#that exists to explain the dynamic I've given them and why they actually make a really great and interesting pair

[burningcheese-merchant]

Wait, what’s pitayafire?

Pitaya Dragon x Fire Spirit. My OG mental illness. My all time #1 pairing before BurningCheese came and completely destroyed my life.

The ship that had me like this (and still does)

And the ship that never got the love and attention it deserves, and only has, like, a handful of fans in the West* (that I know of. There might be more, but they're all in hiding because PitayaFire fans routinely get harassed/attacked because something something incest even though they're not related at all). Which upsets me immensely. And is why I hope FS and PD have a scene together in CRK that is highly suspicious so more people ship them like they're suppose to

*it's decently popular in the Asian side of the fandom. They're the ones who give me my PitayaFire fanart fix since I can't count on anyone in the West to do it and Pitaya is too difficult for me to draw atm

[peace-hunter]

Hey! How’s it going?

I was just wondering what are the dynamics between Optimus and his thirteen ghostie siblings individually?

haunted au

oh boi.

i'm gonna warn you, there's some dynamics i've given more thought to than others and it shows. sorry about that.

also this got very, very long so i'm gonna put it under a read more.

okay here we go:

1- zeta is the strict older brother trying to keep OP alive at almost any cost. he still feels guilty for leading his siblings to their deaths and is maybe trying to atone for it by doing everything he can to get OP through a war. this mostly means pushing him harder than the rest of their siblings, because he wants OP to handle anything that comes his way.

and OP really wants to make zeta proud. he's low-key still in shock at receiving the Matrix and terrified of messing up in a way he can't fix, so he's really glad he has zeta to guide him through his stumbling even if more often than not he ends up self-conscious with the corrections he gets. he can't help comparing himself to zeta and feel like he's failing to measure up to him.

they have the hardest time out of everyone to reach a balance on how much zeta can influence optimus' decisions without it just being him dictating what should be done.

2- prima is a bit of a mother-hen and OP doesn't mind nearly as much as he probably should. seeing as zeta took the more strict role, prima found himself taking on a more supportive, almost care-taking one. he's the one that nags OP the most about taking care of himself and whether or not he's pushing himself too hard trying to be the Prime everyone expects him to be.

and OP feels like he should mind more than he actually does but it's just. it's nice. to be taken care of. he feels like he has to be strong for everyone else around him but prima makes him feel like it's okay if he's not sometimes. carrying the Matrix makes him feel so much older than he actually is most of the time, but sometimes prima treats him like a sparkling and it's. it's kinda nice.

prima is almost definitely the one optimus is closest to. partially because receiving prima's cog made them develop a bond that makes it easier for them to feel what the other is feeling which in turn makes their communication pretty open. but also because while with the others OP had to slowly lose his hero worship and learn to love them as just people, it's really hard to be star-struck by someone who is constantly nagging you about whether you're sleeping enough or not (/▽＼)

3- vector is pretty strict and a bit of rule stickler which does mean he and OP don't always agree on what's the best thing to do. they get along fine enough, they just... have a hard time vibing with each other.

OP spent his whole life chaffing against an unfair system and unjust rules, before finding out the horrible reason of why they existed, which makes him inherently suspicious of any kind of protocol he doesn't understand or doesn't see the point of.

vector loves protocol and rules and thinks they're there for a reason even if you don't always see it at first.

they struggle to find a balance until vector understands that OP doesn't just hate rules for the sake of hating them, he needs to understand why they're there and what purpose they serve before he acquiesces to follow them. once he gets where OP is coming from, it's a lot less frustrating to have to explain why certain protocols and rules exist.

and OP starts liking vector a lot more once he stops feeling like vector is trying to force him to follow useless directives that serve no purpose. once he sees vector is willing to sit down and explain to him why certain things are done the way they are, it's easier for him to not instinctively reject rules or protocols he doesn't immediately understand. he learns to trust that there's probably a reason behind everything and it's not always malicious. even if he ends up deciding he still doesn't agree with it, at least he's willing to learn more about it first.

4- alpha trion and orion have a mutual soft spot for the other and they enjoy spending time with one another very much!

AT was the only one that got to see Orion as a cogless miner trying so hard to make things right even when he had almost no power in his hands to do it. he was the one that saw a spark in him that could light up their world again. he saw the little bot that refused to stand down in the face of a giant injustice. and he will always love orion for that. for the hope he gave him in a time where everything seemed hopeless.

but he was also the one that set him and his friends in a path that led them to so much pain. he cannot regret it, revealing sentinel's lies was far too important and there was too little time to hesitate, but he does feel guilty for the part he played in what happened after. and it's that guilt that leads to him being more patient, more sympathetic to OP's weakness when it comes to megatron.

and to OP alpha trion will always feel a little larger to life, even after their size difference isn't as big as it was before. to him alpha trion will forever be the person who took the blindfold off his eyes. the one that confirmed that orion wasn't crazy for thinking things weren't right. that not only told him he, and everyone else, deserved the right to choose what they wanted to be, but also enabled them to make that choice.

he lowkey imprinted on alpha trion back in that cave lol

and on a more lighthearted note they both really enjoy spending time in the archives! they bond over a shared love for history and the importance of accurate records. and orion spent a lot of time listening to alpha trion's voice back when he used to sneak into the archives. he can barely believe he now gets to listen to the real thing and not just a recording!

he can't help but think that maybe in another world, in a better life, if he was very lucky, he could've worked in the archives under alpha trion's tutelage. he knows it's only a fantasy. but it's a nice one.

5- solus and optimus get along pretty well! she doesn't give him as much grief about megatron as the others do, not because she doesn't think it's a bad idea, but because she's kinda curious about it. she's very much a "let's see where this goes" kinda gal, even if she's relatively sure the results will go badly. so while she will let optimus know exactly what she thinks of megatron, she also lowkey doesn't discourage him from his attempts at reconnecting with him. she can respect the hustle of trying to fix something everyone else has deemed irreparable.

and optimus appreciates this! not quite enough to let solus take control of him so she can mess around in wheeljack's lab, but enough that he will hang around and act as translator so those two can bounce ideas off each other for far longer than he would otherwise lol

6- micronus shares OP's distaste for rules he doesn't understand or agree with so the two of them (and amalgamous) will team up against vector when they feel he's being particularly overbearing. the bond that rebelling against authority (an older sibling) creates between two people cannot be understated. their relationship is a simple one but very close nonetheless. micronus is one of the most affectionate of the group and he made OP feel very welcome into the family very quickly. he's also one of the most lighthearted about their situation. he thinks that as long as they're all together, not even the pits could be such a bad place to be in. his good attitude is contagious and OP gravitates towards him whenever he starts feeling a little too down.

7- alchemist is a more gentle, even tempered and lowkey presence. so while he and optimus don't spent a lot of time one-on-one, the time they do spend together is pretty nice for both of them. sometimes OP needs just a nice, simple conversation that won't touch of heavier topis and alchemist offers that. he tells optimus stories that weave science and mysticism so tightly it makes OP wonder how anyone can think they're irreconcilable with one another. he does give optimus high grade recipes he's pretty sure could kill someone if not prepared carefully enough tho lol

8- nexus on the other hand is loud, wildly creative and unpredictable. there is a reason he's the first one that discovered how to levitate in ghost form. the fact he couldn't turn if off afterwards is irrelevant. he's full of good humor, loves pranks and always has a joke on the tip of his tongue. OP loves him very much but he does find him a bit... grating at times. he understands why nexus tries to make all of them smile and laugh as much as he can but... he can't help but wish he wouldn't try so hard all the time. he's certain that as orion he would've not only taken it in stride, but even joined in. but as optimus he just... he no longer finds smiling as easy as he used to. nexus attempts at making him smile only emphasize how much more effort it takes nowadays.

9- onyx was a little bit intimidating to optimus at first, but once he got over his awe at the slightly mystic prime, he found himself enjoying his company pretty easily. onyx has a different perspective on many things, much more spiritual than the rest of his siblings, and while optimus doesn't always get what he means, he enjoys listening to him anyway. and the way he describes flying almost makes OP wish he had wings too.

10- amalgamous and optimus get along pretty well thanks to amalgamous' gentle but free-spirited temper and their relationship only strengthens upon the discovery that both of them have a natural irreverence for authority figures. the bond that being rebellious together creates is a strong one. the fact they're also authority figures does not escape their notice, but they're firm believers of the "i am not excluded from 'fuck'em' when relevant" mentality so it's fine.

amalgamous is also one of the firsts that starts pushing back the moment he feels zeta and vector are putting too much pressure on OP or imposing their opinions on him too much. while prima will speak up on behalf of optimus' well-being more often, it is amalgamous that defends optimus' independence most fiercely.

11- quintus is another quiet presence that doesn't make a lot of waves except when he feels compelled to speak up against the more ruthless approaches their siblings suggest. but otherwise he doesn't stand out as much as the others do. optimus' gets the feeling it wasn't always like that, the stories the others tell him of better times before the war hinting at a wild creativity and idealism he can't quite see in the quintus he knows. but the way even those hints vanish entirely once they start speaking of the war makes him wonder if they're related.

12-liege maximo is maybe the closest any of the primes get to being optimus' brother in every sense of the word. they're all family, they're all siblings, they all love each other but it is liege that makes optimus understand what the cain instinct means.

liege teases OP constantly and is delighted at the fact optimus is not afraid to give back as good as he gets. everyone else is a bit too over-protective of the kid in his opinion and it is his duty as fellow younger sibling to keep the baby of the family humble.

and OP is glad he gets one person he can be a little glitch with. as Prime there's an unspoken... decorum or property everyone around expects from him and he's... not like that. he misses being able to joke and mess around with his friends, he misses being able to be a little immature and even rude and not worry about whether it'll cause a political or social scandal.

and it's not like he's not close to or relaxed around the other primes, but there's still a little part of him that can't forget he used to hero-worship all of them and that part of him still screeches any time he's kinda rude to them. he's working on it.

but liege manages to get under his plates like no one else, he gets to the irreverent little glitch remnants of orion that optimus buries deep down inside himself most of the time and it's fantastic. the fact he can see liege visibly enjoys their little spats also helps.

on a gentler note, sometimes when OP is struggling to fall asleep, liege will tell him stories to pass the time. after all, storytelling is lying adjacent and liege is a very good liar. they both enjoy it more than they'd like to admit.

