#we will definitely update with lots of reasons to love our boys^^

[corrodedcoffins-blog]

How each BAU member found out

main masterlist

spencer reid x famous!reader Universe

warnings: none

Penelope

Penny obvi knew that they were talking

She was the one that gave Y/N Spencer's number

But although she was relentless in asking Spencer updates he would never give her any

So when she sees a picture of Y/N and what the media is calling her ‘mystery man’ who looks a lot like Spencer, that's when she demands answers

It was during a paperwork day and Penny was scrolling when she found an article on one of her favourite artists with a man that look remarkably like the BAU’s resident genius

So she hastily gets up and stomps out of her office to call for Spencer

When he comes to her office confused, not knowing what at all Garcia could want, he softly closes the door and turns back towards her stern face

“What did you-”

“How could you not tell me?!”

“Tell you what?”

“That apparently things went well with Y/N? And that the reason you stayed a few extra days in New York was to see her?!”

“Shhh… I don’t want the others to know, but yes.. Things are good.”

“So are you together?!”

“Um.. Yes, last week in New York we made things official.”

“Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

“Thank you.”

“But, why do you not want the others to know? I know Derek will tease you, but that won’t last forever. And Emily and JJ will be happy for you too.”

“I know.. And it’s not about that, it’s just that- that I haven’t talked to Y/N yet if she’s okay with that. And she’s going through a lot right now and I don’t want to add anything unnecessary onto her plate.”

“Awww, Spencer! That’s too sweet. I promise not to say anything, but you know I can’t keep my mouth shut that long.”

JJ and Emily

And not keep her mouth shit long she did

Penelope had to tell someone, she was quite literally dying

But she couldn’t tell Derek, knowing there was no way he could keep his mouth shut about Spencer having a girlfriend

So she went to someone, or someone’s she knows could keep their mouth shut, JJ and Emily

Penny had told them on one of their girls nights

“Okay, I have to tell you guys something, but you can’t tell Detek, and you definitely can’t tell Spencer.”

Penelope had said coming back to the table with drinks

“Okay, what is it?”

“Our boy wonder has himself a girlfriend.”

“What?! When?”

“I want to know who and how?”

“This part you won’t believe. Y/N L/N.”

“No. Way.”

“Good job, Spencer.”

Derek

Derek, unlike the others, found out on accident

He had gotten a call from Hotch while he was at a bar, saying they had a case

And given he was close to Spencer's apartment he said he would pick up Spencer on his way

But when he knocked on Spencer’s door, a woman opened the door

A woman he recognized, having been on the case of catching her stalker, not to mention that her face was everywhere at the moment

The popstar answered the door dressed only in a pair of men’s boxers and what looked like one of many of Spencer’s sweater vests

“Derek Morgan.”

“Y/N.”

“Um, you’re looking for Spencer.”

“Yes I am.”

“I’ll go get him.”

Y/N softly shut the door after their awkward conversation and ran into Spencer’s bedroom, where he was laying on his bed, clad in a pair of pyjama pants and shirtless

“To answer your question about shrimp, the mantis shrimp can see more colours due to it’s-”

“My love, I normally would never cut off your rants, because I love you and I love your brain. But Derek is outside waiting for you.”

“What? Derek? Why is he here?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I just tried to get out of there fast because I’m only wearing this.”

“Derek saw you like this.”

“Hon, don’t be jealous.”

“Why were you answering the door dressed like that anyway?”

“I thought it was our breakfast.”

During their playful ‘fight’ Spencer got dressed and began walking towards the front door

Opening it and coming face to face with Derek, Y/N staying out of view in the kitchen

“Hey, pretty boy.”

“Hi. Um.. Wha-What are you doing here?”

“Other than clearly disturbing your romantic morning?.. Hotch called, we have a case and I was close by so I said I would pick you up. I thought you would be alone…”

“Oh, well I’ll get my go bag and we can leave. Come in.”

Spencer left the door open, walking down the hall to his room

Derek walked inside, not even having a chance to talk to Y/N, as Spencer was speedily reentering the room

He presses a quick kiss to Y/N lips, they mumble their goodbyes, before Spencer ashers himself and Derek out the door

“Bye, Y/N”

“Bye, Derek”

Y/N closes the door behind them

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, pretty boy.”

Rossi and Hotch

This takes place directly after Derek finds out

When Derek and Spencer arrive at the BAU

Spencer had let it slip in the car that Penny already knew

“Babygirl, you knew pretty boy had a girlfriend?”

“Yes, we all knew.”

It was Hotch that answered

“How am I last to know?”

“I don’t know, you’re a profiler you should have seen the signs.” Hotch said not looking up fron the file

“Yes, it was quite obvious.” Rossi adds

“Unbelievable.”

[thatringboy]

A Body Built for an Undeserving Soul, A Boothill Theory

My definitely sober thoughts while grinding for the eventual Ruan Mei rerun and writing some robinhill have led me to a startling train of thought. I’ll do my best to sound sane as I say this, but the 18 minute discord voice memo I originally made is definitely anything but. Spoilers for Boothill’s backstory, character stories, and other lore, and no I’m not really gonna be citing things because it’s 3 in the morning and I’m high. If at any point I say something that isn’t really supported by canon, please be nice i’m a little silly boy

Anyways

I don’t think Boothill is a Pathstrider.

Let me cook, please. Here’s my reasons why:

The way he talks about Aeons and Paths

The way his body is designed

And 3.

Enjoy the madness below the cut

So, there’s not really a proper way to word any of this without it being an ADHD word vomit. Bear with me. Please.

Penacony has been a fantastic update for those of us waiting for worldbuilding. We’ve learned a LOT about the many factions in the cosmos, the true nature of the IPC, the powers of the Aeons, and that the Paths are tangible things in the universe. The Luofu arc opened up a bit about this, but since it was so focused on The Hunt and The Abundance and The Permanence, we sort of fell back into the same story beats as the Herta Station arc. Either way, Penacony has been amazing for little lore bugs like me.

So what does this have to do with the wild claim that Boothill somehow isn’t a Pathstrider?

Let’s touch some grass for a minute and consider our places in the irl universe. Hi, I’m Perseus, a young transmasculine white adult guy from South Texas who grew up reading too many Rick Riordan books and now has a complicated relationship with both the christian god and the greek gods. It’s an autism special interest of mine to learn about the greek pantheon and while I don’t know everything about it, I’m a silly little guy and can recite fun facts about dozens of gods. I can also recite fun facts about the christian bible and christian mythology because I was forced to study christianity when I was younger. Nice to meet y’all. Now, when I, Perseus, talk to people about the various religions I know a thing or two about, I infodump. A lot. I think I once ranted about Dionysus for 20 minutes before my sister told me to shut up. It happens.

Now focus back in on the important topic: the fictional cyborg with jiggle physics. I’m working purely on memory, but I’m pretty sure when he first meets Dan Heng and Pom-Pom, he does go on a spiel about the Aeons and Paths as he tries to prove his identity as a Galaxy Ranger and Acheron’s identity as Not a Galaxy Ranger. The way he describes The Hunt, The Nihility, Emanators, and Paths, it all just sounded… i don’t know, canned? It came across as very emotionally disconnected, even as he talked about The Hunt, but he was saying all the right words. Like someone who studied a religion but isn’t actually a part of the religion. 

On its own, this means absolutely nothing besides just reminding us of his home planet’s hostile takeover by Qlipoth-worshiping IPC workers. If you haven’t seen the post yet, I really recommend reading the So, Honkai: Star Rail made a cyborg cowboy... an INDIGENOUS cyborg cowboy. post by @ahworm I’ll link it here, please check it out because it recontextualized a lot of how I viewed Boothill’s actions and mannerisms

So the way Boothill talks about the Path he should be a Pathstrider of sounds more like an encyclopedia than a follower. Now, maybe this can be explained by the fact that Galaxy Rangers aren’t the most zealous bunch, especially when standing next to the Xianzhou Alliance who worship Lan as a deity more than The Hunt itself. The Galaxy rangers are the opposite, they are hunters first and last regardless of what Lan in THEIR “greatness” does.

But if Boothill is just a normal Galaxy ranger (whatever that means), then how does he recognize the Jade Abacus of Allying Oath instantaneously? Dan Heng’s barely put the damn thing on the table and Boothill’s already jaw on the floor amazed. One could make the argument that, well, Boothill’s a well-traveled guy, of course he’d know the most valuable artifact to his Path. To that, I say: there’s more to it.

Boothill’s main accusation against Acheron in the beginning is, what? “An Emanator that shouldn’t exist.” He talks about The Nihility and Device IX the same way he talks about The Hunt; learned and detached in an agnostic way. He’s aware these are real concepts and beings, he’s crossed paths with an Emanator of Elation before so he can’t deny the existence of literal gods in the universe

We also know that it’s canon in the star rail universe that there are planets who haven’t heard of the Aeons before, like Sigonia - Aventurine’s planet. Instead of Aeons, we know the Avgins worshiped the goddess Giathra Triclops. I’ve seen the argument that Giathra is just another name for Xipe since THEY have three faces, but Aventurine’s flashbacks are very clear in showing that the worship of Giathra was very different from the worship of Aeons. We don’t know much about Aeragan-Epharshel, but from how the IPC described the indigenous people as needing civilization and other disgusting things (not to mention how they forced a synesthesia beacon into boothill when he was maybe like a teenager? And then his brain nearly broke from the influx of information?), I think it’s safe to say that the tribes of Aeragan-Epharshel also didn’t follow any specific Aeon.

