#welp-- decided we're doing the thing lmao

[take-ya-to-the-ghey-bar]

"Damn, talk about a weird sense of deja vu..." It was weird as hell to learn there's some guy, who sounds a lot like yourself--

[thankskenpenders]

At long last, the trailer for Sonic movie 3 is here, giving us our first look at Shadow! It looks like a fun time, though my excitement is probably more tempered than a lot of peoples' due to a few things I have mixed feelings on. Here are my off-the-cuff thoughts about it.

Shadow

Yes, it does seem like they've really nailed Shadow here. Fowler's attachment to the character clearly shows. The action looks cool and really sells Shadow as a serious threat. He's got his bike, he's doing Chaos Control all over the place, it's great. Keanu is very much just doing his regular voice, but it fits well enough. The backstory from SA2 seems to mostly be there, though I'm sure some details will be adjusted. Mostly I'm still just amazed that we're getting a major tentpole blockbuster movie this Christmas starring Shadow the fucking Hedgehog that treats him as a serious character worthy of respect. We've come such a long way...

I mean, just... what an image to see on the big screen.

I also really like the way they're setting Shadow up as a foil for movie Sonic, kind of his dark mirror image as a Mobian hedgehog whose family life on Earth ended in tragedy and turned him into a vengeful antagonist. It's pretty straightforward, but it works well.

Robotnik(s)

Welp. They put Jim Carrey in a fat suit. I suppose we knew this day would come eventually.

I guess a small part of me is glad that movie Eggman finally actually looks like Eggman in every way that matter, but they're completely playing it as a joke at his expense here. And, yeah, the Sonic franchise isn't immune to fat jokes, the early years of the franchise (particularly Western adaptations) gave Sonic tons and tons and tons of jabs about Eggman's weight. But I thought we'd moved past that. But here we are with a depressed movie Robotnik binge eating and gaining a lot of weight like Fat Thor and the other characters think he's so GROSS and look his clothes don't even fit him anymore, haha! There's so much of this crammed into the trailer. I can only pray they don't do this in every fucking scene he's in in the movie.

I do like the plot of Sonic reluctantly teaming up with Robotnik to try and stop Shadow, though. It's very different from SA2, but we knew it would be, and I think that gives the movie some potential for Sonic to have kind of a dark turn of his own that mirror's Shadow's. I have a feeling that Sonic will try to get back at Shadow for something he does - maybe hurting Tom or something like that - and in the end Sonic sympathizes with Shadow and decides they have to stop their cycle of revenge, teaming up to stop some final threat.

Oh, and, of course... Jim Carrey is also playing Professor Gerald. Who might still be alive? Or maybe it's a hallucination on Ivo's part? I don't know, but either way, I'm here for it. Everyone joked about them doing it and then they went and did it. Yes, it risks playing him as a joke character, but the shot of him and Shadow mourning Maria while surrounded by GUN soldiers makes me believe he won't be a total joke. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the true final antagonist of the film, which would diverge a lot from the games but would work as its own version of the story.

And again, WHAT an image to see on the big screen lmao

Everyone else

The human cast is VERY downplayed in this trailer, but let's not forget that they're still going to get a lot of screentime one way or another. The Sonic 2 trailer barely showed anything from Hawaii. Where oh where is my best friend Wade?

Speaking of the Wade show, Knuckles... frankly still seems to be mostly a comic relief character heavily influenced by MCU Thor here, getting some jokes in the trailer but immediately getting Worfed by Shadow when it comes time to fight. Tails seems to be flying the gang around in a real-ass helicopter, and his big pilot's helmet is funny, but otherwise he doesn't really do anything here aside from getting stomped by Shadow. I really hope they don't get sidelined too hard, but frankly I fully expect them to, Tails especially.

And, of course... I can't help but think about who isn't here. Namely: the girls. Yes, three movies and one streaming miniseries into this film franchise, exactly zero of the female (animal) characters from the games have made the jump to live action. Please allow me to bitch about this.

Despite her being both 1) a main character in the game this movie is loosely adapting and 2) my fave, I suppose I can understand why Rouge isn't here. Paramount took one look at that bat cleavage and went "nope," cowards that they are. There was some speculation that Kristen Ritter could be playing Rouge, but we now know she's just playing someone at GUN. But, again, I at least get why they'd be hesitant to include her.

But Amy... Amy is such a glaring omission at this point. There's no excuse. She's the female lead of the franchise. She's one of Sonic's closest friends. (Honestly, these days it's more accurate to say Team Sonic is Sonic, Tails, and Amy, not Knuckles, especially in the comics.) And she's also a key player in Shadow's arc in the game. Shadow has his change of heart because Amy reminds him of Maria! And yet, she's nowhere to be seen. It sucks.

(I know some fans are still holding out hope for Amy, but the toys for the movie already leaked and she didn't get anything, so I have to assume she's not in it.)

It's not like I really expected either of them to be in this movie, but that doesn't make it less disappointing that they set up the film franchise in a way that makes it logistically difficult to include 90% of the characters and conveniently managed to leave all of the girls in the "low priority" pile. Yes, I know everyone points to how much Tails was downplayed in the third act of Sonic 2 as evidence that it's just so impossible to introduce more than one new Mobian character in each movie and give them the focus they deserve. Yes, I know having to come up with a story excuse to bring more characters over to Earth is an obstacle, especially when they're gonna have to devote time to Shadow's backstory. But these are excuses. It's a writer's job to figure out solutions to problems like this. They could make it work if they really wanted to. I'd take Amy having a suboptimal amount of screentime over her not being in it at all. It's just not a priority for them. That's what disappoints me. You can justify these absences from a logical perspective, but I just care way more about Amy and Rouge as characters than I do about Shadow, so there's no way for this to not sting.

But, at the end of the day, for what the movie is actually trying to do, it seems to be pulling it off well. Aside from the fat jokes. I don't like the fat jokes. But the Shadow stuff is good. As always, this live action version of the franchise is never going to be my ideal version of Sonic, but it's turned out far better than it had any right to, and I'll probably have fun when I go see this in theaters and hear Live and Learn.

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC EPILOGUE

One last...One last review...before...*gasp for air*...it all fall into the pit of daily pass...*dramatically fall into the ground*

ALL THOSE CHAPTERS. Those were some damn rollercoasters. And yet with everything we've been through, we're finally here...

Let's get right into it

JACK FINALLY REUNITING WITH LEELATHAE!! Relationship goal fr <3 This whole Leelathae portrait stuff is actually making me curious about some things. For instance like, does Leelathe still sleep? I mean, she's pretty much a spirit now, right? Does she still do daily human acitivities, or does she roam around the castle all day?

It's awesome to see what the pastel siblings are doing now! :D

First of all, Lorena definitely deserve that A+++++. No questions asked. Hopefully this can make up for her whole grade, considering she said she has never gotten an A in her entire life XD

I love how Maria is becoming really ambitious towards her dream!

And Gwen bonding with her mom's side of the family <3 That is simply so sweet. It looks like Jamie love those food XD I wonder what are the recipes for those dishes.

Also pretty curious what those little beads are! I assume they are berries?

Jamie and Leopold creating lots of paintings so Leelathae can venture around!! Since Leelathae can also visit dreams, do you think she visits each of her children's dream every night?

Old guard name reveal HECK YEAH!! I've been waiting for that. So happy he got all those recognitions and promotion!!

And Becket getting demoted lmaoo

Is it rude for me to say that with what Beckett did before the invasion (ignore Frederick), and how he immediately decided to confess to Maria without any consideration for the room, he kindaa had it coming? xd I get that he was excited but don't just do that man.

Just wanted to say I absolutely love Lorena's outfit in this panel! Between all of the pastel siblings, her fashion style has always been my favorite. VOTE QUEEN LORENA WOOOOO!!!!

Everyone's getting their appreciations like they deserve!! I'm happy for everyone.

FREDERICK FINALLY GETTING THE RECOGNITION, THE APPRECIATION, AND THE PROUDNESS HE DESERVE!! I'M SO PROUD OF HIM EVERYONE LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THE BOY.

The Cursed Princess Club!! Everyone may have a hard time accepting them at first but they always have their family and friends' back <3 Love how Tori is just "CLAP YOU HEATHENS" Lmao XD

Also the fact that Whitney is just standing there so awkwardly :') he looks like the standing emoji.

