#I also figured I'd use their very last interaction a while back to make a connection

[darksonofsparda]

Only One Bed Starters || No Longer Accepting

@liecoris sent: "We’ll be fine."

It was the last week of January, and after spending several months making a lot of progress on this war against the demons that had overtaken the world, last week, Vergil, Dante, and Nero all received word that there were reports of a shady person within three of the farther survivor colonies, was collecting pieces of Qliphoth roots, harvesting them for some bigger nefarious purpose that could threaten everything Vergil and the other Devil Hunters had been working against. Because of how serious the situation was, Dante, Vergil, and Nero split up to each colony to hunt down and find the humans conspiring with the demons to prologue the reign of the demons.

Upon his trip there, Vergil learned that he would be meeting an information broker who had important information regarding these three humans collecting parts of the tree. It was an unlikely thought, one would think that all humans would want to end the demon's rule as soon as possible, not these people. The risk was too great, and the world wouldn't be able to handle another attack from the Qliphoth, if the tree ever came back, this time it would be the end of humanity as they knew it, so putting a stop to it was of the utmost importance.

Upon his arrival, Vergil reached the designated survivor colony. After being allowed past the security checkpoints, Vergil entered, searching for the local bar and diner where the two would be meeting. Walking through the doors, the half-devil looks around, blue eyes scanning his surroundings, he searches for the the person in the description. When he read the words yellow eyes and pink hair, Vergil couldn't help but notice just how familiar those sounded to him Moments later, his blue eyes centered as they spotted the individual in question, and right away he was able to tell just who it was -- someone he hadn't seen in a long time, none other than Ito Mukuro, the same woman he'd met at the dive bar years ago.

Taking a seat across from her, he can't help but wonder. Did she remember him too? It was a bit of a while ago now, but there was always the chance she did, either way, they had some sort of history. Sitting back in his seat, he raises a brow, the memories of their last meeting regardless of how far back it was, an unexpected reunion of sorts indeed. After a short bit of reminiscing, the two are quick to get back down to business and discuss what needs to be discussed.

Hours after their discussion comes to an end, and he gets the details in full. After receiving the files of information from her, giving her the money for the obtained information. As they are about to end their meeting, a sudden storm hits, forcing every visitor to take refuge for the night. The rooms of the inn were booked fully, leaving only one room available.

Grabbing the key, Vergil heads upstairs to the last room, only to find the door unlocked. Curious, he walks in and finds the same woman from earlier, here he is in the presence of Mukuro again, only this time it becomes apparent what exactly was happening -- this was the very last room, a room that had only one bed.

[{ ����️ }] - "Oh.. Mukuro. If you're here.. that must mean this is the only available room left."

At first, Vergil was going to offer to sleep on the floor, until Mukuro told him that it was okay and that they would be fine for the night. Vergil wasn't really bothered with the idea of sharing a bed with Mukuro, she was and always had been an attractive woman -- of course he didn't expect anything to happen, so long as she was okay with it, he wouldn't mind sharing a bed with her.

[{ 🗡️ }] - "Well... as long as you're sure of it, then I don't mind as well."

Looking at the time on the analog clock on the wall above the bedroom, Vergil read that it was only just after nine-thirty, the night was still young, everyone was just confined indoors because of the severe thunderstorm outside, the cracks of thunder shaking the ground along with the steady flashes of lightning outside, mixed with the sound of hard torrential rain. The half-devil wasn't really tired yet, so perhaps he would find a way to pass the time for now.

[{ 🗡️ }] - "If you like, you can use the bathroom to change, I'll change my clothes out here."

It was a good thing Vergil brought himself some sleeping clothes this time, he wanted to be prepared, rather than unprepared. The moment she disappears behind the door of the bathroom, Vergil slices open a portal to a pocket dimension, a place he likes to keep a lot of his things on the go, a very convenient use of his Yamato's portal-slicing ability.

Pulling out the bag from the rift, it closes as he pulls the bag out, finally beginning to strip, starting with his midnight blue jacket being hung on the coat rack. Quickly, he switches out his slacks for pajama pants, then unzips his sleeveless combat turtleneck vest, stuffing it inside his bag. Turning his back, now that he was shirtless, he gave himself a chance to let four of his devil wings stretch out as he fixed his hair, gently brushing it. He continues to care for his hair shirtless for a few minutes, not really paying attention to anything else. Five minutes later, his wings disappear within his body again, and finally starts to throw in his shirt, a dark blue tank top.

[beefjumper]

Life Series but beefburgered

Hello my tumblr 👋 I'm not dead, I've just been fandom jumping then felt the urge to make somewhat of a reference sheet for the lifers for future use. Yap session about the designs below:

Grian: Very standard Grian. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one. I imagine the turtleneck being wide enough to hide his mouth behind as he stares menacingly into the distance. His eyebrows are practically fused with his eyes but it's probably best not to think about it too much. I have considered placing a literal waffle on the back of his head but it might be tedious to draw continuously.

Scar: Everytime I draw Scar he looks weird. It might be because I'm not too good with longer faces, but that's how I'd imagine the character looks like. I think I'll switch up this design a lot as his eyes and hair bug me sometimes. Maybe experiment with the scars too. Artists make him look really cool as an explosion victim.

Mumbo: The slicked back hair looks right. Extra strand sticking out to make him look a bit disheveled. I wonder if I should commit to making him look more goth/vampire-like. He gets a tiny mullet because it fits.

Jimmy: Wanted to make him look a bit bird-like so I tried to express that with the back of his head. I hope he looks pathetic enough.

Joel: Fairly shrek-like. I wanted to make him look grumpy so he has a shorter and broader build. Also decided that one green hair streak wasn't enough for my satisfaction. His brown coat has a honeycomb pattern, but that's not too obvious. Also, he is shorter than Lizzie.

Scott: Pretty sparkly guy. I wanted him to look quite friendly. He actually has thick eyelashes here instead of eyeshadow but I'm not against that idea either. Kind of miss his Last Life skin.

Impulse: I don't watch Impulse too much so this design was based on some common interpretations of him. The horns are a cute idea.

Skizz: Very standard Skizzleman design. The ripped sleeves and the arms are probably my favorite thing. Maybe I should add more hair on the arms.

Tango: People tend to draw him really different, so I took aspects from designs I liked and put it here. Both his sclera and shades ended up being red, but I thought the sclera was iconic and the design looks more interesting with shades on. I'm not sure if I'd prefer for Tango's hair to literally be made out of fire. I tried making it resemble fire instead.

Etho: Attempted to make him a contender for Top 10 Hottest Anime Men. I'm always interested to see how people work around his definitely unrecognizable Minecraft skin (sarcastic). Like other designs, I think I'll add a maple leaf on his clothes or something.

Bdubs: He looks more terrifying than I intended but that might be the point. Might change his hairstyle here. I'd like to draw his white-haired skin at some point.

Cleo: Very standard ZombieCleo design. The hair was based on their VTuber but I decided to use the clothes from their Minecraft skin. The stitches are the fun part. I might make her hair curlier.

Martyn: Very standard InTheLittleWood design. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one ×2. The little beard is a wonderful addition I think.

Ren: Picking between black or cyan shades was tough. He also gets an obligatory ponytail because uhm. Tail. Dog. Get it? I also took a good while figuring out how I should go about his ears. I wasn't satisfied with human ears but I needed the shades to fit somehow. You can smell the Cherrifire influence in this one ×3

Lizzie: Yes, I have watched Empires S1 and S2 and it shows. Whoever first decided to give Lizzie cat-like buns should be given an award. I like the idea of heart-shaped buns too so maybe I'll alternate on that.

BigB: Very standard Bigbst4tz2 design. Don't let his friendly interaction with Lizzie fool you but he tends to stare into your soul for uncomfortably long periods of time. The highlights in his eyes come and go.

Gem: Very standard GeminiTay design. She probably has my favorite skin among this batch. I heard there was a shortage of elf Gem (there isn't) and I have decided to contribute to that (because there's no such thing as too many elf Gems).

Pearl: Inside Pearl are two wolves and I decided to draw the one that's sopping wet. Her hair has a few crescent-shaped curls. I'm definitely looking forward to drawing her more intimidating side sometime.

Overall I was hoping to make the designs simple and mostly accurate to skins/pfps. Nothing too special, other than a few pointy ears I sprinkled around here and there. I might add more to the designs the more I draw them.

[clementineofmine]

I'm sitting here rewatching Tua S3 for reasons, and one interesting thing I picked up is that the entire season is really just each of the Umbrellas struggling to define and searching for family in their own way. Here's me laying down some thoughts for y'all:

Luther - For him, family has always been about the team. That's part of the reason he's so drawn to the Sparrows, bc at first they seem to have the cohesiveness that the Umbrellas lacked. Remember, Luther was the last one left at the Academy, then Reginald sent him to the moon alone. So of course seeing a "functional" team is going to be compelling for him, and he desperately wants to be part of it. And then he and Sloane quickly fall in love and for the first time in his entire life, someone wants him for him. It's intoxicating and utterly consuming NRE that is more powerful than anything he's ever felt.

Diego and Lila - For these two, it's about figuring out how to be a family. Both together, but also a little bit with the other Umbrellas. Diego looking out for Allison and Klaus and Lila and Five coming to a truce are part of this - more about Lila and Five in a sec.

Allison - In her mind, her family is Claire and Ray. This one is obvious, but I also think that the writers did us a disservice by not letting us into Allison's perspective. If you think about it, it's completely normal for a parent to put their child above all. While I don't defend her actions, her motivation could have been more compelling and it would have strengthened her character. But sadly she's the character on the show that is most "othered" (which is bad for many reasons)

Klaus - he really dug deep into individual relationships w family, starting with Five (e2 and 5 Five and Klaus bonding are still some of the best bits of the season imo), Diego, Reginald, Sparrow Ben, and then Luther in the afterlife.

Five - Five remains a pragmatist. His bar for family is very low - success for him means the Umbrellas being alive, no matter what the personal cost or sacrifice to him or to some extent others. It is somewhat depressingly delightful to see how he makes his peace with the end of the world as the season progresses. Before that, however, I'd like to meander back to e3 and 4 where Lila convinces him to electrocute himself and then they go on the Commission mission. Both of the actors do a fine job here bouncing back and forth between witty banter and genuine emotion and I love it. It's a quick and subtle piece of dialogue when Five explains how he saved Lila from the Handler. The undertone is that they were both abused by that woman in a similar way - ultimately, she developed and kept them both as pawns in her own game. And I think Five, starting in S2E10 and fleshed out through S3, develops genuine empathy for and eventually acceptance of Lila as family, as one of them, because of this shared experience.

Viktor - Like Viktor in all seasons, he continues to feel out of place with the Umbrellas and compensates by over-prioritizing his relationships with others. Don't get me wrong, I do empathize with him that he lost real love with Sissy and Halan, but I also think Allison was 100% valid to call him out on his lying in E6, and it was on point to verbalize how the constant focus on Viktors pain minimizes her (and everyone else's) experience. (Edit to add: Viktor finally seems to get the message on this, after being called out by Allison, then subsequently both Sparrow Ben and Five, and spends the last few episodes trying to make amends. Real character development here and I like to see it)

Reginald - Well, his overarching motivation since S1 has always been bringing back his dead wife, so I won't belabor that, but also it's interesting to see how he interacted with Klaus particularly - esp in E7 when he sobers up it seems he is experimenting with remembering his role as a father. Now we don't get a ton about his internal motivation here, but you can tell there is some mild curiosity, if not affection, for Klaus, despite the fact that he ultimately is cool with sacrificing him.

Some of these are more obvious than others, but when you tie them all together, the idea that they are all desperately looking for family and the blind spots that that creates for them, some of the messiness of S3 starts to make a bit more sense.

