#ddr afterlife

[adaru32]

The Red Devil's Chronicles - Devil May Cry March & April 2025 News Updates: Interviews, Netflix, PGR, etc.

Hey there, how’s it going? Here are the latest Devil May Cry news updates I’ve gathered:

1. Hideaki Itsuno and Hideki Kamiya had a panel together, talking about their job roles in gaming.

2. New Dante acrylic stand from Capcom.

3. DMC4 Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi admits to what gaming companies’ goals are nowadays.

4. Reuben Langdon talks Devil May Cry once again in an interview. b) Speaking of Reuben, he’s still waiting for that call to be back in Devil May Cry. c) Turns out he finally got that role for that PGR X DMC mobile game, along with Dan Southworth returning as Vergil.

5. Johnny Bosch also talks Devil May Cry in a new interview.

6. Presslee’s fan game’s planned on being released soon.

7. Now for all the Netflix-related updates: a) I feature in 2 parody vids by RealNeroRedgrave where in this 1st one, I’m the Barbie-looking gal with the baby. b) And Lady in this other one. c) V-Tuber Netflix Dante. d) V-Tuber Dante attempting to sing Evanescence’s Afterlife song. e) Evanescence’s Amy Lee gets her own dakimakura pillow of Netflix Dante. f) Merch available. g) Adi Shankar dresses up as Dante while attending a wrestling event. h) And meet a couple wrestlers. i) Behind the scenes of one of the animators. j) Behind the scenes of how Dante’s DDR dance was made. k) Concept arts of Dante. l) Lady m) White Rabbit n) Misc 1 o) Misc 2 p) Tynah on Twitter/X made a custom Netflix Dante figure. q) Season 2 has already been announced. r) Evanescence’s Afterlife music video shows a sneak peek at Season 2. s) Casey Edwards confirms he’s making music for Season 2.

My Thoughts On These Updates:

1. It’s nice to see the 2 Devil May Cry directors coming together to talk about their roles and goals. Would be awesome if they can collab but knowing them both and from what they’ve stated there, it’s best if they direct separately.

2. Nice that Capcom’s still coming out with Devil May Cry merch.

3. It’s too bad what the gaming industry’s become nowadays...There are still great games being made out there, but the marketing and developing aspect of it’s really gone downhill. At the same time, that title for that article there was kinda click-baity ‘cause it talked more about Japan’s stance on localization changes more than what the title and what I stated earlier.

4. That was a very nice interview, and is awesome that Reuben finally got a Dante role again, along with Dan Southworth as Vergil. So that thing Dan was talking about last year at that Power Rangers panel was either about the PGR game, or his role in Ninja Gaiden 4. Kinda funny how Reuben mixed up DMCV for DMC6 there in the interview as well, heheh.

Aside from that, though...I apologize that I’m bringing something bad up here, but I need to let this out...It’s regarding the questionable activities Reuben’s been displaying on social media as of late…I know the guy’s had controversies before, but I feel like most of these controversies have been misunderstandings due to the character limitations on Twitter/X that can make one explain things poorly, and how people’s mindsets and emotions get messed up when it comes to political stuff. Just what he’s been displaying lately has me concerned and taken aback, though...I would give my full opinion about the matter, but I don’t want to overstate things here. So if you have any questions about this, you can either leave a comment or DM.

5. Also a nice interview with Johnny Bosch there. Looking forward to his future Devil May Cry stuff (and Trigun)

6. Was wondering what was going on with PressLee’s project there...Curious on how it’s gonna turn out.

7. Hoo-boy…Where to start when it comes to the Netflix stuff? Well, I’ve given my review already on here about my thoughts on it. Despite me liking it, it definitely had some rough edges that needs smoothing out.

- It was an honour being part of a couple parody vids. It’s not very often that I do voice stuff anymore due to lack of privacy and such. One of my dream jobs is to get into voice acting, but is tough when you lack privacy and live out in an area too far away from an actual recording studio.

- V-Tuber Dante’s a neat idea, but...IMO kinda weird and cringe too...Sorry…

- Some of the topics given about what’s stated here in these news updates I don’t really wanna give my feedback on ‘cause I can’t come up with things to say about them other then “funny”, or “nice”, or “cool”...I apologize...

- It’s interesting how we’re already getting Season 2 stuff announced and such. Seems like we’ll be getting it quicker than expected, and kinda explains why it took so long for them to release this series. Hoping for the best out of this next season.

[rarepair-haven]

thoughts on the 3 ships? also do you know what these ships are called?? with reap and fatal i went with system crash but i got nothing for the other two.. fatal error x reaper (in my head canon fatal error was the first geno that reaper fell for but lost cause maigc, im still working on that one..) dance x tone and lastly outer x sci?

you all are wonderful beans thank you so much just for being here! no rush on this tho if youre busy.

Fatal error/reaper I don’t currently have a name for so if someone knows one or can suggest a quick and easy to remember one go ahead and comment or send an ask with it! I think they’re cute in a romcom way. Like one of those tropes that’s like “my wife turned into a vampire/zombie/werewolf and I love her anyways” but instead of angst it’s just reaper following after him with flowers and gently untangling coding from Fatal’s desperate grasp while speaking on the importance of sending souls to the afterlife and letting things go.

Dance/tone RhythmGame! I actually don’t know anything about tone ngl but I’m obsessed with any ship that has Dance in it and their names go so I’m saying they play DDR together and maybe hold hands

Outer/Sci Astronomy. This is peak alien/scientist who found them. I wish people were more creative with outertale in general than just making it “monsters who live in space and feel complicated about the stars” like give them legitimately cool biology and stuff. Sci would have a field day learning more about outer and in turn outer would have so much random stuff from earth, each with a twenty minute explanation on what it is and how it works and how cool it is

[devilbreaker]

the only good thing coming from the netflix show is afterlife + the ddr scene

[radio-free-beth-sarim]

I'm currently sitting on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. My family has always taken vacations here, and coming here as an adult is basically just me doing all the things I used to do as a kid, but also the things I wanted to because I couldn't... I was a kid. For a long time I just couldn't afford a vacation. I was bound to my job at the cost of my health. And that led to me getting sick when I just wasn't taking care of myself. Being as sick as I was, I wasn't sure I would ever come back here. There was no guarantee I'd recover, and a good possibility I would be dead by now. So I see being here as a triumph on several fronts. I can now afford to take a vacation, and I am now healthy enough to make it here.

Often I would entertain the idea that I was actually dead, watching the world from the afterlife as it just moved on past me. I came back to a world just similar enough to be familiar but different enough to feel like I'm out of place. I felt like a space alien when I tried to swipe my debit card at the supermarket the first time and they told me to tap. And I was just like "that works?"

I told the cashier I was "gone for a while" and they gave me a strange look. I can only imagine they thought I was just out of prison. I tell people now that "I spent five years dead for tax purposes" and that usually gets either a laugh, or a stranger look than the implication I was in prison. A win for me either way.

But returning to places after the passage of such time is bittersweet no matter the circumstances, and being on the Ocean City boardwalk is a good feeling but one that carries a twinge of sadness.

Arcades have always been my happy place. From the Dundalk skateland that had a Darkstalkers machine and an MVS cabinet to Aladdin's Castle where I spent so much money playing DDR, I always felt so at home and comfortable in those spaces. So being back at the boardwalk for the first time in so long, I had to go to the arcades here. I walked along the boardwalk, and man, it's different but in all of the important ways nothing changed. The weird t-shirts. The Thrashers fries. They're selling deep fried oreos now which I am sure is delicious, but the things that would do to my intestinal tract make me cringe in horror.