Welp, out of the town and to the prison we go~

Leland not getting any visitors in the prison is honestly a really good punishment; a painful one too. How we see in the last chapters about how he realized that Jack actually love him and he has a breakdown, Isolde's speech to him about what else could he possible want, realizing that this whole time he has had everything. And now he's rotting in jail losing everything he once had. All because of envy and hatred. Just because he wasn't satisfied until he could see the man he once love the most suffer. Emotionally, that's really fucking painful.

Out of the prison we go~

So, Pizza exist in the CPC universe? XD That's not supposed to be surprising but I was taken aback for some reason. I guess CPC is set after the 18th century, then!

I can imagine it already. With Suzie moving to the Pastel Kingdom, Lorena will definitely hang out with her almost everyday. Them sparring and eating at a cafe in their free time <3 Sometimes Lance would join too :] They would share notes!!

FINALLY THEY STOLE THE PORTRAIT BACK!! I wonder where they will hang it up? Maybe at the Cpc? Or at the Pastel Palace?

Jack declaring the cpc's forest as a protected place is so damn awesome like, he cares about his daughter's friends!! ALSO THE SPIDER TALKING ABOUT NEWEST MEMBER?? I wonder who...

This panel is everything for me.

BENEDICT IS SO DAMN DEVOTED WHAT??? BRO He tricked the sea cucumber to curse him so he can find his lover!!! (This sounds so confusing out of context lmao) TRUE RELATIONSHIP GOAL.

BLAQUELYN LOOKS SO PRETTY???? I LOVE HER FASHION STYLE SO MUCH!! She rocks that outfit fr!! But Greyden 💀 Deep down I'm still wondering how very little of his hair could make a whole damn coat..

GUYS. GUYS IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYBODY STAY CALM

NELL AND JOLIE WEDDING LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO

Holy shit. First of all another point about the outfits cause I loveee observing everyone's outfit!! Their wedding dress is absolutely!! Pretty!!! The details Lambcat put is amazing. I can see that Jolie's wearing high heels, so can we assume she and Nell has the same height? Absolutely adore how Jolie's dress has ruffles look while Nell's more silky!!

The wedding's decoration is totally magical too!! It looks so majestic and angelic.

Celso and Aurelia is a couple I would never expect but honestly? I'm not complaining. Imagine their date is them sitting at a cafe right at the window seats, watching people outside while roasting each one of them <3 Dream date fr

I do hope it's true love though because if not, R.I.P Celso XD

Holy shit.. EVERYONE PLEASE, ALLOW ME TO MAKE YET ANOTHER FASHION REVIEW. BECAUSE GOODNESS GRACIOUS THIS DRESS IS MAKING ME SWOON. OKAY DAMN YOU GO MARIA YOU GO. First of all the blue fabric looks so metallic, I love that!! The light blue glittery ruffles with little pearls on its edges are also gorgeous. I love the lace necklace complimenting the dress and especially, I fricking love the blue transculent fabric on her arms!!! She looks so graceful.

She got noticed by her idol!!! That is so dang amazing. How she looks in the album cover is also just, woah.

Blaine buddy you cannot just do that. You cannot just. No. Please I'm begging you, reunite with your family. You can go on ahead with your self discovery journey, of course! But at least visit them once or twice :') Your mom is real worried about you, man...

I hope there's going to be a spin off or something about Blaine's journey...

NEW CPC HEADQUARTER??? HECK YEAH!!

Monika opening her jewelry store and achieving her dream!! So proud of her :D and Gwen opening her own bakery!!

Unfortunately I've run out of picture space...

Gwen can finally see her own reflection I am so proud of her :') She love herself!!

Goodness...Leelathae's letter... I need a moment to sob.

I fricking love the message this webtoon gives, man. It's just so damn wholesome and important. Beauty is on the inside. It's a simple message but damn it really is important to understand that message!!

Gwen is wearing braids Y'ALL 😭😭 SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL

Okay, I'm wondering about something here! In the panel where the pastel family are having breakfast together, we can see Leelathae eating pancakes in her portrait too! Does this mean she can eat? Can food be transported to portraits? Or did Leopold paint a pancake or smth XD

THE LAST. FUCKING PANEL.

Gwen and Frederick holding hands in front of the CPC building while being surrounded by sunflowers which once scare Frederick but now he looks so happy and in peace. I'm so glad everyone each got their deserved ending :')

Well, I suppose this is the last review, then. That's kind of sad, to be honest. But I've loved writing each of my reviews, and I want to say thank you to people who have interracted with them. I always love hearing y'all's thought and theories!! Maybe one day I'll find a new webtoon series which I can write these reviews on!! But for now, this shall be the last cpc review I write!

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

[youremyheaven]

'They just look at you and decide that this is it and you're kind of put in a position where you have no choice but to feel bad for treating someone who's so completely devoted to you like an afterthought. Idk if they do that on purpose to make us feel guilty and give them what they want 😭'

EXACTLY man, and it kinda feels bad because look, in my case we're in a relationship now and we have commitments together and I do care for him, but I'll never know how I would've felt if I were given that time to mull it over. Like maybe I would've developed a proper crush on him overtime instead of just waking up one day and being like 'welp, I guess I'm with this guy now' lmao

but the guilt is so real, like I know if I'd have turned him down in the first place (again, I wasn't even disinterested but it happened so fast I honestly don't even know what I am), I would've felt a lot of guilt and like a cold ice queen of a person which is worlds away from who I am. Yet I feel guilty for being with him and never being sure how I feel.

If you ask me I think Venus men can be very primal like that- it's almost animalistic. Like they feel they have to 'get in' with the woman they desire before anyone else does and claim her. Ironically I find it not particularly romantic, because it's passionate but only on their side- ideally romance is patient and slow. It's sort of like in old times how elite/well off people used to just 'claim' their woman. It could be a thing especially with the Brahmin Venusians (P.Phalguni and P.Ashadha)

I don't hate my partner or anything though but yeah, the origin story isn't my favourite. Plus; I later learnt he has very dark moods and can really attack the people closest to him when he feels bad about himself. It's tough out here 😂💓

BIG MOOD

In those initial days of love bombing, I felt so horrible about not feeling the same type of way in return??? I felt like "he's everything I've ever wanted, he adores me completely and wants to give me the world but I feel nothing at all so I must be the bad guy" 🥲😭💀🤡 and if he hadn't fcked up and we'd be in a relationship and I'd probably feel the same way. I felt so awful for ignoring his texts for hours because I knew if I replied, he'd text me back in 5 seconds and then ask me about my day and we'd keep talking 😭😭😭 (I felt like someone's toxic avoidant boyfriend ngl cause this man was acting like a clingy lover girl)

GIRL I FEEL YOU, i don't find this romantic either. I think relationships are build over time and it's possible to build something with someone WITHOUT love bombing them??? Like HE just decided he liked me, he actually never even asked me if I liked him lmfao (idk if this is his handsome man arrogance of assuming I'd feel the same way just because but wild af tbh)

Girl, even the Bharanis are this way , it's a Venus thing overall I'd say

I hope your relationship improves for the better ✨and I hope you never have to be at the receiving end of your Venusian's dark moods 🥲

[quietbluejay]

False Gods 6

you know im a little surprised that Erebus didn't go for "he's going to thunder warrior you" instead but that might be too big of a pill for Horus to swallow so he goes for Horus' fears instead

Erebus: think, horus, think! if this was entirely science why didn't he make 100 or 1000 horuses?

all i can think of is

Horus: the Emperor would never! like honestly I know it's controversial but I actually think most of this dream sequence is well done

the entire dream sequence should really have been "step 1" in corrupting horus not him right at the end deciding "yeah i'll go with erebus who has been lying to me the whole time" and then suddenly waking up as sexy evil lamp horus you know all his appearances could be replaced by a sexy lamp with "evil" written on it

the exceptions being, what, Vengeful Spirit and a few bits in Slaves to Darkness

Erebus: yeah you're all warpy Horus starts having the beginnings of what sounds like a panic attack Horus: so we're tainted, all of us… Erebus: noooo it's just power, it's about how you use it (lol) Horus: so why'd the Emperor do a bad job? Erebus: because he was weak leannnnsss towards Horus Erebus: not like you