[markantonys]

so! the siuan pic is definitely from the opening sequence when she fights liandrin. the pic of the wondergirls in their fierce outfits being from 3x01 makes it almost definite that this is a vision in an accepted test, and thereby makes it almost definite that the accepted test(s) will happen right off the bat, as i've been speculating. and we also have lanfear creeping around, maybe in TAR based on her hairstyle unless she's also gotten a trim in the waking world.

both pics of the gang drinking together are also from 3x01. no surprise on the wonderboys pic, but there was some rumbling about the show maybe changing it so that aviendha goes to tanchico since elayne's outfit in the avilayne pic looks tanchico-y. but since that pic is from 3x01, i think it's safe to say elayne's outfit is simply something she wears out of the tower to hang out in tar valon and aviendha will still go to the waste as expected (further supported by ayoola reacting to/interacting with the new aiel actors on instagram more than she did for any of the other new cast announcements; it feels like she's worked with them personally. also! she just mentioned being excited to bring us the waste in s3 in her post, so definitely seems like she's involved in that storyline). phew! i love avilayne as much as the next person, but it really would not make any sense for aviendha's story to send her to tanchico this season, so i'm glad we can put that momentary speculation to rest.

as was the case last season too (iirc), the lion's share of the first stills are from the first episode, which makes sense! don't want to give away too much! it seems like our main focus this episode will be the big tower battle (stated to be the first 15mins), egwene's accepted test (maybe also elayne's, but i won't be surprised if that one's offscreen), and everybody taking a breather and spending time together and figuring out their next moves.

then, morgase and elaida at the tower is in 3x02. this tracks with our previous speculation that 3x02 would be a good time to introduce the caemlyn crew. there was also a leak of these two actresses filming on a location shoot that's believed to be the caemlyn palace, so perhaps the cold open of 3x02 shows them in caemlyn and then the episode proper picks up with them arriving in tar valon. (i'm curious how big of a role morgase and gaebril might have this season. will they return to caemlyn after 3x02 and have their own storyline for the rest of the season, or stay in the tower with elaida and the boys for a while? i'd imagine morgase will be back home before the coup, at the very latest.)

also, rand and lan training already in 3x02 is interesting! do they reach the waste that soon? or this could be taking place en route to the waste, or outside tar valon; the landscape looks soooomewhat arid to me (and mountainous), but not Full Sandy Desert the way it is in the rhuidean shots we've seen.

the gang looking out at rhuidean is in 3x04, and the other gang is in tanchico by 3x06. no surprises there!

moiraine and the orb in 3x08 is veeeeery interesting. it's clearly a different outfit and lighting than all the trailer shots of her with the orb, so i would guess the trailer shots are of her first finding it in rhuidean in 3x04, and then she takes it with her and uses it in the finale showdown in 3x08. my one question is how she got such a fantastic outfit in the middle of the desert djkfjg maybe some of her and lanfear's showdown takes place in TAR?

[autumnwhistles]

Lyric Breakdown in my Last Life (mainly Martyn-centric) song, "Corners of the World"

'Abridged' version here, and longer analysis (ft. a lot of Martyn character analysis... and also the full lyrics I'm actually talking about) under the cut.

"I'll lie, double cross to best them all" is yet again a reference to a line from Martyn's Last Life teaser poem ("Surpass them all/Take friends for foes"), which was from the perspective of the Watchers (and was previously referenced by them in the first song, Middle of Nowhere). Martyn using this phrasing hints that the Watchers already hold some influence over him, hence the outline of the lyrics flashing purple in the video!

"Walls, corners, edges" is taken from Martyn's speech after Ren's beheading (as is the title of this song, for the same reason):

"You took me in when I was a lowly traveler, going across the land, searching the four corners of this world. I learned there was nothing in this world for me – nothing but walls, corners, edges. And you know what, you showed me life. As much as I’ve taken it from you, you gave it back to me in buckets’ fulls."

The point here is that, after the events of 3rd Life, Martyn's reverted back to that previous worldview. That life he was shown clearly meant something to him, but ultimately, its price was far too high. So now, he's deliberately separating himself from a mindset that would allow him to care too much about others and feel that same pain: the world is walls and edges; the people in it are figures to use for his own benefit, not to care about; the world does not hold those buckets' fulls of life. As we see with his reactions to the Southlands' fall, he doesn't really end up being successful in this (and it's a major topic of exploration throughout the musical) – but it doesn't mean he doesn't want or try to be.

Of course, the wordplay this verse ("You'll be cornered in the corners, and on edge in many more/And walls you'll build and walls you'll raise(/raze), and walls will fall in war") is to establish Martyn's strengths in that area. Getting the voice right is an important part of musical characterisation too!

"Keep it a void you're fighting for" is either dramatic irony or foreshadowing depending on how much you know of his lore. Martyn's only referring to not fighting for anyone else's sake here, but between the seasons the players do spend their time falling through the void (while unconscious) – regardless of whether they win or lose. By fighting to win, you are just fighting for that same void... which of course, Martyn doesn't know (because surely winning means something). If he knew nothing changes after you win, the incentive to win would be much weaker, and I'd argue we do see that in c!Martyn post-Limited Life. But despite his cynicism and distrust, he's still naïve to this particular cruelty of the world... :) i mean lore-wise if you win a fragment of your soul does get protected but 1) no bearing on last life and so on this musical whatsoever, and 2) how is c!martyn supposed to know that even after his win

"Careful with the name you pick/Don't want it to get flamed" is (as the editing hopefully makes clear) a pun – 'you don't want your name to be made fun of', and 'your tree fort is flammable'. This is again meant to establish Martyn's quick wit as well as progressing the song/storyline, and as well as showing us him messing with people, which he very much likes to do! (I am also aware Cleo was the one who informed Lizzie, but I had to streamline various things for the sake of the medium – this is both a Martyn character establishment song and an intro to the world and various figures in it, so it's easier if Martyn is the one who introduces that to those figures (and for us to get more information about Martyn based on how he interacts with them). And Lizzie's reaction to that information was something I wanted to keep in)

Of course Skizz and Etho were in the Red Army too, Martyn's just being cheeky/faking indignation here (if there'd been space, I'd have given Skizz a line of protest, but from a musical standpoint I preferred the instant transition into Scar's section). But guys.... BEST/Dogwarts parallels... guys.....

"(...)I'll lead, not play a pawn"/"(...)little pawn" (sung simultaneously, the first by Martyn and the second by the Watchers) is a callback to the first song, Middle of Nowhere, in which there's a section of randomised lives being given out. The first line there is "Four for the traitor, four for the pawn", and this confirms/establishes 'the pawn' as referring to Martyn (referencing what he's treated as by the Watchers). Note that here Martyn's desire 'to lead' refers to being in control of his actions and not deferring to anyone, not specifically to leading an alliance. Of course, Martyn's part is full of dramatic irony on his behalf :)

Those are the 'flashier' lines and word choices I especially wanted to highlight. Now, for the version with way more character analysis!

As mentioned, Corners of the World is Martyn's – our main character's – introductory song. Regardless of whether it counts as an 'I Want' song or not (it's a bit nebulous, because yes, he does express things he wants – to win, to be in contol of his own actions and not at others' whims. But for me, the more important part of the song is what he doesn't want to do, what things he's distancing himself from that he's presumably done before, and the questions and implications that arise from that. And the core of that is explored slightly later on), it's going to be our first impression of him as a character. The traits and worldview established here will be viewed as important, and will form the basis of his arc throughout the musical.

Because of that, the two verses focus on establishing that inital worldview (as well as establishing what he's aiming for):

MARTYN (Verse 1) Right, here I go again — new world, another start. New chance to see who’ll reach the end, and who will fall apart Well, won’t be me – this time I’ll be the very last to fall No care for cost, I’ll lie, double cross to best them all

So we know he wants to survive and win the game (especially after not doing so last time), we know he's willing to play dirty to achieve that and definitely should not be trusted. We know he's under no impression that this is anything other than a death game (or death match, to quote his Limited Life self) – he doesn't hide from the knowledge that people will fall apart, that only one person will be left standing. Importantly, this means he's playing the game exactly as intended, with no intentions of defying it or even deviating slightly* from what the first song has expressed to be the goal (to 'best'/'surpass' everyone else). Even as he expresses the wish to play for himself, he's already committed himself to following others' unseen rules.

Walls, corners, edges, I’ve been this way before. You’ll be cornered in the corners, and on edge in many more; And walls you’ll build and walls you’ll raise(/raze) and walls will fall in war, Kinship destroyed, so keep it a void you’re fighting for.

And here we get an exploration of Martyn's mindset in more detail. I've touched on this already, but a major point of exploration throughout the musical is Martyn's relashionship to emotional attachment – he's coming right off the bat of Ren's death in 3rd Life, which "broke" him and made him play more selfishly since (both statements taken from the LimLife lore stream), and he is someone who tends keep his distance and who'll prioritise himself over allies whenever things get dicey. But the "life" that closeness gave him back in 3rd Life was still clearly important to that version of him, and he does inadvertently (and unwillingly) start chasing that again this season – ending up growing close to the Southlanders (bar Grian) despite his efforts, enough to hallucinate them and be manipulated by the Voice's(/Watchers') false promise to bring them back to life if he follows its commads (in a moment where he expresses resistance to following its commands, and where the Voice is clearly distressing him). LL Episode 8 intro my beloved...

Still, that's to come. At the start of Last Life, he's firmly in a reactionary mindset to the events of 3rd Life, separating himself from that life and that version of him. 3rd Life was a failure on his part (in addition to the emotional damage, but he's trying to separate himself from that side of things and to focus purely on the win), and he's absolutely not wasting this new chance at victory.

So corner to corner, I’ll keep wandering on, Border to border, through woods, through caves, through spawn, Sure, laugh with some, don’t keep it glum, so long as lines are drawn Forego the rest, and don’t invest, just keep on wandering- WATCHERS Wandering, wandering MARTYN -on.

It's Watcher manipulation time, encouraging unhealthy mindsets that help them further their own aims! The more untied he is, the easier he'll be for them to play (less loyalties to others –> the more likely he is to rely on the Voice, and the less resistance there is to doing certain things that might involve those connections). Yes, emotional connections would mean more emotional pain (and so more negative emotions for them to feed on) in the future, but Martyn's very resistant to that idea right now, so it wouldn't do much to push it. They do encourage emotional connections later, though (heavily pushing him towards Ren for example, and note that that's only once it would mean Martyn betraying his own alliance (which would mean more emotional pain for someone, regardless of its impacts on Martyn himself. Or it would've been if that was revealed)).

There's another important part here, though. After all the 'allies won't help you' etc in the first two verses, I wanted to make clear that Martyn's not against being around people, far from it – he's almost constantly around people, just not generally around the same ones for an extended period of time – it's just the emotional investment he's trying to avoid. He is a very social player, he does enjoy joking and/or messing around with others and does it constantly, that's also an important aspect to him (he's a very "you talk a lot but never say anything" type of person**). So "sure, laugh with some, don't keep it glum" is a very important line!

LIZZIE Welcome, oh welcome to my tree fort, yet unnamed. MARTYN Be careful with that name you pick — don’t want it to get… flamed. LIZZIE …Ah. They won’t demean A fellow green? …Your lives? MARTYN That’s mine to know Is that a tower over there? See you, I’ve got to go!

And immediately, here's an example of Martyn actually messing with someone (as a new player, Lizzie is fun to tease)! His "don't want it to get flamed" triples as that, as a wordplay demonstration, and as another recognition that they are living in a world where people will inevitably turn on each other. If something's flammable, it will be burned.

Lizzie's characterisation here is meant to show her as someone who wants to do her best and is establishing herself, but is unsure/nervous about how the game will unfold due to having had no past experience (, the '...your lives?' comment is prompted by the momentary urge to want to know how close Martyn is to turning Red and potentially burning down her tree fort) There is the element of naïvité coming from not having lived through a previous series, too – not thinking about how badly having a flammable base may end, 'they won't demean a fellow green' again here, etc.

Because this verse is a dialogue, I focused a lot more on trying to keep the character's voices true to themselves as well. With Lizzie, the "Welcome, oh [welcome]" is moreso there to suit the 'fairy queen' persona she was going for, but the "tree fort... yet unnamed" would be something she'd say for humour's sake, in her particular style which I cannot for the life of me describe; her 'ah' would be quite deadpan in that way too (again, not sure which words to use to describe it). With Martyn we have the aforementioned wordplay, but also his method of slipping out of situations that go in directions he wants to avoid... which is to pretend to get distracted by something else, promptly change the subject to that thing, and run off (a clear example of this is in Wild Life when Scott is questioning him about his powers, and he conveniently gets 'distracted' by a zombified Skizz dying in the distance instead (~17:30 in his vid). Maybe not the smoothest of getaways... but a habit nonetheless).

