#well i'm not letting you the choice actually!!!

[kuiilandtorch]

Actually, you know what, I've got something else to add to OP's meta other than my tags (which I'm throwing on here for posterity):

#the attachment luke gives in to is his fear for leia #which vader preys upon to provoke him to violence #(& it blew up in vader's mask because it worked TOO well) #the relationship that luke ultimately embraced that saved both his own soul & his father's was that of unconditional love #through that love he gave his father the choice to reclaim his own autonomy #& likewise accepted that he had to let him go at the end

there IS a thin line between "attachment" and "unconditional love" and it's expressed here in these two images:

In AOTC Padmé asks Anakin, "Are you allowed to love? I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi." And Anakin replies, "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love."

The distinction here is that on the surface what Anakin is saying is 100% correct, but internally he's using this as justification for his personal obsession with Padmé. (Really, he's using it as the second dweebiest pick up line ever, only topped by the sand diatribe.) He's excusing himself while trying to have his cake and eat it too. He knows what the sacrificial Jedi lifestyle requires but doesn't want to give that up while retaining an attachment to Padmé. He may have a sympathetic backstory for why he does this, but it doesn't make it any less of a problem.

Then life comes full circle and Anakin's son is the one who embodies the very words he spoke over two decades earlier. Awakened from his haze of fury by the Emperor's goading, Luke chooses empathy and compassion over hatred when he refuses to kill his father and eloquently tells the Emperor to fuck off. When he lies dying under a barrage of Force lightning, Luke exercises his faith in his father's conscience by crying out to him, "Father, please! Help me!" He trusts that there's still something left inside of that man standing by to recognize that his child is in mortal danger and he should do the right thing - and Anakin finally does. Anakin is finally moved to choose one last selfless act.

Luke does make a herculean effort to try to physically save his father as well as spiritually, and it grieves him to the last moment that Anakin has to die, but hearing those parting words from his father - "You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me." - gives him the reassurance that letting Anakin go on his own terms is also the right thing to do. What matters most is that the goal he set out to do was achieved: he brought his father back from the darkness. He freed him from the prison of his own crimes and the abuser who helped lock him in there. So yes, OP, Luke IS The Jedi™ for having lived up to the standards his father once only paid lip service to and only grasped at the very end of his life. Compassion is indeed central to a Jedi's life, and the proper execution of it is exemplified by Luke's actions and victory in ROTJ.

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

[enbyfvcker]

"Come back home."

𝙒𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙇𝙤𝙜𝙖𝙣 (𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩!𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚)

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 2k

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮/𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩: a part two continuation from this from @psychohoneywhiskey because it rented a whole fucking condo in my head.

𝙏𝙖𝙜𝙨: Hurt/comfort, angst, fighting, fluff, kissing, happy ending, Wade needs a hug, Logan needs a hug.

Wade only got home when the sun was already rising. His suit was all torn up, and some wounds still healed from the fight he just had with some stubborn criminals.

He expected to see Logan sleeping on the couch, but he didn't.

Well, maybe he decided to sleep in his bed?

He walks to his bedroom with expectation but also finds it empty.

Actually, not entirely empty.

In his bed layed all the clothes Wade bought Logan folded. All the little thoughtful gifts he gave him. Everything that Wade got him to say through actions that he's wanted.

Looks like the message didn't land.

His heart tightens, tears welling in his eyes as he realizes that Logan left him.

Left after being willing to sacrifice himself for Wade. Left after making this crack house he lived in into a home. Left after letting Wade convince him to stay sober after decades. Left after stealing his way into Wade's heart, his life, his family.

And just like that, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴. Without nothing with him but his suit.

Honestly, Wade doesn't think he should be surprised for this. He knew it was going to happen. He knew Logan was just waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him. Who would ever put up with him? God, if he could escape from himself sometimes, he would. He tried many times, too.

So could he even blame him, really?

In that moment, all the words Logan spat at him in that Honda Odyssey at the middle of a god forsaken void came back into his mind. They have been constantly in the past weeks.

He did feel like a ridiculous sad joke. He wanted nothing more than to be able to die alone because at least it meant he would just 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. That his attempts wouldn't just be self-harm anymore and that when he tried blowing himself up, he wouldn't just regenerate back.

He couldn't keep his job. Couldn't keep Vanessa. Couldn't keep Logan. If it weren't for Logan, he wouldn't be able to keep his fucking universe.

He'd never be an anchor being. He'd never make a difference or matter, so why would anyone stay?

He sobbed as he held one of Logan's shirts, burying his face into it and desperately trying to smell any remaining scent of him.

Mary Puppins walks in, her tongue out as she turns her head to the side, looking up at Wade with sad eyes.

"What's all that damn noise? Did you stub your toe again?" Al walks in wearing a sleeping robe and her sunglasses, apparently having awakened from Wade's ugly crying.

"Hey, Al..." Wade just sniffles, his voice broken as he just chooses to ignore her question.

"What happened?"

"Logan left..."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Guess I'm that insufferable that he couldn't stand spending another minute with me."

"He spent whole months with you, Wade."

"Sure, but did he even have a choice? I basically kidnapped him and threw him in a fucking new universe. I'm like an old creepy guy in a van. He was just waiting for a chance to run off. And he did."

"Come here, let's get you some tea." Al gestures for Wade to follow her to the kitchen, and he does, taking the shirt in his hands with him.

"Actually, I could use some cocaine right now. And you could use the cure for blindness to see how heartbroken I am for tea." He remarks, following behind her, dogpool following Wade. "Try not to break any cups this time."

Al puts sets a kettle in the stove and turns it on as Wade sits on a chair, all droopy and his eyes red.

"Did he take anything with him? Any money? Clothes? How do you know he won't just come back?"

"No, nothing. He must be wandering the streets like a lost puppy right now. And I just know."

"I think you boys are just too stupid to communicate properly. If you talked about this shit-"

"Oh, he talked plenty, believe me. He ran his mouth about how much of a joke I am."

"Oh, cut the self-loathing crap. That was before then. You two have been acting like an old married gay couple for the last months, don't give me that. You don't see the way he looks at you."

"Oh, and you do?!"

"I don't have to see it to know that guy would throw himself in the fire for you. If he ran off, then it's probably because the idiot read your sad little kitten act like a sign he's not welcomed."

"What-"

"Shut up. Now, if you don't grow a pair of balls for once and try to find him, I sweat to god-"

"I wouldn't even know where to look. And I doubt it he'd even want me to."

"So you better start right away. Go."

"What about my tea-"

"Go."

...

The last few days were rough. And that's saying something, considering all Logan went through in his universe.

He didn't have a place to stay anymore, so he just wandered around and got from bar to bar. He didn't have any cash on him, so he would flash his claws out to the barman as a threat when he was asked about his bill.

He felt like a goddamn monster, so why not act like it. He's not proud of it, but it's been months he didn't have a drink, and all he wanted was to drown the overwhelming feelings eating at him.

He got banned from multiple bars, always hopping to the next one. Getting drunk, getting in some fights, wandering around...

He felt like he was back in his universe. He felt so fucking stupid to think maybe he could change. That maybe here he could turn the page, start a new life with Wade.

Turns out the place it's not the problem, he's the fucking problem. He's a disease that destroys everything he touches, and he should know better than to try and have any connection with anyone.

He failed everyone. He failed the X-men by not being there. He failed Charles by going into a murderous spree. He failed Laura by not being the right guy. He failed Wade by being the complete jerk he is.

He wasn't sure how many days it had been since he left. He's smelling bad, and his hair is mess, but all he cares right now is finishing one more bottle. Then, one more, and one more, and...

He feels something - someone - poking him. Logan thinks it may be the barman or the manager, so he pulls his claws out. "Look, bub, I-"

"Heya, Peanut. Gosh, I'm getting deja-vu. Ain't ya?" Logan's eyes focus to see Wade standing next to him wearing his suit and mask, and his heart races quickly. "You're a hard one to find, honey badger. And I'm a mercenary, so-"

"The fuck are you doing here?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Save it, bub. I gave you an easy way out. You should have taken it."

"Come on, let's just talk-"

"Not in the fucking mood." Logan grumbles, suddenly feeling his chest too tight and like the walls were closing on him. He stumbles while getting off the chair and heading outside with heavy steps, hearing an angry voice behind the counter as he leaves without paying.

He walks out of the bar, rushing somewhere through the empty street, nightly darkness everywhere. Where? Where the fuck was he rushing to?

He hears a bell noise and other footsteps behind him.

"Fine! I get it, alright?! I'm the worst damn piece of crap that you could possibly be stuck with! You were right, ok? I'm everything you said I am. I'd run off, too." Wade shouts, his broken voice making Logan halt in his steps. "But at least let me return the favor of you saving my universe. Let me try and find you somewhere where you don't have to deal with me-"

"It was never about that." Logan grunts, his heart aching like it was about to break.

