#to the point that there are like. no characters worthy of adding to new life

[daggerfall]

Man have we really not been given a new New Life ghost since Deadlands...? (Vague spoilers for all dlc after Deadlands)

No one important died in High Isle, and if they tried to make the vaguely racist Mornard dad into some tragic loss during Old Life Observance I would have laughed. They certainly wouldn't have made Shelreni a ghost for that, she's just a villain no sympathy. And it's too early to get a Gold Road ghost - they always wait at least a year before adding them (not that there were any deaths Again).

But imagine how funny it would have been to have gotten like. Meln this year. He just pops out the soul gem like hey. I'm still here. I guess. Happy New Life.

[memory-of-idle-musings]

Hi! May I request headcanons of: Since recently has been valentione's day event in ffxiv, how would G'raha tia, Erenville, Koana, Hades, Hythdolaues and Hermes react reader doing that "bouquet" emote where they kneel and offer bouquet of roses to them? (sorry if too many characters, wasn't sure what the limit was).

Wish granted!

Hello and thank you for being my first request here!!! The moment they added the bouquet emote to the game, my first thought was to immediately go play with it in gpose and give it to all the characters xD. So I feel you completely and I really enjoyed writing this. Anyway, here are some late Valentione's day headcanons. Hope you enjoy it!

⋆.˚┆Giving them a bouquet of roses reactions .

╰─..★.──────★.

﹒✶ | Summary:

How the characters would react to you kneeling down in front of them and giving them a bouquet of roses.

﹒✶ | Characters:

G'raha Tia, Erenville, Hades, Hythlodaeus

﹒✶ | Tags:

fluff, romance, slightly off-canon, gn!reader, pre-established romantic relationships, headcanons

﹒✶ | Trigger warnings:

None really! It's all mostly fluff and sweetness, with some mentions of insecurity and dismissal.

↪ ❥ G'raha tia:

I think that there's hardly any doubt that G'raha tia is not a sweet boy, a sweet friend and a sweet lover.

He cares very deeply for those closest to him, always trying his hardest to stay attuned to all of their wants, emotions and needs. Ready to lend a hand, to comfort and cover your back anytime the need may arise.

He's not perfect, of course, not that any of us are. But G'raha always makes sure to put a little extra care and affection into everything he does for you regardless. And contrary to most others, he does so without having any expectations, or asking for anything back in return.

So you can imagine his surprise when, one day, he sees you get down on one knee before him, and pull out a large, beautiful bouquet of blood-red roses.

The instant he realizes what is happening, his ears perk up, hands coming up to cover his mouth as a gasp escapes his open lips. The blush that appears on his face colors his cheeks almost as red as the bouquet of roses that he can't tear his gaze away from.

It would be an understatement to say that the poor boy had just exploded out of happiness.

The next breath he takes is quick, followed by a nervous laugh. And you had better make sure that he keeps on breathing deeply, otherwise you might have a passed-out catboy in your hands.

"M-my dear, what is the occasion that would make you give me this? O-oh? You just wanted to surprise me? I-"

His ears begin to wiggle as he sheepishly rubs his hands together in that typical G'raha manner that you have come to love.

Flowers? For him? Just out of sheer love and appreciation and gratitude? He struggles to comprehend why exactly he is worthy of such an adoring gesture from you, but that does not make him appreciate it any less.

Again, while he showers you with his undying love and affection regularly, he never asks for anything in return. And although he's glad that you would do the same for him, every gesture that you make to show him how much you care about him only makes him love and adore you more. If it's even possible at this point...

It takes a few minutes before his excitement levels calm down enough for him to be able to speak again. But once he does, he accepts the bouquet with repeated words of gratitude, wrapping his arms around you in a hug with a soft smile on his face.

He assures you that although he appreciates the kind gesture (and shall treasure it like his very life depends on it), you do not need to spoil, or go out of your way for him like this.

However, the soft smile on his face, the happy glimmer in his eyes and the remaining touch of pink color on his cheeks tells you that it was very much worth it.

↪ ❥ Erenville:

Your favorite gleaner was just getting done with his regular duties around Labyrinthos, unbothered by anything not related to documenting the new species that had been recently discovered and brought to Labyrinthos for further research and observation just today.

It was then that he noticed your familiar figure, leaning against a nearby pillar in the background, observing his movements like a silent guardian. He's not exactly surprised to see you appear here, as used as he is to you paying him these random visits. But he always feels glad when you do.

He begins walking toward you, eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly when he notices you fiddling with something in your hands right behind your back. And he knows that whatever it is that you are hiding, mischief awaits.

"Y/n? Tis' good to see you here. What do you-"

He doesn't get to mutter another word before you get down on your knees, wiping out a bouquet of roses from behind you.

He stops dead in his tracks, surprise flashing across his features as his eyes fall on the bouquet. He remains stunned for a moment, gaze slowly straying toward your face as he signs, coming to understand what you were plotting earlier.

"Are these... For me?" he asks, his voice revealing some hints of disbelief, still unsure whether he truly understands what is happening correctly. He extends his hands, as if to reach for the flowers, but he doesn't actually take them until you nod, reassuring him that they indeed, are a gift for him.

Erenville may not look the part, but he is not exactly unused to receiving gifts, having been given many trinkets and obscure, albeit useful gadgets (and quite spoiled by his mother as a child) by his friends and acquaintances.

From you, however? This kind, lovely gesture takes on a whole new meaning.

He carefully takes the bouquet in his hands, observing the roses with a keen eye, as if searching for something in their midst. A mix of surprise and confusion still apparent on his face.

"These are Azeyma roses..." He remarks, eyes widening in what could only be described as unexpected wonder. "They are said to be the favorite flowers of the goddess, Azeyma. And they are only grown under very specific conditions, although they are often kept in residential districts for decoration."

He looks to you, eyes meeting as you approach him. "Quite an expensive matter to get your hands on. Are you certain these are for me?"

After you reassure him once more, his uncertain expression slowly relaxes, a smile appearing on his lips as it does.

It is not that he doesn't appreciate the gesture, quite the opposite, in fact—it makes his heart soar more than he thought possible, reluctant though he is to show it.

You feel a gentle touch of a hand on your arm, barely present, but impossible to ignore. When he leans in to press a long, warm kiss on your cheek.

"Thank you."

↪ ❥ Hades:

Ever an unapproachable loner, Emet-Selch, in those days still known as Hades, was a man that would not often place much importance on such surface-level gestures and acts of appreciation as gifting flowers was.

No, to him, such sentiments would take a better form in more intricate, more meaningful acts of service. More consistent showings of care and appreciation—and, true to his nature, more subtle, yet no less intense confessions of love.

It is not that he necessarily looked down on what could be considered more common, traditional expressions of affection. But it would be a lie to claim that his pride did not stand in the way of him being more open towards them. Distasteful and sappy, as he found them to be.

And I'm pretty sure that unexpected surprises were even more scorned by him than all the things I previously mentioned.

Still, you did not allow any of it to dissuade you, as you found yourself kneeling down in front of him, a bouquet of what could only be gorgeous roses held in your hands.

He managed to register what you were trying to do rather quickly, and although his face remained mostly motionless, it was hard—even for him—to mask the slight hint of surprise and confusion that had momentarily crossed his features.

His gaze kept jumping between you and the bouquet of roses in your hands. After a few quiet moments passed, he raised his brow and crossed his arms, all with an expression on his face that told you nothing of what he felt about any of this.

Then out of nowhere, there came a deep sigh and his hand came up to meet his forehead as he shook his head.

"Ah yes, a bouquet of roses... How utterly romantical," he says, his tone stern, yet not in any way condescending. "An expression of the love one holds in their heart for another in the form of a gift, plain, direct and mostly effortless, yet transient in nature. I had thought you above them..."

No matter your next reaction to his words, he uncrosses his arms and the corners of his mouth curl up into a slight, barely visible smile. "Then again, perhaps I should have foreseen this. How very like you, something so sentimental."

He doesn't show you, but—in his own way—he does appreciate the roses. But your actions leave him with questions he had not foreseen coming up until this point.

Why did you find it necessary to give him this? Did you think he did not know the extent of your feelings for him? That you were somehow lacking in showing him how much he truly mattered to you?

Would you wish he would do the same for you?

I like to think that Hades was often a difficult man to read, and an even more difficult man to please. But he also genuinely and deeply cared about those close to him and wouldn't allow them to be hurt by his words or, in this case, preferences, without a very good reason.

He takes the bouquet from you, only giving you a nod as a sign of his gratitude as you rise up to stand in front of him.

After a brief moment, his eyes search for yours, and when they finally meet, you notice within them a softness that was never there before.

The way he gazes into your eyes so deeply, the features on his face yielding entirely to the warmth in his heart, much more apparent than even you get to usually see.

He gazes at you with love.

"You do know that I adore you, do you not?"

↪ ❥ Hythlodaeus

While he can often seem rather casual and easy-going, I believe that Hythlodaeus is a rather troubled soul. He might not say it outright, but if you pay enough attention, you'll often find or see glimpses of this facade of his slipping.

Mentions of feelings of uselessness, being inadequate and not feeling confident enough in his abilities are all something that you know he feels deep down, no matter how well he manages to hide it most of the time.

Comfort him about them as you may, you will never manage to snuff out the whispers of doubt in his mind entirely. But you sure can dissuade them from plaguing him more than is already necessary, and showing him just how much you love him and how much joy his existence brings you is a great way to do just that!

So this smug, lovable and humble sweetheart appreciates any gestures or affections that you show him with the upmost gratefulness!

And the day you get down on one knee in front of him with a bouquet of roses in your hands is the day you sniff out many of these doubts.

Like the other three, his initial reaction is surprise; widened eyes, raised brows, silence interrupted only by a single gasp and an unstable posture as he leans forward and down to look at the roses more closely.

"Y/n? Are these for me? Aww, my sweet love, you did not have to..."

A smile spreads across his face of the kind which you don't see as often. An honest smile, of genuine love and admiration.

After mumbling a thank you, he took the bouquet from you with a smile, and you could swear you saw his cheeks flush, a faint, barely visible color, which he would never show you in fear of being poked fun at.

He does feel the urge to tease you, however. But he is simply much too touched by your actions to act on it.

"My, these are quite the specimens. You really went out of your way for me, did you not?" He chuckles, teasing you slightly. "But truly, thank you. The roses are a beautiful sight, yet they only pale in comparison to you."

He truly is grateful, truly humbled by your kindness and the fondness which you show him. He would do anything if it meant he gets to receive more of such affections from you, that he gets to stay by your side for now, and for forever.

And he shall treasure these flowers exactly how much he treasures you as well.

He leans in, planting a quick, yet passionate kiss to your lips. His hand comes up to gently cup your cheek, and when your lips part, the expression he gives you makes you feel like you just fell in love with him all over again.

[mysewingadventures]

Making the ✨Lioncourt Gown✨ (Part 1/4)

Shoot, it's been like two years since I last posted, apologies! I’ve been incredibly busy with uni and life in general, taking care of my mental health, it’s just been a very stressful time lately. I haven't really worked on anything worthy of posting in the meantime, only minor things and one dress I rushed and it didn't turn out well anyway. But, since Halloween is coming up and I don’t feel like wearing the same thing for the third time in a row, I thought it was the perfect excuse to try and make something new and the other day at 2am I fell down a rabbit hole and came up with an idea I’m completely obsessed with.

So recently, (in case you couldn't tell by the title haha) I’ve been really into Interview with the Vampire (the TV show), and there’s this one costume that’s so iconic it immediately caught my attention: This Lestat outfit.

