#it's a neat concept and I don't see it talked about much

[dykealloy]

the catholic rejection of it all

[icewindandboringhorror]

One of the interesting bits of trying to resume working on the game after so long is looking back at my ancient Draft Placeholder versions of an image from 4 yrs ago trying to remember what the hell I meant back then, to hopefully interpret it into some more final (ish..) form of the same thing .. making slow progress lol

[yandere-daydreams]

How do you think divorcing any jjk man or genshin character would go? Like straight up just leaving them cold when you had the chance.

tw - non/con, controlling relationships, abusive themes.

hmmmm i've never actually written a divorce fic have i. anyway we're going jjk with this because i've thought long and hard and come up with neat and concise categories that encompass all of their freak needs.

some less controlling men, like gojo and nanami, might let you go through with it, less because they understand why you want to leave them and more because they don't fully believe you ever would. you're their soulmate, the love of their life, the light of their existence, and even if you're a little angry now, you'll come to your senses eventually. sure, they'll talk to your little attorney and go to your little court dates, but the moment you actually start to physically remove yourself from their vicinity, try to strip them of the parts of yourself that they've already taken ownership of, they'll put a stop to your temper tantrum with a few more locks on the front door and a long night or reminding you why you got married in the first place, followed immediately by burning those silly papers you brought home and sliding the ring that you tried to return back onto your finger, where it belongs. they'll let you have your fun, sure, but at the end of the day, they're your husband, and they'll remind you as many times as they have to until it sticks.

others, like geto and yuuta, never present divorce as an option. geto's a special case - if you got married legally, then there's a very, very good chance that he's got you locked away too tightly to so much as see a courthouse, let alone step inside of one long enough to file for something as time-consuming as divorce. if you ever get away from him, you should be fleeing the country, not hiring an attorny. you know better than to waste your time on something so petty.

as for yuuta, there's only a small chance you consented to marriage in the first place. it's much more likely that you simply woke up with a ring stitched surgically onto your finger and a strange man calling himself your husband in your bed, and 'divorce' just isn't a word in his vocabulary. he's going to be your husband until the day he dies, and no scrap of paper you might show him is going to change that.

and others still, like toji, are going to panic. you can't leave him. i mean, you can - it's not like he's around often enough to stop you - but you can't leave him. you can say that you're sick of him crashing on your couch, that you don't like how often he comes home covered in blood, that you concerned about the well-being of his kids, but that doesn't mean you have to start yelling about ""restraining orders"" and ""calling cps"". you two are good together, and he's sure you'll see that after he gives you a good reason to stay with him - namely, a broken leg and his cock shoved deep enough inside of you to push every other thought out of your mind. you're lucky he loves you so much. if you're lucky, he'll even recite his vows as he fucks the concept of divorce out of your head entirely <3

[harmonysanreads]

Been thinking about this for a long while and wanted to share but, Phainon with a lover (or he considers them his either way) who's a part of the astral express - a nameless just like him they joke.

Then obviously alongside Dan heng and the trailblazer they don't really see him as a hero. Sure they respect him, and they've had the lore of the chrysos heirs explained but then on the other hand nikador pales in comparison to even some of the weaker foes they've gone against. So ultimately they can be an escape from everyone else's expectations of him.

But they don't belong in amphoreus, that's so plainly clear with how they look to the sky and flick through their photos of other worlds with longing. Then there's the other fact of how they talk to their companions with what sounds like grief for his planet, like it might already be dead. He might not be fully aware of the true weight of what only being accessible through the garden of recollection means but the way it's said is enough to put him on the edge.

Maybe the final push he needed was when aglaea interrogated the three of you, when he thought he'd be arriving to your corpse. Or it might have been hearing you and Dan heng talking about whatever the luofu is. Or perhaps even joking about how "amphoreus is just belobog round two" with the trailblazer and saying how you should really return to there.

But he won't be with you if you leave will he?

On the other hand it shouldn't be too hard for him to join the astral express. His home is already gone, cherished only in his memory and even that could be changed if he overheard about the creation of memory bubbles in whatever penacony might be is true.

And you've already told him he's a nameless just like you.

oh wow this ended up longer than I intended lmao, specially for a first ask.

But while I'm here I also just wanna say thank you so much for causing me to fall head over heels for phainon??? like your works and drabbles have just caused me to go from a like of him to falling HARD and just.... let him get away from amphoreus if it's all gonna go bad for him there, get him out and safe. (and give welt major flashbacks at the same time too lol)

And it's especially difficult for Phainon to not daydream when it seems like you two just click so well. You get each other's sense of humour, balance and compliment your respective energies, can somehow understand the other as if acquainted for a lifetime. Is this what they call a 'match made in heaven'...? Please don't mind it when he starts calling you his soulmate 'in jest'.

It's truly a pity that you don't seem to see it. When you whisper with the Trailblazer and Dan Heng, longing for that outside world you seem so bewitched by, sigh whenever you think of the fate of Amphoreus - it hurts him, do you know? Moreso, it makes him feel... left out. The realization of how fickle whatever bond he's made with you might be in comparison to the ones you share with your other companions makes him feel rather jealous, admittedly.

Now, passing instances of these sudden hits of negativity he can shake off. But, when they accumulate over time and gradually develop to frustration, helplessness and eventual loathing towards the matters that seem to be impeding between what could be your shared happiness? That's when things get concerning.

We don't know yet if it'd be possible to get someone born in Amphoreus out of there so I'm unable to provide an input here. But this is a really neat concept.

[stxrvel]

injustice (3)

series summary. the holy grail of the seven men who ruled the country's entertainment used to be your friends at school. now, ten years later and between successes and failures, what reason would they have to want to come back into your life? pairing. eventually ot7 x f!reader. content. first of all, english is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes! a lot of curse words, a lot of self-deprecation and low self esteem. no proofread. this is nawt silly writing, we're diving right into the aNgSt. jumpscare? iykyk a/n. hi guys! this was a rollercoaster for me to write, but i hope it doesn't come as harsh as i think it is. pls let me know what you think in the comments!! see you next week!!

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You had gone through a scenario like that in your head several times. A variety of moments, conversations and looks that always ended in the same unpleasant, inevitable and demoralizing way: you were forgotten by the people you loved most in the world. Only when you reached 18 would you realize how heartbreaking the dull thud of the silence of indifference was, how sharp and icy the loneliness was, how it penetrated and paralyzed your bones; but at that time, at 16, you could still convince yourself that all those things were only in your head and would always be there.

“Now that you're the last to go, you guys are much more likely to forget about me.”

“Of course not! In fact, as soon as I start earning money I'll save up to take you with us.”

Jungkook shook his head, his narrowed eyes judging you as if having insecurities was a sin. You believed his words at that moment, because being the last one still with you, 'cause you were going to graduate from school in the same year, it was the only thing you could do. Hold on to the idea that you really weren't going to be forgotten, because the mere conception of a future without your best friends was inconceivable.

“Jimin-hyung said he was going to try to call more often,” your friend went on, his eyes fixed on the bass on his lap and his important task of leaving it neat before returning it to its holy post in the school's music room. “I haven't talked to them in about three days.”

Jimin and Taehyung had left just a couple of months ago, but thanks to the opportunities opened to them with their incredible willingness, discipline and some string twitching on Namjoon's part, they had managed to get into a great academy to train and fulfill their dreams.

That also brought with it, as irreversible side effects, that your communication with them was drastically reduced. You had to constantly remind yourself and Jungkook that it was out of their control. With their future at stake, there was something for which they had to exert extreme effort and for which to sacrifice some other things.

“It's normal that they don't have as much time as they used to, Kookie.” You lowered your head, noticing the way his hands delicately handled the instrument on his legs. Since Jimin and Taehyung had left there was no time of day when you could tear yourself away from Jungkook, which is why you accompanied him to his extracurricular music lessons when you really should have been studying for the college entrance exam. “Life after school gets really hectic.”

“I've heard that college life is quieter.” Jungkook twisted his lips, wiping between the strings and his fingerprints left on the bass every time he moved it back and forth to clean it. It was an almost irresistible cycle.

“The only one at college right now is Seokjin and even about him we haven't heard much.” You leaned back against the piano, noticing Jungkook's movements pause for a moment as he surely reminisced about the few times he had been able to talk to Jin that month.

It had been two years since Seokjin had graduated and traveled all the way to the capital to study medicine. Needless to say, it was more than clear that communication with Jin would be almost nil from then on, but Jungkook always used to pout about it.

“It's just that Jin-hyung also chose a rather demanding career.” Jungkook twisted his lips, as if suppressing Jin in his head, waving the microfiber towel over the edges of the bass.

“And the others are trying too hard to carve their way through. It can be as complicated as going out to look for a job right after graduating.”

Jungkook nodded, admiring his cleaning job with a frown. He looked so focused that it caught you by surprise when he spoke again.

“You already know if you're going to college, noona? We're graduating this year.”

You blinked once, twice, three times. His nonchalant self went back to waving the towel over nonexistent smudges as you breathed in and decided not to go that route. “Will you?”

Jungkook raised his head, pausing his movements for a moment to try to analyze your gaze. With a sigh, he let out your poorly disguised way of shifting the focus of the conversation to get up and hang the instrument, glowing, on the wall of the music room.

“I don't know yet… Namjoon-hyung says he can help me.”

“Isn't it your dream, why do you doubt it?”

“I'm not sure, noona. What if I don't measure up? What if I fail?”

When your friend turned away, the mirror to his soul showed his vulnerability dancing on the edge of his eyelids. His distrust constricted your heart, a hand closing around your throat at the inner conflicts you knew Jungkook used to have and in the face of which you often couldn't do anything about because he didn't usually share such things.

“Then you try again.”

“Noona…” Jungkook wanted to grumble, it was obvious from the way his eyes moved to the ceiling, his head cocking as if he was about to give you a big life lesson on why you can't survive on motivational phrases.

But Jungkook was a softie about such things, even if he tried to hide it.

“Jungkook, you are literally a golden promise. No process is ever easy, especially in the industry you want to get into, but don't think for a second that you're going to outgrow it. You're one of the most capable people I've ever met.”