I stopped at just about every arcade on the way. All of them left me disappointed that they weren't like what I remember. It's all ticket games, coin pushers, or claw machine variants. If they're actual video games they're reworked versions of old school games like frogger or space invaders, or mobile games. I don't mean to sound all boomer about this, like these kids just don't know, that's not what I am complaining about. I saw a lot of kids having a ton of fun, and it was so good to see. The laughter and joy was a delight, and being in such a place is a wonderful experience. Somewhere among those kids is someone building those core happy memories that will make them love the place like I did. Arcades are an important space where, as the great Charles Entertainment Cheese once said, a kid can be a kid. And going to an arcade makes me feel like a kid again.

But being there was also a stark reminder that I am no longer young. The arcades I remember are out of fashion. Those games are niche now. They don't make it to America often, let alone the Ocean City boardwalk. I made it to Sportland, one of the arcades I went to most frequently. I saw more of the same coin pushers and ticket machines. The place changed. Of course it had. Everything changes. But I mourned those days. In a way I was mourning my youth. I found a single neglected Tekken 3 machine and made my Person play me in a first to five. They 5-0'd me. That's how bad I am at Tekken, I got 5-0'd by someone that doesn't play fighting games. But it was fun, and they were a good sport. I also let a kid beat me in Mario Kart, so that was cool. The kid had to be like 10-12. He was happy, and that made me feel good. I won my Person a weird sonic plush, too. I had a good time! A great time! But as I walked out of Sportland with that bittersweet feeling in my chest, I looked over at Marty's Playland, THE arcade I used to spend most of my time at, and I couldn't bring myself to go in. I need it to be just the same as I remember, even though I know it isn't. I need there to be a place unchanged by time, exactly as I remember it, even if it exists only in my mind. And I know that's not reality anymore.

Maybe this is what W.B. Yeats meant when he wrote "There is no country for old men."

But I saw a kid in an Electric Wizard shirt so there is definitely hope for the future somewhere.

[cy-berbyte]

Oh yeah and speaking of Mario, here’s a character I’m currently brainrotting over.

Boogie (It/They). Super laid back Bomb Boo who runs a villain discotech.

~*Assortment of Boogie Bullet Points*~

- “Rose” from the dead in a haunted mansion in the desert. Followed orders from a Boohemoth that ran the house and lived a very restless afterlife.

- Seeking escape from their cramped home and never wanting to take orders from anyone again, they flew as far away as they could from the mansion and tread the world alone

- Founded and built a small shack which eventually grew and became the Haunted Nights, a trendy, posh nightclub meant for villains and misfits alike. For anyone that rejected the norm and wanted to live freely, to the extremes or not.

- Boogie is very much a neutral party, they don’t really care if the world falls into chaos or not. They make their decisions based on what seems like the most fun at the moment.

- It is extremely informative, they pretty much become acquainted to any villain who walks through their doors, friends with villains who frequent the place, and as such, it has a *lot* of intel on what each villain is up to/plotting.

- Extremely good at DDR. Much to everyone’s dismay and confusion.

- Was most likely a human that died and became a boo, because for some reason it just doesn’t feel at all intimidated or submissive towards King Boo. Much to his interest.

Toyhouse link (wip but as soon as finals are over I WANT TO FINISH IT): https://toyhou.se/18405223.boogie

[khodorkovskaya]

tagged by @aandjeo thank you mwah 😘💋

1. Three ships: me and my ex :((

2. Last song: dilo dilo yaylalar bc it reminds me of my ex

3. Last movie: puss in boots! (i saw it in the cinema with my ex)

4. Currently reading: trying to get through immortality by kundera. but it's so hard. im usually quite a fast reader but this god damn book is impossible to get through! it's just kundera's absolutely unhinged fantasies and pseudophilosophical blabbering. like ohhh goethe wears slippers in the afterlife. ohh bertrand bertrand is a funny name lol. ohhh men suck boobies and then they have to smoke cigarettes and if a woman sucks on your fingers during sex it means that she's into orgies. i can't. i want to slap kundera so bad.

5. Currently watching: ive been really into figure skating lately. so i watch anything related to it like documentaries and drama channels like the skating lesson. i started watching a documentary about doping in the ddr. but i couldn't finish it bc they gave the voice-over translators german accents and it made me cringe. but yeah ive been watching mainly figure skating stuff and then anything related to it like documentaries about gymnastics and sports in general.

6. Currently consuming: overpriced oat milk cappuccino that i got for free! the last time i went to this coffee place was with my london bestie and the barista heard us speaking russian so he gave us coupons for free coffee! he was from latvia and id love to be friends with him but the place is so expensive i only go there on special occasions. and i think they raised their prices too bc i also got myself a slice of carrot cake and it was 6 francs!!! im sure it was 5 before, which is already super expensive. but 6 francs for a tiny slice??? outrageous!

7. Currently craving: cuddles with my ex :(

im tagging @yo-cousin-dima @7eyrani @theidesofmaarch @me-sharing-with-the-world @moldavite @littlemisshaleybug @womanifested @desertmother @cinoptik @katoprofen @szelkovica @russianpierrot @chussy @owlservice @vought-thot @tolstayas @meanboysfromkremlin @magnoliamyrrh @girlredactd @samodivas @baltoslav @sestrinstvo 💜

[goldammerchen]

Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.

[about] [ships] [fics] [tags]

aph-tired until may 2022 > tried if i already had mister-ddr, inspired in aph-/hws- urls. only "lurked" for most of the year, until i decided to make some own posts (and write fanfics). feb 2023, changed it for a last time to goldammerchen (little yellowhammer).

favorite or most used time period: post-war/cold war and the after, stopping 10-20 years ago for my sanity. but! my main focus is on characters rather than in mega exact historical accuracy: loosely historical, low fantasy, and meta.

extra: almost no tags! (sorry), i tag ships more than individuals.

How I interpret heta charas existence (+ the "houses")

(Remade) Prussia’s bird possible Species (my hc, obv see the url)

Gil isn't innocent post (+ related)

He was the DDR post (tl;dr + tag)

Navigation for posts like the ones above + custom Gil tag

please Send an Ask if you send a Message! MSG Notifications to this Sideblog rarely* work, probably because i don't use the mobile App.

*they only work in the old tumblr menu? when i'm reporting bots, or iirc also the last time i opened the "create a blog" thingy. btw, besides only using the site on desktop, i rarely use the Dashboard. ofc notifs also work when the bubbles are open (that's why i need a heads up!), but if i have no reasons to keep them open i will close them...

the app i actually have on mobile is discord.

Why are your Hetalia AO3 fics currently on anon? I want to troll surprise my subscribers, while also the progress on my main projects has been slow.

[DW account]

copypasting the fics list post here (same link as above but reblogable):

Fics list [#fanfic tag 🪶] (Fics only sideblog)

Hate me a little and come back to me [AO3], Explicit! PruHun. In progress [More works in that series]

Au pas, au pas, au pas [AO3], GerFra(Ger). Completed + Extra: Cuando tienes dos cabrones de amigos (BTT)

Fotosynthese, CRACK ficlet :), starring Alfred and...

Harvest [AO3] (2/2), Mature or Explicit (idk help) Horror ficlet (Solo Gil)

My #polpruweek2023 5/7 fics [AO3 links]. CWs: Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Religion Mention.

Inevitable [AO3], One-sided GerPru (Blood, Drama, Near Death...)

(I saw this in a dream) [AO3], PruAus, Zombie au.

