#Actually sequence is reversed

[griffmeistergeneral]

Approaching Mytholmes (railway children) Tunnel

[cementcornfield]

A Series 💚

[betagrove]

Bayonetta 3 is such a mess that it convinced everyone that the Bayonettas played as in 1, 2, and 3 were different people (they're not) bc this is the sort of reveal it does setup for. But there's a throwaway line in Rodin's flavor text buried in menus that confirm that all 3 games take place in the same central universe. So I can't blame anyone for being wrong about it but everyone is wrong about it always

[anarchist-rat-swarm]

Got an interesting take on eldritch horror for all you writers out there. It's a bit of a roundabout schlep to reach the actual idea, but writers tend to be readers so I hold you'll stick with me til we get there.

So, consider a 2D creature. Little flat dude, living on the ground. No concept of "up" or "down." He's 2D, he just doesn't parse the concepts and can't perceive them anyways.

He sees you. What he actually sees is just the 2D cross section of you where you intersect with his 2D world, which is probably your footprints. So, as far as he can tell, you are a pair of footprints that are.... apparently one being? He doesn't get how it works exactly, but it's not too far out there, so he just kind of accepts that, yes, humans are The Two That Are One. Spooky. They always seem to use the singular to refer to the pair of themselves, and only differentiate between themselves as Left or Right. But other paired instances of The Two That Are One are, in fact, separate entities. So they're only in sets of two, unless accompanied by a companion called "Cane," which they are sometimes, or even a pair of companions called "Crutches." When Crutches are present, sometimes one of The Two That Are One will be missing entirely. It's a little confusing.

But wait, what now? They disappear and reappear in sequence, teleporting in turns. He never sees them just move like a 2D being, always the stop-start teleporting. Apparently this strange power is called "walking," and its accomplished by The Two That Are One moving through an unseen dimension called "Up," through a process called "lifting" themselves and re-entering the real world farther away in the direction they wanted to go. He can accept the idea of unseen dimensions, and he vaguely gets the idea that one of The Two That Are One must remain anchored in the real world to prevent something called "falling," which is some kind of uncontrolled movement through the unperceivable dimension of "Down." Which is the same dimension as "Up," but...... backwards? Reversed? He's not really clear, but "Falling Down" is presumably bad, so The Two That Are One keep one of themselves here in the real world to prevent it.

Except if they do something called "jumping." Which consists of gathering up their power to hurl themselves through the Up dimension together to reappear together somewhere else in the real world. He isn't sure why they Walk instead of Jump, since it seems better to take both of The Two That Are One together at the same time, but okay.

Okay, what the hell, they can Walk through impenetrable barriers like the great wall of Sidewalk Chalk? How do they go through that? What? They went "Over?" The hell is "Over?" Like 'around' but through the unseen dimension of Up? But they couldn't Walk through the barrier of Wall. Why could they go "Over" Sidewalk Chalk but not Wall?

And they can't go between the four small obstacles of Refrigerator Feet. The area between them is safe from The Two That Are One, for the four Refrigerator Feet are connected to each other in the strange and eldritch dimension of Up. The barriers are too powerful to be moved by The Two That Are One, and it (they?) cannot enter the real world where it is blocked by such powerful forces.

Got all that?

Okay, now consider a 4 dimensional elder god and how we 3D entities would perceive them.

[withwritersblock]

Call It What You Want

~Call It What You Want by Taylor Swift~

Author's Note: Requested! I um well here's this um yeah Summary: Luke's fans find out his girlfriend is a content creator and flood her comments with hate. Luke finds a way to comfort her. Warnings: some mean language, implied smut like barely Word Count: 3,440 Luke Hughes x fm!reader

It was an accident. She was planning on keeping her relationship as secret as possible. Her social media following was incredibly nosy. They would always over analyze every detail of her posts. Especially, her TikToks and her YouTube videos. 

She vlogged her life, sometimes it would be barely anything and other times it would be every detail of her life. 

When she started dating her boyfriend, she promised that it would not be something she would make content out of. Especially since her boyfriend was Luke Hughes. They started dating after being friends for nearly a year.

 Keeping their relationship private was easy since their lives didn’t necessarily change much. Since they were friends before they got together. He was never featured in any of her content since people would instantly make assumptions. Keeping it private became extra easy after he moved to New Jersey for the NHL. Although, it became suspicious after she stopped mentioning her boyfriend. 

She had spent several hours editing her most recent YouTube video where she was talking about how she was taking a break since she would be on vacation. Vacation was actually moving to New Jersey to live with Luke. She graduated early, since she spent three years of her life completely focusing on school, her videos, and Luke.

Since her eyes were so exhausted she didn’t notice that Luke was walking in the background completely shirtless. 

He was barely in the video, hardly noticeable. But both of their fans were incredible detectives and found it out within the first ten minutes of the video being posted.

“Lukey,” she called out towards him from her bedroom. She was sitting at her desk, starting towards her desk top. She continued to scroll through the five second clip that Luke was barely in. 

“Yeah?” he called back as he walked into their newly shared bedroom. He walked towards her as he rested his hand onto the desk as he delicately pressed his lips to the side of her cheek. 

“Remember how we were going to keep this secret for as long as possible?” she explained. He hummed as he brushed her hair off of her neck as he tilted her head to the side to kiss her lips delicately. For a moment, she leaned back to deepen the kiss. “Lukey,” she mumbled against his lips. He hummed again as he slowly leaned back. “They found out,” she let out as her eyes widened slightly.

“They—what?” he asked as he shifted his gaze towards her desktop. 

“Look,” she let out as she reversed the video slightly. She played the five second sequence and he stared blankly towards the screen.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” he asked as he stared towards the screen, “Besides my beauti—”

“Not the time, baby,” she mumbled as she raised her hand up, gliding it across his cheek. He chuckled as he leaned closer. “Look, here,” she mumbled as she pointed towards the top left of the screen. Where he walked through the hallway, his gaze was on his phone as he was on the screen for a few seconds.

“That’s it?” he let out a soft chuckle leaving his lips, “Come on, I look like every guy ever. There’s no way people know that’s me,” he explained as he watched her scroll down and show the top comment on her video. 

Nohughesyno: I know Luke Hughes when I see him!! 3:56!

“Okay that’s one comment—” she interrupted him by scrolling through the rest of the comments. Every single one was mentioning that Luke was in the video. “Okay, that’s fine, we’re fine,” he mumbled as he took a hold of her chair, spinning it so that her body was facing him. 

“This could be bad,” she muttered as she looked into his eyes, pouting slightly. He rested his hands onto the desk as he leaned towards her, deliactely taking her lips with his. She hummed against his lips as her hands glided along his neck and into his hair.

“It will be fine, I promise,” he mumbled against her lips, “Now you don’t have to care too much,” he said as he pulled back. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes.

“You’re right,’ she mumbled.