I feel like since this blog isn't fandom related I need to explain myself to those of you who are just semi-familiar with IWTV. Maybe you know Lestat as essentially the villain of the story and are wondering why on earth I'd want to make an outfit inspired by him. The answer is quite simple and not actually deep at all: I just thought it'd be a fun project. I'm very well aware of his personality and would not want to be in the same room as him in real life haha. But he's such an interesting character to watch on screen (they all are, in my opinion). Anyways-

This outfit is from a scene that takes place in the 1790s and now, I’m unfortunately not too versed in men’s fashion so I can’t quite comment on its historical accuracy (and also it’s worn in the context of a theater performance so it’s bound to be more flashy than what people would have worn on the streets), but the way the lapel is shaped just screams redingote to me, and since I've always wanted to make a redingote I'm going to make a redingote version of the costume!

For reference, here's what a c. 1790 redingote looks like:

This one has a normal button closure but redingotes were also often double-breasted (which is what I'm going for), taking inspiration from men's fashion. These were often worn to ride in - hence the name, redingote - riding coat.

Maybe this is the point where I should mention that I'm not going for perfect historical accuracy for this project. It really is just a fun project to try to approximate something as seen on a show to an actual historical piece of clothing.

Here’s a super quick sketch I drew to check if the colors looked good together, and I have to say, I’m sold 1000%.

I am so excited to wear this when it’s done, but also a bit anxious because for starters, I’ve never made a redingote before, and the dresses that I have made all have issues with the sleeves because apparently, I can’t sew sleeves correctly. So this time, I really want to make sure it all fits properly before I sew it and take my time with it to make sure it ends up being something that I love as much as I love the idea of it.

This time, I tried something a little different with my mockup - usually, I’ll draft a pattern on paper, then cut out my mockup and sew it, but this time I decided to make the mockup by draping the fabric directly on the mannequin that I dressed in my stays and a bumroll, making sure I had the correct measurments, and it was a complete gamechanger. It fit right away with minimal adjustments, and I was also immediately able to check how the fabric falls, if it needed to be on the bias or not, etc. I ended up doing everything on straight grain which is technically not 100% correct as the front piece needs to be on a slight bias but it seems to work for this piece so let’s hope the fabric doesn’t wrinkle! I’ll also be adding boning so I’m hoping that’ll additionally keep it all straight and even in the front.

Once the mockup was completed, I went on the search for the right fabrics and got these (the skirt fabric, the buttons and the tape I ordered online and they've yet to arrive!):

The black base fabric and the blue one are cotton, as will be the skirt. The details are satin! I spent a long time at the fabric store trying to think of the best way to do this and it does look like the details on Lestat's outfit are maybe velvet, but I was afraid it would look a little too costume-y and cheap, so I ended up going with satin in the end.

I pinned the fabric mock-up onto the lining fabric (just a white Ikea bedsheet), added 1,5cm seam allowances where needed cut out the lining first, then placed the lining onto the black base fabric and cut that out as well.

I needed to lay the pieces down this way because I bought 2,5 meters, and I'll need 2m for the outer skirt alone so there's not a lot of space left, as I'll also have to cut out the sleeves from that fabric. I then sewed everything together.

And then I noticed I'd made a mistake - the lining for the front panel was supposed to be blue. Welp, now it's white, and I also realized I didn't have enough blue fabric to do the collar AND the lining, so I went for a fake lining for which I cut out two blue triangles to be slightly bigger than the lapel

and stitched them to the lining layer so the seams wouldn't be visible on the black outer layer. This was the result:

Pretty happy with it! Next up, even though I don't have the beige tape yet, I decided to cut out the color panels in the front and already pin them down. After some trial and error, I decided to go for 15x4,5cm triangles and calculated the size needed for the shorter ones (9x7,5cm), cut them out of the satin (which, let me tell you, was so finicky it ended up being the most difficult part of it all) laid them down and fastened with pins.

This is what I have so far:

Looking at it in the picture, I'm worried that the color panels take up too much space in the front. It looks like that in the original picture, but in my sketch I made everything a little narrower. But I was also scared of pulling on it too much because the panels are just pinned to the fabric. Some parts are sticking out over the black base layer which maybe also makes it look wider than it really is, I'll cut it to shape once I have the tape and have a better visual understanding of what it's going to look like.

Next up will be the collar/yoke and the dreaded sleeves and possibly the boning. I should do the boning before I attach the beige tape. I am realizing as I’m writing this that I should’ve done the boning before pinning down the colored panels as they’re supposed to cover it. Oh well. It’s fine. Either way, I think it already looks super cool and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4|

[becauseimanicequeen]

4 Minutes Theories (Ep. 2)

In this post, I've compiled my theories from my initial reaction to the trailer and the teaser (which were kind of sweeping since the trailer and teaser didn't give me much to get super detailed about), the new ones I wrote down after watching the first episode, and some new wild-ass theories I've written in some scattered posts throughout the previous week. Just like last week, I will go through them one by one.

Let's see how wrong I am this time, and how (un)likely the other theories are. Like last time, I might develop some of my theories and add some new ones as well.

Let's go!

Pre-premiere theory: The moments Great sees ahead of time are moments that might help him redeem himself from a past mistake/transgression. (Unconfirmed)

This one is unconfirmed, but, just like in the first episode, there seems to be a pattern where the moments that are reversed seem to be reversed for Great to do them over, do better, to do "the right thing".

In this week's episode, it happened when Great walked away from the situation where Title wanted to kill Dome. He was immediately brought back, chose to escape from Title, and took Dome to the hospital.

I think Great's out-of-body experience and the "4-minutes phenomenon" (which is what Den calls it in his research) is, in a way, teaching him to be a better person and someone more involved with making choices in his life. So far, he seems to only be existing and whatever is just is (his friendship with Title is one of those parts of his life where he seems to not care).

I mean, not choosing is a choice too. But if this (the moments before the 4-minute rewind) was how his real past played out before his cardiac arrest (I still believe that was Great at the beginning of the first ep), not choosing could potentially have been the reason he ended up in that hospital bed. And now this out-of-body experience is giving him a second chance to do things differently (even though it won't change his present). It's nudging him to make an active choice rather than just run away/go with the flow. It's teaching him a lesson, perhaps.

So, I'm keeping this theory until it's proven wrong (or right).

Revised/developed pre-premiere theory: Korn will do some shady shit to prove to his dad that he can take over the family business. (Unconfirmed)

Last week, I revised this theory a bit (from Korn being the bad guy) after watching the first episode. It seems like he wants to prove himself to his dad. The question is how far he's willing to go to prove himself worthy. That could potentially put him on the bad guy list (which, to be fair, could include every single character because that's how the Sammon/BOC collab seems to roll, and I fucking love that).

I've got a feeling Korn's actions will destroy more than one person he cares about, and that's already begun with Tonkla. Not that Tonkla is destroyed, yet (not because of Korn, anyway). I'm sure he'll forgive Korn as soon as Korn shows up. But, the more pressure Korn puts on himself to prove himself to his dad, and the more pressure is added on him from the shady side of the family business, Tonkla will fall further down on Korn's list of priorities. And Tonkla might not be the only one.

It will definitely be interesting to see how far Korn will go to get what he wants. His situationship/relationship with Fasai might be a stepping-stone to what he wants.

(Btw, their situationship/relationship is definitely not a new thing. Their dynamic seemed established, even to the point where they were communicating without words.)

(Also, I found the dynamic between Korn and Fasai in contrast to the dynamic between Korn and Tonkla to be really interesting. I loved how Korn kneeled before Fasai (and I don't blame him). I might write more about this in a separate post because power dynamics in relationships are very fascinating to me. But, you know, it's the Olympics and my focus is elsewhere these days.)

Anyway, I'm keeping this theory.

Pre-premiere theory: Title is involved with Korn. (Unconfirmed)

Before watching the first episode, I thought Title might've been a brother or that they had a boss/minion relationship. I based this solely on the promotional posters of the characters. These two are the only ones shown to look away from the camera and their backgrounds are pretty similar. But, Title is (most likely) not Korn's brother. There's still a possibility he is (or will be) working for Korn.

After seeing more of Title in this week's episode, however, I'm getting the sense that Title might come from an influential family (considering he mentioned his dad helping Great and how he threatened Dome with his status). It also seemed like he thought himself superior to Great (which could be true, but it could also be arrogance). But, if Title is as superior as he seems to think he is, perhaps he has the upper hand?

I also got the feeling that Great doesn't really care that much about Title or their friendship (he seems to not care about most things at this point, so that might not mean anything). Their dynamic gave me "our families are close and, therefore, we have to be close too" kind of vibes (or they're cousins). Title seemed to have helped Great deal with a fight at a bar once and it seemed like Title thought that was leverage enough to get Great to get rid of Dome together with him. So there is an interesting dynamic going on here.

Either way, since I think that these two families are close, I will keep this theory that Title is involved with Korn somehow (since it doesn't seem that far-fetched), at least for now. I will probably develop this in an episode or two if it doesn't prove to be wrong before that.

Pre-premiere theory: Tonkla has a target on his back. (Unconfirmed)

This theory was based on the background of the poster for Fuaiz/Tonkla, and I still believe it's a possibility.

Considering what's going on between Korn and Tonkla and how fragile their situationship seems at this point, betrayal is on the horizon.

I know Korn was careful not to reveal too much to Tonkla when he was talking about getting a new position in his dad's business (in the first episode), probably to keep the cards close to his chest. But, Tonkla overheard Korn dropping names when he was on the phone with his dad (he mentioned Fasai and her having dinner with an uncle Warit, who might be an important person). So Tonkla has at least some information that might bite Korn in the ass and potentially put a target on Tonkla's back (either by Korn, his family, or by Fasai's family).

Also, I wonder how Korn will react when he finds out Tonkla is getting involved with a man working for the police (because Tonkla will get involved with Win, the trailer said so). That could paint an even bigger target on his back, which is why I'm definitely keeping this theory.

(Btw, I'm pretty sure Win will be in trouble as soon as Korn finds out he and Tonkla are close/getting closer. If Korn's dad has a man on the inside of the police force, which these mafia-like families usually seem to have, then they can easily get info on Win and screw with his life.)

Pre-ep. 2 theory: Tonkla will betray Korn. (Unconfirmed)

This is a feeling I got while watching the first episode last week. That was mostly based on Tonkla seeming to want more from his situationship with Korn at the same time as Korn seemed to be keeping his sugar baby hidden.

This feeling didn't lessen after watching this week's episode either considering Korn hung up on Tonkla twice (while being under pressure, to be fair) and even snapped at Tonkla one of those times. There's definitely a rift widening between them.

Additionally, there's Win, who is working for the police, and just happens to have taken an interest in Tonkla. One slip of the tongue or cry for help from Tonkla, and Korn can be royally screwed.

There's also the possibility that Tonkla will beat up/kill Korn in the future.

At the same time, it seems too obvious that he will kill Korn at this point, so it might be someone totally different.

(Btw, there's also the possibility that it's not even a person he beats the shit out of. I mean, they didn't hint that it was a person. The only hint we got was red liquid. But, I digress...)

I will have to think about this theory a bit more before I decide whom I believe Tonkla is beating the shit out of in that scene.

But, one thing is for sure, I'm definitely keeping this theory.

Pre-premiere theory: Win is battling some contrasting, opposing forces (internal and/or external). (Unconfirmed)

This theory was based on the background of the poster for JJay/Win. I solely based it on the red and green contrasting colors.

Last week, after watching the first episode, I spun off on a train of thought that Win might be working for Korn or Korn's family's business and that the battle he had to fight was his attachment/feelings for Tonkla versus his loyalty to his boss. But that was before he was introduced in the show.

Now we know a little bit about him. At least that he's working for the police. (Though, since I'm always sus about the authorities in these shows, I'm keeping my observing eyes on him, lol.)