TEAM BEST BEST will be the best, and we’ll show em what we got With our matching shields, and our towering snow fort MARTYN Hold on a sec, where’s your respect? BDUBS Respect? MARTYN Yeah, that’s my bit! Same shields? Snow? A world ago? With Ren and- fine, have it

Again, this verse is largely leaning into character voices and interactions. BEST do initally set out to be the heroes of the server (eg by recovering the enchanting table and returning it to the server), and do have some very loud/enthiusiastic figures within their ranks (Bdubs and Skizz), so the tone of their lyrics is meant to reflect this (though the instrumentation, which we'll talk about in a different post, does a lot of this work as well). Of course you also have Etho who's the complete opposite of course (and Tango somewhere in the middle), but it's the louder voices that are going to be heard in the interactions so it's their side of things I'm portraying. And, as mentioned before, we also have Martyn completely going into mock-offense mode.

SCAR/BEST/LIZZIE/MARTYN No matter if you're in your sixes or twos/Let's find some ore to- I'll sell you an offer you/-mine cannot refuse/It'll be the fairy fort! Crystals for fleeing,/I'm fine just to chat Crystals for flame,/Not falling for that! Survival's the ALL Name of the game!

Pretty self-explanatory here, with Martyn not buying into Scar's deals and other alliances going about their lives. BEST heading down to mine is set-up for the next song (aptly named "Down In The Mines"), in which Bdubs reveals he was cursed with the Boogeyman curse while down there, narrating his experiences in the form of a ghost story.

SCAR/BEST/LIZZIE/MARTYN Corner to corner, I'll just keep on wandering, wandering on/Yes, join the fairy fort, I'd love to have you here!/BEST will be the best, with our diamonds and our gold We can build a secret passageway so we'll always be near!/Put us to the test, and you'll see that we won't fold/A crystal or spell, oh, Joel, you'd help me sell?/Through woods, through caves- -But still for my sake I probably should find a team: it would do me some-/We'll aid each other when we need, together we will succeed, oh-/Put us to the test and you'll see that we'll do-/Goody! Magical Mountain we'll be! ALL (including Cleo, BigB and Joel, who are now onstage with their respective alliances) Good – It's this I've understood!*

Here we see the different players' attitudes to playing the game, and what they've "understood" about how to play it, as well as more alliances forming. Nothing much to say about Scar and Martyn here (aside from Martyn expressing the fact that he does want to be part of an alliance for numbers' sake, which we'll build more on in Song 4 (A(ha)lliances) when the Southlands are formed; and also continuing the thread that he sees others as figures he can use to benefit himself. Maybe there were things to say about Martyn here!), but a lot of Team BEST's part is foreshadowing ("put us to the text and you'll see that we won't fold"... they will fold. They will) in addition to contuining the 'server heroes' thread from earlier. Meanwhile, Lizzie's part continues to show her as a player who hasn't experienced the way the server devolves into bloodshed, still having a pretty idealistic view about the co-operation between herself, BigB and Cleo without thinking about the ways they'll inevitably have to turn on each other if they get later in the game.

The part about the tunnel connecting the Fairy Fort to Cleo and BigB's base is taken directly from the first session (originally proposed as an escape tunnel, in the same conversation that Cleo pointed out that the fort was flammable).

UPPER WATCHERS/LOWER WATCHERS Oh, wander, wander on/Wonder, wonder On/When they'll all start to turn tails Wonder, wonder/Wander, wander When trust will yield to betrayals/On

I've mentioned it before, but the Watchers feed on negative emotions, which is why they run the Life series. This is one of the few times we see emotions from them, as they're very excited to see what chaos and carnage this new game they've formed will bring (which I took care to portray in my voice)!

WATCHERS/MARTYN Till the rest are gone.../Right, here I go again – I'll fight with my axe drawn* Oh, wander, little pawn/But, unlike then... I'll lead, not play a pawn.

I've talked about this in the 'abridged' version, so I won't repeat that. The other thing here is the axe being an obligatory Dogwarts reference (or, more accurately, an obligatory rhyme (with 'pawn') which gave way to a Dogwarts reference I took).

[End]

(You can hear the instrumental continue for a while – ideally, Martyn would talk for a bit with Scott, Pearl and Jimmy, but though I can act through singing I can't act through speech and I'm not subjecting viewers to that xD)

If you've read this, thank you so much! You can definitely chart me going more and more unhinged as this progressed...

--

*eg by also wanting to find friendships, to be helpful while you can, etc, in addition to winning. There's no secondary aim there, aside from protecting himself from emotional harm.

**(to quote Martha from Doctor Who)

[beepborpdoodledorp]

alright, I'm in need of a palate cleanser, TADC Episodes ranking because why not

Now that Episode 4's marked the (almost) halfway point of the show it's as good a time as any to do a personal ranking and also I want to procrastinate working on more angsty fanart as much as possible for my own sanity

Mystery of Mildenhall Manor

What is there that I can even add to this conversation, the episode is fucking stellar. Pomni and Kinger's dynamic is impeccable start to end and I'm a sucker for anything remotely resembling the found family trope so that just further elevates my opinion, and as both an avid Zooble enjoyer and a very un-cis person their subplot hit me hard. And oh my God, the hallway scene, it's still my single favorite moment in the entire show. The soundtrack, the atmosphere, the gorgeous visuals, the emotional build-up from the conversation beforehand, I want to just absorb the essence of this scene into my bone structure. I've watched this episode twice so far and both times the hallway scene almost made me cry. I'd recommend this in a heartbeat to someone who isn't even interested in TADC or the wider genres it belongs to, it's just that fucking good. 

2. Fast Food Masquerade

It is. Probably not that hard to figure out where I stand on this episode considering how much I've been annoying every TADC tag under the sun the past 72 hours. I absolutely adored this episode, was literally everything I wanted and more based on the promo material. I love Gangle, her storyline about hiding her depression hit way too hard, I love Zooble, I love Gangle and Zooble being gay as fuck, I love Ragatha being absolutely fried the entire episode, I love Jax showing three whole seconds of human decency. Gummigoo. Oh my God. With how much praise I just threw Episode 3's way it's probably weird to learn I actually think Episode 4 is an overall better episode (by a very thin margin, but still), it just gave us a lot more interactions and development with the group as a whole which is something we were mostly lacking in up until this point usually due to the group being separated at some point or another during an adventure. In all honesty if Episode 3 didn't have the hallway scene I'd probably put it in this spot, but it does and the hallway scene fucks so Episode 4 is down here. 

3. Candy Carrier Chaos

Again, what can I even add to this conversation. A great expansion after our first taste of TADC, Gummigoo solos, I love sentient AIs undergoing existential crises as they come to terms with the implications of their existence. My one major complaint (which I had back when the episode first released and it's just been amplified with the last two episodes' releases) is just that we don't get much content of any of the main cast besides Pomni, their interactions are surface-level and don't offer us basically anything new from what we saw of them in the pilot. But that also wasn't what the episode was about so I can mostly give it a pass.

4. PILOT

The pilot was a very good jumping off point for the series and is decent as a standalone, but after rewatching it about a month or two back I don't think it's aged all that well. Again, it's still a perfectly fine watch and does its job of setting up all the stepping stones for the series, but the best way I can describe the pilot is…cluttered. It's just a lot of information and events you need to fit into one twenty-minute episode, so most of the episode goes at a breakneck pace in between a lot of back-to-back jokes that sometimes miss the mark (mostly the fault of Caine, I love him but he is definitely a character who is most effective in short bursts of screentime). You can definitely tell they were still trying to get a feel of things while making this episode and that's completely fine! It's a pilot, that's the whole point. Just doesn't really hold up when compared to its successors.

[yuri-is-online]

Any Hc's for Rook!Yutu? I'd imagine Rook would have an inkling of what was going on due to this child's abnormally heightened senses.

I did write a bit about Rook's Yutu in this post about artistic dad's and their sons. In it I mention that Rook says he was very shy as a child, which is something I don't think twst writers capitalize on enough. Rook's Yutu is very shy and does not have the same confidence boosting idol realization that Rook did.

Also, we will be taking something from this idea from Grim OB anon, thank you very much for sending it in!

This is a two part hc, please read this first and then go to the second part linked at the end.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, for context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here. This post contains some additional angst to the other Yutu posts, CW for discussions of child neglect, starvation, and extreme isolation.

The wind flutters through the tress as Yutu sits and tries to focus on the few strains of birdsong he can hear. The wind chimes he bought for your last birthday makes the task harder, but he can't say he minds. If it helps him hone this talent of his, maybe one day he can use it for something, something other than sneaking out of the house or looking through that box of things that causes you too much pain to look through but not enough to throw away.

"This world is filled with beauty, and it wraps itself around you begging you to lay your head within its bower. Stay and intertwine the melody of your breath with mine and never know how weary it is to wander again..." He is uncertain if this translation is satisfactory, the language used is familiar to Yutu but the words and some of the grammar is off. It's a beautifully written letter, the paper's maintained a specific perfume through the years thanks to how well you have kept it packed away. A branch snaps up as Yutu's eyes open and center on the thrush he's been tracking as it soars into the early morning sky, finally he leans back against the side of the house and lets out his breath. Someday he will find the thread that connects all of this, he's sure of it.

And somewhere across the universe, another child looks up at the sky and has as similar a thought he can without the words to form it.

Yutu is a quiet kid. Like his father was as a child, he's very shy and finds it difficult to connect to the other kids around him. They find his uncertainty annoying, and while his teachers enjoy having him in class they sometimes find his perspectives difficult to connect to. This is not helped at all by how keen his senses are, hiding things from Yutu is difficult and he tries to use what he sees to make friends, but he often comes off as creepy. Much like Rook he is very insightful in his media analysis and blunt in the way he puts things, but unlike Rook he does not find someone like Vil who vibes with him. Instead he finds teachers who take him aside and tell him to stop answering so many questions in class, peers who refuse to interact with him and openly call him weird, and a community who whispers loudly about where he came from behind his back as if he cannot hear them. It's exhausting.

Yuu has some letters from Rook that made it across worlds with them, long flowing things written in a language that takes him a while to figure out. Most of them are written in something similar to English, but there are bits and pieces of French in there. The letters spark an early interest in linguistics for Yutu, he feels like the letters have enough clues for him to learn who his father is and if anyone has answers for him about why he is the way he is it has to be his dad, doesn't it? He's the only Yutu who manages to isolate his father's name long before Yuu remembers, but he assumes that Rook is a pseudonym because who the hell names their child Rook? Not someone from France (which is where he assumes his dad is from... or maybe French Canada?)

Yuu tells him of his father's appreciation for the beauty of the world and his eagerness to encourage it in others. They speak of his protectiveness, and loyalty to his friends so often that Yutu wonders, why isn't he here? His parent calls him a "hunter" so often that Yutu wonders if they connected over hunting, he can't really see you doing something like that. Where do the poems fit into that, they cause you a lot of pain to look at so he tries not to ask about them and focus on the things you say he has in common with his father, such as his love for literature and nature.

His love of nature is much less, violent? Than his father's... as in he is not one for the hunt, at least not in the same way. He does not find the fight or the chase thrilling or beautiful, though he does deeply admire the skill it takes to thread the needle through danger. You aren't so strict about his trips into the woods that he feels like he can't go but you do try to encourage him to stay safe in a way that feels restrictive to a kid. He's very interested in wildlife photography, and enjoys darting through the wilderness to take pictures of animals in their natural habitats. This does not help his reputation at school, his teachers are proud to note his talent while his peers spread rumors about him because of how much time he spends alone in the woods or a darkroom.

While he does enjoy his alone time, sometimes he begs you to come with him, especially after he's found particularly beautiful place that he wants to show you. He takes a great deal of pride in being able to provide his parent with a sense of peace, especially when it's through something he enjoys. Given that Yuu was the owner of the Ghost Camera I like to think you would feel a sense of familiarity in taking photos of things, and Yutu would beyond overjoyed if it was an interest you could share with him.