How could Wade possibly think it was about that?

"What?"

"I'm poison, bub." Logan sighs, finally turning around. "I destroy everything I touch. I hurt everyone around me, I hurt you. I don't deserve you taking me in. I don't deserve your affection or your family. I shouldn't have thought that there was more to my life than being the miserable monster I am and living with the consequences of my own actions. You got the worst you could possibly have, Wade. I'm just doing you the favor of retracting myself before I fuck everything up beyonde repair." Logan could feel his throat tight like a knot as he fought back stubborn tears.

Wade was stunned, silent for a few seconds before he took off his mask and gave Logan the most puppy dog eyes he ever saw, his eyes glossy with tears matching his own.

"You're an fucking idiot." Wade simply stated, a sad smile in his lips. "You're not a monster. And you're far from the worst I could have. I owe my whole world to you. I know you think I'm a joke, but I couldn't ask for a better-"

"I don't think you're a joke." He interrupted.

"But... in the Honda Odyssey, back at the void..." Wade replies, hearing a chuckle that held nothing but sadness.

Fuck. It never came to Logan's mind that what he said that day actually stuck to Wade. He is an idiot. Those words felt so distant, so different from what he felt now for the merc. After all those months they lived together, getting all domestic and shit. Wade crawled into his heart that had felt dead for years and got a space there.

"That was before, bub. I didn't even really know you, of course now I don't think that shit I said."

"But you did... Back then." Wade looks down, his voice low.

"I'm sorry..." Logan says, the words feeling foreign on his tongue. "You didn't deserve that. I was a jerk. I still am, but... You make me want to be better, bub. It's stupid, but... You kidnapping me was probably the best thing that ever happened to me in years, and I was just... so scared I fucked it up too, like everything else."

Wade chuckles, and his eyes brighten as he looks at Logan, his heart feels lighter at hearing those words.

"You didn't." Wade gets closer, his hand resting at Logan's shoulder. "You're wanted. Loved."

The care and gentleness in Wade's touch melts Logan, he leans closer too.

"Come back home."

Those words alone broke him.

For so long, he didn't have a home. How could he have ever taken this one for granted?

"Alright, bub."

It was like clockwork when their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss, them holding each other closely as if they both feared the other would disappear into thin air any second. It felt so natural. Their hearts were calm and frantic at the same time.

Suddenly, there were fireworks sounds and colorful lights surrounding them, and they could hear people chanting happily in the background.

𝘖𝘩.

So it was New Year's already.

They kept their lips together for a few seconds as fireworks popped and formed colorful patterns in the sky. When they pulled away, their eyes were filled with longing and pure affection.

"You're stinky." Wade comments with a smile even though he keeps Logan close. Logan chuckles.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Come on. Let's get you home and make you a nice warm bath, peanut. Blind Al and Mary Puppins are missing you." Wade says while putting his arms around Logan's waist as he guides him their way home.

"Just them?"

"No." Wade replies. "Not just them."

[doja365]

Crybaby(Chapter 1)

Dollhouse Masterlist TW- Neglect

Escape

That's all I could think about.

Escaping

Running, killing, hiding. Nothing would fill the void that was made only for me.

Killing is what I did most, well luckily since Talia Al Ghul was my trainer.

She took me in when I was on the run from my own family. She was cruel but sweet sometimes. She made me forget everything I left the Waynes for.

I had all the training I needed. I learned Jiu jitsu, Aikido, everything!

I was trained to be one thing

A murderer.

I still had school but when I talk to other kids they get scared of me. Why?

I enjoyed all kinds of art. Drawing, painting, movies, novels, and you know where I'm getting at. The kids looked at me like I was crazy, did I do something to them? Momma T, always adored what I did, it always seemed, normal.

I get the nice family I've been asking for instead of dealing with a rich man-whore as a father and possible drug-dealers as brothers. Damian always hit me for being a bitch and I don't know why. I mean I know his mother must've died and is stuck with a dick-head like Wayne but why deflect on me?

People know I'm different but I do the things girls do, I paint, I dance, I play instruments, and I know how to sing. I'm not that different from them.

But soon I understood, I learned to kill, hack, and steal. I learned all the horrendous things that was actually able to keep me alive. And for that I am thankful. I can even speak 8 languages for the sake of preventing exposure.

I am now Eurus Pirate Al Ghul the now concierge of crime.

I'm now a legal adult that makes her own decisions on the highest bidder for my next target.

5 years ago...

BANG!

"Did I get it?" I asked.

"Yes, sweetheart, you are becoming smarter now. I want you to come with me." Grandpa Ghul replied.

My challenge was to practice the art of stealth and elimination of opponents. I had to wear a tight uncomfortable black suit for the purpose of camouflage.

We arrived at a foyer and I saw mom nearby so I ran to her.

"Momma!" I ran straight to her and hugged her.

"Hey Pirate, I need you to do something and it's important for all of us." She said as she knelt down to me giving me a katana.

I would do everything for them, they saved me. But I never really knew it.

"Eurus, when you came here you looked like your father. Driven by rage and sadness, now it has brought our paths to cross." He said.

I smiled gladly, acknowledging his words and veneering gratitude. But I still didn't understand why I was here.

"But, I still need to test your commitment to justice. Don't be as gullible as your father, Bruce Wayne, young one."

A guard nearby dragged a shirtless man who was actually a thief. And Grandpa gave me the katana.

"Grandpa you're wrong about one thing."

"What?"

"Bruce Wayne's not my father."

SLASH!

"It's good to see someone make the right choice. Now someone clean this mess up."

"You've shown that you're dedicated to serving justice. Now you shall receive your title."

"What is it?"

"Artemis"

"As a reward, with no Ego, I can assure you, this is the finest sword"

The last memory I held onto for the days to come

Present...

I was drinking some scotch whilst smoking, and I waited for my next assignment. I was able to graduate as an archaeologists because I get good money on the side, and it's easier with the whole assassin thing.

RING!

"What is it Tank?" I asked. Each one of us calls each other by nicknames in order to prevent prying eyes. The only time we address each other by our real name is when we are at the penthouse.

"We got one for ya Artie."

"Let this be a bit harder, alright sweetheart I don't want my target to be a 50 year old hormonal man with only Mickey Mouse as his guard."

I swear that sounded a lot better in my head.

"Relax Artemis, this one's gonna be good I promise."

"Where's the target?"

"Gotham."

"You better not be fucking with me T."

"Check your front door."

I opened the door and saw a big box. It contained the file with some weapons and a 'welcome home gift'. Gosh he can be such a bitch most of the time. I read the file and I wish I could unsee it.

"I know you'd like this Artie"

File:

Name: Jason Todd Alias: Red Hood Kill Count: 83 Status: Alive Price: $500,000 Location: Gotham Brought To: Joker

WANTED

"Artie, ARTEMIS! You there?"

"I could've taken it for one dollar, he's not worth this much."

"Great just give me the $499,999 and I'll split it with the rest Artie."

"Fuck you."

"I'd rather have you do that sweetheart."

"In your dreams, prepare a delivery for Jason's head to the Joker. I may be the concierge but it doesn't mean I won't kill with my bare hands. Prepare the artillery and get me a dilapidated house to prevent the media. Let's tear that bitch apart."

Taglist:

@lunayaps, @not-aya, @iluvcatzz, @vanessa-boo, @ivyrose9194,@thesehandsarerated-e,@horror-lover-69

[watermelonlovershigh]

❄ Cold ❄ /concept/

AN: i came up with this idea while shivering in my bed. i just wish i actually had a Harry to cuddle with. :( had it in my drafts for about 2 months and decided i'd post it today. anyways, its short but sweet and i hope you enjoy.

This story contains: pure fluff

{ boyfriendrry - soft!harry - any harry era of your choice }

word count- 344

Harry wakes up cold and you cuddle him back to warmth.

"Mhm, baby. S' cold." Harry murmurs in a drowsy tone. He attempts to snuggle closer to you, despite his half-awake state. Although it is the middle of autumn, a cold front has swept through the region, resulting in significantly lower temperatures overnight. While your home is equipped with heating, you prefer to avoid using it during the night, as it tends to make the bedroom excessively warm. Consequently, you depend on blankets and each other's body heat to stay warm during the cold fall and winter nights.

While trying to find a warmer spot in the bed, Harry accidentally elbows your right boob, causing you to wake up and hiss aloud, "Ouch! Stop moving so much." You didn't catch his earlier statement about feeling cold, which would've explained his excessive movement.

"But m'cold." Harry repeats again, this time slightly louder and more clear, yet with a whiny tone. He is your big, cuddly baby after all.

Realization settles on your lethargic mind, leading to a frown as you ponder how to aid your shivering boyfriend. "Oh, I'm sorry baby. Here, face me and I'll face you and we'll hold each other. We'll keep warm that way."