Your friend stopped his steps, when after hanging up the bass he was returning to your post in front of you, raising his head as if caught committing a prank. But the vulnerability in his eyes remained, and by the way they shone in the dim light of the room, still blinking to try to contain the emotion, you knew your words had tugged at just that thorn in his heart you were trying to pull out.

“Thank you, noona.”

“I'm just telling the truth.” You lifted a shoulder, shaking your head nonchalantly like it was no big deal, and Jungkook just let out an amused chuckle.

“You do know we'd never forget about you, right? How could we?”

-

“How could we?”

Yuna shook her head, frowning at her phone, oblivious to the way you cringed at her choice of words.

“She's bringing celebrities into the store and she want us to leave? Don't we work so well that we always take the top employee of the month spot even though it should only be held by one person? Don't we deserve that gift?”

You watched her, marveling at how after just a few seconds so many emotions could build up into an overwhelming knot in your chest. The old notes of an old piano played in the back of your head, bringing to the surface memories of when life was easier; when you thought you had it all and nothing would ever be better than that; when you thought you were enough.

“So what do you plan to do about it?” you blinked, focusing on the notation of bills in your notebook with an invisible hand squeezing your heart.

There was no use thinking about such things after so long.

Yuna pursed her lips, her expression serious and forceful. “I think we should have a sit-in.”

“We should? That sounds like more than one person.”

“Do you disagree with me?”

“I'm happy with going home early, especially on a Friday, you know?”

“y/n,” Yuna came up to your face over the cash register display case, her forearms resting on the glass and her eyes so bright with determination you were sure her head could light the whole store on fire the way she was scheming and scheming, running around like her life depended on it, “we could be close to meeting the seven gods of Olympus, and you think the best thing to do is go home?”

“Just in case you forgot, I have a business to run now.” You reminded her, moving to poke her with your middle finger all over her forehead and push her away from the cash register now that a new customer had come in.

“What business should a business matter when you could meet the reason for existence itself?”

Yuna dropped onto the display case, her body sliding like jelly until only her head was left on the glass. You and the new customer watched her, her arms limp at her sides and her gaze lost. A lone tear running down the bridge of her nose.

“God, you're so dramatic.”

“Does that mean yes?” Her head snapped up like a spring, a big smile scaring the soul out of the customer who ducked behind your friend to run for their order.

“No and stop acting like that, you're going to scare away customers.”

Yuna whined, her exaggerated tantrum leading you to wiggle your feet all the way to the cellar.

“I'm offering you the holy grail, and this is how you pay me?”

The sound of her feet shuffling behind you kept your head sane. Even though his insinuations were baseless, your heart was pounding so hard you felt your ribs throbbing through your muscles and skin.

Your boss had written to Yuna that you two could leave the store early today because she had a private meeting to attend. She asked them to leave everything to Patrick, including clearing the store of customers and not to worry about paying for the shift, because there would be no discount at the end of the month. Yuna was faithfully and blindly convinced that your boss really wanted you to stay, because she spent almost ten minutes with her eyes glued to the screen almost without blinking, watching the 'typing…' appear and disappear under your boss's contact name. 'I'm sure she's debating how much confidence she has in us…', she said as her red eyes missed no detail of that important chat and that primordial moment, ending in an offended 'none!' when her last message came through.

In the same way, Yuna convinced herself that the meeting that would take place in the same place where your feet were planted was going to be attended by the seven entertainment kings of the country. The unmentionables, for all practical purposes. Where had she come to that conclusion? There was no foundation. Had your boss given any hints? None. Yuna had her head in the clouds believing she could meet her idols if she insisted a little longer.

“Would you really prefer to stand your friend up to meet seven men you don't even know for sure will show up here?”

“Well…if you put it that way it sounds like I'm doing something wrong.”

“Mmm, you just figured that out?”

Yuna dropped her shoulders as you took off your apron. Her tactics weren't going to work and it was time to give up. She half-heartedly opened her locker and stood looking at you with puppy dog eyes. You felt as guilty as if you had stepped on her tail by accident.

“Look, if I'm being honest, I doubt gigantically that Sol will tell you that you can stay if you ask her.”

“Not even for everything we've been through together?”

“She's still our boss, Yuna.”

Your friend mimicked your actions with a slower speed, her emotion draining away little by little. When her head cocked to the side, halfway through taking off her apron, you only sighed.

“The worst that can happen is I get fired, right?”

You weren't surprised that she was nevertheless willing to cross that line.

“That doesn't sound like much to you?”

“I can always write her a 'ha, ha, just joking' afterwards and get out of harm's way.”

You didn't contain the irresistible urge to roll your eyes and Yuna took that as her own signal or green light. Next thing you knew she was pulling out her phone and typing animatedly on the screen.

“I really don't think you should do that.”

“I have to try! Can I call myself a good fan if I don't do even the impossible?”

“You don't even know if they'll come.”

“I have a hunch.”

With her hand over her heart, Yuna sent the message and you feared for her life. While Sol was not at all close to the idea and conceptualization of a crazy and ruthlessly demanding boss, she did draw the line at several specific situations that they had both learned to respect. One of those was, of course, private meetings at her place. You and Yuna had set up the place countless times for Sol to sit quietly and chat with her most famous acquaintances, because her office was too formal to deal with them there, but her own home was extremely informal for the same purpose. The cafeteria served as a middle ground, the perfect place to be comfortable when talking business.

“Patrick is coming.” Yuna spoke again and by the way her eyes didn't leave the screen you could tell Sol hadn't responded yet.

“I wish you the best of luck, Yuna.”

“Thank you! Coming from you it's a blessing, indeed.”

“And why's that?”

You finally stood up, closing your locker with your strap bag over your right shoulder. You were ready to leave while your friend was still biting her index fingernail waiting for an almost impossible and inconceivable message from her boss.

“What else can I expect from the writer who blew up overnight and is soon going to be one of the New York Times bestsellers and famous worldwide?”

“Ah,” you turned your head, unable to contain inwardly the way a warmth settled in your chest; you still had a hard time accepting how things had turned out, but as long as you couldn't control the influx of orders that had to take a back seat, “smooth.”

Yuna smiled and when her eyes met yours you swore she was about to tell you one more time how proud she was of you, but her phone vibrated in her hands and the last thing you saw her eyes widen exaggeratedly before her scream shook the foundations of the store and almost the entire city.

“SHE SAID YES!!!!”

-

Arriving home unleashed immeasurable chaos.

As soon as you opened the front door, a river of books fell like dominoes, with your father's groans and your mother's screams in the background, the sound of your work echoing in your head like lightning as stomping echoed through the house.

“Seojun, I told you to be careful walking…!”The angry expression on your mother's face disappeared the moment she recognized your face, her features softening as she knew it was her daughter. “Honey. What are you doing here so early?”

“Is that y/n?” your dad's exclamation rang out from the kitchen.

“Yes!” your mom yelled back.

The welcome was nice, but things only got more and more tedious from then on. On the one hand, you had your father telling you about accounts, numbers and multiplications of how much you had to take out of your pocket to pay for the prints, how much you would make if you sold all the books you had printed and how much you would get back, and on the other hand you had your mother telling you about the countless publishers who had written to your dm's seeking to sponsor the sale of your books, taking advantage of the boom that had been generated by the phenomenon that was Kim Taehyung.

Seojun, who had decided to move back home for the weekend to help with whatever was needed, was telling you that they had had to hire five different deliverymen -three of them trucks- to be able to deliver as many orders a day as possible, while vehemently hitting your father's forearm to remind him to include that in the accounts.

Your father was in charge of everything related to money, your mother of the direct communication with customers and Seojun of the orders; everything was done by them, with Yuna's help when she was not working, with the excuse that after so many years you just had to sit down and enjoy the fruit of your sowing without any worries.

But at that moment, when they had just let go and thrown all their worries at your feet, they stared at you expectantly.

"We need a loan."

Your mother jumped in her chair. "That's what I said!"

"That's not necessary." Your father shook his head, as he surely would have done when your mother suggested the idea judging by the expression that had planted itself on her face. "Take a loan from my wallet, but don't do business with those bankers. They'll gouge your eyes out with interest."

"Or take a publisher's offer. They'll take care of all this." Seojun pointed out, his long black hair brushing his eyebrows even though he shook it nonchalantly so he could get a good look at the three of them.

"Publishers can be freeloaders too." Your mother counter-argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, yeah? How many publishers have you signed on with to assert that?"

"Wow, careful with that tone, Mr. Lawyer." Your father pointed at your brother, while your mother only raised an eyebrow at him in response. Seojun sank into the chair, barely dragging an apology through his teeth.

"It's not a bad idea either, Dad."

His brown eyes returned to meet your gaze and you noticed the hesitation in them.

"Well, ultimately, it's your decision, honey."

Your mother squeezed your shoulder.

"I say we should listen to the lawyer."

"Hey!" Seojun frowned, straightening up on the chair. "Don't put such a big responsibility on me!"

Your father snorted. "But then weren't you comfortable a while ago giving orders and saying that I don't know what thing you had already seen it in class and that's why you knew what we had to do?"

"Dad…" Seojun elongated.

"Are you ready for such a position or not, Seojun? Tell me to start looking for another lawyer."

Your mother barely contained her laughter, only because of the offended sideways glance her own son sent her way. Laughter blossomed in your chest, too, like a big breath of fresh air in a field of flowers. You didn't know you needed that moment so badly until the tension disappeared from your shoulders as you laughed with your parents and your brother grumbled with his arms crossed.

-

A new batch of orders just went out - thank you so much for your purchases!

You looked at the story your mom had uploaded to Instagram in the solitude of your bedroom. The rest of the day was spent strategizing and planning marketing ideas that would likely lead you to ruin. In a defeated silence, you admitted that Yuna was really needed.

You had texted your friend a while ago, as the sunset was beginning to paint the sky with colors, but she still hadn't even checked her phone. Her last connection was a few minutes after you left at noon. You decided not to insist, even though you were a little curious about who had finally shown up at the store.