As for how you remember... I like to think that what triggers the memory is that one day Yutu comes home sadder than usual, and confesses to you that he took a picture of you for a school contest but only managed to win second place with it. When he shows it to you, it triggers something:

"Oh now this is a funny coincidence." You were in the process of trying to pick which magnet you wanted to use to put it up on the refrigerator, a perfectly normal thing. A perfectly normal day, "I lost to Rook with a similar picture during Portfest, he'd love to have a matching set-" And then you had dropped the magnet, dropped your line of thought and turned to look at him in a way that screamed you were afraid, afraid of something he couldn't see and sorrowful in a way he couldn't describe. "Wait a moment, where is Rook, he was just stepping out for a moment and I was getting the letters together..." And then his world is upended as he is tossed over the rift into a group of people in dark robes, impressing them all with how he literally lands on his feet.

Rook! Yutu is left numb by Yuu's death. He doesn't speak much, it's not at all what Crewel expected of Rook's son given how odd and exuberant his student was. He tries encouraging him to open up by telling little stories about his father to him, about your time in Twisted Wonderland, anything to fill the empty space and help him form a connection with the child. He feels foolish when he realizes that Yutu is in shock, but once he does and gives him some genuine familial affection Yutu starts to perk up. The gift of the Ghost Camera makes Yutu actually speak, though one of the first things he says is that he doesn't think he's ever going to be himself again. Crewel's been mourning how he never got to know that boy for years now, hearing him say he's missed the chance out loud doesn't hurt as much as it perhaps should.

I kicked around what house I thought he would be in a bit, Rook was initially in Savanaclaw as we all know but Yutu... he's quiet. Withdrawn, still very intense about his passions and pursuit of beauty but not able to really speak about his interests openly. Pomefiore... it is meant to be based on the unrelenting effort, the tenacity of the Fairest Queen. It's very intense, and despite his quiet attitude this Yutu is very intense so I do think he would be placed in Pomefiore by the mirror. Something that would make Grandpa Crewel very proud.

Grandpa Crewel tells him bits and pieces about his father, but Yutu can just tell that he's keeping things back. The stories are always so odd, like he's very willing to tell Yutu his dad used to name the plants he grew for the science club and read them poetry but when he asks about the poems he wrote for Yuu, Crewel dodges the subject just saying it "sounds like something he'd do." When he asks about his friends he tentatively mentions that Rook's best friend is still alive, but that he's not in the best mental state so he probably won't want to talk to him. Which is of course, not true at all Yutu is very interested in speaking with Vil and that much more determined to do it the less information Crewel gives him.

It's "me and the boys looking for classmates" round 2, Idia has a heart attack when he sees ANOTHER HUNT on a broomstick outside his super secret island yoo-hooing at the security cameras asking to see Vil. He can't with this fucking family what is WRONG with you people. Vil doesn't exactly get a lot of visitors so he's surprised to hear he has one and unable to hold back his laughter when he finds out who it is. He can't even pretend to be strict or upset with the boy, though he does give him a scolding for being so reckless.

Most of the questions Yutu has are answered; his father was eccentric but well loved, he was very much a hunter, had nicknames for most everyone based off of things he noticed about them and claimed he himself as the "hunter of love." He was not from the City of Flowers he just really liked the culture and a play that was set there so that's why he talked like that.

"His nickname for Yuu was 'trickster' for reasons he never fully explained but I'm sure there were a mountain of them." Vil has a beautiful smile, even as haggard as the man now is it shines through giving Yutu some understanding of why his father was so willing to change dorms and swear some oath of loyalty to him. "He got it into his head it would be 'romantic' to send them secret admirer letter, we had to endure him writing pages of them and opining how his feelings would never be returned-"

"They didn't like him at first?" Yutu can't really picture that and Vil's smile twists in amusement.

"They thought he was odd but I don't think they ever disliked him. You and your brother came from somewhere-" and the rest of what Vil says is drowned in the hum of that last little bit of information as Yutu's world is flipped once again.

Yutu is meant to be a pseudonym, and I did say I wanted his name to be Oliver. And as Vil informs him, with care because Crewel really should have been the one to do so but he understands why he didn't, Yutu has an older brother named Roland, though not by much. The two of them are what Yuu had called "Irish twins." Rook had simply called them beautiful which does give Yutu a bit of a laugh but raises the question of where his brother is. Shouldn't he have been at school? Well no, as Idia decides to cough and remind Yutu he is in fact still in the room (he is being very brave and keeping all of his opinions on Rook to himself) they don't really know what happened to his brother. They know Rook is dead, transformed into a phantom by the Fairest Queen and closing off the Shaftlands hunting down mages with extreme precision, but no one really knows what happened to Roland. Vil is technically the last person to have both seen a living Rook and Roland. "He was depressed about you and your parent disappearing, but very convinced he could find you. Your brother seemed happy too, not that I understood what he was saying on account of him being an infant." No one says the word dead. Vil and Crewel are too depressed to think about it and Idia- well he has some suspicions. He doesn't have evidence yet, but he does (after yelling at Yutu for breaking and entering again) tell him to keep his ears open for a message from him because he might have a job for him.

So Yutu waits. He starts up the school newspaper again, makes some friends finally who are intrigued by the ghost camera and certainly met weirder people, and trains both his body and his magic in the hope he can maybe find a way through his father's defenses. "Into the Woods" is what he names his spell, it allows him briefly to move extremely quickly by becoming a shadow. The more he uses it the more magic it costs, but if he only uses it occasionally he can get away with using very little magic. He's proud of it, certain it will convince Idia he's strong enough to put his father to rest. Instead he's met with a different proposal: he and his friends go back in time to before any of this happened, before his parents were together, before he was even born to stop this future from ever happening.

He does not agree at first. Vil has to to talk him into it, though it is less of a talk and more of a lecture. Yutu does want to see you again, more than anything really, but his father is still a phantom. He has no idea what happened to his older brother, his friends have family too asking them to go back in time when some of them still have people worth fighting for in the here and now. Vil hears all of this of course, but he knows better than anyone how limited the time this version of Twisted Wonderland has. "There here and now cannot exist without the then and was" he's right of course and Yutu admits as much. He promises, much less flamboyantly but with just as much seriousness to create a world in which Vil can achieve his dream and for one small moment he allows himself a smile that would cause a wrinkle. It's like Vil has both of his best friends back, wrapped up into the tiny shining sapling that is their son.

The past is a strange place to Rook! Yutu. He has heard a decent bit about his father, and he likes to think he knows you pretty well but everyone else is just so... weird. Ace and Deuce are almost too normal, Kalim feels like a fairy tale prince, and he is worryingly interested in studying Azul under a microscope. The twins too if he could figure out appropriate caging techniques, everyone here is just so odd. Good thing you have such a normal son like him here to look out for you, he has no idea how you handled this in the original timeline. His shyness does a lot to cover for his eccentricities, though you do pick up on how familiar he is with some of your habits after a while.

He develops a new interest in movies and an enjoyment of watching them with you; neither of you know anything about this world's entertainment industry. It is pretty much dead in the future but hearing how excited Vil got about his work made him interested at least in those movies. The two of you end up taking notes and discussing the various ways the stories would or would not work in your world and Yutu finds himself surprised at how much praise he's getting for his insightful commentary... and that's before a certain someone joins and starts cheering his enthusiasm for Vil's catalogue.

Rook is someone Yutu tried to make a game of avoiding. Not that he did not want to get to know his father, but he was curious about what being a phantom did to his technique. His magic made him best suited to being a scout (bait if he's being realistic) when dealing with his father so he likes to think that he is well practiced at avoiding him but no. He thinks he has given the hunter the slip only to find he's been beaten home as Rook opens the door for him so they can hang out with you together. Rook picked up on this little game fairly quickly and it delighted him. It's similar to how Jade deals with him but with none of the obvious malice.

Rook does not think too much about this habit of Yutu's at first. He tells him that his dedication to his craft is truly beautiful; perhaps teases him a little to keep up the competition but the thought of "there is something slightly sinister about Yutu being here" does not come until he realizes what he feels for you is a bit more significant than normal. Rook, to me anyway as I kick around how to write for him romantically, is someone who does not fall into romantic love particularly easily. Or I suppose to be more specific, the line between platonic and romantic love isn't one he tends to cross over too often because he prefers to dance on it. He's a little bit in love with all of his friends and has no problem telling them as much or acting like he is, and he sort of thought that was the way he would be forever so to find the feelings he has for you spending more and more time across that line- it scares him. He's shy about it, not that you see his behavior as shyness exactly, he's still Rook but there are moments where he isn't as long winded in his praise as he typically would be if he was talking about Vil. It might make you think he hates you when nothing could be further from the truth. He's at risk of saying too much if he does.

There are certain habits Yutu has that once Rook finds himself unable to stop thinking about you start to stick out. Little ticks that suggest the boy knows you, and knows you in a very specific sort of way... but the information is just off enough to suggest that his information is not wrong but out of date. And then there are all the little ways that the boy acts like he did before he discovered Roi de Neige, it's like looking at an alternate timeline version of himself that has traces of you woven into him. And that gives Rook a thought that he knows by instinct must be dangerously close to the truth. So he does the only thing he can think to do: he hunts.

Yutu is pushing his magic to the limit, it hurts Rook to think that he might be the cause but it is clear the precious one has no idea what his signature spell is, otherwise he would know there was no point. But still, Yutu runs closer to the strange blot like clouds, stopping abruptly under what looks like the portal that brought him to this world. Ink drips out of it, dark and familiar as Rook swings down from the treeline to an unsurprised Yutu and readies his pen.

"Do you know what we are fighting, Monsieur Caneton." He tries to be gentle as he speaks, you have told him his voice is soothing and reassuring but still the boy bristles.

"No." He's run himself ragged, Rook would step in front of him on instinct even if he was in fighting shape. Even if it wasn't his fault that Yutu wasn't, surely he wasn't such a failure of a father that he doesn't know that? "You never do until it cracks." Like an actor who knows their cues the sygil breaks with a sickening noise akin to the groans of a dying boar as slick ink plops its delivery onto the ground. It groans, deceptively human before rolling itself up to stand, shaking the ink off its body like it was a nuisance and not vital for its continued existence. Rook readies himself, begins to prepare a spell and swells with pride as Yutu does the same until

"Fuck!" The person spits, away from both of them he notes after the shade. Red. Bright. Oxygenated this isn't a monster at all, it's a human, shaking himself like a dog to rid the ink that's practically soaking himself the whole the way through. "Hey!" he turns rubbing just enough ink out of his face to reveal an eye, familiar in shade and shape as Yutu finally untenses behind him and Rook feels tears begin to well in his eyes. "Dad! What'er you doing dressed all funny, give me a- hand?" A smile, or he thinks it's a smile spreads across the older boy's face when he finally looks past Rook. "Oh thank the seven!" Blob boy tracks ink across the pristine forest floor, everything else forgotten in a rush of genuine excitement that shatters Yutu's entire perception of reality enough to force his exhaustion to the surface.