“a cold war bizarre cooperation” One sided Bela.rus x Russ.ia; Rusprus (yukiusagi). Hints to AmeBela, Rusame (AmeRus), AmeGer. Some ableist language. [AO3].

My #hetahorrorweek 7/7 fics [AO3 links]… A lot of CWs.

A good day in between many bad days [AO3], HRE & Pru Angst and Humor

[Afterlife Idea/WIP, Tumblr only]

going under [AO3], dreamy German bros angst, pay atention to tags.

Thanatos, my Mythalia March fic. FrAus, SpAus, PruAus and more. Explicit! And on going (6/7)

Ghosts [AO3], sad FraPru(Fra)

Playmate (½) [AO3], PolPru Week Day 1, Commonwealth…

The Next Me [AO3], German bros having an argument.

Stolen from a movie [AO3], It happened out of nowhere; not everybody came back.

Follow the Streams [AO3], Neustart (#Cold Boot AU) Spinoff. Pru+HRE, dreamlike.

Träumerei [AO3], more Pru+HRE, different project…

#gerpru week 2024 5/7 fics [AO3 links]

#hetahorror24 7/7 fics [AO3 links]

Same birthday, two decades (2/2) [AO3]

Before The End [AO3], pre-Valentine's Frying Pangle.

Things are changing (and I didn't know) [AO3], Gil living.

(+WIP I don’t know when I’ll bother to write properly)

WIPs List (September 2024)

also: #outlines/drafts 🪶; #fic wips, #fic notes and #fic ideas

Also (talking about wips): One-shot 1 (👻); One-shot 2 (AU); Lud&Gil centric series (+extra / canon-divergence); Historical GDR Prussia centric (90s +post-war flashbacks), and… Everything on anon until I’m done with a fucking Crossover 🤪, that will be polished compared to NGE and CSM ones.

Do I know what I am doing? No.

Will that stop me? No, it hasn’t before. Besides we are talking about He(ll)talia fanfictions (<3), already unhinged (<333), stranger that most other media (+ inherently dealing with some touchy subjects), that’s why the separation. I’m writing what I should have done many years ago so now you will have to deal with me (or not).

[tomopri]

YOUR OCS

Hand them over.

THERE ARE . s o man y .... . here is my oc masterpost except i only realised after i hunted it down that there's like no info for anything . so instead i'll just give a rundown for what each thing is and if any of the synopses intrigue you yr free to ask more ^_^

lobotomy corporation - i think a lot of my active followers know what lobcorp is, but i'll explain it anyways. it's like if you took scp and said "what if it was even MORE fucked up. and stressful." like iirc the game description on steam literally says that it's inspired by scp, cabin in the woods, and warehouse 13 and that is not understating a damn thing . my ocs there are all employees and i think way too hard about puck at all times

tmrwverse - what if the apocalypse was real and also alive? hi. tmrwverse (real name pending) is my original story. completely original? Nnn oo oo . it started off as a danganronpa uni but i'm not into dgr anymore and i wanted to make it its own thing . it's also inspired to a degree by parties are for losers, especially in regards to the way the apocalyptic nightmare entity (known simply as The Calamity) effects the world around it. beyond that idfk what's going on i just know there's necromancy and eldritch gods and half the thing is a weirdcore dreamcore nightmare it's my baby . kuroshi is my everything ever at all

P.A.R.T.S. - what if watch dogs 2 was cyberpunk and dušan was evelyn deavor from the incredibles 2. so yea it's just like this ragtag group of people who are prolific hackers and there's this tech company that has a chokehold over the government and is slowly trying to eliminate all individuality but shirka (evelyn deavor dušan) claims it's all for a good cause and one of my friends called her milfy and i've never been the same. oh also demons are a thing and they are just kinda casually around .

a second chance by way of updog - this one's based on a joke interaction i had with an old friend where they said updog to me and i basically said i'd kill them . Followed by a gif of russell from up ascending w balloons and them saying "me omw to heaven after azazel kills me" and i said "bold of you to assume i'll let you into the afterlife." and so now it's about this dude who's second best at everything named bailey who tells an updog joke to a god named silvanus who happened to be patrolling the street and they immediately strangled him to death and sent him to purgatory and also stripped him of his blue hair which he's ultimately more upset about than the whole being dead thing . but then silvanus gets punished as well for murdering an innocent and then trapping him in purgatory for no good reason and they're stripped of their powers and stuck in purgatory with bailey . then this third dude dies and it's because a dime got dropped on his head from the top of the empire state building, which is actually how bailey was Supposed to die; but because silvanus killed him first, he was ultimately second place to his own murder. and this third dude has been first place in every competition bailey has ever entered (mostly air guitar & ddr) but he is undeveloped. like literally he is a non character. this is intentional. bailey has been losing to what is essentially an unscripted npc. yeah i have a lot to say about this supposed-to-be-a-joke uni.

quando ti ho incontrato / when i met you - i need you to listen to femme fatale by coyote kid and you'll understand my vision . tadeo, main guy, is hopelessly in love with maeva, the classic femme fatale. she's going to ruin his life and he is perfectly content with that. he's a bit like a puppy dog. for some reason this whole story takes place in italy.

the great corpse march to the sea - okay just because i'm not into dgr anymore does not mean i don't like the concept of a killing game. tgcmtts is essentially a fangan except i pretend dgr doesn't exist. all of them have death related careers to some degree Minus cat nemune they are 12 and are not in the death game . one of these guys is a batshit serial killer and has bugs. another is a batshit serial killer but as a doctor. they are in a qpr. there is tragedy to ensue in this game because there are so many people who are family or people in some nature of relationship and it hurts me . this whole story hurts me why do i write the things i do

unlisted, but a practice in being haunted - the most pathetic guy on earth having the worst life of his life after his house becomes infested with ghosts exactly one week after the most traumatic experience he couldever go through so he has not processed it. chaos ensues.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Possibly the single most heavily bombed city on earth is somewhere you’ve very likely never heard of, unless you’re Vietnamese. Vinh, a town on the north side of the Cold War border between South and North Vietnam, was bombed so consistently by the United States air force between the mid-1960s and the early 1970s that by the end, there was almost nothing left — most of its built fabric had long since been destroyed and its residents evacuated, and so the bombs were raining down on nothing but rubble; the insane culmination of the air force’s declared aim to bomb North Vietnam “back into the stone age,” bombing for the sake of bombing, terror for the sake of terror.

But by the early 1980s, the center of Vinh had been completely rebuilt as a series of social housing blocks in parkland, designed by East German architects working on site. This is the story told by the American anthropologist Christina Schwenkel in her book Building Socialism: The Afterlife of East German Architecture in Urban Vietnam.

It is too often forgotten today how much the regularly ridiculed anti-imperialist movements in Europe and North America in the ’60s were motivated by disgust at what was being done to places like Vinh — what Kristin Ross in her book May ’68 and Its Afterlives describes as “the reality at the centre of third-worldism, a reality nowhere mentioned” by the United States’ polite liberal apologists: “the three thousand bombs dropped every minute on Vietnam by the United States for three years.”

But this reality meant something quite specific for those countries — nearly all in the so-called “socialist camp” — which gave aid or arms to North Vietnam in its struggle against the Americans. China, the USSR, Cuba, and the states of Eastern Europe all sent machinery, experts, weapons, and food at various points during the consecutive wars against France and then the United States, but within this they were often keen to prove that they weren’t just giving charity, but something more concrete: solidarity. As Schwenkel points out, the country whose help is most remembered today in Vietnam is one which no longer exists, and is routinely demonized — East Germany.