Following your instructions, he proceeds accordingly, and you mirror his actions. You encircle his shoulders with your arms and intertwine your legs together, while Harry secures his arms around your back. Your faces are in close proximity, as well as all your other body parts. You pull the blankets up to your shoulder blades, allowing your body heat to envelop Harry and keep him nice and warm.

Right before he drifts off to sleep again, Harry places soft kisses on your forehead, nose, and mouth, causing a content smile to spread across your face. You then both succumb to sleep once more, cocooned in each other's embrace, warm breaths caressing each other's skin as your bodies relax and your lips part ever so slightly. There is nothing more comforting than the act of cuddling with your boyfriend on a cold night. Your love for your Harry is undeniable.

(PLEASE REBLOG BECAUSE WRITING IS NOT EASY AND IT'S FREE SO JUST DO IT)

(if you want to be apart of my new tag list, let me know right here !! )

taglist: @swiftmendeshoran // @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite // @hsonlyangelxo // @lunabai // @ppleasingg // @harryscherrysugar // @devilsqueen722 // @mema10 // @harryswifee // @jewelaponte // @fruity-harry

My Masterlist Masterpost

[bookwormbynight]

This interaction has taken over my brain I. I.

Okay so in an attempt to understand anon I think this opinion is dependent on two rationalizations: a) that the Joker is not so much a person with decision-making skills as a force of nature that other people kind of have to work around, and b) that Bruce's decisions to take Jason on as a Robin was inherently a dangerous one right next to much better options, and as such, Bruce CHOSE the possibility that there could be the result that it led to. Let's start with B and work backwards.

(Uh B doesn't fucking matter unless A is proven true.) But in my personal opinion I think Bruce is a flawed character who makes mistakes and is kind of bad at being a parent, especially in the earlier years, but he makes all of his decisions with zero mal-intent and as much love as he can physically figure out how to show, and did everything he possibly knew he could to keep his kids safe. (The fact that not offering the mantle of Robin to Jason doesn't even occur to him is a point towards the fact that he's fucking terrible at Humaning 101 😭 "ah yes I became Batman and my first son bullied me into letting him become a vigilante as well so of course that will be this childs instinct" that's not how most humans react Bruce) So I don't think he's culpable for Jason's tragedy at the end of the day. I'm sure other people could get a lot further into the actual To Robin Or Not To Robin argument than I can, though.

As for my counterargument to point A,

THE JOKER IS AN AUTONOMOUS INDIVIDUAL AND NOT A WEATHER PHENOMENON. He's an individual with a brain and displays clear social awareness! He DID make the choice to torture and murder a child. He had the ability to make other decisions, he knew about their existence and even the drawbacks to his preferred one, and he just didn't. Because He's Terrible. It really doesn't matter if Bruce made some kind of mistake that led to Jason being available for the torturing. You don't blame the child, you don't blame the parent, you blame the fuckin guy who decided "ooh yes I would like to murder some kids today and listen to their screams :)", because the perpetrators are the ones at fault. The Joker is still a truck driver. So.

Hope this helps lol

don't know if u answered this b4, but who do u think is responsible for jasons death? i say bruce but i was curious what your thoughts are on it

did you forget about the Joker or

[matheoxs]

[THIS IS GONNA BE HARSH

No way you're not assuming things in your favor and expecting your desires please, make it make sense.

I'm going to speak for all bloggers because I know some of them are tired and scared to say it. But don't come to me asking how to manifest, for the love of fucking God, READ READ FUCKING READ.

No way we are going to 2025 and your ass still asking how to manifest this and that.

Assume and let it BE, that's it. What do you want me to tell you? Jump five times and roll or something? There's literally nothing else to do.

Not only that, but those anonymous asking if the Law of assumption is real? Like, until this day, bro, get a fucking grip. Jesus Christ.

You're going post by post trying to find something that will click for you and not even applying it. You're wasting your time. I'm not saying you can't read posts or whatever, but if you're not applying it, then you're wasting your time.

It's annoying, yes it is. When are you going to decide enough is enough? Because me and other bloggers can make posts every single day, but at the end of the day, it's you. It's literally you. It's your choice.

Enough is enough.

we are literally going to 2025, enough is enough. Stop with the bullshit. You know why you don't have your desires right now, you know it, and I don't have to tell you.

Someone can spread a rumor about somebody without proof, and you will believe it.

There have been many times in your life where you assume things without proof. Yes, there have, and you probably don't even remember, and it manifested itself in the 3D.

Why are you waiting for the blogger to come back? Are they your God? Stop the glaze, please. It's getting too far to the point where you see those bloggers bigger than you.

They manifested a big house, so can you?? They're not special, I promise you.

They manifested appearance change, so can you. They manifested being able to shift every time they want, so can you.

You can talk to those bloggers in real life, and you will realize they're just regular people. They're not that special, I'm not that special.

It's really not that serious.

Because of the likes they get on their posts, it makes you think that they're bigger. They're just numbers. Knock it out.

Now, let me get real with y'all. There's no such thing as unrealistic or big desires. You're the one labeling it as unrealistic or big desires.

Do you really think that the 3D says something like, "oh no, I can't reflect that, it's too unrealistic and big"?

Do you really think that the 3D looks at your desires and says that? Think about it for a sec. Now, YOU tell me, do you really think that the 3D thinks that?

Or is it just you labeling them as big and unrealistic? You see how you're always the one who assumes things???

I KNOW, SURPRISINGLY RIGHT? Well, it shouldn't be a surprise to you. You should already know that.

I don’t want ANY ANON coming in my asks asking me dumb ass fucking questions when you can just get your ass to read and try to actually understand

It’s actually really easy to understand if I’m being fr

There’s many bloggers who literally breaks it down in the most EASIEST WAY to understand

So stop with the excuses.

Stop trying to look for motivation especially shifters Omds

Im gonna write another post on this im not done yet call me mean wtv idc it had to be said loa bloggers ARE TIREDD

And I also think that’s why loa is kinda dying.

[steamberrystudio]

2024 wrap-up and 2025 plans

It's been a really weird year for me and the last few months have been particularly challenging - so much so that I can't really remember much of the start of the year. There's been a lot that has happened and yet it feels like almost nothing has happened.

With a personal move in the works at the moment, and lots of lists and packing and cleaning, the last couple of weeks have felt like a blur of limbo as well.

But rather than just complaining let's jump into the wrap up and plans for 2025.

2024 Progress Wrap up

When looking back over a year of visual novel development, it can be really easy to forget progress and victories because it all smears together into an indistinct timeline.

You know stuff happened but you lose sight of the details of that stuff.

Even while writing this last night, I forgot that A Faerie's Tale was something completed and released this year. I remembered it just now while doing a final proofread of this post.

Development is such a long and repetitive process that you forget all the individual steps it took to get where you are. When I look back over 2024, I admit I feel like I somehow didn't do that much...that time slipped away while I did very little actual work.  

And of course, that isn't true. (Or is it?? Self-doubt assures me that I didn't do anything noteworthy this year.)

When Stars Collide

At the start of 2024, When Stars Collide sat at 485,000 words. I was finishing up editing Asher's route but had portions of the other routes to draft. The UI was still the old design, most of the backgrounds were incomplete and none of the additional features like the flowcharts and affinity meters were set up.  

I wanted to release an updated demo and the more new people told me they were playing the demo, the more I died inside because it was not at all reflective of the project any more. But I was missing critical backgrounds that I actually got only a few weeks before Episode 1 went to beta.

The point is that back at the start of 2024 the game was still very unfinished but I had big plans. My goal was originally to start releasing episodes in June of 2024 but editing and coding just took so much longer than expected that it just wasn't possible.

From a writing perspective, I learned that drafting and editing a game in this overlapping route style was hard. It was just genuinely so much more difficult than the separate route structure I'm used to. It really requires different processes and styles of planning than what I've done in the past. The burden of meticulously matching a timeline of events across 6 routes simultaneously is really tricky with the way I write and form the choices in my games.  

You kind of have to either never refer back to anything that happens within a choice scenario or you have to remember and track a lot of variables and conversations and events. Additionally, writing one plot line from multiple relationship perspectives is actually quite tricky. Things have to align in very specific ways but you also kind of want to make sure that each play through is interesting. You don't want the conversations within the LI-specific content to be identical but they have to be similar enough you can manage the difference with a few key variables.  

I honestly found it a really exhausting way to write. There's so much less complexity and so much more freedom when you are writing separate routes. And for that reason, the writing took a lot longer than I am used to.

One day I want to write up all my thoughts on route structure in visual novels but I haven't had time yet.

Ultimately I drafted about 172,000 words this year. The total word count of the game before I coded it was around 657,000 words - plus an additional 8-10k or so of bonus content. Of course, that shrinks when I code it but that was the total uncoded word count. So that is quite a jump from the 485,000 words I started with this year.  