“I’m always right,” he let out teasingly. She pushed him back, chuckling. He smirked as he leaned towards her kissing her urgently.

~~~

She thought Luke was right, convinced herself that everything would be fine. Except, the comments started off sweet. Many of them were happy to find out that they were together. She noticed that comments and views on old videos were sky rocketing as they were trying to find anything that they have missed. It was cute for a few days.

She thought what’s the harm in actually posting a video with purpose of showing Luke off. By showing him off, it was a two second clip of them posing in her floor length mirror. 

She was wearing a red sweater with black leather pants. He was wearing one of his all black suits. He was standing beside her, awkwardly holding up two thumbs up as they posed for the small clip. 

It was almost instant that the comments were flooded with awful comments. Many of them were calling her a gold digger, calling her ugly, calling her all of the awful inults you could think of. Simply because she was dating Luke.

It wasn’t just his followers that were saying awful things, it was her own. They kept saying that she was shallow for being with a professional athlete. Despite the fact that her and Luke met during their college orientation. She didn’t know that he was even drafted into the NHL since she never paid attention to hockey. 

She was sitting on the aisle of the WAG section, unengaged in any conversation. The first period flew by as the score was still 0-0. Her gaze was on her Instagram comments. There was such a flood of mean comments that at this point all she wanted was to find something that was kind. But there was nothing, no matter how much she scrolled.

Being content creator for majority of her teenage years, she was used to ignoring the comments. Not letting any of the awful words get to her. But something about the words saying that she wasn’t good enough for Luke really stabbed her in her chest. He was everything to her, all she wanted was for his fans to see that. 

Luke wasn’t active on social media much during the season so he was utterly clueless. Y/N was good at pretending, convinced that Luke had no idea how she was feeling.

The boys were skating back on the ice to start the second when Reanne delicately tapped Y/N’s shoulder. She forced her gaze up to meet Reanne’s gaze. “You’re too quiet, what’s going on?”

Y/N’s eyes widened while she took a deep breath. “Been a long day,” she mumbled as she watched Luke skate in a wide circle on the ice. A soft smile formed to her lips, knowing that he was there.

“Saw that you posted Luke on your TikTok. Huge step right?” she expressed. Y/N hummed as she watched the teams line up for the face off. She watched Luke instantly get in the play, pushing any conversation aside. Reanne’s lips fell into a pout but left her alone.

The rest of the game ended in a tight overtime win with a goal by Jack. It was usually how the games have been going for the last few games.

She waited outside of the locker room, her gaze on her TikTok comments. Every word stabbing her in the chest. There was only so much she could take. Especially about how Luke deserves better. She knew that the fans have no idea who either of them truly were but for them to still say that. It sucked.

She leaned against the wall, blinking away any tears that were fighting to form in her eyes. 

Hughesy542: I can’t believe Luke would be with someone who clearly has no personality. She’s probably only with him for his money

The comment continued to cycle through her mind. Her TikTok platform was completely different that how she handled her YouTube videos. Her TikToks, sure she seemed shallow there. Most of the content, the only content that would get views, would be her get ready with me videos. Sure, it probably seemed like that all she cared about is how she looked but she was more than that.

She knew that. Luke knew that. He wouldn’t be with her if that was the case. She was gorgeous but there was so much more to her than that. She hated being called shallow.

“Y/N?” she heard Luke say, she lifted her gaze to see him directly in front of her. She jumped and slammed her hand against her chest. 

“Jesus, Luke! You scared the hell out of me,” she said while chuckling. The corner of his lips curled upwards as he looked over her features.

“I said your name like four times, beautiful. You alright?” he asked as he reached towards her. She stepped back, dropping her gaze towards the concrete below her.

“Ready to head home?” she asked softly as she glanced towards him before she started walking away from him.

Luke pursed his lips forward as he took in a long deep breath. She didn’t give him a chance to reply as she began walking towards the car. He nodded as he pressed his lips together as he followed after her. He was practically jogging towards her.

She glanced behind her to see Luke reaching towards her. He took a delicate hold of her waist; forcing her to stop. She lifted her head up meeting his gaze. He scanned her features, taking note in the tears brimming her eyes. Reaching towards her, he pulled her into a tight embrace.

At first she was hesitant has she kept her arms to her side. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his center back. Luke took a hold of the back of her head, holding her tightly to his chest. Her entire body relaxed in his arms. A sob rised in her throat but she tried to keep it inside. 

“What’s going on?” he asked softly. 

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, looking into his gaze. “I’m just tired,” she mumbled. He nodded while looking deeply into her eyes. 

“Okay,” he let out softly as she slipped away from his grasp. He held out his hand towards her and she happily took a hold of his hand. Luke watched her lead him towards his car that was parked in the back of the parking garage.

The drive home was quiet. It was usually quiet after losses but Luke and Y/N were always in great moods after a win. But she was so silent, that he knew something was wrong. They were only a few minutes away from their shared apartment.

“Baby,” Luke mumbled as they sat at a red light. She kept her gaze towards her lap, her phone was in her bag. She couldn’t stare at the comments anymore. The words were all jumbled in her head. Every word was intersecting with one another and making it worse. “Can you look at me?” he let out softly. 

She clenched her jaw as she slowly lifted her head to look towards him. He scanned her features watching her avoid his eye. “Talk to me,” he let out. Slowly, she pulled her lips between her teeth as she tilted her head back. Luke looked back towards the street in front of him as he drove ahead. 

“I–I can’t,” she choked out while she dropped her gaze back down towards her lap. “Not now,” she muttered. Luke’s eyes widened as he shifted his gaze back towards her momentarily as he turned into the parking garage.

“Okay, what can I do?” he asked softly, he took a sudden breath as he slowed down into the parking garage. She shook her head as she continued to avoid his eyes. “Baby,” 

“Luke please,” she mumbled as a sob climbed into her throat.

“Okay,” he let out barely above a whisper. He glanced towards her again as he pulled into his parking spot. “Can you tell me when we get upstairs?” he asked softly. She shrugged her shoulders as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Luke reached towards her, resting his hand onto her thigh.

“I will,” she muttered as she met his gaze. 

“Okay, my love,” he let out as he dragged his thumb across the fabric for a few seconds. She took a deep breath before she opened the door and climbed out of the car. Luke quickly followed in pursuit.

She was already walking towards the entrance to the apartment from the parking garage. Luke practically jogged towards her to catch up to her speed. Luke reached towards her, taking a hold of her arm for her to slow down. She glanced towards him as she slowed down, letting him take a hold of her hand. 

She began to climb up the stairs guiding Luke towards their third floor apartment. His thumb glided along her skin absentmindedly. Despite the stairs being inside, it was incredibly cold and he could feel it against the skin of the top of her hand.

Luke pulled his phone from his pocket and immediately pulled up DoorDash. He decided that she needed her favorite late night dinner. They ordered from the italian restaurant so many times, their order was saved in the app. By the time he ordered it, they were already outside of their apartment door.

She pulled her hand from his as she unlocked the door and immediately stepped inside. “I’m gonna go shower,” she muttered. 

“Hey,” Luke mumbled as he took a hold of her waist, spinning her to face him. “I’ve been very patient,” he muttered teasingly. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt a small smile form on her lips. Luke took a hold of her chin as he slowly leaned towards her. He kissed her delicately for a few seconds. 

“Better?” she asked softly.

“Better,” he mumbled as he pecked her lips once more. “Do you want me to join you?” he asked sweetly. Her lips fell into a soft pout as he glided his thumb across her bottom lip. “It’s okay baby girl,” he muttered as he leaned towards her and delicately pressed his lips to her forehead.

“I’m sorry,” she let out softly.

“Don’t be, my love, I’ll be waiting,” he mumbled as she slowly slipped away from his grasp. He took a deep breath as he watched her hang her head low as she rounded the corner towards the bathroom. He kicked his shoes off and started walking deeper into the apartment. 

Subconsciously, he pulled his phone back out and pulled out TikTok.

Of course, usually how it went, one of Y/N’s vidoes popped up. It was one of the ones she had posted early today. He watched the twenty-second: spend the morning with me video. Smiling to himself, he watched as the clip of the both of them appeared. In his opinion, he looked awkward.

He sat down on the couch, clicking the comments; out of curiosity. The first comment he read was saying that Y/N was ugly. His mouth practically fell open, offended that anyone could look at her and have that thought cross his mind. She was absolutely stunning. 

He shook his head as he continued to read each comment on her post. Every time he read a comment talking about her lack of personality, his mind would instantly think about every moment she made him laugh. How cute she would be every time she would dance while cleaning because she couldn’t sit still.

His heart starting beating rapidly the longer his name was brought up. Every comment with his name in it was saying how he deserved better. He never understood that. If anything, she deserved better than him. She was out of this world stunning and he felt like she deserved better. 