13-megatronus' relationship with optimus is... complicated. but maybe not exactly the way people expect it to be.

yes, at first the mere sight of him made him want to violently sob but like. what didn't make him want to cry those first few days. yes megatronus was a reminder of Dee, a painful one even, but so was literally everything else. dee was so ingrained into every single aspect of orion's life, it would've been easier to name the ones he wasn't.

when he couldn't even do vital tasks, like eating or sleeping, without it being a struggle to not crumble under the devastating guilt and heartbreak festering inside his chest, seeing megatronus is like. not even in the top ten of his list of issues tbh.

and afterwards, by the time when every day is a little easier to get through, he already got to know megatronus enough to see him more as person and less as dee's idol. of course it's not right away, not completely painless, you don't erase years of memories of someone you used to hold dearest to your heart just like that, but it's. it's a start.

he gets to make his own relationship with megatronus, his own memories with him, untainted by the pain of losing dee.

and their relationship in itself it's pretty nice. megatronus is a little overprotective of optimus (why the fuck is he so tiny???) but he doesn't really get the chance to be overbearing with it because. well. what can he really do. so instead it manifests into teaching optimus how to defend himself the best he can. the kid has pretty good instincts already but megatronus wasn't the greatest warrior who ever lived for nothing. he still has a lot he can teach OP.

and OP loves learning from him. he doesn't enjoy fighting, but he loves learning new things and the rush of getting a new move right is addicting. he also knows that if he gets through his training fast enough they're ahead of schedule he can get megatronus to tell him first hand stories of events he has read about hundreds of times.

no one is as good as alpha trion in telling stories, but megatronus is a close second.

their main point of contention is, of course, megatron.

megatronus is very bitter over what megatron has done with his name, his t-cog and his legacy. there is no hiding that, not even if he wanted to. and he doesn't. he's the most outspoken in his disdain for his actions and, after a while, the mech himself. at first he tried to be comprehensive and not push optimus too much, because he knows how much dee meant to him, but there's a point when he's just. done. with the topic. he believes there's only one solution to the war is and he wants optimus to understand it before he has to pay too high a price for his hesitation.

and optimus... cannot accept that.

logically, he knows megatronus is probably right. he knows that there'll be a line megatron will cross and won't be able to come back from.

he knows it will be then his duty to stop megatron no matter what it takes.

but... not yet. please. not yet.

and megatronus won't say it doesn't disappoint him. he just knows that optimus' reluctance to kill megatron will blow up on his face one day. but it's fine. what's family for if not to say "i told you so" while helping to get you out of trouble.

[lostpai]

Xià Fěi and Vein’s Dual Powers

Vein and Xià Fěi hold the powers of Foresight and Hindsight – here's how I came to believe it. Get ready for a lengthy post—this is the first in a series. (30 mins read).

Have you heard of the dual power theory? Let me explain this beautiful theory first caught by @miyamiwu (GIFs and correlating posts can be found here and here).

For those who missed it, Vein and Xià Fěi’s frames in the LULL Bridon arc credits feature VFX that spill into each other’s frames. As seen in her post, this does not happen with any of the other four characters, all of whom have confirmed powers. We know that Link Click never does anything without a reason! What does this mean, and why are these two characters highlighted over the others? Well Miyamiwu threw it out there that maybe it correlates to them having a dual power. And that theory makes so much sense.

Where have we seen the use of dual powers? We've seen dual powers used before with Lu Guang and Chéng Xiǎoshí, as well as with the siblings Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi. So, this isn’t something new. In fact, of the 7 confirmed characters with powers, 4 of them are in pairs. This makes it highly probable that two new complimenting characters who act as a duo are also connected in this way. The symbolism is clear: the two share something deeper, just like the other powerful pairs. If four others can have dual powers, why not Xià Fěi and Vein, a pair so tightly connected both in contrasting personalities but equal and parallel in their relationship? Now that I've explained this dual theory my goal was to figure out and prove which powers makes the most sense for either of the two to have. To help me I've set up two cannon-bound rules that helped me find what it is. Rule #1 Dual powers means the characters would either have parallel powers with complementary abilities or opposite powers that act as a counterbalance to each other. Vein and Xià Fěi are constantly contrasting in these frames. Not only do the characters themselves contrast personality-wise, but their friendly dynamic complements each other. Given this dynamic, their powers would either need to complement or contrast with one another, or exist in the fine line between. It also goes to show that assuming Vein has smoke or immortal/resurrection powers would not work, because it needs a fitting connecting power.

Rule #2 There’s no reason to assume Link Click's powers are elemental. Based on what we've seen, Powers are tied to photography, time travel, or something related to the body or the mind. Introducing elemental powers would, in my opinion, mess with the established lore.

Assuming Xià Fěi has light powers doesn’t quite fit, even if it aligns with Rule 1 about having a parallel or opposite. Similarly, the theory of Xià Fěi having fire powers falls short if Vein’s doesn't seem like he would complement or contrast with that power in any way. In my quest to narrow down the possible powers, I couldn’t help but find a loophole that had me wondering why Xià Fěi and Vein's eyes always glow so brightly, as if their power is constantly active. Even the other main characters' eyes dim when their powers aren't in use. This led me to a third rule—more hypothesis than canon-based, so your free to ignore it— My biased Rule #3 - If both character’s power is one that stays on, it could be a passive or constant ability, always active but perhaps unnoticed until the right moment. This rule genuinely backs you into a corner, but it only managed to put my last two remaining theories on a pedestal... So, after digging myself into dozens of holes including loopholes to find potential powers that actually fit within a time-travel story, I finally hit on foresight and hindsight—and suddenly, everything clicked. Maybe its called link click because everything always clicks into place. hahaha....just pretend I'm funny. These concepts not only make sense for both characters story arcs, but they’re backed by existing theories and new evidence I've uncovered. Now, I’ll dive into each of their respective powers, explaining the why, how, and what that support my theory.

Vein: "Immediate Foresight" Memory that does not transcend time, but transcends a series of moments.

GIF by ydotome

Vein’s foresight works differently from Lu Guang’s—while Lu Guang’s power transcends time, Vein’s memory doesn’t carry over through each reset. I will stand by my belief that Vein didn’t know or recognize either Lu Guang or CXS before they were introduced to each other in episode 3— otherwise he would have simply killed them both.

While it looks like Lu Guang is on the edge of having both foresight and hindsight, I'd like to argue his power is more akin to clairvoyance. The difference in these powers is significant, but different enough for it makes sense for characters to have such similar abilities. Let me explain further. Vein's power is PREDICTIVE Lu Guangs power is TRUTH

Foresight - Vein's power is about predicting what might happen, based on the present circumstances. It’s more about a sense of anticipation or intuition—He would know what’s likely to happen. The where and how is clear, while the why and when remains predictive until within that moment.

Clairvoyance - Lu Guang’s power is about seeing specific details of the future, present, or past. He wouldn’t just predict what might happen; he has seen and experienced clearly both the past and future as if it were happening right in front of him. It’s about truth—the direct and clear perception of events, like he’s watching a film. 

Since the director mentioned that Lu Guang always stays within his own timeline, I don't believe their powers see different timelines or possible outcomes, but rather 'the timeline's current outcome' in varying levels of clarity. This view of Foresight aligns with Vein's almost superhuman reflexes,

Next 3 GIFs by ydotome I invite you to take a look at this scene until you REALLY understand it. On second glance there's something subtly off about the timing of Vein's reactions.

Study how swiftly Vein moves—it looks effortless. Too easy. Upon closer inspection, it even feels like Vein's own movements anticipate a frame or two before than the other even prepares to strike. Like he is one full moment ahead of each strike. I have several frames here for example (this gif is originally 69 frames long)

While many anime characters can dodge like this, few do it with their eyes closed for three full swings without some kind of 'extra sense perception.' So I'm calling it evidence. Here Vein is showing complete confidence in his knowledge that he won't get hurt. 

Just the fact that he stands still with that smug ass little smile screams that he is in control of the situation. I'm hypothesizing that Vein learns the truth of the moment only within that moment; everything before is predictive. The closer he is, the clearer the information becomes. In that instant, he can dodge every strike because their next move shifts from a probability to a complete certainty. This gives him a sense of control and explains why he often looks so pleased.

I believe Vein is constantly downloading new information about his opponent and surroundings mid-battle, making him the perfect, constantly adapting adversary. Vein is the embodiment of 'right place, right time,' and I doubt need to elaborate further. But I'll show some more GIFs instead.

This post is kinda long already but I also invite you to look into the Vein vs. Shao Yuanyuan fight as well. Because it feels like another use of his foresight abilities (Video link here) and finally Vein's fatal limitation.

If too much is happening in too short a time, it’s possible to slip through the cracks of his foresight. He may fail to react to an immediate danger simply because his attention is divided between too many things. While he might have the right information, he is still human. In a scenario like this, Vein could potentially be open for attack but never taken completely by surprise. So why was Vein blindsided by his own death?

There could be better theories to this part specifically, but maybe Vein never saw the possibility of the attack coming, because Vein's death was never supposed to have happened. It was too fast, and everything he thought would happen changed too quickly. Simply because a more powerful third party had inserted themself into the situation. (From what I understand Lu Guang changed something in their timeline and Vein had never been killed before).

GIF from @shantechni The REAL genuine fear shown when Vein is called by his real name, and during the heart attack show how caught off guard he was. His mind racing, dare I say it had little to do with the fact that he couldn't breathe, but that there was a flaw within his foresight. That he was finally unable to take control of his precious moment. He didn't know what was going on until it was too late to prevent it. But there is nothing wrong with Vein's foresight, because he still figures it out. But at the moment of his realization, Vein's death is already in motion—an attack happening in real time without even touching him, its not something that he can run away from. And it is this eye opening realization on the brink of death where Vein is given the answers he's looking for.

He knows his killer, he knows what happened... and all he can do is laugh at having been one-upped. It's all so very interesting—and he would love to see who plays the next piece in this game of chess. Vein's death is now a certainty. His own tricks used against him. And his final words,

“So that’s how it is…” I'd like to slide in another extra piece of proof for my Foresight theory. This is the 6th episode's cover art. I think its pretty self explanatory.

Screenshot @mysterialistic (posts relating to this sentence here, here, and this) Thank you so much for bearing with me, but we're only halfway done! I already cut this bad boy into two separate separate posts too! Next up....

Xià Fěi: "Hindsight" The tragedy of only ever figuring it out in hindsight. Power born from memories and a grief that transcends the present...

"I’ve made up my mind. No matter how bizarre the truth, I’ll find out what happened."

The idea of hindsight comes from it being the inverse of foresight, and fitting Xià Fěi's potential character development. 

I propose that he always had the power and it wasn’t 're-awakened' until Vein’s death. With Vein’s foresight gone, Xià Fěi's hindsight is born.

I think Xià Fěi always had the ability but was too young or traumatized to use it. His time at Chéng Wěimín's school raises questions. There’s a solid theory that the school was full of children with powers. (here and here).