I always say that working on VNs really skews your view of what "a lot" of words is. To me, as weird as it is to say, 180k doesn't feel like that much writing, which is silly because it's like writing two YA novels.   

But between the end of the Kickstarter for Gilded Shadows and the end of that year, I think I wrote about 250,000 words. That's 70,000 more words but in less time. I think it just shows how much more difficult writing WSC has been due to the structure of the routes.  

I remember having a conversation with someone once where she told me that writing a game like Gilded Shadows is *definitely* harder and more work than writing a game like When Stars Collide. GS has multiple plots and a lot more words. In WSC, the routes share a plot, they share scenes and content, there's only one plot line and there are far fewer words.  

I think it really underestimates the simplicity buff and the freedom buff that you get from having a single separate route in its own space time where you don't have to care as heavily about continuity across routes or a shared timeline of events or all of this other stuff that was such a burden to me when writing overlapping routes.  

I maintain that I'm really glad I wrote When Stars Collide the way I did. I learned so much about game structure and choices and all this mechanical stuff about how visual novels work that I'd never really had to think about for. It was really, really enlightening.  

But I will never do this game structure again. Lemme just say that.  

Drafting aside, I had to also edit all that writing which was its own special layer of hell.  

And then the art. The art has been enjoyable. I really love this game's aesthetic and the character designs. And the characters. I really enjoy them all so much. They are the most adorable crew of nerdy gremlins out there.  

But the art has had is own challenges. I've done about 20 CGs for the game so far and a lot of them are easy enough but the colour slider MC is definitely a bit of a challenge for the CGs. With GS where I recoloured by hand, there were times that I had to slightly tweak Morgan's default colours to look good in CGs. For instance, one of her skin tones looked quite odd next to Magnus, who is very pink. And I had to just slightly tweak that skin tone in his CGs so they looked okay together side by side. It was easy to test that sort of thing before the CG even got into the game.

But I colour Wil in greyscale and I don't see them in colour until I test. And each colour available on the slider is represented by a number. And there are essentially 100 of them. So testing all of those isn't really viable. I do test multiple skin tones from my saves. But in some ways it's more cumbersome to make sure all of that looks good.  

Wil also has 8 hairstyles…in two colours (which are recoloured manually because a couple of the hairstyles just don't really looks as good recoloured automatically (it's my art, not the dynamic colour slider tool).  

It's a lot of work. Hair 5 usually puts my hand out of commission for the rest of the day (so I save it for last. Ha ha). I don't regret it and again, it's something I wanted to to do as an experiment. I knew that 5 hairstyles was probably manageable and 8 was definitely pushing and I was right so no hard lessons really learned there.  It's sometimes valuable experience to push yourself right to that line and really see where the division between "feasible" and "too much" really is. Because then it's no longer hypothetical. You know where the line is.  

A lot of how WSC is set up was me testing if the line was where I thought it was.

Beyond the art, I also got all the other new features set up and experimented with a few things I hadn't been planning on. Many of those features had the core elements set up and coded by wonderful programmer friends and colleagues (Feniks and Windchimes and Jeneara) but I still had to implement all those things in the code to make them function as part of the game.  

Which, for things like the flowcharts - is time consuming. Flowcharts are like that.  

The flowcharts in WSC use a different method than the ones in GS. It's a brand new tool and I'm still learning how to use it but there are also some kinks that rear their heads (not those kind, you guys! The annoying kind that break the game!)  

I think the feature most people are most excited about would be the save screen. It's quite popular. Ha ha.  

With all of that stuff done, I was able to finally….*finally* release the official version of Episode 1 to Patreon and on Itch.  

And I released Episode 2 (minus two CGs that have been delayed by an abrupt move to a new place and me just not having time to draw right now) to Patrons in early access. (and the Itch version should go out mid-January. I hope).

So the point is…that is actually a fair amount of work that has taken place this year. And a lot of challenges that have been met and overcome.

A Faerie's Tale

Another thing I did this year was finish and release A Faerie's Tale as part of Amare Fest and with a team of friends to help out.

AFT is a concept I've had since about 2020 (prior to WSC actually). It was based on a dream I had as was always meant to be a cute little side project. But it kind of fell by the wayside in favour of my larger projects.

Being able to get it released was definitely fun. Jen and I definitely want to go back to it and release Lachan's route though - it was something we didn't have time for previously and it would be nice to get it truly complete.

Thornewood

And while I haven't specifically mentioned it anywhere outside of my server and Patreon...

The truth is...

I've secretly been planning my next project. But not really all that secretly since I have mentioned it a few times.

I've been torn, for a while, on two projects I'd like to tackle. One is called The Crown Wheel and the other is called (tentatively) Thornewood. I still go back and forth over which one I really want to do next. 

Crown Wheel is the one I *really* want to get out there. It's another story that's close to my heart with some ancient characters of mine that I really love and would love to throw out there for other people to enjoy. But…

Thornewood is a bit more solid a project when it comes to planning and plot. Crown Wheel is a little more nebulous in terms of where the story would go. I'm getting side tracked…I'll get into this more in my 2025 plans.

I have not been working on any other project regularly or in any truly significant way. I've really been working on outlines and character profiles more than anything and I typically do it late at night when I can't sleep but can't draw any more because I'm resting for the day and while I just don't want to be working on WSC because I worked on it all day.

I think I have about 13000 words of outline. I did a rough summary of each route and have been trying to expand those and detail them out a little bit more. So technically that is work I've done this year too.

2024 still somehow feels like a weird year for development. I can't articulate why but it definitely was an odd year for sure.

So What are my 2025 Plans?

That's really the big question at this point. What is in store for Steamberry Studio?

First and foremost, the plan is to get When Stars Collide fully released. This isn't as straightforward as it seems though. With the writing complete, I'm focused on the coding and art, but...

Coding expressions is currently a bit tedious because there have been a ton of group scenes in this game so far. This is because it is somewhat of a 'closed set' so when you are not 1x1 with a love interest…you tend to be with a group. This will diminish in upcoming chapters as the plot kicks off more and you also get longer scenes with the love interests. But unfortunately it does come back in the last few chapters.  

But for now I'm looking forward to heading into parts of the game that are more 1x1 or at least smaller groups at a time.  

Additionally the CG situation has been somewhat up in the air for me. I was originally planning to do CGs in every chapter but I wasn't sure if that would a) be sustainable for me and b) make sense.  

I suspected that there would be chapters coming up where there just weren't necessarily any good CG moments. So the "CGs in every chapter" thing was always going to be a bit squishy.   

I know, for instance, that chapter 6 probably won't have any because there aren't any good moments for it to be honest?  

Anyway. I am thinking that I may take a less formulaic approach to CGs and focus on making sure there are CGs in every episode if not every chapter. Maybe chapters 5, 8, 10...and then...Idk. One or two of the ending chapters. 

Even if it's just four of the remaining chapters, that's still 24 more illustrations for the game. Which I feel like is a very reasonable amount considering there are already about 20. 

Another thing I'm really going back and forth on is the nature of episodes moving forward.

Do I want to continue with 2 chapters per episode or do I want to drop to 1 chapter per episode? I battle myself on this all the time. It's such a hard call for me.

One challenge with moving into single chapter episodes is that I just feel the episodes would be less satisfying with only one chapter. Realistically the chapters aren't that small - even the short ones are more than 30,000 words each. That's...half a YA novel.

But, again, *realistically* when we reduce that to a play time, it's not that much.

People consume unvoiced visual novels at a rate of about 250 words per minute. That means 15,000 words per hour.

So 30k is just two hours of content. When you start dividing this up between "main plot" and "LI route content", you start whittling away at how much content *per character* there is. If there are 20,000 words of "LI content" - yeah, that's more than half the chapter. But that gets divided by 6 characters. And that means 13 minutes of playable content *including all the choices* for each character which isn't a lot. And most people are not going to play through every choice option.

Which means people could be getting through the unique content for their favourite character in less than 10 minutes.

By combining chapters, that means we get episodes that are 70,000 words or 90,000 words. It boosts the amount of content per character by a significant amount and that is really what I'm looking at when I consider episode layout. 

I try to think about what is going to make for the most satisfying episode for players. The drawback of 2 chapters per episode is that it's…a lot. It's a lot of expressions. It's a lot of flowchart work.  

It just takes more time.

Regardless of whether it's just 1 chapter at a time or whether it's 2 chapters at a time, I really want to move forward with steady releases and get the game fully released to players in 2025. That is obviously my primary focus going forward.   

The story is finished. It's burning a hole in my laptop. (Not really). But I want to get it released.

Having the story already written but delivering it in smaller bites to players is doing a lot to save my drawing hand from inevitable doom but it's so hard for me mentally. I know the things coming up in future episodes and I'm so keen to release it and see reactions and talk to people about it. And it's just so difficult to not be able to do that as fast as I want.

I'm trying to be patient and I hope all of you are willing to be patient with me.