But Aventurine is now a Pathstrider of Preservation, so why can’t Boothill be a Hunter Pathstrider too? Well, dear reader, allow me to bash my head against the wall trying to form words. Aventurine doesn’t believe anything about the sovereignty of The Preservation, just like the rest of the Stonehearts. He has his agenda, and if he has to play Preservation to do so, then he will. I think Boothill is the same, which is also why I can’t wait to see what happens in the upcoming quests with the two of them in the same room. That being said, Aventurine’s Preservation powers only come from his Cornerstone, crafted by an Emanator of Preservation. It’s how he and Topaz and Jade can all be such different people but all be classified as Pathstriders of Preservation, the sheer proximity to an Emanator’s powers canonically give them powers equivalent to actual Pathstriders.

So… what about Boothil? This leads me into my next point: Boothill’s cyborg body. By looking at his Character Story Part 3, we learn that Boothill VOLUNTARILY became a cyborg to become stronger. He literally shed the skin and name from an ancient, dead tongue to become a real loaded gun. His voice lines in combat talk about death a lot, his name literally is in reference to a graveyard - this man cannot wait to finally die in some sort of blaze of glory and vengeance. I say that with a little bit of sarcasm, but Boothill designed his body to be a weapon. 

In a lot of parts of the USA, it’s illegal to even insinuate that you have a firearm as that constitutes as the crime of  “armed robbery”, even if you don’t even have a gun. The threat alone is enough to warrant a higher penalty. But Boothill is already a great shot with a gun, why does he also need augmented teeth and crosshair eyes and hips that can fold his body into any sinful shape he needs? Because the threat alone is enough to give him power over his prey. Almost as if he’s compensating for a lack of magic godly powers. He needs to be able to keep up with even the strongest IPC goons, to pierce their Preservation shields with his bullets so that he can get closer and closer to Oswaldo Schneider.

But how can I prove that Boothill doesn’t have any Path magic? Well, let’s take a spin around his character model. What’s that thing sitting snugly against his exposed asscheek? His pistol? But that’s not weird, Perseus, most cowboys hold their guns there!

But what other playable character has their weapon on their actual model like him?

There are so many in-game cutscenes showing that, canonically, the Pathstriders summon their weapon from some sort of unseen storage or hammerspace. I like the term hammerspace, let’s use that. The playable Pathstriders all use hammerspace to easily summon their weapons. None of them actually carry their weapons on their model. Even Welt Yang has scenes of him summoning his herrscher cane (I’ve never played hi3 please forgive me for using incorrect terms) from his hammerspace. But not Boothill. He has his arm gun and he has his trusty 9 millimeter pistol on his little slutty hip. His idle animations involve reloading his weapons and putting them back on his person. No particle effects, no vanishing tricks, just a man sticking his tongue out to catch a bullet for a snack.

So what have we learned?

Boothill doesn’t have an emotional connection to his Path, it most likely is just the Path he figured met his needs and decided the philosophy was good enough

Boothill’s body is designed to perform specifically to kill Pathstriders, especially sturdier Pathstriders of The Preservation

Boothill either can’t or won’t use the same hammerspace the other canonical Pathstriders use

Each point by themself means nothing, or can be chalked up to unique character designs. But together? My intoxicated mind theorizes that Boothill is not a Pathstrider, merely a broken man trying to play the game according to the rules of the oppressors that colonized his planet and bombed his tribe into reservations and the dirt. Thank you for your time.

[gabessquishytum]

tw suicide mentioned

So Hob doesn’t understand why people don’t love live, he feels like one of the only people who actually has a will to live. so of course he decides to work for a suicide hotline. And things are going good, he’s helping people. and then M calls. “I see no reason left to live,”

“oh um, hello…”

“you have two minutes to convince me otherwise”

“woah woah woah, where are you?” Hob asked feeling frantic. the stranger on the other end of the line sighs, “on the ledge of my building why else would I be calling you?”

Hob is about to dial 911, “could I pursued you to get off the ledge and back into your house?”

the stranger sighs, and hob hears some shuffling and then a door clicking closed. ok good, not in imminent danger.

“you said you wanted reasons to live yes?”

“Indeed, I do not understand why someone would want an eternity of this,” the stranger grumbled.

“I want to live to be a hundred! I’d say that’s pretty close to eternity as for reasons to live Have you considered…chimneys?”

“excuse me?”

“chimneys are fantastic you know, we wouldn’t have had that seen from Mary poppins and handkerchiefs! Where would we be without hankies? I’m sure in a lot grosser society,”

the stranger sighs, “something from this century Mr…”

“Hob, Hob Gadling, now let’s see was ac this century?”

“no”

“how about iPhones?”

“I will not live for an iPhone,”

“what about love?” Shit, he crossed a line.

“she left me… took our son too”

“oh…”

They spent the next hour talking Hob talked about his dead wife and being a single father while the stranger gave the first letter of his name. Fair trade.

M hung up feeling a little more optimistic and Hob gave himself a pat on the back for a good job.

“Hob could you come here?” Ronnie wasn’t the chatty type so hob assumed something was very wrong.

“hey Ronnie, what’s up?”

“well um there’s a man whose been calling everyday and he’s been asking for you specifically…” Ronnie blushed.

“Can you transfer the call to my phone?”

Ronnie obliged.

Hob picked up the phone preparing for the worst. “is this…Hob Gadling?”

it was M! Hob was mortified.

“M what are you doing calling everyday, is something wrong?”

“no, I’m fine, I feel better than I have in a long time. I was trying to reach you to say thank you and to…chat”

hob sighed, “M I’ve got a job,”

he heard a defeated whimper on the other end.

“Alright alright I’ll give, listen I’m not supposed to do this get out a pen and paper cause I won’t say it twice.”

and hob gave M his personal phone number.

and suddenly Morpheus and Hob had something new to live for, love.

-🦎

Ohhh boy yeah I can totally see this playing out! I'm definitely super fascinated by the idea of Hob working/volunteering on a crisis hotline. Especially when he's kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum. I do think he'd be genuinely interested in why people experience such drastically different views on life. Maybe he'd hope that his own outlook on life could be helpful. He knows that he's lucky - it's time to give back to the community and appreciate exactly how lucky he is to have good mental health.

M is the person who really teaches Hob about what its like to struggle. But still, he hopes that he might have made a difference. Maybe it was dumb to talk about chimneys and love, but it did get M to open up! Hob has so many hopes for the man, and he's secretly thrilled that he actually gets an update that M is feeling hopeful too! It's against all the rules, but talking to M - Morpheus - every day... Hob feels like it's doing both of them good. Morpheus is in therapy, he's feeling more confident, he sees a little more brightness in the world. In turn, Hob feels a greater understanding of himself and his own life. Hes a better person, now. And he feels a love for Morpheus which is growing every day.

It's slow, and steady, and there are bumps in the road. Morpheus’s mental health comes above all else for Hob, and he's keen to make sure that his lover takes care of himself. Even if that means taking breaks from their relationship. Hob knows that as long as his Morpheus is alive and well, he'll be happy. And if they keep on working together, step by step, there's a bright future for both of them.

And maybe one day it'll be Morpheus working at the crisis hotline right alongside Hob, telling everyone exactly why life is worth living.

[homestuckreplay]

what kind of sick freak bakes cakes

(page 82-87)

THINGS ARE HAPPENING! THINGS ARE KICKING INTO HIGH GEAR! I'm so blown away by this update, it's definitely the one that's left me the most excited of any so far, for two main reasons.

First, THE TITLE CARD. This is it. The introduction is over, we're done messing around in the tutorial level, we've seen the title screen come into view and now we're ready for John's big boy birthday gamer adventure. I like how simple the animation is, with the slow zoom out as John gazes at the sky as though it's the first time he's realized how big it is, and the rushing wind and tinkling chimes behind it; it captures the banality of John's neighborhood. I just have one question - is the word Homestuck actually in the sky far above the house?

The streets are empty. Wind skims the voids keeping neighbors apart, as if grazing the hollow of a cut reed, or say, a plundered mailbox. A familiar note is produced. It's the one Desolation plays to keep its instrument in tune.

The narration beneath the panel is so different from the irreverent jokes of most of the comic; it's got a sincerity that I think we have seen glimpses of before but never really leaned into. I'd like to, because I'm interested in John's inner life, and I'm interested in knowing who this narrative entity is who knows John's inner life.

According to the adventure map (/map/6) this is Act 1, titled 'The Note Desolation Plays', which means this is a title card for both the act and the comic. I really want to dig into this being the act title - it really suggests that this is the page to pay attention to, and that John running around his house playing pranks on himself is a distraction from a much larger feeling of boredom and dissatisfaction. This is a great starting point for a character, especially the 'something feels missing from your life', and I'm bookmarking this page for future thoughts.

Second, we've tripled our number of fetch quests and confirmed that the Sburb Beta is here, in John's house. We also now have the red and green packages, and enough attention is drawn to them that I desperately want to see what's inside. John's dad left one birthday present in John's room and one in the living room, so I'd believe he's doing a treasure hunt (or prank setup) by also putting one in the kitchen and one in the car, except 1. there wasn't one in the study, and 2. those presents were white; these packages are colored.

So of course, I took inventory of all the other green and red things in the comic so far.

Green: John's shirt, Sburb logo, check mark, flashing available captchalogue cards in interface, leaves on tree, 'Typheus', ^CAKE, grass, CD rack interface, strife specibus card, GREEN PACKAGE

Red: 'TRY AGAIN, SMARTASS" error text, GameBro logo, calendar doodles, blood capsules, captchalogue card error, RANCOROUS, TG's instant messages, mailbox lever, car harlequin, RED PACKAGE

Obviously a lot of these are typical associations of red as stop/error and green as go/success, but some are interesting. My best guess is that the green package has something to do with Sburb, because green has been linked to both Sburb and John himself since page 1. There's an outside chance that it's to do with the strife specibus - that's a more similar shade of green to the package, and I love the idea that when you allocate a hammer to your strife specibus, you immediately get a hammer delivered to your house.

The red package could be a cease and desist from GameBro Magazine for slander, but I think it's something to do with TG, as he's our most prominent use of red. If I'm right, I bet it's some sort of gag gift, since he doesn't seem the type to send a sensitive and thoughtful birthday gift.

