#which i guess is where i should go with this anyway since. well. they're mixed

[markantonys]

considering i've become an avid galadriel/adar shipper when they've only had a few scenes together all told, it's interesting to look at them to pick out the key ingredients of what is most likely to get me hooked on an enemies-to-lovers and specifically a hero/villain ship. yes you guessed it, i'm gearing up for a compare/contrast with mat/tuon, who had abundant screentime and yet sucked absolute ass throughout all of it in my opinion. i AM an enemies-to-lovers & hero/villain shipper at heart, so honestly a writer has to actively try pretty hard to make me dislike one, and boy did RJ put every ounce of his effort into the task lmao

anyway, some of The Key Ingredients Of Compelling Hero/Villain, To Me (many of which i remember discussing with @butterflydm during her queen of attolia read, since gen/attolia are also a well-done example of hero/villain and hit on a lot of these same ingredients, though i'll keep this post to comparing just the other 2 ships for the sake of not yapping even more than i already am)

1. equal power balance

whether it be in terms of rank, influence, physical fighting abilities, intelligence, whatever, i like it best when the Hero & Villain we're shipping can go toe-to-toe with each other, and when they take turns holding the power in a given situation. among galadriel and adar's few scenes, we've had a good mix between galadriel having the upper hand and adar having the upper hand. we've even had scenes where who has the upper hand switches mid-scene (such as galadriel holding adar captive but then adar verbally getting under her skin and unnerving her).

by contrast, tuon ALWAYS has the upper hand over mat in all their scenes. always always always. RJ had a weird aversion towards letting tuon be put in a vulnerable position or letting her be genuinely challenged, and so all the time they spend together is tuon treating mat like a pet dog and mat going along with it because he's desperate to win her favor (contrary to all his established characterization). this does not make for a compelling, narratively tense hero/villain ship buildup; it's a boring, static dynamic that gives you secondhand embarrassment for mat and his utter lack of self-respect. what makes it even worse is that the natural dynamic SHOULD be an equal one, because pre-COT mat is just as clever as tuon, just as stubborn, just as strong (physically and mentally), and because tuon holds the cards when they're on her turf in ebou dar but mat should logically hold the cards when they're on HIS turf in the roadtrip. but for whatever reason, RJ just........ignored all that and made tuon bizarrely infallible and butchered mat's characterization to make him tuon's yes-man and rob their dynamic of all its natural balance and conflict and push-and-pull tension.

2. mutual respect

this goes hand-in-hand with point #1. when you start with a pair of enemies who hate and oppose each other, the best ingredient to use as that first foundation layer to begin building romance off of is a grudging mutual respect. adar and galadriel may hate each other, but they take each other seriously and consider each other a force to be reckoned with, which ties back to them having an equal power balance.

and on a more personal level, adar does seem to have some true respect for galadriel, seen in moments like him greeting her formally in elvish and being surprisingly polite to her and serving her up a nice dinner (though of course he's also trying to butter her up so she'll confide her plans in him; still, there is an element of genuineness in his behavior, it's not all manipulation the way sauron's interactions with everyone are). and sam has said in interviews that adar respects her and in some ways craves her respect too since she represents his lost place among his fellow elves.

not sure if galadriel has any respect for him haha but his s1 line "i'm not the only elf who's been transformed by darkness" really hit her hard and their s2 convo about sauron added to that, so that she does see how he holds up a mirror to her, i think, and in that, there's sooome amount of, if not respect, at least recognizing common ground (more on that in point #4). she also may have gained some respect for him in this week's episode after seeing him at the orc funeral (more on that in point #3). and i'd say that to me, Villain respecting Hero early on is more important than the reverse, especially if we're gearing up for a "Hero inspires Villain to be better" version of hero/villain romance rather than a "Villain makes Hero worse" version. (for me the latter version feels better-suited to tragedies or dark romance stories or fanfic, whereas the former version is more thematically and tonally appropriate for an in-canon romance in something like ROP or WOT, stories that at their core are about hope and light triumphing over darkness. thinking more about mat/tuon on this point since obvs adar/galadriel isn't and will never be an actual in-canon romance, but mat/tuon is and thus it should feel thematically and tonally compatible with the overall canon story.)

anyway, mat and tuon do not have mutual respect. tuon considers him a joke and a toy for a looooong chunk of their acquaintance, only realizes "huh maybe he's an actual person with a brain?" when she sees that he has a big army willing to follow him, but even then, this does not change her behavior towards him in any way and she continues to treat him like her lapdog who will never even think of disobeying her. and mat IS that lapdog who will never think of disobeying her, because RJ decided to remove his spine between WH and COT. mat does "respect" tuon but only in a warped sense of "i need to appease her at all times or else she might enslave me" (and that's on his good days; on his bad days he genuinely buys into the "the empress is inherently superior to lesser mortals" bullshit). mat's "respect" is borne from fear and author contrivance and OOC writing, and tuon doesn't respect him at all. and so the power imbalance and the respect imbalance sets us up perfectly for a "Villain makes Hero worse" version of a hero/villain romance, aka the opposite of what would feel thematically and tonally appropriate with the story of WOT.

3. witnessing each other's vulnerability (especially Hero, and audience, witnessing Villain's vulnerability)

bold, star, and underline this point because it is ESSENTIAL. in order for Hero and Villain to start viewing each other differently, they MUST be allowed to see each other be vulnerable. they must be allowed to see the walls come down and gain a new understanding of the other person from it. otherwise how could they ever have a reason to second-guess their hatred and start changing their opinion of their enemy?

once again, adariel passes with flying colors in only a few brief scenes. a lot of stuff gets laid bare in their conversation about how sauron hurt both of them (even if they're both being careful in what they choose to say or keep hidden), but the moment that made me most insane was this week when galadriel is sneaking through the camp and, unbeknownst to adar, witnesses him crying over fallen orcs and partaking in a tender funeral ritual. the "unbeknownst to adar" aspect is so key, because unlike their sauron convo, adar isn't putting on any masks or curating what he wants her to see or hear. it's just his pure, unfiltered vulnerability which galadriel gets to see, and we can see that it really surprises her and gives her pause, and perhaps does a little something to change the way she sees him and orcs more broadly.

and once again, mat and tuon fail spectacularly. it comes back to RJ's aversion to letting tuon ever be placed in a position of vulnerability. mat never gets to witness her as anything but the cool, controlling empress. he never gets to see behind her mask. and the audience doesn't really either, because even in her own POV, even in her own head, tuon is constantly masked-up and rarely reveals vulnerability. so we aren't given evidence to suggest that tuon is a real person under the mask and might be worthy of loving and being loved, and we CERTAINLY don't see MAT being given any evidence to suggest that. he just randomly decides he loves her for no reason when all he's ever seen from her is arrogance and coldness and shitty treatment of all the people around her including himself.

4. some point of emotional connection/common ground that transcends the battle lines they've drawn with each other

galadriel and adar have both loved and then been hurt and used by sauron. for galadriel especially with the pain being so fresh, all season we see how hard it is for her to cope with and we see that no one around her really gets it, not even her closest friend, but the convo with adar - she's having her pain understood and validated and shared for the first time, and that's huge. as the actors have said, it's also a very depressing and fucked up point of commonality to have as the thing tying them together haha but having that initial trigger for an emotional common ground is important in making it possible for the relationship to evolve into something less hostile. (which does not happen in canon, but it's easy to see a path where it could.)

i feel like mat and tuon enjoying playing stones together and bonding with olver is RJ's attempt to do this, but considering how incredibly vast the ocean between them is and how polarly opposed each is to everything the other stands for, those points of commonality are way too shallow to create a connection meaningful enough to begin bridging that gap in a believable way. because TRUE emotional connection has to come from vulnerability, and RJ never lets tuon be vulnerable!

that's all i've got for now! thankfully, most of these problems are not hard to fix and i have faith wotshow will do so, given how good it is at characterwork and relationship development and emotional stuff. also, worth noting that a big factor in my galadriel/adar shipping is simply that the actors have amazing chemistry (it never occurred to me to ship galadriel and joseph's adar even though they acted brilliantly opposite each other - their barn scene was my favorite moment of the season - but i INSTANTLY shipped galadriel and sam's adar because they just have a different sort of spark between them), and so casting alone could do a heck of a lot of legwork for mat/tuon. donal!mat is sooooooo charming and shippable, i truly look forward to seeing a tuon who sparks really well off him!

[multi-fandomdisaster]

Do you wanna infodump about your theme park oc's, since you're probably not at KI rn?

YESOHMYGOSHYES-

*ahem*

So I'm gonna give you the rundown of the universe(s, it'll make sense in a moment I promise lmao) in which my theme park characters reside, lovingly referred to as the ✨Parkverse✨

This...is gonna be REALLY long, so bear with me. We're not actually gonna end up getting to the individual characters themselves in this post (because I'd absolutely hate to make you read ALL of that in one sitting lmao), so I'll probably make separate posts on different characters I particularly like or something later on (or if anyone sends another ask asking me to talk more about them, I will) lol

So the "Parkverse" refers to 2 interconnected universes all basically surrounding the idea of "what if I gajinka'd roller coasters and gave them lore based on their themes?" I'm gonna be referring to these universes as the "primary" and "secondary" universe to hopefully not mix them up.

The primary universe is much like ours, except theme parks/amusement parks are inherent magical hotspots, the magic of which is created and perpetuated by the memories of the park guests who go there. That magic is what creates the general "magical" vibes that parks give off. Whenever a park adds a new ride, some of that magic collects and concentrates in the area where the ride is to go and gains consciousness, becoming what is called a "ride spirit." These spirits are effectively the themes of the ride brought to life. Once a ride spirit is created, they choose one person (traditionally anyway; many twin/dueling coasters will have 2 reps and Steel Vengeance inexplicably has 3 for no real reason other than it wanted 3 lmao) to represent them, and gift that person (or persons) with magical abilities tied to the ride's theme. The name for this chosen person varies depending on the park, but the most common terms thrown around are "Guardians," "Ride Hosts," and "Ride Representatives/Reps" (I'm gonna be primarily using "rep" or "ride rep" because it's the shortest to type lol)

The secondary universe is an entire separate universe that's connected to and has branched off from the first, created by the parks' magic and is basically the themes of each ride fully extended into a world of its own, not just within a physical park. Examples would include Kings Island's "Rivertown" park section being an actual riverside town people live in (the woods of which are inexplicably filled to the brim with cryptids), or X-Base at Alton Towers being...well...X-Base. This universe is constantly shifting and changing in order to accommodate for new and old rides being built and destroyed in the primary universe. It's from here that the reps originate from, them being pulled from the secondary universe into the primary universe by the spirit that chose them. It should be mentioned that reps have the ability to travel between the two universes whenever they want, so it's not like they're flat out forever taken away from their homes.

There are 2 general categories of ride spirits: general ride spirits, which is flat rides (aka anything that's not a coaster), and coaster spirits, which I'm sure you can never guess what that would be for. Coaster spirits are generally inherently more powerful, as they tend to pull more parkgoer attention and oftentimes, popularity, and a ride's power is determined by the memories made by those who interact with it. There are always exceptions to this, of course. Examples would include the majority of flat rides at Disney parks (we all know how popular those are lol). Likewise, there are general ride and coaster reps for both flat rides and coasters accordingly

Ride spirits are also known for being a MAJOR influence on their rep's life. The process of Bonding to a spirit is said to be incredibly powerful and unique to each ride and is oftentimes even painful for the rep in question considering that they - a normal human - are taking on the power, magic, and might of an entire ride spirit. It also oftentimes will change or modify the personality and/or the ideologies of reps, with the sheer overwhelming-ness of the influence being most apparent in the ride's first year, and weaning off a bit as time goes on, slowly revealing the original person underneath. That being said, a spirit's magic's effects on a rep's identity are overall permanent. They'll never truly be the same person they were before they Bonded.