He clenched his jaw the more and felt anger send a rush of heat over his body. How can anyone not like the love of his life? How can anyone not look at her and think anything other than how beautiful she is; think about how kind she is; think about how funny and smart she is?

He took a deep breath and tossed his phone beside him on the couch. Tilting his head back against the couch, he squinted his eyes shut. He shook his head side to side as he contemplated what to do. Luke knew that’s what was bothering her. Usually, she was so good at letting it roll off of her back. But it seemed like it was everywhere and all he wanted to do was make it stop for her. All he’s wanted was for her to be happy, he hated seeing how this was affecting her. 

He was so consumed with his thoughts that he did not realize how much time had passed. There was a knock on his door and his eyes shot open. He stood up from the couch and took fast steps towards his door. 

He took a hold of the door handle and pulled it open to see the person delivering his food. He smiled widely, “Thank you so much,” he expressed as he took the cardboard bag from the DoorDasher. The person quickly darted down the hallway as Luke shut the door, twisting the locks in the process. 

Y/N stepped back into the living room, her hair was dripping went as her body was covered by a tank top and a pair of sweatpants. Her lips curled upward into a wide grin, “Is that what I think it is?” she asked as she hopped slightly towards the countertop. He chuckled softly as he nodded dramatically as he instantly started pulling out their dramatically large pasta dishes. 

She instantly wrapped her arms around him from his side. He wrapped his arms around her as he turned to hold her to his chest. “You’re the best, you know that?” she mumbled against his chest. He glided his hand up and down her back.

“I love you baby,” he whispered as he delicately pressed his lips to the top of her head. Before she pulled away from him to meet his gaze. His hand slipped beneath her tanktop as he glided his hand across her skin. “I’m sorry about what’s happening on social media,” he mumbled.

Her eyes widened as she tilted her head to the side. “It’s okay, Lu–”

“It’s not,” he let out as he looked over her teary features. “Everything they’re saying isn’t true, you know that right?” he asked softly as he glided his hands over her frame. 

“I know, it’s just a lot,” she mumbled.

“And you realize–like–you are so out of my league. I don’t care what my “fans” say,” he mumbled as he slowly guided her backwards. 

She chuckled as she rolled her eyes playfully, “Oh my god,” she let out. He smirked as he reached down and took a hold of her thighs. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her hands ran through his hair, tugging at the curls slightly. 

“Not only are you incredibly hot–”

“Luke–”

“Let me finish,” he said with a grin on his face. Slowly, he pushed open the door to their bedroom. “You’re literally fucking hilarious and adorable and sexy–”

“Luke, what are you doing?” she asked softly as he slowly placed her down onto their bed. He stepped back and took a hold of his red Devils hoodie and tossed it to the floor. Her eyes widened slightly as she scanned his frame. His body was covered in redden marks from hits he took during the game.

“I’m reminding of who you are,” he began as he climbed on top of her, “You are my favorite person on the planet,” he whispered as he looked deeply into her eyes. She rolled her eyes playfully as she ran her hands from his hair down his neck. “I hate to see you hurting,” 

“I’ll get over it eventually,” 

“Can I speed up the process?” he asked, a smirk toying to his lips. Her eyes widened slightly while she nodded. Slowly, he began to press delicate wet kisses down her frame.

“I think it’s working already,” she mumbled as she arched her back slightly.

“Perfect,”

[elysianholly]

So I got sucked into r/buffy again over the weekend (I know I know) and the amount of misogyny disguised as performative feminism is killing me. As is the attempt to distill S6 into a "Spike bad/Buffy victim" when the actual story is so much more complicated, nuanced, and heartbreaking than that.

I will say I absolutely sympathize with Buffy 100% throughout S6, more than I do Spike. This is a big reversal of how I felt 20 years ago, but reflective of my own experience with self-hatred and depression. That said, I also 100% sympathize with Spike and recognize a few fundamentals that antis can't seem to grasp:

He's trying to be what Buffy needs

He can't be what Buffy needs, but he doesn't understand why

He doesn't have a soul, ergo he's incapable of meeting her at the level she needs. This is not a choice on Spike's part; it's simply fucking nature.

Death/darkness/disassociating from society is a GOOD THING in Spike's mind. He found the ultimate freedom once he rejected societal pressures and stopped trying to win the approval of his peers. He fully believes Buffy will be happier if she does the same.

Is it selfish? OF COURSE IT'S SELFISH. He can't not be selfish because of the no-soul thing. But that doesn't mean his motives are inherently bad; it means his understanding of the situation is fundamentally flawed.

In Spike's mind, Buffy seeing things Spike's way is what will set her free. This mentality is of course wrong and toxic, but his intention is not to break her down, rather cut the chains he sees holding her back. Being human did him no favors. He's trying to share his experience and becomes increasingly desperate as these attempts fail.

Throughout all of S6, with very few exceptions, Buffy pursues Spike. She does in OMWF, Tabula Rasa, initiates sex in Smashed, Gone, Doublemeat Palace, and in Dead Things, save the balcony scene. We also see that she WANTS Spike in her dream sequence, specifically in her bed the way a normal boyfriend would be. Buffy's only source of comfort and support at a time when she needs it most is coming from someone she believes she should be ashamed of, and that is what hurts her more. She's expected to take care of Dawn, of Willow in the midst of her recovery, participate in a wedding, balance being the SOLE BREADWINNER in her home (for reasons that are never addressed, much less acknowledged), along with the intense trauma of having been ripped out of heaven and KNOWING that peace exists out there somewhere and she can't have it. That the only person who seems to see her struggle, understand her, and provide any reprieve is also someone she has been conditioned to believe she shouldn't like, much less love, compounds her intense self-loathing and her belief that she is wrong. She wants the answer to be that she came back wrong because being wrong means being released from the expectations and responsibilities of being Buffy Summers.

This is what Spike can't understand, and not because he's stupid or evil or selfish, but because by the show's own lore, he is incapable of understanding it. His best and only connection to the human world is broken; it's not Buffy's responsibility to be his compass, but she IS his compass. She's the reason he's changed as much as he has, how he models his behavior, the reason he has evolved, and she's emotionally incapable of being that for herself at the moment, much less him. Again, not a burden she should have to shoulder to begin with, but a result of the natural order as dictated by the show's lore. Spike's humanity is nurtured through his connection to Buffy, and his connection to Buffy changes from day to day as her internal processes change.

I don't think "mutually abusive" is the right term as we understand it outside of Buffyverse because that has a lot of real-world implications that are absent from this fictional paradigm. But setting aside those implications, the dynamic is MUTUAL and ABUSIVE. It is intellectually dishonest to apply human motivations and power dynamics on inhuman characters stripped of the very specific conditions that allowed those dynamics to become what they are. It's also appalling to claim that Buffy was Spike's victim when she was calling the shots throughout the bulk of their relationship; it completely strips Buffy of her agency. Women can be depressed. Women can make bad decisions. Women can flounder, struggle, and fail because of themselves and crack under the pressure others put them under without being someone's victim.

Also? Denying Buffy's abusive behavior to Spike is similarly appalling. Slayers are understood to be physically stronger than vampires, the same way as most men are understood to be physically stronger than women. If a man beat a woman bloody in an alley and abandoned her there, would you say she deserved it? Would it be acceptable if you knew she was asking for it? That the man had had a really bad day? That he was going through something and trying to work some stuff out?

Season 6 is complicated, especially the Spuffy dynamic, because these are two broken people trying to not be broken and unable to help each other the way they need. But they were broken people, and that fracture was mutual, regardless of how uncomfortable that is. It's also why Season 6 is one of the show's strongest seasons. It takes us to pretty awful places but also shows us the way out. Trying to minimize that or make it black-and-white is a lot of things, and none of them are good.

[vanillatwistgirl]

Vedic Nakshatra Facts You Didn’t Know You Needed pt 1

Ashlesha – The Serpent Queen

People with Ashlesha rising have eyes that hypnotize—like literally snake eyes. Cold and hot at the same time.

They age backwards. Ashlesha folks look more youthful in their 30s than in their 20s. Reverse Benjamin Button energy.

You never really know if they like you or if they're studying your weaknesses for future use.

Purva Phalguni – The Cosmo Party Girl

Everyone thinks they’re high maintenance… until they realize they are, but in a charming way.

Their fashion sense? Lana Del Rey meets Cleopatra.

Will absolutely cry if the eyeliner doesn’t match the vibe. And then throw a full moon ritual to heal.

Ardra – Chaos with a Cause

These natives are built like storms. Unpredictable, messy, powerful, poetic.

If they’re laughing, they might be planning a revolution. Or crying. Could be both.

Most likely to get a haircut after a spiritual awakening. Or a breakup. Or Mercury retrograde.

Ashwini – Don’t Try to Catch Them

Ashwini placements will ghost you because they’re already on a spiritual retreat in Nepal.

They heal fast. Physically, emotionally, psychically. It’s weird. It’s unfair. It’s iconic.

Obsessed with new things. They’ll start five projects before you finish your coffee.

Rohini – The Walking Pinterest Board

If Aphrodite reincarnated, she probably did it through a Rohini Moon.

