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[bess3714]

If I were in charge of DC here's what I would do to the Batfam comics in no particular order:

Batman and Robin:

I would send Bruce and Damian on a sabbatical/road trip across America. They of course keep running into crimes wherever they go and solve them, leading a couple of FBI agents to start investigating them for committing the crimes. One FBI agent will remind people of a chihuahua, and the other of a St. Bernard. Also Damian has his permit so he can drive, and since Bruce currently doesn't have a hand in comics I'd add in a plotline where they help an alien who grows back his hand as a reward but he does it wrong and now Bruce has an extra finger.

Batman:

With Bruce and Damian gone, I'd make Tim Batman and Stephanie Robin. They fight crime and bicker like old ex's, leading to some interesting rumors about Batman. I'd make a directive that Tim isn't allowed to be drawn as a twink anymore, but has to be drawn with the rippling muscles he had in the 90's and 00's. Stephanie also gets rippling muscles. Part of the b plot for a while is Stephanie's rivalry with her next-door-neighbor who turns out to be a drug lord, but the drugs he sells are like, insulin and ADHD meds that he and his gang steals because he's a doctor who lost his job for reporting some ethics concerns and now he's mad about the medical system. Stephanie gets mad because in hindsight all the clues were there that he was literally in a gang, and she didn't notice because she thought he was just an asshole. Also they definitely make out at one point.

Detective Comics:

I love what Ram V is doing right now but I think when he's done I'd put Duke Thomas in the main story investigating systemic corruption in Gotham, shining a light (because he's the Signal) on the worst parts of the government. At some point he's accused of murder and the police are all trying to arrest him so he blows up some cop cars and Batman calls to yell at him but he hangs up on Batman. Montoya has a dartboard in her office with a picture of his face on it.

I'd add in an ongoing run of a comic that resembles the original batman comics in style and content. Then I'd have a a bunch of stories with some lesser-known characters, like the Psyba-Rats. I'd really use Tec as a playground to experiment with unusual team-ups, fresh stories, and inventive artstyles.

Birds of Prey:

I like the current lineup but there needs to be 30% more queerbaiting between Barbara and Dinah. There's an issue where Barbara and Dinah pretend to be lesbians to get this himbo to leave Dinah alone because she's trying to let him down easy because he's so damn nice she doesn't want to hurt him. (Has anyone watched Rizzoli and Isles, coincidentally?) I'd also add Helena Bertinelli to the team but she has an eyepatch for inexplicable reasons (the reason is it looks cool). The eyepatch will be dropped without any recognition a few issues later. Barbara drops both Batgirl and Oracle and gets a new identity as the Cloud. Only the Birds of Prey know it's her; everyone else thinks the Cloud may or may not be an evil AI working for Lex Luthor.

Outsiders:

I'm not reading Outsiders so I can't really comment on what I'd do for that one, but if you guys have any ideas let me know and I'll do the opposite, inciting fan fury and starting a Twitter war.

Nightwing:

I would send Dick to live in New York and also I would make him broke and homeless. I thought about making him lose his memory too, but that's already been done so instead I'd give him violent visions of murder and assault so he thinks he's losing his mind but then it turns out to be a secret policy from the new mayor of New York City to quietly round up all the homeless people by releasing gas into the streets at night to knock them out, but Dick has had too much exposure to drugs and poisons for it to work right on him, so instead he gets hallucinations!

Batgirl:

That's right, you'd get a Batgirl ongoing from me! Cassandra Cain would be the main character, and in the first arc I'd have her join a dating app, but then every date she goes on turns out to be with a criminal who she then sends to jail, and just when she's about to give up on dating, on the very last date she goes on the guy tries to force a charter pilot to help him escape by plane but Cass takes him down and the pilot is like "so that was cool. Can I get your number?" and they start dating. After that Cass accidentally joins a gang but she keeps getting gang members sent to jail and no one suspects it's her, only at some point she actually becomes the gang leader. There's then a crossover with Batman where her gang beefs with Stephanie's next-door-neighbor's gang and Cass ends up giving her gang to him peacefully.

Batwoman:

While I'm at it, I'd launch a Batwoman comic. I'd get Chuck Dixon to write it and it would be both wildly homophobic and also the gayest thing you'd ever seen, but eventually ol' Chuck and I would have some creative differences and he would depart, and instead we would have a rotating cast of guest authors. I don't really know much about Batwoman but luckily knowing about a character in order to write them isn't a requirement at DC. I think we need some ghosts so there would be an arc about Batwoman getting haunted by a bunch of angry, vengeful spirits who she thinks are trying to kill her but who are actually trying to lead to their killer. One of the ghosts is a really hot woman and they share a passionate kiss before the ghost girl disappears after Kate gets them justice. The arc would be lauded in some articles as a 'major reversal of the bury your gays trope' because at one point Kate has to dig up their bodies to look for clues, while in other news outlets it would be decried as a 'vile depiction of the desecration of queer final resting places.'

Red Hood and the Outlaws:

Jason starts a club/gym for a group of teenagers where he teaches them cool stuff like 'how to throw a punch' but also 'how to buy and cook groceries'. The gym is threatened by various forces like gangs, developers, the city government, plus the kids all have personal problems they have to deal with, like mental and physical disabilities, generational trauma, homelessness, and poverty. The teenagers call the gym "The Saloon" and themselves "The Outlaws" because Jason always has a TV playing reruns of old western shows. There's a running joke where various people think Jason looks like a dead relative.

Poison Ivy:

I'm a few issues behind but this one I would leave alone. I don't think I could improve on it. Unless I made Janet from HR and Croc an item. That could be fun.

Harley Quinn:

Another one I'm not reading so I don't know what's going on there but it could be fun to have a crossover storyline with Poison Ivy where they grow and sell shrooms to rich college students and then influence them to do stupid stuff and get them arrested. You know, fun date night activities!

Conclusion:

My time in charge of Batman comics would be one of mass outrage and general fervor. My directives would be so unpopular amongst fans that petitions would be started to have me removed and violent death threats towards me would be de rigueur online. I would depart after a few short months and my replacement would almost immediately retcon all my creative decisions away into a dark universe that would then be blown up by Lex Luthor. Ten years later, a dedicated fanbase for the comics produced under me would emerge, and they would be so loud and annoying and insistent that fans would then clamor to get me back in charge of DC once again, but unfortunately by then I will have retired to start drama on Twitter and write a memoir after a failed attempt at starting my own comics company called Big M Comics and getting sued by McDonald's

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Dark Prophecy: Chapter 28 (SPOILERS)

"getting an elephant into the Waystation was not as hard as I'd imagined." Yeah, of course it wasn't. This building literally materializes whatever size or shape entrance you need.

"a stream wending through the middle of the room" Did he misspell "winding"? No, apparently. WEND (v.): go in a specified direction, typically slowly or by an indirect route

"The Real Elephants of the African Veld" VELD (n.): open, uncultivated country or grassland in southern Africa. It is conventionally classified by altitude into highveld, middleveld, and lowveld imo it should've just been called "midveld."

"back to the main hall, where a crown had gathered . . . The rest of the freed prisoners milled around" This is such a nice, peaceful, happy scene that I'm sad it's not going to last. At least we got *checks book* two full pages of people being happy.

"The griffins allowed him to scratch under their beaks--a sign of great trust" Maybe Jamie isn't a bad guy after all? I'm still skeptical. "especially since they were guarding and egg in their neest (and no doubt worried that Sssssarah might see it)." I don't think even Sssssarah could swallow an egg that big, but she might try.

"a different green dress and jeans" Did you just say she's wearing a dress over jeans?

"Lady Artemis has been watching you." "Oh, no . . . You can tell my beloved sister to back off." You tell 'er, Apollo!

"Father!" Hehe oh noooooo "This isn't prophecy. This has never happened before--" Has Emmie been to the Cave of Trophonius a lot? How does she know?

"You sent this little sister of mine to do your errands?" Uhh. I'm guessing not on the mom's side, huh? When she said "Father" I was like OMG she's Apollo's kid! And then when it turned out to be Trophonius talking, that worry went away and SURPRISE NOW IT'S BACK! Interesting to note that Trophonius doesn't know that Georgina wasn't sent by Apollo. He doesn't know as much as you'd expect an Oracle to know.

"I wonder, Father, to whom will you pray?" True. To whom do the gods pray?

"the recovery rate for supplicants of Trophonius" SUPPLICANT (n.): one who supplicates Fuck you too, Merriam-Webster. Cambridge Dictionary says, SUPPLICANT (n.): a person who asks a god or someone who is in a position of power for something in a humble way

"No one had reported a missing baby girl like her. Her birth parents either didn't want her or couldn't raise her" Or was secretly a serial killer on the run who couldn't raise a child. Sounds about right with Apollo's standards for flings. Bad Decisions Box <- Georgina's biological mortal parent & Georgina's subsequent abandonment

"enter the Cavern of Prophecy." We're finally going innnnnnnn! Death and madness, here we come! Eat it like well-cooked ramen!

"I'm not sure." "All hail the god of prophecy!" Got nothing to say, just wanted to highlight that little bit.

"tracking devices I put on your griffins" Gee thanks, Lit. "first thing tomorrow morning. He'll wipe this place off the map." Can't thank ya more, Lit.

I feel like someone is definitely getting sealed in that cave. There's never a cave in a story without a rockfall or cave-in also happening and someone getting shut inside a stony tomb, never to be seen again.

[kitsune-kaos]

You came up on my suggestion and you are so beautiful dude 😭 what’s your favorite Nintendo franchise?

Aww thank you so much!!! 🙈💖

And I’m glad you asked 😉 cause my all time favorite video game franchise is

The Legend of Zelda 🧝🏼🧝🏻‍♀️🐗 💛💚❤️💙🧡💜

The N64 was the first system we had in our house. We must’ve gotten it when I was like 3 or 4 cause it came out the year I was born, and I don’t think the GameCube was out yet. While I did love Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros., Banjo-Kazooie, Super Mario 64, Mario Party 2 & 3, and Pokemon Stadium (&2), and Snowboard Kids 2, it was tLoZ Ocarina of Time that was my world ☺️ I have two older Bros who’d play video games, so the first time I saw OoT get beaten I was actually watching my oldest bro play, and those kinds of memories I cherish v much (even when he’d lose and yell at us for breathing too loud or talking too much 😂 Eventually we did get Majora’s Mask too, and that is my fave of the series to this day. But I know Ocarina of Time like the back of my hand 🥰

I’ve also played every main series Zelda Game and I think the only one I haven’t beaten yet is Oracle of Ages, but there’s this one side quest puzzle that I can’t figure out and I refuse to look it up so I haven’t played it in a while 🤣 and I must admit, tLoZ II: Adventure of Link is the hardest of the Zelda games. I would not have beaten it if it weren’t for the switch emulator’s rewind feature. Technically I haven’t played much of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or Tingle’s Rupee Hunt or whatever it’s called, and I only played Link’s Crossbow Training one time. Oh, and there’s that rythme collab game that I also never played. But I’ve played the rest!!!!

Thank you for this ask because I absolutely love talking about The Legend of Zelda 💕

[thetoxicgamer]

Jensen Ominously Predicts League’s Mid Lane Meta for 2023

The Dane discussed the changes made before of the new season, asserting that the mid lane was little affected by them and that the meta would be comparable to last year. In an interview with Travis Gafford on January 16, Jensen predicted that it would be "boring" and nearly comparable to the Worlds 2022 meta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09AA_luXKlM “For me at least as a mid laner there wasn’t really too many changes… I think the meta is going to be very, very similar to how it was at Worlds with a few tweaks,” Jensen said, pointing out champions like Syndra could be returning to position on a more regular basis. “From mid lane perspective, very boring. Not much has changed, game is practically the same, with some new items,” he added. On top of that, Jensen mentioned he would like to see some more updates to the mid lane role in particular. At the same time, he praised a few other tweaks made to the game, like the map update with adjusted blast cones. During Worlds 2022, to which Jensen compared the mid lane meta, the role was dominated by mages and assassins. In the main event of the tournament, Azir, Sylas, Akali, Viktor, and LeBlanc were the top five most picked and banned champions, according to a League’s stat site Oracle’s Elixir. Jensen debuts with Dignitas in the 2023 LCS Spring Split on Friday, Jan. 26 against CLG. For more esports news, click here. Read the full article

[oracleout]

@seraophic : ❛  do  you  have  a  minute ?  ❜ ( x. )

❝ for you? always. ❞ babs leans back in her chair, her hands coming together as she tries to discern the tone that they used with her. she’s always on call for everyone, and clark certainly knows who she is ( they’re one of the few that does ) so it could be for any reason that they’re calling her up now. maybe brainiac or lex luthor are at it again. or maybe a certain someone that they share a home with is being insufferable about something and they need someone to talk to about it. barbara understands that sentiment very well.

                         ❝ is this business or a social call, clark? ❞ she asks, figuring she might as well get to the point. ❝ doesn’t matter which. just wanna make sure. ❞

[bonesofapoet]

( please note some links will take you to my main blog )

* characters with an asterisk are now platonic only

ARCANE

Silco

prologue -a taste of mercy

DC

Arthur Curry

melted stars, melted sea

Donna Troy

sunlight

morning sun, burning waffles

headcanon: a snowy afternoon

to bloom through a blade

Dick Grayson

car crash hearts

with fear, i fall

headcanon: going to a haunted house

watchers in the night

portraits for lovers

Jason Todd

lightning fields

now cracks a noble heart

headcanon: watching it snow

we are unsung hymns

a shelter made of mercy

i didn’t know the world could be so warm

they say fear is for the weak

sky full of song

headcanon: going to a haunted house

atlas bewitched in a diner

trials of the gods

headcanon: jason is scared of loving you, but cant stay away

run away from the sun

fall

John Constantine

death wrapped in velvet

the muse of venus

Roy Harper

my dear, how sweet we could be

DEADLY CLASS

Billy Bennett

constellation dreams

Lex Miller

midnight reality

anthology pt I

anthology pt II

a rose colored curse

we walk in beauty

i can see fire in your eyes

Marcus Lopez Arguello

neon anchors

merciful souls

starlight sins

inscendence

from dusk ‘til dawn

Saya Kuroki

shallow glory

CALL OF DUTY

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley

heart under the gun

ares crowned by persephone

CASTLEVANIA

Alucard ( Adrian Tepes )

revival of a soul

haunted

touched by fire

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

Nicholas Scratch

hush

sweet cravings

DRAGON AGE

Cullen Rutherford

the night that keeps our secrets

Fenris

the honeyed kiss of betrayal

Lucanis Dellamorte

tongue-tied

Sebastian Vael

our graveyard of dreams

The Iron Bull

our names are carved in steel

GENERAL

headcanon: vigilante/hero x you

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Aemond Targaryen

through the thorns

the shadow’s crown

even dragons must yield

MARVEL

Bucky Barnes

letters from poseidon

we’re nothing but a falling star

skin & bones

Frank Castle

soft and wild

abandoned valor

once upon an ugly sweater

ache

Hobie Brown

headcanon: going to a show with hobie

Loki

the oracle at the end of the world

Matt Murdock

aphrodite’s kiss

blood of the holy

lucifer in the arms of persephone

Peter Parker (TASM)

a duet, honey sweet

muse of the heart

Quentin Beck

careful, i bite pt I

careful, i bite pt II

Sam Wilson

stars in high tide

Shang-Chi

steady heart

Sylvie Lushton

tired eyes and gentle hands

* Yelena Belova

the glow of a valley

amaranthine

ghosts

PRODIGAL SON

Malcolm Bright

we move lightly

fragments

crimson darling

STAR WARS

Captain Rex

dewdrops

Din Djarin

a legion on crimson wings: pt  I  II  III  IV  V  VI

violent delights

the golden rays of night

wicked, wicked dreams

Obi-Wan Kenobi

fallen kingdoms and starlight hearts

STRANGER THINGS

Billy Hargrove

head full of noise

Eddie Munson

sunset leather + rooftop smiles

headcanon: going to a metal show with eddie

monster hunting would suck without you

too young to fall in love

inferno

golden crowns and whispering roses

april

TEEN WOLF

Peter Hale

on the breath of a hurricane

THE DREAMER TRILOGY

Declan Lynch / Jordan

veiled in vintage thorns

THE OLD GUARD

Booker ( Sebastian le Livre )

funeral for a ghost

THE ORIGINALS

Kol Mikaelson

watch me crack and shatter

THE 100

Roan

sunrise over the devil’s revenge

[secret-engima]

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret DoTF Characterization Rant

OKAY, ME RANT RAMBLING ON LUNA’S CHARACTERIZATION IN DAWN OF THE FUTURE IS A GO.