Knowing that he works for the police, perhaps the contrasting forces he's battling are his attachment/feelings for Tonkla (which will develop, I'm sure), and his duty to uphold the law.

What if he gets involved with Tonkla, Tonkla murders someone, Win investigates the murder, finds out Tonkla is the murderer, and has trouble deciding between protecting Tonkla or arresting him? That could be interesting.

Pre-premiere theory: Den has a situationship with Korn. (Unconfirmed)

I'm keeping this theory only because I want to see Bas and Job together.

Also, I wouldn't mind if Korn is the slut of the show. So, sleeping around to get whatever this quiet man wants to get to prove himself to his dad (or whatever) is definitely approved by me.

In this household, we respect sluts. Just do it, Korn. You have my support.

Though... Poor Den if this happens. He's probably the sweetest character in the show at this point (after Tyme's grandmother, obviously).

Fuck... Now I suddenly don't want this to happen, lol.

Well, it can happen once, just once. As long as Den promises to keep his glasses on so he sees possible bullshit with a clear vision.

This is such a delulu dream of mine, though. But I'm still keeping it.

Pre-premiere theory: Dome is a mystery person operating under the radar without showing his true alliance until the end. (Scrapped)

Dome, Dome, Dome. He's such an enigma for me at this point.

At first, when I only had the trailer, teaser, and posters to go on, I thought he would be killed (since his poster has a basically empty background). At first, I thought he might be the person Great runs over in the teaser and that he would suffer memory loss, which proved to not be true.

He's still very mysterious, but I think I will scrap this theory...

Because I have another one about Dome that might be more interesting and more detailed than this sweeping one.

I'm going off of what was shown in this week's episode as well as the blank background of Mio/Dome's poster. This theory connects with another one I had while watching this week's episode, so I'll start explaining that one first before I get into who I think Dome is.

We all know that the show is playing with time, in several ways (the 4 minutes, the clocks that show 11:00 and now 11:01, etc.). Time also plays a part in my out-of-body experience theory since Great is "reliving" the past. But I also think there might be a parallel timeline that might show the past as it actually played out when Great didn't have the 4 minutes to make a different choice.

If this is true, then we're basically seeing three "timelines" (for the lack of a better term) in each episode, whereas two of them are parallel to each other (the real past and the out-of-body experience past).

(I will start calling "out-of-body experience" OOBE because I'm too lazy to write the whole thing every single time, lol.)

Since Great can't possibly change the past while he's having an OOBE (his present will still be the same), and since we as viewers probably need to know some of the things that happened in the real past that led up to the present, I feel like it would make sense if we get to see events from both timelines.

I haven't had the time to look into the details of which timeline is which (the Olympics is giving me no breaks, lol) but it might have something to do with the colors and/or the numbers (because something is going on with both of those details). I have to look into this further, though. But, I would guess that most of what we've seen of Tonkla so far is the real past.

If this is the case, I think Dome is Tonkla's brother who was killed. Title killed Dome in the real past, as he nearly did in the OOBE past if Great hadn't stopped him.

What purpose does this have if it turns out to be the case, though? I still think Great's OOBE is about gathering information of some sort. Perhaps he needs info to take down his own family business. Perhaps to find out who shot Tyme. Perhaps to stop a murder from happening in the present. Perhaps all, or none, or something else. But I still think it's about getting information more than just learning to do the right thing (which I wrote about above).

Also, doing things differently when he has his 4-minute visions (like saving Dome) might give him vital information he will need later. Perhaps he'll even get the information from the people he helps (for example Manee, whom he ran over, shared that her son committed suicide because he lost everything and was hounded for debt, which might have a connection to the illegal gambling side of Great's dad's business).

Anyway, I will look into this theory as soon as I can pull myself away from the Olympics to see if this is actually plausible and if/how I can distinguish between the timelines.

Pre-premiere theory: Fasai is the other character with a condition similar to Great’s (alternatively, it's Tyme). (Unconfirmed)

This won't happen. At least not the part about Fasai. The only reason I'm keeping this theory is because I need the show to prove to me that Fasai doesn't have precognitive abilities so I can label this as wrong and move on. That might not even happen until the show ends (if it will even be addressed). So, here we are.

I will highlight the part about Tyme, though, and turn that into a headline of its own in the post after next week's episode. Because there's definitely something going on with Tyme. Maybe it's precognition (but of another kind than Great’s), maybe it's intuition. But it’s clear that this man is drawn to Great. The way his eyes just caught Great when Great was sitting there silently in the hospital.

And whatever this sequence was in the teaser:

There's definitely something going on with Tyme other than him looking into illegal gambling and getting close to Great because of his family (both of which I'll turn into separate theories below), and I'm choosing to believe (at least for now since there's still time for this to change, lol) that he has a precognitive ability of his own (or will develop one).

Revised/developed pre-premiere theory: Fasai has a connection with Korn. (Unconfirmed)

Before the first episode, I thought she might be a sister (which was proven wrong by the family photo in the first episode and would be fucked up after this week's episode). As I wrote before, the dynamic of their situationship/relationship seemed established, even to the point where they communicated without words.

I could pass this theory as confirmed and be done with it, but I like to make things hard on myself. So I will take a guess at what kind of connection she has to Korn and only pass it if that's proven to be true (or half-confirm it if it turns out to be wrong).

The obvious guess would be that they're engaged (or even married), considering how Korn spoke about her to his dad on the phone in the first episode. But I don't want it to be that boring (and I definitely don't mind being wrong). So, I will guess this is a purely sexual deal, a situationship no one else knows about.

She gets pleasure (Korn seems more attentive to her pleasure than to Tonkla's, the latter seemed to be an afterthought to Korn, which we saw in the first episode) while he gets access to a higher standing. Perhaps she convinced Korn's dad to give him a new and better position in the family business? Perhaps she's the one who gives Korn direct access to her father (who was a board member or something, right?)? Perhaps she's even his sugar mama?

There's definitely an interesting power dynamic between them. I mean, she (and her dad) was surrounded by golden horse figurines and horses are, among other things, symbols of power (even the nobility).

So, yeah, I'm leaning towards a situationship rather than that they're engaged/married.

Prove me wrong, Sammon.

Revised/developed pre-premiere theory: Great is having an out-of-body experience. (Unconfirmed)

I previously called this theory a "dream world" after watching the trailer and teaser, but an out-of-body experience is a much better description of it.

I'm still keeping this theory because I still believe it even though it might've been odd that they "revealed" this already in the first episode. Perhaps this very obvious theory (to me, right now, at least) is exactly what Sammon wants me to focus on to take attention away from what's really going on.

Either way, I'm keeping this until proven wrong (or right).

Pre-ep. 2 theory: Great's visions of himself and Tyme are his present self's memories of their time together. (Unconfirmed)

This theory goes hand-in-hand with the previous one.

The visions Great had of him and Tyme in these first two episodes are basically his present self's memories (the person who had a cardiac arrest at the beginning of the first episode). The present Great had met, and fucked (good for him), Tyme while the Great we're following (the OOBE version that has "traveled" into the past) hadn't met Tyme until he ran into him at the hospital in the first episode.

If this proves to be true, I think we can also expect Great to have other memory flashes that might involve other characters and events.

Pre-premiere theory: Great’s (Bible’s) tattoos have something to do with the story. (Because I refuse to believe otherwise! lol) (Unconfirmed)

Just like I wrote last week: I swear I'm keeping this theory because it hasn't been confirmed (or denied), yet. That's the only reason I'm keeping this theory.

I swear I'm not keeping this theory to add this image to every post I write...

Pre-premiere theory: Great becomes Korn’s target because he can see ahead of time. (Unconfirmed)

This is highly unlikely to happen considering they're brothers who seem really close. But, I'm keeping this theory because I feel like Korn is a loose cannon. I've previously mentioned the beast I feel is currently sleeping inside Korn. Who knows what's going to happen if/when he releases it? He might turn just as ruthless as Fasai's dad seemed to be.

Will he become so ruthless in his pursuit to prove himself to his dad that he'll turn on Great? We'll have to wait and see.

Pre-ep. 2 theory: Great has a cardiac arrest/near-death experience at 11:01, which is why he sees clocks stopping at that time. (Unconfirmed)

Well, I knew the clocks would turn to 11:01 at some point (since Great mentioned constantly seeing clocks stopping at that time in the teaser).

But, like a comment @whatevenisthishellhole sent into my inbox (that I haven’t had the chance to answer yet because, you know… the Olympics), 11:00 is probably the time Great had his cardiac arrest. I think I'll have to agree with this theory since the clock on the wall as the patient had a cardiac arrest in the first episode showed 11:00, he's been shown to wake up at that time more than once, and the digital numbers on his wall showed 11:00 in this week's episode as well.

So, I agree that this is probably the time he had his cardiac arrest.

Another interesting aspect about 11:00, and about Great's malfunctioning wristwatch in particular, is that near-death experiencers can have issues with technology after their NDE (I've seen it happening with my maternal grandfather).

Maybe I'm staring myself blind on Great's NDE and OOBE, but how could I not when I'm fed clues like this? Maybe Sammon is baiting me so I miss what’s really going on, but I don’t mind. This is so much fun. But, I digress...

We also saw that the clock was counting down in this week's episode. This is where 11:01 will start to show up for Great (which he mentioned in the teaser).

The interesting thing about this, and the 4-minute theme the whole series is based on, is that a quick Google search will tell you that 3-5 minutes after the heart stops, the brain starts to get damaged due to a lack of oxygen. Since Sammon is an actual doctor, I'm pretty sure the 4-minute mark is scientifically supported. And that's what I think is happening here.

Great has 4 minutes (well, now it's only 3) on him to wake up again before his brain gets damaged. My guess is that he needs to find the information he needs/learn whatever he needs to learn/solve whatever he needs to solve before the time runs out so his heart can restart before he suffers major brain damage.

Pre-premiere theory: Someone will die/fake their death. (Unconfirmed)

Well, that was pretty obvious, wasn't it? Look how smart I am, lmfao.

Anyway...

I'm going to wait to confirm this theory until one of the major characters shows up dead. For example, if Tonkla's brother or whomever Tonkla beats the shit out of are characters we already know. I won't confirm this theory after this week's episode because I need to know who Tonkla's brother is first.

If I'm to speculate on who will get axed, I would probably say Dome, Title, and perhaps Korn.

As I mentioned before, I think Dome might be Tonkla's brother. Since Tonkla called his brother Nong, Tonkla is the older sibling. Considering he's working (and has probably already graduated from school), his younger brother may still be in school. Dome is clearly studying, so this could make sense. Therefore, my guess is that Dome is Tonkla's brother and that Dome was killed by Title in the real past.

Tonkla will get his revenge on Title. So, bye-bye asshole. (Too harsh? I think not.)

I also have a feeling that Korn will get killed. It might not be Tonkla who does the killing. What if it's Faisa and/or her dad instead? Her dad has already proven to have the means to kill people he's not pleased with, and Korn seems to be out on thin ice.

(I could add more characters like Great and Tyme as well, but I feel like I want at least some characters to escape this hellhole and continue living their lives, unlike in DFF where I wanted almost everyone to suffer. Well, if Fasai is the last one standing, I won't be mad. I would kneel before her too. But, I digress...)

Maybe I won't pass this theory as confirmed until at least two out of my options above (Dome, Title, and Korn) show up dead.

Either way, I'm keeping this theory for now.

Wild-ass pre-ep. 2 theory: Tyme will have a near-death experience and develop his own precognitive ability. (Unconfirmed)

Wouldn't it be bonkers if both Tyme and Great are having OOBEs and are trying to either help each other or happen to unintentionally get in the way of each other's goals/changes? And that's only if they have their OOBEs in the same timeline.