They give romantic era aesthetic without trying. People fall in love with them at bus stops.

Owns 72 perfumes but still smells like jasmine and warm bread. Every. Time.

Swati – The Air Nomad

Swati folks are the Luna Lovegoods of the nakshatra world. Ethereal, odd, and never where you left them.

Dresses like a dream sequence. Flowy, dramatic, and almost floating.

Emotionally: “I’m fine.” Actually: has 17 tabs open in their brain and none are working.

Krittika – Flame in Human Form

Their presence can cut glass. Literally. Their words? Sharper than eyeliner wings on a Friday.

Often misunderstood as "mean"—they’re just brutally honest and allergic to BS.

Probably has a skincare routine that could solve climate change.

[winstein-nin]

Dichotomy of the Elements

Coming up with the actual elements are easy and difficult. Some, they were easy like Fire, Ice, and Bubble because they were obvious, but I had to crack my head for the next two, Electric especially. Spring was one of the ideas I had, but I didn't use it because of time constraints, and I noticed that Mario probably didn't enjoy being bound by a coil.

I did not intend to have Mario and Wario have indirect interactions, yet the cartoon very clearly makes it easy to assume that the interacted. So, like Mario looked like he's blowing bubbles and then Wario's caught in one of the bubbles. If I were to make them interact, things would've looked different, like maybe Wario facing the other way when he's burned, and Mario's perspective wouldn't be viewed as an above shot. I guess the outcome is a happy accident, since it makes the cartoon better that way. 

Thank you for reading.

Bonus panel:

Originally, the sequence was reversed. As in, it was originally Wario asking Mario if he could allow him to be in his games before fainting. This is one instance where I found that the other way around fits the sequence better, but there is a remnant where you might be able to see the original flow, which is basically Mario's posing. Were I to originally plan this sequence from the start, Mario would've faced Wario.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Could you possibly give some info on the 5 stages of grief? I'm writing a character who's currently going through that

Writing Notes: Stages of Grief

Stages of Grief - (also called grief cycle model) A hypothetical model, originally described in 1969 by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, depicting psychological states, moods, or coping strategies that occur during the dying process or during periods of bereavement, great loss, or trauma. These begin with:

the denial stage, [It is characterized by a conscious or unconscious inability to acknowledge or accept one’s own or an important other’s impending or actual death or some other great loss or trauma.]

followed by the anger stage, [It is characterized by anger, resentment, or even rage at one’s own (or at an important other’s) impending or actual death, other great loss, or trauma.]

bargaining stage, [It is characterized by an attempt to negotiate a deal with God or fate that would delay one’s own death or that of an important other, or that would mitigate or end other great loss or trauma.]

depression stage, and [It is characterized by feelings of sadness, loss, regret, or uncertainty that typically represent, consciously or nonconsciously, some level of acceptance in facing one’s own or another’s impending or actual death or some other great loss or trauma.]

acceptance stage. [It is characterized by some degree of emotional detachment, objectivity, or resignation on the part of oneself or an important other to the reality of impending or actual death, other great loss, or trauma.]

The model is nonlinear in that the stages do not necessarily occur in the given sequence or for a set period of time; moreover, they can recur and overlap before some degree of psychological and emotional resolution occurs.

Grief Response Model: The 5 Stages of Grief

A popular theoretical approach is to structure grief as a progression through a series of stages that follow a systematic and often linear order.

Kübler-Ross (1969) proposed a 5-stage theory based on the experiences of terminally ill individuals coming to terms with their death.

Here, grief begins with denial, in which the grieving individual is not merely unable to process their loss, but actively unwilling, and they will try in vain to avoid acknowledging what has happened.

This leads to the next stage, in which failure to deny the loss forces the individual to face it, causing acute feelings of frustration and bitterness that manifest as anger and hostility.

When anger does not provide comfort, grief then evolves into attempts to bargain, characterized by the grieving individual seeking means to reverse the loss in return for a sacrifice, often involving appeals to religion or spirituality.

This often does not succeed, and the grieving individual may increasingly ruminate over the loss and experience feelings of guilt or despair as they consider how it could have been avoided.

This leads to depression, as the individual resigns to their fate while still fundamentally existing in a state of conflict with their loss. The silver lining of this otherwise bleak stage is that the individual no longer attempts to avoid accepting their grief (through denial, bargaining, etc.), which eventually leads to true acceptance and letting go of their loss, or at least reaching a state of amnesty.

Examples of denial include:

refusing to accept or acknowledge the death

refusing or avoiding the topic in conversation

stating the loss is not true, or that the source of the news is unreliable.

Anger is a normal part of the grieving process, though it may seem hurtful or offensive to loved ones. Often, anger is just a manifestation of grief, and can present itself in various ways. For example:

blaming a medical doctor for not preventing an illness

blaming family members for a lack of care or support

feeling anger toward God or a higher spiritual power

feeling angry with oneself or blaming oneself for the death

experiencing a short temper or loss of patience.

Bargaining is often irrational. Examples of bargaining include:

"If only I had brought her to the doctor sooner, this would have been cured."

"If only I had been around more, I would have noticed something was wrong."

"God, if you bring him back, I promise I will never lie again."

While the earlier stages of grief help to protect us from the emotional pain experienced with loss, often these feelings are inevitable. Symptoms of depression include:

feelings of sadness

loss of interest in activities you normally enjoy

changes in sleep

significant changes in weight

lack of energy

feeling agitated or restless

feeling worthless or guilty

decreased concentration.

When we have reached the stage of acceptance, we no longer deny or struggle against our grief. During this time:

we work to focus our energy on celebrating the life of our loved one,

cherish the memories that were shared, and

make plans for moving forward.

While many often cite Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief as one common way to understand the process that happens after losing a loved one, Kübler-Ross was clear that her stages were relevant only to those coming to terms with their own impending death. When we have lost a loved one, another model for understanding the grief process may be more relevant:

The 4 Phases of Grief, proposed by British psychiatrists John Bowlby and Colin Murray Parkes. 

Shock and Numbness: This phase immediately follows a loss to death. In order to emotionally survive the initial shock of the loss, the grieving person feels numb and shut down. 

Yearning and Searching: This phase is characterized by a variety of feelings, including sadness, anger, anxiety, and confusion. The grieving person is experiencing a longing for the deceased person and wanting them to return to fill the emptiness created by their death.

Disorganization and Despair: This phase is marked by initial acceptance of the reality of the loss. The grieving person may experience feelings of apathy, anger, despair, and hopelessness. The person often desires to withdraw and disengage from others and the activities they regularly enjoyed.

Reorganization and Recovery: In the final phase, the grieving person begins to return to a new state of "normal." Intense feelings such as sadness, anger, and despair begin to diminish as more positive memories of the deceased person increase. The person may experience regular energy levels and weight will stabilize (if it fluctuated during other phases). 

Important Things to Remember

Everyone’s grief process is different. You may experience all of the above in this order, in a different order, some phases not at all, etc. You may feel that you’ve reached phase 4 and then circle around to phase 2 again.

There is no right or wrong timeframe to experience grief. For example, you may feel you are in phase 2 for several days, weeks, or months, or not at all.

Grief is a process. Be patient and compassionate with yourself. You’re not alone.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Types of Grief ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Understanding Death

Mourning & Grieving ⚜ Children's Death Comprehension

Hope this helps with your writing!

[sepublic]

“It’s funny how Luz thinks her friends won’t accept her for helping Belos meet the Collector when she sees them being chill with Hunter and his war crimes”

Y’all… Understand why Luz feels that her helping Philip meet the Collector is significant, right?

Don’t you think it’s crazy how in Hollow Mind, Luz sees Belos use the magic of the covens to dazzle people into following him, helping establish his regime. We see how his coven bindings literally killed people. And then she finds out she helped Belos meet the Collector, who gave him this type of magic? Who reiterates in the season finale that they have Belos “magic stronger than anybody’s” as well as the draining spell???

Luz gave Magic Hitler what he needed to rise to power, she saw people directly die because of what she gave him. Those ruins on the Knee she explored? They were ruins because of Luz, people displaced from their homes because Luz ran from hers, and now here she is enjoying what they lost. She knows about all of the systemic devastation, the environmental damage, all of the living things and artifacts and culture endangered; So many lives ruined or hurt or even cut short because of what Luz helped Belos find. Think of the damage the sigils have done, before their role in the draining spell is even accounted!