This is … likely going to get messy, but I’ll try to keep it at least moderately coherent. Lemme start by saying that- for the most part- I did actually enjoy Luna’s chap. I’ve been enjoying the book (kinda-sorta-mostly, I really liked Aranea’s chap at least) and I don’t think it’s like- a BAD book? Necessarily? But I feel like it is extremely telling in regards to how the characterization/lore is treated that my brain is automatically filing this thing under “fanfic that’s not my HC but is okay-ish” rather than “canon I will be gleefully tweaking as I please”. My brain is literally looking at this officially licensed book and equating it to fanfic. To fanfic that NEEDS EDITING.

With that out of the way, lemme attempt to summarize my (main) issues with Luna’s Characterization and then I’ll expand on them from there. Get ready for the salt.

1. Luna’s backstory is inconsistent. She herself states multiple times that Oracle training is grueling and involves both physical and mental trials as well as things like fasting for long periods of time WHILE doing said training, yet she is mostly treated like a well-meaning but overall pampered, naive princess who is only now being forced into hard circumstances and has to adapt accordingly. She is also treated like she doesn’t know “common people” that well and doesn’t know how to interact or pick up things like lies (????). A common example is how she treats Sol as trustworthy but reserved when according to Sol’s POV she is literally debating shooting Luna as a possible threat. And Luna supposedly doesn’t pick up on this danger. But we’ll get back to that.

2. Luna is characterized as being oblivious to how people outside Rich Oracle Circles live. That despite traveling all over the world she has never really seen it’s “ugly” sides because she’s always traveled in fancy guarded processions with the sick brought to her. Pretty sure the book specifically mentions at one point that she’s never “considered” what it would be like to be anything other than an Oracle. Admittedly this issue could go under number 1 or 3a but I’m putting it here because I’m salty.

3a. This and the next problem are heavily intertwined and, not going to lie, I could make an entire rant just about these two issues all by themselves, not just in Luna’s context. The first is that Luna is portrayed as not being able to make her own decisions, not even wanting to make her own decisions, until she is forced to or has her “eyes opened” by Sol, our jaded Long Night survivor character. The author treats Luna’s sense of duty as some form of social brainwashing she needs to “get over” and spoiler alert I hate it with every fiber of my being.

3b. Playing right off the whole “Luna is incapable of making her own decisions and that’s why she does her freaking job until someone ‘opens her eyes’” is the idea that Luna’s faith is a character flaw. Lemme reiterate. The story treats Luna’s faith. As a character flaw. Rather than the entire cornerstone to her character and one of the big reasons she’s as amazing as she is. Her faith is treated as foolish and shortsighted, something that has only survived for this long because it has never been challenged and, heads up, the rant I am going to go into on this one specific thing is going to be long and extremely salty.

Alright I think I’ve covered the basics. Starting from the top, BRING ON THE SALT.

…

1. Luna is pampered, well-meaning but naive and bad at reading ulterior motives of people.

….*slow, deep breath* Luna. The Oracle. Who became the youngest Oracle in history. Because her mother was murdered in front of her while her home was burned down and conquered by the people who then proceeded to rule her country, subvert her brother to their cause, and generally control and monitor every aspect of her life that they could. Luna, who was fully prepared to take a single suitcase and escape her own home and run off alone to get to Altissia and had to be stopped by her own brother (who you’ll note brought a bunch of soldiers with him, which indicates he did not expect a submissive response if he came alone).

This girl who was canonically physically abused as a child by a Niflheim officer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZHzBtIfpdg slow this down if you need to confirm, but she is grabbed and manhandled and hit by an adult man when she only looks to be twelve, around the age Tenebrae first fell), who has spent twelve years living under the rule of a nation that is not only aggressively atheist but has willfully attempted to kill one of the very beings she serves and openly plans to do so again. The woman who successfully survived the fall of Insomnia with only one magic-less glaive as her backup for most of the event, then evaded the search efforts of an entire empire with only her own wits, a dog, a Messenger who has only ever been shown to talk rather than fight, and the extremely grudging on-off help of her brother who works for said empire. All while waking up the Astrals and forging covenants that were slowly killing her from the strain, which is the exact thing the empire was trying to prevent her from doing. Then, when it became necessary to complete the last covenant, turned herself in to the very same empire that has imprisoned her since she was a child and has been actively hunting/trying to stop or kill her since Insomnia’s fall.

That girl. Is pampered. Is naive. Is bad at reading people and telling when they have ulterior motives or are lying.

Pull the other one. I’ll kick you.

But seriously, how are we supposed to believe this? Luna’s life post Tenebrae’s fall to Niflheim is only pampered in the sense that she was given fancy clothes and fed regularly (outside the grueling fasting periods mentioned in this same book). She had no freedom, no privacy, her guards were all either men who wore the same uniform as those who killed her mother or were monsters infected with the very scourge she is sworn to purify. The Oracle is famous, is revered by the people. To keep the people on their side, the Empire would have flaunted her, would have taken her to all the shiny events. Luna would have had to dine with, converse with, even dance with the very same people who ordered and condoned the murder of her mother, her own imprisonment, and the brainwashing of her own brother to the enemy side. She would have been the epitome of a bird in a gilded cage or a dog on a silk leash and humans are not meant to live like that.

Am I really expected to think she survived a situation that oppressive, that toxic, that actively hurtful, for years by being naive and bad at reading people? Am I really expected to believe that she cannot tell when people are out to use her or hurt her or are lying to her? Am I really expected to believe that she is pampered and doesn’t have, at the very least, PTSD from seeing her mother murdered and her brother join the very people who did it, let alone everything else that would have followed over those years?

Really?

Luna didn’t have a pampered life. She suffered abuse. Longterm emotional abuse, likely sporadic physical abuse until she learned to play along well enough to escape such punishments, and almost certainly gaslighting (again: religious leader being held captive by an aggressively atheist nation that wants to kill the pantheon this religious leader communes with).

Luna would have learned to navigate the canonically cutthroat politics of Niflheim while being at best an outsider and at worst a target because of her beliefs, her nationality, and her loyalties to the Lucians (nobody was surprised when Luna went on the run. Nobody. Her continued devotion and loyalty to the Lucians -Niflheim’s enemy- was absolutely a well known factor). She would have learned to pick truth from lie and when to pretend she hadn’t noticed in order to survive. She would have lived twelve years knowing that any mistakes or misplaced moments of trust would be paid for in either her suffering of the suffering of the people close to her like her servants, or just the citizens of Tenebrae in general.

And none of this is taking into account her Oracle training, which the book does not elaborate on but repeatedly states was hard and grueling and she completed it years earlier than any Oracle in history.

There are a lot of words I would use to describe Luna, but pampered and naive are not among them.

…

2. Luna is oblivious to how people outside her rich circles live and has never considered being anything else but an Oracle until Sol specifically points it out.

The book states that she mostly travels in procession (ie, with tons of servants to serve her every need and bodyguards to keep the masses at bay) so clearly she can’t go anywhere too dangerous, otherwise her servants wouldn’t be able to come. Right? Oh boy where do I start with this.

I know! Let’s start with the fact that Luna canonically maintains the blessings on Havens! You know those things. They’re your only safe place to camp at night and they can be found in all sorts of nifty locations like the middle of the wilderness where cars can’t go, chocobos won’t go, packs of wild animals will literally leap out of the bushes to eat you (Voretooth packs can get up to twelve or more members all trying to eat you at once, fun fact), and poor choice in clothes will lead to broken ankles at best? The ones that can be found in the depths of locations so dangerous that even the Hunters are leary of going inside and are actively forbidden from approaching unless they are a very high rank?

Off the top of my head some of the Havens that come to mind is the one in the middle of Malmalam thicket, the top of an active volcano, multiple spots in the middle of the voretooth and coeurl infested desert, two up in Vesperpool aka the home of all demon crocodiles and flocks of cockatrice that are bigger than the average car and can literally turn you into stone if you aren’t careful.

Yeah those places. She maintains those. Depending on how often Havens need to be maintained and if the weather/nature shortens that time then she might also have to periodically enter the dungeons Noctis explores in game that also have Havens hidden inside where it is always dark all the time and infested with daemons.

The book also states that the sick (who are highly infectious and not supposed to be touched by people who can’t heal the scourge and in the later stages of sickness become extremely violent and prone to biting in order to infect other people) are … brought to her…

By whom? Exactly?

Moving on from that giant and obvious plot hole to the “never seen or considered other lifestyles” bit: Luna has traveled literally all over the world. In her duties of healing the otherwise incurable she has gone all over Niflheim, Tenebrae, and Lucis. She has walked through the streets of cities filled with lights and glamor and stood on the dirt roads of towns so small they have to go to the next town an hour or more away to buy groceries or check their mailbox and who’s royal hotel suite is just a caravan with a new coat of paint and “welcome Oracle!” sign. Luna’s work is to cure the Starscourge, which is a disease that I can almost promise the rich don’t get. Because the rich and fancy do not risk their lives by going into daemon territory (Prompto, a middle class Insomnian, didn’t even know what wild animals would be like, you expect the rich and famous to be any better?).

The vast majority of Luna’s patients would be people like Dave the Hunter, or Sania the scientist who wades into the wilds. The truck drivers and the farmers and the electricians risking their lives to repair power lines in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn’t be going to cities except to talk to the refugees who fled there from the outside and thus picked up the Scourge. Her only two social circles would be Niflheim’s cutthroat nobility and the “unwashed masses” who come to her for healing. Guess which ones she’ll be more invested in getting to know on a personal/friendly basis and interacting with.

Of course Luna has interacted with and understands “common folk”. Luna is a caregiver, not just physically, but emotionally. She is beloved by the people because she is kind. That means she talks to them. More importantly, she listens. She has held the hands of the farmer as he begs her to heal him, because the harvest season is so close, and if he can’t work, if he dies, then what will become of his wife or the people his farm feeds? She has embraced the sobbing refugee mother as the other breaks down in gratitude for a child who’s skin is a healthy shade and who’s veins no longer bulge a sickly purple. She has met people who are not rich, but who are content. Who have lives that do not hinge on the razor thin dance of staying true to self and not exposing weakness to those who want to eat her alive. Who can laugh with their neighbors and kiss that nice boy down the street just for the fun of it, who can defy curfew to dance in the rain with the person they love and risk, at most, a lecture and a weekend grounding.

And no, they aren’t rich, no, they aren’t influential or powerful, but they are peaceful. They are happy.

Am I really expected to believe that Luna has not looked on these people’s lives from afar, listened to their rambles as they try to distract themselves from the sickness she is drawing from their veins, and not yearned to be the same? That she hasn’t thought over and over again about running away and being free from her gilded cage? That she doesn’t know anything about the lives of the people she heals even as she walks down their streets and steps into their houses so she can heal those who are too sick or too violent to be safely taken out of their room? That she has never thought about what life could be like if she wasn’t an Oracle as she watches the landscape roll by and walks through the wilderness to find the lonely farmsteads that the townsfolk tell her has sick children that cannot be let out of the shed for fear they will bite?

Setting all of that to one side, what human hasn’t thought of being someone else? What person on this planet, hasn’t looked at another person’s life that is so very different from their own and gone “huh, I wonder what that would be like” even if only for a moment before moving on and forgetting about it? Humans are creatures that dream by nature, that are curious by nature. To assume that Luna is not just because she gets to have the fancy dresses and servants is stupid.

…

3a: Luna is unable to make her own decisions and is only the dutiful Oracle because she doesn’t know any better and needs a “wiser” rebellious character to “open her eyes”.

Okay buckle up. I have tried to suppress the salt until now but over these last two points I don’t care. I will be salty. I will be sarcastic. I will be mean. I will reference Real World faiths (tho I’ll try to keep that to a minimum).

Both 3a and 3b are actually systemic issues in storytelling (particularly noticeable in movies/shows but maybe that’s because I’m pretty lucky with my book choices) that I despise with a passion. Specifically 3a relates to the chronic issue writers seem to have with characters not being allowed to be happy with their role in life. There’s this persistent thought, this narrative push, that if a character is following in the footsteps of their family, is entering the “traditional” profession that their parents (or grandparents, or entire generations of predecessors) have been in before them then they must be unhappy with their lot in life. That this is clearly the character being “repressed” and that if they are content then they are either a bad guy (see: every antagonist from a proud military family or every ruler who thinks they are better than everyone because of bloodline ever) or they are just blind to their own unhappiness.

Now, the basic idea of “character discovers they are unhappy in current role and seeks a new one” can actually be done really well. But those stories that do it well have a lot of internal conflict, a lot of self-reflection and searching and choosing to take a new path after really giving it some thought. Maybe they have help along the way, or encouragement, or another character to show that it’s possible by example and that’s okay.

What is not okay is infantilizing a strong, intelligent character by saying “oh it just never occurred to them until they are told that they are unhappy by this much more worldly wise character and then they went and did it”. That is not okay. It not only trivializes the efforts of every real person who has proudly followed in a parent’s footsteps to become something (a doctor, a missionary, a soldier, an actor, even an electrician, pick a life goal and I promise someone has been inspired to do that by their parent being one before them) but it also takes an otherwise strong, dedicated character and implies that they are too stupid to think for themselves or have any free will until the plot and a Shinier Character demands it.