He hears Roland calling him by his name as he falls.

pt. 2

[fatoomie2801]

i finally named him omg

manolan / mono everyone 😃

he's an oc that i've slowly been creating since last month but i couldn't let myself fully lore build because mayblade was happening and i knew i'd get carried away if i let myself

made a rough sketch back in may cause i wanted to quickly design him while i was still on the 'making an oc' high and it's nice to have finally drawn it out

quick info dump on whatever it is i have so far

just read over my notes he's supposed to have his hair in a bun most of the time oops maybe i'll draw that next time

he's on the older side of the mfb cast, around the same age as characters like tsubasa / ryuga / aguma / da xiang

i know the characters don't have official ages but i like to think these lot are the eldest out of the bunch so that's where he fits in

planning on giving him a lyre bey (the harp because he loves music) but i haven't figured out the specifics just yet

he's supposed to be almost the complete opposite of kiara. he's not this loud lively energetic character like she is and he doesn't possess the same drive or motivation or determination she does

he's the kind of character that doesn't find meaning or purpose in life until he rediscovers beyblade. nothing worth living for. idk i just wanted to create a character like that :)

NOW HIS NAME omg this is my favourite part about him

i was thinking about what to name him and i couldn't really think of anything so i did what any typical person does when they're making ocs and i searched up names on the internet

as i was scrolling i was seeing a bunch of different names all with origins from different languages and then i thought to myself why don't i incorporate my OWN language (somali 🇸🇴) and BOOM we got his name

the name manolan is a simplified version of the phrase [macno la'aan] which in somali means [meaningless / pointless] which is very fitting for the mindset he has

after that, i was wondering what it would look like to people who saw it for the first time / how they would pronounce it. ma-no-lan or ma-know-lan. and then it hit me. pronouncing it like ma-know-lan sounds almost EXACTLY like ANOTHER somali phrase [ma noola] meaning [is not alive] which is ALSO VERY FITTING??? for a character that feels like they're just existing and going through the motions rather than actually living, it's PERFECT

it shocked me actually to realise this which means his name has a double meaning and i LOVE THAT I UNKNOWINGLY DID THAT

haven't decided on pronunciation yet. i want it to be ma-no-lan but i myself sometimes keep reading it as ma-know-lan im gonna cry 😭😭😭

but yes, ma-no-lan because the name originally is supposed to mean 'meaningless'

i also love giving characters surnames but he will go without one because he runs away from his family and decides not to keep the name (and also because i can't think of a name and i don't want to LMAO)

as for the name mono, i was messing around with nicknames. it originally was meant to be mano which in somali would mean [macno / meaning] but considering the way i want him to look and sound, mono seemed more fitting

he's not very expressive (monotone) and he only ever really wears black or just a singular colour (monochrome) and mono can be used in music too so i thought why not it's very fitting idk lmao

also mono is a prefix meaning one / sole / single and beyblade becomes his sole purpose after he rediscovers it so i thought that was fitting too

i like getting all creative and meaningful with character names like this and i think this is in fact my favourite one ever i'm never shutting up about mono yall

even nolan as a nickname works since the [ma] in [ma noola] means [not] in the somali phrase for [not alive] so removing it makes it mean [alive] which is very much how he feels when he gets back into beyblade

but i don't want anyone calling him that if y'all call him nolan for short you have it coming 🫵🏾

as for any more lore and character interactions, the only thing i want right now is for him to be friends with hyoma and eventually move to koma village so he can have a life of peace i never give any of my characters peaceful backstories HAHA

i think i also want him to be quite close with tsubasa and almost grow up together

i haven't really created much of tsubasa's backstory between the house fire and the point in which the anime starts so i thought it would be interesting to start working on that and tie manolan in there somewhere and also because i want manolan and kiara interaction though it wouldn't be anything crazy

i think manolan would actually find it very draining to be around her because she's so energetic but then also he'd see her like an annoying little sister

and so for this same reason it makes sense why he and tsubasa or even hyoma would get along so well since they aren't nearly as energetic as kiara is

reading over my notes on mono and i've written that i want his love for beyblade to stem from a rediscovery rather than actually discovering it for the first time

i wanted him to be the kind of kid whose parents had high expectations of him and sort of shoved beyblade down his throat despite him not wanting to be a blader, and them only placing value on how well he does so very much a conditional love situation

the more he is forced to take part in it, the more he hates it because it's not what he wants, and he gets into arguments with his mother over it (yes his mother specifically idk what to do about his dad yet maybe i'll make him a deadbeat who knows)

he ends up running away from home because his parents make him feel like he has no value outside of beyblade (haven't really thought of why they care about beyblade so much i just need him to have a sad backstory and a reason to leave so he can meet tsubasa) and he ends up at the children's home where tsubasa is growing up after losing his entire family

the children's home look for and find manolan's parents despite him refusing to go back home but he ends up staying there because the his parents decide they don't want him anymore because he's of no value to them (still need to come up with a reason for why they care so damn much)

anyways tsubasa is a lot more outgoing as a kid than he is when he's older so it'll be interesting to see how i end up creating their interactions but i think i want manolan to be an angry kid for a bit before he becomes entirely numb to emotion

i think i also wanted tsubasa to be that kid that would take manolans hand and drag him outside to go and play and he'd honestly try anything to cheer him up or even get him to crack a smile

and eventually he does and tsubasa's eyes light up

tsubasa eventually becomes the first person to evoke emotion in manolan after a long while so they end up becoming lifelong besties

maybe tsubasa should be the one to give him the nickname mono and then he just runs with that idk

also maybe i want them to have a few falling outs where tsubasa tries to get manolan into beyblade and he completely refuses to take part and tsubasa gets upset about it because he just wants to battle with his friend and his friend is over here being mean (this is probably where the angry kid part comes in. maybe the only time manolan ever shows emotion before becoming super close with tsubasa is anger at the mention of beyblade)

anyways time skip to when he's way older, i want him to rediscover it, maybe through watching gingka or something since he tends to be a very inspirational character in that way or maybe even through someone like yu who has fun when battling and doesn't care whether he wins or loses as long as he gets to have fun battles with strong opponents

or maybe he watches tsubasa battle and wants to battle with him for his sake. or maybe he sees how hard kiara tried to get stronger to find tsubasa and it resonates with him or something and he realises there's more to beyblade than just winning

he almost has to rewire his brain and relearn beyblade and sees it from a new perspective and sort of falls in love with it and so after a life of not really having anything he was passionate about, he starts battling and realises that it's so much fun without the pressure of having to be the best at it and without eyes staring into the back of his head expecting him to win

i think i want him to lose in his very first battle. after the loss, all those emotions from his childhood that he used to feel when he lost come rushing to the surface and he immediately decides he's going to quit but then tsubasa (who in his eyes is a really powerful blader) tells him he did well and he just kind of freezes because that's not the reaction he was expecting

but he almost doesn't believe it because that's his best friend and his best friend is always just going to say something supportive so he brushes it off and goes to leave before someone else says the same thing and he stops in his tracks

and there isn't a single person treating him like he isn't worthy of love for losing a battle and in fact they all decide they wanna battle him too and he is just so stunned because this is the furthest thing from what he's used to

i guess it's sort of like a windbreaker sakura situation with how new all these positive and warm reactions to his loss are

despite having left his home and his family all those years ago, he's still associating his worth with winning and he's working on slowly trying to unlearn that. he's surrounded by people who are very supportive and it's all just so new to him because why would they tell him he was strong when he lost? why would they praise him for doing well when he failed to win? why does everyone want to battle him so badly when he couldn't even win his first battle?

and it's not like he's new to beyblade. he used to be good at it before (because he HAD to be) so the loss is actually his first loss in a VERY long time and he's frustrated with himself for losing because he knows that 6 / 7 year old him wouldn't have lost like that. but despite that, everyone wants a turn to battle him and it really throws him off but it evokes emotion in him again (which is something he rarely feels)

i want him to be the kind of character that rarely smiles and when he does it's a gentle soft subtle kind of smile

and maybe the first time he laughs everyone's like omg wait he can do that?

going back to him and blading, i want his motivation and determination to waver quite a lot. progress isn't linear and not every character has to be this strong-willed fighter. it's okay to feel like giving up sometimes except it's quite often for him

maybe this is the point where he has his koma village retreat, to learn about the origin of beyblade and see it from a different perspective, basically like taking baby steps and starting from the very beginning

and this is where he can form a bond with hyoma and fall in love with koma village

the more he overcomes his fears and feelings of unworthiness, and the more progress he makes in blading, the more put together he looks

he's supposed to have this slightly dishevelled look, messy hair, dark circles, not really caring about how he appears to others, wearing dark colours and just throwing his hair in a bun most of the time

but the more fun he finds when battling, the more organised he looks

maybe he should also be the kind of character that shows an insane amount of emotion when battling and then when the battle's over he's back to having that expressionless look

maybe for someone like mono, battling can be like listening to music in stereo, more fun and exciting, and maybe he can even fall in love with the sounds of the beys clashing, the audience cheering, the sound of his heart beating in his chest, the laughter from his opponent as they have fun when they battle, the sound of blader dj's voice echoing throughout the stadium

maybe the only time he ever takes off his headphones is when he battles so he can take in every single sound that comes with battling

MAYBE he had never even noticed those sounds before because as a kid all he could hear was the sound of his mother telling him to win, and he realises he missed out on all these interesting unique sounds that he loves so much because he couldn't truly hear them before

maybe he'll be similar to jack in the way that he wants to make art out of battle but in the form of sound rather than a visual piece and definitely nowhere near as crazy (or maybe i could make him crazy but ONLY in battle idk i haven't decided on that part yet)

my notes say he has a metal masters debut in the story but i've just been working on backstory and relations with characters for the time being so i haven't figured out how he ties into the story or anything like that but i'll post about it as i work on it!!

anyways that's all for now!! mono dump was in fact NOT quick but i love this character so much already omg i can't wait to keep working on him

[valeriianz]

I've had this Dreaming The Proposal AU sitting in my drafts for a while. Then @voukkake comes out with this art and I figured it was time to brush off the dust and share what I'd written lol. This is seriously all I'm going to write so if anyone is interested I'm begging you to pick this up. I'm dying to read Dream awkwardly interacting with Hob's family (also @valiantstarlights suggestion that Betty White is Destiny?? ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT). Anyway...

------------------

Dream is about to be deported because his visa application has been denied. He is in the middle of a meeting with his lawyers when Hob, his secretary, pops in the room to inform Dream of a very important phone call and Dream comes up with the insane plan to marry Hob to keep his immigration status.

He gestures for Hob to come over and Hob, clueless, wanders into the room and stands next to Dream, who takes him by the arm and tugs him just a little bit further to stand awkwardly close.

Dream announces their engagement and Hob stands there, shell shocked and feels his mouth moving against his will. That yeah, they are getting married. They are in love, sure. It isn’t until they leave the office, following Dream back to his, that Hob’s brain seems to come back online.

“What just happened in there?”

Dream grouses, head down, already back to his work as if nothing happened. Like he didn’t just use Hob as a pawn in his scheme to get around his denied visa application.

“They were going to make Morningstar editor-in-chief.” Is all Dream says, disdain dripping from every word. He still hasn’t looked up.

Hob stands there, still as a statue. His head is swimming with words, with emotions. Anger, disbelief, betrayal… and a small tiny flicker of undeniable interest that he hastily stomps out.

He manages to put the pieces together rather quickly though, while Dream continues sifting through paperwork.

“This is illegal,” Hob manages to croak out, brows furrowing. 

“Oh, please. The government looks for terrorists, not book publishers.” Dream’s head is still down in his paperwork.

Hob blinks, taking a step up to Dream’s desk. “I'm not marrying you.”

“Sure you are.” Dream sets aside a stack of papers and finally gives Hob his attention. “Because if you don't, your dreams of ‘touching millions of lives with the written word’ are dead.” 

Hob’s jaw drops. That was a line, corny as it was, that he’d used in the panel interview for this job. Three years ago.

----------------------

“Were you not in that room? I could get fined, I’ll go to jail over this. If you want me on this deal, you will promote me to editor.”

Without even glancing up from his phone, Dream scoffs.

“Absolutely not.”

“Well then I guess you’re screwed. Buh-bye.” Hob turns with a flourish and has to bite back a grin at how Dream splutters behind him and grabs him by the arm.

“Fine– fine! Editor.” His face seems to go through the five stages of grief. He drops his hold on Hob.

“And You’ll publish my manuscript.” Hob throws in. In for a penny.

Dream’s brows narrow and he shakes as if he’s physically controlling the urge to stamp his foot.

“Sure. I’ll publish your hack manuscript.”

“Good.” Hob slips his hands in his pants pockets, staring at Dream, deciding on one last nail in the coffin.

“Now do it properly.”

Dream cocks an eyebrow. “Do what properly?”

“Propose. Like you mean it.”

Dream’s entire body seizes up, but he manages not to let it show, distracting himself by slipping his phone in the pocket of his expensive slacks and clasping his hands in front of him.

“Will you marry me?”

“No.” Hob, the arrogant bastard, is visibly biting back a smirk. “Say it like you mean it.”

Dream takes a long, steadying breath through his nose.

“Hob Gadling. Will you–”

“And get on your knees.”

Dream absolutely refuses to decipher the thrill that shoots through his body at Hob’s command. Instead he keeps his mask of irritation and indifference on as he scans the crowd around them. They are still outside the courthouse, and the concrete sidewalk is going to potentially tear Dream’s Hugo Boss black wool pants.

So he carefully lowers himself, scowling as the smirk on Hob’s face only widens as Dream slowly settles onto the ground.