(if you look up this scene you'll see Chéng is mouthing something, and from there we never see young Xià Fěi's eyes again, as they remain cast in shadow). There are a lot of inconsistencies with this new information, wasn't Felix only an exchange student for college? What's with this scene? What did "it's time," mean? Here me out, what if Xià Fěi's memory was altered by Chéng Wěimín? Xià Fěi seems unaware of what 'Bahati' was. He doesn't seem to know about the fire or the meaning of the word. If he remembered he could've helped them- or maybe warned them. But instead he was perfectly comfortable helping CXS question his previous boss, as well as Vein. Also how interesting is it, that he ended up working once in the same place that he went to school in at one point?? Xià Fěi feels like a character that follows the theme of returning back to the past. If not during the Bridon arc, that at least because we known off screen he's going to dedicate his life to finding out what happened to Vein. Another thing that stood out to me during episode 3 was when (time stamp 14:30) when CXS said "Bahati" there was a magical sound effect. I study these Link click sound effects a lot and they're always happening. Mostly when someone notices something or when one could make the case that someone is subtly using their power. For example the sound effect shows up the most around Vein and Lu Guang. And its always the same sound effect. What if Xià Fěi remembers when the name is spoken, but anything related to CXS's father is a trigger word for a memory wipe on the subject? Another piece of Xià Fěi's story. (Found by @joyokosuka, post here)

I want to believe Vein's interest in Xià Fěi has to do with their close connection and not just because there was a subliminal connection that comes with dual powers. If you believe in fate and all, which I’ll get into the next post. But I don't think either were actually aware of Xià Fěi's power, as it wouldn't have re-manifested until Vein's death. It also makes sense, because Xià Fěi was open to powers existing. Xià Fěi discovering his own past, and using his gift of hindsight would open up a whole can of worms for everyone. The good and the bad, and the past that should've stayed buried.

I imagine Xià Fěi will be pretty upset when learning about the past and revisiting his memories before Vein’s death. It’s going to destroy him if he figures out that Lu Guang and CXS were involved. I could see him using his power in a way that might allow him to re-experience or analyze past events but not actually go back in time. He will constantly search and long for for what he missed out on.

And if not to attempt revenge… then for closure.

Xià Fěi is taking up the gauntlet of an unwanted legacy for closure. How sad and ironic that Vein could've potentially been using his power along side him but Xià Fěi never realizes until the death of his counterpart. Xià Fěi's power gives an ulterior meaning to what he told our mains.

“but I’ll remember the time I spent with you guys forever”

It's so haunting. Knowing he was backstabbed by his friends. This feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The tragedy of hindsight.

Now after explaining where Hindsight would fit into the plot, I'll share the rest of the evidence for why Xià Fěi's power is Hindsight, more than just because he is Vein's inverse/parallel. In another post by @miyamiwu (Click here) beautiful theory by the way. There was one thing she said that stood out to me.

She explained that “In Mandarin Chinese, time is viewed in a vertical fashion. The past is above you, while the future is below you.”

Because of this I asked my friend for an impromptu lesson in Mandarin, to help me analyze that the name 夏斐 (Xià Fěi) can be linked to the idea of time. Thank you so much to Yuqianqian 🌸💕 for dealing with my madness.

In Mandarin the past and future is viewed in a vertical fashion only through a spoken fashion.

Let me introduce you to “The Four Mandarin Chinese Tones” which are used to identify the TONE (shēngdiào) of a word. You use each tone to help you pitch your syllables. All Chinese words have tones.

First tone: a level and higher pitch Second tone: rising, start from a lower pitch and end at a slightly higher pitch Third tone: falling rising, start at a neutral tone then dip to a lower pitch before ending at a higher pitch Fourth tone: falling, start the syllable at a slightly higher than neutral pitch then go quickly and strongly downwards

The reason the future is viewed downwards And past is viewed upwards is because they pitch upwards and downwards when you say it!

Fun fact you can figure out out which tone both the first and surname are in by using these diacritical marks.

1st tone:  ā 

2nd tone:  á 

3rd tone:  ǎ 

4th tone:  à

Neutral tone - a  (no pitch)

So Xià (is the 4th falling tone) followed by Fěi (the 3rd falling/rising tone). 

Chinese people usually give their kid a 2 words name or 3 words name. If the words in a first name were both the same tone it’s would be hard to pronounce. 

谐音 is a literarily trick similar to how a writer can use homophones in English to symbolize something. 

谐音 is when words can sound the exact same but be are spelled completely differently. 

“By, bye, buy” “To, too, two”  “Flour, flower” “Knight, night”

夏斐 Xià Fěi’s name actually uses 谐音

夏 is Pronounced Xià it means “summer”

下 is also pronounced Xià it means “down”

It changes meaning depending on the word next to it though, but other meanings of Xià still include; Downwards, Under, Below, Descend, Fall, Give birth too, Spate...

'Second of two parts'... guys is it obvious I ship Veinfei 下 is not typically not used anymore unless it refers to very specific instances of time, directions, or positions.

This play on words of Xià and the concept of 下 “down” works in tandem with the 4th tone. And brings us back to the original idea of “the future being below you.” It perfectly relates the idea of time to the name, while also holding symbolism. The future is below Xià Fěi.

And who is future?

Vein's name is first pointed out by @rainibao (here). That Vein’s true name - 萧未影 Xiāo Wèiyǐng relates to the concept of the future! 

I’d like to add that 未 by itself does not mean future, but rather it’s 未来.

未来 - Future 未 on its own means “not yet”  Both are falling tones.

Just in case I made this pretty confusing. I gave Xià Fěi's name as proof to show that he is RELATED TO TIME and related to VEIN. Meanwhile every example of Vein points to downwards symbolism as well. And even though Xià Fěi should represent Upwards symbolism, the fact that he also represents downward symbolism felt like it does help my case in relate to hindsight as well. But either way, heres some pretty obvious Upwards symbolism for Xià Fěi too.

This is a post by miyamiwu (here) guys wtf I already ran out of image space Here with the water Lu Guang is drowning and falling downwards into the Future Vein pulls Xià Fěi upwards above water into the past. Once again it also references unwanted legacies left behind by Vein.

In the end we see the huanting idea of Vein as a concept of life after death Xia Fei as a concept life before death  And Lu Guang representing death itself

Thank you so much for listening to my theory! I feel like this theory has revolutionized the way I see these two. Feel free to contact me or disprove or add to my theory. I took like a whole weeks to make this. Soon I will release the second part of my theory (yes I have more evidence). This time in relation to Liú Xiāo, how he fits into this entire equation, and what his other power may be. And what happens Post-Vein's death. PT. 2 (TBA)

[icedteaandoldlace]

Some realizations/observations gained from reading The Outsiders after seeing the movie first:

Ponyboy doesn't actually like Dallas very much. Funnily enough, my feelings about Dally mirrored Pony's as the story progressed, and he started to grow on both of us around the same time.

Steve has more of a presence (and thus, more personality) in the book, and isn't just there as extra padding for the cast. Also, his and Soda's friendship is one of the best things about the post-fire portion of the book. I'd kill to see them embroiled in a game of Monopoly or Pit with the rest of the gang.

Dally and Johnny both give Ponyboy the opposite advice the day they die because they both want to protect him, but in different ways. Dally tells him to get tough and hardened so he won't end up dying because he helped someone, like Johnny; Johnny tells him not to change, because helping people and getting excited about things like sunsets makes life more worthwhile (and he wants him to rub off on Dally so Dally can have some joy in his life).

"I hate fights" was partially the truth, but I am convinced that the reason Cherry so quickly switched gears and agreed to leave with Bob was because she was thinking about what Ponyboy had just told her, and she was trying to protect Johnny, because she already knew that Bob was the one who had attacked him and given him his scar.

Johnny was held back a year in school and Ponyboy was bumped ahead, which puts them in the same grade.

I've already mentioned this before, but I'm still not over Ponyboy being a Pepsi addict and Sodapop being horse crazy. Boys, you had one job.

Sodapop is middle child syndrome and undiagnosed ADHD personified.

Johnny was jumped in the spring, four months before the story begins. At some point Ponyboy mentions that it's fall when the story is taking place, and this is also evidenced in the fact that it's cool out and school is in session, placing the events of the story in September. And Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died eight months prior, which would be in January, so Ponyboy's just straight up having the worst year of his life.

I could not, for the life of me, figure out why Johnny "the most law-abiding of us" Cade idolized Dally so much when so much of Dally's personality and behavior is in direct contradiction to Johnny's personal values—and of all fucking things, this post is the thing that made me finally understand it.

The newspaper article's existence makes so much more sense when you know the boys were talking to a bunch of reporters in the hospital.

The gang's dynamic makes so much more sense, too, partially because they get more actual scenes together, and partially because of Ponyboy's narration explaining stuff.

Ponyboy hates to watch movies with other people because he likes to get sucked into the plots without any distractions, and having anyone else with him feels like having someone read over his shoulder. AND YET he went to see Gone With the Wind with Johnny AND later read the book aloud to him.

Some scenes in the movie make Johnny more relaxed than he was in the book, and some make him even more of a nervous wreck, and it's interesting how he reacts to the same scenarios differently without ever seeming out of character. In the movie when Two-Bit sneaks up on him at the drive-in, he does jump out of his skin initially, but he quickly recovers and goes right to sassing him, but in the book he has a full blown anxiety attack that it takes him several minutes to recover from, because he legitimately thought he was getting jumped again. When the Socs approach him in the park in the book, Ponyboy can see that he's panicking on the inside, but to anyone who doesn't know him well, he appears calm and tough on the outside. He also stays steady after killing Bob, even while Ponyboy's screaming his head off. While in the movie, he's outwardly jumpy when the Socs show up, and he's in clear shock after killing Bob, with a lot of shaking and stammering. There are quite a few more switch-ups like this, but book!Johnny and movie!Johnny both still feel like the exact same person regardless.

[lillified]

Just curious, why do you ship Megastar?

[long post incoming, apologies, you activated my sleeper phrase]

Short answer: I like these characters and their potential. I like the idea of them, and I made up new versions because I want to see their dynamic and subtext taken seriously, and not flanderized/made into a meanspirited joke by media that is supposed to be "mature"

Long answer:

when i was watching transformers as a kid i was really interested in the dynamic of two characters who are mean and jaded and instinctively push eachother away, but work extremely well together. i didn't really understand coding yet, but in my interest in the decepticons as an entity with an ideological identity that wasn't just "bad guy" (transformers was like. the first time i really started thinking about deeper meanings and propaganda in media, which probably explains why i am as obnoxious as I am) I was always sad with how megatron and starscream never really got the chance to have their dynamic approached in a different way. in a lot of ways those two are the heart and soul of the decepticons, and I've always thought that putting more care and attention into their relationship and not just writing it off as a cruel plot device would be the first step in having a more nuanced view of the Decepticons as a whole

personally I believe that, in a similar way to batman and the joker, those two have always had a dynamic that kind of blurs the lines, and at times is outright suggested. unfortunately though, like batman and the joker, over time an unwillingness to engage with the reality of that uncomfortable, sort of meanspirited coding just led to the near-sighted stereotyping becoming crueler and more abusive. acknowledging that it exists at all means acknowledging there was that bias, so the "joke" was just repeated until it became the only thing their interactions were really known for. it's an act of flanderization, and that makes me sad

i guess my case in point is--they have a lot of potential that just isn't realized. even in places where their relationship is given depth there's still almost always this really tonally dissonant violence to their interactions that's never unpacked, not really, because how are you going to sell toys of that? moreover, how are you going to make megatron "redeemable" after that? what could be considered strange, poorly executed slapstick in its origin became aesthetically worse and worse, but was never given serious thought--and I think that makes the story, overall, worse! "maturing" the brand didn't make it smarter, it just made an elephant in the room, and now Transformers is so locked in to its decided status quo that we haven't had a different perspective on any of these characters since Animated.