While Chinese and Soviet advisers were often found to be haughty and imperial, the East Germans built a lasting connection in their projects in Vietnam. They were clearly dedicated — when most foreign “experts” fled as China invaded in 1979 as punishment for Vietnam’s overthrow of the genocidal Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, most experts fled, with only the East Germans and the Cubans insisting on staying.

Schwenkel explores the main built legacy of this alliance, the Quang Trung housing estate in Vinh. It’s unfortunate that her book is marred by excessive academic citations in the current American style, because the story she has to tell, and the research she has undertaken in several years living on the estate, are so much more interesting than whether the buildings prove or disprove the theories of Michel Foucault or James C. Scott. She begins with the horrific “techno-fanaticism” of the US bombing campaigns — extensively documented in the museums of Vinh — then moves from the buildings’ design to their construction to their very swift decline, and the complex way in which they’re seen by residents of the town today. It’s informative, surprising, and often very moving.

Why East Germany? Schwenkel explains that their close involvement had something to do with the North Vietnamese’s identification with the DDR as a small, divided country, lacking the arrogance of the giants like China and the USSR, but also with German experience of terror-bombing by the RAF, constantly stressed in East German propaganda — the link was incessantly made between Dresden and Vinh. She does not romanticize the East Germans — there were Stasi informants among the experts — but she does make clear that the solidarity and enthusiasm were genuine, and were understood as such by their Vietnamese partners. A lapse into casual racism would get an East German expert instantly reprimanded and sent home, a striking and obvious contrast with the conduct of the Americans.

The way the estate in this collaboration was designed — under the slogan “Việt Đức,” (“Vietnam-Germany”) emblazoned as a logo on some of the blocks — was complex, entailing a dialogue that wasn’t always easy between the utopian ideas of the Germans and the Vietnamese need to rehouse and rebuild their devastated town quickly, in a manner that would be at least in some way familiar to its residents. The Vietnamese were always on watch against any lapse into charity. When one German expert wept on seeing the scale of destruction, she was told by her Vietnamese interpreter “we need your solidarity, not your pity. Go home if you are here to cry.”

Quang Trung estate looks superficially like a typical Eastern European concrete panel housing estate of its era — five-story walk-ups, rectangular, in green space with day care centers and schools interspersed with the flats — but was actually built of brick, by a mainly female, rural workforce. Some of the original ideas were dropped, and there was some tension between the Vietnamese planners and the German architects, but the main problem with the estate was how wildly overambitious it was for such a destroyed country, whose basic infrastructure had been torn to pieces.

Food was scarce, so residents kept pigs on their walkways, in bathrooms, and on balconies. Water supply was sporadic, with lower floors much better served. Rubbish collection was so bureaucratically organized that most formerly rural residents ignored it and chucked trash out of the window into the green spaces. Divides emerged between the socially mixed groups in the blocks — mostly workers, but with a large contingent of cultural and political elites. Rather than being celebrated, the blocks are part of what the rare Western travelers now lament as the ugliest Vietnamese city, a depressing stop on the train between Hanoi and Hue.

But Schwenkel is keen to complicate the familiar story of utopia and decline. Looking at one of the most obvious images of dilapidation, for instance, the balcony extensions residents have built onto the five-story flats, she finds an astonishing diversity of different spaces, from computer rooms to bedrooms to even a small poetry museum. Public spaces might not have been used exactly as the Germans imagined they would be, but they are in constant sociable use.

She finds that the blocks remain popular with their original residents — less so with more recent incomers — and that they strongly oppose their privatization. As the estate was a “gift” from the East Germans, they frequently ask, how can it be bought or sold? The place is by now extremely dilapidated and under pressure from developers, but as she ends the book, public pressure has resulted in a more careful mix of rebuilding and renovation. Most recently, she writes, “some advocate valuation of the blocks as a heritage site, similar to Hanoi’s Old Quarter, to commemorate East German solidarity and the built environment that emerged from that period.” Or as one resident puts it, “the issue is not use value, but value to humanity.”

That preservation might be unlikely now. But with the rising interest in recent years in modernist social housing, the architecture of the “socialist world” and the building projects of the non-aligned movement, maybe eventually the time will come when this monument of solidarity is given the respect it deserves, and the way that resistance and comradeship stopped the effort to throw Vietnam back “into the stone age” is properly remembered.

- Owen Hatherley, “International Solidarity Rebuilt Postwar Vietnam.” Jacobin. May 17, 2021.

[ryvswb]

@proximio-5 Asked: "Oh! Oh! Are the Meta and the Freelancers nearby?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*RvB guitar jingle plays as the camera does an overview of Valhalla, until we see Wyoming and Maine crouched together next to a river*

Wyoming, fiddling with something in the back of Maine's head: Hrrrrm. Almost there....argh Maine stop squirming!

Maine, shifting uncomfortably: *growl*

Wyoming: Almost theeeeeere...aaaaannnnnnd...

Wyoming, standing back up, a small storage device in his hand: Done!

Maine, slowly standing up, his legs a bit wobbly: *long, low growl*

Wyoming, trying to help Maine steady himself, but the latter shoving his hand aside: Easy there lad. I know you want to be able to use all your programs, but even Ol Carolina had trouble handling the twins, be sure to tell me if anything feels off.

Maine, his legs now steadier, knodding in acknowledgement: *grunt*

Wyoming, showing Maine the storage device he's holding: So what do we do with this knobhead?

Sigma, his hologram emerging from the device: Where- where am I? Oh?

Maine, towering over Sigma intimidatingly: *long, angry growl*

Sigma: Oh. Agent Maine...you are alive as well...I...if you would just let me explai-

Maine, snatching Sigma out of Wyoming's hand and aggresively chucking him in the river:...

Wyoming, awkwardly watching Sigma float away as Maine dusts his hands off: Well...thats one way to solve that problem I suppose...

Wyoming: Now what shall we do nex-

Gamma, appearing next to Wyoming's head: Reggie, I am recieving an unknown transmission.

Wyoming: Play it trough.

Wyoming, talking to an unkown individual through his com device: Who are you? How did you get this frequency?

Maine, staring at Wyoming as chatter can be heard from the latter's helmet:...

Wyoming: Oh? A job? Interesting. How much?

Wyoming, as more chatter is heard from his helmet:...

Wyoming: Well now, thats a very generous offer.

Wyoming, as yet more chatter comes from his helmet: Hm hm. Huh uh. Alrighty then. Consider it done. Pleasure doing business.

Wyoming, turning to Maine after hanging up: Maine old chap, looks like we'll be able to give your programs a test run already.

Wyoming: Cause we got some work to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

York, trying to pick the lock on a warehouse's door: Come oooon....come ooooooooonnnnn...

York, as his lock pick breaks: COME ON!

Carolina, Wash at her side: York? York is that you!?

York, turning around, startled: AHH!

York: Oh. Hey Carolin-

Carolina, pulling York into a hug: Oh I'm SO happy to see you again you can't even imagine...

Washington: Hey York whats up! Where have you been man?

York, speaking casually as Carolina lets go of him: I've been dead.

Washington, awkwardly: Oh. Right. Sorry.

York: PFFFFFT don't be! I've been hanging out and playing DDR with some red headed girl in armor and the Epsilon AI. Its was great!

Church, in AI form, materialising next to Carolina, in an excited tone: SPEAKING OF THE DEVIL! YORK MY DUDE WHATS UP!

York: YOOOOOOO Church how are you doing man?

Church: Oh I've been doing awesome. Being alive again is great!

York: You can say that again!