Horus: take your hands off me, "Sejanus", and yeah i know it's not actually Sejanus the Custodes run in and dramatically point a spear at Horus and tell him to halt and face judgement

he's hurt that the Imperium fired at him Horus finally loses it and goes wild on the Custodians

you'd think that okay maybe that'd be his first instinct to talk to Valdor but okay…when's he going to remember he's time travelling…

anyways it's now down to him vs Valdor and the force of the fight is starting to affect the tanks, so Horus backs off

hmmm

Horus, you recognize Valdor but not your dad….. and time snaps back to reality ope there goes gravity and the tanks are born away on a whirlwind

okay

back over to loken

loken really isn't in the mood for a qruze story

qruze: the what loken internally: shit loken: the weapon that wounded Horus qruze: ahhh it must be powerful loken quickly changes the subject he wanted to go back down to davin but he was worried about what he'd do to abaddon or little horus qruze talks a bit about brotherhood

qruze tells Loken about how dare Varvarus want things like telling the fleet what happened, giving compensation to the victims' families, and punishing the guys responsible

Loken internally: welp RIP Maloghurst for having to deal with this loken also drinking that astartes superiority kool aid unsurprising tbh

but loken notices something else qruze said about remembrancers

karkasy….maybe you shouldn't have named it after a phrase that was said in a significant conversation with an astartes… though i mean, tbf, once loken saw the poems he'd probably catch on so of course now we cut to Karkasy who is feeling like he was productive and deserves a little treat he notices a whole lot of lectitio divinitatus symbols scratched on the walls and figures if he follows them he'd end up at a prayer meeting wow they've gotten bold

oh karkasy i'm afraid your universe is much, much worse than that he gets back to his door and apparently astartes smell like piss wait no i misread the corridor smells like piss but he can smell astartes even above that he's been found out he decides to face it like a man and enters his room to find loken reading his notebooks

you know what i'm proud of karkasy

though i guess he's got nothing to lose, but still it's more brave than he'd have been before karkasy: you're the one who told me to tell the truth even when it was unpalatable he managed to hit loken in his weak spot and he collapses a bit and sits on karkasy's bed

they have to stay out of the gray spaces as well which is LMAO but i get that what he means is with respect to the people they are supposed to be the defenders of and karkasy says he's going to keep writing til they throw him in jail well, loken can't argue with that lol otherwise he's a tyrant so he's putting karkasy under his protection

time for Keeler and Sindermann to talk Sindermann has been isolating himself for a while, though i mean i guess we knew that already but like he's been really isolating himself

ugh

you know given the state of Terra and everything, why would being thin be desirable? but i know im expecting too much from McNeill here so Sindermann wants to know more about the Imperial Cult Keeler is dubious because she thought he'd use his iterator skills to try and deconvert her

ah i do love irony specifically i'm referring to "religious hectoring from an autocratic priesthood" the pattern Sindermann has noticed is that there's a mysterious giant gold figure that keeps showing up in all these old texts sindermann thinks he's got his hands on the book of lorgar the one written by lorgar which is, er, written in a derivation of an ancient human language …that's supposed to be Colchisian right? it's one Sindermann doesn't recognize though

lol lmao

Sindermann: what if we've been wrong our whole lives Sindermann: i think we need a god more than ever keeler: w t f it's in cuneiform the book, that is

over to Horus and now his hallucination takes him to Cthonia

also, Erebus is gone and he hears the wolves again Horus: OKAY FINALLY LETS GET THIS OVER WITH voila, it is magnus

im still not over how he sacrificed a few thousand people for this like way to prove the haters wrong buddy

Magnus: it's YOU who is the impostor Magnus: BEHOLD ITS EREBUS Erebus: ok i lied to you about who i was but i was totally telling the truth about everything else Magnus: nuh uh Erebus: uh huh

and now over to Keeler and Sindermann time to look at some pictures

they're identical to the ones in the book of lorgar Keeler makes a composite image of the tattoos and prints it out

this is literally word salad im not going to bang on about it because this is probably a time crunch thing but geez so Sindermann goes to work on the translation and Keeler looks around at the books he's been reading she picks up a book that calls to her, against her better judgement

meanwhile Sindermann is stuck reading out loud and can't stop

oops! daemon summoning she ends up punching Sindermann to try and get him to let go of the book it works and he's able to stop and the two of them start running but unfortunately the daemon is enough here to chase after them

disco party daemon

so things aren't looking so good for our duo! it's about to breathe flames on them!

ending the scene on a cliffie

[non-neutoniangender]

Welp back on my critical role trashfire. Episode 37 bring it on

Welp the cashapp ads are back

kinda brilliant for Sam to get the rest of the cast to do these ads for him.

yooooo that logo is so cool!!!!!! I love how it has both moons!!

Also the figurines are rather cool.

So I'm watching CR while grinding in an MMO so less commentary, but I did have to stop and say.

Liam the references are on point. German expresionism?? I can picture it lmao.

Also this whole sequence is haunting. I love it.

The bones day reference 😟😟😟

the dolls!!!!! I love the way this characterizes laudna!!!

The guts of Sam offering Delilah therapy is so funny

Damn. the way Matt just sat marisha there....

"We're fighting Delilah Briarwood at level 7" so tru bestie, the scariest shit here.

Holy shit that fight was terrifying. The damage issue was wild.

But also. Imogen deciding to spend that last 3rd level slot on lightning being the HDYWTDT..... incredible. No notes.

But also holy shit.

The tree imagery!!

The lighting!!!!!

The Whole thing.

I loved the whole episode

Cannot wait to see the next one, I'm so glad I'm not watching live.

[elsa-fogen]

Yep. Yeah. That's me. Almost all of it, except, i sleep well (if i manage to fall asleep) Reblogging because maybe some of you didn't know (i also didn't know)

Story time!

Too long don't read: used to sleep on private math lessons because i hate math; it takes hours for me to fall asleep WHEN I SUPPOSED TO, and my sister does it in 3-5 minutes.

I was studying at university and we had MATH there I've always had problems with it. since 5th grade i think (well, i hated math before too but real problems started there) when i changed schools and the new class was behind what I've already studied and i didn't pay attention, until i realized that at some point I was behind. I said "welp, i guess it's to late to try, so fuck it"

So at university we had this very high level math and i just couldn't understand a thing (and we had an awful teacher who was saying evvvvery time something like "yall getting expelled, we're all gonna die") so i decided "if i don't understand, fuck it then, i will not even try" and started skipping math classes.

But i STILL had to pass an exam, we were getting 3 tries and if you fail you're getting expelled. I failed first two what a surprise (i don't know how i managed to pass it after all, i can't remember SHIT, only that i is fucking non-existing number which is square root of -1. Why on earth would you need it i have NO fucking clue.

So i had personal teachers who tried to make me understand at least something to pass the exam. And there was one i remember very well, i even remember that we paid her 10$ per hour (for us that was quite a lot). And i remember her because i was SLEEPING. I just COULDN'T keep my eyes opened. She explains something about deviding by zero and my brain draws the fucking universe collapsing in front of my eyes. She gives me some task, I'm trying to write something and I'm falling asleep and DREAMING about writing, then ahe wakes me up and i see that i didn't write SHIT. It all ended when in the middle of lesson she just kicked me out.

And, what a miracle, I'm leaving her apartments and suddenly, all the sleepiness just wanishes! I'm walking home, thinking about some another AU of mine, roleplaying it with myself in my head, full of energy again.

That's not the only case of this, but it's the strongest i ever felt. But that like happens all the time, EVEN WHEN MY MOM OR MY GRANNY COMES TO ME AND START TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING I'M NOT INTERESTED, IM YAWNING AND FEEL URGE TO FALL ASLEEP. But the moment they leave, It goes away! I was calling it work allergy LMAO

I was diagnosed with adhd in my early childhood (there was also something about epilepsy, but it's ok now so it doesn't matter), not long ago i brought this fact back into my active memory (thanks to Jaiden animations ADHD video for that xD) i kinda used to myself by now and now I'm trying to catch and analyse all moments of adhd kicking in. I know my own tricks and buttons, how to make myself do the thing or just how to force myself into doing something. Because i know if i start, I'll probably lock in and won't get up until it's done (well, if i have at least a tiny bit of interest in that thing, or else i won't), and i hate it when someone interrupts me in the middle of the process. No mom, i can't come right now, i can't finish it later, because i either spend few more hours forcing myself to go back to the task or just forget about it.