A rep's purpose is to:

Speak on behalf of the ride

Protect the ride and the park if need-be

Every rep has access to what's called a "ride-realized form," which is the result of their body literally modifying in order to better suit the use of a large amount of magic. It is...overall not exactly fun for the rep to go into, but it's generally considered incredibly liberating once you go into it. They're at their closest connection to their spirit and magic in this form, and it's amazing. That being said, the longer they remain in this form, the more the magic starts to overtake and effect their mind, so extended use can have some...less than ideal long-term effects that take a while to reverse (if they CAN be reversed-)

A lot of reps will spend a lot of their time and a "partially-realized form" which basically means they'll take on physical characteristics of their spirit to use (admittedly less) magic quicker and easier, but the tradeoff is again, the minor influence that having constant power in use can have on you

Another fun little tidbit is that the spirit themselves can full-on possess their rep, using their body in order to directly interact and communicate with others instead of using the rep as a middle-man/messenger. This can be INCREDIBLY disorienting and potentially depersonalizing for the rep in question (my OC for The Smiler is a blatant example of this lol) if they're not prepared for this or if the ride does this too often, so most rides will usually give the rep a heads up before popping in lol

And yeah! Despite all the negative effects I've mentioned, most reps are actually overall pretty happy in their positions! They work at the parks their rides are in, they get paid for their troubles, they usually have a bunch of other ride reps to keep them company and who know and understand what they're going through, and they have a neat magical ride spirit to keep them company! The spirit really becomes a part of the reps's sense of self over time, so when a ride is taken down, it can take a heavy toll on an ex-rep.

That being said, an ex-rep CAN still use their ride's magic even after the ride is gone, just not as easily. The magic, however, will fade as the memory of the ride fades away into obscurity. To be honest, I want to get into the inner-workings of an ex-rep’s mental state, as that’s basically a WHOLE PART of you fading away...but that’s a potential ramble for another day lmao

And I think that's it for the Parkverse overview/introductory ramble! I hope this made any lick of sense. I've technically been working on this universe for roughly 2 years or so now, so there's a LOT of small details and things that have been fleshed out over time. If you have any questions, please let me know! I'll happily take a good excuse to talk more about this universe! Sorry I didn't ACTUALLY get to the "talking about my OCs" part; I figured you should have some universe context before I started rambling on about characters lol

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day/night, and thanks for reading through my insane ramblings about fictional theme park universes lol

[project-changeling-zero]

another issue i have with sonic prime - shadow the hedgehog. ( very long )

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just gonna say this upfront - do not interact if you are a prime shadow fan and just want to insult or start an argument // debate with me in the comments.

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ever since his debut in the show, shadow in sonic prime has been frequently called 'the best he's been written in years', well loved by a large majority of the prime fandom.

because of this popularity, i was under the belief that shadow was going to be more like how he's written in sa2, satbk, or sonic 06. i've since learned that many shadow fans ( that i've seen ) just like shadow on screen

which isn't necessarily a problem, but i think it's safe to say the sonic fandom has always been a mixed bag when it comes to critiques of the games and their contents ( ever since sa1, or even before that, to sonic frontiers, but i can't comment on the comics, as i've never read them ).

so, in hindsight, i should've proceeded with caution and not take popular opinion into high account.

anyway, i'll get to the point. shadow in sonic prime is one of the worst characterizations of shadow i've seen. i think the only one worse is shadow from the sonic boom universe.

shadow is quite frustrating in this show for a few reasons:

he loses the chaos emerald within five minutes of obtaining it, like an absolute idiot.

he antagonizes sonic every chance he gets and seems to believe the only way to resolve an issue is through violence or aggression. like, yes, of course, shadow, i totally wanna listen to you after you punched me in the face so hard that i literally suffered amnesia.

does next to nothing in the entire show ( up until, like, s3? ), but acts like he's needed.

insults sonic's friends for no reason ( originals and alters alike ).

somehow thought the tech was the only reason sonic could pass through the gateways when he literally saw sonic pass into new yolk before he got the tech. it'd be one thing if he knew sonic could pass regardless and figured the tech would help himself pass through, but he just ignored or forgot what he saw, i guess??? and this is never brought up again.

real question, what does sonic need him for again? even if shadow was never there, sonic would eventually come up with the plan on his own. it's not rocket science.

keeps insisting the alters aren't real people ( this is a problem of the show in general, esp where they go back and forth with sonic in particular, but it's extremely aggravating with shadow as, even if he was right, he's basically saying that sonic shouldn't care about the people that look like his friends, even if they're copies ).

last but not least, HE KEEPS BRINGING UP THAT HE'S THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM, WHO FUCKING CARES, GET A LIFE-

( should i also mention how misleading it was for it to seem like shadow was concerned and trying to warn sonic about the shatteverse, only to immediately go on the assault when the two meet up? what the fuck? )

after i got my hopes up by the reviews and all the love for this show, this was just sad and annoying to watch. how many times is it gonna take for sega and any writers associated with them to get it?

shadow is not an overtly aggressive, hot-headed, domineering person. that was never what shadow was or was supposed to be.

shadow is a kind, loving person. yes, you might not see it from pretty much every canon media of him aside from a few select games, but that's who he was meant to be.

of course, in sa2, he did nearly destroy the world. the difference between that shadow and prime shadow is that, in sa2, he did it out of the love he had for maria and because his memories were affected, making him misremember what maria really wanted.

in his debut game, shadow is meant to be something akin to a guardian angel. the 'ultimate lifeform' meant wish fulfillment, immortality, healing. and to have shadow believe that sonic is the true ultimate lifeform instead speaks volumes of who he is and how he's changed in a considerably short amount of time.

in prime, shadow isn't any of these things. sure, he protects sonic every now and then, but for a while, i didn't even know if it was because he actually cared about sonic or if it was because it was necessary to get back home. the 'ultimate lifeform' doesn't mean anything to him or to this show. it's just to wave his big dick energy around. it shows he doesn't actually see anyone, let alone sonic, as his equal.

yes, shadow is standoffish, but it's not like he's ever been out of touch with emotions or relationships. i don't believe that it was because of maria's death that shadow had essentially 'shut down', but rather because he wanted to grant her wish as soon as possible. and even then, he saved rouge's life. while the game could've led us to believe it was because she had the chaos emeralds, they showed us that he just couldn't let her die if he could prevent it by showing that he couldn't save maria way back then.

this is what a lot of the games, and frankly, most of sonic media in general, seem to have entirely forgotten about shadow.

even as a child, it wasn't difficult for me to understand that shadow did care. that he does care. in fact, that's pretty much what drives him throughout his entire debut game, that he cares so much for maria, so much for her wish, and, eventually, so much for humanity.

i think the closest we've ever been to getting a characterization just like shadow in sa2 is in sonic 06. say what you will about the game, i personally like it ( i acknowledge it has a lot of flaws, but let me be ).

in sonic 06, shadow doesn't have any hostility with sonic. in fact, sonic gives a silent thanks to him for saving him from silver. and shadow proves that you don't have to tell your friends you love them in order for them to know, 'cause he loves rouge and omega in this game. he deeply cares about them and is noticeably disheartened when he discovers what becomes of omega in the future.

shadow doesn't become persuaded by mephiles' tactics to turn against humanity, even when he gives plausible ( but not 100% ) evidence that it is likely authorities would blame shadow for the downfall of humanity, due to his power. in fact, the only thing about any of that information that brings shadow pause is the fact omega would have been the one to arrest him in said future.

and to mephiles' face, he accepts the possibility humanity will turn on him head-on and tells him that he will choose his own fate, that he will fight like he always has, that he decides how his story ends.

i find it hilariously sad that the few games that gets shadow is a game largely hated by a majority of the sonic fandom ( this included me at some point, i'll admit ). i think i'm seeing a turnaround though, especially with P-06 in the works, so that's some good news.

but back to my main point, there's a reason why sa2 and s06 shadow work much better than prime shadow. because shadow honestly, truly, completely cares.

he saves rouge from prison island.

he works alongside sonic without a second thought.

he saves humanity from his own wrong-doings.

he acknowledges sonic's power.

he saves rouge from eggman.

he is upset about omega's possible future circumstances.

he protects sonic from silver.

he is aware of how much rouge cares for him.

he helps in bringing sonic back to life.

and he does all of these with little to no complaint, no sarcastic remarks, almost no attempt to hide his true feelings under a mask, none of that. shadow is completely true to himself. shadow doesn't only care about others, he cares enough about himself to know who and what he truly is and everything he's capable of.

like, goddamnit, shadow isn't my #1 favorite sonic character, but he's SO close in these specific games.

this is why prime shadow feels so hollow and dry in comparison. he's just devoid of almost everything that made shadow... well, shadow. and it's been like this for years!

i'm not sure why people are saying this is the 'best he's been written in years' when, for a long while, he was no different from a majority of his characterizations.

but, hey, he's better in s3, right?

well, yes, but we don't know why he's like that.

in s2, he had balls of steel for treating and talking to sonic the way he did, but now he's...

kinder? protective? actually listening? ( sort of, dude's still kinda stubborn )

what the hell happened???

did his sympathy finally kick in? did he get hit by a coconut and had amnesia for a while? was he one of infinite's copies ( honestly, i would've bought that )?

seriously, what happened?

yeah, obviously, s3 shadow still has flaws, but i think if they were established in s1 or s2 and slowly developed over the course of the show, he would've actually been a really good character.

not that the shadow i know would call the alters 'not real' anyway, but, y'know, for the prime universe and all that.

anyway, overall, i think shadow in sonic prime is one of the worst versions of shadow to date. in their efforts to make him cool ( i guess? ), they made him devoid of a lot of emotion and connection with the rest of the cast, but especially sonic.

completely pushing shipping aside, shadow and sonic do not have a healthy relationship in this show. i'm not going to ignore that sonic definitely has flaws in his writing, but the relationship is unhealthy from sonic's passiveness and shadow's aggressiveness.

due to this, i only like specific moments of prime sonadow, and all of them are in s3. which is saying something.

if it were me, i would've written shadow more true to the original, with my own minor creative liberties here and there, in terms of his personality.

with sonic, i would've made it so he's definitely more on the line of friendly allies with him, but not quite friends yet. throughout the show, their bond would've become stronger and stronger, with a lot of queer undertones ( c'mon, i'm gay and i like these little freaks, leave me be ) and mayhaps a romantically undertone ending, if i didn't wanna be bold about it? maybe? i'm as transparent as glass.

i absolutely would've included omega into the cast and make his relationships with omega and rouge very important to shadow and his character, 'cause HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT AWAY?!

generally speaking, there's just a lot i would've changed about shadow if i was in charge of writing sonic prime, but alas...

i can only write fanfiction.

and yes, i'm absolutely serious.

thank you for reading this long, ridiculous rant with me about a popular character that is guaranteed to get me some flack in one way or another.

lemme know if you'd have done anything different with shadow's character in the prime universe, or if you have any questions!

[beehawk4]

hi hiiii i havent been here in like months. anyway im super stoked about Limbus Company showing teasers of Der Freitschütz ID for Outis and for fun i decided to make a guess on what her sin resonances (and the specific skills they're for) might be

anyway! just as a foreword, this is based off of lu-is-not-okay's sin analysis guide. very interesting read, does provide a connection between the explanations ill give and the sin resonances i propose. ill also include a paraphrased explanation of the relevant sins, but if you want a more indepth explanation the link is below

Skill 1 -- Lust

Lust is when you let yourself be guided by your own desires and whims, i.e. forgoing any discipline, long-term goals, etc. to solely fulfill your own instincts and wants. Der Freitschütz as an abno fits this description very well; he does not act on any kind of moral compass, but rather whatever he feels like doing at the time. This is supported by his lore entry in Lobotomy Corporation:

"... With the last bullet gone for good, the hunter traveled to numerous worlds. Sometimes he helped those in need or fought evil, but it was all done on impulse, not a gesture of goodwill or ideals. In one world, he was called a righteous hunter, while in another, he was a bloodstained gunman.. ..."

He is guided by nothing but his own personal whims. He has no moral, external, or societal obligations.

Skill 2 -- Envy

Envy is defined by its requirement of an external stimuli -- a reaction to something done by someone else. Envy implies jealousy or vengeance, but those aspects are not necessary for the sin of Envy -- rather, the key necessity is that a person is being influenced or prompted by something else.

For this Outis ID, she is being prompted by the Manager. Whatever orders she is given, she will follow to the ends of the earth. If the Manager tells her to fire at something, whether its a Green Dawn ordeal, an Agent in the Security Team, or an ALEPH abnormality breaching containment, she WILL shoot it.

"Should the Manager order me to fire... the bullet will penetrate the target. Wherever it is, whichever it is, or whoever it is."

In this regard, she is under total control of the Manager; she does nothing without explicit orders from the Manager, i.e. only acts when prompted to.

Skill 3 -- Pride

Pride is to ignore consequences, whether that is due to the belief that the pros of doing something outweigh the cons or simply flatout refusing to acknowledge the potential harm your actions may bring. It's not necessarily tied to selfishness or overconfidence -- while sacrificing others to benefit yourself is Prideful, so too is making a personal sacrifice to benefit others. Both ways, you are ignoring the ramifications that you or others may experience, out of the belief that it's worth the cost (or ignoring the harm the latter may bring you).

