#this very well may have been pointed out already but here it is again regardless because it's neat!!!

[raycatz]

Wait a second-

I don't have a better in game photo atm but I just noticed- is Wind's slouched pose in Entrance pt.2 (x) a reference?! He has a similar pose and expression as the WW low health animation. (and Wind saying c'mon is a reference / good bit of detail too haha)

art is from @/linkeduniverse

[sleepymccoy]

I have some general anxiety about going to supermarkets aimed at specific cultures because the intended clientele is not lil white me and the staff often don't speak english and I feel inappropriate. But not once has this been true, and I've always enjoyed my visit. Anyway, that's a preface so you can appreciate how brave I am

My colleague recently made me lahpet which is a Burmese salad including pickled tea leaves, dried beans mix, and tomatoes. I loved it and wanted more. I live in a densely Chinese area and thought one of the many supermarkets might have something Burmese, so I brought the empty jar to every store.

Many don't speak english, but that's fine. I had a jar! All interactions basically went like this;

None of them knew Burmese so couldn't even tell me if they had something similar

I gave up and bought it online. Also had a hard time with that cos they don't deliver to apartments (got the vibe that it's just the shop owners son doing deliveries and he couldn't be fucked going upstairs. Valid). But I persevered and got three jars! And the dried beans mix I needed. Way too many dried beans, I totally misjudged the size of the bag being sold

I used one to show my friends this salad. They didn't go as insane over it as I did. I gave another jar to my dad who did go appropriately insane. He said he liked it, then five min later interrupted to say he really liked it, then after dinner spent time with me going through the ingredients and trying to figure out if he can pickle tea leaves himself. Booyah.

Regardless, this left me with one jar which I swiftly finished. So I'm on the hunt again and the online store stresses me out now cos they don't like apartments

I found a Burmese supermarket a few suburbs away and a twenty min walk from the station. Fucking worth it, it's added two hours to my commute home but I want these jars so much. I enjoyed the stroll. It rained a bit, so I saw a couple rainbows

In the store I was, again, immediately stressed. I went down an aisle and back again and found nothing. I found other pickled things! But not my tea leaves! I did not want this trip to be in vain, it was long and I had a shit day at work. I was really only doing it today cos the days a write off as a bad day so I may as well run an annoying errand

Anyway I pulled up the website and showed the lady at the counter a photo of the jar and she pointed me to them immediately. I returned like fifteen seconds later with four jars and she was already on a phone call with someone. I love workers rights. You're awesome, lady.

So I say four and hold four fingers up and pass her one jar. She scans and sets the price right. She then interrupts whoever's talking on the phone to ask me, "How you know this?"

So I quickly explained that my colleague made me the salad and I loved it. She pointed back at the aisle and said, "the beans, you need beans." So I was like "I have so many beans, I bought too many, I just need the pickled leaves." And she was already waving her hand at me in disinterest so I stopped talking and paid lol.

It was a long haul home. I passed and remember to take a photo of my favourite art installation, the tower of coffee cups in a pole.

There's no starbucks in my suburb so one of these at least has taken a long trip to get here. So did I today, my feet are sore

Anyway, I have four jars of miraculous pickled tea leaves. If you can figure out how to buy these ingredients I recommend it to serve alongside very fatty meals like lasagne or sausage cos it cuts through nicely. I also take a serving to work every day because the tea leaves are caffeinated so I'm skipping the second coffee

I love lahpet

[walpu]

I'm coming at you with the speed of thousand asteroids affectionately and hit you with a "your writing is awesome!"

Also, may I request an Aventurine x The Nameless!reader.

Thank you very much and have a nice day :D

Thank you so much for your kind words and for the request, it was so fun to write <З

Hope you'll enjoy it, have a good day as well 💛

Aventurine x The Nameless!reader

characters - Aventurine

notes - gn!reader, fluff, a bit of hurt/comfort. Once again, no beta. I'm so sorry.

Aventurine

Considering that the Astral Family and it's members are pretty well-known (everyone seems to know at least their names) he has probably heard something about you even before you first met him.

I can imagine your first meeting going like this: he casually approaches you, acting all buddy-buddy, and says something like "ah, mx , who knew I would meet you here of all places <З".

If your first meeting was during the Penacony quest get ready for him calling you "friend" in this sassy voice of his 💀 Yes Aven we all get it you don't have any actual friends calm down

Can imagine him trying to get closer to you by painting your potential partnership as something mutually beneficial. You could use a friend from the IPC, right? And he wouldn't mind having some connections with a "brave and honorable" Nameless. So why don't you join him for a glass of wine, hmmm?

When the two of you will eventually get closer this mf will get clingy af. Yeah I've mentioned it already in my previous post but you being one of the Nameless opens up so many new perspectives.

Visits you on the Express regularly. If he comes when you're not here, he'll wait for as long as he can for you to come back. Sadly, Aventurine is a busy, busy man. So he can't wait for long. Will leave small notes for you tho, to let you know that he was there but you didn't grace him with your presence

If you come back when he's waiting, Aven will play it off as if he himself just got there and didn't have to wait for you at all, saying somethin like "Oh look, here you're! And here I thought I would have to wait for you, haha. Seems like luck is on my side today~"

He doesn't want you to worry, after all. Also. He wants to save some face. Pom-Pom will rat him out anyway.

Speaking of Pom-Pom, they're probably sick of him at this point lol.

Would ask you about your adventures and listen very closely to every story you may want to tell. He can't help but smile softly while listening to you, he just loves seeing the passion in your eyes. Doesn't matter if the story is about you dragging the Trailblazer away from the trash cans in Belobog (or worse - admiring the trash cans with them), he will still look at you with the same adoring smile.

If you ask him what he's been up to during the time you where gone, Aven would simply laugh it off and say that his boring IPC stuff cannot compare with your bizarre adventures so it doesn't even worth mentioning. Reassure him that you don't care if it's boring, you just want to hear about his day regardless of how it went.

Sometimes he can't help but feel jealous. You're free to travel, to do whatever you want. You have this sparkle of excitement in your eyes every time you tell him about your travels. And he has nothing of it. Simply can't have.

He doesn't have any negative feelings towards you, of course. Mostly some bottled up bitterness toward his fate and himself.

He gets a bit lost in his own head every time he starts feeling this way. Please take his hand and invite him to join you during your next adventure. He will laugh softly and tell you "maybe next time, darling". Even if he doesn't know when this "next time" will come the thought of it, of you wanting to share your precious moment with him, fills him with hope.

Adores when you bring him small gifts from the places you've been. It doesn't have to be something big, really. Just the thought that you were thinking of him when the two of you were apart is enough.

Don't forget to send him pictures of yourself!!!! He wants to know how his dearest darling is doing even when they are freezing their ass off in Belobog.

Would sometimes surprise you by showing up on the planet/space ship you're currently staying on. Aventurine rarely can't stay for a long but he cherishes those short moments when he can just walk around and do nothing in particular with you.

Usually when he visits a planet it has something to do with the IPC's business so he only has time to do his job and. Well. Gamble. Maybe buy some new clothes too if he has enough time.

But with you he can actually explore the planet. You bring him to the local restaurants, small tea shops, seemingly small and insignificant places. But it’s places like these that reveal the real beauty of the planet. He slowly learns to appreciate it when you're by his side.