The best thing about that busy rest of the afternoon was that you'd been able to keep yourself busy enough to completely ignore the way you'd been whipped up by a few memories that morning in Yuna's company. A simple question had caused all that. And of course, with a heart as weak as a chick's and willpower almost non-existent, you let yourself be pulled right in that moment of loneliness into the well of memories.

“Jungkookie?”

Your voice pierced the silence and a shiver ran through your body as the darkness greeted you back. A few minutes passed after you plunged into the completely darkened room, walking tentatively and slowly inside, you heard a movement just outside the door you had just entered.

“Noona…”

You couldn't see him, but you didn't need to. The sobs that filled the room were enough to be able to guide you through that darkness, as indistinguishable as coal, and wrap your arms around his hunched figure on the floor beside the door.

The house was alone and as dark as that room the last night Jungkook would be there. Passing through the empty corridors of his house was a torment, but you could only imagine how your friend would feel in his place, unable to stop time as it slipped through his fingers.

Several times he had already told you that he didn't want to leave. You didn't think he meant it.

“They're waiting for you downstairs.”

“I know. I don't want to go, noona.” Jungkook moved his arms to wrap around your waist in a desperate grip, his erratic breathing against your neck breaking your heart. “I want to stay. It doesn't matter if I never become an idol. That's not important.”

“Jungkook…”

“I don't want to leave you…”

His halting voice was barely understandable, trying to be muffled by the jacket you were wearing that night when you went to see him off and didn't find him in the car with his parents. The heater seemed not to be a worthy opponent for that cold night.

“Jungkook, you're not going to leave me. We'll keep in touch. Why do you worry so much?”

“I don't want to be like them,” his pained voice pierced your chest; the movement of his body from the way the sobs were attacking him was almost uncontainable. “I don't want this distance.”

“Change is always hard, Jungkookie, but I promise you we'll be in touch always. I'll do my best to make it so.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I'll even come visit you as soon as I can.”

“No. I said I was going to pay for your trip.”

“See? You're not going to leave me.”

“Still I'm scared, noona. What if I'm not enough for them? What if I can't raise enough for you to come live with us?”

“You are enough, Jungkook. From the tips of your fingers to the tips of your hair, there's nothing about you that won't allow you to achieve your dreams, understand? You are destined to be a star. I know it's hard to leave behind everything you know in life, but believe me it will all be worth it. You will come out on top and you will succeed.”

“Noona…” Jungkook cried again, burying his face in your neck once more, clinging to you like the anchor that carried him to the surface of the ocean; the ocean shaped by his own tears. “I… don't… want… to… go…”

The hiccups that attacked him from his intense crying made it difficult for him to speak and you hadn't felt such pain even when the other boys left. There were tears shared, promises whispered and hugs that lasted longer than they should have, but no one had clung to your body as if they feared you were going to disappear at any moment and wanted to seize every second before the impending end.

“It's okay, Jungkookie,” you ran your hands up and down his back trying to calm his crying, trying to control your own as treacherous tears rolled down your cheeks with the darkness as your witness. “We'll meet again. You can wait for me. Then we can melt into another embrace and say how much we miss each other.”

Your phone vibrated on the bed, the notification startling you with its aggressiveness. Another vibration followed that one and then another. Turning on the screen, you found that half an hour had passed since you'd last seen the clock, and in passing you came across Yuna's name on the caller ID. You sighed, remembering the effusiveness with which she said goodbye in the afternoon and mentally preparing yourself for what was to come.

"Hey," you greeted, mildly surprised that her exclamations hadn't reached your ear first to interrupt your greeting.

"y/n, how were sales today?" her calm voice filled your hearing and a slight wrinkle implanted itself between your brows.

"Mmm, it was all good. We have several domiciliary and the prints are coming out with the deadlines arranged. With Seojun we considered that maybe taking on a publisher wouldn't be so bad, but I'm not sure yet."

You narrowed your eyes at the ceiling, shallowly biting your nails, waiting for the moment when Yuna would burst out, but it didn't come.

"Oh, yeah. We'll have to consider that. I'll go early tomorrow morning to seize the day." Yuna answered quietly, with the faint sound of things stirring in the background of the call. Surely she had just arrived at her apartment.

"Yuna?"

"Mhm?"

"How was the afternoon?"

"Oh, it was normal, really," she replied, her voice flat, as if the thought had barely crossed her mind since the moment she'd left the coffee shop. "I didn't see anyone memorable."

"Ah, so your knights in shining armor didn't attend?"

"Sadly, no." Yuna sighed, her unchanging attitude finding a little more sense in your head. She sounded more tired than anything.

You talked a bit more with Yuna before she excused herself to go about her evening routine and finally get some rest, specifically stressing to you how boring the whole afternoon had been and how every second she only thought about going home. You also told her a bit more about the ideas you and your father had half-heartedly spun as marketing strategies, but very earnestly your friend asked you not to do anything until she was there.

When her name disappeared from your caller ID, an Instagram notification popped up at the top of your home screen. The vibration felt like the pounding of a sledgehammer against wood, your sentence handed down with no chance of appeal, the blood in your veins freezing and an endless emptiness in the pit of your stomach.

jeonjungkook97 just followed you!

It was followed by the notification of a message from Yuna.

Unnie | 19:01 holy shit. jungkook just followed you on ig, right?

No fucking way. Another fucking account to block.

-

It wasn't like you couldn't deal with them. You had been doing it for about ten years. But now they just seemed to want to throw themselves in front of your face one by one and you weren't strong enough to handle that. Maybe your resolve needed to be more forceful; maybe you should be sure you hated them instead of feeling like your body was shaking and you could melt like jelly in the sun every time you felt they were one step closer to you. For a while, that was all you wanted; to find them; to be found. But now…?

The weekend was spent in a hodgepodge of managing your book sales and the seesaw of emotions you had in the face of the estranged but impactful actions of your old friends. You tried not to think about it too much; you really tried, but it was very difficult. It was easier to let the memories wash over you instead of diligently packing up the books on which you had squandered your blood and tears.

Your books, yes, that was the most important thing.

From the posts and hashtags, even though it had only been a couple of days, you could see that some people -those who had actually read the books- were already posting their opinions and reviews and you knew you had had plenty of time to prepare for that moment, but you really weren't ready to face it. You didn't know what it was; whether it was the pollen, the aligned planets, PMS, mercury retrograde… but all of those things were weighing you down too much recently and you weren't ready to hear the opinions.

And you couldn't help but keep asking yourself why? Having spent so much time, between so many experiences and so many personal changes, why now they decided that they would come back into your life? How dare they after ruining your life by completely abandoning you? Many times you wondered what was missing in you; what was never enough for them… sometimes you believed that this was how it was meant to be; just the seven of them, before you came along. It was always them seven first, then you.

Between lows and highs, between sadness and joy, you still had to keep working.

"Get rid of that face if you're not going to tell me what's wrong with you." Yuna crossed the cafeteria in front of you, picking up some glasses and plates on the table as lunchtime approached.

"I don't have any face."

"You've been in a somber mood since Saturday. You look dead."

You clicked your tongue, taking advantage of the fact that the store was nearly empty to do the math. "Don't be over the top."

"I'm just being honest and genuinely concerned about my friend, can you blame me?" Yuna reached the sink and simply left the dishes there to approach the cash register. Your eyes refused to meet hers, unsheathing a strange annoyance in the pit of your stomach.

"I'm fine," you moved the money automatically, doing the math in the back of your head as second nature, "don't worry so much."

"Ok, if you don't want to tell me about it at least try to distract yourself a little, why don't you take an extra half hour for lunch?"

"You know I can't do that."

"Sol would never know."

"I'm not going to do that."

Yuna pouted, dropping her chin onto the back of her hand. You knew she was about to fly you out of that chair the moment all the bills were safeguarded.

A whiplash of pain shot through your chest at the alternative of having to leave the cafeteria, alone, hovering with your thoughts once again, as you tried to shove the food down your throat. But Yuna happily dragged you out of the cafeteria, leaving you in the middle of the street with your little bag and lunch money, wishing you a happy break as she wandered off once more to deal with the sparse crowd of customers alone.

Maybe you should have told her you'd rather not eat than be alone, but…

That was the story of your life.

So you walked to that restaurant a couple of blocks away, where they sold the cheapest food in the area, and waited patiently while answering Yuna's messages to clear your mind.

Going through your social networks, you once again came across the cover of your books in the pre-viewing of a video and felt the bile in your throat. Let's see, you were happy. Or well, you were trying to convince yourself because you still had that bitter feeling in the pit of your stomach that wouldn't let you enjoy this blast like you should and it had a first and last name of its own. But, generally speaking, it was great that your books were selling, forgetting all the other circumstances that led to that happening.

So, standing in front of those videos, you were tormented by not being able to watch them. A self-published author should be prepared for that kind of thing. No, any author should be. Sharing your art with the world implicitly entailed confronting the world's expression in front of it. It was inevitable, of course, and it was also the energy that could start an engine or the fingers that put out the match. At that precise moment, you still didn't want to know what your destiny was.

You hated that. You hated feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. Why was life so heavy if you had just begun to live it?

Ah, too much pondering for one lunch.

And to think this all started with an Instagram story.

Having an existential crisis because you couldn't stand dealing with the stress and pressure of the extreme demand you were having and because of mixed feelings for a bunch of idiots resurfacing after so many years was one of the last things you thought you'd have to go through that year. Fuck, or ever in your entire life.

Taehyung might have done you a favor as well as a disservice.

But that's how you spent a while longer, as you walked back to the coffee shop, the noise of the city not being enough to quell the bustle of thoughts crashing against each other in your head.

Being in the eye of the hurricane, however, didn't mean you were safe. You barely had a breath of fresh air before the eyewall hit you hard once again.

"Noona…?"

You froze a few steps away from the cafeteria. You feared not only the way you immediately recognized the voice, but the way your body froze, fear, panic and uncertainty clouding your sense.

You were in the alley behind the coffee shop. You didn't usually go in that way, but you had taken a slightly longer way back, only because you were too busy thinking about whether or not your body was up to a longer walk.