But i didn't know that this sleepiness was a legit symptom! I just thought that it's exaderated boredom, that's it, had a joke name for it. That's... Funny to know that this thing is actually also adhd moment.

Also, about sleeping. I have problems falling asleep. I may lie in the bed for hours without even my phone, just rotating my stories in my head, and when i don't have a story to think about, this is just the name of my current hyperfixation with different tones and in different random dialogues that doesn't even make sense. I have no idea how to fall asleep, except when i didn't sleep for like 48 hours (EVEN THEN IT MIGHT BE A PROBLEM AND I START THINKING OF THAT CREEPY PRION SICKNESS AND SCARE MYSELF AGAIN). And my mom told me that it have always been like that with me. She and my dad had the whole ritual to make me fall asleep. Dad would hold me in his arms, his head with me covered with a blanket that i could only see his face (or else I would look everywhere and never fall asleep), and rock me for HOURS while i was SCREAMING and CRYING the whole time like i was tortured. But when I'd finally fall asleep, they could be as loud as usual and didn't have to whisper, because wake me up is a whole different story. And my mom was SHOCKED when all it took to make my sister fall asleep was just pet her back for 3-5 minutes.

I don't think of myself as... Sick or ill. That's how i was all my life, i don't know anything else. That's not a sickness to me, that's just part of my personality. Maybe sometimes some parts of it bite me in the ass and make my life harder, but i don't know other life. That's the only one I've got, and i guess I'm fine with that (tho now that i think about it, i need to pay more attention to how i write the characters, and don't make them all ADHDshers LOL i need to study neurotypical people under a microscope 🔬🔍)

bro im gonna CRY i didnt know this 🥺

[retphienix]

Me and the bestie contemplating the purpose of my very existence while I repeatedly submit, succumb, and bow my head to their power entirely out of curiosity for what I may learn by doing so.

I do find myself rather put off by some of the tone of this quest line- just a whole lot of my character accepting their place not through acceptance or defiance- but rather.... kinda lame like, like a lamb following the flock.

I keep pushing forward for the Atlas seeds out of curiosity- out of a natural development of my previous interest in exploring the universe- now I wish to KNOW the universe- and my character's internal dialogue in all of this is a whole lot of "Nothing matters, I obey. Everything is meaningless- especially myself- I submit." like dude, chill.

There were some lines I really enjoyed from my character- like REALLY enjoyed-

whenever they dwell on their purpose (and don't just say their purpose is to obey like a cringelord) they instead put a lens towards what they ARE to the Atlas.

Namely, a lens for them to look upon themselves- which is- funnily enough- how I like to think of myself in the real universe.

Just a bit of the universe experiencing and witnessing itself.

So that's sick as hell!

The whole bit where my character seemingly shrugged their shoulders and decided they will simply worship the Atlas like any other NPC- simultaneously belittling this unique journey and dumbing down all their interesting self reflection in favor of "Welp, you know better, guess I'm just nothing." isn't sick at all. It's lame lmao.

I DO like some of the themes involved alongside my character's whole submission nonsense- I like the weight of knowing- I like the implication of being burdened by the power of creation- it's just, like dude, chill already- focus more on what you are to the Atlas and on the weight of these decisions- less on how best you can kiss the feet of the orb and call yourself weak.

All the "Obeys" and "Succumbs" are annoying, especially when most of what the Atlas actually says is just "Things are gonna end. Can you find meaning in this?" like the Atlas is pretty much being straight forward with us(themselves) that it wants to know this means something- it's screaming and dying and surrounded by only itself and this has become an infinite loop of diving deep to try and understand its purpose and pain- and then we're like "IDK, you want me to pray about it? I'll start praying about it."

Ironically, the ending of this quest line (or what seems to be) kind of just. Agrees with me?

At the end it's like my character finally fucking listens to the Atlas' words and goes "OOOOOOOOH, Oh shit I was SUPER reacting incorrectly. I getcha!" but my own sarcastic read on the whole put aside- I do enjoy that moment of realization as well- ALMOST enough to say I'm fine with the previous attitude shift my character took....almost lol.

But that moment of realization does well to paint this interaction more along the lines of what I said earlier. The Atlas is desperate- they want meaning- they want to feel anything but alone in a dying husk- and we are in this moment the User of their Program.

Whether the game is leaning into implying THE PLAYER's impact on the narrative through this talk of "Users" or whether the narrative is playing further towards what I implied- the Atlas is pouring themselves into creating to the point of creating a Traveller capable of experiencing and knowing itself- IE- they made their own User and it is our Traveller so this is very much still "Atlas playing itself to know itself" etc. IDK

But I like it!

I'm currently leaning towards the latter- and part of that is the text displayed even now.

We spark life into the universe and give it creatures to give it meaning.

In that moment we are Atlas.

--

The Atlas is the creator of a universe filled with planets, plants, stars- and it finds meaning in the individual life it puts amongst these galaxies.

So the Traveller's job is to supply that meaning by exploring, learning, and beholding all that the Atlas has created.

We are the Atlas' attempting to find perspective and grant meaning to the infinite lines of code it was designed to maintain by doing what it struggles to do by virtue of being the machine holding it all together- living.

--

Having come this far, I'm left with my own assumption on the final notes of the story once I reach the center.

I have no reason to believe we will help the Atlas survive.

We are just a part of the Atlas' mind. A thought run rampant. The Atlas is currently experiencing a physical catastrophe- what was it- nearly 10,000 generators all shutting down in one of the Atlas' logs about 16?

The Atlas is dying- no amount of good thoughts running through its head are going to suddenly fix the physical technology that makes it up.

But I think the narrative is leaning towards granting a sense of acceptance within the Atlas- and that the ending will sit bitter- with us reaching the center and enacting some protocol that demands the Atlas create a multi-verse that we are sent to.

By Null's claim, this will erase all that currently is, and by my guess this means everything will be cloned to a new universe in order to "run away" from the destruction just a little longer.

We dive deeper; The immense weight on the system effectively "gives us time" but further corrupts the system. Our 16 minutes will last forever because we will simply run more and more subroutines until the system simply can't anymore.

Another layer of obfuscation from reality's ticking clock, but no real "solution", just postponement and at best a moment of relief for the Atlas's worries before (perhaps) the corruption of diving deeper while the physical devices fry causes it to forget once more.

Excited to see no matter how wrong I end up bein'- been a fun ride :)

[gold-pavilion]

I read your analysis on Inukoko and Takemikey and I think they are very good! You make a lot of valid points that I haven't seen and you have a good understanding of Japanese culture to take it into account. That said, what are your thoughts on other characters that the fandom attributes to being LGBT? (example. Hakkai, Ran Haitani and Hina as trans) Sorry for the inconvenience, I'm from Brazil and I used a translator for the question. =)

WAHH THANKSSSS I try to be fair with things and keep a good separation between my canon-only perspective with language + cultural data I happen to know, and my personal interpretations and self-indulgence!! I'M VERY HAPPY WITH YOUR COMMENT HONESTLY AAAAAA

And well, WELL.

You guys know how it is with me, nothing's canon until it's bulletproof, no-ambiguity canon. But it's also true that Tokyo Revengers, in general, is pretty queer. 

For one, when it comes to Hakkai…

(Fun fact about the last img: many translations online are missing that dialogue, having it cleaned out and possibly forgotten to typeset it in later? Anyway, it translates to "[Mitsuya, about Mikey] Feels kinda lonely when he's up ahead by himself." / "[Hakkai] But you've got me, Taka-chan?")

This sure reads like a crush, anyways. It's mostly out there as comic relief, but the admiration this guy's constantly showing for Mitsuya's coolness and specifically his physical attractiveness and everything, welp, that just about places him in the LGBT somethingsomething bag to me. Maybe it won't get anywhere - it probably won't, cause again, comic relief element - but it's there, his silly little crush on Mitsuya or whatever we should call it. 