[gotham-daydreams]

What would've happened if Y/n wasn't even in Gotham? Maybe they went to another country or something

If that did happen, then I think the Batfam would put their connections to good use (superhero or otherwise)!

Bruce Wayne would report the reader as missing, and they'd effectively have everyone and their mom on the reader's ass, and lets just say that Y/n wouldn't be gone for long. Especially not when the Batfam has connects with the Superfam and, well, I don't think I really need to mention anything besides they have incredible hearing and can fly super fast. (Alfred definitely shows some of them recordings and such he has of the reader so they know what the reader looks like, and what their voice sounds like if they don't know the reader already. Even if one of members of the Superfam probably does, even if I don't know who that'd be in particular.)

Granted it may still take them a while because the reader is one whole person in a world full of billions of them, but if there is one trait the Batfam shares is that they are absolutely relentless. Some are more stubborn than others, yes, but stubborn nonetheless.

Eventually they'd find the reader, and considering who these people are, along with who they're working with at this point, I can imagine that they'd find the reader pretty quickly considering things.

Not to mention that the reader is a pretty well known musician at this rate (albeit not to a super popular/famous degree, but well known enough for people on the street to kind of notice who they are in a little surprised but mostly casual way), and most likely has no idea that the Batfam is even looking for them until they see an article of them, or one of their friends mentions that they're apparently "missing".

Which gets extra awkward because, well- obviously they're just living their life at this point, and still making music because it's their passion and dream. They're not just going to stop because they left the manor, and have probably released a few songs with a performance of theirs coming up. Even if the location may not be disclosed yet, it's like the announcement itself cements the reader's fate. Since it's almost acting as a signal that's like a "hey!! i'm here!!" And again, this is a family full of Detectives and such, they can get details from most places other people probably wouldn't.

So, maybe they'd find the reader after a few weeks to a month or two at the very latest. Especially with them, at this point, going full yandere because they've been obsessively looking for the reader over however long it took them to find them. That obsession of the Batfam's growing more and more by the day, and their own paranoia and worries fueling each others. Maybe it even gets to Damian a little, who knows.

Regardless, whenever they find Y/n they are at their wits end. Now it isn't even up for debate if they kidnap the reader or not. They will. They do.

It's swift, it's sloppy, it's impulsive, it's reckless, and even it isn't thought out at all, it's quick. Almost painless.

They all just want to hold the reader and say all these things — but they can't. Not here. Not while Y/n isn't home. Not yet. But they will. Soon.

Whoever holds the reader first doesn't get to hold them for long. They're practically snatched and grabbed from all of the members of the family as they fight over the Reader's unconscious body like starved, savage dogs trying to get that last bit of meat before they have to endure the pains of hunger again.

Eventually, they do settle, especially thanks to Batman and Alfred, and decide who would be the best fit to carry the reader for the rest of the trip. That sparks another fight, but eventually someone is chosen, and some of them even take turns as everyone heads back to Gotham, returning home safely with the reader. Bringing them back home. To their real home.

Safe to say, the reader's freedom? Absolutely taken away, it practically doesn't exist anymore. Along with their personal space, as the Batfam needs a BIG recharge after all that searching, and the reader is just the thing they need. Expect a lot of hugs and a bunch of boundaries to get broken within that first month or so. They're never letting go, not ever again.

Tldr: Reader is still fucked either way, but it does take the Batfam significantly more time to find them, and when they do the family is basically mentally fucked over. All screws scattered on the floor- everything. So they're a little less lenient and immediately jump the gun, just that much closer to completely losing their mind, and so despite being so far away — the Reader is immediately brought back to Gotham once found, has basically all of their rights stripped away from them, and is suffocated in affections, hugs, cuddles, and the like for over a month into their captivity as a result. No exceptions. Not anymore.

Hope this answered your question! If anyone else has a question, or you yourself have something else you'd like to know the answer to, feel free to send in an ask! If you'd also like me to clarify something or anything like that, an ask is the way to go a well!

[misssmina]

Characterizing Characters

Bakugou Katsuki.

I’ll be using the source material to create a simple list of traits he has already, then based on those traits, things we can infer about him based on those behaviors.

SourceMaterial!Bakugou is a hothead, we know this. However, at UA, his anger is almost never unreasonable. He is regularly the butt of his classmates jokes and teasing, which makes him argumentative. Outside of that he is just a very competitive teen with a grumpy disposition. He is pre-irritated.

SourceMaterial!Bakugou is rarely malicious in his words. Most things he says seemingly comes from a place of indifference. (Calling people extras, taking a long time to learn names and quirks, etc.)

SM!Bakugou is a goody two-shoes, despite his mouth. He sleeps early, studies hard, has been seen yelling at his classmates about making sure to eating well.

SM!Bakugou is socially awkward. He doesn’t just struggle with being nice, he struggles with being appropriate in general.

SM!Bakugou has great deductive reasoning skills. It helps in battle as well as him learning about interpersonal relationships.

SM!Bakugou is half decent with kids, he makes a point of analyzing and understanding their behavior to relate to them.

SM!Bakugou is a tough love kind of guy, but he actively acknowledges his classmates strengths.

SM!Bakugou has mission anxiety from both times he was held hostage.

SM!Bakugo regularly pushes his physical limits, regardless of injury or wellbeing.

Now we can make some inferences based on the information we have already.

ProHero!Bakugou found better outlets for his anger. MMA, quirk ranges, general exercise, etc.

ProHero!Bakugou still hates the press, but has learned how to conduct himself professionally. His interviews give the same cold feel as Aizawa’s.

ProHero!Bakugou would hold youth self-defense classes featuring different heroes, to prevent incidents like the sludge villain from happening again.

ProHero!Bakugou would take on many mentees and sidekicks. Feeling he’d be the best person to whip them into heroes.

ProHero!Bakugou would not give lots of verbal praise to his mentees and sidekicks. He’d just give them more responsibilities as the are able to handle them.

ProHero!Bakugou would have similar scaring to ProHero!Sero. Scars from injury and muscle damage would be most prominent on his shoulders, biceps, and forearms.

ProHero!Bakugou would work very closely with ProHero!Kirishima, ProHero!Jirou, and ProHero!Uraraka. Relying on their skills in combat, reconnaissance, and rescue, respectively.

Now, some personal headcannons I have. 💥

Bakugou rolls his eyes, A LOT. Mainly to keep himself from saying something out of pocket.

He cracks his wrists a lot, and his fingers are always sore.

He is a momma’s boy, but he’s an easier child for his father.

Bakugou is a polyglot.

Bakugou wouldn’t date another hero, but not a regular civilian either. Maybe someone in the medical field?

Bakugou has cuteness aggression with animals and his friends think it’s hilarious.

He takes Yaoyorozu with him to events because, “She’s the only one with any sense around here.”

Bakugou has gotten in trouble for modifying and tinkering with his gauntlets without approval.

Let me know who I should do next. I may do a secondary post the further I get into rewatching the show.

[thewertsearch]

Cal, get the fuck out of the frame. You're obliterating the vibe.