Anyway, I'm basing this solely on Tyme being shot in the first episode and on the scene from the teaser (which I added images of above) where Tyme seems to have his own precognitive ability.

Come on, show. Prove me wrong.

Wild-ass pre-ep. 2 theory: Great will get Tyme's heart (after Tyme is shot). (This will not happen.) (Unconfirmed)

To be clear, I don't want this to happen. This is not the Transplant I want. But it might be possible?

(Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional. I have no idea if this is medically possible considering where Tyme was shot and how far he might be from a hospital (since I know a body needs to be hooked up to a ventilator to be able to keep the organs alive if organ donations are to be possible). So, excuse my lively imagination, lol.)

New theories after the 2nd episode:

Here, I'll gather the new theories I have (to make it simpler for myself to find them next week) and add one or two other ones I've come up with.

There might be a parallel timeline that shows the past as it actually played out when Great didn't have the 4 minutes to make different choices. (If I get some time over between all the Olympic sports I'm watching, I will look deeper into this theory and develop it.)

Dome is Tonkla's brother.

Tyme has a precognitive ability similar to Great’s (or might develop one).

Tyme is looking into the illegal gambling sites because his family fell victim to them. (Maybe it was just me, but didn't he look particularly moved by Manee's story about her son? Perhaps that story felt too familiar to him?).

Tyme is getting close to Great because of Great's family and their connection to the illegal gambling sites. (The way I laughed at Tyme fixing his looks and flexing his muscles in the mirror before stitching up Great's wound... I couldn't believe he played that card to get close to Great, but I fucking loved it. And then stalking Great... This man is desperately trying to find out more about Great's family, that's for sure.)

Great has 4 minutes (well, now it's 3 minutes) on him to wake up/get his heart to start beating again in the present before his brain gets damaged.

I'm still thinking about that rock and how it relates to the body they found and the rock Great used on Title but I haven't made up my mind about this yet. I feel like the parallel timelines might be at play here, so I'll have to think a bit more about that and perhaps develop it in a separate post.

Results so far:

Total theories since the trailer: 23

Confirmed theories: 1.5

Unconfirmed theories: 17.5

Wrong/scrapped theories: 4

New theories after ep 2: 6

[inkedmoth]

InkedMoth's Favourite Fics!

A (currently) short list of my favourite fics, this is still a big WIP so will hopefully grow and be added to as time goes on!

Top Recommendations:

In Search of a Queen (ff.net) by @Arkanfire / DoodleWolf Hobbit - Thorin (and Kili & Fili) Lives - Thorin x OC

I have So Many Thoughts about this fic that at this point it lives in my brain rent-free, and is a comfort fic I re-read whenever I'm feeling down. Before I truly got into fanfic, this was the only fic I read, as my old friend Arkanfire was the one who wrote it. But MY GOD it's such a wonderful fic, the main character Rúin and her family are all wonderfully developed and full of their own quirks and personalities, there's interesting and unique side characters (Old Lavri my darling ❤️), tension and angst and romance, and not to mention a delightfully slow slow-burn between Rúin and Thorin which feels so organic and natural, even if she did hit him in the face with a book 😂

10/10 will recommend everyone reads this, and while it's not completed, every chapter is a delight!!

Burn Like Cold Iron by @scyllas-revenge Boromir Lives - Boromir x OC

It's one thing to read a Modern Girl in Middle Earth, it's another thing to have that modern girl piloting a helicopter to escape Isengard and crash landing it out in the wilderness. And if THAT doesn't make you want to read it I genuinely don't know what's wrong with you (affectionate) This is the fic that made me go "you can DO THAT???" and motivated me to try my hand at fic writing, so you can thank Scylla for the 100s of K I've written since reading this delight!

Catch the Wind by @esta-elavaris / eriathiel Pirates of the Caribbean - Norrington Lives - Norrington x OC 🔞

I think I stumbled across this fic by a recommendation post from Scylla, but it was The Best accidental find of the year! This fic made me see Norrington's character in a whole new light, it goes into such wonderful detail as to the world of PotC, and develops characters while staying true to form! It's a long one at 400+K but GOOD LORD it's a worthy binge read! Esta has such brilliant writing style, it's well worth checking out ALL of her fics!

Pints, Profanities and Serious Predicaments Saga by @Erathene LotR - Aragorn x Reader/OC

I love this cursing barmaid so much you don't even know, I want to be her co-worker SO BAD purely to have gossip sessions and shit talk the patrons and check out the lanky and grimy Ranger that keeps dropping by. I'm not normally big on Reader pov's but good lord I'd read the entire trilogy narrated by this girl, it would be hilarious.

Veiled Hearts by @Konartiste LotR - Éomer x Lothíriel

My first foray into Éomer/Lothíriel fics and oh boy was it a good one to start off with! There's emotional conflict, a slow burn, building up of friendships and trusts, and is a delightful read every step of the way. I can't wait to see how their betrothal plays out in the second part, but if you (like me) can't wait that long, I also highly recommend reading Konartiste's The Marriage Bed of the Brute and the Bookworm(🔞) to tide you over in the meantime!

Pride of Greenwood by @Fishing4stars Hobbit - Thranduil x OC

The sheer level of lore and world-building that's gone into this fic is mind-boggling, I especially love the use of welsh, the bards acting as advisors to the leaders, and the plight that brought Thranduil to the greenwood. I've already gotten unreasonably attached to the side character of Braignir! Updates regularly and is well worth subscribing to!

The Unravelling of Hard Words by @Eternal-Vambraces Boromir Lives - Boromir x OC

Do you like Boromir? Do you like the peaceful yet raucous life in the Shire? Do you like flower symbolism? Do you want Boromir to have a Good Time at his friend's wedding? Then this is absolutely the fic for you!! It's delightful and soft and with just a little bit of angst to sober you up, and a very satisfying ending. AND it comes with art!!! I cannot recommend this fic enough!

Fics I adore

E v e r y t h i n g by @esta-elavaris

Don't Fret Dear by @celeluwhenfics (Gen)

The Poison Room by Vintage_Jewel (Faramir/OC)

Scales, Gleaming in the Dark by Seeing_Blue (Hobbit)

Sowing Seeds by @erathene (Aragorn/Reader)

Worlds Apart by @erathene (Aragorn/Mer!Arwen)

there's gotta be more than this I need to do some digging

(If you know any of these folks tumblrs, please let me know so I can tag properly)

🔞 Spice it Up 🔞

All of these fics are going to be varying levels of NSFW, some are just spicy, some are straight up smut, you have been warned!

A Tight Space by AnnaFan (Faramir/Éowyn)

A Week Is A Long Time In Politics by AnnaFan (Faramir/Éowyn)

Sword Master by @scyllas-revenge (Boromir/Reader)

Speaking Tongues by @ass-deep-in-demons (Boromir/OC)

Nights in Rohan Series By NeumeIndil (Gamling/OC)

[renaroo]

O What a Tangled Web We Weave (41006 words) by RenaRoo Chapters: 3/21 Fandom: Transformers Animated (2007), Transformers - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Elita One & Optimus Prime, Megatron/Optimus Prime Characters: Elita One (Transformers), Optimus Prime, Sari Sumdac, Megatron (Transformers), Kup (Transformers), Starscream (Transformers), Nightbird (Transformers), Cheetor (Transformers), Nautica (Transformers), First Aid (Transformers) Additional Tags: Spider Swap AU was the working title of this monstrosity, tags will be added with updates, robots but with feeling, i have been informed some people have issues with spiders? warning? Series: Part 1 of ReAnimated AU Summary: The Autobot crew of the Longshot attempt to adjust to their new lives in Detroit with varying levels of stress for their leader, Elita Prime. A nagging sense of their worthiness to the title of heroes, they end up confronting an unexpected new threat -- they're not the only Cybertronians who have found their way to Earth! On the moon, in the wreckage of the Nemesis, Tarantulas has to carefully maintain his secrecy and survival. Things only grow more complicated with the arrival of company.

A/N: I have no excuses. I don't know what's happening to me and to this project but just look at the disaster it has become -- 20k for a single chapter. Somehow this is still my girlfriend's fault. Events of this chapter come both from the finale of "Transform and Roll Out" with also some inspiration from the comic tie-in series "The Arrival" that dealt with happenings between the original episodes of season one. Obviously, lots of changes (and even more to come). One of the weirdest points that I kept going back and forth on with this chapter was actually FINALLY deciding on what Nightbird's altmode would be -- she's a moped/mail carrier since I'm still sticking with the "service vehicle" theme -- and when she's referred to as a minibot in the chapter, it's a more flippant reference (like how TFA would call Bee a minibot) than a, like, actual class the way "minicon" or "cassette" would classify. idk still having fun and by that I mean robots ruling my life what else is new what else is new

Chapter Three: No Greater Love

[group-dynamic]

Script Doctoring(?) Doctor Who Season 1

Here’s how I would fix the thematic and mystery box issues of this season of Doctor Who while keeping almost everything else the same.

This season would refocus on the thematic tension between Ruby with her desire to find her birth mother and the Doctor’s avoidance of finding Susan. By adding a few choice moments in the Tardis at the beginning and end of certain episodes where Ruby tries to convince the Doctor that finding Susan is important, you would add some really nice character development and even tension to Ruby and the Doctor’s relationship and get to more explicitly explore and discuss some of the big thematic ideas that this season ostensibly centered around like family and fear of abandonment /rejection.

I also think that having the god of death in this season doesn’t make much sense in terms of the themes, so I would probably swap out Sutekh for the Trickster as many others suggested. With the Trickster, you could have the narrative-manipulating, story-changing surrounding Ruby make a lot more sense in universe. This could then better match with the idea that Russell already had: that we imbue things with importance and can thus rewrite our own narratives. Imagine Ruby as central to the finale because her desire to rewrite the false narrative in a positive way could directly counter the negative attempts to rewrite the narrative by the Trickster. Thus, she’s still just an ordinary person as RTD intended, but she is learning to overcome her fear of rejection and abandonment by fixing the negative story that both her own mind and the Trickster have written about her life as she knows she is worthy of love, there’s nothing inherently wrong with her, etc. (A great opportunity to make Carla‘s inclusion narratively significant, too, as she actively contributes to this!)

This would also make the moment where the Doctor cautions Ruby against reconnecting with her birth mother a more meaningful emotional payoff, because Ruby isn’t afraid to try reconnecting with her mother and it goes so well despite the Doctor’s own fears. This could serve as a turning point for the Doctor as he realizes that getting over your fear of rejection can lead you to new avenues for happiness and connection.

Then, instead of having a sorrowful “the doctor is always alone” ending to the season, have the last line of this season be the music swelling triumphantly and the doctor declaring that, yes, he’s going to go find Susan. This would show the actual impact that Ruby had on him and allow his character to go through some growth rather than end up where they’ve always been. (Plus, what a fun teaser to leave the audience on haha.)

You could then spend the second season, (which was ordered at the same time as season 1) on the Doctor trying to track down any clues of where Susan is. So, the season-long arc would become the doctor looking for Susan, but getting sidetracked in the typical adventure of the week.

NOW you can justify Sutekh as the big bad for this second season. If the doctor is actively looking for Susan, it makes a lot more sense that Sutekh would use her to lure the Doctor in and more devastating when it’s revealed Susan Triad isn’t her. Thematically, this works because the Doctor claims to have never reconnected with Susan before because they were terrified that they would either hurt Susan or she would already be dead, so the big bad being death this time around would haunt him: The Doctor is too late and it’s all his fault.