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret is an Oracle, as her mother was before her, and her mother before her, and all the way back two thousand years to the very first Oracle we see in canon. Possibly back even farther, depending on if any of Aera’s ancestors were Oracles too. That isn’t a suffocating tradition, that is a heritage, that is a culture, that is a necessary, life-saving service that canon proves literally kept the world from falling into eternal darkness (Luna was the last Oracle, the day after she dies is literally the last time we players see sunlight until the end of the game when Noctis dies to restore it). Luna is not stupid or repressed for following in those footsteps, she is breathtakingly strong for shouldering her heritage as the Last Oracle with pride even when the forces controlling every other aspect of her life want her to be ashamed of it and give it up.

The empire that took over her home when she was twelve are actively anti-magic and anti-Astral. Luna is someone who speaks to the Astrals and is born with a magic that can heal the very sickness they want to weaponize. They couldn’t outright forbid her from training to be the next Oracle because that would cause the people to riot, but they could and absolutely would try to make her give up in any way they could. They would have insulted her, demeaned her, hurt her, and imprisoned her. They wouldn’t have wanted a “real” Oracle, they would have wanted a puppet who said pretty promises and then did nothing to stop them.

It would have been so easy for Luna to go down the same path her brother did. To give in to the empire and it’s propaganda that she would have been forced to listen to every single day of her life for twelve whole years. It would have made her life so much easier to be a puppet Oracle who didn’t have to walk miles through the wilderness to maintain Havens, or defy the empire by maintaining loyalty to Lucis, or leave her manor home to heal the sick that could not come to her themselves. As a puppet Oracle she could have stayed in the Manor and only treated cases that could reach her doors and were vetted by the empire. She could have eaten the finest foods and worn the best dresses and never had to worry about a pack of hungry Voretooths or a rogue Behemoth tearing her apart. Most of all, Niflheim wouldn’t have been nearly as oppressive or violent. They would have gladly given her the illusion of freedom and control as long as she played along rather than been fully willing and prepared to run into the jungle with a suitcase just to escape as seen in the movie.

Luna was not blindly fitting into a mold and she was not and has never been incapable of making a decision. The fact that she shows up in canon as a strong, dedicated woman who is in control of her emotions and not afraid to face down a giant sea monster with the power to summon tidal waves with just her words and a glorified pointy stick proves that. The idea that she needs a “wiser” character to come alongside her and “free her” from her own duties is not only stupid, it undermines one of the key things that makes Luna such a strong character despite her relative lack of screentime.

Furthermore, canonically, one of Luna’s main reasons for sticking with her duty as Oracle isn’t because it’s tradition, it’s because of what Niflheim did. In the Kingsglaive movie, when Nyx Ulric is getting angry at Luna for doing really reckless, life-threatening things, she tells him quote:

“I do not fear death. What I fear is doing nothing and losing everything.”

That’s not a woman who is blindly following a path laid out for her. That is a woman who is desperately, furiously fighting against the people who killed her mother in front of her the best way she can: by being the Oracle they cannot stand for her to be.

But sure. Luna is only the Oracle because she doesn’t know better and it never occurred to her to be anything else until some jaded kid with a shotgun made a snide comment about it.

3b: Luna’s faith is a character flaw that has only survived this long because it wasn’t challenged by a worldly wise character who knows better.

Not going to lie but words cannot express how much I hate this trope. This is another thing that shows up a lot in television/movies but also in books too, and that is that a character is not allowed to have a faith in something/religion unless they are 1. Foolish, 2. Brainwashed/tricked into it, 3. A crazy fanatic, or 4. It’s a character flaw they have to overcome by becoming more jaded and atheist and hateful.

Because … that’s not how it works. There are- millions (billions) of people all over the real world who are intelligent, well educated, thoughtful, kind, and religious. And no I’m not just talking about Christianity (tho I am Christian so you can see why this trope grinds my gears so hard). There’s Hinduism, there’s Islam, there’s Buddhism, there’s Judaism, there’s so many faiths and belief systems okay. And no we don’t tend to play well with each other or accept the validity of the others but that doesn’t mean we’re fanatics or brainwashed or stupid. And no we really don’t appreciate it when media introduces a character who follows a religion (even fictional ones!) only to make them an antagonist or rip it away from them in the name of “improving their character”. Just like every other cultural group ever who really doesn’t like their heritage and culture being used as a butt of jokes or is turned into a caricature or used as the basis for the antagonist being Evil™.

But no. We can’t possibly have a character who’s faith makes them strong or gives them comfort in times of hardship unless they are deluded. We can’t possibly have a character who is both intelligent and faithful. We can’t possibly show a character who is breathtakingly courageous and selfless as well as religious unless we point at their faith and go oh look a horrible character flaw to overcome by having non-believer characters open their eyes via sarcastic commentary.

And look. Look. I am well aware that the plot of Dawn of the Future has Bahamut as the Bad Guy™. I am fully aware of that. But if you want to be purely honest and technical, that doesn’t invalidate Luna’s faith because (spoilers) the other Astrals fight Bahamut to save the world. They hear her cries and the come to fight on behalf of Lucis and Noctis and all of Eos and they kill Bahamut even when that ensures their own destruction.

But we’re not actually here to talk about whether the Astrals deserve Luna’s faith in them, we’re here to talk about why insisting Luna’s faith is, by nature of being a faith, treated like a flaw and why it is treated like something so weak it only survived to this point because Luna didn’t face anything “bad” enough to “snap her out of it”.

Spoiler alert, it’s not a flaw and it’s not weak.

Going back to something I have mentioned several times already: Niflheim is an empire run by people who actively want to kill the very beings most of the planetary population worships. The very same people in charge of Luna’s life for twelve years, starting from when she was twelve and very emotionally vulnerable and traumatized, hate the Astrals. I repeat: They hate the Astrals. They have devised weapons to try (and spectacularly fail) to kill them. Half their continent is a winter nightmare-land because they tried to kill Shiva the Glacian and she went “haha, nice try, lemme leave a fake corpse here that constantly pumps out freezing temperatures and blizzards”.

Am I seriously, honestly, supposed to believe that these people didn’t try to tear down her faith at every single opportunity? That Ravus wouldn’t have tried to bully and cajole and harass her into abandoning her faith because he knew that her faith was what kept her walking her chosen path as Oracle and that said path was destined to kill her? Am I seriously supposed to believe that Luna didn’t spend those twelve years having to sit there and bite her tongue to keep from raging at these cutthroat nobles as they gloated and sneered and spat on the names of the Astrals who gave Luna the very magic she uses to heal those in need?

Luna never needed Sol to come along and say “what have the Astrals ever done for you?” because I promise that she’s heard some variation of that exact phrase from everyone in her life. From her own brother to the Emperor himself she has heard some form of this question, this taunt. In the Kingsglaive movie, General Glauca even says something to the order of, “To what god do you pray? The gods do not listen.” Right before he kidnaps her.

Luna’s faith isn’t something blind, and it is not a flaw. It is a cornerstone of her character. Luna’s faith is a bloody, stubborn, tenacious thing that she has nurtured and shored up and been steadied by through twelve years of emotional abuse and physical imprisonment. Luna’s faith is an unshakeable thing that can only come from long nights spent crying into the silent dark of the room and asking “is this real? Am I right? Should I give up? This hurts so much, what do I do?” and finding the answer to be “yes this is real. Yes I am right. No, I won’t give up even though it kills me. Yes it hurts, but what I believe in is stronger than this pain.”

Faith is not optimism and it is not fanaticism. Optimism can be broken by hardship and fanaticism has no room for selfless kindness or acceptance of other people not being as devoted as they are. Faith is personal. Faith is a bedrock, and maybe it’s a bedrock that makes no sense to people on the outside, but it is a bedrock and it can make mountains move.

Just as Luna proves when she runs rings around an Empire to win the respect and cooperation of Titan and of Ramuh, to stand amid the rain and tell an enraged TideMother that “it is in mercy that men offer praise, and in shedding grace that the gods solicit worship” and not flinch because she knows she is right.

Luna’s faith is a fierce, scarred thing that has taken every kind of suppression and propaganda and poison the empire could throw at it and kept on going.

Furthermore. Luna’s faith is treated by Sol as something empty. Because when did the Astrals ever help her or comfort her or save her?

I can answer that. They helped her when they gave her Umbra and Pryna, who kept her company through her life and gave her a way to talk to Noctis. A way to reach out to a person who was not either imperial, warped by imperial propaganda, or too afraid to speak out against the empire for fear of dying. They comforted her when Gentiana became a second mother for Luna after the death of Queen Sylva. A physical shoulder to cry on, a sounding board to bounce fears off of, a well of advice when it was asked of her, a rock to retreat to when Ravus turned away from her and the empire continued to control as much of her life as they could.

Gentiana, who is really Shiva in disguise, has been with Luna since she was a small child.

One of the Astrals themselves has been with Luna for almost her entire life. Has guided her, has comforted her, has led her to safety as she fled Insomnia’s ruins.

Shiva had no reason to do that. The Oracles have done their duty since the time of Aera without her help or company. Shiva didn’t have to stay. She didn’t have to linger and offer comfort and become Luna’s friend. She didn’t have to listen to the last words of a scared young woman who wanted only to see her fiancé one last time and promise to carry them to Noctis in the event of her death. Shiva didn’t have to cry on behalf of Luna. Shiva didn’t have to help Luna remember what it was like to be an ordinary woman (“Yet others need not hide their grief. Is she [Luna] so different from them?”), and in fact, if Shiva had played up to most of the stereotypes, she would have done the opposite and done her hardest to suppress any part of Luna’s personality that wasn’t her Oracle duties.

But she did. Shiva was there, and she remembered. Shiva loved and we as a fandom may yell at the Astrals a lot for not doing more to take care of the Starscourge, but of all of them Shiva gave the most because she came down and she lived, and walked, and loved this Oracle, this scared child, this frightened, weary woman who couldn’t even turn to her own family for comfort. Shiva’s husband Ifrit was betrayed by humankind and yet Shiva still defended them, she kills Ifrit to protect the man (the king) that Luna loved.

And at the end of the game, in those final moments outside the Citadel, when it’s just Noctis and his Retinue against all of Ardyn’s armies of daemons, when Luna calls out to these Astrals whom she has remained faithful to her entire life, even unto her death…

They answer.

Every. Last. Astral. Who is not corrupted like Ifrit, comes down at her prayer and fights. Even Leviathan who’s only voiced lines are screaming wrath against the humanity that forgot her, even Bahamut who otherwise remains aloof in his plane of magic beyond the concerns of the mortal world. Luna calls, and they answer her.

“What have the Astrals ever done for her” indeed.

Luna’s faith is a driving force of her character, it is irrevocably intertwined with her duty, with her choices, with her desire to help people and save the world even if it costs her own life, and in the end her faith is rewarded. Not in the way we want for her, because we love the ultimate happy endings where everyone lives and nobody dies. But Final Fantasy XV was never a story about happy endings. It was a story about coming of age, and tragedy, and sacrifice. Of holding onto hope against all opposition, and of having faith that someday the dawn will return, even if bringing about that dawn requires personal sacrifice.

…

Okay this is over 5k words, I’m tired, and I’m extremely salty so I can’t really figure out how to wrap this up but there we go, my salty personal rant about why I think Dawn of the Future messed up some really critical parts of Luna’s characterization and why it’s Really Bad that they messed up those specific things.

Also I kinda despise them making Bahamut the bad guy in DotF because yes he’s a jerk and yes he really could have done the whole Prophecy thing a ton better, but in the original FFXV one of the things that made the game so heartbreakingly tragic to me is that most of the characters involved weren’t pure evil. They could be greedy, and flawed, and crazy, but in the end the source of the problem was too big to pin on one character.

Do you pin the entire thing on the god of war for his mistakes in trying to bring about peace, or the god of fire for trying to destroy humanity and no longer being there to do his job and purify the plague? Do you blame the Astrals for their hubris or humanity for theirs, because Ifrit loved humanity until they betrayed him so deeply he went mad? Do you hate Ardyn for causing the Long Night or pity him for being a victim of Somnus’s greed? Can you blame Somnus for everything even though the Scourge was going on long before him and kept spreading long after he sealed Ardyn away? The whole thing is a tragedy because at this point it’s a problem too big to fix without someone paying a price too heavy and we hate that because the characters who pay that price are the ones we grow to love over the game.

But that is an entirely different rant for an entirely different day when I am not so tired and my hands no longer hurt from writing this much in one sitting. Thank you and good night.

[purple-ktj]

So What

Part 2/3 of the mini celebration for EpiphanyxWinterBear's first anniversary! I dug this post out of my drafts and finally completed it.

This is just an excuse to fangirl and trend their So What moments throughout the Love Yourself Tour all over again. The moment most known to all in the fandom and also widely labeled as fanservice. We saw many heated, flirty, cute moments, that we forget it isn't consistently so at every single performance. Their interactions vary a lot, maybe depending on their mood, the conditions on that day, or if there's family in the crowd. 

And before I begin, this post started months ago and I slowly compiled it together while enjoying their So What fancams, it wasn’t done in one shot. Just in case some might get the impression I’m jobless enough to be doing this lol.

Somebody call me right one Somebody call me wrong I’m not gonna care about it Why don’t you as well

25 Aug 2018 Seoul Olympic Stadium D1

For the first few dates, they're playful, innocent, going along with the flow.

26 Aug 2018 Seoul Olympic Stadium D2

05 Sep 2018 LA Staples Center D1

06 Sep 2018 LA Staples Center D2

08 Sep 2018 LA Staples Center D3

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5eDKQjrWPU)

This is their first 'solid' So What moment initiated by Jin. Tae is sort of visibly a little stunned at the boldness and the fact that he started this, also not knowing what he's intending to do exactly. And here we already have Yoongi watching them closely. In the video Namjoon is seen behind, jaw a little tensed but letting them be. He just watches them cautiously through the mini monitor and standing close by.

Also, this is the same day Jin sang "You have shown me I have reasons I should love myself" to Tae directly. Tae is caught off guard but he quickly catches up and encourages Jin to sing his verse. This is so sweet. The verses they sing to each other at the randomest/unexpected moments hold a lot of weight in the meaning of the lyrics.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLdHDWRpLfM)

09 Sep 2018 LA Staples Center D4

He's checking the monitor, sees Jin coming from behind. Jin's eyes are fixed on him while they dance off rather sexily. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgRwB2W6ZM)

12 Sep 2018 Oakland Oracle Arena

It's Namjoon's birthday, they don't mess around on their Leader's birthday. Namjoon switched on vlive after this concert, to celebrate his birthday with Army. That night we were all blessed with Namjoon, OT7 live, one of the more subtle Taejin moments, and also the 4 o'clock joke made by Jin. Also there was a little moment of intense staring from Tae to Jin in the middle of the chaos.