And the draining spell meant the Collector had to be freed; Luz thinks the Collector committed genocide on the Titans, and even misremembers them as more violent than they actually were. She doesn’t know what this successfully-genocidal being, who enthusiastically helped Belos attempt genocide on the isles, will do to its people! The Collector being freed led to Luz and her friends being stranded in the human realm, away from their families; The families Luz sees them missing, while Luz gets to have hers despite abandoning it.

Her nightmare sequence in the finale is about Luz seeing the dead bodies of everyone she’s met filling up a pit because of her, while Luz’s surviving friends blame her for this, with Gus reiterating that he lost his dad because of Luz, and losing a father is something Luz can deeply relate to.

And yet people just boiled Luz’s guilt down to just teenage self-loathing and angst, and made jokes about how Luz thinks her friends won’t forgive her for this but they’ll forgive Hunter’s war crimes! You know, the war crimes that fans just made up. That would still be Luz’s responsibility (in her eyes) since she aided in the rise of the coven regime Hunter did them for, if they were real. The war crimes of Hunter that, even if they did happen, he didn’t matter in the long run, he wasn’t needed for the genocide, and part of Hunter’s existential crisis in Hollow Mind is realizing that! But Luz was vital!

It’s absolutely insane, Luz was as explicitly suicidal as a Disney TV show could make a character, she went on a whole rant about it, and the fandom just barely skimmed over it. Idgaf if Hunter lost Flapjack, if their positions were reversed people would be drooling over suicidal Hunter! If Luz was also a white boy people would still remember this, don’t blame this on fans being distracted by what happened to Flapjack. I remember people making fun of Luz’s suicidal rant while cradling poor Hunter’s trauma in their hands!!!

For people who claim to love angst and dark topics and using it as an excuse to focus on Hunter and maybe those white guys over everyone else, it’s just wild to me. And now the fandom has gotten to a point where it’s making up angst for Hunter about him feeling guilty for killing witches (because his colonial violence is about HIS feelings amirite), instead of talking about other characters’ canonical issues. People would rather talk about Hunter’s hands.

The point is that Luz sees herself as just like Belos; A human who saw a world to play out their fantasy in, and ended up causing a genocide because of it… Dare Luz say, she’s a colonizer like Philip. Luz sees it as a butterfly effect where she’s also responsible for the coven system that her friends and the entire Boiling Isles suffered from, because without the Collector it likely wouldn’t have happened. This is why in the finale, Luz’s nightmare has herself as Belos.

And it doesn’t matter if Luz meant well, she’s seen how people, including her own mother, mean well but still hurt others who as Eda says, “have a right to be upset.” This is why in the finale, the Titan insinuates, when condemning Belos, that intent does still matter to some degree; Luz came from a place of compassion and good faith. Likewise, we have her friends pointing out that it’s disingenuous to take this blame because anyone else could’ve been tricked by Belos, he was going through different victims like Blue Fang until he succeeded in getting the Collector.

I’m sorry, but… Hunter killing people and being a war criminal is fanon. It’s not out of the question that maybe he killed others, but nothing’s confirmed, especially in regards to the others knowing. In his debut he’s averse to violence, doing minimal manhandling and resorting to threats, but avoiding killing the Selkidomus and not even checking its corpse. And this tracks with Hunter’s eventual development and belief he’s doing something good.

And even if he had killed, Hunter’s destruction is nothing compared to the coven system, the Day of Unity, the Collector’s reign, etc. Hunter’s a literally replaceable cog in the system and Belos even brings this up to the Collector. But Luz sees herself, partially because of her prior guilt, as a key part of Belos’ genocide from the start.

I get that you’re not trying to invalidate Luz’s trauma by comparing it to someone else’s and yes Luz suffers from a horrendous double standard of self-loathing. But c’mon, the show was NOT subtle about why Luz would think she’s done worse than Hunter, who has no confirmed kills, nobody dead via butterfly effect. And I’m sick of people always downplaying Luz’s trauma and feelings to hype up Hunter. Or even giving it to Hunter because they just gloss over what the nightmare in the finale meant to Luz specifically.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Let the Horny Tata Agenda Continue (AKA Happy Pride)

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

June 2025 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Knock Out (Fri WeTV ) ep 4 of 12 - Oh they are great together and I adore them but I'm so nervous about how soon in the arc they're in the sack. This pacing usually means dark times are coming for our boys in the 2nd half. I would’ve preferred a slow burn and external conflict. I sense a breakup and lots of angsty trauma incoming.

My Stubborn (Sun iQIYI) ep 6 of 10 - This show is foolishly good, emphasis on fool. I love Jun getting some of his own back. Biting off more than he can chew. Erm... sucking down more than he can swallow? I think Sorn may have a neck fetish and I support this kink. I adore him defending his chew toy against yet another HR violation. Add in some honorific negotiation? I'm so happy. I love that they actually let the lipstick lesbians' lipstick get all messy. Sorn showed his hand a bit with the “want to be her daughter-in-law?” line. Delightful. Carry on absurd sexy show, you might actually be a kind of BL surrealist art. I haven't decided yet but I'm enjoying the journey.

Reset (Mon iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - Pond & Peterpan (we love this idea) in yet another celebrity melodrama? Srs? (Yes it's a 2025 trend.) And another time travel thing? Oh boy. (10 points if you get THAT joke, also, you're old.)

And yet... I love it. It's riveting. They cast two very charismatic leads. It’s engaging for all that it's not a very original concept. Does originality it matter when the team is this good? It’s reminding me of a mixture of My Stand In + Triage. And I’m not mad about that combination. I didn’t know I wanted it, but apparently I did. I’m gonna enjoy my Monday nights for the next couple of months.

Pit Babe 2 (Fri iQIYI) ep 6 of 13 - Babe should have let Charlie beat up Willy, everyone would’ve enjoyed that. Bf putting his own superpowers to good use. It was fun to see Alan go all Daddy on Babe though.

I just want Kenta & Kim to quietly become this solid stable judgy couple sitting on the sidelines and observing all the other chaos gays around them while going home together shacking up and eating.

Look by all measures this is a Very Silly Show. But I grin like a fool most of the time i’m watching it, so who tf cares? 

Eye Contact (Weds WeTV) ep 4 of 12 - it’s hilarious that we think the dad is going to step in and ruin everything, when instead he just pushes them closer together. I did have a chuckle at the reversal of that particular trope. Fun times. Next week looks bad tho. Like bad BAD.

Speaking of bad. The acting in this one so awful it’s beyond awkward. Everyone except Tora of course, who is experienced at the genre. That said, I would still like to see the actor playing Chain in a lead. He is so pretty and I am so shallow.

The BangkokBoy (Sat Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Sun is so baby. Yet again I would like more BL and less gangster.

The Next Prince (Sat iQIYI) ep 6 of 14 - The dad suddenly being interested does not read as authentic to me. Even though I think he is meant to be a sympathetic character. Wildly amused by the matching cream lace men’s lingerie on our side couple. I guess that’s a thing in BLandia now. Please make it a thing. I do like their dynamic and that our pet is given agency within his whipping boy relationship. JimmyOhm give good kiss, tf! 

I did enjoy the sequence of them all at the club together dancing, Royals on the loose. Cutie vallet getting picked up in background! You go baby! A pleasant sojourn for all. Minus the fighting, I guess. Look here, a bodyguard with a rain phobia in a part of the world where there is a rainy season and monsoons is patently ridiculous. He should not be doing that job. Excuse for kisses I guess. But honestly I couldn't be less interested in the leads.

Boys in Love (Sun iQIYI ) ep 7 of 12 - OK so everybody is officially boyfriends now, how we gonna drag this into 12 eps? They are all v so cute! Even the teachers. Especially the teachers. They are my favorite. They are adorable. Wish the show was entirely about them. Cute cuddling and all but SHOES ON COUCH!  

My Sweetheart Jom (Fri YT) ep 4 of 12 - I’m not mad about this being Yoon’s era of playing everybody’s hot older brother. Also I’m enjoying this show more now that I’m watching it on a faster speed. I don’t like to do that with Thai stuff (because I’m trying to get better at the language) but this one is just taking too much out of me on normal speed. So it's at 1.5 now and I gotta say, much easier to swallow.

I Promise I Will Come Back (Mon WeTV) ep 3 of 10 - I'm not wild about this but also I have to point out that this would be a lot worse if the leads were not seasoned BL actors. which is not to say that this show is good, cause I don’t feel like it is, but it certainly better than it has any right to be. Victor is very smooth! NO SINGING shower or otherwise. The night market date was very cute though.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Sweetheart Service (Korea Fri YT) ep 5 of 12 - Fantastic. Nonverbal chest inertia gets us all in the end.  

Ball Boy Tactics (Korea Thurs iQIYI) ep 1 of 8 - After retiring from gymnastics, painfully shy Jiwon is struggling to survive university. Campus heartthrob and basketball star JeongU might actually make things worse... or better?

I love it. Of course I do. It’s great, sort of Semantic Error meets FC Soldout, carry on with your bad self, Korea. 

Moon and Dust (China YT) ep 3 of 6 - The only reason this isn't higher up on this list is because it's China and I don't trust it. It's so delightfully warped and craptastic and I am obsessed. But also terrified. Never forget The On1y One happened to us recently.

The Sparkle In Your Eye (Singapore Sun Gaga & Viki) eps 5-6 of ? - weirdly, I’m liking it more now that they are pining and separated and everything has shifted to become a bit darker and more sophisticated. This is still not my kind of BL, but I appreciate it a little more now its gotten twisted. I like that it’s a tangled chewy interesting story, like knife-cut noodles.