You were so close to the door that you could almost hear Yuna's voice on the other side, barely muffled by the beeping that echoed in your ears as panic took over your body.

You didn't want to turn around. Your body was having every possible negative reaction, as if it was fighting an infection, the lunch you had just shoved down your throat seeking to make its way back into your mouth and the feeling of dizziness momentarily clouded you.

Was this how you planned to react if you ever saw them again? Was this how you acted out the scenarios you imagined in your head at night when your memories went back to the last time you saw them?

The only difference between those imaginings and what was happening at that moment was that before you could prepare yourself; you knew what was coming; you had control. Now? Your legs were about to give out, the weight of your body too much to bear.

And you wanted to mock the pathetic behavior you were engaging in. You should turn around, slap him and scream at him that you never wanted to see him again. But your heart was beating and feeling and… how could you deny it anything after so many years of being neglected?

But maybe you were imagining it. The little sleep you had this weekend and all the memories you dragged from the trunk since you saw that Instagram notification must have made you crazy enough that you heard voices, his voice, anywhere… you were still near a busy street, it could be anyone-

"y/n."

And, yet…

You didn't turn around knowing what it would entail to give his voice a face, even though you could madly and frankly recall every line of its length, and you spoke harshly through your teeth even though your labored breathing made your chest heave.

"What are you doing here?"

"Noona… you're really here."

You cringed as you heard his footsteps and clutched with inhuman speed at the lock on the door in front of you.

"I asked you a fucking question: what the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

The silence didn't give you an answer, but you could glimpse it. With your patience on edge and years of emotional repression it was impossible for you to deduce how you would react in such a case, but it didn't seem too far-fetched, even if Jungkook's surprised inspiration said he didn't expect you to be so harsh and rude.

As if you cared.

—Yes you did care, in fact, that's why your heart was beating wildly against your ribs, the choking sensation increasing, the nerves on edge and the tears all over the corners of your eyes, but you had to stand your ground. After so, so long… why, why, why, why?—

"I… I…" Jungkook seemed to be having trouble finding his voice, even though in his profession the words came melodiously and easily out of his mouth. If you turned to look at him, you might have noticed that his face went from happiness to anguish with the speed a bullet goes through a field, "I wanted to see you…"

He sounded so small. The five-foot-ten-plus man, who you're sure was almost a head and a half taller than you, might as well have been a badly wounded puppy behind you. You knew from the way he spoke that he was holding back tears, but you didn't let that sway you. He didn't deserve it.

"Who gave you the right to come here?"

You didn't let him answer, not knowing if he was even going to, tightening the lock on the door you were about to walk through at any moment, bile in your throat making you fear the fall as if you were at the top of a skyscraper.

"How the fuck did you even find me?"

"Well, I-"

"I don't fucking want to know!"

You cut him off, the dryness and venom in your voice making you tremble. You were so sad, so distraught and so angry at the same time.

"And I don't want to see you. So leave."

"Noona…"

"Fucking leave, Jeon, for fuck's sake!"

You moved, almost as if by inertia, opening the door and slamming it behind you, the noise so deafening that it echoed in your ears for several seconds until you heard Yuna's footsteps approaching you and felt her arms wrap around your body.

You didn't know what she was saying, you just leaned against the door and let yourself fall, your body shaking in cry after uncontrollable cry, truly wondering how everything had gone so far; wondering how, after so many years, you still allowed them to have that power over you; a power they didn't deserve and shouldn't have.

You felt shattered in that moment, every piece of you scattered in the hold, every moment of your life replaying on its glassy, sharp edges. Even with half of you staying afloat, Yuna held you until the tears stopped flowing and with renewed resolve you promised yourself that this was never going to happen again.

Jungkook had taken you by surprise, but from now on none of them would ever catch you off guard.

-

a/n: i dont really know what to think about this chap. sometimes i like it sometimes i dont. i guess thats just how it works. pls letme know what you think! thank u for all the support! <3

tag: @rinkud @futuristicenemychaos @pastelpeachess @parapiop7 @kokoandkookie @midiplier @thunderg @lizzymizzy-blogg @ladymorrie @butnotmontana @lovelgirl22 @jjeonjjk7 @aurorathi @ot7stansthings @kunacat @borahaetelevision @mylovingstars @ghostlyworld @talyaaas-blog @slowlyshycomputer @jjk174 @maynina @saintomie @damn-u-min-yoongi @juju-227592 @yoongznme @queenbloody @leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesworld @zippaur @v4ksk4tz @kookierry @idk179634 @canarystwin @elliott-calls @devilzliaison

[arvensimp]

I LOVE the Leon sneaking around with reader/oc thing you wrote - the Leon theme that's goin on in general is great tbh - but I'm personally more of a Raihan gal, y'know? 🥰 don't know if he's for anyone here but I personally like the completely separate concept of an "older brother's best friend" sorta scenario where the reader/oc is another sibling to Leon (being 18+ of course) and is sneaking around with Raihan.. 😊

Okay so I'm low-key loving this. Let me see how this sounds?

Honey, you've got a big storm comin'

Raihan x fem!reader who is Leon's and Hop's sister. warning for some slightly adult behaviors, but no full on sex

-

Your whole childhood basically revolved around Pokemon. Now, don't misunderstand, you like pokemon well enough! There are tons of cute little kinds, and they're fun! You've got one that you keep around because it's sweet and easy enough to care for.

But between a celebrity champion older brother and a massive pokemon-fan-turned-pokemon-grad-student younger brother, you kind of dealt with enough of the whole "Pokemon Trainer" life. You watched Leon march off (initially in the wrong direction) to become a trainer, then heard all about the hardships of basically camping in the wilderness while he trained for some matches, and Hop ate it up ravenously. But you? You don't really care for The Great Outdoors and all of its associated dangers. Like, people talk about the wild area and how cool it is to be out and about there, but??? People have died there. Yeah, it's dirty, and the weather can change at the drop of a coin, but also??? For real, there are dangerous pokemon out there who can very easily kill someone.

So yeah, like the middle child you very much are, you deviated from your brothers and their obsession with Pokemon training. You're happy living in a proper city in a proper flat with a proper job, not exposing yourself to the elements.

Still, you do care about your boys, so you help them out in your own small way. See, you went to school to become a meteorologist, and you work as the weather reporter on a small, local channel in Hammerlocke. You're able to live a comfortable life in a nice city, not particularly well known as a local celebrity or anything, and you can let your brothers know if there are any bizarre weather phenomena on the horizon while they're out being stupid in the wild area.

It's also kind of nice that you're not super recognizable. Folks don't recognize you in public as a sibling to the champion. You basically go unnoticed, like the middle child that you are. It's not like Lee hides you away or something, but you don't bother going to the majority of his big public events, unlike Hop, who will happily follow your eldest sibling to the ends of the earth, so you've never been "debuted" to the world the way that Hop was when he did that whole Gym Challenge thing.

Still, Lee always invites you anyway. It just so happens that this latest event of his is in Hammerlocke, so you figure you might as well attend. Hop had to study for exams, and you're not busy with anything else. Truth be told, it might do you some good to socialize a bit more. You'd been spending an awful lot of time cooped up in your flat lately.

This brings you to your current situation, chilling at the buffet of some Rose Sponsored Event in Hammerlocke Stadium's lavish upper floors. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall windows overlook the greenery of the pitch below, so you figure this must be some kind of box space for major movers and shakers within the pokemon league for when they do their matches below. You'd never bothered visiting the stadium before today, despite living in Hammerlocke for a few years, so it's kind of neat to see. You can cross it off your bucket list or whatever.

Lee is off chatting it up with whatever bigwigs are trying to get him to wear their logo, so you haven't had the chance to grab his ear and say hello just yet. Instead you're eyeing some curry puffs and mini quiches, trying to decide how much would be polite to load up on your plate, when you hear someone's voice.

"Aaaaand that's our GBC 12 Hammerlocke News today. Up next, the weather." The phrase makes your ears perk. It's the one the news anchor speaks every day just before your segment on air. Internally, you cringe. Someone must've recognized you. You plaster on your Broadcast Smile and look to the source.

"Haha," The laugh is as stiff and uncomfortable as you feel. "Sounds like I've been spotted..."

The man who drew your attention is surprisingly tall, giving you a grin with teeth so sharp that on anyone else they'd seem almost predatory, but with his relaxed posture and overall chill demeanor, you're not getting any vibes of ill intent. Maybe (probably) cockiness? But nothing bad. The discomfort you'd felt at being recognized melts away like ice in a heat wave, replaced with a warm thrum of nervous excitement. He's very handsome, and you certainly don't mind attention from someone like him. In his hand is a rotom phone. He gestures with it as he speaks.

"Well, yeah. Gotta keep up with current events; especially gotta keep up with the weather. Can't control what you don't know, am I right?"

No, that didn't entirely make sense to you, but you smile politely and nod anyway. He's definitely easy on the eyes, and getting easier the longer you look.

"So they're inviting the press to these events now, I'm guessing?" The man goes on. "Kinda surprised they'd ask the weather girl to come schmooze it up and get photos and whatnot." He gives a bark of a laugh, and his stark white teeth gleam. "Then again, I suppose it does make for a thematically pretty picture–the weather girl with the weather specialist."

Weather specialist? You think to yourself. Is that some kinda pokemon thing? Whatever.

"Actually, I'm not--"

"Here, get in, and we'll snap some shots, and I can text'em--"

The pair of you speak at once, so you stop and try again.

"Oh, so you want my--"

"Wait, you're not--"

You both laugh this time. He gestures for you to go ahead and speak first, uninterrupted. You can't help but smile, teasingly calling him out.

"I was gonna say. So you just want to get my number, so you can send over those pictures? No other reason?"

"Ahh, ya caught me." Another laugh. Gosh, his eyes are a captivating blue... "Maybe I want your number..." He doesn't sound ashamed at all. "Not every day you get to meet the cute weather girl you see on TV, right?"

"Well it's not every day a cute weather girl meets someone as impressive as you." You eye him up and down very obviously. You're not typically this brazen a flirt, but it's kinda nice to chat someone up like this once in a while.