GG: ummmmmm hey guys i hope im not interrupting!!! TA: well, yeah, y0u kind 0f were […] AA: sollux try to be polite […] AA: jade is very nice and she did nothing wrong AA: none of them did so when you wake up maybe you should try to reconcile with them [...] TA: did Y0U? AA: did i what TA: be nice t0 them 0r whatever bef0re y0u expl0ded. AA: well no […] [Robo]AA: what actually happened after i died it sounds complicated

Not significantly moreso than your life was.

Although, this is additional evidence that Aradia had no idea she was going to resurrect on Derse. Even our most knowledgeable Player is less clued-in than she thinks.

GG: i have just been enjoying these little naps more and more lately! GG: each time i go to sleep i meet more new people and learn so much GG: but i still cant get karkat to take a nap, boy talk about a guy who is anti nap! TA: ahahahah, yeah, what a d0uche! GG: seeeeeriously!

A more pissed-off Jade meets a less pissed-off Sollux, and they're meeting in the middle for some Mage/Witch solidarity.

The guy's been free of his Voices for about two minutes, and he's already bonding with the humans he used to hate. Here for it!

GG: […] i should really thank feferi again for setting it up so we could meet like this! TA: wait, ff is here? […] TA: 0h g0d, why didn't that 0ccur t0 me, where is she?? GG: ummm probably in another bubble GG: but youll find her! maybe during your next nap… TA: well shit, why can't i just g0 glub ar0und 0ut there in the ring and find her n0w? […] AA: navigating between bubbles is difficult here AA: its better to drift between them naturally as they intersect AA: not spatially but through common points in memory

I'm starting to understand the mechanics here. You start out in a bubble simulating one of your memories, but you can move to adjacent bubbles if they're simulating the same scene, regardless of who is remembering it.

So, initially, you can only visit people that you share memories with - but after that, you can visit someone they share memories with, and so on. Eventually, you can visit anyone in the Ring, provided you're linked by some chain of memories.

It's easy to imagine how Jade arrived here. She wasn't originally present for this memory, but she has spoken to Aradia before, and probably joined her bubble while it was simulating one of their Pesterchum conversations. You don't get kicked out of a bubble when it changes, so Jade was able to stay after it morphed into Alternia. If she wanted to find someone she'd never met, such as Dad Egbert, she'd have to visit John's bubble as an intermediate.

Aradia's a special case, since she can circumvent normal bubble navigation by flying out of bounds - presumably because, unlike all her companions, she's here in the flesh.

AA: to navigate the furthest ring you need to have mastered the flow of time! AA: that is why i am here AA: i am alive again so i may assist the dead in this way

It's poetic, I think, that the ex-ghost is the one managing the affairs of the dead. I guess she knows how disorienting it is to be suddenly disembodied.

[within-your-eyes-if]

A Few Updates

Hello everyone!

I have some exciting news and a few thoughts I want to share. Another long update, I'm sorry!

Codex Update: As you know, I've been working on updating the Codex. I've put a lot of thought into each entry, balancing new ideas with existing lore. While a lot of elements were already established, delving deeper into some topics has inspired some new ideas, and I want to ensure everything fits seamlessly. With this in mind, I'm considering releasing what I have so far while I continue to ponder over some of these newer concepts and refine older ones. In the next few days, I'll be going through more feedback to address some issues found before I plan to release the update.

New Story: I'm excited to share I've released a prologue and first chapter for From Here to Again! Writing something different is meant to help me grow as a writer and expand upon things I might not have considered before, especially when writing Twine.

I will not be making a Tumblr for this story right now, sorry!

I know I've shared other stories that I planned, and here are some updates on those:

Nautical Lost would definitely benefit from a later release as Within Your Eyes grows, as this story will expand upon the world lore and some events that will happen.

The Innkeeper (a working title), I decided to hold off on because I'm terrible at management games, it seems. It was meant to be a fun little story with shenanigans. However, I do want to revisit the idea later.

Short Stories: I've expressed I want to make some short stories, but I feel like there's a point in WYE I want to pass first before getting into them. But I do have one I'm working on that I want to release alongside Part Two that delves into the past.

Worries About Burnout: I know some of you are/might be worried about burnout, but I feel like I have a good system for myself. Writing is a journey I haven't explored much before. I did write, but it's something I didn't think I was good at because, honestly, I was told I wasn't. I know I'm not the greatest, but I want to grow and learn as a writer. I've been taking breaks to focus on other things I enjoy, even if it's still writing out ideas for other stories.

I appreciate all of the concern in this regard, not just for my well-being, but also for the love of my story. To see it abandoned would be heartbreaking not just for my readers, but for me as well. 'Within Your Eyes' has been an idea long in the making, shifting and growing. It's something I've always wanted to share, and I'm so happy I have!

Time for Questions: I'm ready to start answering some of your questions regarding Part One. Enough time has passed, I believe, to start delving into these. To respect those who haven't caught up yet, I'll include any spoilers under a 'Read More' tag. However, be mindful that some questions themselves might contain spoilers.

Regarding certain asks/scenarios, I think that discovering the answers through the story rather than in a post might be more rewarding. While I may still respond to these, I'll be thoughtful about placing them under a 'Read More' tag as well.

Regardless, I've been thinking more about how I should approach questions, not only in a way that's satisfying to you, but also benefits the story.

Closing Thoughts: Sorry again for the long update. I've been very reflective after releasing a second story, and I hope no one sees this as me diverting from WYE. I'm grateful for every one of you and for all of your words of encouragement and love. I hope you enjoy From Here to Again (if you decide to check it out) and continue to look forward to our Warden's journey.

Thank you!

[dangerouslypassiveaggressive]

A Terribly Organized Almost-Essay About Suzanne Collins and Why I Think She Writes

Lukewarm take because it's been years, but here it goes: if there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that Suzanne Collins is not a people pleaser. (The author, at least. I don't know her personally lol). And she be pleasing the people, that's not what I mean! I just kept hearing the same question being asked over and over again. "Why Snow? Why him?? Why not anybody else? Really?? A prequel about HIM??" It really made me think.

And don't get me wrong! I'd slash someone's tires for a Finnick prequel just like the next person (Suzanne please!), but that has never been the point of her writing. The Hunger Games novels, and by extension, the prequel book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, aren't just fun fiction reads. Yeah, they're gripping. The world-building is superb. Young people are at the center of it. And all these characteristics are great, but the thing that draws us in, that keeps us consuming her media like hungry little caterpillars, is that they are, time and time again, a captivating and accurate criticism, analysis, and deconstruction of the broken systems society experiences in the real world. I can only speak from my own experience as a Mexican American woman in the United States, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

The Capitol is colorful and fun and interesting and horrible and sadistic. And it is all those things because it is a symbol of our own real-world 1%, except our own glittering Capitol members here in the real world feed us the hope that we may reach their status if we only work hard enough for long enough. The Hunger Games system never makes that claim. In fact, they are fed the narrative that the system only works because they're stuck where they are. Suzanne Collins is taking everything one step further in her writing because it is a type of satire, a critique of the things we already know. So as an author, she blows it out of proportion so that her reader will say "look at this! How ridiculous! How would someone let the system treat them this way!" And it is ridiculous, it's downright laughable that an entire society, an entire country, would let itself be oppressed in such a cruel way by just a few people in charge instead of rising up and- oh wow, yeah, I see it. She wrote about us.