What's happening to me? Is my taste getting... mature? Surely not.

It's airing but......

The Ex-Morning (Thurs YT) 10 eps - sorry all I dropped this half way through ep 3. I just felt like it was pulling teeth to keep going and I was just angry at it, at GMMTV, at the script, at the characters. That's not healthy for any of us. I do this for fun. If it's really amazing in the second half I might give it a try, but for now, I'm out.

Loy Kaew First Love (Fri YT) 6 eps - Dropped at ep 4. Just too much other stuff too poorly acted, edited, scripted, just everything bad.

Season of Love in Shimane AKA Ai no Kisetsu: The Season of Love (Thai) - Sequel to Kiseki Chapter 2 which I intensely disliked. I won't watch this.

Mission to the Moon (YT) 12 eps- Watching but I can't keep track. Too short, too many, too YT. I will report at end.

In case you missed it

Sweet Tooth Good Dentist ended tf - GMMTV would like you to know that JimmySea are endgame in every BL ever, even if it’s not their own. Which is a shame, since they both have chemistry with other boys. But whatever. I will say the sex positivity of this show, especially at the end, is a real bonus. But it's the only one. Still, GMMTV how far you have come.

Summary

What a disappointment. I was super excited to have Mark lead a BL finally. And he did his best but I wasn’t sold on the chemistry between the main couple, even though Mark has demonstrated he can have chemistry with everybody. Poor directing then? Or was it his partner? Putting that aside, it was more the plot, or weird lack of one, and underdevelopment of characters that disappointed. There was just something off all along with this show. It’s difficult for me to put my finger on exactly what it was. Which makes me thing it was mjltiple somethings. It made this show a challenging watch from about episode three on. And I don’t imagine ever returning to this with any kind of enthusiasm. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t very good either. 7/10 and there’s a part of me that’s tempted to drop it all the way to 6. 

In other news: that "stressed desserts" sweatshirt is the first merch I’ve actually ever wanted to buy off of a BL.

Top Form ended - It was an OK ending. Honestly, I simply never got into this show in the way that most of the rest of the hellsite did. I blame the honey.

Summary 

Two actors who are in competition with each other professionally fall in love and it gets complicated. This show was well acted with good chemistry (that honey scene is one for the history books) but it was a bit off for me. The ego conflicts of the filmmaking industry came to the fore but awkwardly (like this sentence). Frankly? I didn't enjoy the premise or the story and I can’t get away from that. Based on Japanese IP, I think this might have been better left to Japan. This is a solid Thai BL and if you like its brand of messy gay and actor narcism full frontal, then you'd likely give this a 9/10. I don’t, so it gets an 8/10 from me. But I recognized that this is my specific taste and no reflection on its quality as a BL.

Fight for You ended - even though I wasn’t particularly invested in the sides, I loved the closure of that triangle and it did make me cry. Ultimately that side pair is SO PRETTY I hope the actors get their own show. Also, absolutely nobody does domesticity as well as Taiwan they are so cute. NO SINGING. A solid v taiwanese sappy ending. 

Summary

There is a lot to like about this BL, it has a cops and robbers romance thread running through it with intelligence officers trying to catch a gang of criminals. The valentine's operation does have the secret identity drawback of one character constantly lying to his mark. While this dynamic is intrinsically distasteful IMHO, the Liar is so sunshine and charming and earnest (about everythign ELSE) it's somewhat mitigated. Ultimately this lost its way a little bit, but the support cast was excellent. The pretty side triangle, while it ended poignantly, was underdeveloped. That said, the whole thing was colored positively by Taiwan's sexy charm and signature chaotic domesticity, but that jarred with the gangster premise. In the end, I’m torn. It’s classic Taiwan: a bit messy dramatic, sweetly sincere at heart, but overly sappy. None of which I’m not opposed to. Still, I don’t think I’m gonna be re-watching this one very much so I'm giving a solid 8/10, and that's abut where it belongs.

My Golden Blood finished its run. Word on the street is a solid ending. Not enough to temp me. I'm leaving it a dnf.

Making Thai Subtitles: Culture, Slang & Curse Words - excellent interview with a professional translator (who translates English media into Thai for Netflix). I know it's the wrong direction for most of us but still very fascinating to hear a pro talk about her work.

Vertical KBL No Dating in Boarding School AKA Boarding School Love Story has shown up cut together as full on grey sites and YouTube. Stars Jeon Woo Jin & Han Kyu Min. I don't like verticals but I really enjoyed this one and you will too if you like uni BL and its component tropes and quirks. The story of shy quiet studios and poor Jinwoo who gets sucked into the drama of rebellious rich kid Eunhyeok. They fall in love despite their own, and everyone else's, objections. Here from a fan subber, catch it while it's avaiable. I will not be held responsible if you miss it.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming Up

(I'm not confident on any of these, mostly rumor-based.)

6/13 I Became the Lead in a BL Drama 2 AKA Zoku BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita (Japan ????) 6 eps - Another 2nd season I certainly did not want. This time the story tells what challenges they have to face as a relationship. Also the story of the managers continues.

6/16 Revenged Love (China Gaga) 16? eps - A remake of 2015's Falling in Love with a Rival. From China ON GAGA? Wild. What alt-reality IS THIS? I have had them for 3 seconds but I'm already obsessed with the side couple.

6/17 SunTiny (Thai iQIYI) 10 eps - MaxNat are back as SunNuea from their Y-Destiny showing. The spoiled prince with the hot tutor (in case you forgot). They in an LTR and then... bodyswap. I know I know, I'm confused about all of this too. But Cooheart is looking FINNNEEEE so what the hell.

6/20 Memoir of Rati (Thai Netflix or YT) 12 eps - GreatInn in a HISTORICAL with a class divide and everyone's favourite side couple, AouBoom. Initially I was v excited but now 2 things: Netflix (I do not chill) and sad ending. I might save this to binge. I am getting serious I Feel You Linger in the Air vibes. And I can't go through that again right now.

6/20 Depth of Field (Japan Fuji TV)

2025 Line Up

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2

20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About

GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

From Sweet Tooth Good Dentist (they got me, okay?)

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[alexanderlightweight]

Its wednesday my people....

Here is a prompt for you if you feel so inclined.

In the AU where Imogen makes jace the HOTI could we have jace fucking it up big time to the point he gets demoted again and when the clave investigates why he was given the NYI Imogen gets sacked or something? I just have an image in my head of the clave begging Alec to take control again and he just keeps living his best life with his Magnus.

Thanks my friend.

P.S. everytime i get notifications that you posted i just speed to my apps looking for it so i can hoard it like the squirrel from Ice Age LMAO

it has been a bit but finally am getting to this! here is the last bit

<3 that poor squirrel. i hated how the poor squirrel never really got their acorn to safety because things just kept happening. so i hope you have better luck!! and i hope you enjoy

<3 lumine

guided by my unchained heart

Alec finds himself at a loss, because of all things, he didn’t expect a miserable looking vampire to be on his doorstep.

“Why are you here?”

“Wow you really are living here.”

Alec blinks, because that is not an answer to his question.

“Oh, uh. Izzy asked me to? But also because someone else asked her? I don’t remember the name and Izzy didn’t repeat it. Just that I should—”

“Wait.” Alec interrupts the vampire with one palm up and rubs his face with his other hand.

Alec did not need to deal with this.

In fact, he is distinctly not dealing with this.

It’s with a memorized sequence of taps that he activates the record player and he pours himself what he knows isn’t an actually martini but sure as hell looks like one.  It also tastes like one. In that it tastes vile and mostly of the same way the sterilizing alcohol in Izzy’s lab smelled.

At the same time as he’s getting double vision from the fumes of his drink, he pens a quick fire message to Magnus.

The pillar of demon flame that parts the room with a curtain as Magnus steps through a portal before the sparks of message have fully ebbed fills Alec with relief.

Perhaps it was a little over the top to send a fire message that simply said help. However Alec is not emotionally prepared for this and therefore, he’s not going to handle it. Magnus promised him and Alec is holding him to it.

“Deal with it, please.”

Alec knows he sounds dismissive but this particular vampire means the Institute and his family and both are a stress he is not yet willing to deal with.  Alec’s rage runs cold and yet it broke.  The fury inside him is an avalanche waiting to be unleashed and bury everything in its path.  No less destructive that a wildfire or a flame vortex for all that it differs.

Magnus presses a kiss to his cheek as he passes, lips warm and possessive and the fire smolders and wanes but doesn’t completely wane as he steps closer to Simon.

—

“Who sent you.”

“Uh, does that matter more than why I’m here?”  Simon feels strangely out of place and its not even because he just had to talk directly to Alec Lightwood who happened to be wearing a chain? An ankle bracelet? A sparkly magical ankle monitor with leash?

Simon’s not sure what it is and it’s not something he was expecting but Alec is clearly more than fine since he just somehow reverse summoned Magnus Bane with metal stick and is ordering him around.

“Of course it does.” Magnus eyes him like a hungry wolf eyes a poor little newly turned vampire and then his eyes turn to the golden gaze of a predator, slitted pupils and all.

Simon nearly hyperventilates before remembering he doesn’t need to breathe, but he also wants to stay alive and unbreathing and Magnus feels decidedly more threatening than even Mr. Grouchy over there.