In terms of the “I am life, and you are death” theme, this also makes a lot more sense within a context of actively trying to find Susan, because the doctor is so afraid that he brings death, but the fact that Susan exists at all (and perhaps he finds her or some evidence of her life) in addition to the amazing family he’s built across time and space rallying around him (like Ruby, Mel, Kate, and Rose which justifies a unit based episode AND the memory Tardis as the Doctor’s equivalent of Carla’s wall of photos of her foster kids) is proof that he isn’t a “harbinger of death.” That all of us defeat death when we choose love and support for ourselves and offer it to others. Self indulgently, I would love a conversation between the Doctor and Cherry about family and found family, too. Imagine how wonderfully thematic it would be if this ordinary woman gave the doctor what he needed physically and spiritually to save the day: grandmother to grandfather. Heck, maybe she is the one who gives him the spoon. A teaspoon in fact :).

So anyway, those are the big changes that I think you could make and leave literally everything else the same to get a better emotional payoff and prevent the audience from feeling a little robbed by the mystery boxes.

[asocial-inkblot]

Things I Hope/d to See in the New ATLA Live Action Show

A source material-accurate Azula (duh) and Aang (the show's namesake!) with something extra added to both. See #7 and #8 for more on that.

Tweaked war-related plans that come across like they could reasonably be implemented in real life and which may be based on/allude to actual battle proposals from throughout history. I know little about these sorts of things but others have pointed out before that one of Sokka's plans, for example, may not have actually made much sense. And Ozai's plan near the end? Yeeaaahhhhh... I mean, I kinda get it in hindsight. But still. Let's have him come up with something better than that.

Appearances and clothing that call back to the ethnic groups and cultures that the show takes inspiration from (things are looking great on this front so far), but also

Eye colors like the ones from the original cartoon. This may seem petty but I find that it's actually important to use the right hues for each character and not just make everyone's eyes brown or black or gray (looks to me like that's exactly what they did). The reason being that, although I personally tend to dislike when non-white characters are given what I now call "white qualifiers" (meaning traits often used to make them still appeal to whiteness, such as light hair, light eyes, bone-straight hair, round eyes, etc.), in the context of the show, the eye colors are actually by and large ethnic characteristics and differentiators themselves. As I've noted before in a previous post from a while back: Ocean blue eyes = Water Tribes, brown and gray = usually Air Nomad or Earth Kingdom, amber or light tan = Fire Nation, with few exceptions for all of them.

Enough similarities for it to feel like ATLA but with enough differences that it's actually its own story. Again, duh, but we all know how often adaptations tend to get this part wrong.

An age rating that won't be used as just another excuse to shoehorn in as much violence, gore and sexual content as possible but instead to allow for the full illustration of the impact that war can have on a people and their society/traditions. We saw, imo, only little hints of this throughout the cartoon (when Aang found Monk Gyatso's remains is one extremely devastating example), but not near enough. I know the reason why, of course. However, things like that only helped sell the show short by not allowing it to fully flesh out into a world with true, viewable consequences.

An Azula who, from day one, is unquestionably made out to be exactly what she is: A child soldier who is also a victim of the war in a similar way to how the Gaang is. I want to see her allowed to show worry, even fear, either during or after a situation. Not because I don't love how kickass she is, but because at her age, level of trauma and amount of risk to her life everyday, she has all the reason to be more stressed from the get-go. Not to mention her family issues. I want Azula to clearly have anxiety or depression, something many of us can relate to. I also want that scene of her mental breakdown to STAY in some capacity, but be seen in-universe and hopefully—eventually—irl, too, as what it really was: A teenage girl pushed to her limits until she had no where left to step. Real, living people have had anxiety/panic attacks and meltdowns before and that didn't make them evil or any less worthy of sympathy. It only makes it that much more obvious how real Azula herself is, and how much she needed and deserved understanding.

I want an Aang who's allowed to cry, not once, not twice but over and over again as the weight of the burden of what it means to be a child avatar during a world war—and one who was out-of-commission for a century—start to take their toll on his mind, body and eventually spirit. After he reaches his breaking point, I want him to learn to forgive himself and even forgive others, and come back from it, stronger than ever.

A Toph who's tough but maybe a little less...umm... She should be/feel affected by the war too, okay? And have some level of guilt, fear or self-awareness at all times. So she should be like her original self, but deeper.

More Ursa pleeeaaaaaaassse. We know next to nothing about this woman and what we do know, still involves a lot of inferring. I need to know just what her beliefs were about the war and her family/relatives. I need to know if she...if she often feared for her or her children's lives!

A little less romance and a little more danger, planning and large platonic relationship growth as well as character growth.

Zuko actually learning something from his travels; early on, every time he meets someone/some new people, and on a regular basis. I also kinda want to see him have consequences for his actions. Not just that one time, where he was only a clueless 13 year old boy anyway. Doesn't have to be huge or bloody, but he needs to lose something every time he gains at the expense of another. The ATLA world (if not within the cartoon then definitely within the live action show) should have a real, tangible concept of Karma present, if it doesn't already. That would make so. much. sense.

If possible, a little more fleshing out of characters like Jet and the Freedom Fighters, Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, Hama, Mai, Ty Lee, etc. And can we not demonize or shrug off victims anymore?

A still sexy Hakoda, Ozai and June. (I'm so sorry, don't hate me...)

An ending that won't make me break out in hives plez.

(That's it for now. I may come back here to add more.)

[allisonreader]

This is my second Christmas @inklings-challenge story for this year. I did not intend to write TWO Christmas stories this year and this one’s focus isn’t directly related to Christmas, but takes place near Christmas and includes discussions about Christmas related festivities. And truthfully this is a story written after rewatching a Hallmark Christmas movie which prompted the thought of the conversation between the two characters in the story. Everything else is just framing and an excuse to have the conversation and still have some plot.

This story takes place after the main events in Tales Of A Frozen Sailor. I have tried to include enough background information so that if you’ve never read the main story, that you don’t have to to understand it. Hopefully I’m not retreading the ground too much throughout the story.

And if you are interested in the full story, go to the Master List for Tales Of A Frozen Sailor .

Like always, I feel like I haven’t edited this enough, but also couldn’t look at it anymore. So it is what it is and that means that I’m not particularly happy about how I ended it. I just feel like the ending feels like what it is. Sort of a rush to just get it done. Anyways enough of my blabbering and onto the story.

Jessica's Christmas Surprise

The latest news on the last Titanic witness.

Jessica Hudson (now Piston) was a young woman who sailed on the Titanic as a sailor under the guise of being a man named Jesse Hudson. A fact that had only been known by her family and fellow sailor John Winters for many years.

Jessica had been assigned to man a lifeboat with John, but instead had been locked inside a room deep inside the Titanic. She was left for dead as the ship sank and for nearly a century it had been the perfect murder. If it wasn’t for the fact that her body was found and brought up nearly a 100 years later.

Once she was brought up, she was thawed from the position that she was found in and in a turn of events that can only be called miraculous, as Jessica thawed, she began to wake. Revival efforts were then focused on.

Jessica’s revival was unexpected and allowed her to connect with nieces and a nephew who hadn’t been born when she went down with the ship.

Jessica's story was then able to be told in full with her perspective.

Since then, Jessica has been finding her own way in the modern world. These days Jessica tries to keep a low profile.

Recently though, she has been spotted with her husband Erik coming out of an ultrasound clinic together. Not only did they come out of the clinic together, but it does appear that Jessica is sporting a bit of a baby bump.

Neither Jessica nor Erik have made any announcements about expecting at this point, but it seems to be evident that the couple will be adding an addition to their family, come sometime in the coming new year.

For further details on Jessica's story turn to page 12.

📰📰📰

"Why can’t they just leave me alone?" Jess grumbled, glaring at the article that included a picture of her and Erik walking out of the clinic, making her belly look larger than it actually was. Or at least it seemed so to her. "This is a hard enough season this year without others talking about our private life Em," she complained to her husband.

"I know, but people find you interesting, and something like our daughter is news worthy to anyone who's been following your story. They forget that you’re just a person like them and that you don’t even consider yourself a celebrity, though others do. Nobody is going to give a statement to any of the press though. It’s going to stay within the family that our baby, is in fact a little girl, our little girl," Erik reassured her as he pulled up and stopped in front of the small guest house on the backside of the Piston family estate.

Someone had decorated the house for Christmas, lights were all along the roof line and down the columns of the front porch and banisters. There was a wreath on the door and a Christmas tree lit with white lights in the front window.

Erik offered to help Jess out of the car, but she shook her head wanting to do it herself.

Once she had gotten out of the car; the article in the magazine left was behind. Erik noted to get rid of it before Jess got back in. She snuggled into his side, allowing him to wrap his arm around her and rest his hand on her belly.

They walked quietly the short distance to the front door, which Nanna was opening before they even were close enough to have knocked. Having been expecting and anticipating them.

"There the two of you are. Come in, come in. Emery, your grandfather is out back. Before you head out to him, give me a hug and a kiss-" Nanna tapped her cheek where she wanted the kiss- "while I get Jessica comfortable so we can talk about her appointment this past week."

"Yes Nanna." Erik agreed, letting go of Jess and kissing her cheek before going to hug and kiss Nanna as instructed before leaving to find his grandfather.

"Stay out of trouble Em, don’t let John drag you into anything," Jess warned.

"I won’t Jess, and I promise that I won’t lollygag around too much."

"I hope not."

"I’ll be back before you know it. Have fun with Nanna. Don’t let her get you into too much trouble."

Jess stuck her tongue out at her husband teasing her about her warning about John. Nanna watched with Jess as Erik left to find his grandfather and then leave to visit Jess's family and drop off their letters and gifts for the season. Something that Erik had already done at least once since they had found out that she was pregnant.

Jess let out a sigh. It was for the best that it was just Erik going back to visit her family. She stared longingly at where Erik went down the hall.

Who knew what would happen to her or her baby girl if they time traveled while she was pregnant. It wasn’t worth the risk. But that didn’t mean that her heart didn’t long to visit her family over Christmas.

Nanna startled her as she wrapped an arm around her back and rubbed her one shoulder.

"Come now my dear. I have a fire going in the front room where the tree is. We'll make ourselves cozy and then I suspect that you have some pictures from your ultrasound appointment to show me, hmm?" Nanna said, gently guiding her into the front room, where there was indeed a fire roaring. Jess nodded as she allowed herself to be lead to be sat in front of the fire.

The two of them discussed the incredible invention of ultrasound technology allowing them to see the baby and tell that she was going to have a girl. How Jess had never anything like it would be possible and how Nanna had been unaware of its invention that had happened in the same decade as her son’s birth, at least not until years after when it became more common.

Jess showed Nanna her ultrasound pictures, and discussed how much of a taint the picture of her and Erik coming out of clinic, ending up in the news and gossip rags left her with on the experience.

"Learn to ignore them my dear. I know it’s hard in this day and age, but ignoring them will be better for you than worrying over them." Jess just nodded in acknowledgment and excused herself to the bathroom.

While Nanna waited for Jessica to come back, she turned back on the sound of the Hallmark movie that she had been watching before Jessica and her grandson had arrived. It didn’t take her long to re-pick-up the plot and become engrossed again.

"Nanna? What are you watching?" Jess asked when she returned.

"Hmm? Oh, just a Hallmark holiday movie. One that you might relate to a little too much in part to a degree. The main character is a nurse from 1945… 46… one of the two. Feeling a little lost and out of place in her own time, but has been pulled forward by forces unknown to the modern day and is having to try and fit into this strange time to her," Nanna explained.

Jess blinked a couple of times. "Really…?"

"Oh yes my dear. These type of stories have been popular for many years already. Long before most people were ever aware of your story and existence. I dare say that they might have had a bit of an uptick since your story has become known, but they’ve been around as long as fairy tales have been. Why else do you think your life is so fascinating to people? You have all the marks for the best types of stories, but perhaps best of all to many people is that your story is true," Nanna said.