Suzanne Collins just organized everything neatly into boxes- well, districts. Because every district comes with some form of product that they manufacture, but much more importantly: a class. We go in order from 1-13. District 1 manufactures luxury items and District 2 makes weapons (but mostly trains Peacekeepers), so they have the most privilege and wealth. On the other end, Districts 11 and 12 are the agricultural and coal mining districts, respectively. That's back-breaking work. Not to mention District 11 puts kids as young as 12 to work, and District 12 is poverty-stricken and starving. "But what about District 13?" You may ask, "They make nuclear weapons! Why aren't they up there with 2?" Fantastic question. If we know, and the people of Panem know, that the hierarchy is very clearly set by literal number order, why would one of the most powerful and competent districts be given more power and be put at the top? Placing them at the end lets them believe that they aren't powerful or competent. I mean, jeez, look at 12 and they're before 13? I wouldn't believe I could make it on my own either. (We know now that's not how things go down, but it's a clever power move regardless.)

But after all this, would it hurt Suzanne to give us a single book just for fun?

Yes, I believe it would, that's the whole point. We're not meant to fall for the Peeta/Katniss/Gale love triangle. We're not meant to be interested in Finnick's secrets and early life. We're not meant to want to know the morbid details of how Haymitch won his Games (with double the contestants! Ooh. Aah.) We're meant to be horrified at every turn, at every story. We're meant to ask ourselves how things got so bad, how anyone let this happen. Suzanne Collins has written wonderfully fleshed out characters that grip us and make us want to know more, but the point has never been them or even their loved ones. It was never about Katniss or Prim or Peeta or Finnick or Annie. It's always been about the systems that let this story happen, and where Suzanne got her inspiration: the very real lives we lead. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows us the same thing.

So why Coriolanus Snow? Because he is the catalyst to a broken system that only serves the powerful. If Suzanne were to write a novel about any of our much more beloved characters, then she would be writing the exact same book over and over about the same oppression happening in the same system. She does not write for the sake of bringing her very well-written characters to life, but to flesh out the poverty, the starvation, the power struggles, the horrors they experience. We know this because she writes a lot of her characters as symbols. (Coin, for instance, as the symbol for a power-hungry figurehead, or Prim as the innocent during war.)

Snow is living in a slightly different biome than what we know from The Hunger Games series. He has to make sacrifices and decisions for him and his family, but it's different. It is a view and critique from the inside looking in. This is not Katniss getting to experience the Capitol for the first time and understanding just how terribly unfair everything is. This is someone who is very aware of the way things work and playing the game to stay in power and keep their privilege. Not only that, but it's someone who feels entitled to all of it. In this novel, Suzanne plays around with power and people's position in it. What if a mad scientist was in charge? What if the creator of the thing that brought a semblance of peace was just as horrified as the reader? How far is one person willing to go for power? What if we saw the dawn of a world we're already familiar with?

So I hope she keeps writing, because I love seeing our world through her eyes and the parallels she writes from our world to hers of the injustices happening every day. Even though we'll probably never get the stories we crave, but that's okay. Keep putting those kids through hell, Suzanne.

[rallamajoop]

Did Ethan play the piano?

There are a bunch of little hints scattered through these games about Ethan's character. He seems to have a love for the retro ‒ at least, his drawer is full of jazz CDs and he drives a 1971 Dodge Challenger. As Rose notes, he's clearly a wine drinker. And he may have played he piano.

I don't want to overstate the hints RE7&8 give us on that last part. Resident Evil is, after all, a universe where apparently being able to bang out a full sonata at a moment's notice is just a basic life skill for anyone who might want to infiltrate a suspicious facility (though just jamming a few bars of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star may also do in a pinch).

There's a piano in the Winters' home, but then, maybe Mia's the one who plays, or maybe the BSAA set them up in an already-furnished house ‒ who knows? You can't actually interact with it as Ethan, nor does Rose comment on it. But Rose does wonder out loud if her Dad played any instruments (after he jokes about whether baby Rose banging her spoon to the Miss D. record suggests she's going to grow up to be a musician) ‒ and that at least primes you to notice that piano, if you hadn't already.

There are also two different pianos you can interact with in the Baker property ‒ one in the guest room, which will slam shut if Ethan reaches for the keys, and a second in Lucas' room that merely prompts the message 'it's broken'.

It's not until Dimitrescu's castle that Ethan himself finally gets to make like all those other Resi heros, and bash out a quick solo to open a mini door in the piano, in which you'll find a key that will open another door... look, you've heard this one before.

There's an argument to be had whether any of the puzzle solutions in a video game like RE should be taken as truly diegetic. But if nothing else, this does at least suggest Ethan can read sheet music. Here's the asset for the sheet, by the way (and again with the bit you actually play highlighted). You can hear someone play the full song ("Sogno" ‒ which means 'Dream' in Italian ‒ by Francesco Paolo Tosti) here.

There's even a version with lyrics, though I doubt they necessarily meant much to whoever picked this piece for the game: more likely it was chosen for being a song with a very simple treble clef (so the player doesn't have to do too much work to solve the 'puzzle') but a much more complicated bass (so it still sounds sophisticated when played). Regardless, you can hear it sung here.

There's also one other little clue that might suggest that someone in the Winters' household has some real musical leanings: one of the CDs you can find in that drawer is titled 'Jazz Standard Theory'. Which sounds a lot more like an instructional CD than easy listening (though they're certainly not winning any prizes for those other titles).

Actually, while we're talking Ethan's CD collection, here's the asset for that Miss D & the Pallboys CD too! Surprisingly, it has a back as well, suggesting that at some point you might have been able to pick it up and examine it. The text is all pretty illegible, however.

(I've talked before about the theory that 'Miss D' is actually Lady Dimitrescu, but if you want the short version ‒ given that she's not from the village and is 'descended from a fallen noble', this one's surprisingly plausible!)

Hilariously, a love for jazz might just be one thing Ethan has in common with the Bakers, given you can find some records lying around the rec room upstairs.

Mind you, even RE2R managed to work a jazz festival flyer into this one puzzle solution...

Does someone in the team at Capcom have a thing for Jazz? Evidence is starting to stack up...

But getting back to our original topic, does Ethan play the piano? You can make a case either way, as the game never tells us explicitly. But there's enough here to point that way that I'd like to think he does, anyhow.

Which only makes the implications of this so much more tragic.

[veryloovy]

Nori's Killer Alt Theory

Now hear me out, this is an insane theory here but the logic actually works out. The acid that killed Nori? That could've been her own acid, NOW HEAR ME OUT. Read below.

So first off, Solver transformations. For Workers, these traits can be wildly different. Cyn is the odd one out since she has a centipede form, so let's instead get into Uzi and V. Uzi gets wings and a tail while V gets wings and a claw.

Wings seem over-represented here, but not so when you look back on these old "leaked" designs. We see what seems to be a red or purple Worker with what seems to be DD-style tail and claws. This design could have been changed at some point in the process, so the DD style may have been swapped out for the flesh look (not uncommon since Nori and Alice have previous old designs we know of).