In other work…

I will likely continue to plan out my next game on the side, though I don't intend to start working on it or writing it until WSC completes. It's too hard to manage two projects like that - at least for me - most of the time.

When it comes to Thornewood (the most likely contender for 'next project'), it is a 'dark fantasy' in that the setting is gritty and grimy fantasy with an underlying darkness in the world. It's not really a dark romance though.

I always view dark fantasy as including settings where the darkness comes from outside the main character interactions. The setting is dark and the stories have danger and darkness....

But dark romance is when the relationships themselves are also dark. And I feel like I don't really write dark romance. I don't write perfect relationships either but I wouldn't describe them as 'dark' by any stretch.

Either way I'm looking forward to working on something more overtly fantasy again.

I've been dabbling in science fiction for a long time now (since 2019 - that's when I started Gilded Shadows!!) and I've been wanting to move back into fantasy settings for a while now.  

Even just working on the profiles and outlines and world building for fantasy projects, it feels like the Fae and the magic are calling me back home. So I'm really eager to wrap up WSC and bury myself in a more fantasy themed setting again.

But I have a long journey to get to that point.

There's a lot to do in 2025 and I still have a lot of stories to tell.

I hope you will all be here with me for the journey.

[kaymarie-bell]

Going feral over the Ithaca Saga rn

spoilers below (it's me yapping about the things I've noticed in each song)

The Challenge:

The 🎻Penelope🎻leitmotif to tells us who's about to (FINALLY) sing

I'm gonna be honest, I had heard all the snippets of this song because I wanted to hear Penelope SO BAD but I love having the actual song out

I knew this was going to be one of my top 3 from the beginning

I love the drums, especially when the suitors begin to sing

Penelope sounds so serious while issuing the challenge, it's very different from the snippets. (great choice! it's a dire situation)

"I'd rather die than grow old without The Best of you" knowing damn well The Best is Odysseus 😭💖

Anna held that final note for so long holy shit

Hold Them Down

I liked the repetition of the challenge by the suitors. Terrifying.

Ayron Alexander is a great singer, I had to listen twice because I got distracted by his voice so I missed what he was saying until the "hold her down". 😔

The lyrics are brutal. Jay did an amazing job 👏

Oof that sound at the end was disturbing. 100/10

Odysseus

THIS is the Ody Crashes Out song

OH! The beginning has the same structure as The Horse and the Infant / Monster

"I. Have Had. Enough." Cue Ody's leitmotif

The chanting of "Odysseus" to show HE'S the threat right now

Wait this is just Polyphemus/Survive but we're rooting for the cyclops

HE'S AIMING FOR THE TORCHES (we are the same you and I~)

YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW MY OWN PALACE? I BUILT IT 🏹

"Let's have Open Arms instead-" / 🏹 "No."

"Legendary" melody to announce Telemachus 😭

Is that Athena's quick thought leitmotif? I need Jay's visuals 😫

MICO did such a great job omg

the soundscaping is really good as always. I can picture the scene very well

"Mercy? MERCY?" 🏹

Jay with the crazy voice acting again 👏

The final "Odysseus" chant is the same one as the end of No Longer You 🫵

I Can't Help but Wonder

I might be wrong, but I think the beginning goes from Just a Man to the Legendary leitmotif 😭

Acoustic guitar because this is an emotional song

Ngl I cried a lot with this one

MY SON, I'M FINALLY HOME 🗣

🗣TELEMACHUS~🗣

I can't tell if the piano in the background is playing a previous melody. I need the musician YouTubers to drop their analyses asap 😩

Quick thought. MY QUEEN IS BACK.

"Show yourself, I know you're watching me"

Athena sounds so much more...human? She really changed!

Athena basically:...should we try Open Arms now? / Ody:...too late for me I fear

"Father? She's waiting for you"

Would You Fall in Love with Me Again

The deep breath before the 🎻Penelope🎻😭

I love how the strings build up/speed up! it translates Ody's anxiousness/anticipation so well. And all goes quiet when the door opens

Anna sounds so beautiful 💖

The lyrics are wrecking me so bad. Thinking about "So much has changed, but I'm the same, yes I'm the same!" previously 😭

"What kind of things did you do?" /

"Left a trail of red on every island" *Ruthlessness melody*

"As I traded friends like objects I could use" *Thunder Bringer melody*

"Hurt more lives than I can count on my hands" *Scylla melody*

"But all of that was to bring me back to you. So tell me, would you fall in love with me again if you knew all I've done? The things I can't undo"

Penelope's last test with their bed.

Odysseus: "I am not the man you knew"

Penelope: "IF that's true...could you do me a favor?"

Odysseus being so hurt about the suggestion of cutting down their wedding bed 😭

Odysseus: "the only way to move it, is to CUT IT FROM ITS ROOTS!"

Penelope: "only my husband knew that, so I guess that MAKES HIM YOU!"

She didn't ask him because she doubted it was her husband, she asked him because HE was doubting HIMSELF OH MY GOD-

I would fall in love with you, over and over again, I don't care how where or when,

No matter how long it's been YOU'RE MINE

DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE NOT THE SAME PERSON! YOU'RE ALWAYS MY HUSBAND and I've been Waiting, Waiting!

WAITING!....for you (with the word "for" sung in the same melody the crew used to sing "Oh, whoah-oh-oh Odysseus." Wait is this her saying she accepts him monster and all? 😭)

*Just a Man orchestra ver.* I had a feeling Jay would do this, and yet I was NOT emotionally prepared for it at all

This song is basically: Odysseus hurt because he thinks Penelope confirmed his fear (she cannot love him anymore) by telling him to cut down the tree 🤝 Penelope upset with Odysseus because how dare he doubt her love (they love each other so much)

Penelope: "How long has it been?"

Odysseus: "Twenty years"

Both: "I Love You"

I'm so sick. Jorge can write a damn good love song for sure.

I'm sad about this being over but I'm also so very happy about finally having all these songs. This has been a great journey, and I can't wait to see what he does moving forward ❤️

[lady-griffin]

For me, I saw Vi’s justification of using the grey in line with her earlier “justifications” in S1 -- her arguing for the council to go to war with Silco (the Undercity) and even becoming enraged when they wouldn't and obviously her attacking Silco’s factory; particularly, what she said to Jayce after he killed Renni’s son –

“You didn’t have a choice. He knew what he was signing up for.”

After her confrontation with Jayce, we saw Vi looking down sadly at the kid and then angrily punch the shimmer vat; clearly, she wasn't as okay with this kid’s death as she acted nor wanted to be. She was trying to distance herself from her guilt and the choices she made that led to this kid’s death.

Because it’s easier to continue with her selfish revenge on Silco if she convinces herself this kid is at fault for being there in the first place or like she literally said to Jayce, she and Jayce had no choice in the matter. Even though this wasn’t a choice, but a misfire; plus, there were plenty of other choices available to Jayce and Vi - even if they weren't exactly what they wanted.

And that was Vi being selfish.

She wasn't trying to take out Silco for the good of the Undercity, she was doing it because Silco took her family from her; he hurt her and ruined her life. Even if Silco was objectively good for the Undercity (he absolutely wasn’t); Vi still would’ve pushed for the council to go after him.  

Vi’s selfishness and desire for revenge through violence can easily take over and cause her to be blind to the reality and complications of the situation, as well as the obvious future consequences of her actions.

It’s not so much she doesn’t care about the Undercity, but we do see Vi can emotionally distance herself from it and its people (especially after S1 Act 1); she can justify and even argue for acts of violence against her home, especially when she’s a part of that violence or it's a means to something she wants (Silco or Jinx).

Her justification of the grey is a continuation of what we saw from Vi in S1 Act 3, but this time Silco is not in the picture, so I would argue for the audience, it’s harder to justify Vi’s actions (to whatever degree) let alone be for them.

Plus, I always read this as not what Vi actually believed but what she HAD to tell herself to continue on with it.

They have no choice.

It’s not that big of a deal.

If people get sick or hurt it’s their fault for working for a Chem-baron or not dispersing when they should’ve.

Once they stop (kill) Jinx, it’ll all be over.

And so, on

For me this isn’t a mischaracterization of Vi, but an example of her hypocrisy; because if someone else was doing this (like Salo) then she would’ve absolutely been furious, but since it’s Caitlyn and her doing it, well, now it’s a different story.

Now, I definitely think I'm filling some of these gaps myself and I really wished they had explored this side of Vi more or even just addressed it more clearly.

Because while the lyrics from Hellfire definitely do a lot of character work for her in this regard - I still think we should’ve seen more of Vi's inner turmoil and hypocrisy in her need to justify her own violent actions, outside of that one song.

Caitlyn and Vi weaponizing toxic air pollution against the undercity and then Jinx and Sevika using Janna’s temple to recreate her legendary miracle by blowing that toxic air back onto Piltover.

Jinx (and Sevika) just became the hero Zaun needs.