Big things are coming. I can feel it in the air when John takes off his disguise for a moment to gaze into the sky over his house. Even if we get immediate tonal whiplash when he's tempted to leave a surprise for the mailman - it can't hide the real sense of anticipation to these pages.

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 158

With each chapter updated, the more I sob to my cat (while wearing my plaid clothes of course)

Also this post is going to be long because I love psychology so much.

Tw: mentions of un-aliving oneself

Lorzanna fighting alongside each other....... that is the most badass way to say "we're girlfriends"

Lorena using the chains as whips and Suzanna doing fencing style!! THEM. I NEED MORE OF THEM.

Medic Syrah! It's like one of those I things I never know I want until I get it.

Aww Orson and Monika holding the portcullis together <3 they're so strong???

Frederick telling Syrah step by step on how to do first aid <3

Also, Frederick using his strategy skill!! He can finally show his talent for Leland to see >:D or, uh, not really since Leland is not currently in the room but ANYWAY

Beckett..Beckett, Beckett, Beckett.... Man got snitched and I'm having second hand embarrassment 💀💀 well he won't be Pastel Top 1 guard but at least he can be with Maria. Oh yeah finally!! He knows who the real Maria is!! I hope he won't forget when he's back conscious tho.

Fellas, let's give appreciation to our guard homies Horace and Old guard (he still needs a name)

Also may I just say Maria looks GORGEOUS in this panel?? HER HER HER??? Also her starting to wonder why Frederick is against the Plaid kingdom?? IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER Y'ALL.

I went from "Lance!! :D" to "Lance :'(" because damn...DAMN??? Bro tbh I'm relieved the gala foreshadowing is him getting hit on the head and not gettint CHOPPED but on the other hand DAMN. The commander did NOT have to do that DAMN. The blunt head trauma??? What if he hit head when he fell?? "So he won't hurt himself" my foot BRUH. I just checked again and HE HIT HIS HEAD. Bro is gonna get a concussion.

Also his face is still bleeding out. In case someone, uh, forgot.

Go Lorena and Suzie go help him! I know what he did was horrible but he's trying!!

Confrontation Time Yayyy...

Blaine. Blaine bro. Stop. Just. Okay there is a lot of childhood issues to be unpacked here. But you know what before talking to him before telling him what he should do maybe we should all just. Let him relax, for awhile. I mean ngl he looks awful, and I'm not trying to be mean here but he and Frederick clearly needs professional help. But let's unpack them one by one. Let's start with the pianist.

(Disclamier: I am not a professional. I am simply telling you my opinion in this post)

Holy shit. Someone give him a break. Give him lots of sleep. Anything to make this boy relax. Let me just say this right away, golden child syndrome. I'm blaming all of these shit on Leland. Y'all our lesson today is: don't put too much pressure on a child, don't compare your children to each other, and accept your child however they are. Please y'all this has happen too much. A child is smart and they achieves lots of things, then makes that their only reason of living, the only reason they are loved. That's horrible. In Blaine's case, I think he feels as if those achievements, those trophies, are a way to validate his life. It's like he cannot fail because if he fails automatically he disappoints everyone including himself.

We know that he has been 'thriving' since he was child. Let's say approximately since he was uhh 9 years old? That would be 12 years of intense hardwork hell sugarcoated by the paradise of 'winning'. Once again, not exactly the best childhood ever. Not to mention, does he even have any friends? We have never seen him mention any. So we can say that he doesn't have any support outside of him being 'perfect' (well, until Maria at least, but that was pretty short-lived :')

At this point I won't even be surprised if the reason he has been doing self care is only so that he looks good as a model and so that people love him.

Man, he needs intense reality check. Also I'm like 99% sure he definitely doesn't want to kill Frederick. The event of him and Lance beating the shit out of the bullies still live in my head rent free. Bro is VERY confused with his life right now and needs help.

Let's move on to the youngest now

Right of the bat I'm going to say:

Scapegoat child, self esteem issues, possibility of depression, and uh we're gonna have to add this now... possibility of being suicidal. Alright.

What is a scapegoat child? A scapegoat child is the child who is pretty much blamed for everything and takes attention of the center of the problem, if that makes sense. As far as I know, this is the child who recognize the actual problems in the family, and is the one to break the cycle of abuse. These children are the opposite of the golden child. And you know what it makes sense that both of them are in the same household. If there is a golden child to praise and give attention to, then there is the scapegoat who is blamed and left out. That is what Frederick is in his family.

Self esteem issues. This boy has been told he is pathetic, weak, useless, and all of those words for his entire life, to the point he actually believe that those words are his entire personality.

Now, I'm not gonna straight up say he is suicidal, though we have an evidence in the panel here. But if we look at the past chapters, he doesn't exactly actively try to die. Those moments where he fell of the Pastel hills are accidents. But we can also say that the suicidal thoughts just came recently. Especially considering what is happening lately. Being trapped in a deep hole with little to no socialization can really do some things to you...even if you're an introvert. We are social creatures. As much as we say we hate chatting with people, we also don't want to be alone with no social communication our entire life now, do we?

Anyway, I'm going to suggest this, there is a chance that Frederick probably has what is called passive suicidal ideation. He doesn't actively try to die, but he wouldn't care if he die. But I'm a little conflicted on this one. Maybe someone else who is better at this field of study can help me?

We can also assume that Frederick told Blaine to kill him out of desperation. There are lots of possibilities that I hope Lambcat will explore more in the future.

Also his coping mechanism of escaping reality is something to watch out for since he has shown signs of not being able to differentiate between reality and fantasy

Now, I just want to say that there is a chance that I'm heavily wrong here. But I'm just stating my opinion and I'm not trying to offend anyone. If there is something wrong in what I wrote please do tell me.

Okay, let's move on to the next scene now—

NAH BLAINE SWINGING THAT SWORD 💀💀 Bro is clearly so stressed istg. C'mon Blaine the curse tattoo doesn't look THAT bad. It looks aight if you ask me. I would even say it's unique.

Yeahhh! What Whitney said! Lmao I'm so sorry but this scene reminds me of Steven Universe and Spinel. Whitney just wanna talk it out :') he has changed so much from his old self.

YOOOO ALL THE ELDEST SIBLINGS ARE GIVING BLAINE A REALITY CHECK. Maria, Whitney, Calpernia. Snap outta it Blaine please.

"I'd like to cut in" Goals. I do also want to start my battle by saying a pun. I can't wait for Prez vs Blaine!! It's going to be sick.

THE MAIDS. HOLY MOLY (haha get it?). Of course they also have weapons. It makes sense considering how protective Jack is! Also

Was. Was the cleaver not enough? Lol 💀

I am even more hyped for Leland vs The maids!

Well, that's it for now. That was a long ass post lmao. I'm gonna go back to class.

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[sewmice]

Thanks for the reblog, I just hope people can clear this and come away still playing… this event is enough to make anyone want to scream into the abyss. I’m almost impressed at the thought process behind this design, no wonder Broccoli changed from Shining Live, this is so much more profitable… for them.

This event being...something. The previous ones all having issues. And up until this huge login bonus, rewards just not being enough for pulls has been not a great start for the game. And with the player base, and hell just Utapri fanbase, just being lower than back when Shining Live started, it makes a mistake way more likely to ruin the game's chance at thriving. Also having a harsher event after the Session Lives and Tokiya's were pretty nice is....rough. And definitely might run people off who are already getting annoyed with the other issues.

Granted, the fanbase is still kicking pretty well, more so in Japan. The whales are still whaling. Tickets are still a fight. But like...we know it's gone down.

The move away from Shining Live is obviously more complicated than Broccoli wanting more money. The game was getting stagnant. It was developed by KLab, who was well moving away from rhythm games and have their own issues. The player base was declining. The spark was gone. I kinda wish Broccoli had leaned more into what made SL great when they took over, but the changing of games was kinda necessary. And it got Heavens fans their boys. Adding them to SL would have required heavy changes. Easier to start from scratch.

I do want to point out what has been great about Live Emotion so far! Reasons why we should stay encouraged and hope Broccoli keeps making good changes (because they have! We just had a qol update! They're giving us the 5000 login bonus too!) And this post is gonna get long lol

The boys in SL....got bland? They were only their idol sides, because even the backstage stuff was on camera. We stopped really seeing their depth and personalities, and that's the whole point of Utapri! To see them and work with them behind the screen! The idol stuff was supposed to be secondary! But since season 4 ended, all we've had is SL, movies, and other side projects that are JUST their idol side (aside from the Starish OVA).

But Live Emotion has us as Haruka again! We're by their side when they're actually being themselves! We get to romance them again! We're seeing Utapri as it was again! And as someone who has been here since 2012, god it feels so nice?? Like old times?

We're acknowledging and even having other characters in the stories. Both presidents have already shown up! And while no one else aside from them is listed in the voice cast yet, surely others will show soon? At least Ringo and Ryuuya. (they should've been in Starish's chapter at the school but whatever) Fucking Rodriguez has a mention in the event?? Like, the world is alive again! It's not just our 11 to 18 main boys (depending on content)

Old content and outfits are being used which will help with the concept fatigue SL had. And also it's just nice to see really good old designs not just be forgotten! I'm not a huge fan as to how Ultra Blast is being handled. It feels weird to have some people get SRs. In the same way I didn't like Oodorokiman and Shining Romance/Force Live being mixed SRs and URs. But I've seen other people upset and in the same way SL stopped doing that, hopefully Live Emotion will too.

And again Broccoli has been listening to feedback and making changes. There's still...a lot of work to do. But SL also made a lot of changes over time. So hopefully they keep listening and things get better. Because there's parts of this game worth protecting and wanting to continue. I loved how SL did stuff too. I wish we had everything about how SL did stuff with gachas and event mechanics, but the story and character quality of Live Emotion. We just gotta...push Broccoli in that direction.