I apologize for the rant, but it's something I think about alot and your question is somewhat related to that. I'm frustrated by how dismissively these characters are written in versions of Transformers that are supposed to "smart" and "mature", I'm frustrated by how that negatively impacts the story, and I'm frustrated by how the people who like these characters can be dismissive of it. I think there's a lot of story potential and thematic insight into the decepticons that can be gained by looking at these two as characters with a history, and not just a bad joke! I think that you can have all the best parts--the sabotage, betrayal, bitterness, and the irony of someone you refuse to trust who still manages to know you better than anyone else, and have that shown through actions and character development, and actually written instead of having to be overscored by unintelligible violence for the sake of being "dark" and reaffirming, in the cheapest way possible, that you're looking at characters who are evil! I want to see that in a story!

my work is honestly not really about what I think transformers IS, or HAS to be, but what I think it has the potential to be, and what my interpretation of the themes means to me. I want to see all of the Decepticons viewed with a different lens, and these two are probably the most important Decepticons, both on a story/thematic level and a cultural one. transformers was the first piece of media I was really consciously critically thinking about, entirely by chance, and in the interest of art and human expression I want to make something different that is interested in being more thoughtful

anyway, sorry again for rambling. I might delete this later to keep my page clean, but I appreciate the question! I'd give more specific examples of why I like the stuff I made up but those would be spoilers.

[deconstructthesoup]

All right, I've been thinking about the Fantasy High Leverage AU more lately, so have yourself some updates to the story:

-Since there are just too many good Leverage episodes that spring from Nate's thing with hospitals, I decided to change Riz's motivation from Pok dying on the field and it being covered up to Pok having recently died of cancer. I think that Pok never mentioned to Sklonda or Riz that he couldn't get coverage for his treatment, even from his old bosses, so when Riz found out after his death, it was... definitely a shock.

-I wound up throwing my idea of Kalina being Sterling out the window in favor of Kipperlilly being Sterling, because... well, she's too lawful to be a thief, let's be real, and she just gives off Sterling vibes in general. Also, it contrasts nicely with Riz only really caring about her when she shows up to ruin his plans, but the rest of the team absolutely hating her guts.

-The other reason I threw out my idea of Kalina being Sterling is because it makes so much more sense, narrative-wise, for her to be Jimmy Ford. I debated making her Moreau, because that'd be a great way to tie her into Kristen's story, but ultimately, she's had way more narrative impact on Riz than on Kristen, and I adore the concept of Riz growing up idolizing his cool, motorcycle-riding godmother until he found out that she was a criminal, is still a criminal, and cares a negative amount about the sanctity of human life... and then running into her again when he's an adult. And, also? Kalina genuinely caring about Riz is also goldmine storytelling potential.

-Mazey is Tara! I realized I completely forgot about Tara when I made the original post, and after much deliberation, I decided that if it's Fabian who goes on the sabbatical, and if whoever he calls in to replace him is someone that even Fig wouldn't know, then Mazey would be the best choice. I think that Fabian knows her due to them targeting each other at one point, not realizing that they were both grifters, and after that hilarious misunderstanding, they kept in touch---Fig knew about it, just not what Mazey actually looked like. Mazey's a bit nicer than Tara is, but she's definitely constantly confused by all of the inside jokes.

-Some people have already guessed this, but Porter is Dubenech, and Jace is... uh, his millionaire sugar daddy whose name I've forgotten, whatever, the season 4 antagonist. Yeah, I know, I'm switching up the usual Porter-Jace dynamic, but what can I say? I like making Jace a genuine threat.

-The Abernants are a version of Moreau, because... well, they're way too interesting and way too malevolent for me to make them anything but full-season baddies, and I've already established that they made their family fortune off of theft---why not turn that into also funding every single bad guy in the world? And honestly, given that they stopped acting like Adaine existed after she got caught, it wouldn't be too far from the realm of possibility for Kristen to have worked with them in the past without knowing that they were Adaine's parents... but, of course, this is mere speculation at this point.

-Fig and Fabian's little sister---who I've named Faroe---does appear, but I'm giving my girl her own unique role. Yes, I did have the option of making her an equivalent of Breanna or Astrid, but as much as I love Redemption, this is an AU that follows the OG Leverage... and I like Riz too much to have him be dead, even in the future.

-Lucy is now Peggy, because she's sweet enough, I love the idea of Adaine accidentally becoming friends with her, and I also love the idea of her and Ragh becoming best friends---since, well, Ragh is Hurley and all. Gay man and lesbian solidarity for the win.

-Kalvaxus is our season 1 antagonist, the CEO of KVX Insurance and Riz's sworn enemy. Honestly, there was no better character role for him.

-Baron is The Italian. I don't want to explain, because it's too perfect for me to attempt to put into words.

I've got other stuff in the back of my mind---like, for instance, Gertie being Kristen's ex from back home, there being an episode called "The 3 Dads Job" where suddenly all of Fig's various dads are in seemingly wildly different crises that are, against all odds, intrinsically connected at the source, Sklonda acting as the Detective Bonano equivalent---but I think that's a good stopping point for now.

[pynkhues]

I think you explained something I've been pondering over for a while, namely why so many loustat fic writers hates lestat lol. Like I'm always taken aback by how often lestat is written as louis' sex toy who only exist to serve him and fulfill his (self-insert) fantasies or an evil patriarchal abuser who needs to be punished (or both). There's so many other ships they could pour ttheir energy into, if they truly see him as an evil racist abuser and louis as his helpess victim why even ship them. I'm actually fascinated by this fandom Christian-like obsession with punishment, paying for your sins, martydom and having an redemption arc. I find it interesting that people who consider themselves to be atheists and are anti-religion still succumb to this mentality. The prevalence of fics when louis needs to punish lestat (apparently killing him wasn't enough), make him suffer, lestat has to grovel at his feet, stop killing humans and only then he will deserve pure moral louis and then they will be "even". I find this attitude to be so immature, like this is not how relationships work irl, and yes it's a show about toxic vampires but, in my understanding it was never loustat dynamic to begin with. Something about moral purity in a show about vampires is just so funny to me.

Y'know, I actually think the main reason I've taken a big step back from reading fic and checking ao3 is because a few months ago, I opened two or three Lestat x Louis fics in a row that all had an author's note where the writer said that they hated Lestat. The concept of that alone honestly baffles me - not the hating Lestat part, I don't care what characters people do and don't engage with on the show - but the idea that you could write fic - and fic where Lestat is one half of a relationship - while hating the character is just wild to me. Why are you writing characters you don't like? Why are you shipping characters when you don't like one of them?

I just - - it really shocks me. As someone who's been writing fic for literally 20 years at this point, I can honestly say I've never written for a pairing where I haven't liked one of the characters, and it generates a lot of questions in me about the current state of fandom, the projection, the virtue signalling, the purity culture, and what that dictates about how people are willing to engage with stories.

But yeah, I guess more to your point, I don't disagree. I actually don't necessarily think it's unique to this fandom though? In the last fandom I was super active in - Good Girls - the main ship was a straight one between a gang leader (Rio) and a 'housewife' / mother of four (Beth) who'd resorted to a life of crime and found she had an aptitude for it after her husband lost their house, and there was an enormous sense of Beth needing to be punished sexually and otherwise in fic, especially after she shot Rio in the (admittedly underwritten) s2 finale.

It's kind of funny in that sense, because I have largely put the GG scenario down to internalised misogyny, especially given the volume of fans who watched the show exclusively for Rio, and who ended up feeling like Beth didn't 'deserve him', but it does feel different with IWTV. Not entirely maybe - I do think there's a sense of Lestat needing to 'earn' Louis back for instance which isn't necessarily tied to gender, but tied to a very shallow view of what relationships are, just as I think there is a cultural load and systemic connotations brought to scenes of violence, particularly intimate partner violence, when the person perpetrating is white (i.e. Beth shooting Rio, who is Latino, carries different weight than Rio shooting her white husband, and kidnapping her white sister, same with Lestat dropping Louis vs Louis slitting Lestat's throat + bashing a white man's head in after projecting Lestat's face onto him).

I think that's all important to talk about and to consider and reflect on, just as I think the insane amount of gender essentialism, TERF rhetoric, and feminisation in a gay ship is, but I agree that it feels married to a degree of moral purity and - I'd argue - it gets twisted up simultaneously with fetish, kink and fanon to make a bit of a melting pot of Stuff that feels difficult to reduce to any one thing.

I don't know if I think it's steeped in immaturity exactly - the people I know of writing some of the things that perpetuate a lot of these tropes and who have harrassed me and others I know are mostly in their late 20s and 30s - but I do wonder how much of it is tied to an isolated perspective of relationships and the world? I really do think you can tell when people don't often hear perspectives outside of their own in their day-to-day life, or, hell, I think people tell on themselves more than they realise in how they might phrase things, even on anon. I still joke with my sister about the doxxing attempt I got where one anon asked me if [my sister's first name] knew I wrote BDSM, which was meant as a clear threat, when my sister had literally sent me excerpts of the werewolf porn she was reading that day, lol. We also both talk about sex a lot, so like.

It wasn't an issue for me, but y'know, the sense I got was that the anon obviously thought I should be ashamed and my sister would be disgusted, and like - - I don't know. Most of my friends have read the smut I've written, man, and my sister doesn't care (my brother either now - given I told him what I wrote in the process of all of that, and he now finds it very funny to ask me loudly about my erotic fanfiction when we're on the train, so y'know, haha). It just felt very telling to me about how people like this think, how they feel about sex and smut, and also the relationships they have in their personal lives because, well, I guess from how they act, they wouldn't be talking to people in their real lives about any of this.

Is that Christian puritanicalism, is that immaturity, is that isolation, is that inexperience, is that something else, I don't know! It does feel wide spread in this fandom in particular right now, but I do think it's kind of everywhere, and I think the nature of this show having adapted this story as something both outright queer and diverse is pulling a lot of people towards it who might actually be more interested in the optics than the content.

[thecolourpurple123]

Fourier Lugunica ramble (with excerpts from Ex 1)

Fourier is, much like all the members of the Lugunican royal family, somewhat airheaded but charming in nature. The Lugunican royals are all genuine and good people, but not particularly skilled stewards―which is pretty much the exact description the LN uses across all the side content I've read recently including Ex 1, 2, and 3.

In his normal state, he's prone to being incredibly impulsive and needy. He rolls up to the Karsten estate at random to bother them with whatever he's fixated on at any given moment and is very good-natured about the teasing he is subject to―not being particularly aware of the depths of Ferris's wit, but always rolling with whatever punches he does see. Fourier's obviously a bit pampered considering how he whines about the cold to the degree that he never goes anywhere without his fancy red coat, but he's not totally adverse to hardship or pain seeing how readily and regularly he challenges Crusch to duels for years of their youth despite never really standing a chance.

Generally, he does not concern himself with his own status, and readily waves it off in pursuit of whatever he's fixated on because he's just that kinda silly goofy guy. At the same time though, he's keenly aware of his status as the fourth prince, and while he does know the kind of effect he can have on people―as seen in how he stalls for time when Crusch is fighting the rabbits by distracting the people at her party with improvised songs and sword demonstrations―Fourier is not one to care for the fact that he's royalty in any ambitious or grand sense. However, as seen in Ferris's unusual appointment as a royal knight, he does know when it can be used to get what he wants/thinks is right and necessary.