“Izzy asked me to come as a favor. She said your door would be more open to me than to her, which is weird. Because Alec’s living here right now, right? And why wouldn’t Izzy or Jace be allow—” Simon cuts himself off because in the background Alec has finished his drink and instead of pouring a second one, he looks like he’s trying to figure out how to best use it as a weapon.

Probably against Simon.

Magnus doesn’t look like he needs a weapon.  His gaze is strong enough and displeased enough that Simon can feel it slowly stall his senses until his body stutters without permission. 

“Alexander isn’t taking social or work calls, at the moment. He’s on something of a—” Magnus’ eyes glow like the lure of an angler fish and his mouth opens in a smile just as sharp as their maw. “Well, I suppose you could call it a sabbatical from life. Since he’s already retired.”

Simon feels as if he’s missing some very important information and is suddenly a lot more hesitant to continue asking questions.  Especially when Magnus looks so very dangerous and Alec… Alec is no longer in view. The sudden beating of his heart is a forced instinct and Simon barely manages to stammer out a goodbye and then he’s gone.

—

The door slams on Simon’s way out as he leaves and Magnus watches him go only until the wards shift around his absence. Then he hunts down Alexander.

It’s always easy to find him, the platinum tether that binds him via magic rather than mere physics ensure that Magnus will never have to wonder where his boy is. 

He finds Alexander in one of the library, sitting on the circular window-seat and drinking something with a grimace while he watches the people of New York with empty eyes.

“You don’t even like that.” Magnus means to scold but it comes out in a soft, exasperated sigh and he snaps his fingers, switching it out for something that won’t traumatize Alexander’s taste-buds.

Alexander sends him a dark scowl and Magnus raises a brow.  Sometimes he will admit, he lets Alexander get away with quite a bit, however he’s not in the mood to end up listening to Alexander complain about how disgusting Magnus’ liquor is later. Especially when Alexander only finds it disgusting because he doesn’t know how to mix drinks.

At all.

It’s only the fact that most alcohol tastes terrible to him that he remains oblivious to this rather important information.  Something Magnus has willfully kept from him, despite suffering some rather vile — if not potently strong — drinks. Because Alexander is adorable when he is making drinks and thinks he’s succeeded.  Also, eventually his boy is going to make a drink for Ragnor and Magnus will be there to enjoy the trauma of it.

The scowl melts the minute Alexander takes a sip, as if the tart and sweet drink have momentarily wiped away the complications of his night.

“Izzy sent him. The Clave through her, though nothing signed just yet. It’s still at the level of a favor, not a commission, not that he knows he’s being used. Still, he’s gone and I’ll ensure he won’t return but they’re moving already.” Magnus doesn’t like the fact that official movement is beginning to be made.  It’s only been three months, he thought he’d have longer before he needed to ensure Alexander properly tied to him.

Not just bound by physical and metaphorical chains.

“Then we’ll need to move faster. The magic is almost ready, isn’t it?”

The way Alexander cocks his head, nothing but steadfast faith, truth and expectation in his gaze has Magnus’ magic surging with delight.  The confidence in him, it’s empowering and the best thing is, Alexander is right to trust Magnus.

“I can have it ready tonight.” Magnus promises and he can, especially when he and Alexander have been feeding the ritual with magic every chance they’ve had for three uninterrupted months.

AN:

Alec is actually begging not ordering. Simon is just clueless to their context. Magnus is aware and hates the fact that Alec is feeling vulnerable in their own home. Alec opened the door because the ward signified it was a familiar downworlder and at the beginning he did handle a few pickups for magnus. This is BEFORE the clave makes the mistake of trying to steal alec back from magnus who clearly ‘kidnapped him’. Because no one wants to admit alec resigned.

simon is trying so hard 'not to think about it' (it benig the chain)

alec is trying very hard not to implode. he angy.

magnus just wants to have his alexander is peace, thank you very much. he wanted to do this consort courtship properly and they're still having to rush. he is displeased.

alec went off to try not to panic by himself until magnus could come cuddle him. because he's like 'don't kill the messenger... it would send a message... okay but would it send the right message?' and he knows he's not in the right mindframe to be making choices like that. plus, magnus promised to handle things if alec trusted to leave them to him.

he's letting go and trusting magnus to handle it. he's just also now zoning out. he does not actually people watch, for him it's like watching a line of ants not because the ants are interesting but because they are moving and caught his eye

[catboybiologist]

When I get bottom surgery, I genuinely want to ask them if I can keep some samples of testicular tissue, and use whatever lab resources are available to me at the time to do some extremely basic experiments.

At the very, VERY least, I would want any excess tissue homogenized and deep frozen for RNA-seq. If possible, it would also be cool to have some fixed tissue that would let me do IHC for testicular and ovarian enriched proteins. Even if full transdifferentiation of cells isn't possible based on HRT alone, in theory hormonal signaling should be driving expression of some of its downstream targets in primary sex organs, depending on how much it can reverse a lot of the cell fate "locks". Literally just a bulk RNA-seq that I could compare with sequences of cis male testicular tissue would be so fucking fascinating.

But who knows what I'll be doing when I actually get those surgeries and if they'd let me do something like that LOL

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Seeing that Epel and Rook used their unique magic, it makes me think everyone is gonna use their unique magic. Like imagine Kalim using his magic against his enemies or Jade use shock the heart for answers. Imagine reaching to Heartslabyul where everyone but Ace use it. This makes me think of Ace since he is a mysterious character and unclear motivation compare to the rest. What will be his dream? Will his unique magic be shown?

That’s true! Looking back, every character that is now “awake” has used their UM at least once:

Malleus uses Fae of Maleficence/Fae Maleficence to 7-37; this is the source of all our troubles in book 7 💀

Silver uses Meet in a Dream in 7-51, then again multiple times to dream hop and to wake up various students.

Lilia’s Far Cry Cradle is revealed in 7-81’s battle map via a flashback sequence. It is thanks to his UM that he understands the origins of the lone infant he finds in the ruins of Castle Wildrose. He blesses the baby and takes it under his wing as his own son… Silver.

Sebek’s Living Bolt, shown in 7-84, allows him to reach Silver and pull him out of the darkness that has swallowed him.

Idia uses Gate to (the) Underworld to open the gates to Tartarus and escape it in 7-114.

Book 7 confirms that Ortho is not capable of a UM, but is is his uniquely robotic ability to transfer his consciousness that allows him to adopt his Cerberus Gear in 7-50, infiltrate Sage’s Island, and return with valuable information to combat Malleus.

The magical glass coffin that Epel conjures with Sleep Kiss/Crimson Slumber in 7-135 protects Neige. It also (theoretically) slows the effects of Vil’s curse (the poisoned apple juice).

Rook uses I See You in 7-135 to tag Vil (who is sinking into the darkness of his dreams). This makes it easier for the gang to locate where Vil has gone.

Finally, in 7-138, Vil’s Fairest One of All allows him to poison Neige (who, up until this point, has been keeping tabs on him and preventing him from escaping the grasp of the dream) and rejoin with Yuu and co.

I guess since this is such a climactic book, the devs decided to go all out and have each boy show up and show off their own special power. This means we’ll most likely see the rest of the main NRC students using their UMs to help us out in the dreams! (Sasuga power of friendship…)

As for Ace! Now would be such an opportune time for him to develop his UM 😳 I believe the popular fan theory is still “Ace’s UM will allow him to copy others’ magic” since he mimics voices well and has a talent for quickly learning new skills (like dancing, as seen in book 5). And hey, if that’s the case then maybe Ace is the one who will be able to reverse Malleus’s magic if Malleus won’t willingly do it himself. Just spitballin’ here. Maybe Ace is frustrated that he can’t contribute in any way…? And then that feeling manifests as something?

How poetically ironic—the first student we meet ends up being the last to get their UM but also one of the final pieces of the puzzle to take OB Malleus down. It works out really well for Ace’s character too; he is the only character of the main cast who sees through the bullshit and calls people out, not caring about how influential or powerful they are.

I don’t actually think he’s that mysterious relative to other characters—we still barely know anything significant about Rook or Jade, for example (despite already diving into Rook’s dream). Rather, I think it’s more accurate to say that Ace has more simple desires. He just wants to be able to do what he wants when he wants, to not have to worry about his future plans. I don’t think his dream would really be anything that drastic; I see it as Ace living a chill life with his friends.

[limegreenbunny]

Vi and the final nail in the coffin of her sisterhood with Jinx

Much has been discussed about the controversial decision of Vi giving up on Jinx and becoming an enforcer in season 2.

I realized, upon deciding I would like to do my own season 2 "rewrite", that it was going to be important for me to strip back the layers of what Vi's real motivations are (as set up in season 1), why she would consider her sister "dead" and what should have been her driving goal going into season 2.

Vi's main motivation should ALWAYS be her sister, whether out of love or out of hate, and whether she would admit this to herself or not. That's the only way to stay true to the story and themes set up in season 1. I don't believe the writers of season 2 had a good handle on this.

So here's the big question: Why was the final scene of s1 (Jinx's mad tea party/rocket launch party) also the final nail in the coffin for Vi and her relationship with her sister?