"What are the other marks…? Do I want to know them?" Jess asked.

"None are bad my dear, just interesting to people. Your connection to the Titanic is a large one. That ship has fascinated people from the day the news broke that it was sunk by an iceberg on its maiden voyage, with so many elite on it. I’m afraid that your Mr. Winters didn’t help with his insistence that something happened to you beyond being reassigned and you just not making it. Then there is the fact that once you were found on the ocean floor in the ill-fated ship; something that shouldn’t have been possible, it was found out that you were in fact a woman, not a man as claimed when sailing. Let alone the fact that your John was proven to be correct that something had happened to you. Beyond that is the fact that you survived your miraculous revival. It’s all very interesting to people. As much as you’d love to just live your life. To others you are a celebrity."

"I don’t want to be a celebrity," Jess pouted.

"I know my dear, but sometimes that is out of our hands. The best that can be done is what you are doing. Living your life to the fullest and keeping a low profile by not reaching out to the press yourself. While there will always be people interested in your story, it will eventually fade over the years. But at the moment, it’s still relatively new for people and it will take years to die down."

Jess scowled at the thought.

"I don’t want my daughter to become some spectacle once she’s born."

"We’ll shield her from it as much as possible. Especially at first when she won’t be able to protect herself, but she will learn."

Jess nodded, still wary, but there was nothing to do about currently.

🎄🎄🎄🎁🎁🎁

Erik went and poked his head in to see Jess and Nanna now that he was back. He found them both finishing off a Hallmark Christmas movie, just catching the end of the credits.

It had taken Jess a bit of time to get used to tv, even now she’d often avoid watching it unless there was someone else watching it with her. He smiled fondly at Jess's one hand resting on her belly, thrilling him once again that he was going to be a father to a little girl. He didn’t need to be distracted by those thoughts currently. He had a wife to surprise.

He entered the room slowly and quietly. Coming up to beside where Jess was sitting. Watching Nanna's smile grow as she caught sight of him.

"Hey you, I made it back," he said softly in a low voice. Jess smiled back at him. Nanna got up and quietly slipped out of the room.

"How’d it go? How is everyone?" Jess asked.

"Good. They’re all good and the trip was successful. The gifts, cards and letters are all delivered to the 1920's…. And- John didn’t drag me into any trouble."

"Good. He doesn’t need to-"

"But, I might have dragged him into some trouble."

"Em… what do you mean?"

"I guess you’ll just have to come with me and find out then won’t you," he held out his hand to her.

"Emery… what do you do?"

"Come on, off the couch. Your family sent a surprise along with me."

"What kind of surprise….?"

"You’ll see for yourself."

"Emery Erik what kind of surprise is this?" Jess asked, starting to sound cross.

"One that you’ll love; come, let me show you." Erik helped her off the couch as she warily stared him down and followed him to the back porch.

Nanna was sitting with his grandfather on the porch swing, but standing just off the porch was Jess's surprise. Jess stilled the moment she first saw them, before bounding down the stairs to where her siblings and John were waiting.

All three of them embracing Jess in a hug together.

"You’re here! Why-? How…? …I didn’t think I was going to see you until after my baby came," Jess stammered in surprise.

"Erik planned it all out. Well, at least for the most part. My mom and Amelia and her family are looking after the kids today. Joan would have loved to come, but thought it would be best to stay as an extra pair of hands. But otherwise, we’re here for the day and to finally see a little bit of this time that you’re living in." John said.

Jess started to tear up as she soaked up the attention from Ruth, John and Henry being here in her chosen time. Ruth gave her another hug.

"I can’t believe that you’re here…" Jess

"Oh Jess…. We should have thought to come sooner."

Jess shook her head. "No, this is perfect. It’s the best Christmas gift…. I have so much to show you…"

Erik and his grandparents gave Jess and her family some space at first. Giving them the chance to reconnect and let the four of them time to catch up and for Jess to explain certain things without any of them interfering or interrupting. Allowing Jess to share her pregnancy update and share her ultrasound pictures and to show her visitors any technology that she thought might interest them. Pointing out that they wouldn’t have the chance to really get used to those in any capacity.

Nanna only interrupted them once the meal was ready. It brought all of them together for the rest of the day. The conversation and jokes flowed freely. Until it was finally time for the three to go back to their time and back to their kids. Jess gave all of them a long hug before Erik took them home. With promises to keep them all updated.

[dieasthedevilwp]

What are some things you do that help your writing? Like how do you come up with consistent characters and create a storyline and stuff because yours are all so good and specific and idk how you do it lol

first of all, thank you so so much. i am very pleased that you find my characters consistent and good 😛

second of all, don't take my advice as professional expert advice because i don't know what i'm talking about mostly. i do things the way that my brain tells me to and it might not work for everyone.

thirdly, i first come up with characters when watching/rewatching a show/movie—except for juni; she was created solely because i saw her in hounddog and needed to make an oc out of her—and kind of work up storylines for them. all the stuff i'll list in this are things i do after i create an oc :)

without further ado, here are some of the things i do when creating a character and story:

notebook. get yourself a freaking notebook and write down anything and everything that you feel might be even a little bit worthy of being contained in the magical notebook. lines you like in shows and movies, metaphors that stick out to you, lyrics you love, complex thoughts you have, moments in your life that feel brilliantly real and human. anything you want. for example, i watched a complete unknown, got home, and wrote "for now, track mud on somebody's carpet" in my notebook just because i absolutely loved that send-off on johnny cash's letter in the movie. it doesn't have to be complicated or special. just anything you notice and like that might inspire you while writing and spark new ideas.

notes app. i have been using my notes app like a psychopath since 2020 when i needed somewhere to write my obsessive thoughts about characters i loved and, as embarrassing as it is, things that were happening in the minecraft roleplay server i was far too invested in. i have a separate note dedicated to each of my books and i write all sorts of things in it. i write down things my characters like and dislike, lines i think i want them to say sometime in the book, important moments that need to happen in the book, details that i might easily forget, traits each character has, etc. i also take notes on the characters (not ocs) in the media i'm writing the fic about. i have notes about daryl dixon, bucky barnes, matt murdock, tony stark, and steve rogers, and i plan to keep adding more. it helps me keep already-established characters in character, which is kind of hard 😭

plan before you write. for marvel, i rewatch the movie i'm about to write and take notes on what i want my character to be doing and where i want my character to be in certain scenes, what my character's motivation is for the choices they make in important moments, things i want established in certain scenes, and most importantly, the growth i want my character to have gone through by the end of the movie. for tv shows, if i don't feel like rewatching the whole thing before starting writing, i reread wikipedia pages sometimes lol. mostly that hasn't been a problem though because i remember way too much about the walking dead and that's pretty much the main show i write about. anyway, the point is that it's easier if you don't just make it up as you go because if you do, it won't feel like your character has a story. it might just feel like your character is there for the sake of being there.

pinterest. pinterest is my lord and savior and i bow down to it. make pinterest boards for your ocs. save quotes that remind you of them, aesthetic images, outfits they might where, or whatever you want. it's so much fun and helps you individualize your characters.

that's pretty much all i can think of off the top of my head right now but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask them 🫡🫡

[damnmmmmmmmmmm]

So I read this interview and it sound like all the other interviews he had before… Brandon Lewis missed an opportunity to differentiate himself from other interviewers by sticking to predictable lines of questioning that didn't push boundaries or uncover deeper insights. Rather than exploring unique angles, such as Sebastian Stan's evolving views on fame, identity, or how his past roles shaped his career trajectory, Brandon repeated surface-level questions. By not challenging him to reflect more deeply or explore less-discussed aspects of his life and career, he failed to provide an interview that stood out from the typical media coverage of Seb- for example:

Repetition and Lack of Depth

Sebastian Stan’s reflections in the article, particularly around his immigrant background and approach to acting, feel overly familiar, like recycled content from prior interviews. When he talks about tackling complex characters, it's clear that he’s said similar things in the past. In fact, the interviewer doesn’t challenge Seb on these points or push him to explain how these experiences have shaped him beyond surface-level observations. For example, his line about "feeling comfort in discomfort" sounds like something fans have heard before, but there's little elaboration on how these ideas influence his broader acting journey. This repetition leaves the conversation feeling stagnant, rather than adding new insights.

Surface-Level Exploration

Despite the intriguing premise of his roles in The Apprentice and A Different Man, the interviewer never dives deeper into why these roles matter to him personally or artistically. Seb speaks generally about how A Different Man "allowed [him] to explore a deeper part of [himself]," but the interviewer never asks how these projects might shift his perspective on fame, identity, or even his other roles. This leaves the article feeling shallow, merely skimming the surface of what could have been a more compelling analysis of his artistic choices.

Missed Opportunities for Nuance

One area the interview could have gone further is in understanding how he navigates fame and the pressure of his public persona. For instance, when he discusses roles like I, Tonya, he could have been asked about the challenges of playing controversial characters in a media-driven world. His past roles have allowed him to explore complex themes of identity and morality, but this conversation misses the chance to dig into how those experiences inform his views on fame and privacy. The article misses a significant opportunity to balance professional insight with personal reflection.

Lack of Critical Engagement with Past Roles

The interview skims over his more famous past roles, such as his work in the Captain America series. Given how pivotal those performances were to his career, the interviewer misses a crucial opportunity to ask how those roles shaped him as an actor or whether they influenced his decision to take on more complex characters like in A Different Man. The question of how his previous work in blockbusters compares with his newer, more introspective roles is never explored, leaving the reader with an incomplete picture of Sebby’s artistic growth.

Conclusion

While the article provides some interesting quotes and reflections from Sebastian , it ultimately fails to dig deep. The repetitiveness of the questions and the lack of fresh insights create a sense of redundancy. The interview could have benefited from more nuanced and personal exploration, particularly around his past roles and the pressures of fame. Instead, it feels like a surface-level discussion that doesn’t provide readers with any new or transformative perspectives on the Sebastian’s career.

[bebx]

Hey there! I hope you are doing well. I don't mean to bother you again as you are gonna figure out I am the same person who asked about your unexpectedly but hopefully temporary drifting away from ST sub fandom hehe. So I decided to do my homework and see if you probably left some clues or hints regarding your hiatus from it before but unfortunately I couldn't find any unless my dumb@$$ missed it despite thorough research as if I was looking for easter eggs in a deeply layered show like ST. My search report :- It had been going well on your side even when there was a drought in HC contents but slowly it lost the 'momentum' which I feel you played a key role in wonderfully building up yourself, ironically right at the moment of D-day which honestly feels like if reality had tv drama like loopholes lol.

So all I have now is what you last said to me that you are busy with stuffs and other things like hyperfixation on a character from Harrow series { although I haven't watched it yet but based on your enthusiasm which mostly resonates with my own interest, I have added it in my watchlist :) Cuz Bingo I can't tell you how happy I was when I found you with the same sentiments as mine after watching Damsel! } plus point is you did mention how he is certainly still in your heart and you are planning to make more posts and fanfic about him in future. So I decided to wait, months passed with more tempting Henry Creel info pouring while I still kept up with *patiently waiting for my favorite Tumblr user's ST fandom era to resurface as well as coexist with her new obsession of Harrow series*, so that one hyperfixation won't have to be sacrificed for another still worthy subject of hyperfixation :) Hence it has been quite an introspective and empathetic time but now I am like "okay at least lemme just ask her how she has been and what exactly is the status", to stifle my other apprehensive thoughts forming with the passing time as well as disappearing silver lining( as there is no sign of either Henry or JCB these days at all lol apart from Jamie Bower World Domination post) out of overthinking.