And regardless of if this Nori or not, Nori having a Solver transformation isn't off the table here because, well, she DOES have one.

And it's these super DD-style Cyn-esque claws and whatnot. We know at some point Nori was controlled by the Solver and ended up nearly blowing up the planet. She seemed otherwise unaffected up until at some point after she and Khan had Uzi that she became "crazy". This was, in all likeliness, the Solver trying to regain control of her. She gets visions of the DDs arriving to Copper-9 which is something only the Solver would know since it was the one who sent them in the first place.

So what does Nori do? She panics and does everything in her power to prevent this from happening. She begs Khan to build doors to keep the incoming Disassembly Drones away from the bunker. It's all she can do to protect her family because the very powers that could save them could also just make things worse. Using the Solver too much makes it easier to be controlled.

"So wait where does the acid come into play?"

Now actually.

So we actually don't know yet what exactly the flesh tails produce for their injectors. So if Nori had this style tail, she would still be able to produce some sort of fluid to hunt with. Uzi seems to use it on Emily to paralyze her (she's not scared in Uzi's grasp, she's out of it until Uzi kills her. No other explanation for this).

"But the acid was yellow"

HERE we go. So accents on Solver forms relate to what color the drone lights are at the moment. Case in point, V. As a Worker, her lights are naturally white, but under control of the Solver they are instead yellow. Her Solver form under the control of the Solver keeps the new yellow color for her wing's accents and her claw's eye color instead of the white they should be (like the primary color of her wings and claw). Uzi has not been under the control of the Solver during her transformations so far, so they keep their natural purple coloration for both the primary "flesh" tones and the accents (eyes?) but SPECIFICALLY for this next bit, her tail also has her natural purple coloration which includes her acid as seen in the concept art.

If Nori experienced control under the Solver again, her transformation would have given her yellow accents instead of purple, which means her acid would've been yellow too.

Her own acid could've done her in, and let me explain this. The Solver regains control of her, but not for long. The last time this happened, the planet nearly blew up. Nori has regained control of her body, and she's terrified. She's a danger not just to her family, but to the entire world. She stabs herself with her own acid to prevent the Solver from doing anything else. She begs Khan to get it over with, and he reluctantly obliges. The whole thing is blamed on the Disassemblers since that's the only explanation Nori can give to Khan, or that Khan can give to Uzi. After all, those are the only things that have yellow acid, right?

And I think that's delightfully messed up. Two generations of the Doorman family locked into this same messed up situation with this eldritch entity. N is already being told that he should mercy kill Uzi, the same fate Khan has told Uzi is what he had to do to her mom. Going full circle, Uzi learning what happened to her mom and deciding that it's probably the same decision she should make to protect everyone she cares about... ohhhh boy that would HURT.

Unfortunately (fortunately?) for Uzi, she can't use acid on herself because the very dude fated to kill her, her best friend, her crush, all that - is one of the few characters who can prevent that from happening.

Which means they would have to talk about this again if that happened lol ;-;

[muse-matrix]

So... It's been a while since I last logged in here. Longer still since I properly did... much of anything here, outside of a few scattered posts. Part of me had been kinda dreading coming back here but looking at when my activity really dramatically dropped off, I think I understand what happened.

So, way back in february of last year, I was bouncing between a lot of things. I was running around doing a bunch of stuff to try and secure a new job, and I did manage that- A big component of my not being here was just me adjusting to having to work again, after being unemployed for almost an entire year. It was tough to get the right structure going, but I managed it. And despite starting college just a couple weeks ago, I've mostly managed that too so far, I think.

But that isn't... the main reason why. Probably. I think.

You see, what else happened in february, was that I got booted from a community I'd been a part of for years. It encompassed my involvement in a card game I loved, as well as the FF14 free company I'd been part of at the time. Someone who was, at one time, a good friend of mine misinterpreted something, and was so incensed by it, they took some things I said out of context and absolutely slandered me to the mod team of that community. (Yes, it actually is as bad as it sounds. I checked.) As a result, I was privately labeled some pretty nasty things, and shunted from their discord server without so much as a word. None of them would speak to me, none of them would even give me a chance to tell my side of things.

Obviously, that stung. A lot.

It had me pretty dejected about a lot of stuff, for a really long time. Probably why I mostly got off of here- I retreated to a different blog where there was less pressure (self-imposed) and more freedom for me to just, kinda, do whatever I wanted without fear or worry. I needed space and freedom to move myself around how I wanted for a while. And then that led to me feeling bad about not coming back here, which made me put off coming back here even longer... You see where this goes.

But at this point, it's been a year and a half. I'm pretty much over that fiasco, I haven't spoken to any of those people since, and they've evidently been content to leave it alone too, given I haven't had any mobs of angry pitchfork-wielding card game players coming after me.

And recently, Kako came back! She's RPing again and that's fun to see. I know a lot of you I've still been in contact with regardless, her included, so most of you probably are already aware of a lot of this stuff, but writing all this out is part of my process, so bear with it. The important thing is, after a lot of time and thinking about things, and seeing friends return to RPing and watching things happen from afar... God, do I want to get back into it with you all.

I very likely still won't be super active, but I'm going to at least try to be consistent. This is supposed to be my main, after all. I'll probably take the next week or so to clean up the muse list, cut a bunch of stuff, get a bit more focused and the like. Not that I'll actually stop playing any given muse- I'm wont to flip-flop between characters I enjoy, and I'm loathe to let fun interactions pass me by just because a character 'isn't on my muse list', but I ought to give myself a bit of structure, at least.

So... I'll try to be here every day, at least. Even if it's just to check in. This'll be a fresh start for me, I'd say, not that any of my old lore or whatever is getting abandoned. It's just... It's been a long time. It'll take some easing back into things for me, so I'm not even going to worry about whatever asks have been left to rot in my inbox, stuff like that.

Given it's been such a long time, some of you may... have blogs that I'm not currently following, cause I've missed them or what have you. So uh, if that's the case, please shoot me a message so I can correct that.

[brekwrites]

Hi I'm curious, what are your thoughts and opinions on Solar x Eclipse???

Hi! Sorry for the delay here, I was moving and also wanted to give this some thought. Here’s a ramble for you:

Okay, so, my first thought is that at first they’d hate each other. They already do in canon! Most Eclipses seem to have a lot of hatred for themselves, and I think that translates to hatred for other Eclipses as well. It’d be like hating yourself and being forced to watch and interact with a video of yourself lmao. Yuck.

Additionally, we’ve seen that they all look down on each other and are very territorial. Solar and Eclipse also do this, they just have different ideas of what success is, and therefore different standards. Which leads me to my next point: Solar has accomplished everything Eclipse has ever wanted.

Solar wasn’t suppressed and villainized to the same extent as Eclipse. His Sun and Moon were willing to work with him (regardless of how reluctant his Moon may or may not have been to do so) and help him get his own body. This was Eclipse’s main goal in the beginning, but he was trapped by Moon, suppressed and feared by Sun, and they ended up in a battle for Eclipse to have his own body until he was forcefully expelled. Eclipse also used parts of himself to create Bloodmoon and Lunar, which likely didn’t help him in the long run (especially Lunar, who I think he gave a lot of his more positive thoughts and feelings). So, Solar is more “Eclipse” than Eclipse himself is, because he didn’t have to fracture himself to make new AIs. And even though things eventually went to shit in his original dimension, he was still more accepted than Eclipse was in the beginning.