Further, Fourier is very much one for bravado and putting on a brave face. He wants to be strong and look cool, especially for Crusch, and in all matters Fourier is one to throw himself headfirst into situations with a high degree of overconfidence. It's actually noted as being part of his charm, the fact that he so readily pretends that he's better than he is and is princely, while also not really caring for being seen as princely and competent, which ends up making those times where he's princely and competent all the more impactful to the people he interacts with.

(here we see Fourier and Ferris discussing after the duel with Crusch to make her wear a dress, for a more relaxed example of Fourier being both overconfident and not caring for how he appears which Ferris takes advantage of to tease him)

(this one is of Crusch talking to Fourier about Ferris's family history that he pretends to already know about and lies to Crusch about blatantly to save face, only to prove himself unknowingly in her eyes in the next breath)

(and this one is Julius talking to him later in Ex 1 for a more serious example of how Fourier views other's views of him)

Ultimately, Fourier is a bit of a walking contradiction. He's oh! so jolly yet still respectable and competent when the need arises. He doesn't care for status yet walks around with overconfidence. He's keenly aware of social dynamics at times when it counts, yet often blunders his way through conversations in a way that's disarmingly absent-minded.

It's a contradiction explained by the fact that Fourier is one of a rare few of his family to be a "master of the blood" as Miklotov puts it, or the Lion King's Blessing as the fandom has come to call it. He's able to just… intuit things, a lot of the time. He knows what moves to play to win at games, knows answers to obscure questions his tutor asks without knowing why, is able to only ever show up to the Karsten estate when Crusch and Ferris aren't too busy to see and hang out with him, and of course is able to coordinate several royal knights to rescue Crusch from Ferris's dad while also setting Reinhard as insurance for stopping Miles (a spy he doesn't know exists, just has a hunch exists based on pretty much no evidence at all) from escaping back to Vollachia all without ever knowing the full scope of his own machinations.

I think the most iconic moment of Fourier is this:

In one move, Fourier pushes Crusch to accept her dual roles of being a Lady and being the martial heir to house Karsten, thrusts Ferris into knightship in a way that doesn't leave him insecure or gives him any room for doubt, and saves Crusch's dad's life from the rabbits―only to after Crusch and Ferris leave, tell a servant Crusch tied up that he has no idea what's going on and that they should probably figure that out.

Fourier is effortlessly foundational to Crusch and Ferris's entire worldviews, and he doesn't even know how or why he just follows his instincts and garners their total respect and admiration. He's humble in an unspoken way that leaves his dramatic overconfidence as endearing instead of irritating. He's a royal with once in a generation blood, yet all he cares for is to see the buds in the garden that are those he holds dear in his life bloom into their own.

The only time he ever really cares for his station, is because Crusch is a little obsessed with the legacy of the Lion King, and Fourier wants that attention on himself (all the while not knowing that he already has it). He makes giving his everything feel like nothing yet still everything―which is all the more tragic, all the more foundational for Crusch going forward, because that very essence of Fourier is exemplified in his death where his very memory is but a footnote in a wider chapter of the nation's history. Everything to Crusch and Ferris, but nothing to a nation in mourning.

This is why, after finishing Ex 1, I have gained an appreciation for Crusch who I'd thought as a very boring character having only experienced her presence in the main series. For years now, I've always looked down upon that short-sighted selfish goal of hers to break the covenant with the dragon, just because she can't get over Fourier's death. But it's deeply understandable if you come to know Fourier, and see it from Crusch's perspective.

Crusch started with this chip on her shoulder regarding needing to be worthy of inheriting this mantle of the lion, and then by the end of the novel she inherits this impossible dream of Fourier's too―where he pictures this future together with Ferris and Crusch as he dies in her arms, not even able to finish telling her that he loves her before he goes.

Fourier was her Lion King, he always was, and in his absence, given this singular opportunity through her candidacy and in the context of the seemingly callous attitude of the Sage Council and the gathered nobles… to me, it just feels so earned that she would despise the Dragon, whose mere promise of protection overshadows the deaths of so many royals who were amazing in their own rights. Ultimately, Crusch's ire does come from misplaced grief, but it's one I can't help but respect now. The path Ferris and Crusch walk is not one that is kind to either of them, but it is one that is quite fitting. One that is lonely by necessity, because even though Fourier told Ferris to rely on his friend Julius, he was unable to finish telling Crusch his full feelings for her, leaving Crusch with an impossible dream and shoes she can't fill even with Ferris at her side.

So basically, all of this is to say that my favorite ferret man Ferrier Lugunica haunts the narrative and after reading Ex 1 he lives in my head as rent free as he does in Crusch and Ferris's.

[thedragonchilde]

"Chibodee has lit a fire in Domon's soul": a ship manifesto years in the making

For my followers who have been wondering what the hell I've been on about, here you are.

Before I start, a quick rundown for the newbies, of the show and the characters of the hour, as is customary for ship manifestos:

Earth has been ravaged by war, so all the nations created space colonies, and everyone who could afford it fled to them. In order to try and 'fix' the problem of war, they have decided to settle their differences by way of the Gundam Fight. The Fight happens every four years, and calls for every country to send a Gundam and a fighter to control it, and they spend a year battling it out, and the last one standing gives his nation the right to rule all the others for the next four years.

Earth is the ring.

The other thing to know is the presence of a secret quasi-mystical society called the Shuffle Alliance, which has existed throughout time for the purpose of overseeing wars and making sure humanity survives. There are five at any given time, mapped to card ranks, and they are magically 'chosen' rather than deciding to join. They are linked together by crests on their hands and an ill-explained empathic bond.

Domon Kasshu is our intrepid main character, and holds rank King of Hearts. He is 20 at the start of the Fight, and has been training as a fighter since he was 10. His father was sentenced to stasis by the government for alleged treason, and he wants to win so he can make a bid to reverse that. He broods quite a bit, but his anger is too red-hot to let that stay for long. He's LOUD and PASSIONATE and FEELS A LOT OF THINGS and SHOUTS A LOT. He's also a giant child sometimes, and that's not always a bad thing, particularly when he interacts with children. Also, he has a sexy suit-up sequence to rival Sailor Moon.

Chibodee Crockett is also 20, and holds rank Queen of Spades. He actually grew up an orphan on Earth (specifically NYC), but was discovered by talent scouts after a street fight and taken to the colony to be trained. He makes a name for himself as a professional boxer, and is undefeated by the start of the Fight. He is literally the rags-to-riches American Dream, and he seizes that, aiming to win the Fight as a symbol to give hope to those still living on Earth. He is loud and impulsive and naturally flirtatious, and has a heart of gold. And, you know, an 80s metal hairdo.

-

So why do I find this dynamic compelling? Let's start with what canon gives us.

In Chibodee's debut episode, they don't get off to the best start (a suckerpunch is not a meet-cute), and miscommunication induced by the Neo-American government makes it worse. But things get immediately friendlier once the two are able to have their match and communicate in the best way they know how. Domon wins the bout, and Chibodee doesn't handle the loss well, insisting that he's let down his fans. Now, we already know from the series opener that Domon has no qualms with leaving a situation that he feels isn't his business - so it stands out to me that Domon refuses to knock Chibodee out of the tournament, and in fact encourages him to keep fighting, even calling him “one of the good guys”.

This mercy must have stood out to Chibodee as well, because in “Prepare to Fight! Desperate Fugitive” he is downright obsessed with finding Domon again for a rematch, getting his team to scout the area and even going along with Neo-Mexico’s plan to use him just for the publicity. Even for the purposes of revenge as he claims, that's a lot of time and effort spent pursuing one guy. Their interaction is only in the last leg of the episode - Chibodee attempts to muscle in on Domon's match, then says he's “lost all respect” for Domon when he thinks Neo-Mexico’s Chico has been killed, implying that he respected Domon in the first place despite everything. When he figures out what the plan actually is, he thinks it's incredibly clever.

Then we get to the Guyana Highlands training arc. Our five-man band has just become the newest Shuffle Alliance, though they're still figuring out what that means and how they're tied to each other.

Right out of the gate, the narrator refers to Chibodee as Domon's “destined rival”. And the characters seem to agree! If self-proclaimed mentor Schwarz wants Domon to train against someone, he has plenty of choices, including two who fought him to a draw, but for whatever reason he decides Chibodee is the best option - and he secretly encourages Chibodee's team to come to the same conclusion.

When Chibodee arrives and finds Domon, instead of announcing himself, he just watches Domon train (shirtless, mind you) for long enough that the weather turns from sunny and beautiful to a thunderstorm.

Eventually, he does announce his presence, and they face off in the rain - and it's not just the lightning that's electric, as they excitedly comment on each other's technique and reenergize their fighting spirit, just as Schwarz planned. (In fact, Domon is so into the fight that he needs to be told there's an SOS signal from their support teams!)

It's some time later before we see Chibodee again, and he's either stayed in the highlands the whole time or left and came back, and either option is damning. The fledgling Shuffle Alliance has gathered, drawn to Domon, who’s gone off on his own without a word. Aside from George's half-baked excuse about wanting to protect Rain from wild beasts, the others are fairly upfront about wanting to see Domon, if only to fight him. But Chibodee gets oddly defensive and claims he just has nothing better to do.

When Domon returns from his training, his former teacher Master Asia strikes with the self-regenerating Devil Gundam, and the group has to find their way out. While they're strategizing, Chibodee makes a suggestion, then blushes and hurriedly assures Domon that he's “not doing this for you!” as if anyone would take it that way.

Eventually, they separate and reunite in Neo-Hong Kong for the tournament finals. Their next big interaction is in “Domon Targeted! The Assassin’s Staff”, where Domon is caught in the crosshairs of Neo-Nepal’s Kyral, who tries to assassinate him ahead of his next match. There is a very scary run-in with Kyral in broad daylight, which ends with Domon's shoulder slashed open. Chibodee comes to the rescue, laying Domon across his lap as he drives to help - at least until he flips the car in the chaos.

They do eventually get help, but Domon still has to face Kyral in the ring. For his part, Chibodee has decided to hang around Domon's lodgings for the entire two days between the attack and the match. Guilty? Worried? Feeling a little protective?

I won't say much about “Dazzling Power of the Clown! Get Mad, Gundam Maxter” here, except to ask: when Chibodee goes out that night and has his first meltdown, why is it Domon that the girls call to check on him?

As is the nature of tournaments, Domon has to face off against the other members of the Shuffle Alliance. He appeals to their bond as the Shuffle Alliance, but they each put their reasons for entering the tournament first, and will only come back around to the group once they've decisively faced Domon. Chibodee actually sounds pretty anguished about this, and, presumably in the interest of good sportsmanship, shows Domon his newest technique so he knows what he's up against.

Here are just a few real honest to God quotes from their match:

“Get ready for this, baby!”

“--and most of all, it's for you!”

“Your hunger ignited a fire within me”

“You sure know how to make me happy, Chibodee Crockett!”