Once he’s as comfortable as Dream’s going to get, he clears his throat.

“Hob Gadling,” he glares at his subordinate from under his lashes. “Will you fucking marry me?”

Hob curls his lips in mock consideration, looking up past Dream’s head. He rocks back on his heels and nods with a forlorn sigh.

“Okay.” He still hasn’t met Dream’s gaze. “Could've done without the sarcasm but it will do. See you at the airport tomorrow.” 

And turns and walks away, leaving Dream to fend for himself on the ground.

[citrineaura]

The identity of "W" and their relationship with Wally...

"W" is the person that Wally has decided to reach out to. If you want to know more about that, check out this theory from last year.

In the awayfrompryingeyes website, I missed a lot of things that seem very obvious now that I'm looking closely.

For starters, the things W is going through are directly linked and unintentionally caused by Wally but we already knew that.

What I didn’t realize is how deeply W is affected by Wally, even to the point of starting to speak like him. For example, at the end of their message on the website, W says, “Don’t forget to wave up high.” At first, this wouldn’t seem suspicious since other members of the restoration team also say this on the main website.

W is affected by everything to the point where they used to erase Wally’s messages and avoid communicating with him through the phone. Eventually, either Wally gained the ability to reach them, or W felt so guilty that they dreamt of him sitting on their bed, holding the phone, waiting for them to answer.

So why would W make sure to say "Don't forget to wave up high"? You'd think at this point they want nothing to do with the show even though they feel like:

Sure, they genuinely need to know what's going on but at the same time they have a severe disgust and fear for all the things afflicting them while trying to figure out the story behind Welcome Home's abandonment. Food for thought. No pun intended.

Next, I had an old theory that the "rot" in Wally’s Home makes it seem like the environment itself is reflective of his emotional state. Back then, I believed it to be like an echo chamber where Wally’s feelings seep into everything around him, including the people interacting with the project.

Although I still kind of believe that, I'm starting to think the tar (also?) comes from the dark influence of Playfellow Workshop, which seeped into Home, the heart of the neighborhood show. W’s attempt to uncover the truth is likely why they started to be affected.

Wally is unknowingly causing harm to W by trying to get them involved using his psychological methods- which is why W is paranoid all the time. I'd even go as far to say they might have a slight trauma bond.

Notice how Wally and Home start to be affected after gaining some sentience? They've always had it, since the narrators interact with the neighbors, but this is more like discovering something they weren't meant to know. Now that W has awareness, their home is fucked as well.

Whatever Playfellow Workshop was doing to establish the show is why everyone is having a hard time (with the exception of Sally, Julie, and Howdy- they don't seem to be badly affected at the moment)

And finally,

W says "If something happens to me, it will be like nothing had happened at all" This sounds like existential dread and the fear of being forgotten. They're saying if something bad happens specifically to them, no one would know. Ironically, that's exactly what happened with Welcome Home. Hardly anyone knew about it before W and their team members made the website. W shares the same fear as Wally; being abandoned or forgotten.

Anyway, I was thinking "W" decided to use that letter as an easy way to identify themselves for us. It could mean two things: Either it's because they're so linked with Wally that they decided W, or W is meant to stand for "Writer" since they wrote this page for us. Choose your pick.

[iknowshocker]

Hooooookay I am reading Hits Different for the first time rn and 😩🤌 I'm literally gnawing at my fists because I'm loving the Parker sibling interactions so much. The twin connections between Jokai and between Luke!Kai and Liv are everything to me. I'm loving your descriptions, from Jokai's conversation at the brink of death, to the layout of their Portland home and Kai's dingy little attic room... Gobbling it all up like a turkey.

I'm dedicating my whole night to reading this. Making a cup of coffee as we speak, bless you for writing my boy Kai so well. Expect more of me screaming in your inbox.

Anyway, onto the ask game: 5, 9, 13, 28!

ahhhh thank you so so much!! <3

if there's one thing i love it's painful family dynamics and i fear we need to look no farther than that tragic af group. i could write a dissertation on the parkers alone. so it was really important to me to explore all of those relationships and give everybody the space to deal with what they went through so that it didn't feel OOC for them to move forward together in the end.

navigating kai's complicated disaster of a mind brings me so much joy, you don't even know. the fact that they cut off his growth in canon disappoints me to this day.

omgggg i can't wait to hear how you like the ending!! <3

ask answers under the cut:

5. What's something you learned while researching this fic? Without spoiling anything, Kai takes the heretics over to France and they go to a town called Lille. my lovely friend @nevereverthem suggested it and helped me figure out to utilize the location. I LOVE using real locations in my work so this was a lot of fun to do!

I'm also always trying to use my knowledge of craft when I can - so any use of magical herbs, holidays, etc. comes from my personal research

9. How did you get into writing fanfiction? I've been a writer my whole life, but the first fic i ever posted was back in 2014 for sasusaku. I had been out of the naruto fandom for a few years but then we were given a weak ass ending and i simply had to fix it lol

I've also written for zutara and dramione, although those works never manage to hold my attention for very long and i end up using them more as exercises in between my own stuff. (but i'm sure you can see i have a type in ship dynamic lmao)

i rewatch tvd s6 every october, and last year the bonkai fixation just came back with a vengeance. I wrote the first draft of my original work last spring and then got swept into writing Hits Different because I wasn't ready to let go of them yet - and now here we are <3

13. Do you have an 'official' creative writing background such as a degree or previous experience publishing? I do! I majored in theatre performance and minored in English and Creative Writing.

I'm currently working on querying my original bonkai work which will (hopefully) be an 8 book fantasy series inspired by bonkai and the parkers.

28. What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with? Oof, bestie, did you get to chapter 24 yet?

i don't want to spoil anything but i had a lot of fun taking canon events and going: now what if kai and bonnie were in that scene? It was great to prove how easy it would have been to center bonnie/the gemini's in the plots of s7-8 the way they so clearly should have been.

in general a lot of my work both fanon and original deals with grief, childhood trauma and mental health, which is one reason why kai means so much to me as a muse character. i end up working through my own stuff with him (or my kai coded mmc) more than i'd like to admit, lol

thank you so much for stopping by!! <333

[princess-of-the-corner]

Thinking more about Headshot AU with less wish fulfillment:

So Chloe does still go to Lila's extract the money from her and then basically wants to eat, obsess over her circumstances and crash. Lila's trying to figure out the shift in Chloe going from drugged up horse to very driven and slightly rabid wolverine but needs time.

I think Chloe would still have the idea to pursue a Miraculous cos she doesn't know or have any other defenses against Hawk Moth or Ladybug and while it may take a bit for her to get there. The fact neither villain or hero have used Sentimonsters means its likely still in the wind and thus her best source is either Adrien or Felix.

Not ideal given one is in London and the other behind highly advanced security via the worlds most extreme yet neglectful helicopter parent, but she'll work with what she's got.

Note: I imagine she thinks its more likely to be Felix, but given Ladybug just cracked her skull open, among other things, she's not taking anything for granted.

Thus, its still time to go to school the next day, working to avoid reporters and dragging Lila with her like a rather stunned fox that isn't sure where their former chicken-dinner is going with this.

Cue a stilted apologies to Caline, IE, wasn't herself to extreme, let's just get this school year over with, etc, which is awkwardly accepted.

Miracle-Class as discussed are tired and feeling generally uncomfortable, they hate Chloe but that was still fucked up.

Sabrina in this version however would basically be clinging to Chloe again because of the horror of it all. Buoyed by Chloe's stilted "Not myself" apology. This is a threat to Lila's influence so she's pushing in a bit and its like, low key tense between the pair while Chloe's still keeping them both at arms length due to paranoia.

The main stand out interactions would be Marinette and Alya's arrival who look as wrecked as Chloe should. Chloe's at first super tense before noticing the ear rings Alya's wearing and relaxing just a little, but its very much a 3 people with no right words trying to say something and failing moment.

Note: At this point Lila's largely deduced what was wrong with Chloe. IE Magically drugged up for months and now fixed.

Zoe's arrival is also noted but its accompanied with, after seeing if Chloe is all right in a conversation that is a whole other kind of awkward. (Chloe kind of forgot Zoe was even in Paris but its all coming back to her now) its followed with a warning her parents are arriving.

Chloe dips to hide under Bustier's desk just in time for the pair to storm in arguing up a storm with one another. Allegedly they are there to look for their missing daughter. But that doesn't even last two sentences before they are back at each others throat and Zoe's efforts to make them behave like not terrible people fails:

Andre: Be a dear Zoe, we can't have people thinking I'm anything less than an exceptional father, it would make me look bad. Audrey: You are a pathetic excuse for a father, you couldn't even raise my imbecilic clone to dodge properly, I'd do much better. Andre: Oh you're an expert on dodging Audrey, you dodge your duties as a wife, a mother- Audrey: See that's what it always comes back to with you, you and your petty insecurities!

Lila: I got a text from Chloe, she's hiding out at Adrien's! Audrey: Hah, victory is mine! Andre: Like hell it is! (Shoves) Both: (Race off)

Chloe emerges from behind the desk and mechanically marches back to her desk, "Good work" Muttered under her breath as she returns to glaring a hole in the wall and Bustier 'tries' to help them all move on from that.

I think Chloe's conversation with Adrien would be pretty similar to previous submissions, but it'd be pulling double duty. IE, she's talking with him, Lila & Sabrina were set to the task of inspecting his bag to look for the Peacock, though neither know "what" they are looking for.

Zoe catches them but is kind of confused as to what Chloe's even gunning for when after getting the picture of its contents (Plagg's in Adrien's pocket) she tells them to just put it back because Adrien clearly doesn't have "it".

Not sure what follows, could be Chloe bailing for London, or stumbling on Zoe, Lila & Sabrina arguing:

Zoe: She and I can now see how empty Audrey & Andre are, I'm not going to let my sister wind up as your plaything! Sabrina: y- Yeah, you made everything worse for Chloe, for everyone!

Lila: Oh, mwa? That's rich, coming from the sister who betrayed her to get in with the popular kids and the 'friend' who couldn't see her mind was being destroyed in real time.

Lila's mostly just trying to piss them off and make them feel guilty. She could slip here & imply she knows who HK is, or it happens after Chloe gets the Peacock, not sure which, your thoughts?

I'm just imagining that Chloé is talking to Adrien and meanwhile the other three are looking in Adrien's bag and just having a staring contest with Plagg who is mid-cheese swallow and connecting the dots.

Well Sabrina and Zoé are connecting the dots because they know what a Kwami is and Zoé met Plagg back when she got to be Kitty Noire. Lila has no idea what the fuck Plagg is

Also yeah Chloé thinks that Felix is a more likely candidate for Argos. But she's paranoid af right now and doesn't know what's true and what's facade and so maybe Adrien did go apeshit.

Love Andre and Audrey trying to milk the situation by pretending to be good parents but being so awful at it.

Lila being her own brand of manipulative but also kinda right and hitting their buttons is *chef's kiss*

[fleabagsjoy]

Ok so i just binge-watched Oniisama E (Dear Brother) and i have.... thoughts. And feelings.

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Not super eloquent ones, I don't have any type of degree or formal education on writing or media analysis, i'm just word vomiting what i think and feel without any sources or facts to back it up so i hope that's okay. And i feel like i should preface with the fact that i didn't actually watch the last four episodes because i dreaded having to sit through Kaoru and Mariko ending up with men idgaf about, and instead read a summary of those last four episodes on Wikipedia.

With that being said, i absolutely loved this anime, i had already watched Revolutionary Girl Utena and everyone who enjoyed that one was talking about this anime so i figured I'd give it a try too and i don't regret it at all. The characters, the setting, the ANIMATION, the main plot and subplots (some of which i enjoyed more than others), i enjoyed it all.

I don't want to point out the obvious about the ending, we all know. But i was prepared, went in with the mindset of completely ignoring eps 36-39, specially the "Real Love is Heterosexual Love" speech that it pulls in the last couple episodes, so i'm not that upset by it. I will say that putting "you will only know what true love is when you find a man for yourself" is some twisted, sexist and lesbophobic stuff to put in an anime where Nanako, Rei and Mariko canonically fall in love with girls and whoever came up with that will not be seeing the pearly gates of heaven. And if that wasn't enough, they had to make the girls end up with men because uuhhh i guess they have to! But anyways, i still read the summary of what happened in those last four episodes.