[mithosis]

"Do you know what lies on the path before you? I do."

Meet Stig, my little blind norn seer with his flock of bird friends :) A Herald with a twist. Eventually a Wayfinder, separate from the Commander!

Sooooo I've already had this character for a while, (both in gw2 and out). I have a sylvari version of him — and he will still be existing and thriving as a separate character! However, I wanted to bring the original version of him to life as well. He always had Nordic themes, so making this version of him a norn was an obvious choice

Anyway, there is lore and a funny sketch under the cut for those who'd want to look at them!! (a huge chunk of text again, yeah, I'm sorry. It's featuring @lady-quen's Numen, though!! *wink wink*)

Maybe the weakest, skinniest little norn with nothing much behind his name, Stig was somewhat of an outcast from the moment he was born. Blind since birth, he was "blessed" by an elusive Cuckoo Spirit to help him on his life's journey, yet unable to shapeshift into their form or communicate with them, no matter how hard he tried. He was considered unworthy of norns' boastful lifestyle by some, and pitied for his misfortunes by others, although nobody could ever compare to how he looked upon himself for the happenstance of his birth. Was he "defective" in some way, not worth the effort to lift him up and let him live a life, try to reach for something more?

Still staying loyal to Cuckoo even without their support, Stig turned to Raven after being noticed by him for the cleverness with which the little norn tried to overcome the burdens of his own existence — there, at a young age, was discovered his gift of foresight, an explanation to all the weird sensory visions he would receive; some of them even looked as if he could actually see. Different kinds, both cryptic and mundane. Finally, something he could do and help others with, right? It was probably nice for a time, until enough commotions or unfortunate events were caused, maybe even blamed on him for doing his job wrong, causing Stig to be ever more cautious with sharing what he had gleaned.

Two ravens he rescued were his main company, aside from occasionally the kid of the famous Eir Stegalkin and his little brother with a strange affinity for ice magic. One day, however, the scenery changed into a strange landscape, an echo of the real world, as Stig stumbled through a wayward portal into the Mists. He had to survive there for a time all alone, not even his feathery friends to accompany him, communing with Spirits — then anyone, who'd listen — and desperately trying to get back home. A subtle whisper in his head grew louder the more time he spent essentially meditating, a voice of a person, until it formed and presented itself as none other than Asgeir Dragonrender. With his, rather frustrated at first, help, the little norn managed to get back to the world of the living, though not before getting injured on the way home — a weird, potent surge of lightning struck him. He awoke back home already tended to.

Other norn don't believe him at first when he claims Asgeir was the one to help and guide him — it takes a bit of convincing, talking with the legendary hero's echo and showing Stig's newfound strengths. He can channel the power of the Mists through their connection now, something only havrouns of the Spirits of the Wild can typically do. This earns him the respect of his peers — after all, he is aided by Dragonrender himself. People around him wonder: this must mean he could be the one to crack the Tooth, the Norn of Prophecy, right? Someone Stig never even dared to believe he could be.

However, it was never meant to be. After all the extra training and tireless nights of adapting the chosen combat style to his needs, the one to challange the Tooth wasn't him — instead, it was the hot-headed son of Eir, his friend Braham, who's been adventuring with the famous Pact Commander away from Hoelbrak. One arrow was fired — and as the icy exterior of the trophy crumbled, so did Stig's hopes of proving himself worthy to these people. He became an outcast again. At least his birds and Asgeir were still with him. It didn't matter that Braham supposedly failed his mission to kill the Ice Dragon afterwards: the damage was already done.

Then everything started to go downhill once Kralkatorrik was slain. Unexplainable mysteries, strange fog, disappearances. His friend becoming more and more distant and physically cold until one day he was gone as well. One of the only people who showed Stig what kindness looked like, aside from his mother. It was distressing, scary, none of his visions showing him the way — so he had to find his own, once again. This was the decision that led him to join the Commander and Braham in their venture to the Far Shiverpeaks, and discover the true nature of the little elementalist he called a friend — a scion and champion of Jormag, Numen, who's been the mysterious Cuckoo "Spirit" this whole time.

The team has to confront this dragon on the surface of a cold, frozen Lake Doric — and Asgeir recognizes it. Every norn knows the story of the legendary slayer of Frostfang — Dragonrender killed Jormag's greatest champion in one blow with the help of the Spirits. It was a clear victory, the thing falling off a cliff from the sheer force of the blow, mortally wounded. So how could the very same creature stand before him once again?

The question was answered when the dragon showed the large scar on their neck; they didn't quite remember the fight, but the old wound spoke for itself. A surprise for everyone involved — the greatest kill of Asgeir turned out to be a failure. Remains of the beast were confused with those of Claws of Jormag. And maybe a fact worst of all for the echo of a fallen hero — the frigid monster he was sure he had slain turned out to be one of the very Spirits that helped guide his people to the new home.

(Cue the funny sketch I promised)

Even after that, the team managed to save Numen and end the terror of both Dragons of Fire and Ice.

Eventually, Stig would become Numen's Champion, wanting to be there for them like the dragon was for him. Maybe he had finally found a place he was meant to be in, beside this creature of ice — lonely, yet so full of love for the world. Asgeir wasn't too amused, but what is one more voice in Stig's head, right?

This would mean he'd continue to help the Commander further down the line, and maybe even meet the elusive wizards in their glittering towers — who might have a hand in him meeting Asgeir in the first place.

Woah, if you got to this part, thank you for reading!! I love you <3

[caliluvsthe2000z]

“tutoring”

You're known for being intelligent at your school. You're usually picked to answer questions. You think you're pretty decent in academics, but not that good.

Because of your intelligence you were chosen to be a tutor for an after school study hall session that students with bad grades were supposed to attend. The instructor told you to go help Christopher Sturniolo. He was told to study for a test but didn't want to.

You went and took a seat at a desk beside Chris. He was running his fingers through his messy brown hair. You could tell that he was frustrated then he finally gave up and sat back in his chair.

"Y'know I'm not gonna do this, right?"

“You have to Christopher.”

"No I don't, actually. I can ditch if I want."

He closed his textbook and sat back in his chair, stretching, making himself comfortable.

“Yeah you can if you wanna repeat being a freshman.”

"It's the end of the year anyway and I'm passing a few of my classes with a C or better. If I fail a class it doesn't make me flunk."

“Christopher. the principal gave me a paper with your grades on it and you’re failing almost everything. Don’t say you have a C or better.”

Chris looked off to the side, a little embarrassed. It was true, he was failing all his classes. It wasn't his fault, he was having a hard time coping with his own life. He didn't want to admit that though.

"It doesn't matter, I'll just go to summer school, or something."

“You wont get anything done there Christopher.”

Chris shrugged. He was too stubborn to admit he needed the help. He didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Fine. Let's get it over with, I guess."

He grumbled, opening the textbook back up to a page you told him to look at. He was obviously still annoyed.

Cali pointed to the text where he left off.

“Read that one.”

she was talking in a soft tone because she knew that he was just gonna get frustrated and give up again.

Chris groaned, rolling his eyes before reading out loud. Reading wasn't his strong suit, but he wasn't a terrible reader. He read the text in a lazy, uninterested tone.

“Hey I know you don’t wanna be here but if you wanna get better you have to try. Please?”

Christopher sighed, annoyed. He sat up fully in his chair, dropping his casual, laid-back demeanor from before.

He looked straight at you, clearly frustrated.

"Why do you care anyway? You don't even know me that well. I won't be in any of your classes next year. We'll probably never see each other again once the year ends."

“Because i don’t want you to end up homeless or being nothing in life or worse.”

Christopher’s annoyed expression faded. He looked down, no longer making eye contact with you. He was a little surprised at your response. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what would happened if he didn’t try in school. Would he even be able to improve? He didn't know, but it was too scary for him to give any effort.

“So please try Christopher.”

Chris was quiet, contemplating the choice he was being given. He didn't want to do this but it was either this or fail. He let out a small huff before looking back at the text.

"Fine. I'll try. But I can't promise it will go well."

“Thank you so much.”

At that moment she smiled for the first time. she had a beautiful smile and her dimple went out when she smiled.

Despite the whole studying thing, Chris took a moment to look at your smile, noticing your dimple. He felt a little flutter in his stomach, something he hadn't felt before. He quickly looked down at the textbook, shaking himself out of it. He was supposed to be focused on studying, not paying attention to how pretty you were. He told himself to push that thought out of his mind.

"Just... just tell me what to do."

“Read this text please.”

Chris quickly shoved his thoughts out of his head and focused on the task at hand. He tried to keep his tone neutral, but his voice was a touch softer than before.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever you say"

He picked up the textbook, looking for the text you asked him to read. He found the page, reading it aloud.

“Good!”

She said it in a soft easy tone. She knew this was hard for him so she had to go easy on him.

Christopher found himself wanting you to say the word "good" again. He wanted to get praised and have you tell him he was doing a good job. He liked your voice.