I really hope the event doesn't scare people off! We're on 2 full months of the game. The first of this event type. Stuff can still change!!!

[pixies-love-envy]

Chapter 4: March

The larpers are staring daggers at me because I’m tearing apart their D&D fantasy with my modern clothes, so Cricket takes me to our room a few minutes later. I didn’t need an escort, but she offered, and I had already turned her down when she asked to buy me a drink. She has to leave me here because she says she has to finish the last hour of her shift. I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do here. The only things I brought in from my car were my keys, my phone, and its charger. Our room definitely doesn’t have a TV; it’s so tiny that I’m surprised they managed to fit a full-sized bed in it. I take a few steps around the room and trip over a decorative barrel. They’ve tried to keep up with the medieval theme. I can’t speak to the accuracy of any of the decorations, but the barrel really irks me. I think it’s supposed to serve as a nightstand, but it takes up thirty percent of the room, and it tripped me, so I think it's dumb and decide to sleep on the side of the bed that’s flush to the wall. I should sleep on that side anyway, so Cricket doesn’t feel trapped in our bed tonight. There’s a low hum coming from the barrel. It’s Reese calling; I can’t believe I forgot to call the boys and tell them I’m alright!

“I promise you guys I’m not dead!”

“We know, Jackass. We have your location.”

“We just wanted to know if you’ve slayed any dragons yet,” bursts Dorian.

I swear they spend their nights looking for reasons to mess with me. “Oh, shut up. I have done exactly zero larping tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.” Reese says, “But have you met any fair maidens?” I hear them chuckle loudly, and I wish I were there laughing with them.

“No fair maidens yet, but I did invite a bar wench up to my room,” I tell them, trying to sound nonchalant.

“A bar wench! Fucking hilarious! I love it when you entertain our nonsense.”

“Reese, you know indulging in your bullshit is my life's greatest joy. However, this time, I’m literally sharing a room with the bartender.”

“Oh, shit!” Dorian and Reese shout in unison.

“Is she pretty?” asks Dorian, “Bar wench doesn’t sound pretty.”

“She’s gorgeous: Golden brown skin, dark eyes, shocking yet flattering platinum blonde dreadlocks, and she’s super confident, which I find rather frightening.”

“Interesting. She sounds more like our type, no? What with her not having a penis and all that.”

“First of all, penis is optional! I love everyone, and beautiful is beautiful, Dorian! But she’s only in my room because she has nowhere to stay.” I don’t know if they have trouble with the concept of bisexuality or if they struggle with me specifically being bisexual. Maybe they’re afraid it’s genetic. Almost everything but our personalities are the same. Personally, I think when we split into three different embryos, they were deprived of anything queer, but who am I to say. What I do know is that Cricket would still be in my room tonight if she were unattractive.

Too Sweet Masterlist

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

I’m gonna add a lot more to this chapter but that’s for me to write and you to figure out when you buy my published book

Update: I’m posting the rest of the story on Wattpad as I complete them

Looking for FEEDBACK on my first few chapters. They are really short and are easy reads. Any feedback is welcome. Tell me about anything you think can be improved upon or anything that you liked. Comment on the prose or the dialogue. Literally anything that comes to mind that can help.

@frostedlemonwriter @yourpenpaldee @mundanemoongirl @arrowmoose

[lovethatmakingcoffee]

Lumilla Lopes, @ludylops Post about Forever in English, using English translate

(I will not be adding her links and videos. If you want to see that, you can go on her twitter, here is the link- https://twitter.com/ludylops/status/1744171674378113415)

(Sorry if I messed up by forgetting to translate a tweet)

Hi, I'm 35 years old, I'm a data scientist and I decided to compile a giant thread about the accusation of p3dof1lia against a 27 year old streamer who lives Minecraft. Be patient as there is a lot of information here, complex definitions and delicate topics. The Forever Affair.

I'm a woman, I work in development and data, I make a living doing complex and objective research in the areas of crypto and marketing, environments that I consider very dangerous and in need of more education.

I've loved games since the Pentium 166 and Atari. I've been following the ecosystem for years

First of all, I feel so sorry for the young people who are experiencing so many triggers from this. I see fandom members devastated, and not knowing how to act. It saddens me very much. 

I hope with this thread to give you some warmth and direction, through information and personal experiences.

I've been following QSMP since Cellbit joined, and today I only watch it from POV@oibagi(o/ Jorges) and some lore summary videos. I think the context is enough for now. Well, let's go. 

Forever is not p3dof1lo. But it's not right either. 

Calm down, breathe, follow the thread 👇

I mean, I can't even say that, because I'm not a psychiatrist and much less had the opportunity to talk to and analyze the boy. 

For the same reason, no one can say otherwise, so he cannot receive this diagnosis until a doctor analyzes and diagnoses him. 

Come, follow 👇

This issue is extremely complex among experts in both the medical and legal fields, so be aware that communities are fighting in a highly minefield with little chance of delivering a positive outcome from all of this. 

TRIGGER ALERT

Therefore, I will try to update you as neutrally as possible on what these definitions are today. 

📝 What is P3dof1lia? 

This word has undergone several changes and classifications over the years. Currently, we must first separate crime from psychiatric disorder.

P3dof1lo Disorder

 According to the most recent studies (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5), P3dof1lo Disorder is characterized by recurrent and intense fantasies, desires or sexual acts involving children (usually aged 13 or younger).

Because 13 years old? This is where puberty happens, the biological and physiological transition from our child body to a more adult phase. Girls start to develop breasts, menstruate, and boys are proud of their first hairs and their voices become more dysregulated than autotune 

However, dear padawans, biology is not an exact science, so entering puberty is not like the evolution of a Pokémon. It can happen at 11, at 15, and it's a process. And this 13-year average estimate is changing over the years. 

Studies indicate that, in the 19th century, this number was between 15 and 17 years old, and today we have more and more cases of earlier puberty. And why am I beating around the bush so much on this subject? 

Let's go back to the definition of the Disorder. The catch is: the definition of a child is not universal and that is why it causes so much confusion. In fact, the current age of those involved and the complexity of the context are extremely important. 

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a child is a “human being in the phase of childhood, from birth to puberty”. Puberty is currently defined at around 13 years of age, but is not exact and varies with the years. 

And that is why the age of majority in many countries is 18 years old. 

The terms “child” to define P3dophilia Disorder and legal majority are not the same.That is why, in Brazil and in several other countries that are signatories to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we adopt the term “child and adolescent”, as in our Child and Adolescent Statute, also from 1990. 

And here we have 11 years being the divider.

Now, go back to the leaked Forever prints and conversations. There is, to date, no indication that Forever has a disorder that makes him feel constant sexual desires for pre-pubescent children. 

This is a fact. But did he commit any crime? There is no “crime of pedof1li4”, just as there is no “crime of ADHD” or “crime of sadism” (sadomasochism is considered a paraphilia, as is pedophilia). 

So what crimes are foreseen related to this topic? 

In the Brazilian criminal code we have: 

👉 The 3rd rape of Vulnerable 

(Remember that this definition was only included in 2009. At that time I was already in college, that is, all these definitions are still very recent and cause a lot of confusion even among experts.)

 👉 Child Pornography 

"Present, produce, sell, provide, disseminate or publish, through any means of communication, including the world wide web or the internet, photographs or images containing pornography, or scenes of explicit sex involving children or adolescents." 

Leaving the field of crimes against children and adolescents, we still have: 

👉 S3xual Harassment 

Everything that has been released about Forever so far does not seem to fit into any of the crimes presented. 

But does this mean that the attitude he had in 2016/2017 is morally correct? 

No. But history is made to change the future, not the past 

Take a test for me: ask your parents what gender identity issues were like when they were younger. Or what are neutral pronouns. 

Why do you think that so many people are only coming out now? 

If we were to condemn all past attitudes by the morals of the present, from the millennials behind, everyone would be cancelled. And you will be canceled in a few years too. 

History is made for us to learn from it and change the future. 

Why do we subject ourselves to entering a history classroom and reading about slavery, Nazism, racism, machismo? To do different in the future. 

But the past is in the past. New laws cannot apply to attitudes made before their conception. Nor moral values. 

What we colloquially call today “pedof1li4” is often not related to psychiatric disorder but rather to the result of a patriarchal culture where women need to be much younger than men. 

Therefore, the 20, 21 year old Forever was not supposedly expressing a sexual desire for pre-pubescent children, but rather replicating and continuing an ancient culture where women mature much earlier than men. 

Therefore, a 15-year-old girl would be on equal terms playing and trash talking with a 21-year-old adult. 

However, today we know that this is a lie and the trauma it causes women. 

But what's wrong? 

The definition of “harassment” may need to be updated. 

In Brazilian legislation, Sexual Harassment is applied in an employment context, such as a boss who makes sexual jokes to an intern, and she does not defend herself for fear of losing her job.

However, I have been observing that, with the emergence of the internet and social networks, teen idols are increasingly closer to their fans. 

The influence and power that an idol can represent for their teenage fans is comparable to that of a boss in the workplace.

Teenagers harass idols. They send nudes on Instagram. And knowing how to deal with this is still something very new, as the idols are also new. 

It is in this fertile field of uncertainty that the cancellation gains strength, and it hinders this debate rather than helping it.

The dangers of cancellation When I see comments about “the Order Paranormal community is toxic, the QSMP community is toxic, the community canceled Jão again” I don't even understand where these discussions are taking place. 

In the past, communities were formed in centralized environments, such as forums and chats. 

I found out it was on Twitter and Tiktok. Which leads me to the question: how on earth does a Twitter community exist? Twitter even has a recent community tool, but it is still underused.

All the thousands of information and opinions on the subject pop up in millions randomly in each person's feed depending on what the algorithm chooses for them. It is almost impossible to build a chronology or logical line of facts posed by fakes that go viral from time to time. 