I'm cool with that! I enjoy and appreciate that Wakui comfortably includes interactions like this in his work. Y'know, along with everything else. With Koko, with Inui, with everything.

Like Chifuyu's feelings for Baji. That's another instance where I'm like "HMM. WELL HOW ABOUT THIS." 'cause, on one hand, the shounen genre sure loves its trope of "my dude, our bond is so deep I will die for you and live for you and I'm not naming what this means except that I'll call you my most important person in this life forever", but on the other hand, their flashback chapter is titled 'man crush' and… 12 years, Chifuyu? The rest of your life, Chifuyu? For his memory alone? Okay okay okay.

Personally, I find other characters to be very much up in the air. Too up in the air to call them canonly queer or canon-adjacently queer, though I do support most of those interpretations.

Ran? I love love LOVE a tall, evil, strong and effeminate bastard. Maybe he just happens to be straight and metrosexual and limp-wristed (I say this lovingly, admiringly), but that sure would be less entertaining than what I've decided in my head. Hanma? Even if you asked me, I wouldn't be able to say what he is, exactly, but if "queer" isn't part of it I'd eat my entire fist. Draken? My bisexual icon and also my beautiful wife. Don't get me started on all the other dudes with crushes on Mikey, we'll be here all night. 

But all that is just my view, lmao.

I will say, though, the interpretation of Hina being trans is one thing I respect - as always - but I don't partake in. I don't think an "if I were a boy, I'd do _" moment is anything but conversation, specially in the context of a culture where being a girl or a boy does condition and limit your experiences a fuckton. I'm not saying she can't be trans, of course. I'm saying that her talking about how she'd kick more butt than Michi if she were a boy (because she doesn't see herself doing that as a girl) doesn't necessarily mean that. Can be, everything is fair game in fandom, just not necessarily.

Anyway, really fun question to answer, thank you!!

And PS: don't worry about your english with me ever!! It's not my first language either, I speak spanish, we're all doing our best DHFDH.

[bluewinnerangel]

can you analyze the 2014 aria award interview? that larry shit was wild lmao

You mean this one?

OH BOY ARE YOU READY FOR SOME READING INTO THINGS BECAUSE I'VE ANALYSED THIS FOOTAGE TO DEATH AND IT'S BEEN 7 MONTHS SINCE I'VE LET THAT BRAINMONSTER ESCAPE (just found my own comment under that yt video yes *shame I commented things on youtube shame shh*) SO OH BOI OH BOIIII you probably don't even mean this one because there are a shitton of wild wild wiiillld larry interviews and I don't consider this one of them but still YES LET'S GO. under the cut because long:

Ok. Unpopular opinion incoming: Louis isn't whipped for the interviewer and Harry/Nialls reaction isn't laughing at that / not letting him talk for that reason. I mean he might as well be but that's not why they're behaving like that. Instead I think they're in some kinda stupidass game here because this is One Direction we're talking about and god forbid these weird lil we might be media trained but we're gonna find each and every way possible to mess with each other (oh god I didn't mean it like that but yeah ok that's a pun) especially while we're supposed to behave and here I think something like that is happening.

Liam is trying to not let Louis speak, Louis is trying to not let Liam speak, and Niall and Harry are trying to not let either of them speak. Why? Because 5 idiots? Because they're always playing secret lil subtle games or whateverthefuckthey'redoing? I kinda talked about this recently for other reasons but there's some good examples in there too. And Zayn's there just... signing away!? I don't know what's prompting one to say shit and why that's setting the other off because I mean obviously whatever this is the viewer isn't in on it. It's their inside joke. It seems to me that they're trying to get certain words in over the others or something? Maybe? I'm not sure.

Again so so so much credit to gif content creators, I'm not one of them. Have fun with this deepfried giffed footage:

0:00-0:07

What I think is happening here is that just before this segment they were probably being oddly specifically pushy about who stands where, and the interviewer's just breaking the silence asking them why and then what's on tape here is Liam/Louis trying to explain away to the not-in-on-their-silly-little-games-interviewer why they're behaving the way they are with some total bullshit. They're talking about who is standing where and I think Liam says "you know what he has to be in the middle he's [??standing out you know??]? That's the way it works." I can't tell if he's talking about Louis or Niall. Also note how Liam is physically keeping check/controlling Louis, which again makes me think they're in the middle of some bullshit competition game against each other here. Just a bunch of kittens playfighting but make it subtle alskdjalksjdla.

Then ~keep in mind they probably think the filming hasn't started yet as this is before the interview~ Harry is being an introverted relatable queen noticing something and wanting to change it but not doing anything about it and whispering whatever's bugging him to the closest person he's comfortable with that can fix it for him instead and that's Niall. Ok that's a lot of projecting but it's clear he's pointing something out, and Nialls reaction shows he's checking out whatever Harry is talking about immediately. And welp what Niall does is going for a full body scan of Louis. Sooooo yeah that gives a ton away. I watched this many times till I think I figured something out that makes enough sense to move on with my life. I think Harry comments on Louis' suit and how he has to unbutton his jacket. They've both shown to be that kinda boyfriend that's looking out for each other's appearances ("not sure about your fringe", covering each other [like literally blocking the view] when something's not fitting right etc) and he has decided Louis would probably look better if he'd fix his jacket... This because in the inaudiable part he might be mouthing "button" and it's what Nialls looking at as well (I'm trying hard here lol, trying to lipread istg I'm going DEEP here) then Niall instinctively wants to inform Louis, his left arm goes in for it but then changes his mind and fixes his glasses instead. It could also be that Nialls reaction isn't a body check but a reaction to Louis' hand flopping there tho and he's just looking a that instead but it looks like a scan to me lol. For Harry's second sentence to Niall I also kinda hear "don't let him speak" (which fits with the upcoming Harry urging Niall to answer the questions / not letting the others speak so aslkdjal) but really it could be anything as it's just a mumble. Anyway. Last we have Zayn who is just seeing it all unfold as usual. He's also possibly physically responding to whatever Harry just said, he mirrors what Niall seems to look out for? If that makes sense? He checks his own suit. And then there's the first self-first-bump which I still don't know what the fuck it is but it's definitely something he does loads in interviews and here he just keeps on going. But let's write it off as just a i-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-hands-thing.

0.07-0.14

OK SO THEN the interview starts and again see Liam holding Louis in check here right, he grabs his neck and pulls on his hair. Louis goes in hard with "OH YEAH WE'RE REALLY EXCITED" and Harry just nearly pisses himself which looks familiar. And if there's anything you can take away from these idiots it's definitely that they'll sneak in a penny's joke anywhere and everywhere and maybe this is another one. But maybe it's not that. Or maybe it's both. Because both Liam and Niall are as on edge as Louis trying to jump in to answer here and they both get denied thanks to Louis' loudness.

0.14-0.21

The SHEER LEVEL OF ENTERTAINMENT on Harry/Niall from Louis being excited or Niall being denied to talk is just way way way too great for being just because of that alone. That's why I think it's a game. That's why I think Louis is playing it really well right here and they're all not letting each other talk and they're just that entertained by Louis' competitiveness.

0.21-0.28

And then we see Louis being really proud especially when Niall laughs that he just did that. He keeps checking all the boy's reactions and making a :> :>>>> face which like... did what exactly? And they all know he just did that and is doing it well and he's all happy and bouncy because he's just being great at whatever this lil menace behavior is. Then we got Zayn doing the lil self-fist-bump again wahtever the hell that is too. We also got Louis checking for Harry's reaction real quick a whole bunch of times which is cute af. Not to mention Nialls reaction to Louis' behavior is also checking for Harry's reaction which is perhaps even cuter af (and also sign no 2800003096 that yep they're so fucking married really look at Niall go oh this one did something lemme just check in with the other half yep they're one fking entity wbk)

0.28-0.35

And I just wanna highlight this frame real quick because 1) LOL but 2) my brain's just seeing fetus larry here and it is waayy too much to handle wtf me but 3) ziam is a wholeass other mood ASDASHK THERE'S 3 BRAINS HERE

So you see they're all trying to answer. At least all but Zayn. Check all of them one by one lol they're all trying to catch that mic. And I think Nialls maybe the most nervous playing along but he's doing it. You see Harry going "go go go" to Niall. And I think Louis' reactions here aren't him being a weird lil peacock meerkat interested in the interviewer but just very god damn competitive and way way too invested in this game asldkjal AND WHATS EVEN BETTER HERE IS LOUIS LETTING NIALL HAVE IT BECAUSE HIS MAN WANTS THAT MAYBE NOT EVEN CONCIOUSLY asdasfsdg actually look at both Louis and Harry being so worked up and in this and also the fking wiggly leggies ladksjalkj help.