He shook that thought away, telling himself to focus on the studying. Even though it had only been little while, his attitude had completely changed. He wasn't as annoyed at having to study, at least he was when he heard you praising him. He was putting an effort into the work.

"Okay, now what?"

“Write down what i say okay?”

Chris grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. He was actually willing to do this for once, not just half-heartedly going through the motions.

"Right, got it. I'll write it down."

He looked at you, waiting for you to start speaking.

When she starts reading the passage Chris tried to listen to what she was saying but her voice was just so beautiful he just couldn’t focus on what he was supposed to be writing down.

Chris tried to focus on the words, but they faded out, replaced by the sound of your voice. It was pretty. Soft. Soft and sweet, like honey. He had to focus himself back on the task at hand every few sentences.

He quickly jotted down the words you said, trying to keep up. It was difficult because he found himself listening to you instead.

“Got all that?”

Chris snapped himself out of his trance. He looked down at the paper in front of him, a little embarrassed at himself for zoning out so much.

"Uh, right, yeah. Got it."

He said, looking down at his notes, his face a tiny bit red from embarrassment at spacing out like that. The whole time he was taking notes, he had to remind himself to pay attention to what you were saying and not your voice.

“i’m so proud of you getting stuff done!”

When she said that she gave him a rub on the back. Chris’s heart gave a little flutter again when he felt your hand on his back. Nobody had given him praise like this or said they were proud of him in a long time. It felt good, even if it was just over something small like actually studying.

He took a moment to let the feeling sink in before responding. His head was still down, looking at the notes he had written.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, I've actually gotten stuff done today..."

“And that’s not all.”

Chris looked up, curious. He had been doing surprisingly well so far. It had gone better than he thought. He didn't expect something else.

He looked directly at you, waiting to hear what he needed to do next.

“Now you’re gonna look me in the eyes and tell me what you learned from this text right here.”

Christopher felt a pang of nervousness when you said to look you in the eyes. That would be hard because of how pretty your eyes were, as well as looking you in the eye is already nerve-wracking.

He took a quick deep breath, mustering the courage to do as you said. He looked into your eyes, trying to keep a calm focus. He suddenly couldn't remember what he had written down at all. He tried to keep it together.

"Uh... well, what I learned is..."

“Go on.”

Chris tried his hardest to focus on answering the question, but it was hard when looking into your eyes. They were just so beautiful, so pretty. He could just stare into them all day. He tried to collect his thoughts.

"Uh, right, right... well, I learned that..."

He tried to remember what he had written down, but he was so distracted by just looking at you. It was impossible to focus on what he had written down.

“Here read it again.”

Chris let out a quiet sigh, trying not to seem like he was frustrated. He knew he should be able to tell you what he had written down but he still couldn't focus. Your sweet eyes and soft voice were making it so difficult.

He looked back down at his notes. They were messy, written in a hurry. He took a moment to read through the words.

“Hey hey don’t be frustrated take deep breath’s! When she said that she moved his hair out of his face.

Christopher almost shivered slightly when he felt your fingers brush his forehead, gently moving his hair. He took a deep breath like you said, letting it out through his nose. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to calm himself.

"Okay. Okay. I'm good, I'm okay now."

“Okay now read this one.”

He took another deep breath, feeling a little more in control now. He slowly started reading, trying to keep a steady tone. He spoke clearly and slowly, putting a lot of effort into it. He wanted to impress you.

She saw that he was having trouble with pronouncing the word equivalent so she tried to help him.

“Do you need some help?”

Chris stopped reading, taking his time before answering. He was getting a little frustrated with himself, having so much trouble. He let out a quiet groan, looking at the word.

"Ugh, yeah. Equiv- equivolent."

It was getting harder to even spit out the word now. He was never good at reading. He dreaded whenever he had to read aloud, even though he just heard your voice reading perfectly. It wasn't fair, he was supposed to be the popular and good looking kid, not the one with bad study skills.

“Its okay here i’ll help you”

She said that with the most beautiful smile on her face. Chris felt like he was going to melt if he looks at you for one more second.

Chris went quiet for a moment as you help him pronounce the word. You slowly helped him say it slowly, sounding it out carefully while he repeated it multiple times.

He mumbled it under his breath as he finally said it correctly, a little frustrated he couldn't say it easily. "Equivalent... got it."

“Im so proud of you You’re doing great.”

Chris was proud that he was finally able to say the damn word. He had a small smile on his face, not realizing that it mirrored your smile from before.

He looked up at you, feeling more confident. He still didn't like studying, but he was actually getting better at it. The fact that you were complimenting him and telling him he was doing good felt good. He wasn't used to hearing that from people.

"You really think I'm doing good?"

“Yes i do you’re doing way better than before!”

Chris was surprised at how much it made him smile to hear you say that. He actually was doing well. He was not only passing the subject, he was actually getting a good understanding. He never had that happen.

He sat up straighter in his chair, no longer leaning back as he had been before. He felt motivated now. Studying was becoming less of a chore and more of something he wanted to try.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe this isn't that bad after all."

“Well study time is over see you tomorrow!”

The words "study time is over" immediately brought back that annoyed feeling in Chris’s stomach. He was doing so well, he didn't want to stop.

But then, he realised that meant he was free. He didn't have to sit and study anymore. He was kind of sad though. He wouldn't get to see you until the next day. It wasn't ideal.

"Right... uh, okay. Um, see you tomorrow then."

[goodluckclove]

I just remembered I have more updates on my newest in-progress tableau of famous media characters drawn entirely from my own memory. I've decided to make the setting a mall food court and I'm working out from the first drawing - which, if you remember, was a T4T Shadow/Sonic the Hedgehog requested by @mercuryytheraven. August saw and described my depiction of the notable hedgehogs as "terrifying".

As you can see, the nightmare has grown in detail.

Pencil for now until I know I'm done with the rest of the detail. Let's go through and take a closer look.

Below is a Pikmin, requested by @xarrixii. I think I was essentially right right these guys. No notes. He works at Panda Express.

Above him is supposed to be one of the Krogans from Mass Effect, which @mushroommanchanterelle kindly allows me to call "Frog Man". I also tried to remember what Krogans are called, and by the looks of the name tag I guess I went with "Grogbert".

I would say my Krogans are...

Listen. All roads lead back to Egg in Chinos. That's not me talking, that's evolution. Moving on.

@mushroommanchanterelle also requested Waluigi, and I had to respect their common law marriage by depicting him with Wario. I LOVE this Wario I created. He is a quiet man and he's eating a slice of pizza with a fork and knife. I love him. He looks Polite. This is his treat for the day. I have no comments on Waluigi aside form the fact that I gave him near Slenderman-esc proportions and assless chaps.

So my Link was a suggestion from @themuseinthewoods, who seems just so sweet and when you see this please know I did not intend to start our friendship off by taking a well-meaning ask and turning into some nude, dummy-thicc puppet abomination. I saw Link and immediately was like "hey dynamic posing is important and I know Link loves to eat trash" - which, in retrospect, was probably the cough syrup talking. I started mouth-first, another poor choice. He was actually going to wear clothes, but then I asked my wife what Link wears and Riley insisted that Link is occasionally nude. They then went on to say I had to make the ass bigger.

They added the fart. Art is collaborative. I am sorry.

Anyways I need more suggestions if anyone has them. I'm looking for famous characters to draw in terrifying ways. If I know them I'll draw them from memory, and if I DONT know them I'll put them in my second tableau of guys I have no visuals for. The setting is a hospital, and so far it's just a terrified Piplup suggested by @fukurouonthesea.

This guy's seen some shit.