[Note: These are thoughts I developed before s2 aired but I did know that Vi was most likely going to become an enforcer, and I will be addressing this question in regards to what season 1 set up, (not the motivations that we must haphazardly guess at based on what the writers of season 2 gave us). I want to get these thoughts down on paper in preparation for my own rewrite of s2.]

Let's explore some possible answers:

The reason can't be that she is upset over the actual act of launching a rocket on the council. She doesn't like the council or Piltover, to put it mildly.

Is it just the wanton destruction that bothers her? Vi has already seen this behavior from Jinx, and while each time it pushes her farther down the path of "my sister is gone," since this attack is, again, against Piltover, it falls a little flat that THIS one would be the last straw, even though it's the biggest in scale.

Could it all be for Caitlyn because of the the death of her mother? I think this could be part of her motivation, however while Caitlyn has made an impact on her for the short time they've known each other it's still been only a VERY short time. Not enough for her to go back on her lifelong dedication to her sister. (Yet this appears to be the only consistent explanation for Vi's actions in season 2 which just doesn't work based on what season 1 set up).

I believe there is a deep personal reason for this scene to break Vi's dedication to Powder. Vi's last interaction with Powder was to hurt her physically and even worse to confirm all Powder's worst fears about herself (when before she was always the one to keep these fears at bay). Vi became a monster to her little sister. This is indirectly explained in the scene where she tells Caitlyn about their childhood monster game (the "real monster" could apply to four different people in the scene).

Next, Vi is taken to prison. She states that the only thing that kept her going was the idea that she could get out and find Powder again, presumably to make everything right again, to live up to Vander's dying request, to reverse the moment where she became her little sister's worst nightmare.

However, prison ends up being the place where she descends into the monster again and again. The show addresses the fact that she is regularly beaten by the guards but barely touches on what is found in Vi's prison log in the Council Archives minigame, that she regularly fights with and beats her fellow prisoners in some cases beating them nearly to death. It's definitely possible that some of these people deserved it but at the same time it points to a troubling pattern of Vi allowing herself to sink to these extremes, drowning her pain in violence.

"If only I can get back to Powder I can make things right. This monster that takes over sometimes, it isn't really ME. I have a good heart, I'll prove it once I'm out of here, once I find her."

Violet's quest to save her sister is as much about her own sense of self-worth as it is about Powder.

That's the key to the final sequence. That's why the tea party, followed by the rocket attack, was what broke their sisterhood. After everything Vi tried to do for her, JINX rejects VI. Jinx can see the truth, that they can never go back, and snatches away Vi's shot at redemption and the foundation of her self-worth. Just as the old Vi whom Powder used to rely on is forever changed, the innocent little girl that Vi relied on to still need her is gone. Vi needed Powder to save her from her own inner monster. And Jinx walked away. In many ways these final moments are a parallel to Vi's "Because you're a jinx" to Powder years before. 

And this should have served as a foundation for the next chapter in their story, one where they are enemies.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Hello there! My friend introduced me to the Daiyu/Baoyu theory recently and I repaid them by immediately becoming crazy about Soda Hong Lu. Have you looked at Soda Hong Lu in the lens of this theory? Because half joking about this:

1. It is the only EGO that I can recall that features a transformation type sequence

2. In the corrosion, two shrimps attempt to check on the hallucinating Hong Lu/Body; he destroys them in the frenzy

3. It is an EGO that Hong Lu strangely has no Identities for in regards to archetype, Poise, and is one of the EGO for which Hong Lu has a dull eye. (Next Walpur might outdate this one but still squinting at it)

4. It is an Envy EGO, the sin associated with. Yknow.

5. In the pull animation, a shrimp is inexplicably focused on, crying from the same side Hong Lu's jade eye is on.

Idk if this is totally out of the ballpark here, but I'm seeing Soda as an EGO that represents Daiyu being dragged onto the 'boat', that being the family, as Baoyu guiltily observes, barely keeping it together under the idea that the 'boat' is the "better life" as seen on the log for Wellcheers in LCorp. They want to be able to pretend that the transformation is something that'll bring them fortune, just another process in the façade, but as the corrosion shows, one slip will doom them into inconsolable panic. It is an EGO that demands you provide to the group, but it is hanging by a thread. Do you see my logic. Shrimp Jia Family.

So, I'm gonna put it this way.

The things you pointed out about Soda? Huge. Like, they do definitely point towards something and I have my own interpretation of them to share.

Your interpretation of the EGO... I feel like it misses the mark a bit, but that's okay, because it very much can still be about the Two in One Daiyu Baoyu of it all in a way, thanks to the things you pointed out.

Let me explain.

Soda, both for Ryoshu and Hong Lu, is symbolic for their escapism, while also having some major themes of Reality/Fiction.

To briefly show what I mean by explaining Ryoshu's Soda - her form of escapism is that of indulging in the cruel Reality. Note how her Soda focuses on the Wellcheers drink itself - she uses the soda itself to attack, and in the corrosion she turns into the soda as well. Her EGO focuses on the cruel Reality that Wellcheers is a soda company that only cares about people consuming their product, she literally forces her target to drink it in her Awakening animation. Her Corrosion then focuses on the Fictionalization of that Reality, on the rumors that the soda can lead you to wake up on a ship in the middle of an ocean.

This isn't a Ryoshu post though, so if any Ryoshu scholars want to add onto this with their own interpretation of how that connects to Ryoshu's art and how she wishes to reflect reality in all its cruelty, be my guests.

Now, back to Hong Lu's Soda - for him, escapism is the reverse. He indulges in Fiction, his EGO reflecting the life shown in hypothetical Wellcheers' advertisements, happily fishing for shrimp among prawn on a ship in the middle of an ocean, surrounded by seagulls. Then, his Corrosion is the Realization of that Fiction, of what it would be like to actually live on a ship like that, having to hear seagulls scream and run away from you.

And this is where the details you pointed out come in. Because they made me realize something.

The 'Fiction' being symbolized by Soda? It's Hong Lu's current life as 'Hong Lu'.

Here's the thing about the Daiyu Baoyu theory - one of its many parts is that Hong Lu as a person does not exist. 'Hong Lu' is a fake persona. He's not a real person with an actual history, it's a character made up and played by Baoyu to cope with being forced to override Daiyu.

After all, it's not until after Canto 4, where Hong Lu becomes aware of Yi Sang's attempts of calling for help, that he starts actually saying concerning things. Until then he's tried his fucking hardest to make it seem like his homelife is as uneventful as a sheltered rich kid's homelife could be, with the anecdotes only getting more and more actually fucked up when it became clear his turn drew closer. Perhaps because that's what Hong Lu as an act was originally supposed to be - a rich kid like Baoyu but without his baggage, without his trauma. Until he started getting desperate and realizing that he too needs help, but couldn't ask directly without revealing he'd been lying this whole time, so instead he's sprinkling in more and more concerning things hoping Someone Will Get The Hint.

That little tangent aside, I believe this is what the magical girl transformation in the Awakening is meant to symbolize - Baoyu indulging in the Fiction of his new made up persona that is Hong Lu. After all, if you think about it, isn't it a common trope in magical girl shows for the girls to use pseudonyms and keep their true identities secret while transformed? Isn't that exactly what Baoyu is doing while he's acting as Hong Lu?

With that in mind, the prawn that gets focused on in the acquisition animation, the one randomly crying out of the equivalent of Hong Lu's jade eye, could be a little reference to the fact that under the act Baoyu is Fucking Miserable.

And then there's the matter of the ship. If the transformation sequence is a reflection of Baoyu becoming Hong Lu, then what is the ship about?

...It's the bus. The ship is Limbus Company's Bus.

Soda as an E.G.O symbolizes Baoyu's escapism via becoming Hong Lu aboard Limbus Company's Bus, getting carried around to "fish for shrimp" or perhaps hunt for Boughs.

Then there's the Corrosion. The seagulls screaming and crying all around him. The genuine anxiety and panic in his voice (listen to the original file for the voiceline without the effects if you can btw, it's so well acted - you can find it in the Organized Assets drive). The way others try to check up on him and he instead lashes out at them. How the animation seems to purposefully hide the actual enemies being hit so that it seems on first glance like the only things he's attacking are fellow prawn.

Ya'll... this could be another Distortion foreshadowing. Think about it. The realization that his escapist Fiction isn't enough, that the horrible reality he's living in has started to poke through and scream at him and cry at him. And the resulting breakdown causing him to lash out indiscriminately. ...Doesn't that sound like something that could happen with a Distortion?

Alternately, it could simply be a way to show in general what would happen once the act is stripped from Hong Lu. The fear, the panic. The pushing others away. A representation of someone whose escapism is a defense mechanism, and who, upon being stripped of it, cannot handle reality.

So, sorry to say Shrimp Jia Family is likely not the case. Thankfully, we can have the alternative of Shrimp Sinners.

On the other hand, here's a fun semi-related fun fact: the Sin Affinities of the Soda EGOs could in part be references to the two work types you can perform on the Abno to get the grape soda! Gloom representing Repression work, and Envy representing Attachment work. Neat, huh?