The man picks up on your traveling gaze, and his smile widens. "Listen, they're not gonna be making any crazy toasts or announcements or anything for a minute... Wanna maybe go somewhere private til then?"

It's a very tempting offer. Your eyes scan the room til they find Lee. He's still engrossed in conversation with some older guy with a pudgy belly and facial hair even patchier than Lee's own sad attempts at a beard (you only tease him about that a little bit). It definitely seems like they'll be there a while, so why not?

"Do you know a place?"

"Heh. Cute. C'mon, I'll lead the way." You feel the warmth of his hand trail down to the small of your back as he guides you from the room. He takes you through a few winding corridors before stopping at a massive mahogany door. It's unlocked, so the pair of you slip inside. The only light you can see is from some kind of underlit dragon themed bauble on what looks like a desk. Maybe this is an office? You can't make out many details, but you also don't have much of a chance before the man pins you to the door, resting his forearm over your head.

He towers over you, even in your heels, in the most attractive way, and you're left with no choice but to tilt your head up to meet his gaze in the dim purple lighting of the room.

From there it's easy enough for him to press his lips to yours. Seems like neither of you felt the need to chit chat further. He's warm, and the clean scent of his cologne fills your senses. Kissing him comes naturally, intoxicatingly. You hum against his lips, and he pulls away just enough to start trailing kisses down your jaw. His free hand takes a hold of your jaw, tilting it to expose your neck and collarbone to him, which he happily bites with those sharp teeth of his. Nothing too hard so as to hurt, just enough to entice and make you squirm.

You thread your own hands around the back of his neck, pressing him just a bit closer to you. "Very nice..." You hum. "But come back here." You pull his face back to your mouth, so you can kiss him again. It'd be an issue if he left any hickies, purposeful or otherwise.

"Yes, ma'am," He laughs softly against your mouth. The hand he'd used to tilt your jaw shifts, just so, to cup it instead, but you gently take it, threading your fingers over his. You hold him there for a moment, savoring your kisses. It's easy between you, finding a rhythm to enjoy, so it doesn't take much more from him for you to squeeze his fingers just a bit and guide his hand down to your chest. He fondles you eagerly, honest to goodness groaning at that first squeeze. Or maybe he's groaning at the sound you made in reaction. You can feel him smile against your lips, biting them softly.

"Ohh, atta girl, give me more of that, yeah?" He whispers between kisses. His hand works its way under your top and into your bra.

You moan as he pinches your nipple between two warm, calloused fingers. You want to ask for more, maybe wriggle your way out of your top, see if he might match you in undressing, but the man's rotom phone loudly dings several times in quick succession. The groan from its owner is of an entirely different sort as he silences the device and checks his notifications. "Agh, damn. I'm sorry, but we'll have to cut this short. Looks like someone's wondering where I am up there, and I can't leave him waiting."

Very frustrating, but you get it. It's probably for the best, too. Lee's bound to find you missing eventually.

"Gotcha..." You sound more breathless than you thought you would.

The man gives your breast a teasing squeeze and a peck on the mouth before he fully pulls away from you and opens the door to the corridor behind you.

"Don't worry. We can pick back up where we stopped later, if you're up for it." He winks.

"Well, it'd be a shame to keep a girl like me waiting for very long, right?" You reply, slipping your hand into his as you make your way back to the event space together. Along the way, you double check that you haven't mussed your hair or makeup noticeably.

Your grip loosens and you pull away from one another by the time he opens the door for you. He gives a teasing bow, gesturing for you to enter before him, so you oblige. Inside, the same pudgy man who had been chatting Lee's ear off seems to be coming to the end of some kind of toast. The pair of you quickly snatch some champagne flutes to join in the "Cheers!" when he finishes.

The hum of the crowd then picks back up as conversations start anew, and your new friend departs quickly to wherever he was needed, so you head back to that buffet line, suddenly remembering those curry puffs that you didn't get to try. Lee can find you whenever, you figure.

True to form, a few minutes pass, and you hear your name being called the same way you've heard since you were a kid. Lee is politely pushing his way through groups of people to you. You offer him a mini quiche (you've eaten an embarrassing number of them already), which he takes without a second thought.

"Mm, thanks. You must've been bored to tears here." Lee says as he eats. "Sorry I haven't been able to show you 'round yet. Here, we can make the rounds together. I'll introduce you to my colleagues."

As it turns out, your big brother knows every person in the room by name. He couldn't find his way out of a paperbag, but he can learn faces and names apparently. They all blend into a massive blur for you, all the different gym leaders, their top gym trainers, and some guy wearing a pokeball costume, of all things.

"Aaah, there he is!" Lee eventually says, guiding you away from the beautiful ice gym leader and her adult son, another top trainer of the region. You've already forgotten their names. Emily? Jordy?

Lee puts on an air as he continues. "Dearest little sister, please allow me the pleasure of introducing you to the gym leader of Hammerlocke. I'm sure you've seen him on the telly or some such."

Ah, fuck.

"My very best mate."

Damn it.

"My closest rival."

Son of a bitch.

"And the second best trainer in Galar."

Blast it all to hell and back.

"Raihan."

Your mystery guy with the big hands, stunning eyes, and beautiful teeth stands in front of you, smiling between Lee and you.

"Raihan, meet my little sister."

Raihan, for his part, barely falters for a second as he learns your identity.

"Champ." He says between too-tight-teeth. "I don't think you ever mentioned a sister. I'm hurt."

"You sure, mate?" It's an honest question. Bless Lee's dumbest of asses.

Raihan nods, and Lee laughs it off. "Ah, you know... She's got herself all hidden away in her flat. Not much into the whole league thing, so I must've...uh..." He looks down at you. "Forgotten? But only in the kindest way!" He attempts to placate you.

"I've been hidden in a flat in this town." You remind him, face flushed from embarrassment. Of course the hottest guy here (who has also already felt you up and had his tongue down your throat) is your big brother's best friend. "You'd think I'd have come up at some point."

"Well, you never wanna come to my matches anyway. Besides, you're the one who lives here. Why has it taken you so long to come down to the stadium? You could've met Raihan ages ago."

You curl in on yourself a bit. Yeah, it's probably not amazing form that you didn't even recognize the gym leader and second best trainer in the region, much less the man who's supposed to be your brother's best mate. That isn't a great look.

"Listen, I'm sure your sweet little sister here was just too busy with her job. She's a local celebrity, you know." Raihan comes to the rescue. Kinda.

"Yeah? I didn't realize that many people saw her. You knew who she was?" Lee sounds impressed.

"Well I've only been watching her as long as they've been broadcasting her!" Raihan laughs. "I just didn't know she was your sister." He looks down at you and narrows eyes slightly. It's probably imperceptible to Lee, but you're not quite sure how to read it. Is he mad that you didn't know him? That you didn't say who you were? "But like I told her earlier, what kinda weather specialist would I be if I didn't pay attention to the upcoming forecasts?"

In the back of your mind, you can feel it. There's absolutely a storm coming.

[barblaz-arts]

Hi! :) Back when viv was still developing hazbin and making speed draws, she would often draw art of vaggie with these unique eyes surrounding and staring at her, and the art would display vaggie feeling annoyed or uneasy. I find it still very interesting and was wondering if these were eyes that represented all the demons she killed and her guilt? or had to do with something else entirely. We’re still not completely sure if these are still present in current hazbin rn but I was curious on what your take, theories and over all thoughts are on it! Love your comics and AUs on Chaggie sm and can’t wait to see more!

Oh yeah that! I always did find that pretty neat when it came to her earlier arts. Even more interesting, is that this concept was carried over even in one of her trading cards.

I think the eyes are meant to represent a lot of things tbh, especially since eyes in the show had been associated with both Heaven and Hell.

Let's look at Hell's side first.

Your interpretation about the eyes being the demons she killed I think is one of the things it's supposed to mean. I don't know the source, so I dont consider this info canon, but I found out somewhere that the eyes that can be seen all over Hell is supposed to be what remains of the demons the Exorcists have killed. Like being cleansed by angelic steel can't completely erase them but simply make them part of Hell, if no longer sentient.

I have my doubts though, because in the intro backstory, the eyes seem to have already been in Hell before the Exterminations began.

And in the intro, the eyes showed up specifically after Charlie talked about Sin worming its way to humanity because of what Lilith and Lucifer convinced Eve to do. If this timing is in any way relevant, the eyes could be related to Roo aka The Root of Evil instead.

I'm not sure if other characters were drawn with these disembodied eyes as much as Vaggie has been. But at the very least, I think Vaggie's the one drawn the most often with them.

Anyways, considering all this, the more obvious and plausible answer could be that the eyes was just Vivzie's way of foreshadowing her guilt over Exterminating demons. But if Vaggie can be allowed to be more involved with the biggest bad of the show in a more direct way than just her close proximity with the main protag, then maybe it's even meant to foreshadow even more than we already know. I don't have a lot of hope for this tbh. It's not like Vaggie was a very important angel. Exorcists gave me the impression that they could be pretty low in Heaven's hierarchy. So like, idk why this could foreshadow a connection with Roo, but it is a super interesting thought to entertain lol

Now on Heaven's side though, the eyes could also just be for a touch of tragic irony I guess. Angels in the old testament looked a lot closer to this...

... Lotsa eyes and shit. And that's why the seraphs like Lucifer, Sera, and Emily could manifest multiple extra eyes in their "true forms".

But Vaggie was stripped away of everything that physically made her an angel. Lute took away her wings, halo, and even one of her goddamned eyes. Ain't it ironic that she has only one eye when the most powerful angels have been shown with a whole dang lot? Seems to me like it was another cruel way of Lute's to show that Vaggie "has no place in Heaven". And the eyes haunting Vaggie could be a manifestation of her thoughts of it being true.

So to tie this all together(except for the Roo thing), you're right. It could be the guilt over what she did to Hell's denizens. But it could also be an ironic, symbolic reminder that she was an exile of Heaven.

[jouxlskaard]

Hi so I may or may not have forgotten to actually post these on here. Ofc the original concept goes to the brilliant @wolfythewitch, I've just leeched off of it because I wanted to see Elias in the Hermes suit. Also I wanted to see Jon and Martin doing a little dance. And the way I drew Tim as Orpheus is just.... so similar to how regular Orpheus looks. I am sorry. He has a boob window so it's more accurate to his character.