For this ID, this sin is rather intricately tied with Envy, so much so that I had a bit of a rough time determining which Sin should go to which skill. See, in Outis's case, the consequence she is ignoring is the possibility of harming or even killing her coworkers, due to the way her E.G.O. gear works. (FYI, in the original Lobotomy Corporation game, Der Freitschütz's E.G.O. weapon dealt very high damage and had infinite pierce, but also damaged other Agents and Clerks in its line of fire.)

This is where Envy and Pride mix together -- it doesn't matter to her if she kills other Agents or Clerks (Pride), so long as she fulfills her orders (Envy).

"Even... the loved ones."

Adding more for Pride, Outis doesn't acknowledge the harm she brings to her fellow coworkers at all, instead adopting an "at all costs" attitude towards her directives. To her, the "benefit" of completing the Manager's request far outweighs the potential costs of hurting / killing her coworkers.

It's also just woven into the abnormality itself. Der Freitschütz, in the pursuit of his own whims, doesn't acknowledge the harm or aid he brings to other people. He gains various reputations on multiple worlds, being a "righteous gunman" in some and a "bloodstained hunter" in others, but nothing suggests that he cares about his notoriety, or about the consequences of his actions in general.

"The marksman, now a devil himself, continues to pull the trigger to gather the souls of others."

Again, he acts only on his own whims, caring not for the consequences that come after, or for any reasons beside his transient desires.

...

sorry if this is messy or hard to understand its like 5 am for me. anyway der freitschutz is one of my fav abnos and it was fun to theorycraft for the first time in a while. fingers crossed that im right 🤞🤞🤞

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if somebody had an accident while edbella were still having their high-school shenanigans? So the family is forced to move, does Bella move with them? Does she realize that the poor victim could be her any moment? If that's somebody she knows (which is the most likely, given Carlisle has perfect history and Esme doesn't leave the house, so children at school are the most likely candidates), does she finally understand how this whole "soulless stone cannibals" shit works, or is it still not enough?

When?

This is important because we have two stages to Edward and Bella's high school shenanigans, during Twilight and during Eclipse.

During Twilight, Edward intends to dump Bella, until the birthday party fiasco he would likely have chosen graduation and let Bella leave to college while he and his family disappeared, but he always intended to leave her. Neither has gone the six months without each other where both sunk into a non-functional state of depression.

During Eclipse, both Bella and Edward have tried and failed to live without the other. They see each other as their only salvation (with Bella baking vampirism into that mix as well). Neither can contemplate a future without the other meaning... they're uh probably willing to put up with a lot more.

So, I guess I have to answer the same question twice so I don't get an ask inevitably in my inbox.

Caveats

As a note, Bella can't be anywhere near where it happens or uh she'll probably be eaten too since that's how these things go. So, unless you want another dead Bella, she's not a witness.

This is important.

Twilight

Bella has just figured out what Edward is, she's met the family, had her James adventure, and is determined to become a vampire while Edward continues saying no.

They go to Prom, it's a wonderful time, until Jasper accidentally eats Jessica Stanley (poor Jessica, what a life).

Edward, of course, is livid as Jasper ruined what should have been the greatest night of his life and is horrified that now Bella knows the truth.

Which is, of course, why Edward covers it up immediately. The family has to cover it up anyway, Bella has no reason to find out that Jasper ate Jessica and that the family really is comprised of demons. Edward absolutely does not want Bella to know this for all he knows it'd be for her own good.

Edward's fine with this as he takes this as the impetus to leave town and dump Bella.

(Likely, they stage a car accident, one to be expected on prom night. Jessica is the tragic victim of a sad teenage statistic.)

The Cullens stay to the end of the year, Edward acting... weird and standoffish, then Edward gives Bella his "it's not me, it's you" speech in the woods and disappears into the sunset.

Canon proceeds as planned until years later, someone unthinkingly mentions the time Jasper ate Jessica.

Eclipse

Now Edward's torn.

This is the ultimate proof he needs to show Bella that vampires are blood sucking demons and she will literally lose her soul if she becomes one.

On the other hand, Jacob is now his rival and this time she'll dump him for sure.

Edward... is selfish enough... he can't do that.

Oh, he drops strong hints that Bella should dump him for Jacob, Jacob's a better man, a human man, but uh "don't dump me for Jacob, I'll steal your car battery if you try to see him".

So, gaslighting continues.

Edward covers up the murder with the family and there's a lot of drama as the family can't really leave town what with the army on the doorstep as they would be leaving Forks to die.

Leaving Bella's also off the table as they would be sentencing her to die as well (Edward's not thinking about this part).

Everyone's told that Jasper stole medical blood in preparation for the battle.

Bella doesn't find out the truth until years later, if ever.

In Conclusion

Gaslight is Edward's middle name.

[bunbeeplays]

Ophelia needs to gain the mischief skill so she can start swiping, and since the Welcome Wagon never came, she decides to introduce herself to the neighbors. Maybe some brownies will make them warm up to her so they'll be less annoyed by her shenanigans.

... too bad Ophelia's never baked a day in her life. Girly pop, don't look at me like that, you're the one making them!

Well, they're nothing special but surely they'll appreciate the gesture. Time to meet the BFF Household!

Ophelia: Here you go. They should still be fresh!

Summer: Brownies? Thank you, they... Oh. You used a premade mix, huh?

Ophelia: ...You can tell just by looking?

Summer: I should probably mention I'm in the culinary career. Thanks, though, I guess.

Well, that stings. Ophelia really did try her best with those brownies. She's the new neighbor, SHE should be the one getting baked goods anyway! Maybe she'll hit it off better with Summer's roommates...

At least Travis is nicer. He even made mushroom steaks, which Summer was quick to nom, lol

Travis: So you're the new entertainer at the Blue Velvet, right?

Ophelia: How'd you know?

Travis: We're no Windenburg, word travels fast in this little town. We'll have to see you perform!

After chatting (and Ophelia getting some mischievous interactions in), Liberty finally joins the group.

Liberty: I'm Liberty, but everyone calls me Libby. Thanks for the brownies, they smell great!

Well, these two check out. Travis and Libby's valuables are safe for now.

Ophelia tries to give herself a pep talk to convince herself to swipe something from Summer's room, but she just can't bring herself to do it... yet. She needs to start smaller...

Ophelia steps outside for some fresh air when she smells something... The mushroom steaks that Travis made, which Summer seemed to love. They were too busy goofing off inside, they've completely forgotten about them. Surely no one would notice...

When Ophelia rejoins them, she seems way more energetic than before. Travis chalks it up to getting over the nerves that come with meeting new people.

Ophelia: Thanks so much for being so welcoming! We'll all have to hang out again soon.

Travis: Yeah... I'd like that.

Travis and Ophelia are really hitting it off. They don't even notice Summer and Libby left the convo.

Summer: I know that face. I give it a week before he asks her out.

Libby: Oh. You think he likes her?

Summer: Travis likes any woman that pays attention to him.

Libby: Fair.

Ophelia says her goodbyes to the ladies and goes back to Travis.

Ophelia: I have to get ready for work but hopefully I'll see you guys soon.

Travis: You know where we live. *hugs*

Ophelia: Oh, you're a hugger, okay.

Libby goes back to her bedroom. No reason.

Prev / Next

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

ELEMENTAL Box Office Nonesuch

So... ELEMENTAL looks to make $28-33m over the weekend... The autopsies are already being done, the expensive Pixar original is already deemed a flop... Here's what I say...

Box office is absurd: I mean really, box office runs seem more and more absurd by the year in the post-COVID outbreak era... Having to make so much money, in a very competitive field and in a time where audiences can't see too many movies a year, in around 3-4 months? Like c'mon, it's literally the infancy of a movie's existence. It's not the '00s, or even the '10s anymore.

Longevity: Especially since animated movies from both Pixar and Disney Animation traditionally have had long, ever-fruitful second lives. Whether it was thru theatrical re-releases (1940s-1980s), home video (1980s-onward), or streaming... ELEMENTAL will likely be no different by the end of the year, probably will rack up a million streams on Disney+. This has a very good "A" CinemaScore grade, so it could have very good legs over the summer, even if it doesn't top that ridiculous budget.

$200m budget... Making around $500m at the worldwide box office is a lot of pressure to put on an original animated family movie, let alone most movies, especially in this day and age.

"Well, if they had made a good movie-" OK, now do every blockbuster smash hit that got mixed to negative critical reception. Heck, do this year's SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE. Critical reception/one's own opinion doesn't mean shit. If it did, CARS 2 - the go-to for "worst Pixar movie" - would've flopped hard back in 2011, regardless of any goodwill brought over from the first movie.

That William Goldman quote/marketing/blah blah: "Nobody knows anything... Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one." Whatever was in that marketing... And there WAS marketing... LOTS of it... Just didn't motivate audiences to shell out lots of money for tickets and concessions to see this film in a theater where it's possibly disgusting, noisy, or... Both!

Pixar is not in a slump: This is also all subjective. And if I was a filmmaker, and I had a slump of movies that ranged from roughly 70-85% Rotten Tomatoes scores - not that RT aggregate scores mean anything anyways... That'd be quite alright! Anyways, the movies they're currently making just aren't to your liking. That's all it is... and they don't have to release a specific kind of movie. This, ideally, should be a studio where a director makes THEIR film. Not a collective. Like it used to be at one point... Speaking of which-

John Lasseter: I've seen so many people, from inside animation fan circles... to even pundits writing for major movie publications... Suggesting that Lasseter's ouster left a real hole in Pixar, and Disney Animation as well. Never mind implying that a misogynist pervert should be brought back to the studio, but this also suggests that every Pixar success is because of him... And him only. Like, all the filmmakers are just untalented hacks without him? Like he's the guy who waves a magic wand and suddenly, everyone on board made a good movie? Do you want animated movies made by FILMMAKERS? Or films determined by a small COMMITTEE? I'm also old enough to remember when Lasseter was THE problem with Pixar, that he was a dictator making every director bow to his every demand. (Which was true.)

I'm sorry, but I'm just exhausted from how people are talking about ELEMENTAL... Which I haven't even seen yet, but it feels like people are trying to write such nuanced industry-related things and outside factors off and use their personal opinions/biases to explain away these box office mishaps, wrapping it up in neat simplistic bows...

I'm just concerned about what will happen with the studio from here on out, especially after 75 people - including veterans like Galyn Susman, Angus MacLane, and Steve Purcell - were laid off.

"Make better movies, then!" Okay, how subjective, it's not like the studio's people are all sitting there not putting in effort and calling it a day. Okay? These movies take years and years to plan out, make, remake, and finish. Like Goldman said, it's all a guess each time out. A gamble. When these people are making these movies, they're making decisions that they think are the right decisions at the right time. ELEMENTAL, by all accounts, went into development around 2016-ish. Around the time director Peter Sohn had finished THE GOOD DINOSAUR... How would the crew, and the studio as a whole, had known what the world would like in 2023? What audiences' ever-changing tastes would be? What the zeitgeist would be?

And again... "Make better movies"? MARIO might've pulled in $1.3b worldwide and became one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all-time, but the critical reception for it wasn't great. Mostly mixed to negative, not as good as this movie. Or TURNING RED, LUCA, SOUL, ONWARD, even LIGHTYEAR! And even all the recent WDAS movies, including big box office flop STRANGE WORLD.

Again, it's as simple - and boring - as "They made a movie... People didn't show up."

So... What do I think happens next?

Pixar hasn't had a genuine financial success in theaters since TOY STORY 4 all the way back in 2019. ONWARD got cut off by the pandemic, SOUL, LUCA, and TURNING RED all went straight to Disney+ in most parts of the world. LIGHTYEAR lost money, this might, too... How much did ELIO cost? Why should that film be expected to make the amount of money usually reserved for a massive superhero movie? INSIDE OUT 2 is all but a lock for a huge gross... A sequel, no less.

I would hate to see Pete Docter get removed as CCO (and who the hell would they replace him with anyways? The rest of the "Brain Trust" is either no longer working there or off doing other things), but I fear that could be a very real possibility. I know most of the internet declares Docter's Pixar to be some kind of failure, but I for one like his Pixar. Even if I didn't like the films coming out now, the place is a lot more director-driven than before, and more experimental. John Lasseter would've probably fired Enrico Casarosa, Domee Shi, and Angus MacLane off of all of their films... Or would've blockaded them every step of the way whenever they tried to make something in their respective films interesting. So yeah, I don't feel Docter is the problem here... it's really all down to how Disney handled the release of many of the recent Pixar films, how much the studio spends on their films, and the marketing just not enticing audiences to go see the films.