"Stay here and sing 4 o'clock with Namjoon, then come to my room after that." (I don't remember the exact words said, this is entirely based off memory)

15 Sep 2018 Fort Worth

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aASOM3x-Nu8)

They're goofing around while Namjoon watches over them with his arms crossed and he doesn't move away till he's sure nothing's going to happen because he knows how unpredictable they are.

16 Sep 2018 Fort Worth D2

They do a mildly sexy dance, though nothing much happens. But I’m very amused by Jungkook who brushes past them really close. It's almost as if he’s discreetly making sure nothing happens. Recall BV1 when he tried to block the main camera from disturbing Taejin’s intimate hug? Same vibes.

20 Sep 2018 Hamilton

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1lVgQGH2s)

Things start getting a little spicier here. Jimin sees Jin going to Taehyung and he looks back at his best friend with a knowing look. Jin comes closer cautiously to gauge Taehyung’s reaction and the moment he removes his glasses and comes nearer the both of them sexy dance with mild tension. Playful flirting; jerking their hips towards each other and rolling their shoulders, they're so close that they're nearly grinding on stage. A good reminder here that Jin doesn't do these flirtatious/sexy gestures unless it's Tae, I very much like seeing Tae bringing this side out of him. Yoongi behind looks at the monitor and realises what’s about to happen so he just looks a little done and walks away. J-Hope is there checking the monitor and shaking his head. And, what exactly is Tae looking at? Army bomb?

22 Sep 2018 Hamilton D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caSsxs7FMjM)

I am so amused by Yoongi because he's half in disbelief and half done with them. Namjoon’s looking at the huge monitor and his hand gesture tells me he’s also done with them. Their tension is thicker, Tae's flicking his hair and I don’t know why but the way Jin’s got his hair slicked off showing his forehead makes it even sexier. He’s exuding so much confidence when he walks seductively towards Tae and their tension here is incredible. While Tae is naturally sensual most of the time (when he's not being cute), Jin’s body language here is very loud. Seducing, flirting, not paying attention to anything else except Tae while jerking his hips like that. The both of them make a point staring down each other’s bodies as well. At the end it’s Taehyung who poked Jin’s chest to make him look at the camera. Yeah, again, I love it when Tae pulls out this side of Jin because it's so sexy.

I absolutely have to highlight this 'alpha'/dominative behaviour by Jin. Again, something we only got to see thanks to Tae. He's absolutely owning and feeling their moment together.

23 Sep 2018 Hamilton D3

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md_uGYnQSoo)

A lot happens. This is the first time Taehyung initiates. I’ve seen the HD posts of this but even with this fancam and the overexposed shots, I can still see Taehyung staring at Jin’s lips and they get lost in their own world for a whole of 2 seconds before Taehyung blinks and snaps out of it. Jin has his eyes fixed on Taehyung’s eyes, he knows Taehyung was staring at his lips. What really gets me is the way they're swaying their entire bodies in tune with each other while maintaining eye contact. The. Tension. Is. Crazy.

Notable parts from this moment, Jimin seeing the huge monitor and realizing that his best friend and his hyung is flirting big scale and he can’t help but smile. Jungkook also looks at the huge monitor and he’s also laughing. He dances past the front camera and I have the suspicion he did that on purpose to disrupt the tension because it really was too obvious and a lot to take in.

28 Sep 2018 Newark

After a few days of sexy-ing up, they go for something cute. Arguably one of the cutest with a tiny little bit of tension mixed in moment. Not sexual tension but “your eyes hold the galaxy” sort of tension. The “we can’t kiss so we'll knock our foreheads together” sort of tension. This is the first time Jin comes running to him like a puppy, this moment is pretty much the highlight not just for us, but the both of them.

29 Sep 2018 Newark D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATl-wXRo7ds)

A lot to unpack for this one. First, Yoongi, J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook wandering around in the back watching the screen. Yoongi looks more wary than usual. This time they don’t stare into each other’s eyes and get lost in their own world but Kim Taehyung did something completely unexpected. He taps Jin’s arm, then taps his own chin then puckers his lips. I don’t know what to think...? What were his intentions? They weren’t making bedroom eyes at each other, there wasn’t much tension, it felt playful, but he asks for a kiss? On stage? Or was he asking Jin to blow a kiss with him? Then why would he pucker his lips in Jin’s face? Jin most definitely saw it and compensates(?) by making a kissy face at the camera with Taehyung after that.

I really would have believed that Taehyung wanted Jin to blow a kiss at the camera with him but his whole body is turned to Jin and he’s only looking at Jin and he even taps his chin as if asking for a kiss on his lips. Trying his luck? What? One of So What’s biggest mysteries for me. Although in hindsight maybe I shouldn't be too surprised considering they have a fair number of moments where they intended to kiss, nearly kissed or was ready to risk it all.

02 Oct 2018 Chicago

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YnGSs4bYfI)

They toned down a little. Nothing much happened but it’s interesting to notice that as Taejin’s verse starts, the other members instinctively look at the huge monitor. Understandably, because they’re too unpredictable in their interactions which make the others wary sometimes.

03 Oct 2018 Chicago D2

For the first time, they get directly interrupted. I think this is the funniest So What moment in the whole tour. They come at each other fully intending to flirt but Jimin gets cheeky and decides to join in. He passes straight through Taejin who were sexy dancing each other and blocks the camera. Playful or intentional, I can’t tell but it’s still cute regardless.

06 Oct 2018 New York Citifield

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIJOZichz8)

Some mild flirting, shoulder rolling, Taehyung fixes his gaze on Jin but that’s about it. But Tae's gaze? Eat!Jin.

09 Oct 2018 London

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U42CefwN80E)

Before Jin even reaches Taehyung, Yoongi is already there waiting and watching what they’re going to do. At first the other members would stand a distance away, look at the monitors and just let them be. The bolder Taejin gets the more they just stand right in their faces so Taejin can’t get lost in their world of tension. So far it's been Yoongi, Jimin, and Namjoon that I wonder at which point the other members decided to intervene to make sure they don't accidentally do something drastic (like kissing)?

10 Oct 2018 London D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt65Yzd80EI)

Another one of their funniest and sexiest moments. I can’t see Jimin’s face but his whole being is going “Really Tae? Really? You’re going to do this to your soulmate?” But Taehyung is only focused on Jin who’s coming and he physically pulls Jimin away from him. The difference in Taehyung’s body language when he’s got Jimin and Jin in front of him is SO obvious. BFF vs BF? He steps right into Jin’s personal space biting his lips and he’s not even looking at his face. He’s so focused on Jin’s lips, chest, moving seductively. Jin’s no different, again, his hair slicked back gives him that edge and extra confidence. He's also staring down Taehyung’s body while jerking his hips. Namjoon is nearby and you can see how done he is with Taejin.

I can't not say this. Their intentions towards each other is crystal clear. He's definitely not looking at the army bomb here.

13 Oct 2018 Amsterdam

One of my personal favorites. Before this he used to give his strong piercing gaze at the front camera while Jin comes running to him. This time he gives this really raw Kim Taehyung expression; ‘just a regular guy in love’ look. “I’m just waiting for my Jinnie to come to me”. And the moment he does, BAM. They flirt like they’re teenagers in front of their crushes checking each other out.

16 Oct 2018 Berlin

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DBp5ty6i-w)

Told to toned down or they simply didn't feel like going feral at each other? I don't know. The way they switch modes every single time. Playful, intense, or just plain cute.

17 Oct 2018 Berlin D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbOUVIHqnp8)

Whatever it is going on with Taejin’s So What moments got at least 3 other members coming in to join them. Whatever flirting they may or may not have intended that day is thwarted off by killing the tension between them.

19 Oct 2018 Paris

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWlHou1Un9U)

Blurry but I must say I really like the way Jin is carrying himself here. He’s just confident, not holding back and he exposes his neck to Tae while mildly doing the sexy dance. I wish there was HD, but even without it, the tension is palpable enough. Taehyung’s got his Eat!Jin face on. Besides his shoulders, Tae probably has something for his neck as well, considering the number of times he's held Jin's neck, not just for massages.

20 Oct 2018 Paris D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_akqf3Qgy8)

The soulmate joins them again, and his body language screams “No flirting under my watch”. Taehyung has an arm around his shoulder but he shrugs it off. What stunned me most about this moment is Jin actually tried to push his arm away but he shrugs that off too, that even Tae is dumbfounded. He resolutely goes in between them and sings at the camera as if nothing happens. Which gives me the impression that he might have been told or asked to stop Taejin from flirting and begrudgingly did so. Meanwhile Jin is determined to have his moment alone with Tae, and he's pretty possessive about it.

Additionally, all of the other members are hovering around them and carefully watching the both of them. I suppose if us audience/viewers at home can feel how thick their tension is, it must be even greater on stage itself that they’re determined to cut it off by any means.

They may not have gotten their So What moment this day, but earlier on Jin did sing "because we're forever" to Tae during DNA. Paris, city of love. Remember their back hug in Bring the Soul?

13 Nov 2018 Tokyo Dome

Aggressively hyping each other up. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-oJYhw_CyQ)

On the same day we have this lovely moment of Tae dashing across the stage to hug his Jin-hyung. Tae's expression of bliss while holding on to Jin is so precious.

14 Nov 2018 Tokyo Dome D2

Another of their cutest moment but funny to look at when zoomed out because they're got Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon and even Hobi surrounding them as they butt their heads together. Everyone's joining in the moment.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pAm0u8ATf8)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjPxnd89oqA)

21 Nov 2018 Osaka Kyocera Dome

Adorable dorks. First they're dancing together, and then they're having a mini staring show down, joined by Jimin later on. Although I did find it interesting that Hobi was hovering around Taejin, watching them on the huge screen right when Jimin came in and headed straight for the camera. Hobi usually doesn't move a muscle to stop them, he watches over them and laughs when they're being cute together, and at most shakes his head. Or signals them to stop by giving a warning look.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzkWznF05-U)

23 Nov 2018 Osaka Kyocera Dome D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIBgEiTanJA)

I would like to take a moment to appreciate this more. Jin's expression, his posture, Tae stuck to his side looking at him like that. If Jin just turned his head we would have gotten a magnificent kiss. Honestly, as baby as Jin is, I don't think he's ever displayed this level of 'baby' behaviour anywhere else. He's soaking up the attention, and happily flirting back. Their expressions? Priceless.

Taejin was a whole mood that day, because even backstage they were cuddly and soft with each other. I'm about to cry because of how soft Jin looks while Tae is smug. I would love to know what led to this moment and what happened after that.

24 Nov 2018 Osaka Kyocera Dome D3

No words needed? Okay, maybe just one. Married. They might as well have kissed, I think they'd be let off the hook.

In my head, this part where Tae drags Jin around the stage to bow to the audience together feels a little like "Everyone, look, my boyfriend!" Jin can obviously free himself and run off, but of course he goes along with Tae, clearly loving it despite kicking Tae's butt a couple of times.

08 Dec 2018 Taoyuan

Why haven't they kissed, again?

09 Dec 2018 Taoyuan D2

12 Jan 2019 Nagoya Dome

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1084045509491273728?s=20)

A few things here that absolutely killed me, their gazes, Tae tugging on Jin's shirt (what was he trying to do?) and Jin's tippy toes. Because they're nearly the same height and Jin has to tiptoe to touch their foreheads and prevent accidental kisses.

Also the same day this heart melting hug happened. He's nuzzled into Jin's nape though Jin gets a little self conscious. But he's still holding on to Tae's hand on his stomach. This deserves a few angles.

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1084057286526480384?s=20)

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1084070342316814336?s=20)

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1084046607174103042?s=20)

13 Jan 2019 Nagoya Dome D2

I will never get over Tae's shy smile when Jin ran up to him, so pure and raw.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRBHVe3hSKE)

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1084404017344569344?s=20)

19 Jan 2019 Singapore National Stadium

One of those days they choose to go feral. Also, Tae’s hand on Jin’s waist before they grab each other’s hair. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS5-nuPwbks)

16 Feb 2019 Fukuoka Dome

This is what risking it all looks like. Exactly IT. If it weren't for that mic and Jin's neck veins popping out- last split second restraints.

That aside, this is one pretty crazy moment. The intensity of their moods here, if they had actually thrown away their restraints and kissed I don't think it'd end with a simple peck. Also that finger under the chin, a nice little nugget of insight as to how they are in private, probably?

17 Feb 2019 Fukuoka Dome D2

They were at their peak in Japan really.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZxQNzXI1uo)

Firstly, Jin's jacket. Second the mic flipping.

Third, Tae can't keep his tongue still. There's just something to be said about the way they maintained thorough eye contact while Tae was teasing with his tongue and Namjoon took the trouble; had to, to make sure it didn't escalate.

20 Mar 2019 Hong Kong

Not sure why they had to make those expressions while pulling on each other's clothes. Right as Namjoon comes running towards them. 

And I love fansites for capturing these moments. Palm on the chest.

21 Mar 2019 Hong Kong D2

Namjoon joins them again. Not sure if he's on 'guard duty' while they're in Hong Kong, but we get Kim line together and Kim line is superior.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbo3RYsLVpQ)

23 Mar 2019 Hong Kong D3

One of their mildest So What moments where they don't do anything and just stand next to each other and it's still sweet. Taejin isn't always chaotic and unpredictable, but Namjoon is always there to watch over them. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX7-oUtfKhQ)

24 Mar 2019 Hong Kong D4

Namjoon was close by for their So What moments after that one time in Fukuoka where they nearly risked it all. For the next few dates, they've toned it down a fair bit. Warned by staff, probably?  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-GA-oF-_c)

06 Apr 2019 Bangkok

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dig8Su9BJQ)

07 Apr 2019 Bangkok D2

Bro fist day.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZFI-BVHt1Y)

04 May 2019 LA Rose Bowl

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixU_oJZqNl4)

05 May 2019 LA Rose Bowl D2

For the first time in the history of So What, they did not interact, not even standing side by side. Honestly I'm a little stunned by this. Although this does not mean they did not have any moments at all because believe they had a cute sing along together during Make It Right.

I've read tweets where Taejin did not really interact on the days they had family/management in the audience. Though I'm not sure which days.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xSTAPEhsPQ)

11 May 2019 Chicago Soldier Field

Tae gave his hat and sunglasses to Jin. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3BDRMlXTjE)

12 May 2019 Chicago Soldier Field

It was raining, and they were really cold. Jin's ears were red because of it.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQa2rsN19U)

18 May 2019 New Jersey Metlife

Just when I thought I found another no interaction So What moment, I realised Tae's on the floor instead. And they're joined by Jikook.