“Chibodee has lit a fire in Domon's soul”

“I can feel your dream”

Domon wins with a technique that hasn't been seen before or since, and in fact manages to knock Chibodee out for a few seconds! When Domon reaches out to help him up, it is in shoujo soft focus. Again, Chibodee is discouraged, and again Domon tells him that he hasn't let his fans down, and then reassures him that the fight was great and they can rematch any time he wants. It's a lovely side of Domon we don't always get to see, being literally and figuratively supportive.

Eventually, we get to the battle royale, a winner-take-all match on an enclosed island, where of course the Devil Gundam has been resurrected and infected many of the participants. The Shuffle Alliance takes on foes to clear the way for Domon to go to the center. I mention this because in the span of less than a year, Chibodee has gone from ostensibly hating Domon to being willing to die for him.

Domon wins the tournament, but that's not the end of his troubles, as Rain, after having left Domon, is taken by the military to power the Devil Gundam. The emergency signal has the Shuffle Alliance going to Domon about it (and at least in the dub Chibodee shouts his name in this beautiful breathless, anguished way). Domon at first refuses to go after Rain, wanting to respect her wish not to see him again. But the others have seen the burgeoning romantic tension between Domon and Rain, and so Chibodee tries to motivate him by basically saying “don't be an idiot, either you go or I will”. Eventually Domon is convinced, and the rest of the group is not far behind.

Let me preface this part by saying it's not uncommon for other fighters to join in Domon's words in the midst of battle, demonstrating the connection between them brought about by 'communicating with your fists'. But only once does this happen when it's not part of an attack. The five of them have a terrible battle ahead of them, and at one of their lowest points, it is Chibodee who brings out Domon's words as a motivator.

There is a lull in between bouts, in which Domon asks the others why they followed him. They respond more or less with “it's fun to fight alongside you”, and Chibodee in particular phrases it in a ridiculous way that makes everyone laugh for an awkward amount of time because it's a scary moment and nobody wants to say “we care about you”.

Domon has to fight the last leg alone, not that the others didn't try to follow him, and rather than attack Rain, he disentangles her from the Devil Gundam with the power of love, in the most literal way. Now, of course, during his big confession, we get reaction shots of the others, and I have to say Chibodee looks rather more upset than expected for such a scene.

Now wait, you may say! Domon has a canon romance, one that literally saves the day, so what are we doing here?

Well, this is not the place for my thoughts on Domon/Rain. This is, however, a place for embracing transformative fandom. All I'm definitely saying here is that I find the Domon/Chibodee dynamic compelling, and there's maybe a canon precedent for Chibodee having caught feelings. But this is fanfic, so anything goes; maybe this is an alternate timeline, or maybe you prefer to write Rain with someone else anyway, or maybe the three of them come to an arrangement.

What I know is that they have a bond that the narrative itself acknowledges, one in which they consistently build each other up. They have a lot in common temperamentally, being evenly matched in hot-bloodedness, but their attitudes are sort of the inverse of each other - Domon is serious and melancholy, but deep down is trusting and wants to believe the best of people, where Chibodee keeps things light and devil-may-care, but he's a little more world-weary, a little more easily discouraged - and this makes them interesting foils. I just think there is a lot of unexplored potential in their relationship - especially in adding a romantic/sexual dimension to both the Shuffle Alliance empathy and ‘communicating with your fists’ - and I want to think I'm not the only one who sees it.

-

This is normally the part where I recommend other fanwork, but at the time of writing this, there are four works under this ship tag, one of them is mine, and two are Domon/multiple. There is a little bit of art on pixiv under the チボドモ tag. I know this is a thirty-year-old anime, but I also know that hero/friendly rival is usually slasher catnip, as is dudes in latex saying things like “you sure know how to make me happy” to each other.

[seriousbrat]

imo it's not so hard to accept that SWM takes place after the prank. I mean it is canon so too bad but it makes complete sense to me. there's no evidence the prank was some big life-altering character development moment for any of the characters involved and that they all learnt their various lessons. in fact we see that they don't. in SWM the marauders are clearly still tormenting Sev. In Sev's conversation with Lily post-prank he's still just as obsessed with the marauders and exposing their secrets as ever, if not more. he doesn't consider what lily's saying at all because he's too focused on his hatred towards them.

my hc is that sirius (rather masterfully) used reverse psychology on sev to get him to go down the willow. Sev isn't stupid, he wouldn't have let himself willingly be led into a trap by his worst enemies. I think Sirius probably "let it slip" and then "backtracked" and acted like Snape wouldn't be brave enough to go down there anyway and that he should just forget it. I doubt Sirius directly told him to go down the willow, I think cleverly he told him not to, knowing that Sev would do so anyway (not that this makes a difference ethically bc his intent is still clear, but anyway. this isn't about who is morally better because idgaf honestly lol, I'm just trying to work through their mindsets)

the marauders received no real consequences for the prank, so why would they learn their lesson? Objectively you can't really punish someone for telling someone not to do something if they do it anyway. Not particularly fair, but still. Which brings me to Sev's responsibility in the matter (which yes, does exist imo) we're shown that he was obsessed with finding out what the marauders were up to and particularly obsessed with Remus's secret. Yes, this is understandable given how they treated him, but absolutely not healthy and he still chose to go down there, whether out of pride, greed, curiousity, vindictiveness. He obv was manipulated but there's a reason he was so easily manipulated. As I said previously, his obsession with revenge is what causes him to be blind to lily's feelings.

James rescuing him wasn't some moment of epiphany about how bullying is bad actually. It was just a fundamental part of James's character already. He would never have let him die regardless of how he felt about him.

All of this makes SWM the PEAK moment of hatred between Sev and the Marauders, which explains a lot of their responses. Sirius and James hate Sev more than ever for trying to expose Remus. Sev, justifiably, hates them more than ever for trying to kill him (and he ropes James into this, which is incorrect but understandable in his position)

James "deflating his head" probably wasn't just based on one event in particular. He just grew up and learned what was more important- being a good person, fighting against voldemort. But Sev also had growing up to do of his own during this time. As I talked about in in this post yesterday I think post-swm Sev was beginning to realise that his lack of control over his emotional responses (calling lily a mudblood out of humiliation, for example) was dangerous both to lily and to himself.

Yeah they still hated each other and attacked each other in seventh year. There's too much bad blood there to do anything else. I've talked about the dynamic between Sev and James here and how that might have developed as they grew older. I honestly find it extremely interesting, I could go on about these two for hours rip. My point is that the development of these characters into adults wasn't instant or linear, it was messy and rough. people don't usually change overnight, it happens slowly over time because they have to.

[iniziare]

what is your definition of canon-strict? it seems pretty — well — strict, and i personally have a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the term specifically because it seems hard to freely make headcanons or explore things outside of canon. would you say canon-strict is on a spectrum of canon-compliance? what are your thoughts on that term, and what's the degree of differentiation you need to consider a muse divergent?

(this is not meant to be a dig or interrogation but a sincere handful of questions, as i'd like to understand you and how to approach you better! i've seen some people argue that any interpretation that touches upon things not addressed in canon is divergent, but then again they're from fandoms where canon material is remarkably barebones for a majority of characters, and even officially licensed manga/shows vary incredibly widely — leading to multiple "canons" or verses with a lot of interpretative freedom. i'd like to know your definition of canon-divergence, and if it ever bothers you when other muns are canon-divergent.)

Hi anon! I'm aware that I'm answering this quite late and I apologize for it, but I wanted to sit on it for a while because every time I've tried to answer, I end up rambling, and I don't really think that's useful! So let me try this one more time, and see how I fare (spoiler alert: I, to no one's surprise whatsoever, did not keep it short).

To me, canon strict means having a very strong adherence to a character's personality, and lore as they're depicted in their original source material. With the term I genuinely, and literally mean 'strictly following canon'. Anything I do has to make sense within the boundaries of my muse's canon material. You should kind of see it as a writing challenge to myself to try and see how much I can expand on a muse's life and experiences within the constraints of canon before I run into a big 'ole brick wall. You see, I used to write characters where I enjoyed the concept of going beyond canon's bounds over and over, do my AUs, and my rewrites of what we were given, and I very much enjoyed that, but then I wanted to do the exact opposite, and I've found very thorough enjoyment in the challenge for years now, so I've kind of... stuck with it. I don't really know how else to explain it to you other than to say that when canon is written as nicely as it is in the fandoms that I'm in, that I want to avoid changing any of it because why should I? I have no need to do so when I enjoy it just as it is. Essentially, any meta that I write should be more so be seen analyses of canon in some way instead of headcanons, but if I do use the latter term, they're there to fill gaps rather than touch or alter existing facts. And any details that I speculate on are rooted within canon logic. My 'non-canonical' dynamics (or ships) work similarly, while the vast majority are technically non-canon, I still choose them based on what actually clicks for the character, rather than potentially let myself be directed in any which direction by what I'd like to see for them. Does that make sense?

Essentially, everything I do has to make sense within the muse's own canon, and they should not change, or influence anything fundamental. Everything pretty much stays within the bounds of plausibility for the character, and I don't reshape them in any way as to accommodate that which isn't in their own canon. It’s in that where I feel like the difference lies with something more akin to 'canon-compliance'— so when you mention a spectrum, let's say it's a scale from 1-10, I could imagine that canon-strict is on the extreme outer end at 10, standing in direct opposite to the full canon-divergence/AU variant sitting at 1, while canon-compliance could sit anywhere in between those two, though I would reckon it's anywhere between 5-9 for many portrayals I've seen.

Now to finish this off with, I don't have any issues with people who claim their portrayals to be canon-divergent, but I could clash a little with them in terms of plotting if they're very liberal with their divergences. And if they go against what is presented within my muse's canon, then I'm less likely to say yes to an idea, though I will generally try to see if I can reach some sort of a middle ground with them. But in all fairness, I very clearly 'advertise' myself as canon-strict everywhere that I can (and I remind people of the extra important things on each muse page), so I assume people generally know what to expect from me and my portrayals, and then can quickly discern whether I'm the right fit for them and what they're looking for. Because while I'm strict in this and may sound firm, I do try to be as transparent as I can be so that people don't run into threads, only to be surprised six months down the line, I don't want to disappoint people in the end after all! I hope that this was at least a little helpful, anon! And I apologize once more for the very late response. Thank you for asking. <3

[alyssasmaddworld]

there's this level of dissociation that goes hand in hand with daydreaming and i feel like it's something i wouldn't know how to begin explaining to somebody who's anti-endo.

maladaptive daydreaming is not inherently caused by trauma. it's considered something you use to cope with it. but for a LOT of people, and as confirmed in multiple studies, it is a dissociative disorder. there's even a level of plurality with it.

you have these people in your head, and you cant destroy them. a lot of them can feel like REAL people. you create worlds, plot lines, and you connect with these characters in a way where they slowly become their own being. their own person. how is this ANY different from being plural?

the answer is: it's really not. if you view plural as synonymous with systemhood then maybe i can see why you'd have a problem with the phrasing, but based off of the actual definitions of plural, maladaptive daydreaming fits the criteria.

the next issue that people tend to have with maladaptive daydreaming being considered plural is that maladaptive daydreaming isn't its own disorder. but something doesnt need to be a disorder for it to be significant in the mental health industry.

a common "rebuttle" of endogenic systems is that they "appropriate" other cultures, but what most people making this argument fail to realize is that, this is HOW culture works. western culture is actively affected by the cultures of other areas. do you genuinely believe that theres not a single Buddhist in america practicing tulpulmacy? that this is SOLELY a non-western phenomenon? then why is "traditional traumagenic" mentioned at all, and not JUST traumagenic?

but there are articles that talk about the importance of listening to the internet, and the words they've cultivated. something i've been told is irrelevant because "an endo made that word" IS BEING heard by therapists all across the globe, not just in america.