That's beyond Docter's control, and he even partially touched upon this in a recent interview... And for what it's worth, again... Audiences... The ones who actually saw the movie already... seem to be liking ELEMENTAL. "A" CinemaScore is pretty good. SPIDER-VERSE Deux and MARIO had an "A" CinemaScore as well. If this movie has excellent legs, it'll show that people - not internet-dwelling weirdos who seem to be the authority on all things animation - actually DID like the film... It just cost too much to make. Like a modern-day CLEOPATRA or SLEEPING BEAUTY. A movie that quite a few audiences went to, but it wasn't enough to cover the gargantuan costs to make it...

Like, if ELEMENTAL cost around BAD GUYS/PUSS IN BOOTS 2/DC SUPER-PETS/SPIDER-VERSE numbers... You know, around $80-90m in budget and NOT $200m+... this thing wouldn't be written off as a flop.

I'd imagine more sequels will happen, which was always a given, but maybe more so than ever before. INSIDE OUT 2 and TOY STORY 5, they weren't going to stop there, that was a given... Docter did say in that same interview that the originals in Pixar's library are fair game for sequels. And no smart exec walks away from movies that make $1b at the box office... Unless they're something like, say, TITANIC.

Maybe there will be stricter mandates put on Pixar films to "make them more appealing to audiences"... That's very possible, as it sometimes happens at these studios. Micromanaging, ya know? Trying to create that next big hit the mechanical way, by overthinking it... Instead of just making something and seeing how it all goes. How it does at the box office is often beyond a filmmakers' control anyways... Again, what the world will look like 4 years after you've started your endeavor...

Or maybe nothing happens, Pixar has special privileges, and keeps making what they make...

To me, the smartest thing would be to either... Step back and realize how silly box office has become, that it's absurd to expect a smash hit out of something in a crowded marketplace in just 2-4 months, hinging an entire studio's future on that... Or lower the budgets of these movies...

Anyways, sorry to rant, but it's all just absurd to me... Yes, the movie may indeed lose money, but it's not clear-cut.

[kyogre-blue]

CF, let's go!

Immediately more amusing than SS by virtue of the fact that I care about the enemy units. Yes, Rhea looks so cool, Flayn is so cool, Catherine yeeeeeah. Very nice, I'm very happy.

Jokes aside, CF is looking very interesting from the perspective of speculating about 3H's production process.

From what I recall of the interviews, it seems they added CF comparatively late, due to simping reasons. That's interesting in itself, because Edelgard was given a lot of focus in development, given stuff like the early drafts of her also being able to Divine Pulse. But I guess it was only later in that they realized that, yeah, giving her a route would be cool and probably the most unique thing they could do.

Anyway, given its weird development, CF has a lot of strangeness about it. It's the shortest route by a good margin (VW and AM have 10 chapter each, SS has 9 due to Gronder being cut, but CF has only 6). There is only one actually unique map, I believe (Tailtean), but the chapters are reshuffled in completely different order from VW-SS-AM having basically the exact same progression. At the same time, is a very obvious lack of pre-rendered cutscenes and even in-engine scenes to some extent.

So the impression I get is that it was added late, so they couldn't produce certain assets like cutscenes or more than six chapters, but at the same time, they had a lot more passion for it, since they created a unique progression and honestly Edelgard has been emoting more in one scene than the entire Academy phase.

My dudes.... perhaps you should have started from the villain route and just gone full in, instead of the limp-wristed SS stuff, which supposedly was written first out of everything.

Live blogging notes:

I like how Edelgard is in her school uniform during the pre-battle scene in the Holy Tomb, but is then in the Flame Emperor outfit post-battle. Girl took the time to change, I see. It's not really a huge deal, but it's so lacking in attention to detail, sigh.

Man, furious antagonist Rhea is so cool. Very nice.

The Immaculate One is just a still here, where it was always a cinematic in the other routes.

"The monsters that have controlled Fodlan in secret for far too long" Edelgard again attributing things the Agarthans have done to the Nabateans.

We book it. Only respect for Rhea.

Hum... all the BE students escape with us to one of the Imperial army's provisional camps. Except Flayn, obviously. The students give a mix of reasons why they're siding with Edelgard, and they're fine. Kinda mild, but whatever. The music really gets me. Cute bubbly track while everyone is like "well, I wasn't thinking and just ran" or "I have political reasons" and then it switches to Edelgard's imperial march theme, and man. It's really something.

Yeah, Edelgard's anti-Church pitch is kinda... lol. Given that her own henchmen was like "steal all the bones! desecrate those graves! kill everyone!"

"[The Church's] control over the lords of the Kingdom and the Alliance is nearly absolute" L M A O

This is hilarious. Admittedly already more fun than SS.

Edelgard admits to being well aware of how much chaos and destruction she is bringing about based on just her own will. She knows she is the cause of countless deaths. But she still says she wants to bring down the church.

Except, of course, the Church hasn't done anything to her lol Edelgard's manifesto will expose "the foul practices of the nobles from the Kingdom and Alliance" like what tho

Byleth is going to lead a special "Black Eagle Strike Force"

oh ho.... we're exploring a non-monastery area! very nice

Quickly noting: We skip the entire last month of Academy Phase, going from 2/29 for the Holy Tomb directly to 3/30 for the pre-assault camp.

Edelgard B: takes place in her monastery bedroom, which is funny at this juncture. She talks about how she'd like a day to just idle away and eat sweets, and also how without Byleth she would have become a harsh leader with a heart of ice (ok, sure) and how everyone else always treated her as an untouchable princess or emperor, didn't look her in the eye, etc. Ferdinand does not exist, I guess. It's very staple as a concept, but the details aren't really in place for this. At best, you can say this hinges more on her own perceptions -- she never respected anyone else until Byleth enough to let them approach her as anything except pawns and vassals. Self-imposed trials and all that.

Roundup of the kids: Ingrid wants to try to persuade her father to join Edelgard but thinks he probably won't, Caspar's father is leading the "western units" and he'd have had to fight him if he stayed at the monastery, Linhardt calls out that the biggest nobles in the empire stripped Edie's dad of his powers but are now supporting her to smoothly take the throne (weird!), Ferdie acknowledges that his father is greedy and arrogant but feels that he did a lot of work for the empire only to now be disgraced (stripped of his rank and under house arrest), Bernie has less thoughts in her head than Caspar, Felix has like two lines lol, Leonie is just directly with Byleth and no one else, Ashe emphasizes that he can't trust the Church after Lonato and Christophe, Sylvain is kind of mess, thinking of his father, Dimitri, how he might die in the fighting, etc.

Hubert says it's not up to Edelgard to bring the students to our cause, which is... kinda wild. Why is it not up to her. Based on the rest of the dialogue, he means the recruited students from other houses, but uuuh given 3H quality, I expect he says this even if you haven't recruited, and also the phrasing is very vague to begin with.

Garreg Mach has never been attacked, so no one really knows how well it can stand against assault. Edelgard is confident in our power "from a mathematical standpoint."

Ladislava leads Edelgard's personal guard. There's also Randolph von Bergliez. His mother married into Caspar's family but this was after his birth. Unclear if this means he's from a previous relationship of hers, or if he wasn't legitimized despite being from a Bergliez fling. That explains one random battle line I got from him when attacking as Caspar on SS.

There's a couple stray comments from NPCs about Rhea turning into a beast (which happened down in the Holy Tomb where only a few people were, so... curious an NPC knows) and about not entirely believing Edelgard but supporting her for now.

Overall battle plan for the assault: Edelgard (+Byleth) leads an elite force that strikes as close to the monastery as possible, planning to draw attention of the elite Knights and Rhea's ire. Meanwhile, the main forces that marched in from the capital will surround and "annihilate" the remaining areas.

Another still of the Immaculate One after the battle, no CG. The entire scene is just one still, headshots of models talking and some filter to show that "the castle" is "crumbling." And that's it, wow.

Without Rhea fighting Thales and trying to save Byleth, she's well enough to flee to Faerghus. Nice!

Dimitri is King <3

Claude "strategically stirs up conflict between Leicester lords in an effort to maintain neutrality" lmao

Sothis is cool with you even after the Edelgard simping shenanigans, I guess.

The Imperial Army is holding the monastery, which is different from the other routes.

Edelgard emotes?? At the reunion with Byleth. WOW

Another still, no cutscene.

Edelgard's dialogue here... has almost the exact same beats as Claude's which is a bit funny.

Recap again that Dimitri is King and supporting the Church, Claude is being neutral, though Edelgard makes it clear this is a negative. His leadership "has thrown the Alliance into chaos."

OK, so Edelgard directly says we're going to eliminate the Church, the Kingdom and the Allaince. We're out to get them all, and the first target is Claude because Riegan has been standing against the Empire. To secure a route for imperial troops into the Alliance, we'll take out the big bridge first. At the same time, we'll take out Judith and since her territory is on the border with the Kingdom, getting her out of the way will be useful too.

[regular-lord-reckoner]

you know when you have a bad day but you tell yourself, "well, maybe tomorrow will be better, it has to be, right?" so you even go to bed early just to get to that better day and then it gets here and it's actually worse ?! like ten times worse ?? lol

yeah, it's been one of those

i guess my iud's still working itself out because i'm having yet another two week long sorta period where i'm not bleeding as much but i'm getting pretty much everything else, which means two weeks of pmdd now and two weeks of on and off extreme irritability and just being generally over-stimulated as fuck

this week in particular has been really hard to get through and there's like ten million things about work right now specifically that are pissing me off, but namely it's being behind on a task i'm supposed to share with someone else who i know for a fact is sending my mom tiktok videos all throughout the work day so ti's like, hey, that's awesome !! i'm no longer allowed to get overtime which is fucking killing me because i "stole company time" but i guess if you do it on site nobody cares !!! cool cool cool.

also fascinating to me that i apparently never made up for the time i "stole" when i was working off the clock and yet this particular task was never in the goddamn 300 and 400s like my inbox is every day but hey, that's fine. those are just sick patients waiting for visits, who cares ?! and who cares if you've told your manager more than once that nobody apparently knows how to mark asap and stat tasks so you often find a bunch of them just....sitting there, a week old or longer, because they're mixed in with all the regulars !! awesome, awesome, awesome

meanwhile i've been trying to find other jobs/second jobs whenever i have a spare moment except the other day it's like every job website wasn't cooperating or their search results are so scrambled by ai that you have to sift through every listing by hand because no amount of choosing "remote only" or "entry level only" does a damn thing

i did apply to one and got a little into the process but had to take a 30 minute long test that i didn't do so good on so i got rejected and then there was this other one that i thought sounded great but they want me to film myself answering interview questions ???? i just....i don't feel comfortable with that, i'd rather they just schedule me for an interview and then i can hop on camera but....alright

i'm sure something will turn up eventually and god i hope soon because i am.....struggling right now (i fucked up paying one of my credit cards and paid the wrong one instead so now i'm in trouble with discover and have to set up a payment plan with them to get back on track and it's like twice the amount of money i was already giving them a month so that's super duper; also one of my medical bills i could have sworn i had a payment plan set up with and they would just automatically take the payment out but they sent me a statement the other day saying i have a new due date and i should probably just call them and sort if out but it's been too much to deal with at the moment !! thankfully i have a little in my hsa so i figure even if i'm only making small payments at least i'm doing something; i really don't want to get turned over to collections or fuck up my credit any more than i already have. but hopefully i'll find either a better paying job or a second job i can squeeze in and take some of the pressure off. fingers crossed and good vibes appreciated and all that)

anyway, that was yesterday and then today it's been my mom. she's been...struggling pretty bad today. since before noon and pretty much all day long.

i don't really want to get into it because it involves some of her personal stuff and it's just been a lot today, but i feel so fucking drained

i think she's got an appointment coming up with a therapist, i really hope she follows through with it. if not i'm not sure what's going to happen, but i don't think it's going to be good if things continue on like this.

i know ultimately that's out of my hands but it still sucks. it sucks to watch everyone you love self-destruct in front of you and there not being a goddamn thing you can do about it except just hope they pull out of it or y'know....go to therapy

not saying it's a perfect solution or a quick fix and lord knows i'm overdue for an appointment but that'll have to wait as well until i can get my financial shit together because i've decided i do at least want to pay her back. i know it's been a while and i probably could have done it sooner if i'd just prioritized better, but i think it's the right thing to do. she did help me a lot and i appreciate that.

