feeling like he's going to die? Arakawa's shown us his family, I think he'll get to live to see stability restored to the country where he can have an easier time of things and continue balancing his roles as Marzban and family man.

Daryun — it's hard to imagine him not fighting Zahhak, isn't it? He's Pars's strongest fighter, after all. I want him to do it while wielding a ji like he does in the novels! But I don't want him to die. I think he's more likely to receive a grave injury, and we've all seen how Arslan reacts when he thinks Daryun might die...

Arslan — I just don't think he's going to die. It doesn't seem like a possibility in my mind. As I mentioned I think in many ways Arakawa is steering us towards a brighter future than Tanaka, in terms of Pars becoming stable under Arslan's rule rather than falling into a dark age after his death, plus I really do believe she'll allow Hilmes and Irina to live happily in Maryam. (Maybe Daryun will even be able to visit Serica again!) Arslan dying at this point will not allow for a fitting resolution to the plot or his character arc, in my opinion. So I'm going to say he's safe!

Okay, those are the characters who were killed off in combat against Zahhak in the novels. Now let's look at some of the other casualties of Team Arslan and what I think their fates might be in the manga if they are involved in a fight against the Snake King.

Jaswant — this would be devastating but I could see him giving his life to protect Arslan. If it happens, I'll cry buckets. He's possible the most likely member of Team Arslan to die in Chapter 127 because he doesn't have the innate cultural fear of Zahhak that the Parsians do, so if they are paralysed for an instant he might react faster and do what it takes to save Arslan's life.

Kubard — before Book 16 was released I thought he was likely to die in it, and sure enough he did, but not against Zahhak. But honestly, I could see him dying here in a reversal of his point of view at Atropatene; rather than leaving a chaotic battlefield after an unworthy king has fled, he'll stand and fight alongside Arslan, someone he views as worthy. Kubard is undeniably brave but also not foolish so if someone does choose to fight Zahhak alone maybe he'll give them a helping hand. If he does die it had better be badass. His death in the novels was one that Tanaka got right, in my opinion.

Isfan — I don't think this is going to happen but if it did I'd never get over it, it's too unfair. I do worry about his reaction if he sees those head jars because if Zahhak or the Master happens to be there, he's not going to stop and think, he's just going to attack. (Please keep on looking out for him, Kubard. I say this because the thought of it is something I love, we've seen it in the manga already, and in the novels Kubard does intervene when he's going up against 'demon general' Ilterish in a highly emotional state after one of his wolves was killed). Again it's a situation where it just doesn't feel fair to think of him dying here. His death really fucked me up in the novels.

Hm, thinking about the others who died before Book 16 now.

Tus — not getting any strong feelings but how neat would it be to see him immobilise a shoulder snake with his chains?

Zaravant — honestly, if I had to pick one member of Team Arslan who didn't die fighting Zahhak in the novels but who might in the manga, it's Zaravant. Sorry to say it but I'm pinning the 'most likely to die' sticker on him. Especially because his death in the novels was Team Zahhak-related.

Jimsa — maybe, if he's around for the final fight then he might go for glory/reward, but I don't have a strong feeling that he'll die.

Narsus — now, if any of the 'main/central' members of Team Arslan were to die, I think it'd be Narsus. Yes, this would be devastating, and it would come with the shadow of Pars having lost its best tactician who has made so much possible for Team Arslan, but what final battle is without cost? If Elam were older and more experienced he'd be in a place to become his successor and it would be a pupil replacing teacher moment where the torch is handed to him, but realistically we're not at that point yet. My gut feeling is that Narsus will survive.

Alfarid — just can't see her dying, to be honest. Her and Narsus both get to live, maybe we'll get teased with the possibility of something developing between them when she's older, but I'm not sure it'll be confirmed in the manga.

Estelle — as I said, I think she'll return to Lusitania in the end. I'd love to see her grab a bow and shoot a snake, though. (Her snatching a petrified Parizad's bow to shoot a winged ape despite her horrible leg injury is my favourite Estelle moment in the novels!)

Now for the characters who survived the final battle and died later of unrelated causes.

Farangis — she'll live, I just feel it.

Gieve — yeah I don't think he'll die either.

Elam — also going to survive.

This post is super long but it was actually pretty fun to write! We'll see how wrong I am in the next few months, I guess. And if anyone else has thoughts of their own on whether we'll see any of Team Arslan meet their end in the manga, please share!