Ok ok ok so I think at 0:40 Niall says "bruv". He's deadass calling the interviewer "bruv" and that might just be ~the game~ here? Like they're just being some pasty dorky gangsters? ????? Seriously go listen and see their reactions when he does it. Harry cracks the fuck up, Liam sees his life passing him by (??? Does that mean he lost?! Why is he the only one being this unentertained by it?), Louis goes for some Jim Halpert staring at the camera what about it moment, Harry cracks the fuck up again, Zayn laughs too, Nialls really trying to make it look like that came naturally to him.

The next time (0:49) the interviewer hands over the mic there's ALL OF THEM AGAIN trying to answer it. Again it's Louis being the most persistent shit. And Liams pretty aggressive with this one too lol (you gotta hear him go listen), then they crack up again at Louis using the word "bonkers", also hear both Niall and Zayn repeat the word as well.

Then there's a longass time where Louis just seems to not agree with what someone behind the camera is trying to tell him. He's making big eyes, rolling his eyes, shaking his head, saying no, like he's turning them down, going "no it's not" or something. It's subtle at first, starts around 1:01 and lasts until about 1:33

Ok I'm gonna stop here because that's 10 gifs and that means I'm out of space (couldve made this in another mode, didn't, oop) and there's just so much shit going on here and it's SO CHAOTIC. There's a whole thing with hammering on Niall doing an accent and Harry just keeps on repeating "so good" with an australian accent, and Niall absolutely looses is utter sheit when Harry says ~something~ presumably in that accent. And then the whole mess with the wheel? And how it ends? The CHAOS? It's great.

[themagical1sa]

mmmm what if.

what it multilingual Filipino!ISWM Captain blurb.

since I started writing the original post in Filipino and ending it in English. with tired paradox of all combinations of words I could write LMAO

the Tagalog bit is "I am very tired but I still don't want to sleep." truly a tired paradox

welp– we're already here! heck it. in fact I'm already typing. ride or die fellas

ℹ️ heads-up: very long actually, practically turned into a fic at some point. very self-indulgent as this is from someone who wants to share her culture through self-insert fic. no likey, no ready

also– when I translate dialog, I write them like Netflix subtitles sometimes becoz I like 'em like that

once you tap/click read more, you agree to spending your time learning my personal experience as a multilingual Filipino! yeehaw space cowboy 🌌🤠🧑‍🚀

so! here's the thing abt being multilingual for me personally: I use all of the languages I can speak when I think

most of the time it's in English, but I also think in my mother tongue (Filipino — Tagalog) often. and yet, I also think in Japanese when I can!

it's crazy how I can go "mm what if I do this" to "eh paano kung ayaw ko (what if I don't want to)" to 「あ、どうしたほうがいい？」 (ah, what should I do?) in a matter of seconds HAHAHAHAHA

sometimes my current mood dictates which language I end up using: English on general neutral moods, Tagalog when I'm Really Feeling Things, and Japanese when I'm in nicer and more mellow moods.

okay, so, you get me now, right?

now we're going into the multilingual Filipino!ISWM Captain blurb–

multilingual Filipino!Captain probably speaks similarly, I think

like I can totally imagine them always speaking English. 100% of the time. complete with a Neutral American Accent that fools everyone into thinking they're from the United States

(and they wouldn't be wrong but if one listened really closely, they'd hear how the Captain's accent has a little nuance to it)

but the Captain also gets tired, you know? they get exhausted in keeping the colony well-led and functioning

so there may be times when — like in this one — in their deep frustration, the Captain just suddenly goes "putangina naman nito!" (Tagalog: this motherfucker!) when something just hasn't been working as intended for 15-30 minutes

this would, of course, shock everyone in the area because hey, that wasn't English, right? did the Captain just speak another language?

nobody has the heart to ask in the moment because you're really mad at the thing and you're ranting to yourself in a language nobody even understands

"くそ！We did everything right already! Bakit hindi pa rin gumagana?!"

- Fuck! [...] Why is it still not working?!

you sigh and turn to your crew to ask for Mark or Burt, but you catch them looking away quickly like they hadn't been staring at you in confusion and/or wonder for speaking three languages at once 😳

you think you just imagined that so you turn to your datapad and say, "Computer, is the Head Engineer free right now?" with your Neutral American accent (albeit a bit more accented to your mother tongue since you just spoke it) and it responds accordingly

a crew mate goes, "Captain, we can call Burt right now. I think he's done with Head Engineer's aasignment and I'm sure he's not too far from here."

"Thank you," you reply with a nod, grateful. "Have him come over and fix this. I did what I could, but I must have been missing something."

your crew just nods, and one of them looks like they want to ask you something, but they decide not to :[

OH this other time when you were actually kind of sleepy and you were with Celci assessing the colonists' health

"Mabuti naman pala ang kalagayan nilang lahat, okay"

- Everyone seems to be in good health, okay

Celci looked at you with an eyebrow raised and asked "What was that, Captain?"

it took that question to realize you didn't have your Mental English Filter™ and you immediately answer, "Oh, sorry! I meant to say it's good to know that everyone is in good condition."

she would nod in understanding, silently noting how that totally was not English she just heard. she ought to look up her Captain's ethnicity and native language

oh-

OH

this one takes the cake

you were alone on a balcony staring out at the sky

「この夜空がとても綺麗な。。。」

- this night sky is really pretty...

"...was that Japanese?"

you whip your head to see your Head Engineer, two mugs in hand as Mark approaches you. "we've been hearing you speak other languages sometimes, but this one's not as frequent as the other."

you widen your eyes in shock. "Wait, really? Oh, man– I must be really tired, huh...?"

Mark only chuckles as he gives you your mug. "you do work hard, Captain — in fact, maybe a little too hard. you deserve a break."

you hold your mug to your lips as you take a sip of the warm beverage inside. you recognize the taste of sweetened cocoa — and then you try to remember the last time you've had hot chocolate like this. it feels like forever ago...

matagal na panahon na... matagal na panahon bago ang mga nangyari sa...

- it's been a long time... a long time before what happened in the...

"hey Cap, can I ask you a question?"

"hm?" you are snapped out of your trance. it takes a second before you remember the question, and then you go, "okay, what is it?"

"oh, um, what was that you said? when I found you? before I asked if you were speaking Japanese, I mean."

Mark's curiosity amuses you and makes you smile. "that was, indeed, Japanese," you confirm, "and I was talking about how the night sky here is really pretty."

"huh." Mark nods as he looks up at the sky in wonder. "you're right about that, heh."

it's silent, for a while. it's comfortable to you, with how it's just you, Mark, and the pretty night sky above you.

isa talagang magandang tanawin ang langit na 'to.

- this sky is truly a beautiful view.

"I'm sure that's not Japanese," Mark comments, catching you off-guard in your admiration of the sky. "I've been asking around the crew if they recognize your other language. They're never sure, because they swear they hear Spanish, but then you say some non-Spanish words after and we all get confused again."

you stare at him blankly, trying to process what he said. you realize that you must have thought that Tagalog bit out loud.

this results in him suddenly becoming bashful as he stutters out: "n-not that we mean to pry! we're just really curious about–"

and then he hears you laugh.

and it's such a sweet sound to him, especially when he sees the way your eyes close with your smile.

"that's– ang cute niyo," (you guys are cute) you reply unashamedly, too tired to keep your formality as a Captain and fully use English in these late hours. "that's really cute of you guys. I appreciate the... enthusiasm? curiosity? whichever applies."

Mark, still abashed and blushing, blinks as he notes how you first commented in what may as well be your mother tongue. "um... thank you...?"

your smile persists as you look at Mark. his shy smile and bashfully red cheeks make you feel more endearment for him — he was so cute like this. he was so cute that, in fact, you could say that nakakagigil si Mark nanaman. bwiset. bakit ang cute niya?