And lost millennial as I am, so are journalists, advertisers, legal advisors and all the professionals who have the sad task of trying to extract as much information as possible from this chaotic world and take some action with their team of influencers or clients. Poor boomer judges who have to deal with cybercrime cases. Justice is slow. However, Twitter is too fast. Judge and demand action immediately. 

At the time of this thread, Forever has already lost followers and mentions on pages, risking losing projects.

What we have now are creators giving up on their projects, abandoning their communities, all because we still don't know how to deal with the social and technological changes that are getting faster every day. Misinformation spreads faster than information.

Of crimes against honor 

If being a young asshole in the past is not a crime, imputing false crimes and unfairly attacking a person's honor is. In legislation we have 3 crimes associated with honor: Slander, defamation and insult.

Anonymous profile does not save. 

Each generation has something to teach, but also to learn from the previous one. I saw the internet grow. 

This isn't nostalgic talk about “ICQ was still good”. Crosses. But I lived the world without the internet, and with the internet. 

Returning to my personal perspective, I started an engineering course in 2007. 

There were only 2 women in the room. Not only did I experience all kinds of machismo and harassment, I also practiced a lot of female rivalry. And homophobia. Several of these women are my best friends today. 

Many of them I don't even want to see painted gold, but many of my colleagues who shared photos of me in bikinis when WhatsApp came out are my best friends today. 

As? IM crazy? Uninformed? No.

As time went by, I was able to see what was a portrait of a sick society, and what was an individual character. Together, as friends, we discussed a lot. We fight. We touch wounds. We learn. 

Some of the college “catchers” and bullies even took on a new sexuality when they came to terms with themselves, and saw a safer world emerging. We eliminated from our vocabulary expressions such as “viadinho”, “mute servant”, “samba do creole doido”. 

We learn to accept the consequences of our actions. Therefore, those who remained after this whole process were worth taking for life. 

But this all takes time. Search. Study. Anonymity allows this. 

However, these young public figures are being pressured to go through this process in public, and without time. 

They need to post a mature statement within minutes, as mentions accumulate on Twitter. 

[fullofhevrt]

[ he/him, cis man ] greetings to all of our listeners! we start today’s potterwatch with a long-awaited update on mason dursley who was finally spotted alive just last night, wandering the streets of london. for those of you who haven’t tuned in before, they are a twenty seven year old muggleborn wizard who is oddly reminiscent of lips that don’t know how to lie, faint laughter lines adorning tired eyes, arms too small to hold all those you love close, sunlight breaking through the night, losing yourself in work which makes sense considering their protective, compassionate, trustworthy, arrogant, impulsive, and stubborn nature. you might know of them as the biological child of dudley and aurelia dursley, and we’re sure that their family will be relieved to hear they’re safe and sound — or at least as much as you can be, in times like this. to all our listeners, if you catch a glimpse of someone who looks a bit like that muggle alex fitzalan, that’s them. before approaching, please be aware that they’re rumored to be affiliated with the order of the phoenix, so best proceed with caution. these are dangerous times we’re living in. well, thanks for tuning in, folks. we’ll play ourselves out with not strong enough by boygenius.

It all happened so suddenly when members of the order showed up to his door, his parents were far from excited. His mother especially. His father understood better than his mother and against his wishes, convinced her to allow him to attend school. There was always a part of Mason that knew he didn't belong and now it all made sense. He didn't understand fully what it would mean to leave his muggle home for the wizard world and the risk he would have to deal with considering he was a muggleborn or that he'd end up losing his mother along the way. Mason was raised Catholic along with his younger sister Anthea and was very involved in the church growing up. He was an alter boy and even attended catechism throughout the week. Having someone come and tell Auriela that her son was a wizard was blasphemy to her. Her emotions getting the best of her and reminding Mason if he went through with it, he would not be welcomed to heaven and that she would no longer have a son. All Mason knew was if he didn't do this then he would regret it and so he went with his father's support though it wasn't much either. Due to obvious reasons, he hasn't returned to the muggle world. Attending scholomance, Mason felt like he finally belonged somewhere. He quickly found his place in Ravenclaw and was able to make friends and even joining Quidditch as a Chaser. Learning has always been his strongest quality and so it didn't really surprise him that's where home was. Though Gryffindor was a close second. It was easy to fall into place considering at the beginning it was a lot like his muggle school but regardless, Mason always excelled in whatever he put his mind to. No longer having contact with his parents, Mason decided to stay and help his cousins and friends the most he could, finding comfort and a second home with them though he misses his sister dearly. He decided to join the order of the phoenix, moving up rather quickly due to his determination and dedication. He is currently a dragon rank, proving that he has the heart and determination to help any way he can which he's engulfed himself in fully to avoid thinking too much about everything else.

He’s always been very dedicated to his career to the point that his friends often have to remind him that there is life out there besides working but it’s just easier to Mason to engulf himself with something to do. He often needs people who will pull him away from working and remind him to breathe and just try to enjoy life though this is no easy task for them, Mason feels like he doesn’t have time to be messing around. A bit of a workaholic in that way. He has a big heart and definitely always tries to keep a smile on his face because someone has to.

Fun Facts.

He was very dedicated to his studies and is always trying to learn something new. Its the only way he's been able to keep up his positivity.

Always tries to see the best in people

Rarely ever seen without a smile, has a lot of repressed anger though

A little sarcastic now and then and over protective but always means well.

He doesn’t tell many people but he tends to push his limits with his magic.

He's finally open about his bisexuality. This was something that always caused tension with his mother as she was a very devoted Catholic and part of the reason why she cut contact with him which has lead to inner conflict within Mason even years later. He is aware that he’s bisexual but there is so much internal homophobia that he is unlearning little by little.

He is very loyal to his friends and will go to the ends of the earth for them.

[not-poignant]

Hi! Is there going to be a break between TND finishing and TUP launching? Adore all your stories - much love!🥰🥰🥰

Hi anon!

Yeah there's definitely going to be a pretty significant break! I need to get my story load down pretty drastically, so I don't think I'll be able to add The Prince's Son back in until Blue, Gold or Black are finished in the Underline the Rainbow series.

I'm hoping my future line-up which is many months away will eventually be something like:

Palmarosa

Underline the Silver (this or Red will likely replace Black)

Underline the Red

The Prince's Son (once a month updates)

Constellations and/or other Falling Falling Stars extras (once a month updates)

And pooooossibly Smoke in Autumn going onto regular rotation.

A Stain that Won't Dissolve is over halfway now, it's reasonable to think that might actually be finished by about chapter 50 or a bit before. Underline the Black is well over halfway, and we're actually sliding into our final act. Blue and Gold might actually be still going at that point but they're not as taxing as some of the regular stories I'm working on every month! They're pretty relaxing to write.

The reality is that I've been working way too hard for a little while and rather than just like... go on complete hiatus, which I can't afford to do financially anymore, I will not be replacing every story I finish with something else.

I'm in a group with a lot of other professional serial writers on Facebook and when the question 'how many projects / serials are you working on right now?' comes up, most people are working on 1, or 2-3 at most. And then I come in and I'm like 'I'm working on 8' and then we all sit there and stare at that like 'damn boy you're going to collapse if you keep doing that' to which it's like oh I already have. x.x Whoops! It is a problem entirely of my own making, I'm excited about all of these stories, and it's really only sheer willpower that is stopping me from also working on Red and Silver and The Prince's Son etc. at the same time.

This is also to give me more time to rest but ALSO to work on editing Game Theory which has honestly ground to a complete halt!

Anyway there's some shifts happening, they're a few months away, and The Nascent Diplomat isn't officially finishing until May (on AO3), and I actually think by then I'll have a better idea of what's happening.

Hopefully! O.O

[andoqin]

List of dramas that I am watching or want to watch, just for personal record reasons:

Cdramas:

The ingenious one (36/36): this drama has blown me away so far with its incredibly nuanced and sharp writing, its love stories between all the major couples and the absolutely magnificent cinematography. FINISHED verdict: HIGHLIGHT drama of the year for me so far. Smart, engaging, complicated, peak romance of all sorts, just what the doctor ordered tbh (overly long review can be found in my tags). 9.5

Chang Feng Du (40/40): I did not realise how close to the end I was. This drama is very pleasant and I adore our mains, but sadly except for a few highlights (the early beating gjs put on himself, the destruction of the gu family and the aftermath, the battle for wangdu) the writing hasn’t been able to keep the narrative tension up which is sad. FINSHED verdict: Very pretty and engaging in the beginning kinda loses me in the second half and then fizzles out emotionally, doesn't crash and burn but doesn't exactly stick the landing either 6.5

Gone with the rain (10/30): adore the gremlin4gremlin couple and from the spoilers I’ve seen not gonna adore much else

An ancient love song (1/16): incredible first episode and with only 30 min per ep and 16 eps in total this is gonna be a short fun ride I hope ( with lots of angst and tears naturally).

Here we meet again (18/32): started this for Wu Qian playing to type and Zhang BinBin being pretty but oh boy I’m struggling I just don’t care about the conflicts and in s surprising twist, I like the flashbacks to high school much much more, which is very funny if you think about the fact that the reason I started liking wu qian in the first place was because of her show stealing performance in the flashbacks of My Sunshine. I’ve been promised kisses in the near future so I’m gonna hold out till then but this might end up another drop.

Hidden Love (5/25): this one promises to be v sweet and kinda short but oh my god I have so many dramas on my plate rn so this might end up the first drop.

Till the end of the moon (22/40): I think I watched ep 1 when it started but then I got busy and now I am just staring at gifsets and crying, it’s definitely on the list to watch tho.

Heroes (6?/38): I started this a while ago, was really into it and then got busy… dammit. I might just rewatch the beginning so I can remember most of the set up for sure but man the visuals on this were so good, aaaa liu yuning.

Blood of youth (0/40): the last 12 months really have spoiled us with interesting looking wuxia dramas and this one is definitely on the list, I have been gifbaited once again.