i also appreciate my mom, i know i'm hard on her sometimes, and my dad, but i do love them both and am grateful for them. i just wish they would both heal, not even for my sake at this point but for their own.

i was inevitably impacted by their lack of healing despite their love and i've had to sit with that for a while now. and sure, there's some part of me that does want to just say well fuck them for not being perfect parents to me and my sister and making us both have to learn how to self-soothe (clearly not well) and for forcing us to have to learn emotional intelligence on our own (also not well) but another part of me is like....hey, the shit they've been through is obviously difficult to deal with, especially for two people who came from times and place where that's just not how you handle things, you develop a sense of humor about it and keep pushing and you bring kids into this world and try to do a little better.

and they did, but....some things did kinda miss the mark. me being me, though, i just figured if nobody was going to teach me i'd try to teach myself and even if i don't get it perfect i at least try to minimize the impact i have on others

it's why i don't have many friends, it's why i'm a bit of a hermit these days and it's why i don't date

is that healthy?

no, probably not and again is something i should probably work on in therapy but in the mean time i am trying to make peace with myself and with the things i can't change and just....do whatever i need to in order to be well, even if that means i have to be even more selfish than i already am, it's either that or....i dunno. i definitely won't be the best version of myself and i don't want that.

i do want a better day tomorrow, though.

i hope i'll have one.

and i hope soon things get a little easier, somehow, some way.

sometimes i get the impressive there's this idea of me that my life's gotten better but it hasn't really, i've just tried to have a better attitude

i often hear chloe price in my head saying, "ever since my dad died my life's been dipped in shit" and that feels......pretty accurate

i'm just trying to find the good parts in between all the shit but every fucking day has been a struggle and it feels sometimes like i'm going to be stuck in this hole for the rest of my life

i really hope i get out some day

and i really hope tomorrow's a better day

and if you're reading this and it's also been a bad day or week or month or year(s) i hope it gets better for you soon, too

i know there's an ebb and a flow to all of this, ups and downs but it's felt pretty down for....years now and i'm just hoping for a chance to get my head from under the water, even if it's easier to scream down here

anyway, i'm gonna go watch something to turn my brain off and probably call it another early night

g'night <3

[bauhiniaxblakeana]

i don't even know where to start with these. i guess i'll just stream of consciousness it. just need to get the thoughts out and all, especially since i've been thinking about it today due to fandom stuff.

sometimes it almost feels ridiculous to call this colonization. like. i don't know. you would think it would be more in your face? more death involved, or something. i guess that's because my baseline of colonization comes from what the indigenous peoples of turtle island have suffered, where the white colonizers stormed in and killed the men and all. there was... well. i guess it's just less overt with the chinese government. i guarantee you there's been death, it just isn't seen or talked about because it's all swept under the rug. i mean fuck, there's actual concentration camps set up for the uyghurs. people are dying. it's just not being talked about.

with hong kong at least. i guess nothing of that scale ever happened, which makes me hesitant to ascribe that term to it. how do i call it genocide when they haven't really killed anyone? they have though. like. they have. but not on a Huge scale, like how it feels like it should be to call it this. like it's not bad enough, somehow, as fucked as it is to say that. god. i mean i guess this all is just another sort of trauma, so to compare it as it being 'not bad enough' is just another way to cope. i would like it to just be me. i would like it to actually not be that bad, because that reality is easier to sit with. but i can't lie to myself like that.

it is colonization though. it is. i have to say it to make it more real to myself. it is colonization. we're not all han, you know, even though the vast majority of documented people in china say they identify as han. that's. i mean that's a safe default, but in reality people are probably mixed. there's 55 ethnic groups in china besides the han, and those are just the documented ones. and with how people migrate and mingle, more likely than not people aren't 'pure' han. i don't think most people who call themselves han are actually han, anyhow, because that's never been something that's challenged. and this sort of hegemony is also a type of colonization, isn't it? forced assimilation because no one is ever allowed or even prompted to think about what could be outside of this. you're just not given the information, and even if you find it there's no means to build on it.

the reason i'm typing this in english to begin with is also because of colonization. because china lost a war, and ceded off this bit of land to the british. passed around like a hot fucking potato, and now hong kong as a cultural place is a melting pot, and they want it to just assimilate. the reason i know mandarin is colonization. i don't regret it, i'm glad to know these languages, but the reason i know is colonization. and i'm scared they're going to push it further, inching cantonese out until the children don't remember how to speak it anymore.

i mean, that is genocide. that's cultural genocide. it feels less weighty than like. the type of genocide that's bloody, but this too is bloody in a way. i guess it's just less physical.

but they did kill us. people died during the protests. and people get arrested now for mourning them. we're not allowed to talk about it, and i'm sure they resent the fact that the tiananmen square massacre is still being talked about. what would they give to cover that up as well. just shoot the kids so none of the rest dare to stand up in fear of losing their own lives too.

maybe it's unrealistic, maybe it's just me being anxious, but every day i am so, so scared that i will open the news and hear that they've sent the tanks down to hong kong. they're not exactly subtle, anyways, with some things. what with all the bans and shit. and i've seen tanks down in the city before. the question is just when will they start shooting, at least for me. when.

god. i hope i'm wrong.

[madameevil]

I'll try to divide this into 2 parts. First part using game codex entries, other DA canon media, etc to refute points or counter points. Second to point out how some of these points are due to personal interpretations differing. So basically... let's use "facts" for most of the first half and "opinions" in the second. No guarantee that'll work out as I type this but that's the goal at least.

"Solas already knows who Rook is. He doesn't need much time to know who Rook is, it's not a problem for him." Ok but he doesn't. He thinks he does. He thinks he has Rook all pinned down. It's why he doesn't expect Rook to escape the Prison of Regret but Rook does. Solas is convinced that all of his manipulation to get Rook to drown in regret is enough to keep them trapped in that prison. In his pride, he doesn't expect Rook to escape. He once again doesn't expect Rook to see through his final betrayal about the veil. He also doesn't expect Rook to have enough cards by the end to stop him (which is conditional based on what you do in the game)

"If Cassandra rebuilds the Seekers, she is able to deal with emerging cults and unrest quite swiftly (according to the endings)." The ending slide literally says "showing no interest in worldly affairs" - Are you thinking of a different ending slide? Or a different quote? I honestly don't remember this being mentioned at all and can't find any reference to it. Cassandra also spent time in the Hunterhorn Mountains north of Orlais, where she worked to rebuild the Seekers. For a time, the new Seekers remained reclusive, showing no interest in worldly affairs and working to a purpose few outside their order could guess.

"Also, Friends of the Red Jenny are implied to operate throughout the entire Thedas and have quite a history (they've been mentioned since DA:O). So, for them not to be mentioned at all during the events makes no sense." They started as an organization based out of Ferelden and expanded to (areas that we know) Kirkwall, Orlais, Starkhaven, Tantervale, and Nevarra. They're not described as a powerful global organization. They're peppered throughout Thedas where they can get a foothold. We don't have proof or any mention of them being a thing in Tevinter or Antiva.

"Venatori should not even be a thing. Venatori rose to power only because of the Corypheus" The Venatori at their core are a cult of Tevinter-Mage Supremacists. That ideology doesn't just vanish or appear suddenly. The ideology is deeply rooted in the Tevinter Imperium. Even Dorian points out that many magisters still privately support the Venatori's ideas. While they won't outright sanction it. The Venatori's power increase may be directly tied to Corypheus but these ideologies have been present in Tevinter for a long ass time.

"So, at best there should be some Venatori cults present - but they won't be having that much power because they no longer have structure, they no longer have their god-magister, and they have nothing to sway magisters on their side - especially if they failed to provide any alternative to Corypheus in 10 years and went back to worshipping the Old Gods. [...] To make them the main problem is lazy writing." I don't think we need to get into a lesson on power vacuums here but let's just use the definition of "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has replaced them." With Corypheus gone there is a power vacuum. A cult of fanatics don't just say "oh well, guess we'll go home now." According to Tevinter Nights (which the franchise being a mixed-media franchise has it's own problems), while a lot distanced themselves from the Venatori there were still a good number of loyalists who remained active. This leads to Aelia trying to fill in that role. She does gain a decent amount of support for it. Even when she's "captured" she has enough sway to escape prison and cause problems. Why? Because the Venatori's ideology is appealing to a lot of people in Tevinter even if they don't directly associate with the cult. However, with her "failure" we have another power vacuum present - so why is it "lazy writing" to have the emergence of another powerful mage that speaks like Corypheus and offer power similarly to what he did fill that?

"It makes no sense for the Venatori to be the main bad guys because the entire Tevinter fucking sucks already. It's has a horrible, hedonistic and power-obsessed ruling class where dominating the weak is considered good manners. Dorian should be having his hands full by fighting the entire Senate on such concepts as "slavery is bad" and "we should treat non-mages as people" - because Tevinter abhors change and its power is full of assholes like Aurelian Titus. The Venatori are just one shade of ugly the Tevinter has - and not the most prominent one." The supremacist ideology of the Venatori embody everything you're saying here. The examples you're giving are all part of the supremacist mindset. Hedonistic and power-obsessed ruling class? Yep. "Slavery is bad" and "we should treat non-mages as people" Those two concepts are directly against the supremacists ideology. We also do get some notes from Dorian doing just that Veilguard. The Venatori isn't just one shade of ugly, it's the embodiment of everything wrong in Tevinter. It's the supremacist ideology given form.

"Yes, it makes sense for Varric and Harding to take part in the search for Solas - but I can't believe that Rook at least hadn't been approved by the Inquisitor. and that Rook doesn't have means to contact the Inquisitor for further instructions in case something happens to Varric, or Harding or both of them. This is counter-productive." Varric is the one tasked with forming a small team. It's his responsibility to form that team and onboard people and vet them. With the way it's framed in "The Missing" Varric had full authority to bring on whoever. He didn't need approval. They kept in touch via Charter and sent correspondence to the Inquisitor but there wasn't any need for approval. Varric is the main path and Harding is the back up. That's 2 channels. Until the incident happens to Varric that seems standard. When the incident happens with Varric, then I believe Harding should have introduced Rook and the Inquisitor sooner to keep that practice of a back up channel open. Harding does reach out to Charter pretty early to inform them about what happened to Varric and mention Rook. I would have liked an Inquisitor meeting or letter sooner though.

I think below is where different interpretations come in.

"Solas knows how Leliana and Josephine operate, but that's not going to stop them - and it should not stop them when the fate of the world is at stake." You think they wouldn't let that stop them. I think they're smart enough to not continue to play an active part if any information they get or send off is information Solas is spoon feeding them. If their continued involvement would cause more harm then good then yea, I think they would take a step back. I think they would hand off the reigns to others.

"However, it's going to be insanely ha[r]d to prove the threat to anyone else and then tell them to go find Solas. At the same time, intentionally holding back information about what Solas really is means sending the "someone Solas doesn't know" to their death. They go after Solas, thinking it's just a really strong mage - and they don't know that it's actually an ancient god." Given Varric's line to Neve at the beginning, Varric is upfront with the information: "I also told you he was an ancient elven god." Whether the person believes them is dependent on the person. Rook has been tracking Solas with Varric for a year or so. I think by now they've witnessed enough to believe Varric's information.

"And she is going to stop now, after it's revealed that the threat isn't gone? There is no way she won't be an active participant. Even the fact that Seekers aren't welcome isn't going to stop her." I do actually think that the threat of severe political consequences should a southern religious military group make moves in a northern territory under a different religion would dissuade her. Cassandra isn't stupid. We also see her get less rash in Inquisition. We see her stop and think things through more. So actually, yes I do think that since mobilizing Seekers in Northern territory could at worse be seen as an act of war she would let it stop her. She even says at the end of trespasser "we need to be careful."

"Basically, it meant that the Inquisitor and their allies were going to try harder, learn what they can and find new resources, new information, any leverage possible. This is why the Inquisitor sets their course for Tevinter at the end of Trespasser: they were preparing to cooperate with a controversial state, pulling strings and calling favors, finding people with an ample knowledge of magic and ancient history that could assist them with finding any clues;"

L: "My agents have found nothing with the eluvians he could be anywhere"

C: [Dialogue about whether you disbanded or kept the Inquisition]

L: "We have what we truly need."

C: "We will need to be careful."