"the reader is reminded that culture is dynamic rather than static, meaning that just as our understanding of the online community is different today than it was twenty years ago, this will continue to shift and evolve into the future as well"

things CHANGE. research ADVANCES. and with that, we also know that maladaptive daydreaming is BEYOND VALID on the dissociative spectrum. it has ALWAYS been there, it just wasn't considered a disordered behavior before the 2000s.

on top of this, there's a study that further affirms it's place in the endogenic sphere specifically.

despite this, her brain scans showed "great activity in the ventral striatum, the part of the brain that lights up when an alcoholic is shown images of a martini. Frankly it was super strong"

this means she isn't just mind wandering. mind wandering is what people THINK daydreaming is.

"Mind wandering refers to the occurrence of thoughts that are not tied to the immediate environment—thoughts that are not related to a given task at hand"

mind wandering lights up the Default Mode Network side of the brain, the DMN. the DMN controls Autobiographical information, Memories of collection of events and facts about one's self, Self-reference, Referring to traits and descriptions of one's self.

maladaptive daydreaming has its own dissociative absorption, and it affects the brain differently than mind wandering. it's a proper form of dissociation.

and..would you look at that?? spiritual practices are mentioned. i wonder which endogenic system that reminds me of! (much love to sophie!). it's just further credence towards the fact that non-traumatic systems can exist. why else would maladaptive be on the spectrum, honestly?

trauma doesn't CAUSE maladaptive daydreaming. trauma doesnt cause dissociative absorption. they are ALL coping mechanisms as a way to deal with whatever trauma may be going on-- or it can literally be a choice in the sense that you can actively choose to get absorbed into a book, or how you choose to maladaptive daydream. you can let it interfere with your life and become debilitating and disordered (because sometimes people dont WANT to change) but this doesnt mean it's traumatic.

with all this being said, how is this not a valid presentation of plurality?

[cringecompanionapologist]

Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma: Chapter 1

This chapter is called Ace. Since it was 1986, it obviously has nothing to do with that Ace. Now I want a story where Turlough and Ace meet each other. It'd probably be more fun than this is.

The story begins with the PoV of a tour guide of some old ruins. Trion's got a lot of old ruins, many of a people called the Laima who visited Trion in ancient times. They were twice as tall as Trions and apparently ate them.

For reasons to be explained later, Turlough is very interested in all these ruins and has been spending time visiting archeological sites all over the planet. He's seen as a famous hero by the public, or kind of expect him to get involved in politics, but he's doing this instead.

So the tour guide spots Turlough and eventually recognizes him.

Okay, Turlough has such extremely ginger hair that I have no idea why someone would see sandy brown. Perhaps it’s a Trion thing.

So, Turlough after his adventures with the Doctor is around 20. When we see the timeline of his exile, things will start to become very confusing.

Also, apparently Turlough likes to dress very casually. Were there really no T-shirts in the TARDIS? And why do the casual clothes of Trion look so similar to those on Earth?

Meanwhile, the tour continues.

A 16 year-old showing interest in a museum trip, where there’s a chance that other people his age might see it, is proof that this takes place on another planet. This also seems to make it clear that Trion teenage boys look like Earth teenage boys, meaning that the two species most likely are meant to age at the same rate. Again, the timeline here’s gonna get confusing.

The tour passes by Giants' Drop, a very deep, artificially made hole in the ground. Based on what else I've read about this book, I'ma call it Chekov's Hole. Because that's very fun to say.

After exploring Chekov's Hole, the group goes outside.

Okay, Trion’s two suns make colors that don’t exist in Earth lighting. Maybe that’s why Turlough’s hair could look sandy-brown. The lighting tones down his hair color a little.

Turlough's Science Adventure is interrupted by Juras Maateh, an Imperial Clanswoman that Turlough was apparently quite close to back in the day. Now he's actively trying to avoid her, which she's really not into. You see, Juras wasn't exiled. She played nice with dictator Rehctaht and ended up working for her. Turlough was exiled for speaking out against Rehctaht, so he's kinda pissed at Juras for being a collaborator.

Though, getting themselves exiled didn't go so well for anyone else.

Turlough is apparently one of the last Imperial Clansmen outside of those who sucked up to the dictator to not be exiled. We don't hear much about any other Imperial Clanspeople who survived by sucking up to Rehctaht, so Turlough and Juras might be the lasts of their kind.

Turlough is so determined to ignore Juras that she has to confirm that he even recognizes her.

The more of this diologue I read, the more I wonder why at least some of the prologue wasn’t written as a flashback so we could actually see this stuff, getting us emotionally invested in Juras early on.

Another interesting little detail that’ll pop up all over the book is how names are used. Turlough is given the full name Vislor Turlough in the book. Juras Maateh is generally referred to as Juras, but Vislor Turlough is referred to as Turlough even by people close to him. Turlough’s on first name basis with Juras, but she’s not on first name basis with him.

The BF story Kiss of Death is in someways a remake of this story, establishing Turlough’s backstory on Trion, including a romantic relationship with a young woman. Deela is Juras 2.0. But, the writing of Kiss of Death actually does show the intimacy of their relationship by having Deela call Turlough “Viz”, a nickname from his first name. So I’m guessing that aspect of the character dynamic was thought through a lot more in Kiss of Death.

Turlough continues to brush Juras off. She continues to express her dislike of this decision. He says he's been busy.

Wait. Was Turlough exiled for two years or has be been back on Trion, ignoring Juras for two years? It’s stated in the prologue that Rehctaht was in power for seven years and she most likely dealt with the Imperial Clans early on in her reign, so Turlough was exiled for at least seven years, which means that the two are probably years he spent on Trion whilst avoiding Juras. This means that Turlough, age 20, in a species with the same aging rate as Earth, was around 11 years old when exiled. At the oldest. Now, since every member of the Imperial Clans, regardless of age, was probably exiled, this wouldn’t be too strange, especially since he’d blend in easily at Brendon School as an 11 year-old. But, it doesn’t make sense with what we’re told about Turlough’s exile in this story. He apparently openly spoke out against Rehctaht and was exiled for it. Juras, the same age as Turlough, held her tongue and became a scientific adviser for Rehctaht at around the same time. The implication is that Turlough and Juras were young adults at the time, already having careers and being active in politics. If an 11 year-old Trion resembles an 11 year-old human, this would be extremely unlikely. 

If 20 year-old Turlough was exiled for two years, making him 18 at the time, this might be a bit more plausible, but that would mean Turlough stayed on Trion for five of the seven years of Rehctaht’s reign, which isn’t what seems to have been implied elsewhere.

Now, this problem could’ve been fixed if human age numbers weren’t used or it was stated that Trions age at a different rate from humans. Considering that a planet with two suns would probably have a different orbit than a planet with one sun, the years being a different length would also make sense, but this is never stated in this book So, all in all, this is a major case of Writers Can’t Do Math. At least this one can’t.

The argument continues.

This is a very “As You Know” kind of line, but that’s honestly a bit of a nitpick. But, it tells us some of what would be expected for an Imperial Clansman. This novel usually refers to “Imperial Clansmen and women” instead of the more neutral “Clanspeople” or something like that. So, when gendered language is used, it’s difficult to tell if they’re talking about “men and women” or if they’re talking about “people, who in this case happen to be a man and a woman”. So is it considered the duty of an Imperial Clansman to find time to share his thoughts with his fellow Clanspeople, or it specifically his duty to share thoughts with women? Or a specific woman? It is the duty of an Imperial Clansman to form a sort of intellectual partnership with an Imperial Clanswoman? Are we learning something about Trion gender roles and relationships here? I don’t know. It’d be interesting if we explicitly were. It would provide some good context and framing for this relationship that we’re only just now learning about. Perhaps Turlough and Juras had a sort of intellectual engagement before everything went to shit, at least partly because it was considered the duty of people of their age and social status to do so. There’s a romantic subtext to their past relationship at this point and the idea that at least one of them invested in the relationship more out of duty than love would provide some interesting tension.

Turlough is finally able to escape and go to another museum on his list.

More numbers, eight years ago would have to be before Turlough’s exile if he went to this museum eight years ago. So he was 12 then? Fuck this timeline.

Now, since it’s Doctor Who, you might be asking “What about time travel? Maybe we’re all out of sync because of time travel.” And well…maybe? Trions themselves do not have time travel. Despite all their scientific advancements, time travel is the one thing they just can’t get. This is very important to the plot. But, as for the time travel of Turlough’s time with the Doctor, it’s never made clear if we’re supposed to factor that in. Nobody acts like Turlough appears younger than he should be based on how much time has passed. If Juras had aged more than Turlough appeared to, you’d think she’d say something. So, if time travel through everything off here, nobody seems to suspect it.

The chapter ends with Turlough on the way to Njordu Nerthus, on of Trion's three moons, since there's some other interesting stuff up there. We finally get some of his PoV and learn that he absolutely did intend to meet up with Juras again, but not until he'd finished his research.

So far, the book's been high on exposition and low on characterization, but that might just be because there's a lot to catch up on. The timeline makes no sense, but the TV timeline didn't make sense either. Malkon was apparently an infant when his family was exiled. We meet him as at least a young teenager while it's not made clear if he just grew up really fast or if Turlough skipped ahead with time travel. So I can't exactly say this timeline bullshit is anything new.

So, we'll just have to see where they're going with this.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 25- Part 13

Okay, it's as I thought…turn it back to Factory Field, and that Ghost-type boost goes away. Interesting dynamic there…

Huh-? Wait, there's more? Shoot, I was pressing the down key for a solid couple seconds there because I thought she was done.

He can talk? Um- more importantly, I'm curious as to what this apology could be about…

Huh?? Okay, hold up, I wasn't expecting this kinda intrigue all of a sudden! It wasn't because Team Meteor was trying to mess with the city's structure?

What do you mean Team Meteor tried to kill Ame specifically?? I've gathered that being the manager of the Reborn League gives one a high level of authority and influence, sure, but like…enough to warrant specific targeting for an assassination? It's not like she's the Champion, so like…I dunno.

But more importantly, if Ame's information here is accurate, then…Xera truly was a victim of circumstance. It really was just a matter of who Ame was sitting closest to at the time, and that person just happened to be Xera. I wasn't actually expecting to get answers to what I was proposing earlier, I was just explaining character motivations in the context of what's happened in the story thus far. Huh. 