19 May 2019 New Jersey Metlife D2

Taejin gave each other 'piggybacks' which don't resemble any sort of piggyback I've seen in my life ever, it was a lot to take in. This is the one I can't stomach. It's too... visually overwhelming for me. The way they were behaving was so wild I can't watch out of secondhand embarrassment. Tae had his leg tight around Jin's crotch and despite the pain that definitely caused him, he looks pretty hyper and excited. You can tell they love and trust each other so much Tae did not care if he fell off while... bouncing on Jin's back.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rnrF-xsmOw)

25 May 2019 Sao Paulo

Tae got flustered by Jin standing over him like that. And if you can't see clearly, the second photo is Taejin with Kook hugging the both of them. I know there's another similar Vmin moment when Jimin looked at Tae from behind and they were smiling happily together though I'm far too lazy to search for it. Another BFF vs BF type interaction. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwmlcs5RqPY)

26 May 2019 Sao Paulo

Jin does it again, though Tae was already expecting it and he wasn't as surprised as the day before. They share a lovely moment laying down on the floor together. Joined by Yoongi, Namjoon and JK.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmVVS42_GWE)

01 Jun 2019 London Wembley

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fV9zVMPBQc)

02 Jun 2019 London Wembley D2

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4JynTyBqGg)

07 Jun 2019 Paris D1

One of their cutest moments, Jin resting on Tae's head.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vm3BL5Dgk8)

08 Jun 2019 Paris D2

Another one of their cutest moments. Jin could have ran earlier if he really wanted to, but he stayed and played along with Tae and let him spray water. Most importantly, they're really happy together. Those smiles are priceless.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWp8lyde3o)

06 Jul 2019 Osaka

Can't find fancams! Unfortunate that we don't have this in HD yet, but I think this is my favourite Taejin moment in the whole of So What. I have never gotten over how happy they are together here. And that's Jin's famous 'slush' smile?

07 Jul 2019 Osaka D2

Taejinkook!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bo8azOY9A)

13 Jul 2019 Shizuoka/14 Jul 2019 Shizuoka D2

Can't find anything from these dates, but this happened. This is also the same day they were filmed backstage and Taejin were sitting together on the couch with Namjoon and Yoongi, and Jin rested his hand pretty high up on Tae's inner thigh but removed it the moment cameras started rolling. We also had Taejin's famous hug-for-no-reason moment on the huge screen but never had any HDs of it.

11 Oct 2019 Riyadh King Fadh

This is their first concert after their vacation ended. During their airport appearance it was the first time Tae was seen without his interlocking bracelet, marking the 2 years of dedication in wearing Jin's gift every single day. The bracelet may be gone, but it doesn't change the fact that Taejin is as close as ever, or even closer than before.

Since they're in Saudi, they couldn't really do anything except have their moment looking at each other with a respectable distance. Readily joined by Namjoon and JK. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAK1MzjUJCQ)

Besides their eye contact above, I'd like to add one more significant moment from this concert. Back during HYYH era during their Wings concert, Tae did all sorts of things like confessing his love to Jin, fainting on stage when Jin did his love confession to Army, kissed a ball before handing it over to Jin, getting on one knee to give Jin a rose a.k.a proposed to him. 4 years later, the love confession has reached a full circle and Jin directly gave him the rose without hesitation. It breaks me to see him holding on to the rose and simply looking at it for a few moments.

He's had moments where he picks up or asks the rose for the from Jin to keep under his hat but this is the first time he's been handed the rose personally. Romantic boy much?

26 Oct 2019 Seoul Olympic Stadium

I was there, saw this on the huge screen and had a shock of my life although I did not get to think about it for long because the rest of the concert was still ongoing. So at first glance I naturally thought Tae kissed his cheek for real, also because Jin looked shocked after Tae bumped into him purposely. But alas no, it's only a chin and chest bump? I don't get it either way. But good for them.

(https://twitter.com/taejin_castella/status/1188076291125235712?s=20)

27 Oct 2019 Seoul Olympic Stadium D2

It's going to be a year soon since this moment happened, but I still cannot believe Jin actually did that. Highlight, Tae's voice stretching when Jin lifted his head. Also JK being clueless and adorable. He looked like he's been told that he'll be on 'guard duty' that day so he gotta handle whatever Taejin does on stage and make sure they don't escalate and risk it all again. Little did he know Taejin would be lying down on the floor and he can't really or doesn't really want to do anything about it.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzSwlu3a9hY)

29 Oct 2019 Seoul Olympic Stadium D3

Bang PD was in the audience for this one. I believe Tae said "Are you the Kim Seokjin?" And Jin replied something, I don't know if the translations are accurate.

(https://twitter.com/taejinpp/status/1189155088289288192)

Notice how on the final 2/3 days, Jungkook is the one standing with Taejin, though he doesn't really do anything and just lets them be? Especially on the second day where he just looked adorably lost and turned back, his eyes screaming for help from his other hyungs but no one's bothered. It feels like he was told to and reluctantly agreed to make sure they don't escalate or risk it all again.

I still vividly remember the way Taejinnies thought they could expect the long awaited kiss, only to be disappointed. I truly understand how ridiculous that sounds, because a kiss is not gonna happen anytime this decade, whether their CEO and family was in the audience or not. But a tiny part of me thinks, after making this post, Taejinnies aren't exactly at fault for maybe feeling a tiny bit hopeful that Taejin would close off this major chapter in their history with an actual kiss because of how they behaved and built up their moments.

They were most likely given a warning after their Fukuoka moment because they ceased their interactions to just standing beside each other (except for that wild piggyback), and Namjoon is pretty much watching over them. It was only after their vacation that they continued to hype up So What. I received an ask about this, but it'll be posted later on. An anon asked why so intense at this part of the song? Is it because of the lyrics? I believe so, though ironically they do have to care about what others think of them being that intimate. At the very least, they did prove some major points by nearly risking it all and showing us how much they themselves look forward to and are possessive over this moment.

Lastly, the next one will be an asks post so you can send in all you want and I'll post it before 12am tomorrow. Anything after or too complicated for me to answer immediately will be left for next time. There's been a number of really entertaining asks and I'm loving it a lot, thank you for reading and interacting with me 💜

[leslie-red]

Ô Davy Jones

Mon nom est Davy Jones. Je suis un pirate. Le capitaine d'un équipage les plus réputés .Du moins je l'étais...Les années ont passée depuis l'effondrement de mon bateau .J'ai perdus tout mes hommes .Je me suis perdu moi- même. Je ne suis plus que l'ombre d'un homme surpuissant. Mon visage a changé du à une malédiction causé par une prétendue "Oracle". Elle m'a jeté ce sort à cause de ma façon d'être avec les femmes .Que je les traitais mal. Je suis un pirate. Les femmes m'aiment et veulent être avec moi. Et je les aimes et je veux les combler d'or .Ou es le mal? Maintenant suite à cette malédiction je suis enfermé dans cette cage perdu au milieu de l'océan. Alors que je pensais être seul je sens une présence. Comme quelqu'un qui m'observe. Je me retourne et découvre deux magnifiques yeux verts me regardant avec dureté. Une sirène..Oui une belle sirène avec sa longue queue brillante ses cheveux dorés cette peau si claire et encore une fois ses yeux si verts tel deux émeraude .Elle a beau me jeter ce regard méprisant je la vois prête à pleurer. -Que veux tu ma jolie? -Je serais la prochaine c'est ça ?La prochaine à qui tu profitera. Tu me combleras de cadeau..Avant de me tuer. Même après la malédiction, tu ne pense qu'a ça. -Comment je pourrais t'avoir ma douce? Je suis en cage. Enfermé. Prisonnier. Tout ce que je peux faire..C'est imaginer ce que je pourrais t'offrir...Et surtout me rappeler des bon moments passé avec tes amies regrettées. -Elle n'était pas que de simples amies. Nous étions comme des soeurs. Tu m'a pris toutes mes soeurs! Tu paieras encore plus que ça. Etre juste enfermé ici ressemblant a un monstre...Non tu mérite de souffrir encore plus! -Et c'est toi qui me fera souffrir? Comment? -Je trouverais un moyen...Je n'abandonnerais pas..... -Très bien avant que tu trouve ce moyen ,j'aimerais t'expliquer quelque chose.....Quelque chose à propos de tes soeurs. Elles étaient toutes consentante! Je ne les forçais a rien! Chacune d'elle venaient me rendre visite. Tous les soirs. J'étais sur mon bateau et je les voyais au loin .Allant à la surface. Toujours heureuse de me voir. Elles savaient ce qu'elles risquaient. Elles savaient toutes que j'étais dangereux .T'as du bien voir qu'elles cachaient quelque chose .Cette façon de toujours de partir a une vitesse affolante rien qu'a l'idée de me retrouver..Que je les comble de bijoux...Et d'autre choses. -Tu en a bien profiter pourriture! -Haha! Non non j'ai fait ce que je devais faire. C'est mon but .Les rendre heureuse..Avant de les tuer. Ca y est elle se met à pleurer. Si belle et si dévasté .Les femmes sont comme ça. Soit elles sont heureuse au dela de l'excitation, soit elle pleure à chaude larmes comme des enfants. Et les sirènes ne font pas l'exception. Bien au contraire. Elles ont ce coté fleur bleue bien plus facile à toucher. -Pourquoi? Pourquoi les avoir tués?? -Parce que je suis comme ça petite sirène!!j'ai la réputation d'un beau salaud !je le sais très bien!!tout le monde le sais!!!Je te le répète! tes soeurs savaient qu'elles allaient mourir et elles étaient tellement sous mon charme qu'elles s'en fichaient !Elles me voulaient moi !Si tu m'avais vu quand j'étais humain. Toi aussi tu aurait voulu de moi. Mais voila! Tu as de la chance .La malédiction t'as sauvé de mes griffes. -C'est une menace? -C'est un fait. Arrive alors un long silence. J'entend juste le "bruit" de l'océan .Cela devenait même a force étouffant étant donné que j'étais enfermé dans cette cage au fin fond de la mer avec cette sirène qui continue à me fixer. -J'ai trouvé ça. Elle me montre avec sa main droite un pendentif doré...Un peu rouillé. Serait ce plutôt du cuivre. Des souvenirs me reviennent. Je n'ai jamais vraiment fait attention à ce pendentif. Je souris .Enfin si avec ces tentacules sur mon visage, je peux montrer un sourire. -Tu le reconnais n'est ce pas? Et cette musique..... Effectivement je me rappelle de tout .En ouvrant le pendentif se fait écouter une douce mélodie. -Il appartenait à l'une de mes soeurs....C'était ce qu'elle avait de plus précieux.... -Bien sur je me souviens..Je me souviens de tout. C'était la plus forte et ce pendentif. Elle me faisait écouter souvent cette musique. Elle espérait que je ressente quelque chose... -Que s'est t-il vraiment passé? Je veux savoir. -Thelxinoé était une sirène très particulière. Et très douce cela se voyait sur son visage. Comme toi. Flash Back C'était à l'Ile de Groix. J'avais enfin atteint mon but. Avec mon équipage, nous voulions trouver cette mine d'or. Remplis également de pierre précieuse. Mais bien sur je voulais garder tout pour moi. Nous cherchions une grotte qui se trouvait au beau milieu de l'ile et une mélodie se faisait entendre. Je voulais découvrir d'ou cela venait. -Vous restez la! Je ne disais pas un mot de plus à mes hommes et sans les regarder j'entrais dans la grotte me rapprochant plus en plus de la musique. J'entrais dans une sorte de monde magique. Tant de couleur, tant de lumière. Et je découvrais un pendentif sur le sol. Et cette musique qui en émanait .J'allais le prendre quand une voix m'interpellai: -Davy Jones? Une jeune femme sortait de cette eau cristalline. Une sirène. Encore une. Il y a en a partout! -C'est à toi ça? -Je savais que tu viendrais...Je t'attendais et que tu serais attiré par cette mélodie. Oui c'est à moi. Je m'appelle Thelxinoé. Je suis la sirène enchanteresse ,muse et fille de Zeus. -Rien que ça...Et comment sais tu mon nom douce muse? -Je t'ai sentis arrivé..J'étais attiré également par ta voracité a chercher et trouver de l'or. -De l'or...Oui....Ou est t-il? -C'est moi l'or.

Elle me plaisait. Elle savait ce qu'elle voulait. Comme les autres sirènes que j'ai croisé et comblé. -Une légende disait que vivais ici un or des plus précieux. Et ce serait toi? Je caressais son visage. Sa peau est si douce. Son teint laiteux me donner envie de l'embrasser. -Et vous existez vraiment Davy Jones. Je suis un peu effrayée de vous voir en face de moi mais je me sens toujours attirée. Je n'attendais que ça..... Elle m'embrassais langoureusement. Je n'ai jamais ressentis un baiser aussi profond. Aucune sirène ne me faisait cet effet la. Thelxinoé était unique... Fin du Flash back -Vous aimiez Thelxinoé? -Je ne l'ai pas tué. Je ne suis responsable de sa mort. -Vous.....Vous n'avez rien fait? Que s'est t-il passé? -Elle a eu vraiment le coup de foudre. Moi je dois dire que j'avais vite un attachement. C'était surement du a sa musique. Et sa façon de m'aduler. J'étais obligé de partir. Et continuer mon chemin. Je ne l'ai pas tué car j'avais peut être de la pitié. Ou de la sympathie.... -Elle ne sait plus montrer depuis si longtemps. Et je savais que vous étiez la dernière personne qu'elle est vu .C'est pour ça que....Elle ne sait plus montrer. Elle est resté cachée au fin fond de cette grotte et elle s'est laissée mourir...De chagrin car vous étiez partis. -Elle savait qu'on ne se reverrait plus. -Pourquoi ne pas l'avoir tuée? Comme vous avez fait avec mes autres soeurs.....Et vous disiez être comme ça. Un monstre envers les femmes...Pourquoi avoir caché votre attachement à elle? -Je ne sais pas...J'étais trop fier. Et je ne prenais jamais ça au sérieux .Mais comme je l'ai dit Thelxinoé était unique par son regard....Je ne peux l'expliquer. -Ce pendentif...Je l'ai retrouvé dans la grotte quelques temps après sa mort. -Vous l'avez vu? Thelxinoé! Vous l'avez vu ...Morte? -J'ignore si vous méritez a ce qu'une femme se laisse mourir à cause de vous....Mais je ressent votre peine Davy Jones.Ca n'excusera en rien de ce que vous avez fait! -Oh je le sais ma chère .Je sais que je passer l'éternité enfermé ici! et qui vous allez y prendre du plaisir!...Vous ressentais ma peine. Malgré toute votre haine pour moi comment le ressentez vous? Elle sourit. Fièrement ou apaisée. Je la sens prendre du plaisir a me voir enfermé et maudit à jamais. Si je pouvais sortir d'ici je lui montrerais ce que c'est la souffrance d'être humiliée. -Mon nom est Peisinoé .Je suis plutôt persuasive sur les gens qui ressentent comme de la culpabilité. Et vous ne m'aurez jamais eu .Je vous le laisse. Elle me tend le pendentif. Il est assez rouillé. -Je sais que Thelxinoé tenait a ce que vous le gardiez. Cela devait être un cadeau. Il vous tiendra compagnie. Sans un regard et une parole de plus elle part rejoindre son royaume me laissant seul au beau milieu des abimes. La musique du pendentif se met a marcher lentement. Je me laisse aller dans ma cage fixant le bijoux. Je ne sais plus quoi penser .Je ressens peut etre un sentiment de regret envers ses sirènes...Et surtout Thelxinoé. Mais jamais je ne regretterais qui je suis vraiment .je resterais reconnu .Davy Jones le pirate maudit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fe9W1gZPUs   Pour un ami.