[acediscowlng]

okay i'm approaching the last three episodes of season 5 so let's talk about dean and john winchester being dubbed as righteous men for a second.

because i think it has less to do with them being righteous (they're not, really, by any definition of the word, unless you count being self righteous, but i dont so.) and more to do with them being men. the idealized straight white american men to be exact. the men who like and do what straight white american men should like and do. drinking. guns. sex. but are you know. classy and repressed about it. and the perfect white american men cannot be anything but righteous.

and you add the idea that this was preordained by heaven. the powers of heaven came together to make sure dean, and by extension, john would exist as they do. and how heaven is a predominantly male force. that what is considered angelic and holy are also all men. and people who rebelled are either women (anna) or at the very least does not fit the standards of straight manhood (i hesitate to call gabriel queercoded in this day and age, but i mean. he is)

but also not quite. because zachariah and uriel are not what men should be. they are power hungry and petty and vain and they do not actually believe in righteousness. they don't believe in god (who is a distant father and a man). which in the language of the show actually means that they do not have the individualized straight white hypermasculinity to save the day so they need someone else to do it. they need someone else to do it. which at the end of the day is not very manly.

and we come to the fall of castiel. castiel who is abrasive and a soldier and a true and unwavering belief in god (who is also a man) and who falls because he wants to do things his way, the right way, a man's way, and whose fall from a flawed and corrupted heaven is an emasculation and loss of power but also because heaven should be the source of masculinity (god) but it is flawed and corrupted and not righteous so castiel's fall is also characterized by things traditionally masculine things like women and sex and drinking because righteousness is just another word for manhood and those things are part of that.

and we circle back to dean (and john, and to an extent god, i guess) who resented sam for leaving their space of hypermasculinity, and sam whose leaving those spaces always involved women (jessica, meg, ruby) and how sam's fall from grace came at the hand of a woman and how it's specifically because sam chose a woman who is evil instead of dean who is a righteous man by virtue of being a man and men are inherently righteous and how his penance is proving that he is able and willing to fit into these spaces of hypermasculinity despite how he, at a fundamental level, just does not fit there sidenote: god this show was just way too comfortable calling women bitches before beating them to a pulp like those were Choices that were definitely made

and okay. i don't really know where i'm going with this. i have three episodes to go in season five and too little sleep lbr. but supernatural is a story that you can't really separate from the idea of hypermasculinity. it is a story about hypermasculinity. one that seeks to deconstruct it but is also so deeply entrenched in it that, to an extent, it cannot help but uphold it as well.

on my supernatural rewatch, and i am afraid to say that the wincest girlies were definitely onto something. i am sorry for ever doubting your game.

[epickiya722]

I love the teaser image we got for the Culling Games Arc for season 3. I know, I know! It's just a teaser image but I saw it and immediately felt so much meaning behind it. So I'm gonna ramble here, you don't have to read this. I just had thoughts that's been plaguing me for days now.

First, I want to point out that the scene is actually from 138 is added here at the bottom.

It was actually a scene I was looking forward to for the end of season 2. However, they cut it out and skipped right to Yuji clapping to bait the Curses. I was a little disappointed, I won't lie, but I got over it really quickly in two seconds since I figured that transferring it to maybe the beginning of season 3 would be better.

Wouldn't be the first time MAPPA moved a scene (the first half of episode 6 of the second season actually takes place BEFORE the Pre-Hidden Inventory arc in the manga but it still works in the storyline the way it's done in the anime).

Anyways, what I find important about that scene is Yuji being at the point of solidifying himself into a role of a cog and isolating himself from the others. He feels he's a danger to be around, especially to Megumi who he knows at this point Sukuna has plans for.

He says that he's killed too many people, referring to the Shibuya Incident. As we know, Yuji didn't kill all those people. Sukuna is the one responsible. However, Yuji harbors that guilt, feeling he's at fault for a situation he couldn't control.

Visually, the poster gives that. At least, to me. Yuji is alone in the poster, reflecting his self-chosen isolation. He looks defeated here, giving up on himself. It how he feels. Yuji chooses to keep pushing forward, going on to exterminate curses. However, Yuji gives up his connections to the others as well as his former self.

I love that the center piece has Yuji in his (nearly) all-black hoodie outfit. It's a darker version of his usual school uniform which is brighter. He's in mourning of his old self.

This is evident with the colors.

Five colors I think of when it comes to JJK is black, white, purple, red and blue.

The two colors I'm focusing on here are red and black.

『Colors I picked from the poster.』

As I mentioned, Yuji wears a darker version of his school uniform. It's still a hoodie with loose pants, his usual style but black and with just hints of red, the most coming from his signature red shoes.

When you think of black, maybe one of the first things you think of is death. It's the usual color one would wear to a funeral to mourn someone.

Again, back with the mourning here. While I think Yuji is in mourning of his old self, I also believe he mourns the lives lost in Shibuya. Nanami, Nobara (presumably died), the Hasaba Twins and everyone else who had been caught in the crossfire. Deaths he feel guilt over, as mentioned before.

Another meaning for black is misfortune. Yuji thinks of himself that way. A misfortune brought onto others and that's why he chooses isolation.

Oddly enough, Megumi, who Yuji is trying to protect, is also associated the color black. His technique is shadows, his hair is black and part of his family name, "guro (黒)" translates to black.

Taking in account of his first name, Megumi, that means "blessing" and the irony of it, the misfortune meaning of black aligns here.

Now, with the red!

We know it's Yuji's signature color. His hair is pink, a color born between red and white. He wears a red hoodie and a pair of shoes.

Red is often given to the main character of a series because usually they are the big good and it plays into the "red is heroic" trope. And Yuji is definitely heroic. Red also reflects that character as the energetic type. Again, Yuji is that. However, the choice of red for the poster and just with him in general does have its negative meanings.

Let's think about what Gojo's power move, Red does. It repels and like his Blue and Hollow Purple, it's destructive.

Yuji here is doing just that. He's destructive and is also is trying to repel others. The irony though is like Gojo's Blue, he attracts people and even curses.

Let's go for other meanings, specifically negative, for red and how they relate.

Red is also the color typically used to alert for potential danger. Yuji, again, sees himself as a danger to people. As Sukuna's vessel solidifies that feeling. Yet, even before the Shibuya Incident, Yuji while not a violent person and has a sunshine personality, he isn't really gentle all the time. We see even in a flashback (shown later in the story) Yuji will take down bullies with just a punch. With Yuji's fights, we see he goes all out in them. "Hold back" isn't a phrase he doesn't seem too familiar with.

There's the love meaning. I know, love is usually seen as romantic when it comes to red, but red is an universal color and there are different kinds of love. Yuji is someone who holds love in his heart for people. Because of that love, he tends to put himself last, sacrificing his own well-being to protect the people he cares about. He holds love for humanity and sometimes that love leads to him being angry, another meaning for red.

Yuji may not express his rage all the time, but he does have his moments that show he is quick to anger. We see in comedic moments, but that rage of his is also seen in more serious moments. A lot of it being in his fights he has. Unlike other people, Yuji doesn't really express joy when he fights. He has a face of displeasure.

Again, he isn't a violent person, but he will fight.

With fighting, comes with blood. What color is blood? Red, right, right.

And Yuji feels that he has blood on his hands.

So there's that!

The one piece of the image I'm still trying to figure out is the hand on Yuji's chest. I'm not too sure of what's going on here, but I do think it's important.

It reminds me of when Sukuna heals Megumi, which is an action that Yuji does recall in his talk with Choso.

The similarity here could just mean nothing, but maybe it does?

Again, this part I am unsure about, like I can't think of a complete thought of it, but! If I were to say something about it I would say maybe this hand is doing opposite of what Sukuna does. Maybe whoever's hand this is may be harming Yuji.

But it could also be doing the same thing. "Healing" him, which I'm a little more leaning towards thinking about it. I say this because of what the poster is teasing for. The Culling Games.

Long story short, the CG was for sorcerers to strengthen themselves for the ultimate plan Kenjaku had in mind. Yuji is one of the players and throughout it, as he has been, he gets stronger.

With healing you strengthen. Given Kenjaku is responsible for the CG and Yuji (if you know, you know... it's a lot) I wouldn't be surprised if the hand here is meant to be Kenjaku's.

Yuji is could be seen as slumped over here a d the hand is holding him up. Which could also mean that the hand could be seen as Choso's. Why? Choso is one of the characters that stick by Yuji's side. He's his big brother and he does influence Yuji's character in some ways, including his growing strength.

Rewinding back to red -> blood. Choso had the Blood Manipulation technique and it's fitting for him because he is someone who holds high value for family, especially for his brothers (Yuji being his youngest). So with that, I also see the hand as being Choso's.

Overall, it's a teaser image, but I love it. I'm not saying that everything I said here is a definite or whatever. Just my interpretation of it and some thoughts I wrote for fun.

[cyellolemon]

THEY ARE KISSING

[brofightiscancelled]

okay ill bite why do u hate kaoru sakuraba sidem aside from the fact that they went from hokuto as a main blue to downgrade to kaoru. to make it less awkward that I’m asking abt sidem on ur osomatsu side blog, what sidem idols would u assign to each matsu ?

i think sideM should collab w osomatsu-san and put them all in Beit so they can all get JOBS!!!!!!

anyways i hate kaoru from idolmaster sideM. i need all my osomatsu-san side blog followers to know that i hate this man. "i need a lot of money fast to pursue an extremely niche medical research track, which is why i quit my stable and high paying job as a surgeon to become an idol while having no soft skills, physical strength or stamina, or interest in getting along with people" are you Stupid??

he's not even using his idol clout to spread awareness of the rare disease he's trying to cure (like SEM does) so it can secure funding, he sees it 100% as a job and refuses to have fun, he is actively unpleasant and uncooperative in every interaction with his coworkers because he's trying to "rise to the top". it seems like the only thing he has going for him are his looks and that he kind of liked to sing when he was a kid. why not become a model at that point when you have the personality of a wet tree trunk. or better yet why not STAY A FUCKING DOCTOR!!!!!

also, i don't like meganes, so write that down.