Well- that doesn't change much, I mean…Xera could still be in a bit of denial, she could still want to hear it from Shade himself, even if I'm beginning to doubt that'll actually work out.

And Ame's not exactly helping, being all cryptic like that. But there's nothing more to be done about it right now- so, while my character has an existential crisis about the nature of her survival and continued existence, let's talk strategy.

Ghost-types are an interesting breed- after all, they only have two weaknesses: Dark-types and…themselves, Ghost-types. Given Short-Circuit Field boosts certain Ghost moves and any Ghost-types I bring will be just as weak to those attacks as Shade’s Pokémon, it's probably better if I just…don't bring any Ghost-types. So that leaves Dark as my main option, and luckily we have a few options for that. In addition, Normal-types are immune to those Ghost moves, and while Ghost-types are just as immune to Normal-types, those same Normal-types can learn Dark- or Ghost-type attacks to compensate.

There's also the matter of the Short-Circuit Field itself. It largely benefits Ghost-types, because in terms of Dark-type moves, only three get a boost: Dark Pulse, Night Daze, and Night Slash. For that reason, I think it would be better to turn Short-Circuit Field back to Factory Field as soon as possible, to take away that advantage on Shade's side. Granted, there are a few ways for Shade to turn it back to Short-Circuit Field…

The big one seems to be Discharge, but here's the thing about that: the only Ghost-type that can learn Discharge in any capacity is Rotom. And we already encountered Rotom- default Rotom, no less- when we fought Connal. So I don't think Shade's gonna have a Rotom of his own- after all, why use the exact same Pokémon in two boss fights in a row? Why wouldn't they have given Connal one of the other Rotom forms in that case?

However, there are other ways to convert Factory Field to Short-Circuit Field, such as through certain Ground-type moves. Bulldoze, Earthquake, Magnitude, even Fissure- Sandyghast, Palossand, Dusclops, Dusknoir, Golett, Golurk, Phantump, Trevenant, and Dhelmise are Ghost-types that can learn at least one of these moves (and that Shade would realistically have- I doubt he's gonna use his own Alolan Marowak or a Giratina), so he's got options. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Golett/Golurk or Sandyghast/Palossand, their Ground-typing makes them immune to opponents’ boosted Electric attacks and they provide another way to bring back Short-Circuit Field. Dhelmise is also an interesting one, because Short-Circuit Field has a special property that grants Steel-type moves used by Pokémon with Steelworker a secondary Electric type- and Dhelmise happens to be the only Pokémon with this Ability. Just seems very…specific. Another cheeky option might be Sableye or Spiritomb, due to them only being weak to Fairy-types. 

As for other options…I'm not sure. They could be Pokémon who are strong against Dark-types, so…Fighting, Bug, and Fairy. The only two Ghost/Fighting-types are Marshadow and Annihilape, the former being a literal Mythical and the latter being illegal in the Reborn region. The only Ghost/Bug-type is Shedinja, and the only Ghost/Fairy-type is Mimikyu. And while Wonder Guard shenanigans would also be cheeky, it's easy to work around, so Mimikyu might be more likely.

With all of that said, I might have a proper team for this. Behold!

Riptide is a given, and Prong is there to use Charge Beam to switch to Factory Field. Obsidian is there as the Dark-type, and her Fire half will also be immune to any possible Will-O-Wisp shenanigans. Gash, meanwhile, will be immune to Ghost-type moves and be able to deal super effective damage with Night Slash. Kirby is there because his Fairy-type moves will be able to hit Sableye or Spiritomb, and being part Normal-type will also make him immune to Ghost moves.

Ace, though, is an interesting case. You see, in addition to also having a Ghost immunity, his Ability is noteworthy. Usually, you'd want Guts on your Taillow/Swellow, but in this specific instance, his current Ability is very useful: Scrappy. If you're unaware, Scrappy allows for Normal-type attacks to hit Ghost-types- in other words, Ace can bypass the Ghost immunity to Normal while maintaining his own immunity. Combine that and the fact that you can get the Facade TM from the Arcade, well…I think you know what I'm thinking.

So now, it's that time again- time to go on our grand training arc at the Grand Hall!

(Several battles later…)

And now- well, Kirby is a friendship evolution, so that's gonna be a bit more complicated. But, I can just wander around to build up friendship- which I need to do because I'm heading down to the Underroot, both to mine the glowing rocks down there and to get Ace burned. I know you can encounter Shuppet down there, and at their level, they should know Will-O-Wisp.

(Many steps later…)

Success! And now, we continue mining-

(Several rocks later…)

So, while mining, I came across this:

Just…casually coming across the Odd Keystone, no big deal, no malevolent spirits are gonna burst out of it anytime soon, I'm sure. Anyways, back to grinding friendship on Kirby-

(Many more steps later…)

So when I came back to Grand Hall, I talked to this guy (I thought he was the guy who sold Common Candies for...reasons), and this happened:

Which…hey, better late than never, I suppose.

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[thenixkat]

so Max whent behind the League's back conspiring with the USA government to come up with ways to take down the Justice League if they whent and did shit without authorization. Like, saving the world from a global threat without consulting the UN first. B/c that makes sense

also just the red flags about Maxwell Lord where there from the start and the Maxwell Lord stans saying that the hell turn came out of nowhere and was ooc just fucking lying to people

like yer siccing cops on superheroes for them going to try and solve a global threat with time of the essence

at least wait till the crisis is over to fight superheroes for trying to save the world?

a decent chunk of the League Busters are fucking villains and also Peacemaker, the dog of the state

so a gun that can shut down people's metagenes? that sounds like useful technology that will never be used again

first up you serves which god? and also that's not how evolution works species dont reach and endpoint and have to be culled by an outside force

…heroes are the cause of humanity's downfall b/c they caused humans to reach their natural end point too quickly

yeah the downfall of humanity is tied to the creation of superbeings

dont tell me they had Ted do surgery on Booster. Ted's not a medical doctor…

sure he can make a prosthetic but I dont think he should be doing surgery also the characters saying they probably should have gone to STAR labs in the first place for Booster's stuff and liek, that's what I've been saying Dr. Soos is from STAR labs and fixed Booster's suit in the past

Booster you just got off teh opperating table and are like full of so many pain killers go lay your ass down

man superhero comics hate to have superheros actually haveing time to properly recover from their injuries b4 going back out to fight people. they're all just gonna die young

you have no proof that history changed other than you not fading from existence and you'd only do that if stable time loop was whats going on and not anything else time related

is that why Booster is so reckless/impulsive? That he knows how he's supposed to die so there's no reason to take steps to make sure that's indea what happens. B/c that's… further proof that stable time loop cant be what's happening

and Ted's chewing on information, may have figured things out. Also just too much dynamic shit happening unnecessarily

Ted figured something out and of course there's no time to explain and good lords he's just fucking shrinkwrapped in that damn costume

i def missed an issue, likely there's some fucking event tie in shit i'm not gonna go look for the missing story info b/c if it were important it would be in the story and I wouldnt have to hunt it down

Fire, Ice is clearly possessed why else would she be murdering people and working for the genocidal bad guy. You've experienced fuckers being possessed b4

i mean given Max he probably does feel as bad about nearly getting everyone killed with his bullshit as he would forgetting someone's birthday. He's a bit of a self centered asshole

so yer going to fight Captain Atom b/c you dont like his leadership and are blaming villains doing shit on his leadership. Because the genocidal fucker befucking the Earth is less of a priority to stop than Captain Atom leading a small team to try and fight him. WHat the fuck is wrong with Wonder Woman?

cause it makes sense for Max to be on some bullshit about this but there's a genocidal alien trying to wipe out the human species and yall are fucking fighting eachother b/c you think Captain Atom is being too rash about shit

Wonder Woman in what fucking universe would attempting to offer yerselves to the fucker known for ending entire species of sapients going to change the fuckers mind and convince him to spare the Earth? Yer should be smarter than that

oh hey Ted's cold weather costume. Which is a bit close to getting sued territory DC

Ted states the obvious fucking flaw in Wonder Woman's sacrifice every meta plan, the fact that humanity can make more is the fucking reason that the Overmaster wants to genocide humanity

just why the fuck did Wonder Woman think that plan had any leg to stand on, even if she could get every meta to agree to turn themselves over which is not possible

[offtorivendell]

Why do Gwynriels think the BC is good for their ship?! Like 90% is talking about how much he wants Elain then the other part is her weird powers lol. What am I missing???

Hi Anon,

So I can acknowledge that some people might find the last part of Azriel's bonus chapter as hinting at a GxA romance when taken on it's own - though I agree that it would be A Choice to make the swap to G at the end of a bonus chapter that 1. centred around Elain, and Azriel's desire for her, and 2. was only available from an obscure US bookseller that it seems not even most Americans have heard of (and is only available in one or two languages!) - but I still don't think that it hints at GxA when read in context of ACOSF as a whole, let alone the entire ACOTAR series (though of course, I could always be wrong).

This post is also not intended to judge anyone who prefers the pairing - it's all subjective, you do you.

In terms of G being a lightsinger... if she is, I suspect she's just a baby lightsinger, and possibly doesn't even know what her powers are just yet - she thinks she's part river nymph, which she may still be, but that could also be a cover she was fed as a child for her own safety - and as I've said before, I don't think lightsingers are inherently evil. SJM loves to subvert the monster trope, for one, and two, given the political upheaval that occurred when the High King Fionn was overthrown all those centuries ago, if the lightsingers were involved with the plot against him, whatever it may have been, then I could see them being ostracised and targeted for retribution in the years since. What Cassian told us may have been a twisted narrative of what lightsingers truly are.

I'm a subscriber to the theory that Elain could be a lightsinger, which is described in detail in this post by @wingedblooms, or a lifesinger, as explained by @silverlinedeyes. I also think other lightsingers may live in the library - including, possibly, Clotho and Merrill - so I'm not sure G would be "unique" in that regard, if she's truly more than a faerie with river nymph heritage.

Given the light and shadow dynamics, and Elain's link with both:

Could Elain be light and dark = grey?

There are so many unanswered questions from the first trilogy.

Are Azriel's shadows only dark, or is dark light just one shade that the "shadows" can take on/give out? Could they actually exist on a scale, from dark through neutral/invisible all the way to golden sunlight?

Are shadowsingers and lightsingers the same thing, or even inherently linked* somehow?

Is the shade of the "shadow" magic controlled by mood, maybe like a patronus charm?*

How does Truth-Teller fit in?

* I have so many questions, and I do mean to write a theory about all of this, but my motivation and time have been lacking for a while. 🥲

As I've said a few times before, I don't know why we would have anyone other than Elain Archeron be the character involved with the mystery of the shadows.

In terms of the image of Gwyn's teal eyes sparking in Azriel's chest, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was Clotho who sparked Gwyn's image, maybe with the help of a spelled song from all of the priestesses singing in the cavern below, especially because we know Azriel speaks the language of stone. Could the mountain in/from which the House of Wind is built somehow be taking on the magic of the priestesses' songs and passing it on to Azriel?

There's a lot of possibilities beyond a GxA romance being hinted at, imo, in the last part of Azriel's bonus chapter. Not to mention, Elriel have got it bad!