I always felt your contribution to this fandom has been immensely valuable and even though others may or may not have been enough reminding you that as I can see I am probably the only anonymous seeker regarding digging this matter up, I miss you and your blogs about it. I have mostly been a lurker kind so I never interactively participated in any discussion or thread but I have always inwardly appreciated people with a good taste of art. So even if anonymously, this is a great deal to me, sharing my wish embedded in vulnerability. *nervously chuckles* Idk if this is a stretch but given how what Jamie manually allows to be displayed on his tagged section had most of your posts, tells me that he must have subconsciously felt your absence lately too. The fact that this is true tho, makes it a reasonable theory.

So now after hopefully doing a great job at explaining the deep context behind my "ask away" here are the main deal of questions xD;-

How are you, once again? (I don't want to pressurize you into rejoining it earlier than you planned according to your life and schedules uk. Besides I don't wanna interrupt your balancing of multifandom fascination.)

Is there any particular reason behind this seemingly complete "switch off mode" which you can share? ( because my Spidey senses keep feeling it's more than what it is, could be false alarm tho) Could it be potentially because Stranger Things is so addictive, it is not possible to keep a track of its updates while continuing with hyper fixating on other fandoms?

If the aforementioned fear is unfounded, then here are my other theories and questions, have you stumbled upon the TFS spoilers of any kind?

If no, are you planning to watch it LIVE soon or later? (as the canon play is gonna stick around for a long time) is this why have you been avoiding discussions as they would involve major spoiling of the experience?

Or are you planning of watching it whenever it streams on Netflix as technically it just has to one day?

Have you been weakly following any ST S5 leaks? ( as we finally got a very *greatest leak of all time* kind of leak not even exactly 24 hours ago lol) [to tell you the truth- this is exactly what triggered me to get some clarifications from you, as despite knowing that I would open your page only to be greeted by Harrow, deep down I felt maybe you would say something about it because it directly involves JCB and it's quite making waves already.]

Did you check out the VR Game released this February?

Or are you taking a complete long break for a while because once S5 release date inches closer, there is no going back from its fever for another 2-3 years anyways? haha ( ngl this is my most optimistic theory I am clinging onto)

(optional question xD) Am I seriously the only one approaching you by bringing this old buried fascination or others have felt the same way too and they express their perplexity in your inbox instead?

(anyways I will be very grateful if you respond to my plethora of mystified emotions even though I think it would secretly answer to many other lurkers like me who found a sense of kindred spirit through you but are too busy abiding by their lurking policy)

hi, I’ve been looking at this for…. a while, because… oh my 😅 I understand that it’s been so long since my Stranger Things era, and I know some of my followers follow me for my Henry / ST content. I just didn’t know my silly ST posts actually have this much impact that they stay in people’s memories even after it’s been a long time. so this ask actually brings back so many memories. and I really appreciate that you’re still sticking around. really. I had to take a moment to just sit here and stare at this ask in my inbox and go “whoa” — but it’s a good kind of whoa. I am touched that you still remember, because gosh how long has it been since my ST days!

to answer your questions, I am fine and I am doing well. thank you. I didn’t mean to “abandon” my interest. and I AM still interested in the show. I still love Henry, even though I don’t really talk about him on here anymore. it’s funny because a part of me is kind of sad that I don’t talk about him on here anymore? to tell you the truth, anon, I don’t exactly know why? I mean… sure, my blog currently focuses on something else, but I never really stop loving Henry as a character. this sounds extremely cliche, but it’s the truth. I still love him and I still think about him and those time I spent writing fics about him.

I don’t know if there’s any particular reason behind this, according to you, seemingly complete "switch off mode" on my blog. but there’s no conspiracy theory or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about? I just kind of focus my attention on something else, for the moment, but again, I still do love Henry. just because I don’t talk about him here like I used to does not mean I love him any less. rest assured. he’s still in my heart.

I haven’t stumbled upon any real TFS spoilers, but that’s probably because I don’t follow many blogs that talk about it so it rarely reaches my dashboard anyway.

and I don’t live near the place where the play takes place, so unfortunately I don’t see myself traveling there to watch it live, as life has been a little busy for me here to take that kind of vacations. but I would have loved to. if the time were right. I do look forward to streaming it when or if it becomes available on Netflix though.

I haven’t been following ST leaks much, I can’t see “weekly” because I kind of just look at them if they reach my dashboard here or my twitter’s/X’s timeline. but I don’t actively go search for it nor do I avoid it for fear of any potential spoilers either. but I did just see the leaks you talked about, and I’m actually very excited. it actually reminded me of my fic “Salvation” — I’m not sure if you’ve read it, but yeah. gosh I am genuinely very excited.

though I haven’t checked out the VR Game. I mean… I don’t really play video games so that might explain why.

and no. I’m not “taking a long break” because I think there is no going back from its fever for another 2-3 years after season 5 is released. I don’t even know why I’m “taking a break” except that my mind has just been focusing on something else, currently.

also, yes, some people have asked, and I haven’t had the chance to answer them (I’ve been meaning to, though), so this might be the answer they were looking for as well? there’s no “real reason” behind my lack of activity when it comes to ST fandom, except that I’ve been focusing my attention on something else lately, but that doesn’t mean I love the show — or especially Henry — any less. I still am a fan of the show and of Henry. and I still love Jamie with all my heart, obviously. I still keep up with him and his music and I am so incredibly proud of him as an artist and a person.

I am super excited to see Henry again when season 5 drops. I don’t know when or if my hyperfixation will come back, so I wouldn’t wish to make any promises. but what I can say for sure is that, even though it’s not exactly a hyperfixation, I still love Henry just the same. I hope I will start making lots of posts and writing fics about him again one day.

last but not least, I will always love and support Jamie in everything he does. and he will forever be my source of happiness that keeps me going when things are difficult.

I also want to thank you for reaching out. it means so very much to me. if there is any further matter you wish to talk or discuss with me about, you are very welcome to drop by my inbox anytime.

(and yes, I still love talking about Stranger Things and Henry here. anybody is more than welcome to drop by my inbox to talk to me about Henry — who knows, it might re-spark that hyperfixation within me…)

[lastthroes]

as i've pointed at in the past, and even if berseria by introducing new concepts muddled things, the original intention of eizen asking zaveid to kill him once he became a dragon was meant to set edna free first and foremost

ザビーダ「『俺がドラゴンになったら殺してくれ。きっとエドナが苦しむから』」

ロゼ「叶えてあげなきゃね。アイゼンの望み」

スレイ「ああ。エドナが自由になることがアイゼンの救いなんだと思う」

sorey's answer here is more on the lines of how eizen's salvation, by killing him, will be what frees edna

(and no, sorey does not mention his promise to edna about saving eizen in the 'classical' way: that "fulfill our promise" isn't meant to be there, and i don't understand why the localization added it. honestly there's a lot of problems with this sub-event when it comes to execution and consistency which the localization worsens, and the same goes for berseria with the relevant sub-events connecting to this one, but that merits different posts some other time)

ミクリオ「こうするしかないんだよな。ヘルダルフと戦う前に」

ライラ「はい。エドナさんのためにも」

there's also this that edna says

エドナ「殺さないと……アレが生きてる限りワタシは—」

and with this introduction, the reason i've started this post:

i have always imagined that after rose passes away (in the case she was a shepherd for that long, didn't retire earlier, and edna didn't join the other nameless shepherd instead who's seen in the funeral), edna would end her journey and return to rayfalke. it's hard to picture her as the kind of character who would be like sorey or mikleo, always wanting to go around and discover new things: as the sub-event points out, both her and eizen are different people, fundamentally and up to the meaning of their true names (early bloomer edna vs explorer eizen)

ロゼ「お兄さんっても別の人なんだし、同じ気持ちじゃなくても良いんじゃない？」

ロゼ「そうだよ。お兄さんと違ったこと感じてても悩まなくていいよって意味」

スレイ「だな。エドナの旅はエドナのものなんだから」

still, i find a little grim to think about edna holed up in the mountain again. i get that the original concept of seraphim in zestiria is inspired by the kami in shinto, and it's not odd if seraphim are somewhat tied to the landscape that saw them born, but i would expect that edna's journey with sorey left enough of a mark to prompt a small change that'd then be followed by a chain of events. even if this is just me hypothesizing, because the only people we see in the epilogue are sorey and mikleo, i prefer to think about it in the same vein that eizen was shaped by meeting aifread and traveling with him, to the point the motto of the aifread pirates about steering the wheel of your ship is what he took as the basis for his own life - even eizen comments on how different he was before meeting aifread, "a dour-eyed lubber worthy of little notice" thanks to the toll the curse took on him

so once edna is freed and their journey ends, i would expect some of her behavior, personality or motivations to be somewhat changed (which is something that i also mentioned before, albeit under different circumstances, because i also tie a good deal of how she is to the traumatic separation). granted, i don't think even edna herself knows what she wants to do outside of eizen, not when she's been stuck in incomplete grief for over a thousand of years, which is also why it's extremely likely that she simply returns to rayfalke because that's what she knows... but edna staying on rayfalke was also greatly influenced by the abandonment she felt, and the small sliver of hope that things would one day return back to normal and her and eizen could be together. that's how she waits for eizen's return, and then watches over him as a dragon, both to stop him as uncontrolled as he is (which includes taking on an oath) and hoping to find a cure

スレイ「その間、ずっとレイフォルクに……」

エドナ「ええ。お兄ちゃんの帰りを待ってね」

エドナ「お兄ちゃんは誰かさんみたいな冒険好きでね。しょっちゅう旅に出ていたのよ。ワタシは子ども扱いで、いつも留守番。一応、お土産でご機嫌をとろうとしてたけど」

i cannot imagine edna going on another long travel like that unless once again she's prompted by someone, but i sure would hope that she doesn't simply go back to have the exact same life that she had while influenced by eizen's absence. most of what we see of that mountain is so empty, lifeless and lonely. to think about edna staying there again, for a technically immortal being, and as if tied to watch over eizen's tomb, is just an incredibly depressing thought

i have talked before about edna's unwavering loyalty, a trait she exhibits with eizen and later to an extent with sorey by how she talks to and treats him (i have picked a bone with the localization for making edna meaner/ruder to sorey when she isn't, but supplementary zestiria material also notes how differently she treats him with a few description details). at the same time, however, besides being a depressing thought, i see edna's character gravitating around eizen and nothing else (her relationships with lailah and zaveid before the canon are reduced to nothing but one or two short lines) as a design flaw due to the development nightmare zestiria went through, rather than a fully intended feature (just take a look at her trial in the earth temple for example. it's one of the most obviously unfinished parts of the game, much like the siblings sub-event is despite how important eizen was supposedly going to be during the game's promotional stage)

i haven't really considered what would be of edna after the game because in the end my creativity is purposefully not canon compliant: i always write/draw/commission aus with eizen being purified so they get reunited, and with eizen also begrudgingly accepting that edna can be by his side if she wants to despite the curse. but i do know what i would not want, and it's for edna to continue being trapped under eizen's ghost: that defeats the point of letting her move forward by finally putting him to rest

[taexual]

im getting real tired of oc acting like she has everything under control and is this amazing manger when all she does is order people around and can’t be serious when it comes to confrontations. i mean she yells and questions others for their behavior but they have to draw the line when it comes to her? that’s hypocritical. her saying that she was hiding behind the bet and only bc she was scared of jungkook‘s feelings being real is and was obvious from the very beginning but she also lied to herself again i mean let’s wake it up right?