L: "Solas knows everything about us. Who we are. How we work. Our strengths and weaknesses"

Inky: "Then we find people he doesn't know." [Dialogue about if you are saving him or stopping him]

I do think this means they were going to find new allies and new people. Tevinter Imperium is a good place to start looking for that. And all this plays out through the comics and Harding and Varric's stories. (which again making the series Mixed-media has it's own complications) They do find new allies through their journey. They do find people who have ample knowledge of magic and ancient history. This idea also continues to play out in Veilguard. We find someone who has connections. We find someone who has ample knowledge of ancient magics and history. We find someone who has ample knowledge of the fade since that's what Solas was directly trying to manipulate.

I do not think it implicitly means what you've interpreted it to. I think that's how you interpreted that and I think that's a valid interpretation of it. Unfortunately that's not where they took it. That's also now how I interpreted it. I think a lot of the fandom interpreted this in different ways and that leads to disappointment if their interpretation wasn't correct. I think that's what's happening to you here. I don't think Bioware not catering to your interpretation means "they don't care." or anything like that. I think it's just that what you predicted or assumed based on the information provided ended up being incorrect. Other people predicted it correctly. If anything this just means that the marketing team could have done better at setting expectations and making sure everyone was on the same page.

oh my god that was a lot to type.

I don't think the game is perfect by any standards (no game is). There are things I wish they could have included or flushed out more, but I don't think any of that was done by Bioware devs "not caring." I think the Bioware team does actually really love their world and lore of Dragon Age. To quote their artbook (which is actually insane to look at):

"Art books like this one are the perfect opportunity to showcase what you don't see in the finished product: the inspiration, the blueprints, the unused drafts. We barked up a lot of wrong trees. We explored some wild directions--some ending in dead ends, others ending in precious treasure. We also created a lot of material that we liked but didn't have the capacity to build (in this game, anyway)."

If Bioware truly didn't love and care for their world and lore, the artbook wouldn't be as beautiful and jam packed as it is. There wouldn't be other medias of the series: books, comics, animations, movies.

But Bioware can't just make whatever they want. Bioware is owned by EA (not just published through them. OWNED by them). Bioware has to pay people to make the games. They need to get the funding and approval from EA to do so. This means that no matter how passionate the team is, there's only so much they can do and EA gets a huge say in what that is. EA who explicitly stated earlier AFTER BG3 released that they don't think single player story based games are worth investing in. WHICH IS INSANE TO ME. EA had them start developing the game one way. EA had them change development midway. EA had them remove all multiplayer pieces. EA cut funding to Bioware forcing them to make cuts in staff.

I guess if we say that a lot of the post is us disagreeing on how things are interpreted and not a misunderstanding of the source material then I can say my main problem with posts like this is that it targets the developers. The developers do seem to really love and care for their world and do want to do more, but they can't do it all. They can't just do everything they want. They have a parent company constantly controlling what they can and can not do. I could agree with a lot more posts if they actually targeted the company causing a lot of the problems, EA - WHO WE ALL ALREADY KNOW IS A SHIT MONEY HUNGRY COMPANY. Instead of the Devs who busted their asses for 10 years wanting to do more and being told to change it or scrap it at every turn.

Bioware writing team has a comfy, sheltered life and it shows

I'm sorry, but how come that the only people Inquisitor sent to look for Solas were Varric and Harding? How come that the only people recruited in 10 years of pursuing Solas were Neve and Rook? Do the writers understand that this is NOT how a serious effort looks like?

What about Leliana? Divine or not, she is still Sister Nightingale with an immense spywork. You'd think she won't mobilize everything she has to track Solas and his followers?

What about Josephine? What, she decided "nah, I'm done" and didn't use any of her diplomatic talents and connections to let the Inquisitor's agents have access, permissions or information they need?

What about Dorian? As a political figure, you'd think he will be the first Minrathous contact for the Inquisitor allies, the one arranging things and providing insights?

What about Cassandra and her Seekers? Isn't she interested in stopping another world-ending threat?

What about Sera and her sabotaging potential? If she organized the group of people for performing vigilante acts, people who are her eyes and ears, how come nobody from her group is helping with the effort?

I get it why Varric takes part in it - he knew Solas, the Inquisitor trusts him and his judgement, but for the game to imply that all the responsibility was lumped on Varric's shoulders is fucking disgraceful. I get it writers, Varric is popular character, and you would use him as bait to your heart's content, but the context you've created implies that Varric might have been the only one to take the threat seriously, while the Inquisitor and the rest were doing God knows what.

Varric should have been handing the Rook information on all the contacts they can recruit, all the useful agents, all the people to work with, not tell them to ask Neve because she might know someone because detective (Neve is a good character, but the fact that people who were supposed to spend 10 years chasing Solas look up to her for finding them contacts is appalling).

"Oh, but all these people were in the previous parts and we don't want to mention previous parts because muh new players" - well, you shot yourselves in the foot. Maybe, just maybe, you should have AT LEAST cared more about the choices made in DAI.

Congrats.

[idkhbtfmc]

it's the dead of night, and i can't sleep for my life. i can hear my father from the other room, snoring away like he doesn't have a care in the world. i should give him something to fucking care about. i get up from bed and unlock my door, heading to the garage. we usually have a gas can near the car.  i sort through the random items for a bit before finding it. it's a little heavy, but i can lift it fairly well, so it doesn't matter. i bring it back inside the house.

i slowly creep into my dads room, carrying the gas can. walking over to the side of his bed i left the gas can and slowly start pouring it into his mouth, watching it pour down his throat. air bubbles slowly rise to the surface, his chest struggling to rise and fall. he's trying to breath. like i'll let that happen 😇😇. 

 a rotten odor came just as swiftly as the sudden disgusting squelches. did this man just shit himself? hell, what did he have to eat? it was worser than the starvation that bit at me while my family was sinking lower in debt. in the faint moonlight, i could see the shit stain his pants. i back away, revolted at the sudden distasteful actions. done right in front of my eyes.

that's extremely disgusting, but, to be fair, i am drowning him in oil. we can both agree that we're both disgusting! the oil is pouring out of his mouth and over his body. it would look like it was coming from him if you couldn't see me. he still isn't awake, and he isn't dead. he's still struggling to breath in and out. should be just a few more minutes.

i smile, finally that fucker isn't snoring like a damn car engine. then i step back. footsteps came from the hall, getting closer to my position. i panic, freezing up, my feet not daring to move. "anyone up? you've been creating quite some sounds," my sibling's voice yells out from the hallway.

i whisper a curse, trying to find a place to hide. "father? violet?!" i could hear the fear in my sibling's voice as they look at father's body; shit and oil mixed together. what a horrifying sight.

"you were the one who did this, violet? i'm.. i'm sorry. but i need to call the cops on you." they brought out their phone, dialing 911. fear had overcome all common sense i knew. as they hastily talked on the phone with the dispatcher. they'd be here in around 5 minutes.

i sprinted towards my sibling and poured a [un]healthy dose of oil in their mouth. hey, the police are already arriving. why not do another crime? anyway, they tried spitting out the oil, which i, of course, wouldn't allow 😇.

i could hear the outside noises outside as i stare blankly at the ground. the reality and weight of my actions seeping in. but you know what? i've already killed two people. why not more? the dispatcher's still on the phone, they didn't get the chance to hang up. kneeling down, i pick up the phone.

"hello! what's going on?" i ask, trying to play innocent. they don't respond right away, you can hear a pen scratching on paper.

"where are you?" asks the person, in a gentle voice. they're probably trying to comprehend what's going on. did hazel give them the address? i can't remember. probably not, if they're asking. or they want to know if i was there during the rest of the call.

"i don't know. what's going on?" i ask again, avoiding their question. i step over my sibling's body, sprawled out on the floor, oil coating their face. i make my way out of the room and to the kitchen. we have matches in this one cabinet somewhere.

"your, huh, sibling didn't explain much to me. i was hoping you would know." the dispatcher's trying to reason with me, and understand why i took over the call. guess they didn't hear hazel's death. "but i guess not, since you keep asking me about the situation." i make it to the kitchen, muting the call and opening multiple cabinet's until i find the right one.

i unmute the call for a second to say, "i don't know what's happening. i just woke up." i take the box of matches from the top shelf, standing on my tippy-toes. it only has a few left, unfortunately. i mute the call again, as the person talks.

"well, do you know your address? all your, uh, sibling told me was that someone has died." they still don't know our relationship yet. they were right, we are siblings, but it's funny. "so we can come over and investigate." i unmute the call before i set the bodies aflame.

"i don't. i'm sorry." i give up on muting and unmuting the call, lighting the match on fire and entering my father's room. mom works at night, she shouldn't be home for a long time. i grab the gas can and set my father on fire. it should spread to hazel eventually. i get out of the room quickly, slamming the door. i notice the call is silent. i hang up, walking back to the kitchen and grabbing my dad's wallet and keys, leaving the house.

i don't bother locking the door behind me. i drop hazel's phone on the doorstep, walking to dad's car. unlocking it and sliding inside, i start the engine and buckle my seatbelt. i back out of the garage and start driving away from the house. i must really have a short temper, huh?

flashbakcs

[limenysnocket]

Salsa Lessons

Summary: Let's take a break... to go on vacation. Since Taika is a snowflake and can't handle the cold, take a trip down south to Puerto Rico!

Pairing: Taika Waititi x Reader

Warnings: SMUT-- oral (f receiving), unprotected sex, dom Taika, a little bit of degradation, swearing, alcohol, (slight) public sex. 18+ ;)

A/N: One last baecation before I disappear again, and I know this'll be good. I KNOW THIS IS LATE. Like... late LATE. Forgive me.

@honorarytenenbaum @olyvoyl @whatwememeintheshadows @mrtommyshelby @dandywaititi

•○●•○●•○●•

"MY FACE IS ON FIRE!" Taika was panting and fanning his burning cheeks. The moms running the stand you both went to were cackling at him.

It had been a day since you both landed in Puerto Rico, and after sleeping off the jet lag and trying some of the fine dining, the first thing to do was explore the city, San Juan, from start to finish. Coincidentally, you both walked right into the outdoor market area, where fresh produce was being bought and sold everywhere. That's when Taika, the jackass, got ballsy and decided to try a pepper from one of the stands. He had been warned.

Oh well... guess you can see how that went.

To make up for the commotion caused, you bought a pineapple and a papaya from the same stand, as well as a couple of exquisitely bottled cokes. Taika was consoled, given a bit of coconut milk, and sent right back down the boardwalk. That was the first and last time he tried a freebie from a pepper stand. He was complaining about how his tongue felt (you would have thought that might make him get a little quieter and talk less), and he didn't stop until half of his bottled soda was gone. He sort of forgot about the pain after that and started looking for souvenirs.

You began your walk with him at eight in the morning, sharp. It was near noon by the time you were finished, and Taika had two big bags of fruits and veggies, exotic jewelry, tour maps, and trinkets. You were starving, and, more than once, tried to steal a kiwi from his bags but he would always manage to catch you and slap your hand away.

"They're for later!" He'd say that or make up a different excuse each time.

Taika wasn't neglectful of your hunger, in the end. He took you to a nearby restaurant after doing some searching on his phone and dropping the bags off back at the hotel room.

The restaurant was quaint, but vibrant at the same time. There were colors, dancers, and live music played on a little wooden stage just meters away. Ordering was fine, but it took some time for Taika.

"I've never seen so many things with pineapple in it! And it's not pizza, so it's bound to be good!" He seemed so excited for the food. It made you happy, but you eventually had to pick for him since the waiter was getting tired of actually having to wait.

"I have something special planned for tonight!" Taika exclaimed, the alcoholic drink of his choice being waved around in his hand. You were already reaching for the napkins, afraid he was going to spill something.

So now he tells you...

"Should I be concerned?" your first question came out with ease.

"Honey, if it's anything with me, you should always be concerned," he was smug, but the look on your face told him he needed to fix his wording. "BUT! Uhm... No, no you shouldn't be concerned about where I'm taking you. It's going to be a blast, I promise!"

"Better not be lying, Taik," you warned, and he just started to grin. That made you nervous, but you put the feeling on hold when the food came out.

Two bowls of Asopao de Pollo were placed in front of you and Taika, and they were devoured briefly in the span of thirty minutes. Extra time was added because Taika decided to add hot sauce to his. 'It's to add a kick,' he said. Yeah, whatever.

The rest of the afternoon was spent snacking, and checking out the more historical side of Puerto Rico. Abandoned forts, old canons, battle fields, you name it. It was truly a blast, even when Taika became cocky around one of the forts you visited.