Ray of light (0/30): usually hs dramas are something I avoid, but because I will not be watching the longest promise, for reasons, and bc @storge is a gifmaking temptress, this has made it on the list.

The legend of anle (0/39): Lmao trust YOUKU to screw up the release with bad subs only 1 ep even for vips and no released schedule… but at least I can put this on the backburner for now. Lmao should have known not to trust a youku dilreba drama, the tl has soundingly spoken and I'm gonna avoid this.

Ancient Detective (0/24): I was recced this by a friend when I mentioned my love for wuxia dramas, and since it’s almost shockingly short for a cdrama it’s on the list. EDIT: this got @purplehanfus seal of approval so it is def going up the list and since it's complete I'll probably at least watch it before the ongoing ones.

Butterflied love (0/22): see I barely made this post and already forgot about the screencap that got me started on writing it, the screencapa look great, but the drama is on mango, so who knows when I’ll truly be able to watch this

When I fly towards you (0/24): Well, I wasn't interested bc modern youth drama, but then I heard it described as "updated It Started with a Kiss" and... I'm weak? ISWAK was pretty much my crack gateway into asian dramas and while IDK if i could rewatch it today, something in me will always love this kind of story. Maybe it's like a quick palate cleanser in between since apparently eps are only about 30 mins.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook(0/40): CHENG YIIIII, in a possibly bromantic role? Or maybe het romance, I'll take it all. Plus I've already seen he's bleeding copious amounts as per his contract, so that's most of the checklist done.

Lost You Forever (0/??): because nature abhors a vacuum I apparently must have?? A minimum to watch pile and this actually and genuinely looks good??? A Yang Zi drama in 2023??? The mind boggles. Anyway I've been reading the recaps with delight, and am def going to watch this when part two airs in a couple of months but until then I have a thankful reprieve...

Kdramas:

See you in my 19th life (4/12): since kdramas release so slowly this is on the backburner but it does have some great gifsets that keep enticing meee

King the land (2/16): I am watching this for junho but it is kinda hard bc I have so much else on my plate and while I don’t mind a classic romcom type story I feel I need a bit more of an emotional hook

Story of the nine-tailed 1938 (0/16): so so many gorgeous and hilarious gifsets so little time. I loved season one so so much and the fact that this focuses on the brotherly relationship?? Extremely smart writing decisions were made!

The red sleeve (0/16): I blame @dangermousie for this she keeps reblogging angsts junho on my dash and I am but god’s weakest warrior.

Love tractor (0/8): gay himbo farmboy falls in love?? You bet this is on the list

Lady durian (0/?): ok this is only on the list for crack reasons but, daughter in law is in love with mother in law and both women are like 40+ truly kdramas have entered a new era and I kinda wanna be here for that

EDIT: Revenant (0/12): Kim Tae Ri in a spooky drama? POSSIBLY POSSESSED KIM TAE RI??? how could i forget to put her on this list, plus it was written by the Kingdom writer and I adore that drama plus it's only 12 eps which is smart in this case so... let's hope i get to it at some point D:

My dearest (2/20): I checked this out because it's got pretty much everything going for it from a production standpoint and boy did the first two eps deliver. This has got 2 seasons though so I'll probably wait until the second season is airing, since it won't be too long till season 2 or so the internet tells me.

My lovely liar (0/16): minhyun learned to act and I wanna see it happen!!

Jdramas:

Our dining table (2/10): ok this category is gonna be a bit shorter bc I haven’t watched too much drama recently but omg the gifs for this I am just crying thinking about it they look so cute??

Jack o‘frost (0/6): people have recced it and it’s short so here it is.

Utsukushii kare s2 (0/4): Season 1 was an unexpected delight so I hope s2 works just as well.

She loves to cook and she loves to eat (0/10): the manga for this is amazing (and hungry making) so I hope this adaptation holds up.

Ok this list is in no way exhaustive (well except for me being exhausted just trying toward this down) and probably subject to change ( I haven’t even looked at thaidramas or twdramas I gotta stop for now) but hopefully this will keep me on the ball and maybe I can add to it whenever a new tempting gifset crosses my dash…

[poolboyservice]

(look here for more context)

well, well, well, isn't it by far the longest list I'll probably ever make in my existence as an alter, let alone our life? let's just cut to the chase: I'm ranking all of my fanfiction on Quotev. And by golly is there a lot!

Keep in mind that while I do have original stories such as Comet Boy, I am gonna be ranking solely my fanfiction.

Under this cut, we're going through a ranking of 11-1, going from least to most personal favorite, which is the total fanfiction I've written ever basically. This is excluding quizzes and unfinished fanfiction that aren't published. We'll start with the ranking, then I'll reblog with the quizzes, and unfinished works later, because the ranking alone is really long.

ALSO, TO CLARIFY: All the fanfiction I am mentioning is on Quotev. There's not really any other way for you to read them atm, but I am planning on publishing some to AO3.

I'm genuinely terrified to post this, but without anymore fluff, let's go.

RANKING ALL PUBLISHED FANFICTION

#11: child of a vampire, lover of a killer (sus mcr x reader fic owo?), MCR parody fic, link

This is my least favorite fanfiction of all time. I fucking regret writing this disgrace and I hate it with my heart. Ignoring the fact that I didn't put my heart into it, everyone LOVED this fanfiction the most, and for a while it felt like no matter what I posted or what I did, the only thing that mattered to my followers was just that stupid parody fic. I don't think I ever really hated something I made until I made this. I'm glad more people are starting to gravitate towards my more genuine works but god.

#10: Something's Not Right..., killjoys au, sigh... link

So you know how I said I fucking HATED child of a vampire? Well this one is a second. It's not really the idea I hate (au where the Killjoys names are taken literally), actually, I kinda made a revamp of this fic after with some changes!, but the execution along with frankly its revamp is bad... I am horrible at life advice, but dear future me: DONT DO THIS EVER AGAIN. The plot is basically nonexistent, and you can hardly even read what Fun Ghoul and Kobra Kid say, because for some reason I thought people fully understood what the fuck they were saying, so I didn't provide ANY translations!! It's not the worst I've written (flashbacks to my creepypasta era), but god it's definitely bad.

now, finally, with my grievances out, this is where I actually show you stuff I don't hate with my bones

#9: The Travel To Headbutt THE OLD GOAT, goatsim x mcr mashup, link

not really bad, per se, honestly, I could even say it's cute. It follows my average gameplay in goat simulator basically, featuring a totally underused (sarcasm) Bulletproof Heart reference in the end. It's only lower because I didn't even finish the first chapter. Surprisingly, this is a fanfic a lot of people like, despite its.. weirdness.

#8: Slightly Tilted (A Killjoy AU Fic), title explains itself, link

This one isn't actually that bad, and it actually has finished chapters. The dialog with Kobra Kid is ten times better, and I even explained some of the AU (at least with the characters) so there's given context! Honestly, I only put it in a lower ranking because I'm salty i never mentioned the Girl and the constantly changing perspectives. At least it was one perspective per chapter. Also, this becomes a more common problem with some fanfiction I wrote in 2022, but for some reason I wrote dialog like " This ". Whenever I get to posting all of these lovely cringefics on AO3, I will be fixing that, along with updating that on Quotev. For the meantime, we will need to deal with it.

#7: Confused Spider, killjoy au, link

Honestly, it's not bad, but it's really not good either. Unfinished, unnatural interaction. You can tell I have never talked with a neurotypical person or really anyone in years. I don't really like how Party Poison is characterized. I don't know what I could really say here, it's just really a nothing fic. Dialogue spacing problem like " this " still persists.

#6: Odd Place (Party Poison x Reader), killjoy y/n fic basically, link

Unironically? It's bad, really bad. Despite this taking me an entire year writing, and me actively avoiding every y/n cliche I saw, I accidentally made this fanfiction even more like a y/n self insert. The grammar is bad, the prologue is shit, the paragraphs are completely disorganized, the characterization is horrid, and so help me god if I see another "author's note" in ANY PART OF THIS FIC. Ironically? Genuinely a funny fanfic. It is so bad, it ends up being funny. I 100% recommend getting on call with your friends and reading this out loud because you will be howling by the end of it.

#5: pretty, pretty fangs, Twilight oneshot, link

Yeah, pretty startling surprise compared so everything you just saw, right? Even more shocking, it's actually turning 1 year old in 2 days as of writing. This was written in honor of one of my friends writing a really good AU where instead of Bella and Edward, it's Bella and Alice, where I then wrote about Jacob and Edward. I actually never read or watched Twilight when I wrote this, so I was really using memes and what said friend has said about the characters. My friend and other people really liked it, so I think I characterized Jacob and Edward pretty good in this. As said, I haven't read or watched Twilight in any way except for maybe the very last movie, so I really know nothing lol. enjoy your werewolf-vampire yaoi ig

#4: Coffee Machine (Frerard) [clickbait title], not frerard, but a MCR AU about ghosts, link

Contrary to what the title says, it has nothing to do with Frerard! I just felt like being a dick and added it to the title to catch the viewer's attention. Honestly, I kinda like this one. I was more than aware about how ridiculous the concept is that Gerard Way is literally a coffee machine, but despite that, I still treated this with respect and took it seriously. This was/is one of my more popular fanfiction amongst my followers, aside from the wretched 'child of a vampire', and I guess I see why. Little bonus fact: This was inspired of a fanfiction I heard of where apparently Gerard was a housefly, do what you will with that.

#3: A Second Chance, Take a Life, Another Mission, MCR zombie AU, link

A dark twist on a fanfiction I wrote before this that has yet to be mentioned, but will show up later. Honestly, out of all of these, this one is frankly the longest fanfic I wrote, both in length, and how long it took me to write this. Like, I think chapter 1 alone took me three months, and chapter 2 took me seven. One of my older fics, yes, but I think it aged pretty good for the most part. There are some gripes I have but they're mostly personal, rather than anything in terms of actual writing skill. I will say though, I feel with how I described things and stuff, this should've been an animation rather than a text.