As I talked about in my ask to Wolfy (which I believe to be what drew quite a few people here? idk at this point), I have quite a few reasons for why I think Elias would fit the role of Hermes. Obviously he's a much more sinister Hermes, but it's a neat little concept to play around with. I think the little things Hermes says (like the line above) can be interestingly recontextualised when you view Hermes as an antagonistic force, rather than a guide/mentor. I thought it'd be interesting to see Elias as someone who helps Tim/Orpheus because he knows that it'll end in tragedy every time, and finds enjoyment in the helplessness that the audience faces knowing how it ends and being completely unable to change it. Get Beholdinged, babey!

Maybe I'll draw some Gertrude!Hermes....? Who knows - I'm currently in the middle of doing a shit ton of work at the moment, both for school and for personal reasons. I've got Mechanisms fanart happening, some concepts for myself as a Corruption avatar (nature!), ideas for animatics (which I admittedly don't have much experience in, but I will try to do it), and some other random ideas. Only time shall tell.

[littleeyesofpallas]

So, with the new legends there's a neat way we can take a guess at some of the time frame. Although it's largely aesthetic and hard to gauge the intended historical parallels of, the not-Eiffel Tower at the center of the city could presumably have been completed in the late 1880s like the real thing. Interestingly that places it pretty concurrent to the construction of the Hokkaido Government building in the 1870s that served as the basis of the Galaxy Team HQ in the first Legends game.

But with the keywords being "urban redevelopment" the setting could only possibly be Haussman's renovation of Paris that took place from the 1850s-1920s. So given that the tower is already standing, that places Legends Z-A between 1889 and 1927.

And I doubt it would play into the setting of a Pokemon game but I think it's neat that it would mean taking place firmly in the 3rd French Republic, as that's not typically the most romanticized period of French history. (Kind of shocking given just how much Japanese pop culture loves to fixate on the Ancien Regime and Rococco architecture.) It's right at the height of the French Colonial empire and their rivalry with the British... Even if they don't address the history directly, certainly not the darker bits, I wonder if we'll see an ancestor of Rose* and some mention of Kalos and Galar's relation as a hint at the Pokemon world's equivalent of India. (Elephant, what elephant...)

*put a pin in that... Well come back to Rose later...

Also I know a lot of the stupid "leaks" that were just running with any/every rumor they could find had been talking about Celebi, despite there being no signs of it in the direct, but it's possible that the Z-A title and the fadethru of the sort of sci-fi looking city diagram into a pencil and parchment one is indicating going back in time --backwards, from Z to A, end to start.

and just so long as I'm just picking at edges of things...

The unknown are an anagram of, "POKEMON PRESENTS"(oh and the SOEYUE one at the end is just "SEE YOU") and the ""confidential"" stamp on the documents likely reads "Gokuhi" as in gokuhi[極秘]: "Top Secret," but the rest of the text doesn't seem to match either Japanese, French, or English,

Hito to POKEMON no kyouzon o yumemite[人と ポケモンの共存を夢見て]: "Dreaming of people and Pokemon's coexistence" Toshisaikaibatsu hassou MIARE CITY[都市再開発発想ミアレシティ]: "Urban Redevelopment Concept Miare City"

The obvious exception being that redacted text is clearly the romanized MIARE from the Japanese MIARE[ミアレ] and the English CITY, which is the Japanese name for what was localized as "Lumiose."

Curiously the word "Pokemon" is very clearly missing from the passage, and also in both cases there are too few "Galarian" characters for how long the phrases are in any actual language.

and finally, given some of the existing examples of handwritten Galarian in SwSh, I'm guessing the text on the big logo is as i've transcribed into the more standard Galar font, although I'm really uncertain about that second one, and a bit iffy about the big "X"s, but the little cyclone O, the V with the underbar, and the E seem certain enough.

Also there's a logo I know I remember seeing that looks like this one but I can't remember where it is or what it's associated with.... It's the logo on the Macro Cosmos power plant. Not Rose's personal logo with the stylized rose, and not the Cosmos business logo with the big star system orbital ring Cs, but the power plant in Hammerlock where you go to fight Eternatus specifically.

It would be really neat if whatever this organization is was tied back to an ancestor of Rose and Peony and the origins of Macro Cosmos somehow.

[armageddon-generation]

Empire of Death was bad and cemented several fundemental flaws in this season.

I watched this in the theatre, and the contrast between everyone's excitement before Empire, and their universal disappointment leaving the theatre was super disheartening. I'm gonna try to articulate my problems with episode, and how they're linked to fundenental structural issues of this season.

SPOILERS BELOW:

Sutekh

The moment the UNIT characters died the story was robbed of any stakes. (Also? Kate and Ibrahim?? During Pride month?? Disgusting)

Sutekh was pointless, big CGI spectacle who was barely there. Saying he's been latched onto the TARDIS since Pyramids of Mars was such an asspull. Why couldn't he have latched on during Wild Blue Yonder? wouldn't that make much more sense??

You're telling me the guy who holds all life in contempt is invested enough in learning the identity of Ruby's mum he willingly reveals himself??

And then they defeat him by dragging him through the Vortex just like before, which it's been explicitly stated *didn't work* last time? He just *lets* Ruby leash him??

The 'death of death is life' bit, and the idea of the Doctor representing life as a Ying to Sutekh's Yang, is a cool concept just jammed in there with no real buildup or depth.

The issue is bringing Sutekh back takes so much effort- a literal, clunky clipshow of Pyramids of Mars, a whole episode spent building up to the reveal of a silly anagram entirely unrekated to Sutekh's previous appearance. And it just... amounts to nothing. What a silly way to cap off a season meant to be jumping-on point for brand-new viewers.

Mel was just takingup space. Pointless.

Ruby's Mother

I don't have a problem with the *concept* of Ruby's mum being normal. I really like the idea thematically. The execution was terrible.

First of all it leaves so many unanswered questions (why the snow? Why was time changing? Why was she shadowed? Literally just for the sake of the mystery-box?) and represents the worst thing about this new era- RTD using fantasy logic to handwave any logic at all, and just do whatever he wants without properly justifying it.

Second, I *hate* how easy and simple and neat the reunion is. Ruby seems incapable of getting angry with anyone. She has never once argued with 15, or Carla, or anyone besides that one moment in 73 Yards. She has never expressed any kind of negative feeling towards her mother for abandoning her. And it's fine for her to reach that conclusion! It's just bizzare we never see Ruby struggle with her feelings beyond the shallow goal of wanting to find her.

(Also Carla? Has nothing to say?? Just welcomes that woman in with basically no comment? Carla is a 2D cutout of a person, used as a plot device and otherwise relegated to the single character trait of I Love My Daughter. The children yearn for the ilk of Jackie Tyler, Sylvia Noble, even Francine Jones.)

15 & Ruby

The emotion behind 15 & Ruby's split felt entirely unearned because we've never seen their bond develop. They never argue, never disagree, Ruby hasn't learned anything about herself or grown or changed. The closest we got to that is 73 Yards, which was undone. She was already brave and kind and musical and sure she loved her adoptive family when we met her in Church on Ruby Road.

Similarly, 15 tells us Ruby encouraged him to talk about family in a way he never has, but that was in what, two moments across the season? And they seemed random, unrelated to Ruby being with him. New viewers will assume 15 is just that open anyway- he was discussing fatherhood with a dead man's hologram- and old viewers assumed trauma-dumping was just a new trait of 15's personality, not Ruby-specific.

The problem is we're told Ruby & 15 are best friends but it isn't earned. I liked 15 crying initially but both he and Ruby do it so much (15 cries about 5 times in this one episode) it loses its impact and I'm becoming numb to it. There is no contrast, no downtime.

Season Structural Issues

I think the biggest problem is Season 1's storytelling priorities. It's much more interested in selling *the show* (look at our big budget! And guest stars! And how flexible our format is! Musical episode! The Beatles as props! Bottle episode! Indie folk-horror! Black Mirror! Gay Bridgerton!) it forgot to put effort into developing and investing us in its characters. I liked a lot of the individual stories this year but in retrospect a lot of them feel like they're wasting space that needed to go to essential character and theme setup.

These skewed priorities, combined with the cut down episode count, really impact the pacing of the season. Ruby and 15 were barely together! Even in Rogue they were seperated for most of the story!! We only loop back to a flashback of 15 meeting Carla in Rogue!

This is made worse by the baffling insistence on a 45-minute runtime. We know key sequences were cut from almost every episode, with highlights including:

The Gobin King invading Ruby's flat and her banishing him with scratchcards in The Church on Ruby Road: Her missing 'companion saves the day' moment!

Refrence to the Toymaker in The Church on Ruby Road, which was itself referenced in The Devil's Chord. 'I told you about the Toymaker when we first met' sir, objectively you did not.

The TARDIS jukebox playing the Sugarbabes' Push The Button in the opening scene of Space Babies, hastily cut around in the final edit. This is the setup of a running joke still in the episode, and part of the story's climax. The first encounter with the Bogeyman was also longer, with 15 taking particular interest in its skin

Extended scenes in Abbey Road from The Devil's Chord, including an apparently significant speaking role for Cilla Black, according to her annoyed actress.

Cut dialogue from The Devil's Chord explaining the musoical number was caused by Maestro's power lingering, and that banishing them undid everything they'd done. Fans inferred thos based on the rules established in The Giggle, but again, new fans haven't seen The Giggle and were left clueless.

An opening sequence for The Legend of Ruby Sunday where 15 & Ruby meet Susan as a nanny in 1947 America, a blue-skinned waitress, and an astronaut meeting a colony of giant, sentient ants. At the end of this we actually see 15 decide to go to UNIT for help. In the broadcast version he just sorta shows up.

Really what Empire of Death exposed to me is how emotionally hollow the season was. I enjoy the exoperimentalism, but not at the cost of character. And then in the finale Russell reverts to almost a parody of his RTD1 finales, with the nonsense logic and lack of consequences. All the worst bits of Last of the Time Lords and The Giggle put in a blender.