Once Eclipse realized his situation, he wanted revenge. He began to plot to destroy Sun and Moon, to make them pay for what they’d done. Though it wasn’t intentional, Solar accomplished this goal as well. His separation resulted in the death of his Sun, and his Moon suffered greatly in the aftermath. He then killed his Moon directly. For Solar, these two things are shameful mistakes, but for Eclipse? Solar accomplished the thing he set out to do, seemingly effortlessly, and he doesn’t even care. How infuriating!

And finally, though this is a bit more speculative, there’s a good chance that deep down, Eclipse craved acceptance, inclusion, and a feeling of safety. He created Lunar to be his brother as well as his sidekick, took his subsequent betrayal incredibly badly, and used the star to make himself universally loved and Sun and Moon hated. His goal of destroying Sun and Moon was meant to hide this, to prove to himself he didn’t need them when they abandoned and excluded him. Solar was not only accepted by his Sun and Moon initially—he left his home dimension, found a NEW Sun and Moon (someone ELSE’S, actually), and managed to be accepted into their family. He did what Eclipse couldn’t, and I think that would drive Eclipse absolutely insane. He can rant and rave about Solar being the inferior version all he wants, but he knows deep down what the truth is.

From Solar’s perspective, Eclipse is the reason he has a bad reputation and why his kind are universally hated. Solar spent his entire existence fighting to build a life for himself and distance himself from the actions of other Eclipses. To have Eclipse show up AGAIN, and to learn that this version is a copy of him, and wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t come to this dimension? He’d feel so guilty, and it’d make him really defensive.

So I think they’d fight. Like. Hardcore. Eclipse would be like, “This isn’t your home. You’re inferior. Go back to your dimension and deal with the cards you were dealt. Etc.” and Solar would counter with, “You’re the inferior copy here. I was here first, actually. You squandered your chances to be a part of this family and it’s mine now.” And since they know each other so well, they’d be able to hit each other where it really, really hurts. And they’d be able to recognize when something landed, despite the typical unbothered Eclipse facade.

That’s how I think they’d connect, at first. One of them says something that hits a little too close to home. Maybe Solar says something that’s true for both of them, motivated by his own shame, and Eclipse really feels it, and has to take a step back and retreat. Maybe says something about he didn’t ask to be remade. He didn’t want to be remade. And Solar recognizes how hard it hit, and despite himself, despite how much of an asshole Eclipse is, he feels guilty. This isn’t his dimension, he doesn’t belong, maybe he doesn’t deserve this. This isn’t the same Eclipse, despite everything. Solar is happy here, feels safe, and he was so afraid of that being taken away that he failed to recognize that Eclipse doesn’t have any of that. He knows, deep down, how lonely and miserable Eclipse must be, because that’s how he felt. They’re not exactly the same, sure, but… he understands. He understands more than anyone else can.

So he eases up a bit. Gives Eclipse a break and goes for poking fun more than tearing him down. Maybe he starts getting between Moon and Eclipse when they fight, both to protect Moon from Eclipse and Eclipse from Moon. Maybe he goes to find Eclipse one day because he has a project he’s working on that he wants a hand with, and only a partner of equal intellect will do. Maybe he lets Eclipse watch him interact with his family, sharp eyes taking in every detail, and subtly pushes him toward Earth. Maybe he gives him some tough love, tells him when he’s being an ass, but sympathizes with him because that’s what he needs to grow. Maybe he finally manages to get the message across—you were dealt shitty cards, your situation wasn’t your fault, but you are still responsible for your actions and their consequences. You aren’t the original, though, and you can distance yourself from that. You are not doomed to be hated—look, I can get along with Sun, Moon, Earth, Lunar… you could, too, but it’s going to take work. That kind of thing.

They get closer over time. Eclipse is forced to concede that he kind of admires Solar, and Solar begrudgingly admits to himself that he enjoys the time they spend together. It’s nice to have someone else around who gets you. There’s this unspoken part of their relationship, raw and tender, that they dance around and don’t talk about. Instead, they build together, bitch at each other, and sometimes they just sit in silent understanding.

And then Solar dies.

Everyone is devastated. Eclipse, though… he feels lost. Solar was guiding him. And everyone else seems to think he’s not entitled to his grief, so he hides it. Everyone except Earth.

They get closer during this time, just like in canon, but it’s mutual grief and loss that brings them together. Eclipse starts looking into bringing Solar back, is more motivated to do so. He realizes how much Solar meant to him, and what an integral part of his life he’d become. From there it could go several different ways.

Maybe he’s more motivated to bring Solar back, and ends up working with Moon or going to ask him for help, and Moon is getting progressively worse, but isn’t quite so far into his spiral when Solar comes back. Having Eclipse to lean on essentially slows his deterioration.

Or maybe everything goes like it has in canon and Solar wakes up looking for Moon AND Eclipse, and both are gone. Nexus drove himself mad trying to bring him back, and Eclipse sacrificed his place in this universe to save him, and now Solar has to save them both—his best friend/brother and his… uh… Eclipse. Once Eclipse switches his dimensional signature and can come back to the home dimension for visits, he and Solar are reunited. If that’s enough of a slow burn for you, they kiss right there, with the portal in the background. If not, or if you prefer them as friends, they have an emotional reunion (by Eclipse standards), recognize how much they mean to each other, and grow closer as they make up for lost time until they either get together or they’re cemented as long-time friends. Either way, they understand each other deeply, and are bonded together.

That’s… my thoughts I think. I guess if you want you could also have them hatefully kiss because they just CAN’t STAND EACH ORHER ANYMORE RAAAAH. That would also be fun. Thx for the ask lol.

[galaxyostars]

The de Rolo kids are public schooled.

Preface

So I've been thinking. I don't believe Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third would (at least immediately) allow someone other than him, Vex, and perhaps the rest of Vox Machina, to privately tutor his kids. I'm using a combination of CR and TLOVM here, as the main campaign playthrough doesn't really linger much on Percy's relationship with Anders as the animation does, but the overall gist is that Anders betrayed the de Rolo family in favour of working for the Briarwoods (and in CR's case, Vecna).

You're the face I saw when murder entered my heart.

^ Percy, to his teacher, Professor Anders.

Home-tutoring

Is it impossible for Percy and Vex to teach their kids? Absolutely not. Is it impossible for them to teach their five kids, whilst also maintaining their own hobbies (and lives)? Eh... it's doable, but doing a Master's degree in Education myself, I cannot imagine the level of Percy's intended teaching and their kids' learning after Gwendolyn was born being left to just Percy and Vex as being remotely comfortable for them.

But then you have to consider what type of learning these kids are maintaining. I think Percy was initially within a factory model of education (based on what we saw in TLOVM) but broke out of it when he was on his own and started tinkering. I'm not well-versed with Vex's formal education -- I imagine she has one outside of her learned practical skills given she was in Syngorn for an amount of time with Syldor, but I imagine her idea of education is probably a little more "free" than Percy's. I like to think they had a conversation about what their kids' education would look like. Vex is not like Caleb and Beau in the Mighty Nein who constantly go to the library for additional information about anything and everything they don't know, but is instead already knowledgable, can deduce using logical reasoning, or goes and asks someone else (not to say Caleb and Beau can't do this either, but regardless). I think that indicates she's probably a little more world-wise than she is interested in classroom etiquette.