Carolina, visibly confused: So you guys met...in the afterlife?

Church: Yeah we're afterlife bros!

York: AFTERLIFE BROOOOOOS!

Church: AFTERLIFE BROOOOOOOS!

York and Church in unison, as Carolina and Wash silently look back and fort between the two of them: AFTER LIFE BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!

York: *Ahem* So anyway. What are you guys doing here?

Washington: Mercenary work. Our client contacted us a couple hours ago and instructed us to meet up here with the other mercs they hired.

York: Me too! What a coincidence! I've been trying to get in but the lock on this door is no joke!

York, as Carolina walks past him: Must be some kind of high secury lock set up by our employer to prevent random bystanders or thieves from getting in. I've been picking away at it for almost an hour now. I think I'm about to go insa-

York, as Carolina casually opens the door:...

Washington, smugly: High security lock huh?

York: Shut up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carolina, as everyone enters the warehouse: Did you come here alone York? Do you know who else got hired for this job?

York, as he scopes out the room: I came into contact with North and South Dakota over com. They said they'd meet me here, but North called me several minutes ago saying that they'd be late.

Washington, as he closes the door behind him: Really? What happened to them?

York: They...

York:...Took a wrong turn...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

North, next to a warthog in front of the Xiao Long household on Patch: I told you we should've just followed the GPS!

South, as Taiyang warily opens the front door to check what is going on: And I keep telling you the GPS is busted!

North: Oh yeah? If you're really better than the GPS then why are we at the WRONG LOCATION?

Taiyang: Uuuuummm...excuse me? How did you get here?

South, dryly: We drove.

Taiyang, blinking in confusion before talking: H-how???

South, with gritted teeth: WITH A CAR.

Taiyang, visibly confused:...M'am this is an island.

North and South: And?

Taiyang: WHAT DO YOU MEAN "AND"???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

York: We've been standing here for an hour now! How long are we gonna have to wait!?

Washington: I need to pee...

Carolina, scolding Wash: I told you to go do it before leaving!

Church, scolding Carolina: And I told YOU that stopping for slushies was a bad idea.

Carolina, indignantly: Well they were very good slushies and I will die on that hill!

Church: *sigh* My scanners say theres a porta potty behind the building Wash.

Washington, running out the door: THANK YOU I'LL BE RIGHT BACK.

*A few seconds pass*

*Knock* *Knock*

Church: God damn is he done already?

*Knock* *Knock*

Church: Its unlocked Wash.

York: Whoa wait a minute! GUYS. Think about it. I'm alive. North and South are alive. All of us have been told to come. All of us freelancers.

Church: What are you going on about- wait. Oh god please no.

Carolina, deep in thought: Knock knock...

Wyoming, entering the room with Maine in tow: Who's there?

Church: UUUUURRRGH! Fuck my life they're alive too!

Washington, walking back into the room: Alright I'm back what did I mis-

Wyoming: Top of the morning Wash! I missed you lad!

Maine: *Grunt of agreement*

Everyone, sitting in awkward silence for a few seconds:...

Church: I think we have a lot of catching up to do...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-To be continued-

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: PMMM Rebellion - Part 6

Last time, we realized that Madokami was the brainwasher. So yeah.

Homura’s running off now, after shaking off the latest attempt to turn her into a Lotus Eater. (And I could go on and on about the pros and cons of Madokami’s actions here, but let’s try to finish this movie this year.) Labyrinth-Madoka’s left in the field, joined by the Incubator as she wonders what happened to Homura. So what’s the creature’s deal? It hasn’t said a word this entire movie, so I don’t know if it’s just a construct of the Labyrinth like Madoka or a ‘guard’ like Sayaka ACK sudden closeup of its eye yup it’s involved. Hey, it’s the arcade! Kyoko’s getting a phonecall, after what was clearly a necessary shot of her pockets, she answers her cell gaaaah the juxtaposition of the normal arcade and all these Labyrinth figures is so friggen creepy. Homura’s calling to ask if she remembers the Witches, doesn’t appear Food Girl’s completely woken up yet as she doesn’t. Also, “Dog Drug Reinforcement”? Is that supposed to be a pun on ooooooh DDR, I get it.

So yeah, Kyoko’s still in the system. Doesn’t remember the Witches, and she only knows this Labyrinth version of Madoka. It sounds crazy, but listen to the hair-flipping girl, Kyoko. Point: In order to make a world where Madoka exists, it would have to be someone who knows about Madoka. At the end of the show Kyoko and Mami had no memories of her, so out of the original Madokrew that leaves Homura (who lived with the memories), Sayaka (who went to work for Madokami), and Madoka-turned-Madokami herself. [Homura]: “Now I understand. I know who rewrote our memories-” ? Homura? Why did you just put your Soul Gem down? “-and then locked us in this false Mitakihara City.” Homura? What are you doing? Kyoko’s starting to freak out over what Homura is saying, asking where she is right now. She runs outside FLAMING BLIMPS FROM THE SKY! Ok, so it seems the Labyrinth is dropping pretenses now, with Homura waking up there’s no point with subtlety. Homura’s on the bus now. Where is she going? Why is the music getting louder? Why is she leaving her Soul Gem at the station? I mean, isn’t there a distance limit to control her body? What’s the poi Wait What Are you kidding me [Homura]: “There’s just one last thing I want to confirm.” But what how why is she how could WHAT “After that, I will end everything. And I will not trouble you.” … Ok, so this is confirmation is either going to be the equivalent of MG Suicide (purposefully separating herself from her Soul Gem, we’ve only seen a very short period where Sayaka was separated from hers and she didn’t seem to note anything odd, will Homura be conscious?), or… Homura apologizes to Kyoko for getting her involved. And hangs up, throws her phone away. The bus leaves, seats filled with clocks ticking. [Homura]: “The limit that my body can still move after separating from my Soul Gem should be 100 meters at most.” The bus stop has faded into the distance. Pretty sure she’s now past that mark. Bells are chiming. Owls are landing. The bus is on fire. And the truth is revealed. -Magical Girls cannot function beyond 100 meters from their Soul Gems -Homura is now over 100 meters from her Soul Gem -Homura is not a Magical Girl -Homura is… Creepy children chanting as the Flaming Blimps shatter the landscape. Because that Labyrinth was focused on Magical Girl Homura. This Labyrinth is focused on her true nature. As Witch-Homura. … WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY HOW HOW HOW DID HOMURA BECOME A WITCH [Homura]: “In other words, this means I’m not even a magical girl anymore?” She pulls a pistol, destroys the proven-useless piece of jewelry. Kneeling, backed by flames, flanked by the creepy Goth Children. Her Familiars. “Why? Why? Why would I end up as…? When did it even happen? When did I become a Witch?!” WHY AND WHEN INDEED Ok, ok. Calm down, Ranubis. Deep breaths. Right, so somehow, at some point, Homura gave into despair, used up her power. Frustration at being the only one living with the memories? Anger at being left behind? Stubbed her toe? Whatever happened, happened. Madokami’s deal is that she goes around grabbing MGs before they give into despair, takes them into the MG Afterlife. So… is this that, then? Does she take the girls before they become Witches, and put them in Labyrinths designed to keep them happy? Their own little slice of heaven? It checks out, this is, or rather was a world where Homura was happy. But just as she kept her memories while alive, it seems she got them back in this new Labyrinth, in the worst possible fashion. Yikes, no black and white morality here, is there? On the one hand Homura really was happy in her designed Labyrinth. But on the other hand she wasn’t given all the details, and now that lack of communication is coming back to bite everyone. And now there’s some sort of arc over the flaming ruins of Fake Mitakihara City. And an image of Madokami’s picture begins to run. Some of the Familiars are kicking a spool of thread, they pass… the Incubator? ...wait, hold on. [Incubator]: “I’m sure you didn’t really want to know the truth.” The Incubator is talking. What...did… “And yet, you couldn’t bear not to search for it. It just goes to show how illogical human curiosity is.” So… you’re not taking any blame for letting things fall apart this badly then? [Incubator]: “Well, considering that it was you, I did think that you would find the answer eventually, Homura Akemi.” [Homura]: “Incubator. In the end, just as I thought, it’s your doing, isn’t it?” ...well, kinda. I mean it’s working for Madokami. But in general in the show, it was a sound practice to blame Bunnycat for anything going wrong. (After I spent nearly the entire show blaming you, sorry about that.) Huh. Gotta say, I like Homura’s outfit right here. Fancy. I’ve got a few more questions beyond the location of Homura’s life and soul, Incubator, but I’ll take those too. Thank you so kindly for deigning to answer them. Static? Homura sleeping, holding a staff? Ah, an image of outside the Labyrinth! But hold on, how is she outside the Labyrinth, is she projecting into it? WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT [Incubator]: “The Isolation Field we invented is completely enveloping your Soul Gem. We wanted to see what would happen when a Soul Gem that was already pushed to its limit was put in an environment that was isolated from all external influence.” An… experiment? But why would Madokami be experimenting on Soul Gems? Especially in such a creepy environment. She wouldn’t need to. The only one who benefits from such experiments Is The Incubator my Madokami I’m an idiot, did I learn nothing from the show, we’ve had close to a half-dozen closeups to “cute little Kyubey’s” mug in this movie, how could I just write off No. 1 on my List The Incubator isn’t working for Madokami after all. It’s doing what it was always doing, trying to maximize short-term gains from Soul Gems despite morals and sensible logic. The Incubator, or the rest of its race given the “we” comments, “wanted to know the results of a Soul Gem cut off from the Law of the Cycle”. I’m sorry, but I believe you were criticizing human curiosity barely a minute ago. Do… do you really realize how much of a hypocrite you are being right now. So yeah. This isn’t the work of a Cannibal!Witch, or an earnest attempt by Madokami to make Homura happy. This is, once again, Bunnycat being a Dick. Yep, either the Incubator’s using multiples of its body in this ‘experiment’, or we’re seeing multiple members of its race. Messing around with Labyrinths, working off of the descriptions of the Old World given by Homura. The results leave Homura as a semi-Witch, “like a chick that wasn’t able to break its shell and grew up within it instead.” That resulted in an Internal Labyrinth, one that she re-created an entire town inside of. All inside her Isolated Soul Gem. ...well THAT was a creepy shot, the Incubator backlit by a Flaming Blimp. brb taking screenshot.