[lucabyte]

Psst. What's your process for Comics? I would like to Know (Because your ISAT comics make me a little bit feral and I would like to learn)

Okay so the cop out answer is: i basically wing it every time since im very very new to making comics and my method is still evolving. but that's not helpful and i like to yap so ill talk through My Method anyway

So first of all: Ideas.

All my ISAT shit is like. extremely dialogue heavy & mostly focused on the same like. 3 topics and philosophical concepts over and over lbr. So mostly when it comes to drafting that I'll just let my brain bash the dolls together until i notice either 1. a fucking banger line (this usually becomes a punchline i then work backwards from when writing it out) or 2. that i keep coming back to the same like 'scene' in my mind.

(I'd love to know. how to make this work for like. OCs??? But I haven't quite cracked that one yet sorry)

For the former though what usually happens there is I write things out on my phone (this happened with the bonnie-centric ones a lot?) or i'll leave a voice note for myself. Or, if i'm at my computer it goes straight into notepad, which is where everything goes before i draw it.

so these are just like. Disgustingly strewn about on my desktop. But this is how i type up the comic scripts, which I do before i put the dialogue in csp because csp's text tool sucks ass, but you can see how these end up having Some Semblance of the final formatting? Some more than others. But they don't have much consistency in how i'm tagging the dialogue LOL. (bonus: one of these i never ended up making. because i come back to the same wells SO FREQUENTLY that it gets embarrasing to retread sometimes) Then I just... screenshot the notepad file and paste it into a csp window LOL.

So I've pulled up three comics just because theyre like, recent ones? (Links to all 3 -> x, x, x) And oh yeah immediately they're rather inconsistent. But this is the level of detail i do in my thumbnails. (Hello Golf Ball Loop) MOST of my long ass comics look like the first one though, and all of them follow the same thought process.

I will take the dialogue, and then just draw a panel that i think works with it. Then move onto the next line, and the next. Basically thinking mostly in speech bubble placement rather than anything? But I'll just keep... going downwards until it is done. You can see the speech bubbles tend to include either nothing or the vaguest indicator of what's inside them.

(The third one here is an outlier because iirc I actually had this very visual idea while drawing something else and went to go quickly draw it out so the text actually went right into CSP bc there was so little of it. But it was still panelled really sequentially for what action I know I wanted in each panel.)

Overall this is probably because of my habits from learning animation? I thumbnail as if im storyboarding, if that makes any sense. Or is any different to how people usually do it, anyway.

My friends who actually read comic books have told me off already for my vile leaning-tower-of-pisa bullshit formatting. I understand their criticisms because genuinely what the fuck am I doing half of the time? I like it though lol. It's a reflection of how stream-of-conciousness my workflow tends to be, but fuck if it means the aspect ratios aren't the wooooorst LOLL

Then i resize the thumbnails to be roughly 1920px wide, aspect ratio be damned. And at this point I usually also have to draw a big grid so that i can align the comic and make it not on a weird tilt. The most thought that goes in here is that I try to avoid making panels too samey in layout from line to line, and try to keep vaguely to making panels the same-ish height but a width of the page either in halves or thirds. Making it so they aren't completely inconsistent sizes does a lot for making things not look too sloppy.

My first sketch over the thumbnail usually is neat enough to be The Final Lines because I'm impatient. EXCEPT when i realise its going to get Fucking Complicated at which point i pull out the CSP models and my beloved cubes. Then i take a billion years to pose a consistent scene (and often realise where I need to cheat angles. Like for loop reaching down to sif's face. That doesn't make sense in 3d space so I had to cheat). This is basically par for the course whenever I want to do a scene where there's Any consistency in character positioning and they aren't just Talking Heads.

THEN. After the sketch (which was done with speech bubble placements in mind back at the thumbnail stage) I will finally put in the speech bubbles. This usually means re-sketching them, then putting the text down and doing all the typesetting (VCR mono looks very ugly in CSP a lot of the time so I fuck with the spacing of individual letters a lot) and THEN redrawing the speech bubbles around them properly.

Sometimes I'll fuck myself over here and have to move stuff but ideally, if I weren't working like some kind of fucking barbarian, I'd do the speech bubbles before finalising the lineart. But I don't on account of going straight from thumbnail to final lines. You'd do this during the sketch stage if you were normal.

then it's finally panel border time. And then when I get to this stage I just make like. another few new layers above everything but the text where i just clean up. Everything that I had neglected while drawing. So any extra white lines or places where i just think things look bad and i want to redraw them entirely. I will also sometimes literally make a flattened copy of an entire panel to just move it around slightly. It's a deeply evil part of the workflow and i apologise for it. But also it's the major benefit to drawing in straight black-and-white with no tones. It means i can just overdraw anything that is unclear in the end.

(and reposting again Links to all 3 -> x, x, x for easy comparison if u want it)

ANYWAY for further reading. I know I've already stated these before somewhere on my blog but for ease of access... The major inspirations for how my comics Look are as follows:

1. tumblr user Floralmarsupial's homestuck comics found [HERE]. She did a LOT of straight up black and white comics that are ingrained deep in my brain at this point. These are always in the back of my head.

2. Leo Fox [LINK] regularly gets really strange and esoteric with overlapping panels and unorthodox layout. I stared at these a lot when i was starting to make the first couple ISAT comics even if i'm not going nearly as abstract as him

3. tumblr user the-hydroxian-artblog's comic Hangin' Out [LINK] has GORGEOUS typesetting and their art in general uses a lot of speech bubbles that convey some really funny shit by just resizing the text in funny ways. Gold standard for emotive typesetting and also their lin weight and b/w illustrations are gorgeous.

4. sonic the hedgehog idw keeps me humble and reminds me to make the speech bubbles fucking SMALLER. if im left to my own devices i make speech bubbles and fonts WAY too big so reading a cleanly formatted professional comic book for children reminds me what i should be aiming for in legibility.

anyway hope this helps? the answer really is "fuck it we ball" tho

[normallosers]

Plave: Yapping bout graphic design

Whoever the designers of Plave's branding, overall album designs, and digital content are (not related to virtual interactive stuff), Luv u (your work, actually lol)

I'm a such a nerd when it's bout graphic design, i love it so much, and this came to me (the need to talk bout this), cause I saw the packaging for Eunho's birthday kit, the illustration of muhmo in a pixel style is so cutee, the overall design is so adorable, the little pixilated wolf, so nicee

In general I think they have a really clean aesthetic, i don't know how to explain it actually lol, but it's kinda fresh, at least if I compare it to what is common to see design-wise from where I'm from, and talking bout the niche. I think it's cool that every one of their albums and projects have a personality on their own. It always expresses it so well, even if the cover (or whatever it is) is more on the abstract side.

Honestly, something I love bout plave is the graphic work, but putting aside all the work for the virtual universe they live in lol, that is super cool too, but I don't know bout that lol. My favorites are they typographic works, they're good, and the designs are always so harmonious, the use of the resources to bring something according to the concept, and in a way innovative if we talk bout the niche.

Something that not nerds (or non designers), ignores sometimes, is the importance of the typography and the weight it has on the project, but that is actually its charm, if it's well used you don't notice, you just see a really nice overall finished product, and that's what I love about Plave's designs, always cohesive, united as a whole concept, and appealing to the expressive resources a font can give.

Ofc I have to admit that it's not only the typography itself, but the way they work with it too, changing its morphology, adding elements, mixing styles, giving qualities like continuity by the elements put along the words, and playing with stuff like the kerning and interline to create a better composition, more aesthetic but functional. And ofc, they have some good typographic arrangements, that it's so satisfying to watch haha, talking bout merch or the imagery they create to promote the merch or events lol.

Another thing I really like is the work on their logo. I'm not the greatest fan of changing part of the graphic identity, but I guess we are already used to it (the shape of the logo, i mean), so it's ok(?). And since the essence remains in the morphology, talking about the structure, the construction of the exterior keeps feeling familiar, maybe bc of the pragnanz help idk

We understand it's a P. It keeps the flourish at the left, in some instances more abstract than others, but it's there. And the design is always flowing naturally with the comeback's concept, so I don't complain about the constant change. Actually, I'm kinda expecting what's coming next.

So, talking bout design and everything, I know is a work of many, surely in a long period of time that a team gave it all to achive this results, and I think is really cool, probably stressful af but I think it's worth it, to me it shows a really nice graphic quality, even tho I don't love everything, I think their work is just amazing and I really want to recognize it, I just think they're neat.

I really felt like this while writing this post, and I'm sure there's a lot of things I would want to add later, but I need to stop. I know this is only interesting to me hehehe but I'm overjoyed tbh

[ooctlt]

I think the etiquette of ask blogs is a forgotten art. what I'm saying is (imo) it's not that people don't want to play, it is they don't know HOW, and more importantly they don't understand that the game exists to begin with. obviously you do not have to teach people the rules because your time and energy is finite but idk. it feels like from some of your OOC responses that you assume people know the rules and are playing badly, but I genuinely think people (me) just don't know what you are wanting them (us) to do. and also they (i) don't know how to tell if they (i) are playing the game correctly.

An example I am genuinely confused about is, is inciting a "shut up" answer a signal that the game is being played correctly, because we are inciting a reaction from the character? or is a "shut up" answer a signal that we are playing wrong and need to do something different? I'm sorry. I really love your art and seeing the story unfold but I'm confused and I want to play and I don't understand how.

yeah ive had a couple people tell me this has been the first active askblog in a while and the concept of askblog etiquette has been forgotten- @thatneoncrisis and i made a diagram:

link to full-res image

a "shut up" reaction will hopefully show whether or not it's a closed path of exploration: if you have gideon sweating, going "pshhh its nothinggg" it means there is something worth exploring. if you have harrow slamming the door in your face, that is an advance that wont work on her

transcript under the readmore:

DEAD END QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU THINK HARROW'S HOT?

"Please stop talking to me."

This question is BAD because it's BLUNT, INCREDIBLY PERSONAL and founded on INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE of their relationship.