[mirroralchemist]

Untitled FFXIV Trash pt.3

Still at it again :V. @but-two-days-old became my enabler. Also a great sounding board for my headcanons about my WoL

Word Count: 1,451 (the rough draft, it’s probably more with this upload lol) Notes: I feel like writing about That Scene(tm) is a rite of passage for FFXIV fanfics. So this is based the Ahm Araeng the second trip, so a loooot of spoilers. Also mentions The Vault a bit. One-sided WoL/Thancred and unrequited WoL/Haurchefaunt. But mainly time for sad times.

“You have no words for her?”

“Not today.”

I stared at Thancred, not really surprised. He seemed tired, the weary look in his eyes of years of regret. Being out here in Twine and seeing Magnus’ situation first hand is almost staring at a reflection of his own problems. I wanted to offer my support more than just a lending ear. I was grateful he could open up to me about our Minfilia, but I could do more.

Be more.

I took his hand into my own, just briefly, to know that I was there if he needed me. I let out a small breath. Being here reminded me of what I had lost. Hearing ‘Filia’s words brought back a bit of that pain I felt as I lost those around me.

If I wasn’t the Warrior of Light, a lot of those who were lost would still be among us.

There were many who were chosen to receive the Echo, surely if I had died another could take up the mantle?

“As the one who’s been here the shortest, it isn’t my place to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do in regards to ‘Filia.” I started, “But as your friend I will say this; don’t hold off until the very last moment to leave things unsaid. Once they’re gone, that’s it.”

I clenched my hands into a fist, remembering that day so clearly. The one of many regrets that collected over the time on my journey. As Haurchefant laid dying, so many words I should have said beforehand; so many feelings realized in that one moment that I couldn’t say. I thought I had made peace with it while pulling Nidhogg’s eyes from Estinien’s body.

Seeing someone make those same mistakes, especially someone I hold in such a high regard.

I couldn’t take that feeling.

“I’m going to do a couple hunts around the the town gates, when we all are ready let me know.”

I sprinted away from him. I didn’t want him to see me like this. Not so exposed, not when we have more pressing matters to confront. I would talk with ‘Filia when I can be alone with her. To tell her there are people who love her. That if she had disappeared tomorrow many of us would be sad. More than the Oracle, she was like a little sister to me.

In some respects, almost like a daughter.

I jumped off one of the ledges from Twine and landed on the ground. I whistled a familiar pitch, summoning my Chocobo. Giving me a soft “kweh”, I pet his beak.

“You ready for a bit of training Yusuke?” I asked as I took out a bundle of Gyshal Greens.

An excited kweh in response as I prepped myself for some combat. I took out my gunblade, watching it unfold to its full length. I had been training in secret as a Gunbreaker since my return from Gridania. I was thankful that I could cast a glamour on my clothing so one couldn’t tell when I was. When I had the free time from my duties here in the First, taking on jobs with Radovan and Sophie I learned to appreciate the role of being a bodyguard. I took stance, readying my ammunition to imbue with my aether. I took a few steadying breaths.

I need to clear my head as an occupied mind leads to mistakes in the battlefield.

“Let’s go!”

*   *   *

The enemies here were a bit tougher than what I’m used to. I sat on the sands, not even minding the grains against my legs. My gunblade discarded to the side. Yusuke standing ever beside me waiting his next order. I motioned for him to come sit beside me before giving lazy pets to his head.  He still gave out the same contented kwehs as if I have given him the best pats of his life. He did so well backing me up as I got used to enemies focusing their attention on me. I wasn’t confident enough to apply that to people just yet, but I could slowly warm up to the idea.

The hunts took my mind off the situation at hand for a while, but now they were coming back. I let out a small sigh. My hands began to tremble as I continued to stroke Yusuke’s plumage. Those feelings of self-doubt and regret welling up inside of me and wanting to burst. Yusuke nudged his head against my shoulder in some attempt to console me. I smiled shyly at my Chocobo.

He always was an intelligent creature.

“Thanks Yusuke. I’ll be alright, just it’s a lot going on.”

He started to kweh, before going rigid. Immediately, he stood up and got into an offensive stance.

“A protective little one, isn’t he?”

I scrambled to get up from my spot before gently touching the reigns on Yusuke to soothe him.

“It’s okay boy, Thancred is not a threat.” I spoke, petting his beak with my free hand.

It seemed only a couple minutes before my mount calmed enough that I could loosen my grip on the reigns. I could still feel some of the tenseness, but it wouldn’t be to the point that he would do anything without my command. I am not wholly surprised at the reaction, Yusuke has always been faithfully protective of me. From the day he was given to me by the Immortal Flames. Very few could take his trait in stride.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you would be talented in caring Chocobos too.”

“I...wasn’t.” I admitted, “Not at first. I knew the basics. But Lord Haurchefant, he..he had a way with chocobos. Taught me everything I know to care for mines. Even helped me inspire him to fly.”

I stroke around Yusuke’s head, watching as his sky blue plumes envelope my hand. I allowed myself to smile at those days in Ishgard. The times when there was a lull between putting an end to the generations long war between man and dragon. Those times when I thought everyone else was dead and it took all I had to not give in to the overwhelming despair; learning to take care of Yusuke with Haurchefant gave me just enough strength to go on.

He helped remind me that I was more than just the Warrior of Light; that I was Ami, a woman from Ul’dah and I was allowed to feel this way.

“You must have loved him very much.”

I paused in my pets. I turned around to face Thancred. I opened my mouth to say something, before promptly closing it. I never did talk about that day at the Vault with the others that didn’t experience it firsthand. And even then, there was a silent understanding that speaking on it was hard.

I’m sure the others had told him at the very least the main details of what happened.

“You said that once before.” I said, “That I had a look as if I lost someone I had loved back in Ishgard. It is...complicated. Looking back now, I did love him. My heart had yearned for a hopeless endeavor for so long that I was blind to those ahead of me. It took until he was dying from an attack intended for me that I realized; the notion of being by his side that intimately would have been pleasant.”

I let out a harsh breath reliving those days. I had told no one else of these feelings. I had buried them for so long. Saying them now felt hollow.

When all of this is said and done, what will I have to show for it? Sure the worlds will be saved, but what will I have to show for it?

“But I made my choices and I must live with the consequences of that for the rest of my days.” I bitterly realized, “Are the others ready?”

“Yes, the trolley is ready. Once our preparations are done we can leave.”

I gave a brisk nod as a patted Yusuke one more time. He kweh’ed one more time before taking off. I watched as he went towards the direction of the Crystarium.

“He knows his way back to the Rookery.” I said, “Where we’re going, it’ll be no place for him.”

I heard the shifting sands of Thancred closing in on me. I turned around to meet his gaze. In his hands was my Scaevan Magitek gunblade, in its compact form. I reached out to grab it, only for our hands to touch over the handle. It couldn’t have been more than a minute before he let go and I placed it back into my pack. His hand found its way to the top of my head.

“Once this is all over, I would like to see how far you’ve progressed with the Gunblade.”

I nodded dumbly at him. The shock of hearing such a request. He smiled wistfully at me before heading back into town. I stared at his retreating back for a bit while my hand absently touched the spot on my head his was just a few moments ago.

Now I see why ‘Filia always seems too happy to get those head pats.

[nuclearblastuk]

SLAYER // ‘THE REPENTLESS KILLOGY’ IN THEATRES WORLDWIDE NOVEMBER 6TH

SLAYER - Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph - along with Trafalgar Releasing, Nuclear Blast Records and Prime Zero Productions, are pleased to announce the upcoming release of the new short narrative film and concert, ‘Slayer: The Repentless Killogy’, coming to theatres worldwide for a one-night event on November 6th.  Due to be screened in over 1,500 theatres around the world. Tickets will be on sale starting October 9th at www.slayer.film. Revenge, murder, bloodshed and retribution. ‘The Repentless Killogy’ film was written and directed by BJ McDonnell, who conceived and directed the three brutal music videos - 'You Against You,' 'Repentless,' and 'Pride In Prejudice' - for SLAYER's final studio album ‘Repentless’ (2015).

"When we set out to do these initial three videos," said McDonnell, "our intention was to continue the saga of SLAYER and Wyatt at some point down the line. But this is the band's final album and world tour so this story, the three videos and the ‘Repentless’ live concert at The Forum, is a perfect way to wrap up. This is the end of the monsters." Uncompromising and unmissable, part one of ‘Slayer: The Repentless Killogy’ begins with the powerful short narrative film that brings together the music of SLAYER and the grisly story they wanted to tell. Opening with the trilogy of music videos assembled as one chronological storyline, we are introduced to the narrative's main character Wyatt, a former neo-Nazi associated with a gang known as 'The Hand Brotherhood,' whose signature mark was a bloody handprint left after a murder had taken place. ‘The Repentless Killogy’ stars many of the actors who appeared in the original video series: Jason Trost (Beats Of Rage, Hatchet III) as Wyatt, Danny Trejo (Machete, From Dusk Til Dawn), Richard Speight (Band Of Brothers, Supernatural), Derek Mears (Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Jessica Pimentel (Orange Is The New Black), Tyler Mane (X-Men, Halloween II), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Sharknado 4), and Sean Whalen (Twister, The People Under The Stairs).

Part II of The Repentless Killogy features SLAYER's entire live set performed at the Los Angeles Forum on August 5, 2017 and was directed by Wayne Isham who has directed videos for artists including METALLICA, FOO FIGHTERS, MICHAEL JACKSON, KELLY CLARKSON, and BRITNEY SPEARS. Presented in front of one of the most striking stage productions of the band's career, SLAYER performs fan-favourites, including 'South Of Heaven,' 'War Ensemble,' 'Mandatory Suicide,' 'Dead Skin Mask,' 'Raining Blood,' and 'Angel Of Death.'

Following the global theatrical premiere, on November 8, the film will be available digitally and on Blu-ray, and the soundtrack from that concert will be released as both a two-disc vinyl and two CD packages.

Gerardo Martinez of Nuclear Blast Records said, "When SLAYER, the RSE family, BJ and I were talking about how thrilled we were with the outcome of the three videos from ‘Repentless’, never did we imagine that what we had in our hands was basically this piece of brutality that would end up in movie theaters worldwide. Everything from matching SLAYER's ferocity and heaviness in video form, to expanding into a longer narrative and live show has created the perfect SLAYER atmosphere. We are beyond thrilled to give fans around the world the opportunity to join us on November 6 to witness a pure slab of f*ckin' insanity!"

Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing, added, "Trafalgar Releasing are pleased to be collaborating with SLAYER, the team at Nuclear Blast and the RSE Group on the upcoming global cinema release of ‘Slayer: The Repentless Killogy.’ The film expertly demonstrates how SLAYER has become one of the most influential metal bands of the last three decades, bringing together the creative forces of film and music to create a must see on the big screen. We look forward to seeing how fans react when they come together for this unique experience."

2019 has seen a strong year for music releases from Trafalgar Releasing in cinema around the world. Recent successes include ‘Bring The Soul: The Movie’, which became the single largest event cinema release globally, GRATEFUL DEAD's 9th annual meet-up at the movies, Tribeca documentary ‘Between Me And My Mind’ about PHISH frontman, Trey Anastasio, ‘Rush: Cinema Strangiato 2019′ and ‘The Cure: Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London.’ Today sees the global release of ‘Roger Waters: Us + Them’, which received its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last month.

Trafalgar Releasing's upcoming music slate also includes Metallica & San Francisco Symphony: S&M², Depeche Mode: SPIRITS In The Forest and Shakira In Concert: El Dorado World Tour. The London based outfit have previously released films including Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams, The Music Center presents Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration, Khalid: Free Spirit, One More Time With Feeling, among others.

‘Slayer: The Repentless Killogy’ will be screened in cinemas around the world on November 6th. Tickets are on-sale from October 9th at slayer.film, where fans can find the most up-to-date information regarding participating theatres and sign up for event alerts.

Pre-order Slayer: The Repentless Killogy now: http://nuclearblast.com/slayer-killogy

Pre-order Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (Live At The Forum In Inglewood, CA) digitally and receive an instant download of the single 'Repentless (live).' 

The single is also available on all streaming services. Listen now at https://geni.us/SlayerKillogy.

Listen to 'Repentless (live)' in the NB New Releases Playlists: http://nblast.de/SpotifyNewReleases / http://nblast.de/AppleMusicNewReleases More on Slayer: The Repentless Killogy: 'Repentless' OFFICIAL LIVE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqvvaY2LvuI SLAYER live: 02.10. BR São Paulo - Espaço das Américas 04.10. BR Rio de Janeiro - Rock in Rio 06.10. RCH Santiago - Santiago Gets Louder 08.10. RCH Vina Del Mar – Valparaiso Sporting Club 11.10. USA Manchester, TN - Exit 111 »The Final Campaign« w/ PRIMUS, MINISTRY, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS 02.11. USA Asheville, NC - ExploreAsheville.com Arena 03.11. USA Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena 05.11. USA Salem, VA - Civic Center 06.11. USA Hershey, PA - Giant Center 08.11. USA Springfield, MA - MassMutual Center 09.11. USA New York, NY - Madison Square Garden 11.11. USA Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center 12.11. USA Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena 14.11. USA Moline, IL - TaxSlayer Center 15.11. USA Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford PREMIER Center 17.11. USA Fargo, ND - Fargodome 18.11. USA Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center 20.11. USA Colorado Springs, CO - Broadmooe World Arena 22.11. USA Billings, MT - Rimrock Auto Arena 24.11. USA Spokane, WA - Arena 26.11. USA Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena 27.11. USA Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena 29.11. USA Los Angeles, CA - The Forum 30.11. USA Los Angeles, CA - The Forum *SOLD OUT*

More info: www.slayer.net www.facebook.com/slayer www.instagram.com/slayerbandofficial www.twitter.com/slayer www.nuclearblast.de/slayer

[quilandivy]

Halo Story vs. Cinematics

Just recently I was talking with someone in a heated discussion over the original trilogy of Halo’s story vs. the ones that came after. The whole time their whole argument was completely convinced that the games after did not have the interesting storytelling the original trilogy did, and i couldn’t understand that. This basically inspired this article, in it I want to describe why I think the original trilogy doesn’t have a good story, but highlight a reason why it might’ve been viewed that it did, and talk about Halo 4’s story and how it tackles this reason.