Homura raises an argument: If the Laybrinth is Isolated, then it should be impossible for people to wander into it. But the Incubator, or rather Incubators, say they made an adjustment, making the isolation only work in one direction. So it’s not Isolated, but Semi-Permeable? Others pass through by means of an “invitation”. As the Witch of the Labyrinth, Homura unconsciously chose Mami, Kyoko, Hitomi and Kyosuke, pulling them in. And Madokami… could only enter as Madoka? Son of a bitch. This isn’t just an Incubator experiment to recreate Witches. It’s a trap for Madokami. The incubators have identified several people in the Labyrinth that don’t exist (anymore) in the Real World, but still participate. They have identified Madoka, someone who slipped into her world without causing any disturbance. But Wait hold on. So they now know Madoka is the Law of Cycles that’s keeping away their oh-so-”efficient” emergy gathering through Witches. But somehow, even though this is the Real Madoka in the Labyrinth she’s not displaying any power? What, did Madokami just send a portion to try and help out or what. Wait, WHAT?! You’re saying that when Witch-Homura pulls people in she rewrites their memories, and it affected Madoka as well? “She not only forgot that she had come to save you, but lost sight of who she really was and her power as well.” ...music is picking up and the Familiars are on the march. Something’s coming up, but I think I have to stop here for work. So. The real villain is the Incubators. They are experimenting with Witchification, captured Homura. Homura’s Labyrinth is pulling in people, wiping their memories. Madokami has tried to help her, but lost her memories and thus power entering? (What about Sayaka?) ...well how the hell are we gonna fix this?! Something’s gotta happen, but I can’t think of it. I mean, we’re back in Episode 11 territory here. Homura’s up against the combined power of the Incubator race, trapped in their twisted experiment to try and recreate Witches and to trap the Law of the Cycle. Such a trap even that when friggen Madokami tried to intervene she ended up mindwiped and depowered. So what the hell can we do now? I’m wracking my brain here, but can’t think of anything. Then again, I got out minmaxed by the pink-haired Middle Schooler last time, so here’s hoping there’s still a trick or two up her frilly sleeves.

[katoska]

Earth 2.0 is a simulation and full of zombies and here is why:

Right, so. Given what we’ve seen of the VR restaurant, it makes way more sense for the Afterlife to be a computer simulation, rather than run on Magic. 

 I mean, I know “They are in the Matrix!” is not a new theory, cause TGP literally consisted of pixels, defied physics, contained the consciousnesses of dead people who didn’t have a brain to run soul.exe on anymore and was maintained by an A.I. who is not a robot  - cause she’s a program, made of data. And so is everyone else in the Afterlife, otherwise how could anyone physically interact on that existential plane? 

Thing is, if everyone in the Beyond is just data, what happened to the data of the humans’ last versions? Is it still there, ready to be downloaded into the gang’s brains? And as for Michael and Janet who are made of Weirdness, how did they get bodies that could interact with the physical world, anyway?

Yeah, I don’t think they did. 

Sure Michael and Janet appear human-ised, their powers are gone, and Michael can’t even lie convincingly anymore (... says he, the Cartesian Demon; I’ll have some salt with this, please.). Michael is having a problem with his sweat-glands, Janet with ... other glands, but that doesn’t mean they are in the human world, or in actual human bodies. Like, Tahani’s face once started changing into a Picasso painting, doesn’t mean TGP was secretly a museum all along. 

The reason I’m dusting this theory off is, the fake restaurant and the way it paralled DDR and Michael’s 800 attempts proves that nothing in TGP is actually magic, because the technology to create fake realities exists. 

Probably not on Earth 1.0, mind. Janet might know how to recreate the tech, but that doesn’t mean she would have been able to find and afford all the parts, get a hold of the proper tools etc, all in the span of, what? a couple of days, at most? Forget bad accents (though Heinz’ wasn’t so bad) and Australian flags and peeps, this here is the biggest load of bs so far. That thing worked because someone on the outside of the Earth simulation decided it would work. Just like Michael decided flying would be a thing. Except now he is not in his own neighborhood anymore, so he can’t fiddle with the programming.

Janet was able to give Chidi the Power of the Snap because she was the Architect of her restaurant-neighborhood, so she got to make the rules. She could have turned his face into a Monet painting, if she wanted to. Which is probably why Architects don’t usually get to live in their neighborhoods; too much risk of things getting personal.

She also created a Simone, except one that was a philosophical zombie; something that’s physically the same and acts and reacts exactly as a real person would, except it has no consciousness; no soul.

So basically, Chidi could say whatever to Zombie!Simone and reboot her as often as he wanted to, and still be ethically fine cause she’s not real and he knew it.

Which begs the question: If someone didn’t know the other person was a philosophical zombie, do their actions towards them still have ethical meaning? 