NOTE that its not that shitty questions will NEVER be answered, its that 1) they have a LOWER chance of being answered and 2) they have a HIGHER chance of being made fun of in character

gideon: haha who thinks harrow is HOT

DECENT INCONSEQUENTIAL QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU LIKE TO DO ANYTHING FUN WITH HARROW?

"Sure. We run a lot of errands together."

This kind of question may not advance the plot, as it is INCREDIBLY BROAD yet NONINVASIVE. They're good for quick 1-3 panel answers. May generally be met with a less EXCITING answer.

It might also be DIFFICULT TO ANSWER because a broad question could include MULTIPLE ANSWERS - asking "do you guys go out" could not be answered SUSTAINABLY, because i cannot draw all the places they visit

ANON: EVERYONE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLOUD / WATER / MOLECULAR STRUCTURE / BONE / CAR / COFFEE BRAND/ BOOK CHARACTER?

me: "i have to do so much research"

NEAT QUESTION CAMILLA HAS HARROW EVER ASKED YOU TO DO SOMETHING WITH HER SHE WAS EXCITED ABOUT?

"Yes, actually. She once invited me to [REDACTED], I didn't know she liked that sort of thing."

This question is SICK AS FUCK because not only do you learn something SUBSTANTIAL about the characters, you have stumbled upon A NEW PLOT BRANCH, one that actively deepens character connections and their past within the world. It specifically remarks upon a MEMORY* rather than AN OPINION and will typically be LONGER.

Another good option is to PROMPT something following this:

ANON: CAMILLA, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY TAKING HARROW OUT TO DO [REDACTED] THAT SHE LIKES BEFORE XYZ?

and this can then spiral onward…

*DM, ONE TIME I ASKED ABOUT A MEMORY AND I GOT A RUDE ANSWER; WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

It's not that this topic can never be spoken about, it's about WHEN you asked it and HOW you said it, or even WHO you asked.

Some topics, like the nature of HARROW AND GIDEON'S UPBRINGING are too recent for them to talk about, it has only been TWO YEARS since they left and there are SPECIFICS about the situation that the AUDIENCE hasn't discovered yet. There are things like GIDEON'S PARENTS that she CANNOT answer because she DOESN'T KNOW and answering multiple asks with I DON'T KNOW becomes repetitive and dull for both the DM and PLAYER.

BUT! She can learn! Over time, when the time is appropriate and feels the most natural for STORY PROGESSION. Think of it like a BAD ENDING in a visual novel. You START OVER and ask a DIFFERENT QUESTION, or approach it from a DIFFERENT ANGLE. If Gideon reacts poorly to someone congratulating her leaving BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, consider talking to her about the FUTURE. Instead of trying to pry at Camilla to see if she had an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Pyrrha, try to ask about other things in that period of her life, like how they met or what caused her to move out.

FINALLY, if you'd like an ask to be answered out of character, your best bet would be to goto @notedchampagne and send it there. If you'd like an ask to be answered SINCERELY or you don't want SNARK, you can specify this in the ask, but know this blog may not be your thing.

[foundfamily-connoisseur]

Uhhhh lower effort but it wasn't leaving me alone: My take on Giga Mac 😋

Basic info:

Mac doesn't remember or know how he obtained this form. At best he remembers the feeling of restrains on his wrists and ankles and the stabbing of needles, but nothing else.

It usually occurs when in a fight when he's badly injured and his brain enters "fight or flight" mode: it chooses fight. The biggest downside to this is that this is no longer a fight for the title, but for survival(ie to the death).

While there's the bonus of added strength and stamina, it comes at the expense of his mental: basically he becomes more of a wild animal. He can understand basic human speech but he can't talk, resorting to vocalizations(no sign language either so good luck with that)

Retractable claws: he has em. Id probably make him more fucked up tbh but I wanted to keep it low-key since he still gotta throw hands and claws don't rlly let you curl your hands into fists.

Transformation: painful, he can feel his bones snapping as everything shifts into place. It takes about a minute, maybe less. The longer he stays like that, the more beast like he gets, and the harder it is to get him back to normal.

The 1st Hour: absolutely vital, transformed and post transformation. Mac isn't meant to stay transformed for long, so try to get him back to normal within the first hour, or complications will arise (heightened aggression, more animal characteristics, loss of sanity, etc). The longest he's stayed transformed was 2 hours, and it's something no one wants to see again.

Post transformation: the most crucial. He's at his most sensitive and therefore most volatile. Small things can set him off, bringing you back to square one with Gigamac. Avoid anything that would annoy him normally, as even the sound of a radiator can get him back to the snarling beast.

He also retains some traits from transforming. He already has slightly longer canines than average, but freshly transformed all his teeth are sharp. He doesn't have traditional claws, but his nails are still sharp and pointed. The only thing that sticks is the hair, which he usually just cuts off and calls it a day.

Getting him back: there's two main ways to do it: exhaustion and pacifying. Exhaustion is the easiest method, as it usually just ends up with the bigger, tougher boxers to either just Duke it out literally or hold him down as he thrashes till he tires himself out. Pacifying usually just resorts to being like 🍔🥺 "quieres?". Much harder to do but it's what the boxers and Doc try to do first, cuz naturally no one is comfortable pinning down the 17 year old as he screams like a banshee.

Recovery: as stated, the transformation takes an absurd toll on Mac, knocking him out for the day. While he's never been out for longer than 3 days(which was already scary enough that Doc Louis right about had a heart attack), it's still something to worry about. When hes out, he's out and essentially nothing will wake him up.

And yeah I just think Giga Mac as a concept is pretty neat

[raayllum]

Thinking about the difference between character development versus character maintenance. I've talked about the difference between character development and character expansion before, and I think this touches on a similar concept here as I did then with character development being held to the highest degree of "is this a good character?" (The answer is no, character development doesn't and is not the only thing that makes a character well written.)

Specifically: sometimes characters have character flaws that are not fixed by the end of the story through character development. Sometimes those flaws are things that stay consistent in order for the character to still feel like themselves, in other words, for the character's characterization to be maintained.

Rayla's tendency to lie for example has been a consistent problem for her throughout the whole show since the pilot, and while she finally makes strides with it outright in S5, she still lies to the celestial elves in S6 to achieve her aims (stopping Aaravos and saving the world). However, I'm not really expecting Rayla's tendency to withhold things, avoid contact with other people, or lie in general to ever totally go away; at most, I think we'll see it be changed in her close personal relationships that have been previously hurt by lying (particularly with Runaan and Callum), but... I'm not expecting anything else. Same with Callum for his temper, Soren with his impulsivity, or Ezran with his overly optimistic nature.

They might get better at handling those things, they might change who and how it gets directed outwards (Ezran in S6 does plan for contingencies with Karim; Callum is much better at not lashing out at people in arc 2 when he is mad; Soren is now impulsive because he wants to help protect people, etc) but those are always going to be things that they deal with because those are part of the things that make them Them. Other flaws (Rayla's hyper-independence, Ezran's passivity, Soren's bully-ish fronting + being impulsive in asserting control, Callum's lack of confidence) are things that the characters have either overcome or are working through. They will probably be mostly resolved by the end of the story, the same way that many of us have flaws we work through or overcome.

But in the vein of character writing, not all flaws are written to be decidedly resolved by the end with a neat little bow, and the ones that aren't don't automatically equate a lack of character development. Often times, it's an indication of character maintenance instead.

[brittle-doughie]

Hello! 2nd time I've sent this ask, sorry if I seem impatient.

I've watched a few Minecraft 100 days apocalypse videos from someone on youtube named Forge Labs which gave me a Y/n au idea (This Y/n will be called O.A.E Agent!Y/n, you'll know what it means soon).

Y/n works as a secret agent for an Institute called The O.A.E Institute, which stands for "The Observe, Analyse, and Eradicate Institute". The O.A.E Institute is a secret organization that focuses on the prevention of the spreading and invasion of anomalies and/or parasitic creatures that are at apocalyptic levels. They make sure that what is listed above ONLY exists in their home universe, dimension and timeline and nowhere else; there are 3 types of O.A.E agents: the O.A.E Observers, O.A.S Analysts and the O.A.E Eradicators, these will be talked about soon.

When traveling to a different timeline, dimension or universe their bodies will change and conform in an atomic level to match with the respective location to make survival much more easier. An example being the body conforming from a cookie body to a human body when traveling to a different universe.

If an anomaly or an infected organism is spotted outside of their home origin then The O.A.E Institute sends in 1 or more O.A.E Observers depending on the situation's severity to Observe them for 100 days whilst surviving for as long as possible. When they have lived for about 100 days they are called and teleported back to the institute building where the O.A.E Analysts will take over from there and study about whatever apocalyptic creatures they have observed. When they have all the needed information on the apocalyptic creatures O.A.E eradicators are sent in to deal with it appropriately either with already existing weapons like nukes or using newly made weapons that are specifically made for the said creature.

This job is both extremely dangerous and extremely important, as the institute is preventing these things from spreading from timelines to universes where they don't belong, especially the ones that spread very quickly.

Y/n and their best friends work as O.A.E Observers so when they're called in for work they always inform their friends and relatives of their 100 day disappearance and call it a "vacation" to cover up the secret regarding their job. For Y/n this means sending 5 fast flying barn owls, 1 for each ancient to inform them of their departure and speed text to every cookie they have on their contacts about their departure as well.

The cookies may not know it but this explains as to why Y/n and their best friends bodies are covered in many healed scars, wounds, their dough occasionally going stiff and why they're incredibly experience in fighting.

Also here's a bonus:

Some random cookie in a raincoat outside of their home to another cookie who's inside: You hate the rain? How could anyone hate the rain?

Meanwhile-

Y/n with their best friends and other O.A.E agents on a platform above water desperately fighting off huge hordes of infected creatures during a heavy thunderstorm: OH GOD THEY TRYNA DROWN ME IN THIS HO! I CANNOT SEE-

*Both Y/n and the infected creature are thrown overboard from a wave and now are in the water where there's even more infected creatures*

Y/n: GOD DAMN!

While I am unfamiliar with the concept, this was still a neat read.