(Note: Taliesen Jaffe has joked that Percy probably took hits of pot now and then, delivered by Keyleth/Vax!Crow, to get through the day with his children around ("Do you see how many kids that is? Oh my god."))

I should also point out the interaction with Gwendolyn indicates she's at least accustomed to Percy's office/library where there are rules in place and it sounds like he might've said "Leave the book" because his kids have been taking them and not putting them back (which probably mortified him upon first incident).

Public Education

There is, however, an alternative I do like very much: this generation of de Rolo kids may actually be "public-schooled" (or at least, the Whitestone version of that).

Again, speaking as an Aussie pre-service teacher, it's a lot harder to be a good teacher while also planning to overthrow your government/be a cult leader at the same time when you've got a class of 20+ kids to look after and educate. Doable, but rather unlikely. Vex might've actually thought it safer and more to Percy's liking to put their kids' education into the system they have a direct gubernatorial say over, rather than allowing an educator direct access to his home, his family.

This would not only benefit the de Rolos, but also other lower/middle-class families in Whitestone, as there's no doubt they'd pump that education system with as much coin as would benefit their kids' learning.

Additionally, mentioning the pot joke again, it gets said five kids out of the home giving these parents some peace and quiet.

Obviously there'd be nobility etiquette teaching they'd have to undergo, but it's probably much, much easier to do that in-house than it is the entirety of their education.

I put it to you, fellow Critters: At what point, if any, would Percy relinquish the education of his kids to someone outside of Vox Machina? And, would that be in a regular school classroom with other kids?

[gotham-daydreams]

Chapter 3 'Sneak Peak'/Teaser 2

This is more of a teaser above all else, and the only real 'sneak peak' part of it is just a small scene that happens in the chapter, but from a different POV. Regardless, I hop you enjoy this little look, and just like the last teaser- this is all a glimpse that won't really be shown in the final chapter when I post both parts. Though more emphasis on the "you won't really see this outside of this teaser" part.

Nevertheless, enjoy :]

-----

The moment you went into the diner, he took a moment longer to watch you walk inside before quickly realizing his phone was blowing up. So, reluctantly, he turned his intercom back on, and was swiftly met with a tidal wave of voices - most of which were shouting at him. Even if he couldn't blame them too much, that didn't make the experience any less annoying or loud. So, so loud.

He tried to explain himself and calm them down like he usually did, and it did kind of work - even if a few jabs and venomous words were thrown his way in the process. Again, he couldn't really blame them, but that didn't make things better. Not really, anyway. Their words hurt, sure, but hey, on the bright side - he was still with you. No matter what they said could change that, with a little bonus being that, deep down, you were the reason why all of them kept away too, and haven't interrupted your little get-together — since there was an untold but very present fear that he himself still felt when it came to you, and that being the possibility that you hated them. That anything they did now, would only worsen whatever image you already have of them, and if it was bad already - well, they’d have to work extra hard to repair things, wouldn't they?

It's not the potential work ahead that frightened them per say – more so the thought that they had pushed you so far away that you couldn't help but despise them. That you'd refuse to come back home and have them back into your life – refuse their effort and how they were now trying, even if it may have been a month or so too late – that you'd put an end to whatever they were hoping to have now, and refuse them at every turn simply out of spite and anger. Even if it made sense, and you have all the right to be mad, the thought and possibility didn't hurt any less. They didn't want you to hate them – no matter how reasonable that reaction would be – and most of all, they don't want to know that they've hurt you to such a point. He didn't, anyway, but he didn't want a lot of things when it came to you.

It's not that he didn't want to hear you out or be made aware of his faults - for crying out loud, he basically missed out on your entire life! Of course he's bound to have hurt you, and you're bound to be mad about it, he knew that even if he still didn't like the idea. If anything, a part of him did want to know so he knew where he had to really shine. So he knew what he really needed to get done and work on when it came to you, but that wasn't the point.

He never wanted to hurt you, never. None of them really did, but he especially – in his mind – didn't mean to. So, in a way, he was almost afraid to have to face that outcome.

It wasn't the anger he was afraid of, but the pain coupled with it, since he didn't know how bad it was - none of them did. Each of them only saw pieces, some more than others, and even if he stood here knowing that, he dreaded seeing the full weight of it.

There was more, he could feel it, and he hated that more than anything. He hated not knowing, but also feared what he'd find – even if there wasn’t much he could do about that. Despite himself and the feelings he and the rest of the family seemed to share, he knew that whatever they got – they deserved it. He already knew that this wouldn't exactly go smoothly, and despite it only being a few minutes – he could already feel it. The rockiness, the edge that seemed to hang in the air whenever you spoke, the unease you felt, and the nervousness coming from you was beyond evident.

Even if there was clearly a long way to go, he still couldn't help but… hope. Sure, it was wishful thinking, and honestly not very realistic, but he couldn't help himself. As much as it hurt looking at you, it made him soft, and untangled the most messy parts of himself. He couldn't explain why even if he tried, especially because he was only beginning to feel this now, but all he knew was that it felt… good, and made him regret not trying harder sooner.

He had a lot of regrets since he saw those things in your room and learned what he did, but as time passed and the night continued on, he found those regrets growing and becoming bigger. Though this wasn’t about him – of course it wasn’t, why would it be? – it was about you, they all knew that despite themselves, and all they wanted to do to make up for lost time.

Speaking of, the shouts never truly stopped. Sure, some died down and tried to get some information out of him, and even if he did say a few things here and there to give the impression that he was paying attention, most of what he learned he sort of… kept to himself. He just couldn’t help it. There was something so… special, so good that came with knowing more about you than the others. That came with being able to pick up on these little, small things about yourself that the others didn’t have the luxury of knowing just yet.

Maybe they’d learn eventually if things go smoothly, he knew that much, but at the moment he was more than willing to take in this rare moment and opportunity. The fleetingness of it only making it more enticing, and worthy of taking.

Yet, when one of them mentions you again, and asks how you’re doing – he can’t help but look back at you through the glass of the diner, but what he sees isn’t what he expects and he pauses.

You both hold your stares for a moment, and he ends up being the first to break it as he looks away, unable to take the sight any longer. He didn’t like that look in your eyes, the look you gave him – the look of untold worries and concerns that he knew dealt with him or were about him in some way. Granted, he couldn’t read your mind, but for a moment he wished he could. For that moment, he wishes he could take even the smallest peak into your thoughts just so that he knew what made you give him such a look. So that he knew what he could do to take away that conflict in your eyes and ease whatever worries you had – so that he could try to make things better.