The real person’s actions towards the p-zombies, I mean. Naturally, zombies wouldn’t be affected by the points system, as they have no soul. So they won’t come knocking on Gen’s door complaining that the ripple effects of the reboot affected their score negatively, and why did those humans get more time and they didn’t and blah blah blah. So that would save her a headache.

Earth is fake, and full of Zombies.

[ohgodsnowwhat]

Fantasy in Metal

Yes; I am posting my first fanfic after my second fanfic. I'm a rebel like that. I have also come to the conclusion that I suck at endings, which may be why I don't always finish what I start. Oh well. Please feel free to offer concrit. I'm not used to writing stuff that isn't one-on-one smut. Thanks to @neko-otaku13 for her encouragment on this!

The light had returned to Lucis – to all of Eos, for that matter. King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya, the Oracle, had passed over into the realm of much-deserved happily-ever-afterlife.

Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis, however….

Look, not even Astrals are perfect. Clerical errors happen.

****

“What do you mean, they’ve been reincarnated into another universe?” thundered Bahamut at the little fennec fox. “For their service, they should have been transported to the same region as King Noctis and Lady Luna!”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine; those guys always manage. Nothing to be too concerned about, but when their time is up here maybe, um, you can take a more personal interest to see that they get to the right place? I was supervising the moogles in charge of reassignment, and with the chocobos on strike there were some issues getting everyone to the office. We are lucky that there aren’t more souls floating around in Limbo!” Carbuncle looked up at the Draconian Astral, gulped nervously and said, “But of course I will supervise their next reassignment myself.”

“If they had been born into their new roles it wouldn’t be so bad,” offered Shiva, “but they have been, well, stuffed into pre-existing personas! This is a DISASTER!”

“At least they will be worshipped as gods in that realm,” put in Ramuh.

Titan sighed and poured himself another whiskey-and-soda.

****

Charles Offdensen pushed up his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. He had been going over the band’s financial statements when he was hit with the idea for a new recipe. This was odd because he didn’t cook; Jean-Pierre was more than adequate to fulfill his nutritional needs. “I must be working too hard,” he thought; when he was interrupted by another thought, this one in a more refined tone of voice: “Nonsense! It is a duty and privilege to serve one’s liege! And furthermore… One moment, where am I?”

****

Nathan Explosion was busy, working on the 67th of his hundred beers and putting the final touches on “Go Forth and Die”. Except… those weren’t the words he originally wrote, were they?

Trapped inside a crystal Ten long years Hiding from the world Forgotten by your peers

“Huh,” he growled, “sounds more like the plot of a video game. Well, these beers aren’t gonna drink themselves. New song idea: Self-drinking beer.”

****

Toki Wartooth was in his room, happily working on his model planes when a little voice in his head told him that he should see if there were any new pupper videos. Toki was okay with this, and hummed happily to himself as he flipped on YouTube. After about a half hour, the voice asked about video games, to which Toki replied, “We amsk gots a room full of video games! Is you my new friends in my heads, little voice? Is yous gots a names?” “Well,” the voice answered back, “I’m Prompto, but where am I and how did I get here?” “I don’tsk knows Promptos but let’s go play DDR! Yous is Toki’s friends now!”

****

Pickles noticed that there seemed to be something a little off about his manager and bandmates. Nathan was doing a lot more reading than drinking; although he still churned out songs unnaturally fast, now they were more about crystals, lost kings, and something called “chocobos”. The latter made Toki ecstatic and he would go on for hours about them. This was puzzling as Toki was known to have had an austere and abusive childhood, and whatever these “chocobos” were, Pickles was sure they weren’t native to Norway. Skwisgaar, as self-centered as he was, had mentioned that to Pickles. Sweden was practically Norway anyway, but Pickles knew if he said that, the blond guitar-slinger would retreat to his room for a week to get over his sulk with the assistance of various GMILFs. Normally that wouldn’t bother Offdensen, as he didn’t have to worry about paying for abortions or child support (Skwisgaar was SO. MUCH. CHEAPER in that regard than the rest of the band), but Pickles had noticed that Offdensen was now more prone to lecture the band about personal responsibility, hygiene, and the need to be cost-efficient. Well, he WAS their CFO, but he hadn’t minded before… Were they in financial trouble? Even countries went belly-up from time to time, and Dethklok’s income when ranked beside the GNP of other countries was at a healthy and respectable 7, so maybe…?

Pickles decided then and there to visit Charles Foster Offdensen in his office.

****

Murderface didn’t care. He drank another beer, belched, and scratched his belly over the “Pobody’s Nerfect” tattoo. That had been some night when he got that – too bad, he thought, that he didn’t remember it.

****

“Yo, Robot!” exclaimed Pickles as he burst into Offdensen’s office. “I been meanin’ to talk to you about how you’ve been acting lately and-” He came to a sudden stop as he took in Toki and Nathan already seated across from their manager, heads close together conspiratorially. “What is this? I know something has been going on, but this better not be fucking with our bread and butter here.”

“Ah, yes… Pickles…maybe it is time to explain,” came the odd cultured voice that had been emanating as of late from Offdensen. “From my observations, I believe you would have a better grasp of the situation than, say, Mr. Skwigelf or Mr. Murderface.”

“Yes, that is true,” came the more typical Offdensen voice. “Pickles does have a greater intellect than he lets on, despite the mass quantity of chemical substances he indulges with.”

Pickles was taken a bit aback and tried to recover as best he can. “This better not be some touchy-feely type of intervention, ya douchebags. Because that is so not metal.”

****

“Ignis”, as the cultured voice called itself, launched into an epic tale of kingdoms lost, love lost, Hell even daylight lost; lots of attacks from every angle, deep and mysterious dungeons filled with monsters and demons beyond imagination, and eventual redemption at the price of a blood sacrifice. When it came to drug-induced imaginings, no one – hands down – could come close to Pickles, which is what finally made Pickles realize that he was being told the truth. It also accounted for, he thought, a greater element of story-telling in Nathan’s lyrics recently (although he could do without the gothic romance stuff – so not metal).

The “Gladio” voice that resided in Nathan chimed in… well, more like “contra-bassooned” in - with “It’s not all bad; I think this could be fun for a bit. I’ve always liked writing poetry and I feel I am good at this songwriting. Not entirely sure what you and your resident blondie mean by “metal” but I’m sure I’ll pick it up. And women! And beer! I don’t have to stay sober and celibate all the damn time to watch over everyone else’s dumb asses!”

Toki’s resident “Prompto” piped up, “Yeah! It would be like totally cool to be rock stars! I…” and here the sunshine voice faltered and whispered, “I just wish Noct was here with us.”

The tone was so heartbreaking that even Pickles wanted to comfort Toki, much like Nathan and Offdensen were doing, even though he knew it was really the three specters within his friends that were engaged in a cuddlefest at the moment.

After a while, Pickles grew visibly uncomfortable at the snuggly intimacy before him. He cleared his throat. “Um, hey… so…like… Is there anything we can do to get you back to where you belong?”

Offdensen qua Offdensen shook himself loose from the huddle and said “Well, if Ishnifus were still with us, he would probably be able to help. I am the new High Holy Priest, but not all avenues are open to me yet. Right now, though, the only person who could possibly assist is the one person we are absolutely unable to turn to for help. Nathan, Toki – I am referring to Mr. Salacia. “

“You means the big creepy fella?” asked Toki. “The ones who tried to haves us killed?”

Nathan perked up. “Yeah, that guy is bad news. Probably at least as bad as if not worse than that Ardyn fellow you were telling us about.”