I read a review from 3 years ago by medivhtirisfal that mentioned this and i'm so glad i'm not the only one but this really reminds me of a series of books that i used to collect when i was younger about an all girls boarding school and all types of adventures and mischief they got up to (the St. Clare's series) and i guess part of me always craved more of that. Oniisama E scratched that itch i suppose, i'll always crave all female casts and to see interactions and relationships that form between them, all types of relationships really: sisterhood, platonic, romantic, sexual, healthy, toxic, simple, complex... women stories matter! And i love when they're the center and backbone of the plot.

Now back to the actual anime. I haven't read the manga yet, don't think i will for a while even though i do like the mangakas artstyle from the few panels i've seen. But like i mentioned, Oniisama E reminds me of those books i used to collect, it's a string of events that happen during the first school year at an all-girls academy of our main character Misonoo Nanako.

It was very satisfying to see Nanako be a bit more submissive when everything and everyone was new to her vs. becoming more confident in her decisions and standing up for herself and others she cares about later on. She was always very caring for others, but i do feel like she let herself be shoved around in the first few episodes so seeing her stand up for Rei against Fukiko and quit the Sorority because of her loyalty not just to Mariko, but to herself and her values, made her one of my favorite characters. Also who can't relate to falling in love with Rei... Asaka Rei was undoubtedly one of the reasons that got me to watch the anime.

I gotta prepare myself before i write a paragraph for her because wow... too much to unpack. I can't elaborate better than some other Asaka Rei understanders about the intricacies of witnessing her own mother take her life in front of her daughter, after telling her to protect and take care of Fumiko, and how that pressure of committing to her mother's final wish lead to Rei's confusion of feelings for her own sister, devoting her everything to her, even her life. I suspect never dealing with the loss of her mother properly is what lead to Rei's severe depression and inability to understand all types love and bonds that she could have with other people, seeing Fukiko as her beginning and end from that moment.

Needless to say that, as much as i wanted her to realize this and free herself from this torment so she could deal with her trauma properly, she had to do it by herself so she could gain some sense of self and build an identity outside of someone she worshiped for so long and SPECIALLY before getting into a relationship with anyone (r.i.p. nanakorei). She's the most tragic character in this story to me, all of this started at a very young age and she had no way to get out of it and when she got close to that, the plot decided to say NOPE. NO CHANCES OF A HAPPY ENDING FOR YOU. Bottom line is: she desperately needed therapy. Veeery early on.

I have to follow up with Ichinomiya Fukiko, a really toxic and abusive teenage girl with too much power over the other girls at school, she lives in a bubble built for incredibly rich people (as do many of the other characters), leader of the Sorority (an academy "elite club"). One of the best things about shoujo ai like this is that all female characters are so fleshed out and have so much to give to the viewers and Fukiko is no exception. I will say that i fail to see a character that has so much (negative) impact on most of the other main characters as she was very often abusing/taking advantage of/humiliating others.

It's definitely because of her upbringing but she always bottled up her feelings to keep up a façade of composure, with Nanako's constant defiance, after confronting her feelings for Henmi and her relationship with Rei, as well as after the abolition of the Sorority, we gradually got to see different sides of her. She's... complicated. Not an evil mastermind or anything, her attempts of sabotage seemed very desperate adn half-hearted, but she could still be very cruel and take advantage even of people she claimed to love. Still, Fukiko was one of the main driving forces of the story and i can always appreciate a character like that.

Of course that leads me to Orihara Kaoru! She is probably one of the most consistent characters in the anime, loyal, determined and resolute, very sure of where she stands, oh my god... i'd crush on her so hard too if i was one of the girls at the academy. I loved the relationship she had with Rei, the soulmateism was off the charts, they had an incredibly intimate bond that no one could replicate and, besides Nanako, i felt for her the most when Rei passed away. I'm pretty sure her having to face the past between her and Henmi was also a big part of her character but again, i really don't wanna witness how that ends so i'm not gonna elaborate too much on what happens in the last four episodes, which is unfortunate because i'm sure a lot of her own development as a character happens in those but whatever...

I didn't expect this when i started Oniisama e but Shinobu Mariko is my favorite character!! It took a while for her to grow on me but i love her a lot. Mariko is mostly known for the misandrist lines (which... real) and i appreciate that she never really changed that (until #those episodes but i won't consider them strictly canon for my sake), but she had such a great story arc with facing her loneliness and facing the problems she had with her parents. I'm no psychologist but BPD is heavily implied and from what i've seen by other fans with BPD, a lot of symptoms were shown throughout the anime, which i appreciate since Mariko wasn't villainized and was instead shown as someone with her own issues with boundaries and relationships at first but that she could manage and balance in a healthier way later on... it's not something you can easily see in anime, specially not from this time. I was really happy when Mariko, Nanako and Tomoko became a great friend trio who could rely on each other halfway through, another testament to her character development.

Tomoko was one of my favs as well! A lot of other characters were very interesting and had important moments in main characters arc like Misaki and Henmi. It's been a while since i've seen an older shoujo but the animation and editing was fascinating to me, very gorgeous, over the top sometimes but we need that! What happened to that! Anyways it's very beautiful, i appreciate it. The intro song will stick with me too and the damn Academy bell... Very melodramatic, but very fun, it's a hit for me!

I'm still grieving Rei so i can't really face anything that happened in eps 33-35. We're past making the lesbians suffer, NANAKO AND REI DESERVED THEIR DATE ON THE BEACH!!

I fear i will be upset by that for the time being but hey, that's what fanfiction is for.

[browniefox]

2024 Fic Wrap-Up

Another year, which means another year of writing!

Most Popular (Kudos)

The Pines Paradox - Gravity Falls

Ford's research is interrupted by his estranged brother showing up on his doorstep with a kid who claims to be time traveller. Meanwhile in the present, Stan and Mabel try to figure out how to get Dipper back to the right time. There will be secrets revealed, old wounds readdressed, and above it all a one-eyed demon watches with interest. (Previously titled Twins Across Time)

Considering the Gravity Falls resurgance, hardly a surprise! Although it's been a second since I've updated this, I am actually really happy with it and how it's been turning out! It's a lot of fun to write, in no small part because of the love it gets from my sister haha.

Least Popular (Kudos)

And the World was a Graveyard - Trigun Stampede

Meryl notices Vash folding paper flowers. In time, he reveals what he does with them.

Like the last one, this isn't surprising other. I actually think I wrote this last year...? Zine pieces always perform worse once they're actually posted. That being said, though, I still find the concept of this one really cute and I'm glad it's finally out there so someone can read it, even if not many have haha.

Longest Fic

Death Does Not Us Part - FFVII Comp

In the Northern Crater, a year after Meteor with the world just barely beginning to recover, there's a shift in the flow of Mako, a call only certain individuals can hear, and the dead wake up. Angeal just wants to know what's happened since he died. Genesis has amends to make - if he can swallow his pride enough for it. Sephiroth thinks he wants to give destroying the world another go, this time with more support. And Zack mostly just wants to find out what happened to Cloud.

Another fic I want to continue sometime! I had a lot of fun writing this one - getting into the minds of all the Firsts can be a little tricky, but their dynamics are very interesting to mess around with. And of course, I had to shove Cait Sith in there somewhere haha. It's definitely the fic I put the most work into this year - Pines Paradox was more fun, while DDNUP was a bit more serious.

Shortest Fic

After the Rain - FFVII Crisis Core

Too late, Cissnei finds Zack's dead body.

If not for my Trigun fic, this also would've been my least popular fic. Hardly surprising. TBH, not totally satisfied with this one, but I do like that I wrote it. There were a few different ways I think I could've gone, but I liked the idea of Cissnei covering up Cloud's disappearance, just as a final act of good will to Zack.

Personal Favorite

A Spark in the Night - FFXVI

Elwin and Cid meet at the Remembrance Ceremony.

I always struggle with this category bc they're ALL my favorite, but I have to go with my niche ship of Elwin/Cid. In general this fic was a lot of fun to write, particularly exploring Elwin as a character and his thoughts on the bearer system and his sons and how thye play into that. Cid is also fun to write bc it's before a lot of his character development, so I get to plant the seeds of the man he'll become.

Honorable Mentions

I'd say sorry for putting so many fics in this category but it's my post so who gives a shit.

Encore - FFXVI - I write a lot of time travel fics, but this is probably one of my favs, in no small part due to it only being the 'fun' part. It was also a lot of fun to write how each of the dominants change from getting their memories of the future, and start to show how that's already changing the trajectory of the future. (Spectator's View, the companion is also really good. I love outsider POVS of time travel)

Singing the Sound (that You Found for Me) - FFVII - What if you were in a time loop but also weren't aware you were in a time loop at the same time. I love Cait and Reeve, and exploridni ghow the time loop doesn't totally affect Cait was a lot of fun, particularly in showing how the world around Cait changes and how his interactions with AVALANCHE change throughout the loops.

Cloud Watching - FFVII - Pretty high on the 'fics I really really need to update', focusing on how people react to Cloud's 'episodes'. A really fun character exploration, and I do have plans to continue it, but I always get caught up in a different project instead of work on it :P

Meeting Behind Enemy Lines - FFVII - OF COURSE I have to mention this fic! Tbh, I'd almost already want to rewrite, bc it's such a cool concept I don't think I quite did justice? In general, Reeve and Nanaki are in the same building for a long time, and writing them meeting before the events of FFVII is a lot of fun. I think they'd actually manage to get along all right, particularly Nanaki and Cait.

Those Trapped in the Tower - FFVII - Okay okay okay, last one I promise, but nobody write fics about Reeve and Chadley so I will! There's parallels between them and then between Chadley and Cait Sith, and I wish it was explored! Instead it seems like they're just giving Cait's plotline to Chadley whole-cloth :P.

[oneatlatime]

Any predictions for season 3, or are you planning to dive straight in?

You're not the first person who's mentioned s3 predictions, so I'll give it a shot, but I'm really not sure if I have anything to use to make predictions. S2 ended in a very final, end of arc kind of way. Lots of things have been tied up. I don't even know where they're all flying off to. Back to the Southern Water Tribe, since the Earth Kingdom's a bit of a bust? The Fire Nation's out of the question, the Northern Water Tribe probably has mixed feelings about seeing them again, maybe the Eastern Air Temple? Although even that might not be safe, since Aang's travel plans to said temple to meet the Guru were known by various Earth Kingdom generals. And that stupid King.

I think the Fire Nation contingent are going back to the Fire Nation, and I am looking forward to a Zuko with eyes at least somewhat open interacting with FN citizens/nobles/military etc. who are still completely drinking the kool aid. I think it's going to suck for Zuko. Should make for good TV though. Lots of conversations where both people are saying entirely different things while thinking they're talking about the same thing.

I said it before, but I'm worried for Iroh. He's for sure arrested, but is he going to be executed? Obviously I don't want that, but unless Iroh still has enormous popular support, and the Firelord's grasp on power is incredibly shaky, I don't see how permanently eliminating a traitor (from a FN perspective) can be avoided. Then again. Kids' show.

As for the Gaang? In broad strokes, Aang still needs to learn firebending to fully Avatar himself, then he needs to defeat the Fire Lord (who is quite the homebody apparently - seriously, where is this guy?). So next season Aang will shake off his lightning hangover, find a firebending teacher, defeat the firelord. He'll probably have to commute to the Fire Nation to find the Fire Lord first. No idea what he'll do in between those things. Perhaps inadvisable shenanigans? That would be in character. His biggest story arc all series has been learning to accept his status as Avatar, but between his talks with the Guru and opening his last Chakra in the finale, I think he's done it. So all that's left is the main plot and goofiness.

Katara has the same problem she had going into S2 - she's mastered waterbending, so she needs a new conflict/arc. S2 answered this demand by... having her hang around? What did Katara do this season? Bend a bunch, set up camps, tear down camps, wreck Jet, support Aang, be nice to Toph that one time, yell at people. I hope she gets something meatier in S3. I still think she should meet some good FN citizens that challenge her morals.