"if you really must know," you finally begin as you lean your side on the railing. "the other language is my mother tongue, Tagalog."

your Head Engineer pauses for a second as he looks away from you and squints into the space, trying to remember which ethnicity is linked to Tagalog. "Tagalog. Tagalog... I know I've heard it before..."

you chuckle in amusement. "kaya mo 'yan, Mark. you can do it."

"aha!" he exclaims as he turns to you practically starry-eyed. "it's Filipino! right? wait, you're Filipino?"

you only nod as you take anotber sip of your hot chocolate. "took you long enough. then again, I didn't train for a neutral American accent for nothing."

the new information baffles Mark. "you trained for a neutral American accent?"

you sigh, turning to face the view once more as you stared up at the sky. "had to. my parents encouraged it, even. then again, back in the Philippines there was this... sort of implication that sounding more American without an accent makes you generally more favorable if you wanted to work outside the country. not that it was required, but... I am here now partly because of it, aren't I?"

it was in this moment when you suddenly feel a particular melancholy. you haven't experienced your own culture for so long, you could say that you'd practically forgotten how to be a Filipino. you've been so absorbed in your duties as a Captain that you sort of... forgot how to be yourself.

"okay, maybe that is what got you here, Captain," Mark begins, "but have you ever thought of... I don't know, teaching someone your mother tongue, maybe...?"

you turn to him in genuine surprise, wide-eyed in disbelief. he seems a little shy, with the way his eyes avert from you for a second in nervousness. "I mean– I guess I just thought that it might be nice for someone else to be hearing and understanding your language, for once."

you blink, processing what he just said. you have thought of it before, really, but who would be willing to be taught your mother tongue?

"sure, I have thought about it, but... I don't think anyone would actually be interested in learning Tagalog."

"I am."

you blink again, and this time you make sure to focus on Mark's face. his nervousness is still there in the form of a light blush on his cheeks, but his expression shows determination. it reminds you of the first time the both of you got into that wormhole mess — fools as you were, the both of you simply thought that perhaps there was a way out of a loop... by engaging into that loop and jumping in again too many times.

with that in mind, seeing the same determination now but directed to learning your mother tongue...

"...wait, you're serious? you really want to learn my language?"

"yes!" Mark answers enthusiastically — perhaps more enthusiastically than he thought, so he backs up as he adds, "I mean– yes, I'm serious. I want to learn your language from you, even just little bits so you know someone else can understand you in your first language too. we can start small, and... I don't know, work up from there?"

you don't really know how to respond. you'd hug him, surely, if your hands weren't already preoccupied with a mug of hot chocolate.

"I- I don't know what to say. I'm speechless." you finally admit. "sure ka- you're sure you want to learn my language?"

Mark smiles endearingly. "just for you, Captain."

silence.

...

"maraming salamat, Mark," you gratefully say. "that's thank you very much. you have no idea how much this means to me."

"no problem, Cap'n," he replies, honored to have been thanked in the Captain's native tongue. "anything for you."

pagod na pagod na ako pero ayoko pang matulog. call that a tired paradox

[artinandwritin]

alright I wanna hear all about this ghost hunting au please please please

OH YEAH OFC!! Id love to infodump hehe

As for the "basic knowledge " for this au, cuz ofc I can't do an au without vicariously planning every single detail, we're talking about a modern au type of au here, set between 2015-2021 in the small - kinda haunted - town of Berk. Ghostly appearances and voices that don't belong are a regular for some inhabitants.

Luckily, we got some Ghost Hunters to take care of things, and not just any Ghost Hunters, no, these are famous, inspiring ones. Everyone wants them, everyone wants to be them, cuz they've got money from living off of YouTube. Great.

Spoiler, these Ghost Hunters are the Gang cuz ofc they are. Hiccup's a successful capturer of supernatural evidence and a great exorcist and operates the most dangerous houses with his trusted crew, existing of his wife Astrid, his cousin Snotlout, and friends Fishlegs, Ruff and Tuff. They're having fun and I love them in this au <3

Zooming in a little bit, we're turning our cameras to the biggest fanboy of Ghosts, first year college student Gustav, and his new bestie, Liam Arnesen (my friend's Sol's oc!). Well, Gustav has big hopes and dreams for the future; one, getting rich af, two, get a pretty person to be the love of his life, and three, to start a successful Ghost Hunting company like his big half-brother Snotlout and cousin Hiccup. Sure, he's got no money cuz daddy Spitelout stopped paying child support to his mom, but he's got the spirit and the diplomas from online courses about Ghosts to make up for it.

Luckily, fate decides to be nice to him and brings him a medium, in the form of Solveig Onfroy (another one of Sol's ocs!), Liam's fierce girlfriend. She's an absolute queen who is able to sense Ghosts around her, like a badass, and Gustav's like, "you. I want you. In the company". And Solveig says, "um. Well okay I guess?".

So Solveig, Liam and Gustav schedule a time and date to go visit an abandoned, allegedly haunted house - Gustav takes his childhood friend, high school senior Siri Vínteri, with him as well, just cuz he likes her face and gets all butterflies when he's around her. Totally platonic. Siri is a hashtag rich kid, a cousin to Ghost Hunter Astrid, very sweet, a bit naive, that whole shabang. She's also a horse girl and thinks a 100 bucks is the same as 10 bucks. Yeah, that's what generational wealth does to a person. It's a problem.

The four go on an adventure in the haunted house and after some wacky shenanigans, they decide to finally start Gustav's company and air their show online! The Ghost Hunter. Inc is a fact. This all happens in autumn to winter of 2015, its a wild ride. Soon after this, Gustav and Siri start dating - Siri treats her broke boyfriend to a lot of little presents cuz she doesn't know how to handle money - and life goes on.

Skip to a few years later, to december of 2020, Solveig and Liam have gotten married, the company has gained two more employees, Luka Grimborn and his girl Kristen Everson (two ocs of my friend Chloe, Kris' name might get a change! Idk yet, she's been talking about it), and they've settled into an easy life style. Most of them have part time jobs outside of their Ghost Hunting business, but it's a sincere passion project for all of them - even if Hiccup's company still has more subscribers, lmao.

One night, Gus and Siri do a little haunted house exploration of their own. They had gotten engaged a few months prior and were currently getting ready for their wedding, fun times. However, shit sure does happen in that haunted house, called Edgewater Mental Asylum. Siri gets attacked by the Ghost of an angry mother who had lost her baby in childbirth, called Isabella, now searching for a new baby to raise. Welp, Seer finds out she's pregnant. Fun times for her for sure. After a long struggle and some injuries, the Ghost disappears. GusSiri goes to Solveig and Liam in a panic, not sure how to handle with what had happened.

While Solveig doesn't notice anything weird, her adoptive daughter, five year old Elanor, does notice. A medium as well, she senses Siri's pregnancy and how the baby is a little boy. However, she senses something else as well. Something... Dark, inside of Siri.

Ding ding, our girl's possessed!

No-one believes little Elanor, though. Sadness. However, she seems to have been right as time passes and the signs get more and more noticable, until Isabella fully takes over and attacks the little girl, with Zephyr Haddock, Hiccup's daughter, in the room.

Time for an exorcism! While, after much struggle, Isabella leaves Siri's body, her influence hangs around, causing Seer's son to be born prematurely. After this, Siri temporarily leaves the company, but returns after working things over with Gustav and Solveig about her role in the workplace. She wouldn't go on trips anymore, just stay home with her son and do the work behind the scenes. I have the feeling she would start a podcast and invite other ghost hunters for the hot tea. Astrid would probably be a regular.

So yeah, that's kind of the basics! Since it's a pretty old au, some parts are under construction and backstories are being rewritten, which has forced me to leave a lot of shit out which i think is sad.