It was at the Sitio Histórico de San Juan when things got... touchy. You were with a group of people, and you and Taika decided to linger around the back so if something interesting was spotted, you wouldn't have to move immediately. Little did you know, Taika was devising a, "ditch the tour guide and go make out somewhere," kind of plan.

Much to your demise, and to your pleasure, the plan worked. The tour guide hardly noticed the two of you disappear down an unknown corridor and push yourselves deep into a dark corner.

The smell was wet, ancient, and dank. Taika had you pressed up against one of the concrete walls while his hands worked their magic, lifting up the hem of your shirt and immediately grasping for your bra. You let him squeeze and grip through the fabric of it and press his body so close to yours, the waistband of his shorts was rubbing a red line across the skin of your stomach.

Your legs trembled while you completely forgot about the tour itself and your fingers started to run through his curly hair. Taika's thigh was moving to be between both of yours and he started to slowly rub the top of his against your clothed cunt. Slowly. Achingly slow.

Whimpers of his name and the sound of your tongue mixing echoed along the dank walls, and whimpers turned to moans, and moans turned into garbled sentences when his hand sunk into your underwear and sought out your clit. You tried to warn him, this was a bad idea. You could be noticed missing from the group and people could come looking for you. There could be papz right around the corner, needing a good look for a filthy headline. He didn't stop, though. He started rubbing faster, playing with you like you were some toy.

You knew he wouldn't give you anything but his fingers. Yet. Taika waited and waited, getting you closer on just clit stimulation, but just as you reached your brink, he started to pull his hand away. Dazed and confused, you looked up, your chest shaking from all the heavy breathing you had been doing. Your hands were grasping at his shirt, damn near begging to have just the tiniest bit more, but the look on his face said it all. Even through the darkness of the corridor.

"What the fuck, dude? I was so close!" You hissed at him. All he did was click his tongue and say:

"That's for later too."

The rest of the tour was dreadful to you. It was long, and hot, and dank while you found your way back to the group. Taika was nonchalantly following just a ways behind you while you consistently traveled in circles or down a corridor and through the next. As if he knew you were getting yourself lost, he eventually stepped in, and lead you back towards the entrance of the fort, where your tour group had huddled together for the last destination and for the tour guide to say goodbye. Oh well, at least you got to take in some historical views.

After one more cramped trolley ride back to the hotel later, you were utterly exhausted, but you knew your night wasn't over yet. Taika still had something planned, and it must have been on the spot this morning too. If he had planned it any further back, he would have blabbed it all out to you by now. You laid on your bed while you could, right on your stomach with your face buried into the pillow, trying to let your heavy eyes fall closed for a second, but the moment you did, you felt a large hand smack you right on the ass.

You flipped over, mad as a hornet when you looked up at Taika. You hadn't heard him come out of the bathroom.

He had dressed himself up in all black. Black button up, tucked into his black pants and pressed firm with a black belt. He looked like one of those pit musicians you'd see when you go to really good musicals with live orchestras.

"Dirty Dancing cosplay, ooor?" you nipped at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Ha ha, you're funny," the sarcasm dripped from him. He then threw a piece of (also black) clothing on. "Put that on."

The reluctance was real, but you followed his orders anyway, grumbling and griping your way through. Turns out it was a dress. A short one, at that, only going down to be just half way down your thighs, but it was comfortable enough. Luckily you had a pair of flats with a slight heel in your bag to pair with it. You had no idea where you were going with him, but you were not about to walk there in heels.

Taika was giving you "the eyes" as you walked out of the bathroom, admittedly messing with the hem of your dress to try and bring it down lower. As a result, came more cleavage that you would have liked, but oh well. At least Taika enjoyed the view.

He took the grocery bags in his hands and in the crook of his arms, and like that, it was time to go.

"We'll be late if we don't rush!" he hurried you. You knew that was just a big fat lie, and he was excited to get to wherever you were going, but you played along for as long as you could.

Taika made you go down the boardwalk again, through flourishes of people while the bags in his arms still jostled from side to side. Eventually, you stopped, just outside of a well lit building, and he took you inside.

He stepped up to a desk, signed something, and set all of the groceries down on the desk. While he did those things, you had a look around. To your left, deeper into the building and with dimmer lighting, there were tables and chairs set up. Almost all of the tables were meant for two, or for four. Before you could investigate further, Taika was back to leading you around, through a few more doors, which opened up to a big ballroom.

A few more people were waiting there, dressed almost in the same fashion as you or even a bit more flamboyantly, and obviously coupled up. Taika wrapped his arm around your waist and made you jolt.

"Care to dance?" he mused quietly and you gulped. You've got to be fucking kidding.

"You're joking," you murmured, but he wasn't, because he took you right over to the group of other couples and started conversing with them while you started to freak out quietly.

Honestly, you had never been the greatest dancer on earth. Sure, you could cut a rug from time to time, but that was in the privacy of your own home or at Taika's place if he happened to pick out a really good song worth dancing to. You knew Taika loved to see you dance, he loved to dance with you most of all, but you both never got into anything fancy.

Now was the time.

Soon, your instructors announced themselves, and the room fell mute while they introduced themselves in their very heavy Spanish accents. You stuck to Taika's side most of the time, even as the mood was set and stone. You would be learning to salsa dance. But what did this have to do with the food? You'd find out later.

To put it simply, things got... touchy. Of course, the one and only Waititi was the one touching you, wrapping his big, strong hands around your hips and making them sway back and forth, but it was personal at some point. His hips were pushed against yours most of the time, and that awakened a more primal sense.

Once the dance had been established, the lavish music and the glow of sweat and cologne heightened your senses, and the lights began to dim or flash with lavish pinks, purples, reds, yellows, and greens. You got lost in the feeling as Taika set his hands on your hips again, his warm palms making your legs ache to feel his skin touch yours. Your back was against his chest while the footwork got complicated. Focused, yet mystical.

All the couples around you, doing the same moves as you, turned to blurry blobs, and your breathing got heavier as the pace of the music piece got faster and faster. Taika's breath drew across your ear, and made you shudder. It nearly knocked you out of focus, because you bumped your hips backwards, and pushed your ass against his hips. Like a chain reaction, you felt his hands squeeze your hips a little more than he was supposed to. So, you bumped your hips back against his again, and suddenly you were whipped around by his hands, and pulled flat against his chest.

The bodies around you still writhed and moved with beauty and grace, then there was you and Taika... in the very middle of the dancefloor while a small hard on pressed against the side of your thigh. He was looking down at you, and through the darkness, just like in the corridor, you could see his expression. It was a look of want. Need.

Before anything could be done, however, the lights flashed back on, and the song had finished. Only you and Taika were out of position. The instructors paid no mind. They just clapped, as well as everyone else. Taika removed his hands from you, but made sure you were close enough to hide the little bump in his pants. You hoped there was nothing other than this, because now you really wanted to get back to the hotel room.

The couples started filing out of the room, back to where the tables and chairs were, and Taika kept you in front of him the entire time, pressed almost a little too closely to him.

"Mr. Waititi," a waitress called to him from the kitchen as you met the front desk again. "Your food has been prepared."

Taika looked at the waitress, then to you. He was debating something. You knew what, but you'd let him figure this out for himself. He was the one with the more visible problem.

"Awesome," Taika sighed, then looked down at you. "Join me for a bite real fast?" He said it through almost gritted teeth. Reluctantly... you agreed.

If it was worth it, that's for you to decide. This place had taken the groceries you bought, fruits and veggies, and made a beautiful dinner with mango kiwi sangria. With the time the lessons had taken, the chefs in the kitchen had made the perfect meal. They had even thrown in a few extra elements like chorizo and perfectly cooked rice dishes. As much as you loved the food, you couldn't forget about the need between your legs. And it was obvious Taika couldnt simply forget about his.

You would watch him squirm in his seat while he sipped on his drink, or you would find him staring at you a little more than usual, and little more intensely with each second. His eyes would gloss over, and his breathing would slow, but he'd snap out of it, only when you said something to him, or a server came out of nowhere to check on both of your meals.

Even if the dinner wasn't as romantic (although more sexually charged than you expected), you still had a fantastic time. As soon as Taika finished his dish, he paid the check and was quick to dash out the door with you at his side. Sure, you managed to have enough time to pack up what was left of your food for later, but that hardly deterred Taika's speed and agility.

The walk back to the hotel room went by faster than you thought. The crowds had started to dwindle, and lights began to dim, because all of the shops and side markets had finally closed down after a long day of work. There was just enough darkness to cover the fact that Taika had his hands all over you. All the way to your room.

The moment you touch the door handle, the frenzy began.

He closed the door with his foot, and with both hands, he grabbed your hips and slammed you against the nearest wall he could find. His lips breathed over yours, whispering dirty praises and hot needs, and his hands reached down to pull up your dress to bunch it around your waist. His hand reached between your thighs, and cupped your wet panties, just over your folds. He started to stroke it, while his lips teased over yours, never kissing you, but needing you.

His strong fingers prodded through the fabric, seeking and searching like he had done with you in the corridor of the filthy base. Filthy actions in filthy places.

You moaned for him, but he seemed busy. He continued to bunch up your dress until your stomach was exposed to him. His parched lips drug themselves down your collarbone, again, avoiding your lips, while your hand shot up into his curly hair.

"Fuck, baby," he muttered, opening his dirty mouth just to use his teeth on you. He bit down on your skin, making a hiss seethe from you through your clenched jaw. "You're so fucking beautiful... making my dick so fucking hard."

You watched him kneel, the position making his pants crumple up, but the bulge in his black pants remained as prominent as ever. His nose brushed over your stomach, and you could feel his tongue prop out softly and hover over the hem of your underwear, just as well as his teeth hooking into them. Your thighs spread on their own, and he started to pull your underwear downwards.

He could see the glisten on your clit and the need drip down your thighs. His tongue poked out again, and you felt it slide across your inner thigh. It crept higher and higher,

He placed sloppy kisses along the soft flesh. The kind of kiss that you could hear. The smack and the pop from the wetness and eagerness to taste more of you and take more of you in. He needed that, and he only got more of it as he neared your core.

"Such a wet fuckin pussy, baby," he groaned and placed his tongue along the lips of your folds. His tongue drug itself along the slit, and dipped in to be right on your aching clit. He swiped his tongue back down, pushing it along your hole. Your legs began to tremble, and he began to dig in like the meal you had gotten at the restaurant only whet his appetite.

He took you seriously this time. The rough pads of his finger nimbly drifting along your hips, tracing every mark, every bump, and every hair, because he wanted to memorize this feeling. He also wanted you to remember these exact moments, when he ate your pussy out on the exotic islands of Puerto Rico.

You gripped his hair so tight, but that only pushed him further into your cunt. His nose swiped along, to add flavor to the sensation. His face, most certainly, would be dripping with you by the end of the night.

How long this went on for? You didn't know. You also didn't know it his goal was to disturb your neighbors, because you got pretty fucking for him at some point. He didn't stop until he was satisfied, and you didn't bother keeping track of how many times you had cum on his tongue. You knew he loved the taste. He loved your taste.

Eventually, you both made it back to the bed for once, after one or two earth shattering orgasms. Thighs shaking, breaths colliding, and tongues twisting. His lips touched yours and your mouth was immediately drenched in your own taste, mixed with his.

He got you out of your dress. You stripped him of his clothes. Skin met skin, and it was an instantaneous bon fire of pure, raw sex.

His hand met your throat and he pushed you against the bed while he sat between your legs, unconsciously rubbing his dick through your folds. His lips were on yours again, and he gave your throat a gentle squeeze from time to time.

"Fuck, Taik, just put it in me," you breathed desperately, and the air grew thick. Your eyes never met his. You just watched the way his hips rolled into you, and took the time to feel his scratchy hair rub against your belly each time. You were addicted.

"You're so soft..." His large hands trailed down your stomach, "I'd rather just play with you and see what would happen if I teased you some more." His snickering and plotting drew a whine from you. It sounded so pitiful, he knew you were on the edge already.

"Aw, pretty girl?" He clicked his tongue in a fake sympathetic way, "You don't like to play games, do you? That's such a shame... I thought fuck dolls loved to be played with."

"Taika," you whined again, and you started to wriggle beneath him.

Taika didn't usually mind it when you wiggled about, but something about tonight, it really pissed him off a small bit.

"You want it?" He hissed. "Fucking fine."