Here is where Pickles felt he could shine. “I have a better idea – Nathan, remember that tribe you are related to in South America? Honey Mangoes or something like that?”

“Yaneemango. Chief Otoe is my grandfather, but yeah, why – Oh. Yopo. That released our spirit animal forms, but – “

Here the “Ignis” voice jumped in. “What? That may be the answer. How can we best achieve this? I have noticed geography is vastly different than what we are used to, but I believe we can make it there from this Mordhaus of yours in a matter of 4 days, including stops for curatives and provisions. Prompto, Gladio, we must confer with our host bodies as it will be them bearing any physical discomfort caused by this experiment.”

Nathan qua Nathan softly growls “Close your eyes and become the animals that you once were… Yeah, I’m down for this. It was cool becoming an alligator. But we have to bring Murderface and Skwisgaar – you too, Pickles.”

“Like I would turn down a chance to be an octopus again? I could play drums and guitar at the same time.”

****

Ignis had no problems with traversing a rainforest. Neither did his fellow Crownsguard really; Prompto just liked to complain about his feet hurting and question if they were there yet with a whine in his voice. Quite the trouper, he was. But despite sharing hotel rooms and tents around Eos and being accustomed to the sight of each other’s bodies, at least while they had corporeal bodies, nothing could have prepared Ignis for Murderface splayed out on deck completely nude. It was a small relief that rest of the band felt the same way, since the retching noises did nothing to deter the bass player from sprawling naked on a lounge chair while reverentially whispering “Ah, freeballing”. Ignis supposed he should be grateful the man refrained from urinating over the side of the boat, after it was relayed to him by Skwisgaar how a fish called a “Candiru” managed to lodge itself in Murderface’s urethra the last time they made this journey. While Ignis respected Skwisgaar’s talent, he had a limited tolerance for the man, as aspects of his personality were too similar to Loqi Tummelt for his taste. He felt that in Charles Foster Offdensen, he found a kindred spirit. They would often have silent conversations about the importance of lighting, and what separates the good lamps from the cheap lamps.

Gladio-within-Nathan thought this was a fine adventure; very few critters were trying to kill him, and the resident large, spotted cats kept to themselves and didn’t throw lightning bolts with the wrath of Ramuh at him. He was also silently communing with Nathan, and wishing he could stay a little longer – beer, booze, women, fame, money, lack of people trying to murder you just for being associated with royalty – yeah, a guy could definitely get used to this.

Prompto liked Toki and could relate to the child-like nature of his host body; they had much in common. Animals, video games, models of aircraft (even though what Toki worked on was nothing like the aircraft Prompto was familiar with), not to mention a brutal and lonely childhood – Toki, much like Prompto himself, often exhibited a warm and cheerful exterior to hide the small, scared child inside. At least Toki had parents, but Prompto reflected that maybe having no parents was better than having parents that were outright cold and abusive. That clown, though… Prompto admitted to himself that Dr. Rockzo was on the creepy side, even for a clown; and that was saying something.

Offdensen genuinely liked and respected his spirit resident; he wished he had an army of Ignises around. He just wanted his body back with himself as the sole occupant.

Nathan thought Gladio was a bit of a tyrant with his extensive exercise regimen, but Nathan could appreciate the results in himself. For one thing, it extended the time he could go between liver transplants; for another, it gave him new perspectives and topics for writing songs. “Battle Coeurl” had gone quadruple platinum overnight! Dick Knubbler had practically came in his boxers when he heard that, and Abigail…. Nathan smiled slightly at the memory of Abigail practically dragging him to the floor for that one.

Toki was happy to have a new friend that liked the same things he did and could relate to a bad childhood. He felt sad at the prospect of losing Prompto, but he was excited to see if he would become a shamanistic bunny again.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf was completely unaware that anything had changed with either the robot or his bandmates. He continued running scales and arpeggios on his custom Thunderhorse and gloating to himself over how superior it was to Toki’s Snow Falcon. He experienced mild disappointment when Toki didn’t play “Stops Copies Me” at the gear library, something Pickles called “sporting goods store, ya douchebag – and now my blood sugar’s low again.”

Pickles was at a bit of a loss. He kind of wanted to have a spirit buddy to talk with, but at the same time he didn’t think he was ready for that kind of intimacy. He was actually pleased; he had been looking for a reason to go back down for another dose of Yopo, but it would have been awkward dropping in on his bandmate’s relatives without Nathan in tow. If he’s gonna die, might as well die high!

Murderface napped, occasionally belching and scratching himself in awkward places in his sleep. He was looking forward to being a white tiger again; as a bass player he didn’t get a lot of respect, but as a tiger? Wow! No one would dare turn a tiger down in the mix, or have the lead guitar player (that damn Skwisgaar!) record new notes over a tiger’s bass leads!

****

Both Offdensen and Ignis thought having hordes of Klokateers drag their boat over a mountain and through the jungle was a bit excessive, but not a single member of Dethklok showed any inclination of making the final trek under their own power. Gladio was fuming and silently berating Nathan for this lack of industry, and Prompto and Toki were too caught up in playing “I Spy” to pay attention.

They knew they had reached their destination when they found themselves surrounded by spears, which were lowered as the Yaneemango tribe recognized the faces on the mountain. Offdensen found he was able communicate their issues to the shaman, having briefly studied the tribe’s language after the last time the band ran off to experience Yopo. The shaman had recognized quickly that there were foreign spirits residing within, and agreed to perform the Yopo ceremony to attempt to free them.

****

“BOSS!” yelled a moogle to Carbuncle, “You gotta come here, Kupo! This realm where Noct’s entourage ended up is going to try to separate their souls, Kupo!”

Carbuncle scurried to the moogle viewing device as fast as his four furry feet could carry him. “Quick! Patch me through to Bahamut!” The communication device crackled to life. “This had better be important,” came the deep voice over the speaker. “Sir! The primitives are going to try separating their souls from their bodies! Can you please lend your assistance?”

In less than the time it took to blink an eye, Bahamut was in the control room. He didn’t feel there was anything he could do, but it would let the moogles feel as though everything was in order. He wondered for a moment if it was blasphemous on some level for an Astral to pray.

****

The fires were lit, the chanting had begun. The shaman blew Yopo into the faces of Dethklok and their manager/CFO/legal advisor/High Holy Priest of the Church of the Black Klok. From their bodies rose the form of a hawk (Skwisgaar), white tiger (Murderface), octopus (Pickles)… and instead of an alligator and a rabbit from Nathan and Toki, there were the ghostly figures of a mountain of a man with long dark hair, glowing amber eyes, and chiseled abs; a fluffy-headed blond with eyes like a sunny afternoon and a smattering of freckles, and drifting over from Offdensen was the figure of a tall, lean man with glowing green eyes and medium brown hair; although they could see remnants of massive scarring around his eyes, he had the most beautiful smile and he gazed peacefully back. The three linked hands, slowly dissipating into small blue glowing orbs, then a sudden flash of light as –

****

The moogle crew, Carbuncle, and even Bahamut were whooping it up in the control room. It was a success! Souls retrieved and Bahamut made a mental note to add a paycheck bonus for all those involved. Even himself.

****

The three Crownsguard found themselves abruptly in what looked like the throne room of the Citadel, before Niflheim attacked. Prompto was the first to recover, yelling “NOCT!!!!” as he barreled up the stairs and was met by a charging King Noctis, wrapping their arms around each other, swiftly followed by Ignis and Gladio. Tears were shed, and no one spoke – or could speak – for the longest time. There was no need. They were home.