Anyways, its more brutal than i show here. It's so, so much more brutal. Isabella nearly murders Seer in the first chapters and Solveig is forced to use violence on her highly pregnant friend. Also, child abuse by cranky ghost. It's fun >:)

Thank you sm for the ask!! I loved answering this sm you have no idea. This au is so dear to my heart - cuz it's my oldest - and i love it sm. All the hugs to you <333

[littleblueberryartist]

(all tags via @lanternlightss)

Oh it's absolutely gradual! I think even if Venti does end up knowing/remembering, not even he realises what's going on at first. It probably seems like regular timeloops initially (which still brings up questions but eh) the corruption only shows up later after accumulating over time (or rather the repetition of the same times lol) so by the time the corruption starts showing up it's already pretty late into the game yeah

And oooooo kaleidoscope timeline that's such a cool visualllll

Also more inazuma parallels 👀 (points at the shattered glass effect ei and the shogun have and the shattered glass and cecilias on the way to the domain to fight the shogun in Ei's second story quest)

Also sort of sumeru vibes bc of the dream reveal when nahida gets scara lol

Yeah!! I'm honestly a bit partial to celestia being the second who came that ended up defeating Phanes (why would they leave Enkanomiya under the waves if they had won? Why is before sun and moon forbidden knowledge that got Orabashi killed?) But I'll admit that I'm not fully caught up with the enka lore nor do I know all the celestia lore available atm either so I may get details wrong or not consider certain bits of lore bc I haven't read about it yet. (If anyone does know and has plot suggestions my ask box is wideeee open. Y'all are also free to just infodump lore to me if you want)

Regardless of whether they're on the same side as Phanes, I feel like Celestia isn't from teyvat either bc they came after the seven sovereigns. And it's likely that at least some of them are descenders too bc again, the info nahida gave us. So they would def realise that something was off eventually. And likely also notice the timeloops even before the corruption becomes obvious. (Not fully sure what they'd do or if they'd see it as a threat tbh. On one hand she's messing with the flow of time, on the other in a way the timeloops also keep in line with teyvat's laws of things running in loops. 👀)

But yeah going with the celestia as the second who came, they would not like Istaroth as a shade of Phanes at all I'd think. And her being corrupted and tainted by the abyss? Another organisation that hates the heavens? Haha I don't think they'd like that at all (fear it even)

YEAH WHAT HAPPENED

WE CAN LITERALLY PURIFY ABYSSAL CORRUPTION??? AND WE'RE DESCENDERS??? SO LIKE HI POINTS AT SUMERU AND THE FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE

DO YOU THINK THAT MAYBE WE COULD DONE SOMETHING (in a different timeline the traveller purifies the irminsul. In another they accidentally pollute it more)

AND YEAH THE DEFILED STATUE!!!! I AM HAUNTED BY IT CONSTANTLY WHAT DOES IT DOOOOOO

No clue if Istaroth does anything to it tho 👀 I wanna know more about it before I decide

I'm actually wondering if I should keep her more passive throughout. Like she knows these factors will lead to this terrible endings but instead of changing those factors she resets the world as a whole. Just make sure they never get to that point even if those things are still left to fester perhaps. Another case of good intentions wrong execution, trying to solve the problem without addressing the root of the issue.

YOU HAVE A MOM? SJJSJDJD

I just think the archons fighting together would be neat as hell (something something I do think that it's interesting that not all the gods get along but also archon found family my beloved)

But also I suddenly remembered the zhongli is a descender theory (also him as a sunchild/the sun chariot? But I've only briefly heard of that one in passing and will have to look into it more) and I dunno if I'll include that in butterfly tears but it's definitely interesting to think about 🤔

KASKKD AND YEAH LMAO THAT WOULD BE HILARIOUS

Unknown god: Welp that failed. Send in the Paimon.

We've talked about Venti's love vs Istaroth's and how they parallel one another

But what about the traveller? What about the exception to teyvat's laws? (Also them being an exception to the whole neverending loop of twin/doppelganger deaths maybe lol)

Something something the power of love gets me so what if the unforseen factor is the traveller's love. For teyvat, for their sibling, for their friends.

I mentioned how venti's own love may have sentenced him to his fate. But what if it's the traveller's love that saves him?

Who would be better to bend fate than one who exists outside of it?

[mostlyonthefloor]

Thank you very much for asking and also thanks hap in the replies. I will briefly recap the premise of DBH (I will not briefly recap brotherband sorry hap... read them to understand i suppose)

Detroit Become Human is set in the future, in a world where people have developed androids that basically do a lot of the work for them. They're programmed to do everything, work all the time, never complain, etc, but some of them begin to deviate, ie. begin to do things that aren't in their programming, such as think for themselves and make independent decisions and have feelings. This happens when their "software instability" goes up when they skip around commands or prioritise what they want over their programming, and there'll be like one big moment where they consciously break through their programming and from then on they're a person with a consciousness, but a lot of humans refuse to accept that and the core plot of DBH surrounds an android rights uprising and a police unit dealing with suppressing deviants. That's all the important stuff I think.

I'm going to put the rest under a read more actually because this is going to get LONG sorry lmao

So Hal is a detective/engineer/tech guy who works for the police, and Stig is an android who's been assigned to him for groundwork, because he's been put on a new case where he might be in danger. Stig's type of android is specialised for combat and handling potentially dangerous crime-scenes, so they become a little team. Let's say Hal does some sort of forensics actually that'd make sense.

Basically Hal is a disaster who can't look after himself to save his life because he's so determined to Get Things Done at work, and Stig evaluates that Hal would be more efficient if his house was tidier, if he ate better, etc. so he starts going home with him to facilitate that and they just end up spending heaps of time together. Hal begins to get fond of this stupid blond robot, Stig begins to get more attached to keeping Hal safe and happy than his programming should allow, they end up in lots of dangerous bonding situations, etc.

They attend a scene, Hal gets shot, Stig is nearby on standby with some other police bots and decides to override his primary objective of remaining on standby to administer first aid to Hal, who is fucking bleeding out on the floor (not ideal). He deviates in doing so. Later, when Hal's fine and they've both gone home, Stig is just like uhhm Hal please don't be mad I'm a deviant. Hal, who has had a Character Arc where he grows fond of this stupid hot blond Siri-ass assistant dude, is just like well ok deviants are supposed to be murderous and stuff but you look like the only thing you want to do is cry.

They successfully hide Stig's deviancy together for a couple of months (Stig just pretending to be normal lmao) until for whatever reason, it's found out and both of them have to desert the police force and run away. They find a sort of underground society of deviants and sympathetic humans and get together the rest of the Herons:

Ulf and Wulf: two androids of the exact same make and model who deviated together and went Welp We're Brothers Now. Not sure what they did before they deviated

Jesper: android. again, not really sure what he did before he deviated. Very sneaky because he's optimised all his systems to be absolutely silent

Stef: android. I feel like he was a customer service robot idk he has the vibes. Very good at synthesising other voices and sounds.

Ingvar: human. Literally ran into Ulf and Wulf in a train station one day and since his sight is a bit rubbish he just assumed they were humans and started chatting and then when he found out they were deviants he was just like oh well I guess deviants are people and the government is lying to me. I'll Incorporate That Into My Worldview

Edvin: med student who was kicked out of med school for being implicated in a group of humans sympathetic to deviancy. Hal fixes the androids, Edvin fixes the people.

Thorn: washed-up detective. Basically Hank from the game, complete with alcoholism and tragic backstory, but then his colleague and godson goes and gets himself and his android mixed up in a deviancy scandal and while he's trying to sort it out he talks to Stig for ten minutes and is like wow yeah that's an actual guy.

Lydia: Just like in the books, I think Lydia is Just Some Gal who has the mild misfortune of ending up in these guys' path. Human, maybe mixed up in something dubiously legal already, anti-establishment enough that she's like, yeah ok I'm ready to believe the robots are sentient and deserve rights, immediately without needing to be convinced.

And finally, Kloof: Hal finds her in a box and takes her home. He loves her.

Honourable mentions:

Rollond: one of Hal's co-workers, more of a ground forces guy. Dell is his android and they kick ass together (Dell was assigned to him to try and stop him doing stupid things in the name of public good. It didn't work)

Nina: another police bot. Maybe Lotte's assigned android?

Tursgurd: I think he's another guy from the police force (the whole gang work in like a single unit or on a single project I think)

That's mostly it ✌️ thanks for reading i guess

Someone ask me about my Brotherband Detroit: Become Human au please I don't care if anyone here even knows what DBH is I cooked it up in my brain like six months ago and tonight it kicked down my door and took up residence rent free in my brain someone let me tell them about it