You nearly screamed so loud, the hotel walls would have shook, but he shoved himself in, with hardly any warning, and slapped a hand over your mouth.

"You're such a loudmouth... just shut up and take it," he muttered by your ear, and his hips wasted no time making a fool out of you. While one of his hands stayed over your mouth, the other was planted by your head, almost threateningly, and he gripped the bedsheets. If you had just turned your head a little bit, you would have seen the veins popping on his wrist.

Taika pressed his thumb right on the high of your cheekbone, keeping your mouth clamped shut harder as he lost himself in you. Fuck it, you were gone too. High as a kite as he pummeled you and fucked you up something awful.

He was making your sore already, with the intense clap of his hips that never seemed to slow. He was persistent. He was determined.

You let yourself cum for him way too many times that night, and he knew it. He would watch your eyes roll back, and the way your body would weakly tense each time, like you were recieving an electric shock to the brain. And he kept going. He kept going for a long time.

You just let him use you as the night went on, and the look of satisfaction grew more intensely each time you spilled over. It went on and on and on... until he suddenly just couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh my God," he panted, finally letting you speak out and be more vocal, but he had knocked all the breath from your lungs, so there was nothing you could say. "You're so fucking tight... so fuckin pretty, holy shit."

Taika's head rocked back and his eyes watched the ceiling. Shit. He was starting to give out. Shit, shit, shit.

He hunched back over, his thrusts becoming uneven with the ache of anxiousness and lust. It was a blissful, awful, horrible mix. Taika fucking loved it.

A grunt, a groan, and a brand new hickey to get him through it. He finally gave in, burying his face in the same shoulder he marked you on, kissing, lapping and nipping at your skin, as he came, and filled you up.

His body shook and quivered like an earthquake, and soon he felt much heavier on you. Exhaustion kicked in, and you felt like falling asleep right then and there.

You managed a hand to rub up and down his back, comfortingly, and he would let out the occasional groan in response.

"Do you have any more surprises I should be aware of?" you asked, voice hoarse and very very quiet.

"I might," Taika asked after a long pause of silence. "But those are for later..."

[mobiused]

if u aren't busy could u share your thoughts on the r2 stages . ik you shared some but i like reading your opinions ^^

wjsn - well the singing did not really sound like that. like people mentioned before trying to do a dark edgy version of navillera made no sense and i think the gaybaiting intro where they made a big fuss of it on bubble or weverse or whatever about their lips maybe touching was kind of cheap LOL. the dance was kinda mid pretty unremarkable. (the audacity to say loona was unmemorable when i literally forgot every single aspect of their performance a week later. ok.) uh i should think of something nice to say... it gave me this reaction shot of hyeju so thanks wjsn!

loona - my little theatre kids… their most entertaining performance ever it was like a real show, something a little aggravating was the fact the mix aired on the show nerfed their vocals, a lot of comments about their weak vocals but they were WAY better at projecting in the zoom version than the broadcast version so it felt a little anticlimactic especially since there was no cheering when there was a ton on the zoom version so its like uhhh… anyway i love it and im biased idc and if you haven't go listesn to the digital version

BG - really good mix though i kind of hate when momentum is killed in songs but its ok. something that aggravates me about BG is like. they are very very competent singers and yet they're always yelling into mics. you dont need to do that. thats what a mic is for it will make you loud you dont need to shout. please think of the poor sound engineers. better vocalists than a lot of other girls so ill forgive them. love a performance with a narrative too (also how did hyeju predict it was about thievery from like 2 seconds in she's crazy) also i really really like mvsk so i really liked it actually

viviz - the mix was also really good!! unnatural is a well structured song so it was a good pick but eunha hardcarried. it feels like they're not creative enough to overcome their deficiency in talent, and also not talented enough to overcome their deficiency in creativity. that sounds really mean sorry. umji's cane dance was literally laughable if you could call it a dance. at least it was visually impressive (red is cool) and ok to listen to, but performance wise i was left ambivalent… like they are not dancers. damn. did you know all 3 of them are younger than haseul i think thats crazy.

kep1er - the intro was nutty i loved it so much. and then the song was just… how am i meant to listen to that as a single. stop stopping. im trying to listen. of course it was superduper cute but like their other performance it was so chaotic and disjointed that i was left bewildered rather than entertained. the mashup was good though though and hikaru literally devoured shes so cool hyeju why can't you make friends with her instead. at times it was hard to tell them apart from the bg dancers which is not so good… and i really wasn't a fan of the bar dancing like hold on didn't you say you didn't want to do certain BG songs because they were too mature and you have kids in your group…? and yet…? okay sure i guess. and despite how chaotic it was it was pretty low energy at the same time which i guess is maybe impressive in and of itself

hyolyn - how is she so cool…. now this is an ARTIST. i love her clear vision and effort made to interpret the song as its originally intended as well as make it her own. hoop work was more visually impressive than technical but still such a badass intro. her vocals put everyone in the entire show to shame. its amazing how she dominates the stage on her own… but the mix was surprisingly sparse, i dont think i could listen to it as a single, maybe because i'm used to the cracked out original so in that regard i was a little underwhelmed, and i guess the dance after the hoop intro was a little unremarkable but her singing more than makes up for it (and her bg dancer team did great)

final verdict: loona > BG > hyolyn (are you surprised?) > viviz > kep1er > wjsn

[katatonicimpression]

OK so Monet briefly cameos in Ms Marvel and Wolverine (may not be the exact title) and no shade to this comic because it's fine. It's under no obligation to do a bunch of service to my faves anyway, and it really is just a small, inconsequential cameo.

But I fucking hated it.

So this just me ranting about the shortcomings of her writing recently.

So in this comic, she's in Penance almost the entire time. She doesn't use her other powers, she doesn't appear to even fly. And for some bizarre reason Armor protects her with her forcefield which like... girl she's nearly indestructible even without Penance, and in that form she's meant to be harder than diamonds. They're fighting little robot alien bugs. She shouldn't need this.

Secondly she has one line referencing x-corp, and it's like "I should be doing spreadsheets right now". And it's not even a good joke. Like, it's not the main x-corp joke (I.e. lol these superheroes are cosplaying as CEOs), it's just lazy and unfunny. Monet isn't a workaholic, she's just inclined to brag about her business "success".

This particularly stood out to me because the Infinity Comic series did a Generation X reunion where Monet is featured in a small role but kind of perfectly. She's super competent, badass, aloof and fabulous. She doesn't change into Penance because she doesn't need to, she just uses her powers to save the day... like she should. X-Corp is mentioned, but in a way that makes sense - that is, kind of tongue-in-cheek. (Also she shares clothes with Jubilee and it's a very important moment for me)

X-Corp itself handled Monet pretty well I think. This is I guess a relative statement because the last series that had her as a regular was Weapon X-Force which was horse shite as far as her character was concerned, and before that Uncanny X-Men (2016) that was mostly kind of an insult towards her. In contrast, X-Corp had a good grasp on her character and wasn't hellbent on degrading her at every turn. (I said this was a rant, okay? I'll be charitable to those series some other time). X-Corp itself also had a fun absurdist sense of humour and I enjoyed a lot of it.

Now, since Hickman threw this Penance situation on Monet and never even tried to make sense of it (I think it might actually be a retcon from his perspective - I.e. he's presenting it like this has always been her power), X-Corp had to deal with the question of how this power works, what this transformation means to her.

The approach they go with makes sense, she's Monet most of the time but shifts into Penance when she wants too, and also when she's really upset. Penance is literally a metaphor for social isolation and trauma so this is a good place to start.

But a lot of subsequent cameos have treated it as if her main/only power is transforming into Penance.

Also some of them are super insulting (e.g. spending most of Empyre unconscious)

I fucking hate this.

Giant-Sized X-Men: Storm (may not be the exact title) genuinely did Monet justice. It kept her in character and packed in a lot, including things that a lot of other writers forget (I.e. that she's a genius, and that she doesn't like Emma).

And I really do like her appearance in House of X... I'm just worried if the consequences of this Penance thing are actually a bit mixed. And I hate that I'm saying that because I am in love with the potential of this concept. But so far no writer has seriously engaged with what this means for her beyond the ONE SCENE that X-Corp had time for.

Being trapped in Penance is canonically a recurring nightmare of Monet's. It's canon that at least part of why she's depressed to the point of suicidal ideation shortly after leaving school is because of this. Because of what being Penance was to her. Because it was the form she was trapped in for years while her brother periodically ATE HER BONE MARROW. This is not a simple thing for her. It's not just a cool new power.

This could be such a great thing to explore but I guess they just said "nah".

I'm just really bothered by the fact that in the last FOUR YEARS, Monet's best appearances are:

A one shot that's primarily about another character

A five issue series that, thanks to covid, fell apart before it really got started and is mostly comedy anyway

A cameo in an infinity comic about dungeons and dragons.

I can't. I just can't.

[madmilkboi]

I loved the cat hcs for sakusa but omg what about dogs???👁👄👁like omi omi reacting to his s/o with 2 giant doggos *yes this is self indulged* it is canon the he likes dogs soooooo

(I'm not sure if this is important but for context i have an Alaskan malamute and a mixed mastiff which are both huge dogs and they're extremely friendly even tho they seem scary to other people they're just really sweet and I'm a proud dog mommy lmao anyways enough rambling thankss❤❤)

┈┈⋆

━🧋⌒*. Meeting your dogs

summary: omi reacting to meeting your two big dogs

genre: uhm idk do u consider this fluff or???

warning/s: none

a/n: ahhh this is perfect i have 2 dogs too but they're both medium sized and are polar opposites the other dog loves people and headpats while the other will not hesitate on biting you if he doesn't know you lmao but still i love them both and would do anything for them <3

₍ ♡ ₎ sakusa kiyoomi x gn!reader

• you and Kiyoomi have been dating for a month now and now you were comfortable of letting him inside of your house

• and today he wanted to visit you so you did a bit of cleaning

• it was well kind of tiring since your two dogs would follow you around the house while you cleaned, blocking the area that you're cleaning and would lay there until they get belly rubs

• and the only thing that calmed them down was the roomba that you left on the floor

• both of them were obediently sitting on the couch eyeing the robotic vacuum cleaner

• while you were cleaning the living space's table, a loud knock emitted from the door

• you smiled knowing it was Sakusa

• your two dogs looked at the door, their tails wagging vigorously

• you opened the door and was immediately welcomed with a box of chocolates and flowers

• your two dogs came down from the couch and were barking at Kiyoomi while their tails were happily swaying from left to right

• crescents formed on his eyes seeing that you have pets, and the fact that you had 2 dogs made him happy

• "ah sorry if they're loud, they're just really happy to see you" you said, he fanned his hand and told you it's okay.

• "you didn't tell me you had 2 dogs" he took off his mask, knowing your house was clean. He put down the gifts that he bought on the table and slowly walked to them

• "you like dogs?" You asked, he gave you a wide smile "i sure do" he answered

• your dogs were very well behaved, usually they'd jump around and bark but in front of Kiyoomi they were gently wagging their tails with their tongues showing

• he didn't hesitate on patting their heads, giving them both equal attention

• "I'm surprised you're not scared of them" you told him "usually people wouldn't want to go near them because of their size" you reasoned

• "they're not scary, they're like big puppies" he exclaimed giving one of them a belly rub

• you smiled, finally someone who doesn't judge a dog by their appearance

• the day went on with you and him watching netflix, playing indoor games and teaching your dogs new tricks

• and as Kiyoomi frequently visited your home, your dogs would get happy and giddy seeing that their favourite person came to visit them (Kiyoomi is visiting you actually lmao)

• he'd always bring treats or new toys for them to play

• would offer on taking them out for a stroll outside (to which the dogs love so much)

• they once went home covered in mud (Omi was kinda pissed though but he can never get mad at dogs)

• would treat them like his kids really

• has a picture album dedicated to both of them

• the dogs got attached to him to the point where whenever he leaves they bark and let out howls and would even block the door with their bodies

• and Sakusa would look at you with a "guess i should stay here until they're asleep look"

• and actually you didn't feel bad for him since him staying a bit more means more time to cuddle with him under the covers while your dogs lay in the bed

• let's just say that if ever someone's asks where his happy place is he'd reply with "Y/n's house"

• though it may seem like Omi loves the dogs more than you, you're placed no.1 in his heart

©️ madmilkboi 2021 do not copy or repost.

🏷: @crescenttooru @leronddesorciere @fleurdedyo @owlnymph @kawaiiisis (shoot an ask or dm if u wanna be added on my taglist! ^v^)