He doesn’t know what he did wrong, but suddenly, just from that alone, he finds himself growing antsy. Even as he talks to the others over the comm link, he finds himself becoming subconscious of everything he’s done up until this point, trying to figure out what he did to make you wear such an expression. Even if it was just a little thing, he can’t help but worry over it, especially considering what he’s here to do. The voices of the family fall into the background with automatic, lame responses leaving him as he falls deeper and deeper into his own thoughts. He’s usually so confident and sure, but with you he’s a mess and is suddenly worrying over all of the little things he didn’t think of before. Did he act too soon? Should he have tried to be more patient? Sure he was worried at the time, but if this was the consequence of those actions then they weren’t worth it at all. God, he knew he should’ve been more-

Then, suddenly, you step out of the diner, and all is right with the world. His head empties, and without even thinking about it, he turns his comm link off once again.

It’s just as he thought earlier. You made him soft, and undid even the worst parts of himself.

With you, it’s like nothing else mattered, and that the past was far behind him.

Yet, he failed to realize that it was only that. A feeling and nothing more.

[lestappenforever]

Heyyy!! I just wanted to drop some thoughts on Charles Ferrari contract because it seems very fishy atm.

This entire assumption of a 50 mil extension till 2029 is going off of one (1) rumour spread by one (1) Italian source so already there should be some alarm bells. Plus, it is highly unlikely that Charles would sign it since even the rumours are saying that there is an agreement but nothing is on paper. And there may well be an agreement like this but it is highly likely that Charles will sit on it as long as possible and most likely until mid season which gives Ferrari enough time to demonstrate improvement. We know that especially in the latter parts of the season Charles has been increasingly disillusioned with Ferrari that stems from a combination of things that Ferrari and Fred are trying to publicly alter so it would suite Charles and his needs but as another anon here pointed out, Ferrari is Ferrari and the core issues don’t just lie with a shitty car this season but are actually embedded in the structure of the team and Ferrari as an organisation.

That being said, there is regardless no way that Charles would sign anything now because it makes very little sense; he has already been able to get lot just by putting pressure on Ferrari and casting doubt over his position with them post-2024, including getting a car developed around him and questioning if Carlos should continue with Ferrari as a second driver. It’s also been mentioned multiple times that he has said that his possible extension will depend on the car next year and it’s development and it is way too early to tell anything meaningful. Also this is basically the same rumour that circulated post-Monza and nothing came from it so it may be that an agreement doesn’t even exist although I am more inclined to think that there is an agreement but Charles won’t sign anything until much later on once he his confidence in Ferrari and being able to win a WDC with them is restored.

This second theory would explain why people related to Ferrari and Ferrari officials have Ben taking part in excessive public pandering for the past couple of weeks. There is much being said about how amazing Charles is and comparing him to Michael etcetc but that just seems like publicly trying to convince him and as they have done before, create public pressure and expectation for him to sign the extension. It may be that, just as the rumours post-Brazil, that these rumours were also intentionally spread for this same reason.

On thé other side is rbr and I really don’t think that all of the things that we have picked up on are suddenly void just because of these rumours. It is almost a certainty that charles and rbr went back into negotiating or at least having informal talks (hence the shift of the teams attitude towards Charles) about a possible future with rbr. For rbr, they don’t lose anything by trying to sign Charles. If they get him that’s great if they don’t then that’s fine because they have a considerably large talent pool to pick and choose from so they only have to gain in pursuing Charles. Obviously there may well be worries about dealing with two number one drivers but I think after Charles show in Singapore and Abu Dhabi they would be certain that he would be able to make sacrifices for the team, it would be a case of getting max on the same agenda but since we haven’t seen max be put into a similar position in a long time because of rbrs dominance, we can’t really say how he would act. Two number one drivers is a risk but as we have said before if any team potentially would and could do it, it would be rbr.

I am willing to bet that the moment pre-season testing starts, rbr will start to court Charles again and farming lestappen content because once more, they have nothing to lose, if nothing comes of it then they will still have massive engagement because as we are increasingly seeing: lestappen sells. Also, we should wait for the FIA prize giving ceremony on Friday because we are bound to get some interesting content. The devil works fast but Christian Horner works faster so let’s see.

Anon, I love you. I'm not even going to add anything to this because I agree with every single thing you've said, and there's nothing you haven't covered in this ask.

I just want to point out this particular part, because it is absolutely true:

The devil works fast but Christian Horner works faster so let’s see.

Only time will tell how this saga will actually end, and I'm personally very excited to see where it goes.

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful thoughts! ❤️

[wings-of-ink]

Hi again! Now I'm done with replaying old content and with reading the new chapter!

And damn, I loved it so much!

I have to say, Duri is probably my biggest surprise here. With the character intros, I expected them to be my least favorite RO, but somehow, they "feel" quite different from what I imagined, and I ended up really adoring them! If I wasn't so in love with Oswin, I would certainly have picked them!

Also, "You just bonked a demigod on the nose and lived to tell the tale." has to be one of my favorite lines in an IF ever!

But you know what has me frustrated (not saying that in a bad way)? The fact because of everything that happened, Oswin STILL didn't tell MC what he wanted to tell them nor did he give them that famous gift! I neeeed to know so badly!

On that matter, I've been thinking a lot about what could have caused Oswin to distance himself from the MC the way he did, and so far, I have two main theories - though both may be wrong. I will share but obviously I'm not expecting you to comment on them as that would be spoilery! - First one would be that after the MC started being sick, he felt more and more helpless about that, and his frustration about not being able to help MC ended up translating as him being frustrated WITH MC. As a kid it's possible he didn't think as much on this, but the more he grew up, the more not being able to do anything could have bothered him. And then acting badly with MC could have led him to feel guilty and keep his distances even more. The thing that makes me hesitant about this one though is the fact Lakota already feels that sort of frustration too, and as a healer it makes more sense for him, so I don't know if it would be the same for Oswin. - Second one would be that as he grew up, Oswin started having romantic feelings for the MC, but since he was older than MC - even if both were teens - he felt bad about it, or simply didn't consider the MC could ever reciprocate because of the age gap, which while very small once a person is an adult is way "bigger" for teenagers. In that case, him being frustrated and angry and lashing out may have been a result of him setting himself up for rejection or considering a relationship - even in the future - would be impossible, and thus sort of putting a wall to prevent further damage, even if said wall CAUSED the damage. Though that would highly depend on Oswin canonically having feelings for MC regardless of player's choices when it comes to MC's feelings, and for the time being I really can't tell if that's the case.

Anyway, I'll stop here with the theories cause it's starting to be quite long! But I just need to ask... will we be able to cuddle with Duri again - no matter the form - even if not romancing them? My MC seems compelled to just hug people and animals!

Yay! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

I was hoping Duri would gain a few more fans with their reveal and it seems that is happening. All the characters are layered, but Duri has some special flavors to discover. They're better experienced in story I think too; they shine a little more true.

And I am so glad you caught that bit with Oswin, my dear! You're the first so far to mention it. Your MC will get the chance to bring that up, don't you worry. He's such a tease sometimes without meaning to be, lol.

I like your take on Oswin, and all I will say (but I won't point to specifics) is that you are on one or more correct paths. Chapter 5 should yield a conversation that will help paint the picture as well. Also thinking I should do some POVs sometime soon, and Oswin has several moments that are well-suited to this.

Duri will be available for cuddles, even the platonic ones in the coming chapters. They're pretty affectionate, especially towards friends.

Thank you for the message my dear, I really enjoyed and appreciated it! ^_^