how come YOU work with your ex boyfriend that is in a band that YOU are the manager of and allow YOURSELF to work with when YOU act like YOU don’t care about him, while YOU also try to control him for petty sht that has mostly to 65% nothing to do with the work environment. she always wants others to give her time and let her get her thoughts right before she has to talk but others for example jungkook has always an ultimatum like what is wrong with her and her entire mental health atp? im on jungkooks side with, that yes i as a reader am tired too if her acting like she doesn’t want to be with him when that’s all she wants but she‘s selfish (in my opinion no shade) bc she wants to see him beg a little more to avoid a) the confrontation about their fucked up relationship that happened from both sides and b) bc it makes her feel worthy of something again bc he didn’t care about her enough in those 4 years he was with others right? then yeah i wouldn’t give my time and energy to get that kind of person back and not bc jungkook wants to be better for her he needs to be better for himself and her never giving him that reassurance is unfair and disgusting bc she can want that from him right?

like i seriously need people like her to just either be direct or get out of that persons life forever. she sees that jungkook has other SERIOUS issues like his mental health and addiction to always downgrade himself as not worthy for any-little-thing but all she focuses on is „omg u did a bet now i can’t be with you and also bc nick wants me on the renaissance tour so ughhh idk everything is so heavy and omg i fainted am having so much stress ugh:((„ like shut the fuck up. she knew what she was getting into when she signed the contract for being a manager could she know how much stress she was getting into? no but that’s no here or there bc she allowed herself to not have a break that is on nobody but herself.

i have so much to discuss about her character but i really don’t want to just know that im tired of her and also thank you for writing something that’s truly new and fresh! i like this story it makes us think and have thoughts about the the chapters in general so yeah i hope you don’t get offended of how i view oc i don’t want to bash your characters ig it just that everyone has a different opinion in certain matters right? still thank you and have a great day! ☺️😊

omg babe you are having some very very interesting thoughts!!!! thank you for reading and for getting invested!!!!!!! 🥺🥺

the characters will have a discussion about a lot of the things that you mentioned soon--mostly in the next chapter--so i'm not going to elaborate much, but again, some very interesting points!! they are people with clear issues, and insecurities ranging from their past relationship to parental trauma to toxic friends. you know what i mean?? and i can't wait to show you what's nextttt!!!! 🤍🤍🤍

adding a spoiler bc i feel like it 🤌🏻

baby you said oc "can’t be serious when it comes to confrontations" and that is going to be one of the key plot points in the upcoming chapters!!!!

their whole relationship, they dealt with the chronic let's-not-talk-about-this illness, you know?? and jungkook is overcoming it! but now that's coming back to bite oc a little bit, because not only does she have to talk too, but she also has to face her demons from the broken relationship she had grown up in

[fleshing-out-fodlan]

Crimson Flower Lysithea Story

I think the Three Houses writing is really held back by 1. the lack of impact non lord characters have on the story post time skip and 2. the lack of in depth unique development for characters on different routes. I understand why this was done from a game play perspective (perma death and also giving every single character 3-4 unique story lines is a lot of work and just unrealistic) but from a story telling perspective it definitely isn't ideal. So I wanted to take a swing at giving a non lord a unique story on a route that isn't their own a way that makes sense from the perspective of the developers.

Crimson Flower Lysithea is probably the most obvious place to start, she was also experimented on by TSWITD so there's so much potential for where her story could go. In Crimson Flower, you are working with TWSITD, something that will stir up strong emotions in Lysithea, even if she knows the plan is for the alliance to be temporary. I think this can tie into Lysithea's need to rush everything. We all know Lysithea's life span is shortened, so maybe she's afraid she won't live to see TWISTD destroyed. TWISTD is what destroyed her family and if they're still so powerful when she dies, she has no way to ensure her family is safe from their torment. So, she comes up with all these plans to prematurely bring them down. We get a cutscene at some point of her talking to Hubert, saying she has to have a meeting with Edelgard and Hubert refusing to let her through because he believes it will be a waste of Edelgard's time so he instead tells Lysithea to just tell him whatever she wants to tell Edelgard and he'll pass the message along if it's worthy of her time. Lysithea tells Hubert her plans but he quickly shuts them down, pointing out some flaw that will hurt their team's chances at succeeding. Lysithea gets frustraed and starts hurling her immature insults at Hubert (I'm imagining similar vibes to her Ignatz support here) but Hubert hardly reacts, finding her more amusing than offensive, causing her to get angrier and just storm off. I imagine this cut scene happening after chapter 14 (so right before the battle where you meet Cordelia). After this, you get the explore dialogue for chapter 15. Lysithea's original dialogue here isn't that important in terms of character development (it doesn't really tell us anything new about her character, generally just that she wants to protect her family which is also established by the stuff I'm adding anyways). So, her explore dialogue will now involve her mumbling to herself about Hubert being an idiot and how she knows what she's doing. Then, she notices you listening and gets annoyed, commenting on how eavesdropping is a childish activity.

Then, we have the "Seige at Arianrhod" battle. If Lysithea and Linhardt are both on the field you'll be given an optional quest (kind of like in Remire where you have a quest to save all the villagers but can still win the battle if you fail that quest). The quest is to have Lysithea be the first on to attack Cornelia. If you don't do this quest, nothing else will happen in Lysithea's story. If you do this, it will trigger a mid battle cut scene showing Lysithea attacking Cornelia but Cornelia is much stronger than she initially thought. After putting up a good fight, Lysithea gets severely injured. Edelgard steps in and stops Cornelia from landing a fatal blow and calls Linhardt over and he then teleports away with Lysithea. You then go back to normal battling mode but you can no longer use Lysithea or Linhardt. There will be two options for what happens after the battle.

Option A. Linahrdt and Lysithea did not reach their A support: In this timeline, Linhardt is not able to save Lysithea. In a cutscene where the battle is being discussed, Edelgard asks Linhardt about Lysithea's status and he says that she died. In the midst of the mourning Edelgard makes a comment about how Lysithea didn't seem like herself, how she's usually so well calculated but in this moment seemed to be driven purely by her emotions. The camera zooms in on Hubert's face, showing one of his more contemplative profiles, as Edelgard announces that they can't dwell on the past and must get back to working hard to secure the future Lysithea was fighting for in honor of her memory. All the characters disperse except Byleth and Hubert. Byleth makes a remark about how Hubert seems like he's thinking about something and Hubert makes a comment about how Lysithea had mentioned a desire to take down TWISTD as soon as possible but that he had stopped her from talking to Edelgard. You're then given two dialogue options. You can either say he should've let her talk to Edelgard which will cause you two to lose support points and Hubert will say something about how Lysithea's actions today proved she was not worthy of Lady Edelgard's time. The second dialogue option is remarking on how Lysithea had so much potential. Hubert will respond to this by somberly agreeing and then the cut scene will end.

Option B. Linhardt and Lysithea did reach their A support: In this timeline, you will see a cut scene between Linhardt and Lysithea before seeing one with Edelgard and the Black Eagles recapping the battle. This scene takes place just after Linhardt finished healing her and Lysithea makes a comment about being so exhausted she's about to pass out. Linhardt then says something about how he's going to pass out too after seeing all the blood. Lysithea simple respond with a "..." and Linhardt realizes something is wrong. He makes a comment about how Lysithea's actions were stupid and how she was unnecessarily risking her life and asks what she was thinking (but he does it in his Linhardt way where he's not saying it angrily just very matter-of-factly). Lysithea talks about how she wants to see TWISTD destroyed in her lifetime to make sure they can't torment her family anymore. Linhardt makes a comment about how powerful groups can never be overthrown quickly (maybe he could make some reference to a similar event in Fodlan history but I'm not knowledgeable enough about the history to think of an example off the top of my head) and also says that her dying early to accomplish this goal would be counterproductive. She asks what he means and he explains how she's one of the best mages on the side and how Cornelia was only one person. Even if she succeeded in taking down Cornelia, there'd still be the rest of TWISTD and the black eagles would be at a major disadvantage without Lysithea. He says she may not live to see the end of TIWSTD, it's possible none of them will, but if she focuses on taking multiple, smaller steps, she can make a greater difference than if she just tries to make one giant, risky leap.

After this, you can now unlock the Lysithea Byleth A support. This support will stay pretty similar, I like how it discusses her feeling a need to rush things due to her shortened life span. The main change would be that now she would mention what had happened in the last battle and discuss it and how it ties into the her desire to rush things and how she's starting to make peace with the fact that she may not be able to accomplish everything she wants.

This is where I imagine Crimson Flower Lysithea's arc ending. There are only six post time skip Crimson Flower chapters I believe, so I didn't want to add too many new cut scenes, especially considering that Lysithea is a side character who isn't even native to this route. I wanted the story I wrote to be one that could realistically be added into the game while maintaining good pacing, so I left out some scenes I would've liked that narratively just didn't fit in as well. If anyone has any head cannons for their version of Crimson Flower Lysithea, whether that be a written out story or just small head cannons you like to imagine, I'd love to hear them either in a reblog or an ask!

[buldakdrama]

King The Land - First Reaction

King The land was certainly one of the most anticipated Kdramas of 2023 and the first two episodes are already up. So, now the question is, did the drama live upto the hype or the first reaction was not-so-worthy? Let’s figure it out in the very first post of Buldak Drama. 

Ever since Yoona and Joon Ho performed Senorita together, audiences have been craving to see them together in a romantic piece. And that very yearnings have been granted by the drama gods as they put the duo together in this new chaebol drama King The Land. 

Both of the main lead being KPop idols, have their own fandoms and that added up with the drama lovers like us and made King The Land one of the most anticipated dramas of 2023. The drama is about a cold-hearted cheabol heir Gu Won, played by Lee Joon Ho, whose life gets tangled up with bubbly, and always smiling Cheon Sa Rang, played by Yoona. Basically Sa Rang works in The King Hotel that is owned by Gu Won’s family, well, problematic family. 

As far as the first episode goes, Sa Rang bags a job in The King Hotel despite being underqualified, thanks to her charming and positive personality. On the other hand, Gu Won returns from the UK and starts working as an intern disguising himself in The King Group. However, he manages to get fired on the very first day (yes, even after being the partial owner). He comes across Sa Rang during his stay in the hotel as he refuses to stay at the family house with his father and step-sister. The encounter of the duo happens through a funny incident but I won’t spoil it for you. However, Gu Won goes back to the UK promising to never come back. This is followed by a leap of seven years, during which Sa Rang climbs the ladder of success and Gu Won completes his degree. He then makes a rash decision to come back to Korea and encounters Sa Rang for a second time but this time as the head manager of The King Hotel. Their encounter, which is rather very embarrassing, concludes the first episode. 

The second episode is nothing special. Gu Won and Sa Rang exchange their initial introduction and they are shoved into a project together. By the end of the episode, they leave for Jeju for a business trip. That’s really all. 

Now the question is, is there anything extra-ordinary about the drama? 

The answer is absolutely no. The same boss-employee trope is all you can find here. Just like the male protagonists of What’s wrong with secretary Kim and Business Proposal, Gu Won, too, has some kind of childhood trauma or more like a problematic childhood. Sa Rang is, just like the typical female leads, charming and bubbly. There is nothing revolutionary about the characters (not yet) as it has a very similar Business Proposal vibe to it. Oh hell, Lee Joon Ho even looks like Ahn Hyo Seop at times. However, one thing that needs to be praised is the visual setting of the drama. It certainly looks very grandiose and offers a nice uplift to your mood. Another praiseworthy thing is the portrayal of the struggle faced by customer service representatives. All three of Sa Rang and her roommates are in customer service and the amount of rude, dumb, perverted customers they have to face on a daily basis, is certainly overwhelming. So, this is where the drama gains a brownie point.

Nonetheless, the drama is only two episodes down. So, let’s wait and see if it brings anything unique to our plate or not. Till then take care and have a nice day. 

– Admin Nika.