#2: Burning Bolts, scientist au, link

Despite this being only 1 chapter long, and franky really silly, this is one of my personal favorites. Sure, it is very unrealistic for Gerard or even literally the laws of science and physics, but I genuinely had fun with it. I was actually inspired by one of my childhood shows, The Adventures of Figaro Pho. Honestly, one of my regrets is really not continuing on this. There isn't much I can really say.

and, finally...

#1: Zombie Disco, MCR zombie AU, link

This.. I have a lot to say about this one specifically. To start, wow is this writing and storyline actually insane. Most of this was written on mobile, and it really shows. The dialog spacing issue is EXTREMELY bad here, the extra spacing between paragraphs, the drawings I did for this one, the exaggerated grammar (i.e. "WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!"). THE BONER JOKE. This has it all, this was my Frankenstein's monster. This is my baby. I have no words, it's genuinely hilarious. Ironically, this is my favorite fanfiction, and it's one of the earliest fanfictions I wrote. I have changed a lot in progress and it really shows if you look at what I write now vs. this fanfiction. I would hate but honestly, I love it. The sole reason this even happened was because I was having a horrible panic attack in the middle of the night, and in an attempt to calm myself down, I wrote the entirety of the first chapter, and I liked it so much afterwards, I published it. This fanfiction means a lot to me, even if it's probably the worst I have ever written, writing skill wise. Currently, I'm actually rewriting this, and yes I will include the infamous joke in some fucking way because I don't think I could've written anything funnier than having Frank Iero comparing a zombie's involuntary craving of flesh to a boner. I'm sorry, I'm being like a 12 year old rn, I don't care, that's funny!! 2022 me was whack.

and... that's it! that took me a long time to do but hey, I did it. I feel really scared of posting it but it's whatever.

[absolutebl]

Hi! Sorry in advance for how long this post is going to be. I have so many things to ask.

I'm mostly obsessed with Thai BLs at the moment, but I do want to diversify, so what are the top recommendations for Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese? I don't like too much angst or conflict. As in, I could barely get through series like Theory of Love and Never Let Me Go.

Your BL linguistics and honourifics posts helped me a lot when I was but a newbie in this world. Ah, good times. Anyways. What I wanted to ask is, taking inspiration from, and with (credited) reference to your posts, can i make a post of my own? It will only be on Thai. I just want to compile all the things I've learnt so far.

I was sniffing around MyDramaList (for reasons) and found Water Boyy. Is it worth watching? Also, Boys over Flowers (F4 version). I really don't want to watch het romance unless it's really, really good.

You don't have to answer this, it's just for my own curiosity. I'm thinking of making a EarthMix TharnType AU with role reversal. So far I have Mix as Tharn, Earth as Type (yes, i got the idea from Love by Chance), Tay or New as Thorn (Tong is so much better as Tankhun. Also, in this, Thorn is also ver gay, hence TayNew), Love or Film as Thanya, and of course, the crowning gem, Neo Trai as Techno. Question is, who should I cast as Lhong (better if its GMMTV since i know them best, but other agencies are also good.)

Last but definitely not least, I respect you a lot. And i love your blog. Irrelevant, but I wanted to ask, how was today's Boss and Babe (ep. 4)?

Moving on from Thai BL

1a. I'm mostly obsessed with Thai BLs at the moment, but I do want to diversify, so what are the top recommendations for Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese?

Sure thing. Read the descriptions of my top 10, they will let you know how soft the different dramas are. (I like soft and sweet a lot myself, so there are always many in there).

This one needs to be updated, I added quite a few more to my 9/10 list for Korea since then. But with Our Dating Sim and The New Employee this year is going to require it to be updated AGAIN. (Both highly recommended for your needs)

This one is mostly up to date.

This one is totally up to date.

Low Angst, Low Conflict, Soft BL

1b. I don't like too much angst or conflict. As in, I could barely get through series like Theory of Love and Never Let Me Go.

Here are some lists for ya:

Don't watch Waterboyy.

3a. I was sniffing around MyDramaList (for reasons) and found Water Boyy. Is it worth watching?

NO. Avoid all versions. It's terrible. I mean, if you are completest you have to but otherwise... NO.

Boys over Flowers is gross

3b. watch F4?

I am sorry to all the stans out there, but I LOATHE this franchise. I've watch a number of them, always hoping a new remake will make it palatable. NO. I hate all of them. All the worst tropes of a reverse harem. I am intersted (like Twilight) in understanding WHY it's so popular but personally, it gives me the disgust willies. Yech.

This is why I want it gay. Would that make it palatable?

I suppose the one form Laos is the only one I even kinda enjoyed and it is by far the worst production values. I gave it up 1/2 way through. I think I watched 3 eps of F4. No thank you.

Honestly if you want this kind of het toxicity, I think Heirs is a better version of these tropes. Also it's legacy Kdrama so will tell you a lot abouy that industry and what toxic tropes they love (and still employ) even in their BL.

4. who should I cast as Lhong?

Khaotung? First? 5. Last but definitely not least, I respect you a lot. And i love your blog. Irrelevant, but I wanted to ask, how was today's Boss and Babe (ep. 4)?

Aw, thank you so much!

I haven't watched it yet. Tonight!

Lunch, regression analysis all afternoon, dinner with one of my adorable exes, then Jack o'Frost, B&B, and Boys' Planet... in that order.

[daisyishedwig]

Fic writers tag

I was tagged by @kurtsascot, thank you for the tag!

And I'm tagging @calsvoid and @lusthurts and anyone else who wants to participate.

1. how many works do you have an ao3?

I have 37 on AO3 and 80 on FF.net, and most things from my AO3 are on FF excluding like 3 fics. I'm including my FF account because that's where I started posting many many years ago and continued to update until a couple yers ago when I transferred to just posting on AO3. There is a lot of fics on my FF that I haven't crossposted to AO3 yet, and some I probably never will.

2. whats your ao3 word count?

AO3 is 217,634 and FF.net is 287,357

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Nowadays, just Glee, though I do have some WIPs for Stranger Things, Captive Prince, Magnus Archives, and Hatcetfield that I do want to post /someday/. When I started I wrote Supernatural. And over the years I've also written Doctor Who, Takin Over the Asylum, Harry Potter.

4. top 5 fics by kudos

Not So Dapper, Dare, and This Isn't Love all tie for first place with 171. Then there is Chance at 164, I'm Never Letting You Go at 157, Don't You Dare at 150, and Don't Tell Me What You're Thinking at 144.

On FF.Net (by favorites) its The Thoughts I Can't Deny at 163, The Unspoken Rule at 120, A Strange Realization at 142, Icy Love at 101, and Maybe We Can Be Okay at 93.

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I certainly try! I'm always torn between giving hints and secrets and wanting to keep everything close to my chest so the closer someone is to guessing a big plot point or asking a question that I can't answer without spoiling, the less likely I am to respond. Which is why I'm better at responding on one shots, because there's nothing to spoil!

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ohhhh, probably Say Your Name While Our Tongues Are Tied. There's probably a Blangst fic from back in the day that has a sadder ending, but they're usually at least hopeful. Say Your Name just feels very helpless, like it's hard to envision a world where anyone walks away from this situation happy, you know?

7. whats the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

A Place To Call Home, probably, even though I haven't posted it yet. The Thoughts I Can't Deny probably would have if I'd actually written an ending for it, lol. Tear Down My Reason is definitely very happy, and I Could Touch the Teardrops on Your Face is probably the sappiest ending.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I know I have in the past but I don't remember for what or why, which means it probably didn't really stick with me. And from what I do remember I think it was largely from people who didn't like the characters or ships I was writing about and would come to bitch about that and I'd be like, if you hate Blaine Anderson so much, why are you reading a Klaine fic? I do kind of remember a Kurtofsky shipper coming to complain about how "abusive" Blaine is and I was just like, sure, Jan, when you ship Kurt with the person who threatened to kill him, you definitely have a leg to stand on.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I don't as much as I used to and I actually tend to skip over it a lot. I've been much more into the emotional aspect and only really write the sex if I feel like it will add to the heart of what I'm writing.

But oh boy did I used to. And when I did it was pretty much exclusively D/s and kink stuff, and even when it wasn't there would at least be some form of powerplay or marking in an otherwise vanilla scene, just so my kinky brain would have something to latch onto.

10. do you write crossovers? whats the craziest one youve ever written?

Only on occasion? Like I'm currently working on a White Collar/Glee fic and a Magnus Archives/Hatchetfield fic. Aside from that it will be more like just an AU or inspired by a different media. So like, Sebastian Smythe is the flash, but other characters from The Flash don't really appear. Or my Mrs. Winterbourne Seblaine AU. Or the Spies Are Forever inspired Seblaine AU I have currently only managed to write 300 words in.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have. I remember someone turning the original Icy Love (which I still haven't crossposted to AO3, oops) into a Larry fic. And I know I've seen some of my stuff around any time there's a new website stealing things from AO3 and putting it behind a paywall. But at some point I got to lazy to care.

I did have a scare a litte while ago where I thought someone had stolen one of my fics because someone commented saying they'd read it under the username comewhattklaine before and I was like I have /never/ used that username before. I've used a lot of pennames over the years but never that one and I went absolutely crazy trying to find where someone with that username at stolen my fic. And then I realized that on my old Scarvesandcoffee account, I had used that name, but that website had been dead for so long i'd forgotten about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I feel like I have but I cant for the life of me remember what.

13. have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! @itallstartedwithharry and I wrote Tear Down My Reason together. It was an absolutely incredible experience and I always wish that she had the time to write together again because we worked so well together. I was really good at word vomiting on the page and she was really good at cleaning it up and making it more coherent and actually sounding nice. Which is part of why I still ask her to beta for me on fics that are really important to me because she tends to just get what I'm trying to say better than I do sometimes. Like she's been absolutely incredible with betaing A Place to Call Home for me and I'm so glad to have her because she just makes me a better writer.