Firstly I need to reiterate what the story of Halo consists of. Across all three games, the story of Halo is very much standard space soap opera fare, you have a clear good side (humans) and a clear bad side (The Covenant). This is the basic structure that the first game starts from. Over time, other factors are brought in: a completely eldritch abomination known as The Flood acts as another threat for the humans to fight as well as other twists and turns, like the elites turning on The Covenant after their fealty is thrown out to be substituted as the Brutes, as well as their realization that The Covenant by in large is an illusion, and that the Halo rings that they are pushing towards for their Sacred Journey will actually wipe out all life in the galaxy. It’s a very simple structure right? Humans (and then elites) good, covenant and flood bad. This is the main rub of Halo storytelling, this is all that it is. None of the characters have particularly interesting motivations or nuance to them, there’s a clear line of black/white. The Covenant is made up completely under the guise of religion creating this dumb populace. There’s no fact-checking, only serious devotion to a cause. The villains don’t have any interesting backstories or motivations, they’re one dimensional “I want to keep my power in this classist society!” For my example, I’m going to use what I’ve often heard is the best story of the trilogy, Halo 2. Halo 2’s Covenant story starts out with this literally who, the only thing you know about them, the only thing that defines him, is that he was in charge of the invasion that found the first ring and couldn’t stop the Master Chief from destroying it. He becomes the Arbiter, not for anything specific to him, but because he’s a stand-in of elite loyalty, so he decides to be one for redemption’s sake. He’s sent to kill a heretic, a person spreading “false information that could be destructive of the sacred order”, being that he knows that the Sacred Journey is a lie perpetuated to keep the power contained. He goes to stop him, but not before he shows a “oracle” that being 343 Guilty Spark who begins to explain what the purpose of the rings are before the heretic stupidly shoots at the Arbiter while his guard is down which is still probably one of the stupidest plot contrivances of his game. Literally the chance was there for the Arbiter to be convinced that the thing he is following is a lie and he dumbly decides to just shoot first, it doesn’t make sense. Anyway continuing on, he begins to doubt the Covenant internally (or at least I assume he is, because the game certainly doesn’t show it! It’s all implied), but still continues to work for the leaders of the Covenant. One twist is pushed when one of the leaders is killed, and the others decide to swap out the elites with the brutes, as they do not trust the elites to keep them safe when they failed to do so with the one killed by Master Chief. This increases the tension as the elites are angry about their loss of position despite being incredibly devout and loyal. This comes to a head where finally the Arbiter is betrayed by a Brute leader during one of his missions, and the Arbiter is then told straight up by the gravemind that the prophets are wrong and the Halo will consume all life. This is passed on, infighting happens with the Covenant, etc. etc.

The problem with this story is that it’s a tale of motivations, not characters, and those motivations are one dimensional. Everyone is a stand-in, it’s a simple tale told in an incredibly black/white manner. There’s no interesting thing being told about the elite’s blind obsession with the religious order, it’s just a very black “obsessive religion bad, second guessing what you follow good”. There’s no nuance, the arbiter’s motivation is completely flipped. I said earlier that he started to doubt the Covenant implicitly? He didn’t, in fact when talking with the Gravemind he refuses to believe what he’s saying. He’s just completely convinced in the end, there’s no fallout, no grand shock to him or the other elites, there’s just a complete motivation switch. Elites go straight from loyal to fuck you I’m joining the humans now just to stop you. Events happen with scapegoats and power struggle, no personal or interesting reasons for why anyone in the Covenant does the things that they do. The prophets see the humans and heretics as threats to their power, nothing more. The elites just want to keep their position of loyalty, and when that’s tested seek solace in a more accurate truth so that they can betray the Covenant. That’s it, that’s the story of Halo 2 with the Covenant in-fighting. This problem is endemic of Halo 1 and 3 as well, in general the whole trilogy doesn’t have any themes to share, it just has a very “epic” space soap opera with a decent structure. It has its twists and turns but in the end it’s a very simple motivation-run story for events to unfold.

If that’s the case though, why do people like it so much? That gets me into my reasoning for why, the theatrics. Bungie knows their story isn’t particularly interesting, they know that their writing isn’t very good. What makes the story stand so high up in people’s heads is the overall tone, heart, and cinematic feel the game holds. What do I mean by that? Let me give a couple examples. Let’s start with this cutscene from Halo 3: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMvje_e3ko

This is from the second mission, its opening cutscene. It starts with a dramatic sting in the soundtrack as the tone is set, Master Chief is setting down in one of humanity’s hideouts on the planet as they prepare themselves to defend on their last bastion, Earth. Master Chief walks by and the injured soldiers notice that he’s here, and it gives them hope, they’re sure they’ll be alright. They walk up to Miranda Keyes, the Sergeant cracks a quick joke, there’s a heartfelt hopeful tone, with a little bit of camp off the bat. Master Chief walks down the hall while he follows Miranda, looking to the left and right noticing all the injured soldiers, a real war is hell but they’re still fighting. Miranda gives the rundown and sets the stakes, capped off by Master Chief saying with a blunt “The rings will kill us all.” Miranda talks with Lord Hood to tell MC about what they plan to do in response, when they are cut off. Complete black frame, whole power in the facility goes down for a little. Cut to the tvs, showing the Covenant’s Prophet of Truth on every single one. Creepy track plays in the background as he gives a super chilling and strong monologue, no thanks in part to the terrific voice acting by Terence Stamp, ending with “Your destruction is the will of the gods. And I? I am their instrument.” Power goes back up, sergeant makes a quip in as well as MC, before Miranda under the realization that they’re about to get hit tells the soldiers to get ready. Whole scene ends with “Squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?” “To war.” All in all, it’s a very well done cinematic, it does a super good job selling the tone of the scene and it has a fantastic pacing. This coupled with a nice bit of camp and some solid quoteworthy lines. This is what I think people talk about when they think of Halo’s story, they don’t think of the underlying narrative, or the characters in detail. They’re thinking of how this story is told. Because despite being a super mediocre and underwhelming tale, the framing around it is well executed, Bungie is great at their craft of selling a scene.

But what about Halo 4? From the start, Halo 4 has an outright better narrative. The Didact has fully developed motivations, and the story has a theme to it, a message to take home. The Didact doesn’t want to kill humans for any sort of power struggle reason, he wants to use the humans as a tool to make an army, for him to stop the flood. It was an original plan he had before he was put into cryostasis, one he formulated around the humans because in short, he fought a war with huge amounts of losses that ended up with his children dying in the onslaught. He has no empathy for humans, he outright hates them, but he is using these humans for a greater good in his mind. As for the theme, the main concept is “letting go.” As I described above, this motivation the Didact has is one from a past now left behind him. He refuses to let go of this past, blindly continuing to follow it despite the fact he’s now in a reality where the flood threat, albeit a delayed not completely destroyed one, is no longer central and applicable. The Chief’s “letting go” is Cortana, his AI companion that he’s been venturing with for a while now that in the end, has to let go as she devolves due to rampancy. Where the Didact refuses to separate from his motivation, the Chief ends up having to give up his own, leading to a solemn ending of him overlooking the Earth he had to save while doing so. That’s great storytelling, clear theme, clear strong motivations to each character. Didact acts as a close parallel, and it leads to a satisfying conclusion. That being said, how is this story told? This is the cutscene that plays detailing the backstory of the Didact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4r_5AE6D4 Compare this to the Halo 3 scene above, see the problem? The whole motivation behind the didact is given by a complete long exposition to the Master Chief, it’s not told naturally at all, it’s told as a backdrop to a cliche chosen one the MC becomes, being immune to the Didact’s machine’s power. All done in a TV movie like cinematic, no interesting framing or tone. The only strong framing I could even give as a benefit here is that the leitmotif of Halo 4’s soundtrack is done in the background for a minute of the scene. But overall this scene is absolutely flat and lacks any of the emotional core the series was heralded on. Now, I’m not going to say Halo 4 in general is like this, there are great scenes that do get close to the ones above, specific examples being the goodbye to Cortana, and the ending cutscene in general. But for the most part, the way the story was told took a significant hit. With that, I hope I got across a good understanding of why I think people see Halo OT’s story in the way they do. And I also don’t want to imply that Bungie doesn’t know how to do good storytelling either, 3:ODST serves as a good example of how they combine the emotion they’re so good at conveying with a more interesting story with a team of legitimate personalities and character relationships, despite also not really having a clear message to give either, other than a vague notion of “don’t just shoot everything becuz these Engineers are actually enslaved creatures guys.” Although I don’t understand at all how they fucked up Reach so badly as they did after this with its completely cardboard cutout Noble Team all wrapped up in shitty tragedy bait with an even weaker emotional core than even Halo 4. I have an axe to grind on Reach so I’ll make a write-up on the story at a later time but I just wanted to leave this with a hot take if you want to see more of this writing.

[chronicbatfictioner]

A Real Boy - Chapter 22

"So... King Kong is real, and even Solovar don't know what to do with it."

"Technically--" Barbara started, and then changed her mind. "Forget it. I can't even-- I don't even know what's real or not real but is... real, anymore."

Dick placed his elbow on the table and chin on his hand. "I'm with you in this. But if you're gonna say that 'technically Solovar of Gorilla City is King Kong', you're not wrong. Just... this King Kong is about three, four storeys' tall. And Solovar himself isn't even eight feet tall. He's like, seven-foot-two? Something?"

"I'm lost." Tim admitted, as he walked in to the room in the middle of the conversation.

"Hi, Lost--"

"Grayson, no dad jokes. You're not a dad, yet." Jason interrupted.

"Did my bike get home in one piece?" Dick turned to Jason.

"Definitely not, it's in approximately 142 pieces between here and Sprang Bridge." Jason replied insolently.

"Oh, cool. Considering there are about 800 pieces on that thing, means the puzzle pieces that was my bike are still big enough to reassemble..." Dick responded idly.

Tim met Barbara's glare before simultaneously rolling their respective eyes.

"Uh, guys? King Kong?" Tim finally decided to press. "I know I'm not gonna like the answer. But I gotta ask, don't I?"

"Yeah, well, I didn't like it either, but I ended up facing it..." Dick replied, shifting. Tim finally noticed and realized that under the fitted V-necked shirt, there were parallel bulges. Slight enough to not be noticed, if Tim hasn't seen the sliver of white under Dick's collar.

"You're injured." Jason, who apparently noticed the same thing, commented first.

"Pretty much. Bruised ribs, several stitches--"

"Dozen. Several dozen stitches," Barbara corrected.

"--several dozen stitches. And they all came from a freakin' King Kong."

"Dick was the damsel in distress, shrieks and all. Only Kong wasn't looking to like, rescue him from the nasties that is Men's World, but rather to devour him or something." Barbara elaborated. "And I have the only unedited footage, complete with sound."

"Dibs on watching it!" Jason exclaimed.

"It squished me." Dick said, looking almost proud. "And I gotta say that was the first I've seen Kong vs Elephant."

"Zitka was... clearly unhappy and expanded herself to be bigger than the Kong. Rammed herself onto Kong and freed Dick. The others... Arsenal was then able to shoot it with enough tranquilizer to sedate... --uh..."

"Ten gorillas?" Jason's unsuccessful attempt to not smirk was all too visible.

"Yeeeah, thereabout. Probably closer to like, twenty gorillas from Gorilla City that are larger than common gorillas by default..." Dick concluded. "And then Donna Troy moved it from Downtown Manhattan to... I dunno where she brought Kong to." he admitted.

"Best to not know, really. It was re-shrunk into its ordinary size - which is, as anyone would suspect, that of a common silverback gorilla..." Barbara finished. "Sooo... you guys got Cthulhu, I've heard."

"What the hell's going on, anyway? We've got literal made-up creatures coming out the wazoo..." Jason groused.

"I thought Cthulhu was real...?" Barbara queried.

"It is - the species. But not as massive as the one we saw on campus. Just like your Kong." Jason explained. "So yeah, what the hell...?"

"Those creatures were made up. Man-made with... Well, I'd say Lovecraft probably had the better prosaic description of the one we saw. But a massive Kong was absolutely... unimaginative." Tim remarked. "I'm just hoping that whoever did this won't do Jurassic Park next..."

"I would probably roll my eyes so hard at the first live T-rex or velociraptors I see, shoot them damn things and make steaks." Dick growled. His eyes suddenly widen. "I am, however, hoping this person isn't a sci-fi fan..." he said dramatically, glaring alternatively at Jason, Barbara, and then Tim.

Tim groaned exasperatedly. "If I see a Jabba or an ewok, organic or not, I'm gonna change them back to plastic."

Jason gasped mockingly. "But Tim! There could be creatures like them anywhere else in the universe! It's like we're alone in the whole universe!"

"Oh shut up." Tim snarled at him. "Eh... wait..." a thought suddenly hit him. "They were all man-made, organic, and sentient."

"I seriously could see a lightbulb switched on in his head..." Dick remarked as Tim mulled his thoughts, which promptly changed into the thought of 'what if all humans or magi would have an image of a lightbulb getting switched on whenever they got a brilliant idea?'

Fortunately the split second question did not interrupt Tim's main line of thoughts at all.

"They weren't supposed to be alive, or sentient, or exist. Or organic. Sizes notwithstanding..." Tim muttered under his breath after the pictures of his thought lined up a little neater in his mind.

"The person has the same powers as yours?" Barbara hazarded a guess.

"I can't make living things out of inanimate ob--" Tim said, and stopped abruptly. "Where is Lex Luthor now?"

"Belle Reve, last I checked," came Bruce's voice. "he's constantly undergoing psychiatric evaluation on daily basis. He's still there and has no contact with either his former associates or employees."

"How well do you trust the staff at Belle Reve?" Tim insisted. "I mean, he managed to make Conner. He's the only one who had managed to turn an effigy - a statue - into a human being!"

Bruce glared at Tim contemplatively - at least that was what Tim hoped for, and not anger out of Tim's insolence in doubting him.

"The staff at Belle Reve is... commanded by Amanda Waller, a staunch proponent of controlling magickal abilities and artifacts for the good of humankind, regardless of their magickal abilities or lack thereof. She will not let Luthor meddle with anyone under her watch." Bruce explained. "Some things Waller has done that I... generally do not approve of. She is a warlock, you see. But like me, she had opted for protection rather than destruction. Her methods still made me cringe, sometimes. But it is... out of my jurisdiction."

Tim could see that Bruce was gritting his teeth for the last few sentences, and Barbara confirmed his suspicion by saying, "she's like, a government-sanctioned agent. She could and has actually applied the death sentence and perform... experimental methods upon her inmates."

"Oh," now Tim cringed, too. It was public secret that the government - their government - has agencies that were authorized to do things that would be frowned upon by general morality, and that was just Tim's brain being nice. Human experimentation - through magickal or other means - was at the forefront of the reasons. Not surprisingly, death sentence was far further in the list.

Still, there was a more important question in Tim's mind that was not answered by either Bruce or Barbara.

"But do you trust her enough not to use Luthor's abilities for her own advantage?" Tim insisted.

The quiet that followed was punctuated by a distant screech of a bat, as if mocking their sudden silence filled with blatant uncertainty.

"I do not." Bruce finally said after some good long seconds. "I should have given you excuses and reasons on why, but I cannot provide you with answers that will not sound like a cliché."