Sokka was also kind of just there this season, although if I'm being mean I'll say that he was also kind of just there for S1 too, which is why it doesn't feel as odd as Katara's lack of purpose. I loved his stuff with Suki. Suki is officially the glow up of the season. I loved their interactions together, and I love the growth she poked him into doing. I'd like to see more of that. So less a prediction and more of a hope: S3 Sokka develops the ability to rely on/trust others (or maybe realises others can be relied upon/trusted is more accurate), hopefully with Suki somehow involved. And I loved his dad too. I want to see more of that guy, but since a cardinal rule of kids' stories is getting rid of the authority figures asap, it won't happen.

Toph. Honestly I'm stumped. She already broke the universe. Where can she go from there? Unless she's going to devolve into an antagonist, which I absolutely don't want, I don't see how she can top her S2 plot. And Aang's got earthbending down, so I guess she'll be like Katara was this season: tagging along. Not that I'm complaining; I love me some Toph in any form. We have seen that she wants to make peace with her parents, sort of, probably? Or at least give them another shot? But I kind of don't want her within 100 miles of her parents. So I don't know.

Appa & Momo will hopefully be tagalongs in S3 too. I learned my lesson this season about wanting the animals to have character arcs.

I guess the antagonist in S3 will be the Fire Lord, finally. Who else is left? Zhao tried, he died. Azula tried, she won. Unless S3 has an Azula rematch. But would she want that? She's already proven that she won. She can go home and enjoy the spoils of her victory (which may or may not include Zuko - I'm kind of unclear on exactly how much agency Zuko is going to have in the FN, especially since I'm not actually sure that he has permission to be there as a free man - didn't the arrest warrant Azula was executing in episode 1 list both Zuko and Iroh?)

There's nothing left for the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, so I doubt they'll go back there. Frankly it's the FN characters who have roots there. I wonder what will happen to Iroh's tea shop? I wonder if his investors will find out who he is? I wonder if money talks louder than national loyalty? (It's the Earth Kingdom - the answer is yes) Wouldn't it be funny if Iroh busted out of imprisonment and went right back to serving tea? And everyone sent to find him would be thinking "this is the famed tactician the Dragon of the West - he's probably travelling the FN plotting a coup as we speak. That devilish mind of his must have safe houses set up all over the nation." When actually he's right back where he got caught, doing exactly what he was doing when he got caught, to great and not-very-quiet acclaim?

I think S3 might have an overall darker tone too, within the bounds of a kids' show. I don't know what place Ba Sing Se occupied in the mind of the average person in the Avatar universe (although refugees seemed to revere it), but the city's fall to the FN represents a very big FN victory. The Gaang will probably be the most underdoglike in S3. S1 was mostly stalemate, then a big FN defeat. S2 was opened with the FN taking Omashu and closed with them taking Ba Sing Se. The FN have never been in a better position, and I bet the NWT is safe from further invasion only until the FN have built their fleet back up. So even the few free areas could have an expiry date on their freedom.

This is rapidly devolving into rambles, so I'll conclude by saying I have no clue what's going to happen next season, and that's exciting.

[gra93fruit-blog]

Bathtime- Fluffurary 2025 edited version

Hey Guys, this ones a little different narrative style wise, as in I completely switch mid way through, I will fix this tomorrow, but for now enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who interacts, you make my week!

Last but not least I'm leaning towards going more romantic with these two, what do you guys think? I'm also thinking of switching away from the 'internet post style' and into a more narrative style. I'm having issues keeping up the post tone.

Warnings:

Baths, Nudity, let me know if I've missed anything.

Bath/Kiss -Fluffurary 2 2025

So Domtrects clothing arrived yesterday. I got him a couple of hoodies, some plain t-shirts and some sweats and plain jeans. I ordered most of them from a Blood Angel on Etsy, the Emperors Children line stuff has not come in yet, but should be here around next week, I think. Overall I bought 3 outfits, I tried to choose colours that he could mix and match and that would all look nice together, mainly blues and reds and greys, as they seemed to be the colours he gravitated towards for his nest. I did throw in a bit of yellow and some just plain black, just in case.

I was originally planning to offer him both clothing options at the same time. But as I wandered past him while he was doing something to one of my cupboards, I caught another whiff of him, and decided it was well past time to get him out of that body glove.

So I went and make sure the front curtains were pinned shut, which might seem like a bit of an over precaution, but I live and work with the same 30 people. I’ve had people comment on when I move my living room plants around, let alone the blanket fort Domtrect created. I don’t really want my co-workers to spectate me scrubbing down Domtrect.

While Domtrect was still distracted I also laid his clothes out in the nest, and slipped into the kitchen to I set a couple of big pots of water to heat up, and snag two of my largest bowls. Then I went to get my towels, cloths, soaps, a shower bombs, lotion, and some peppermint oil.

Armed against the stink I carried my bounty down stairs. I could have just given him his clothes and hoped for the best but I figured it's not really worth getting him to change into a new set of clothes if he was still his smelly self. There’s no way for him to comfortably use the bath yet, so a bird bath would have to do. Which will probably be how I manage this until I buy an Astartes sized new tub, and Domtrect finishes reinforcing the bathroom.

I then carefully folded and rolled away a parts of the nest until my floors were revealed once more, and then covered the space with towels. Domtrect of course, noticed me messing with his carefully curated nest immediately. He can be surprisingly quite when he wants to be and almost gave me a heart attack by creeping up behind me and asking if I "did not like the floor cover." Which of course caused me to jump roughly a mile. and turn to face him as he lurked in the doorway.

Domtrects English has been getting better these few weeks but i did not think he was quite at full sentences, and when I turned on him he looked incredibly pleased with himself, hos lips curling into a faint smile as wandered further into the nest, obviously inspecting my poor replacement job.

I ended up complementing him on his English, and telling him I had a surprise for him, which got quickly derailed when I had to explain what surprise meant. I made sure to tell him I'd move everything back when I was done, Which he got a bit grumpy about and let me know that he would move everything back, thank you very much.

He then sat cross legged next to the soaps and started sniffing them experimentally, before humming a little and delicately placing it back down. While he was exploring the soaps I went and filled the bowls with the hottest water possible and brought it down. Domtrects pale blue eyes watching my curiously when ever I was in sight.

When I came back Domtrect was waiting in the nest, he had sat the supplies down in orderly rows on the coffee table, , Pierogi, curled up on his lap. Nugget lurking in the corners supervising.

I warned him that the cats probably would not like this next bit and delicaly shooed Pierogi to the door, ignoring his pleas to be let back inside again. Then I made sure you could not see from outside, and told him that he really needed a bath, again. Domtrect gave me an affronted look again and opened his mouth to argue, but I gently put my hand on his shoulder and spoke over him, explaining how I had some nice clothes for him, but he should probably be cleaner before putting them on. I then sweetened the deal by promising to read to him in the nest tonight, instead of my bed, which eventually won his cooperation.

Domtrect ended up asking for help to removed the body glove, his suit has a seam in the back, and I don't think he has the shoulder flexibility to fully pull it down himself. He stunk under the suit and I could only imagine how itchy the suit must be. Once it opened past his mid back, Domtrect took it upon himself to remove the whole garment, moving the rest of it himself, and sitting on the pile of towels I had gathered next to the bowl.

Now, I’m not body shy, and have never minded nudity, but Domtrect has me beat in that department. There was absolutely no hesitation of shame as he stripped, seeming not to mind at all that I was still there. I think he took some one helping him bathe as a matter of course almost. Which makes me really wonder where they come from, you know? Domtrect was positively zen with the experience.

I took a moment to blink, then viciously forced my self to stop staring at the how many scars littered his body, and the sheer amount of hair, that somehow came as a surprise. Then I got to it starting on his arms and torso. I have worked in care homes before so giving some one a bath is not something I am unfamiliar with.

Normally when I had to bathe people it was very matter of fact, professional and brisk, depending of course on the individual I was helping. Helping out Domtrect did not feel professional, but before you get excited internet, it was not steamy either. It was just incredibly comfortable and relaxed.

Domtrect was the most cooperative person I have ever bathed, he would move and help me where he could but seemed to be more interested in closing his eyes, and enjoying the bath. He took to leaning on me when convenient, kinda like big dogs do when they are pleased. I think that it helped that we were standing in a blanket in soft warm light and the furnace was basking, which kept everyone warm.

When I got to his shoulders neck and hair, the weight he leaned on me caused me to stumble a bit, not that Domtrect seemed inclined to sit up himself. Here's where things started to get a bit weird, I swear that he started purring. I don’t mean metaphorically either, I mean literal actual purring, I could feel it rattle up from his chest, as I worked on scrubbing the dead skin from his shoulders. I'm not sure how long he was in the body suit but it must have been super itchy.

The purr was more of a deep rumble then something Nugget or Pierogi would produce. Domtrect had a few false cracking starts before he got a steady deep rumble going. Particularly when I scrubbed along his spine and the base of the metal ports. I ended up washing his back and neck for much longer then I needed to, just to listen to the purr ratchet up.

By far his favourite part was when I washed his hair though, going slack and boneless as he almost knocked me over with his slump. I also spent more time washing his hair then was strictly needed, but he seemed to enjoy it and I figured if he likes it it will be less of a fight to get him to bathe next time. When I eventually had to rise his hair, it was quite the negotiation to get him to lean forward over the bowl instead of back on to me. But I manged it, and though his purring grew quieter it did not stop as I rinsed his hair off.

By now the water was getting cold, and the next logical section to clean was a delicate area, so I used the translator to tell him I was getting the warm water from the kitchen, and that he should probably take the opportunity to clean up his delicate area.

Domtrect reluctantly let me go, and I pottered around the kitchen long enough to give him some privacy to wash his bits before returning with the bowl refilled with steaming water. I then stole the one he was and refilled that one as well.

From there we finished washing him in no time, keeping up a quite little purr though most of it. I also convinced him to let me add some moisturizer on top of everything.

As I rubbed the lotion into his hands his purring ratcheted up another notch and, I ended up giving his knuckles a quick kiss, like some cheesy knight. I would have probably collapsed in embarrassment if Domtrect had not reached out and pulled me closer to him to rub nuzzle into my neck. We kind just sat there a while before it occurred to me that Domtrect was probably getting cold, and my sweat pants were sticking uncomfortably to my self.

“So which one do you want to change into?” I asked stepping back a little, and gesturing to the clothes. Not quite sold on wandering over to them, just yet. Domtrect rolled his head up and then almost lazily reached for his body glove. Which, was slightly insulting. I had just spent a significant amount of time makinf sure he could comfortably change clothes here. But to my vicious satisfaction, as he brought it closer to himself he wrinkled his nose a little and looked at me aghast.

I let him know that that was the smell I had been living with for a while now. Domtrect sighed expansively before reluctantly standing up and wandering further into the nest to inspect his new clothes. He pet each article, picking them up and inspecting them completely before choosing to dress in a loose pair of grey sweat pants, and a loose undershirt that was blue. They fit fairly well and he neatly folded the rest, leaving them at the edge of the room to be picked up on the way out.

I think Domtrect was more relaxed then I have ever seen him he almost seemed to smile as he sorted the clothes into different bundles. Then he came and helped me clear the bath stuff out, glaring faintly at the wound I had put in his master piece, as I moved all the damp towels, putting them by the stairs for the laundry.

I attempted to help him put everything back in its place, but Domtrect was having none of it physically picking me up and telling me to find a book, when I tried, grumbling faintly under his breath as he rearranged the blankets cushions. I went and got the book we were working through and finally freed the cats from their cruel exile.

I watched Domtrect meticulously reconstruct what I had so rudely deconstructed, I crossed to the room, stepping up onto for the large soft platform that Domtrect liked to lounge on. I think it is the old mattress he stole earlier stacked on unused pallets and wardrobes. Domtrects joined me not shortly after and we read for a while, I was still in my gross damp clothes, but ended up actually falling asleep there.

When I woke up Domtect had pulled me to his side, while carefully and slowly moving his hand toward Nuggets, who was curled on my belly, her disdain filled eyes staring at Domtrect, almost daring him to come closer. Domtrect got two gentle pets in before Nugget abandoned me for quieter napping spots, making sure to send Domtrect a few glares before her left.

Domtrect was incredibly smug the next morning. But in the end the stinky marine is stinky no more!