14. fave all time ship?

Okay. This one is complicated. Because Klaine was my otp to end all otps for so many many years. Klaine means the world to me, it was so incredibly important to me as a teenager and to me accepting my own queerness and feeling safe to come out to my mom (because we bonded a lot over shipping Klaine) and I have written hundreds of thousands of words about those two.

But Seblaine. Ohmygod Seblaine. I have reached a point in my life where my brain is more interested in the kind of stories those two can supply me. In this concept of quantum entanglement that will always pull them together but never ever let it be /easy/ for them. There's just some ways in which I think they're better for each other, I think in some ways they bring out the worst in each other, but that in turn allows to them to truly see the best in each other too. I think the tragedy of their story as it happened is beautiful and cruel. And I just want to explore every crevice of their brains and to never let them go. At some point, Klaine became too easy. They'll always get their happy ending (at least in canon). But Seblaine never will. And the art that can be made from a relationship like that intrigues me far more.

15. wip you want to finish but doubt you will?

Probably La Pute. Of all my old WIPs, it's the most likely to be finished (because I do have some pretty extensive notes on how the plot was supposed to go). But at the same time, that kind of fic that I loved to read and write when I was young (dubcon, noncon, slave fics, etc.) just doesn't interest me the way it used to.

If I were to psychoanalyze myself i'd probably say that my love for stories like that was deeply derived from my sexual repression and inner angst (largely driven by vast amounts of untreated mental illness) that I had no real life experience to draw from so I just used these dark dark stories as a way to try and release any of those emotions. But now as an adult I've lived through many traumas and general life shittiness and I can now find a release for my inner turmoil in writing about things more close to life instead of having to reach into that level of darkness.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Oh I don't even know. I think probably dialogue? That's what usually comes the easiest to me so it's what I would assume, but I'm honestly not sure.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

I tell more than I show. Like I try to describe body language and expression in a way that isn't just "he shifted anxiously" "He looked pissed", stuff like that. But I'm just not great at it, so I tend to just tell the reader what a character is feeling more than anything else.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I'm always drawn to the idea of doing it, but I don't just want to like copy and paste the lines into google translate, you know? And I don't speak any other languages and most of the friends I have that do speak the languages I would want to translate lines into (namely Tagolog and French) aren't Glee fans, so I don't want to make them translate for me.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Unpublished? Inuyasha/Naruto/Harry Potter/Bleach/probably some other things. I wrote a very extensive self insert fic when I was like 9 or 10 that involved all of those fandoms but it never even got typed up and I lost the binder I was keeping it in probably nearly two decades ago.

Published though it was definitely Supernatural.

20. fave fic youve written?

A Place To Call Home was such a long endeavor and something that was very important to me to finish and it means a lot to me to have finally finished it.

Maybe We Can Be Okay is probably one of my most well-received fics considering the dark content and complex themes. And I'm still really proud of it.

And then it's not out yet, but my fic for the I Want You Back day of 10 Days of Seblaine has been a very difficult fic to write but I'm really happy with how its turning out and I can't wait to share it with you all in November.

[jake-a-day]

Update:

So it’s not looking good. Despite being on a higher dose than he should be for his weight, Jake is declining. The hyperthyroidism is being managed, but he has fluid in his lungs and his heart is struggling. The medication we tried for his heart isn’t working.

He’s not as much himself until the medication kicks in. When he gets a bit more lively. He’s so tired and his breathing is so heavy. Roughly 48-72 breaths per minute when it should be 15-30.

The vets who told us his weight loss and panting months ago was because he was old and too hot definitely missed it. We’re so upset about that. Maybe something could have been done if they had caught it then.

We all talked and we all cried. Jake let me strike him and give him scritches and hold him. When the medication kicked in he even nuzzles me when I picked him up. He seemed so different to before he had taken his medication. He wasn’t even interested in his favourite treats before the medication.

We talked and we know that sometime not too far away he will probably be on his way to the Rainbow Bridge. But on Tuesday he’s going to come and stay with us for a week since my mum and dad need to visit family in Scotland. Several family members are in Hospital for various reasons.

Mum has been beside herself since her brother is very unwell, one niece has an infection, and a nephew tried to end his life. This on top of seeing Jake’s decline and not having as much as they could in pensions is incredibly stressful and there’s a lot of things going wrong and we don’t know how to cope.

Please send some positive vibes our way, because we really need it right now. I’m going to try setting up more days worth of posts but again, I’m not sure for how long. After this next week it’s going to be time to talk again about Jake’s quality of life. He’s uncomfortable and we don’t want him to spend his last days suffering. We are trying our absolute best to care for him the best way we know how.

Thank you to every person who likes and reblogs his photos. Seeing so many people appreciating my boy has really helped me a lot. I’ve told Jake about his fans, and that there are people who love him who’ve never even met him! So thank you to everyone who interacts with this blog. Your love and support means the world. I’ll Keep you updated the best I can. -Jen

[mmorpg-escapism]

I have just enough energy in me tonight for my favorite solo duty. This one's a doozy, and the final thing that stands between us and Endwalker! ...which I'll start tomorrow. There are also some Thoughts on the expansion as a whole at the end under the cut.

For those of you who have been keeping an eye on this journey, thank you ❤ It's not over yet and is most definitely going to loop back to stuff I did before starting here: there will eventually be another run through ARR to current sometime after the graphics update hits every expansion, so likely late next year. I've got a hrothgal waiting in the wings for that one... and do plan to do this to Dawntrail on my main with appropriate spoilers tagged as well as the usual one. We shall see how that goes.

Now, into the duty!

Alphinaud's character growth is so very visible to us after Arenvald's pep talk. The kid is a natural-born leader, and despite his mistakes he has enough confidence to really use his gifts... after a little push from his friends and family.

And now, we fight! The Scions take the field in full force - first as a group, and then splitting up across the field to take charge of several enemies. Our first stop is us clearing the field of a LOT of tempered Imperials... then splitting up to find and deal with Lunar Primals wherever we can while G'raha holds the fort.

And now, the real fun: We get to cosplay as a few of the Scions! Starting with Alisaie! RDM is my favorite caster, and this simplified take on it is very much faithful to my experience with it itself. Lots of little enemies, one big one, and a very fun slice-n-dice playground.

Development: "Random" magical glyphs that are pointed at the heart of a massive "aetheric confluence" - which is just a fancy way of describing a spot where several aetheric currents meet - and Y'shtola's guess is that they're there to enable some seriously nasty disasters should one of the Grape-flavored Primals reach and destroy one. Cool, the stakes have risen.

Split #2 has us afield as Urianger's Astro, facing Lunar Odin - which I did NOT do in my original playthrough nor this one, so I had no idea what to expect. I'm not an Astro player, but after some experience with one of my static members being... particularly annoyed with it, this wasn't quite so bad. Odin down!

Split #3 is back to G'raha and Alisaie, but now we're playing as G'raha who is some combo of BLM and WHM, facing off with Lunar Ravana. Big stabby sword bug. Woo. He's just as cool as the original fight, if a little toned down for story and "2-man" reasons. Big stabby stuff, and even an excuse to use G'raha's Break spell! Bugman down!

Now, back to the WoL with Estinien and Alphinaud facing down the monster that crippled Arenvald: Grape Ifrit. This one's personal. And boy howdy wthat one was the most intense of the three. Fire everywhere, a big LB3-like thing out of Estinien, the works. But it's the last of the primals, and we're all still alive.

I love this duty so very much. Not only because we get to spend some time as our Scion friends. Not only because we get to fight primals in a more one-on-one style that helps me imagine how to write it when I get there. It's also because there are stakes going in - stop the crazy person with lots of power who's trying to end the world - that become more specific during the fight, and then when the evil plan is thwarted, they don't just gloss over the aftermath.

We get to see our friends being VERY human. Alisaie is exhausted and berating herself for not doing enough. Alphinaud cannot stand losing anyone, and we have to watch him fight that when his healing isn't enough to save the man in front of him. We see the Grand Company of Eorzea at work - city-state leaders and beastmen tribes alike working together to cure the tempered. We cannot save everyone, an Amalj'aa warrior reminds the Scions, but those we have saved would not have been if not for you.

"So please, hold your heads high." The entire bustling field stopped and listened. Every single country we have visited, from the Alliance to Doma, is represented here. Standing behind the Scions, who gave everything they had to win the day, despite the cost. The moon breaks through the clouds above, and one last time we hear the Shadowbringers main theme break through as everyone gathered stares up at it, and the credits roll.

================================================

As I sit and process this entire expansion one more time, it's clear... Shadowbringers fundamentally alters your brain chemistry. That's from one of the posts going around the week I wrapped this up, and it is extremely accurate. We started all the way back in ARR as an adventurer with a gift, but little else, and got used. We slowly turned into something else on our way into Heavensward ("What are you?" - Thordan VII after we beat him) and used the power we had to liberate two entire countries from the Garlean empire alongside our friends, then watched them get snatched away from us for some unknown reason.

And then we went to where they were and found ourselves embroiled in a world that flipped the script on everything we knew. Light was bad, Dark was good, and everything we thought we knew was wrong. Discoveries with ripple effects that will be felt through Endwalker and beyond were made, and two entire worlds were changed as a result.

I'm not that good at analyzing story, or at least I didn't think I was when I started. All I knew is that this expansion was The Best that FFXIV had to offer, and I wanted to find ways to articulate why I thought that. I think I've succeeded, at least a little. I'm very excited for Endwalker and Dawntrail and beyond. Maybe I'll even get some creative spark going and write more of ARW for your enjoyment and my own - I want to do more than think about my blorbo :)

One more Arenvald Appreciation post tomorrow, most likely, and then into Endwalker!