"Good to know that you're not a typical adult who'd say we youngins should trust our government implicitly and explicitly." Tim deadpanned.

"I wouldn't still be here if he's like that. I'll check if Waller is in any way complicit or in any way behaving differently in the past... well, through the times of the strange goings-on, really. You'll need a broad data points to see patterns, right?" Barbara asked, and Tim froze a little at just how easy it seemed for Barbara to offer an activity that would generally constituted to a 'Big Brother' type of thing. Barbara, probably sensing his uneasiness, smiled and added, "no, Tim, I don't watch her 24/7 deliberately. But we do live in a kind of Big Brother country, after all. She was the one suggesting that the government keep watch over all of its citizens."

"Barbara just figured out ways to keep certain people out of the loop, like - you know - what the government itself would do for their secret agents and CIA and stuff." Dick elaborated.

"But if she's like, out of the loop...?" Tim hesitated.

"That's what I did, she can keep the government watching common people and hide her own people - or people like her; but she can't hide from me." Barbara smirked. "The Oracle's Tiara made it possible for me to manipulate cameras and programs to literally show what is hidden. So no, there's no need for me to keep watch on people 24/7. I'm not that dedicated. Or have nothing better to do with my time..."

"Oh, cool," Tim was interested this time. "If, say, I want to know where Dick is at certain time and date, you can find that out." he ascertained.

"Yes, if I allowed you to. But no, Tim, I don't stalk Dick, either." Barbara chuckled.

"Yeah, no... that was just an example 'cause I think Dick and Bruce - at least - would've been hidden from the government cams, anyway. But... not your cams, right?" Tim spluttered. "I mean, I've made sure that all recordings of me would at least be distorted - if not destroyed - every time I did something magickal in public..."

"...and you've done a very good job that none of us even know of your existence. I figured that if you can hide that well, it shouldn't be a big trouble for you to figure out how to reverse engineer your trick to find what you want to find, yes?" Bruce hinted, not-so-subtly.

Tim glared at him, blinking owlishly, more lost in his own thoughts than anything else as methods after methods of reverse 'engineering' camera filters started spinning in his mind.

"Right," Bruce nodded. "Just let Barbara know what you need and how we can help." he decided.

"I haven't even say I'll do it!" Tim protested out of habit.

"Your mouth denies it, but your entire body language is already trying to figure out how to solve this, little Timmy!" Dick chuckled. "So let's! I want to know how King Kong came to happen and if I can use it to make a bat that I can ride on!"

[oracleout]

@ofrevival​ : look at him - using a door and everything. nevermind that he didn't knock before he walked in; it was babs, he never would've made it up this high if she didn't know he was coming. tucked under his arm, a small box, inside of which he's packed a 1st edition copy of an old novel they used to read together & bag of coffee beans from that indie coffee shop she loves all the way across town. "permission to bother the birthday girl?" he greets with a grin as he wanders inside and sets the box on her desk anyways, before walking around to her side and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. "happy birthday, babs."

❝ do you knock? ❞ it’s on purpose. everyone knows that her security measures are top notch and that she already knew way ahead of time that he was on his way up, but it was still fun to pick at him, much in the way that an older sister would affectionately pick on a little brother. jason also made it exceptionally easy to do so. ❝ i guess i can let you come bother me. you’ve already made it this far. ❞

            she sees that he has a present for her, but he sets it on the desk instead of directly to her. ❝ thanks, jaybird. ❞ she tells him, glancing over to the box on the desk. the present isn’t important, as it’s still a gift that he came all the way to her tower for this. ❝ are you going to stay a bit or hurry off? ❞

she reaches over for the box, her brows furrowing as a pleasant aroma reaches her nose. she sniffs the box, realizing at least one thing that’s inside. ❝ you didn’t -- ❞ she opens it up to reveal the bag of coffee, but soon she realizes the book underneath it. ❝ aw, you didn’t. ❞ her bottom lip juts out in a small pout as she realizes that the book is something they used to read together when they were younger. simpler days, really, but they both know that right now isn’t so bad, either.

                           ❝ do you need me to read you a bedtime story? ❞

[imagicsolution-blog]

How To Improve Security on Weighbridge for Vehicle Weighing  and Ticket Printing

How To Improve Security on Weighbridge for Vehicle Weighing  and Ticket Printing

                 Now Day All Type of Industries Using In-house Weighbridge for Material Inward and Outward in Factory, also many People Install Road Weighbridge, all are not trusted weighbridge,  some time operator thieving / stealing by change Vehicle Weight, after long time related department will get information about this, it very late to recover all loss and  company Goes very big Loss,  

Problem :  

·         Bellow pint provide detail how to operator thieving

·         Weighbridge Operator enter weight manually and modify

·         Weight Wrong Vehicle Against to right Vehicle

·         Wrong Vehicle Placement position on Weighbridge

·         Operator and Driver take wrong weight

Solution :

               For avoid above Problem Imagic Solution Provide Secure CCTV Weighbridge Software,  it will connect Any Make IP Camera and Capture Vehicle At the time of Weigh ticket and Generate PDF with vehicle and send to email.

                 In Market List Of Company Provide Weighbridge and Scale Like Monil Automation, Metlor toledo, Race Lake, Sartorius, Imagic Solution, Kunal Enterprise, M.D Kantawala,  Endeavour Instrument, Essae Digitronics, Himatnagar Scale Mfg, Sampad Scales & Systems, AXPERT ENTERPRISE, Wel-tech Weighing Systems, JAI KISHAN INDUSTRIES, Poonawala Electro Weigh, Tulsi Trading Company, MANSI INSTRUMENTS, Endel Weighing system, Axpert Corporation, Technoweigh India, EAGLE SCALE MANUFACTURING WORKS, ORBIT Computer & Telecommunication, SmartB Technology, Samurai Technoweigh (India) Pvt. Ltd, S. S. Weighing Solution, Leion Engineering, Expert Weighing Solution, Swastik Systems & Services, Unitech System & Automation, Digital Weightronics, Sensotech Weighing System Pvt.Ltd., Rkd Weighing Pvt. Ltd, Coremark India Pvt. Ltd, Micro Weigh Engineers & Technologies, Techno Scale Industries,  Prime And Automations, Swisser Instruments Pvt. Ltd, Eroz Environ Engineer Pvt. Ltd etc..

               All Above Company Provide Weighbridge but it its provide simple software, but we adding extra facility in above all weighbridge with Camera, Email, SMS, RFID etc, and Make Secure solution for Weight ticket Generating, Main benefit of this software can communicate any make weighbridge indicator, so it will implement anywhere or any existing weighbridge, also this very easy to use so operator can familiar with it.

                 Now day weighbridge happen theft and mall function process,  so Imagic solution design CCTV Security Weighbridge software with cctv camera, CCTV Weighbridge software capture Automatically Vehicle Image at the time of ticket save, and store Image in HDD, it will also Print Vehicle Image/photo in Print, also software automatically sending email to registered email id with pdf file, and relegated dept verify that for more detail need to visit : imagicsolution.com

                 In this time everybody use to computer and software, in particular weighing field is very critical to mange vehicle and goods weighing with perfection, also weighing operator is not much educated too,  so he cannot manage Complicated software,  so we design easy to use weighbridge software,

               Imagic Solution Weighbridge Software developed in latest technology that’s why it speedy and support latest OS like XP, Win7, Win10, Win8, Vista etc...

  This Software suite for following industry

ð  Cement Industry

ð  Sugar Industry

ð  Mines Owner

ð  Crusher Industry

ð  Quarry  Industry

ð  Any Industry who can operate weighbridge

ð  Oil Industry

ð  GAS Industry

ð  Petroleum product Industry

ð  Plastics Industry

ð  Metal Industries

  Software Key Feature:-

ð  User Friendly Software

ð   Working with Any Make Indicator

ð   Window Based Software

ð   Support XP, Win7, win8, win10  with OS

ð   Connectivity with SAP, ORACLE, ERP, AX, EBiz, etc..

ð   Master for Customer, Product, Supplier, Transporter.

ð   Provide Custom Flexi User define 12 field

ð   Communicate With Any Make RS232 Indicator and LAN Indicator

ð   Connect with Any Brand Existing Weighbridge

ð   Provide various type of report

ð   Support to Malty Database

ð   Integrate Any Make 4 IP Camera with software

ð   Automatically Capture Vehicle Image /Photo at the time of ticket save

ð   Generate automatically pdf file with Vehicle Image

ð   Send Automatically pdf file to registered email id

 for demo video please visit link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFKhJU_Abjg&feature=youtu.be

[fenril]

The Fire

(Warning, Long read ahead. If you do not like reading about war and the death that occurs as a result of the War of Thorns, do not read.) 

 A day before the invasion:

Darkshore, a place of battle. The War of Thorns many came to call this already. Was it truly a war? Faeril as she fought throughout the days passing determined it couldn’t be a war. This was a massacre. Genocide even of her people, the Horde pushed forward, pushed into her homeland. Her people’s land. What had the Kaldorei done to provoke this? She heard many ask Elune and Malorne this, though nature weeped just as much to the destruction the Horde army left in its path. The southern border was lost, the scouts broke through, small pockets of the enemy found a way in.

Was there hope in this symphony of death and decay? Faeril could not see it, there was no light this day. Mother Moon did not shine with guidance for the Kaldorei. The forests were pitch black as the night, Faeril trudged through them alone, for she’d been seperated from her militia women, from her hippogryph. Knocked from the sky, she’d landed in leaves. The forest saving her for now; only to send her back toward death itself. Death rode upon pale horses...the forsaken crawling everywhere in the night. For the enemy needed no food, no water, no sleep. The Dark Rangers and their pets could hunt to their delights. For all others had to fight or perish in their times of rest should they be found.

The night was long, it took her hours in the dark of night to reorient where she was. The elder woman in full combat attire. Her hair stained red and black from the blood of the forsaken and Horde warriors she’d encountered. No rest for the wicked she’d been told, she too must become wicked. ‘I cannot sleep, I cannot stop I must find the line...must...find my....’ 

Horde....Faeril saw them like a blight upon this land. They’d found a way over the mountains. No one stood a chance. Kalimdor was lost to the savages....

The Horde:

“SISTERS! BEHIND YOU! LOOK BEHIND YOU!” Faeril screamed, breaking her cover as she burst into a sprint. She had to catch up, she had to warn them. As other soldiers had been picked off she couldn’t let the Horde sneak up on her people! 

But alas, they already knew. Many had somber looks about them, accepting the fate of the Darnassian armies. So few in number with no aid, no true back up. The main part of the Grand Alliance army would not make it. They could not make it. Not in full force, sure others had come, others found ways here. But it was simply not enough. 

The Alliance was too far away to stop this.

“Hippogryph riders! Make for Lor’danel, make for Teldrassil! Take everyone you can and get them to ships, find portals. ANYTHING. Riders! Back. WE MUST MOVE THE LINE BACK TO LOR’DANEL. FOR KALIMDOR, FOR TELDRASSIL!” The resounding warcry of “FOR TELDRASSIL!” could be heard amongst the fighters. Many leapt for nearby hippogryphs, sabers, horses. Anything that could make it back north with haste. 

Lor’danel hadn’t been given warning, there was no time. Faeril had managed to relocate her beloved hippogryph in the chaos. Hundreds of soldiers mobilized in any way, on foot, upon their mounts, some transformed and ran alongside nature. Everything knew to run. Run from the Horde, run from the killers.

Run away from death.

But alas as they arrived...the Horde had beaten many of the remants there. Catapults fired from the shore...Teldrassil was burning. Lor’danel was burning, the forest was dying with fires engulfing them. The last time any destruction of this magnitude had happened was due to Neltharion. the dragon that nearly broke the world. Fire raged, Faeril recalled Hyjal burning, how nature begged for help. The cries of death and fury consuming many around her.

The day continued, plumes of smoke seen miles away built up. Faeril knew many innocents were in Darnassus, but what of Dolanaar? Shadowglen? Starbreeze Village, The Oracle Glade? Innocents inhabited all parts of the tree. Knowing this Faeril urged Alor’el toward the burning World Tree. Toward death. the pair would risk their lives to find the civilians, find the saber cubs, the owls, saplings, worgen, anything living that had no chance of survival. If it could be picked up it would be. Airlift after airlift came for anyone in sight. Faeril found ships in the ocean, she found her people fleeing and brought those she took to whatever ship she could put them on. The navy had only the chance to take those Sentinels and their hippogryphs could find. Portals had been used in Darnassus, other key areas to save the people. But even those in the ranks of ‘saving’ eventually fell or had to stop thanks to the smoke. They too would die if they continued. Everyone knew, everyone saw not all lives could be saved...in fact....so much would be lost. For the brave few willing to take the risk...to be dropped off on the beach to run. Run north the people said, toward the mountains. Make for Moonglade, surely the circle would protect life? Protect their own kind? Would the Tauren kill the refugees on sight? 

When Faeril and Alor’el were unable to continue their airlifts they went north, to a part of Darkshore they didn’t see the Horde armies. They both collapsed on the beach...staring at Teldrassil, at the navy, and at the Horde war machines in the distance. Their lungs full of what once was, smoke, and death. 

Faeril howled into the night. She pressed her face into the hot sand and wept. Untold pain shattered the elderly woman’s frame. She could hear the cries of her people in the canyons as they ran, as they fled. If something found her now she’d die knowing she did all she could. Let an orc run a blade through her. Add to this awful death toll.

She howled for the Goddess. Where was the protection for her people? Where was ANYONE when an army this size moved on the Kaldorei? Her rage couldn’t be contained, it couldn’t be quelched. She threw her fists in the sand as a child in a fit might. But as she did so seated on her knees she...fell over onto her side. The Horde had no reason to do this. They had no reason! Now they could move on what little the Kaldorei had left....to snuff them out. Would her people not exist by tomorrow? Could the Alliance find the refugees along the trees? So many questions all blurred by her and Alor’el’s rage. 

The hippogryph cried and screamed. So many of its kind fell alongside it today. As the tide came in so did the bodies. Kaldorei that hadn’t made it...their companion mounts, pets, visitors of the city that also hadn’t made it. Ambassadors, worgen.

But Faeril felt a thump as something hit her backside from the wave. A warglaive...a Sentinel Warglaive. She rolled over to reach for it, the tears welling back up in her eyes. “Ana’duna Thera....” Revenge. She will get revenge. Faeril Stood, lifting the glaive into the sky. The tree still burning in the horizon. She’d howl “ANA’DUNA THERA!”

Then everything went black. She couldn’t fight to stay awake any longer. Unconcious in the sands. Bodies pilling up around her as the tides brought in their death.

The death of her people. 

(Song inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvsQcQ1acoA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_sMuo8Lujg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-BUlJ9MSM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiTHipYzD3c 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR7eNqI5Pc8

Thank you guys so much for reading this massive beast of a post. With an event like this I didn’t want to break this up into multiple posts.)