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#Elegy Just in Case
dangoulains-devotion · 7 months
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counting bodies like sheep
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scriptvoiid · 1 year
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a fact ! it sure isn’t fun but it’s a thing !
elegy didn’t wear the robe that frequently prior to their descent.
( ^ and that’s the one sentence i was going to post but turned into a multi paragraph post instead )
it was comfortable, sure, but they preferred to be somewhat dressed, even when they were relaxing. loose cardigans and shirts with the collars unbuttoned were more their style. whenever they did wear the robe, it was typically over one of such shirts. unless they were in a certain fashion mood, of course ( sometimes you gotta channel the dramatic widow energy ) .
once that descent hit … they lost track of time, as well as track of themself. they stopped taking care of themself physically, which was namely due to the entity’s possession of them. a nonliving entity didn’t require basic human needs to function, so it didn’t take them. “elegy” rarely slept nor ate, and the only thing they ever drank was alcohol. the robe was simple to wear, and if elegy had been wearing it at the time they let go, then the entity didn’t have need to change its doll’s clothes.
when elegy was in control, they didn’t have much stamina to take care of those needs. in rare times when they would try to sleep, it was restless and full of nightmares. to them, it was easier to let the entity take control of them. they wouldn’t have to think, and they wouldn’t have to rest, and therefore wouldn’t have to face the ordeals “their mind” ( aka the entity warping their consciousness ) put them through in sleep.
you can clearly see the unraveling that let the entity take control of the strings.
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foxstens · 2 years
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grubsong is one of the best soul-gathering charms tbh
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ship-status · 2 years
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walks out onto the dash
might i request … some fluff ….
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qqueenofhades · 1 month
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Hi just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to these anon messages. I work in dc w a fairly wonky set and i cant overstate how haunted the DC Professional Thought Havers are by the spectre of the "low propensity voter." I think these ppl (myself included LOL) thought we had everything figured out ahead of the 2016 elections and then never recovered from the way it ended up going......i feel like in all the years that followed.....the liberal bubbles.....the coastal elites.......the hillbilly elegies......the real america....the ohio diners....the pennsylvania diners.......the polls......the 2020 horserace....while part of an earnest attempt to understand What Happened, were primarily self-indulgent, self-flagellation for being "out of touch" bc of a self-diagnosed "elite" status that then turned into ANOTHER myopic view of the world, just opposite, where the "libs" are hapless and everyone else remotely to the left are primarily victims to the unstoppable supernatural forces of the Right. Then in 2020 the narrative flipped AGAIN and once again, instead of taking the opportunity to expand a worldview and having the bravery to confront their own shortcomings, the opinion havers and wonks and beltway pressers have decided to groupthink their way into writing off democracy altogether. Its BEYOND frustrating to see! Like damn volunteer at a soup kitchen or smthn instead of being obsessed w the fact that i vote lol
Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First, despite all the factors that contributed to Trump's shock win in 2016 (anti-Clintonism, white backlash to Obama, general low voter enthusiasm, Russian disinformation, etc) we should never forget that until James Comey decided to announce 10 days before the election that he was reopening the EEEEEEEMAILS case, even though we all knew there was nothing there, she was leading fairly comfortably in the polls. And while we will never know how the 2016 election would have gone without that, which imho was one of the most unforgivable acts of blatant sabotage by a public official in American history, it's also true that we saw her poll averages start sliding almost in real time, as people who hadn't really been keen on voting for her anyway decided firmly not to and Trump was able to scrape out 16,000 votes across PA, MI, and WI to take the Electoral College. Which... we all remember how we felt that night, right? (Or in my case, early morning, since I was overseas?) We don't, we really, really don't want to feel that way again. Just saying.
As such, the media (which had already beat up Clinton nonstop during the BUT HER EEEEEMAILS saga) drastically overcorrected and as you say, began writing endless angsty handwringing pieces about Trump Voters in Rural Ohio Diners and giving endless sympathetic airtime to how "economically left behind" they felt, regardless of the fact that open racism, especially Obama backlash, was and remains the principal animating feature of Republican politics (since their only economic platform is that which makes very rich people even richer and Democratic economic policies are the only ones actually targeted at helping ordinary people). The hangover was so strong that even when Democrats had a massive 2018 midterm result and flipped the House blue for the first time since the post-ACA backlash lost it in 2010, the Conventional Wisdom was now beyond any doubt that Democrats were doomed for a generation or something, and not that Trump had squeaked out a fluky win (while losing the popular vote) due to endless Russian/Comey/third party-etc interference and wasn't actually that powerful. Even in 2020 when Biden was leading fairly steadily and things were going to hell with Covid, etc. etc. TRUMP IS UNSTOPPABLE, TRUMP IS GOING TO WIN.
(And now. Like. I know Trump thinks Trump won in 2020, as do a large majority of his cultists, but that doesn't mean he did.)
Even after that, when Roe went down in 2022, that made no difference to the RED WAVE COMING!!! narrative, and the amount of smug white male pundits insisting that abortion just wasn't very important and people weren't going to base their entire vote on it reached truly disgusting levels. We're now seeing the same thing with the constant "people won't vote for democracy and/or abortion rights" blast, when as you say, this narrative has just been completely made the fuck up by a lot of groupthinking DC media who are determined that this time, Trump really is going to win and then they get to be principled chroniclers in opposition or something. Not to mention, the basic principle of "democracy and abortion rights are good" do in fact win by thumping margins every time they're on the ballot, including in deep red states. But there is literally not a single piece of empirical evidence despite the massive amounts of it supporting the truth (i.e. that Democrats are doing historically well in competitive elections since 2018 and there's not really a major reason to think this will change in 2024) that will get the media to change the "Democrats in disarray and Biden Iz Doomed" horserace BS they so love. They don't like Biden because he's boring and competent and just does the job without being insane, because it's totally a great idea to treat American government like a reality show! (Recall the infamous comment by the CBS CEO who literally said that Trump was bad for America but great for CBS, because he pulled in high ratings and therefore lots of money and visibility for CBS. We live in the worst timeline.)
As such, the mainstream media has a vendetta against Biden, is determined that this time Trump is super definitely going to win and everyone will see how genius they are, and not-so-secretly wants Trump back because a) he's good for money and ratings, and b) because the media conglomerations are owned by oligarchs who have a vested interest in making sure that Democrats and their policies never get too popular. Notice how the once self-proclaimed centrist independent Elon Musk has turned into a rabidly alt-right fanboy ever since the Democrats really got serious about taxing billionaires as a key part of their platform. Likewise, insisting that Biden Iz Doomed makes Democrats nervous (and thus more likely to tune in) and Republicans gleeful (and thus more likely to tune in), so there's literally no incentive for the media to even try to report things accurately. You could create a very different narrative of the 2024 election if you just remotely bothered to write about things that have actually happened as they have actually taken place, rather than bending over backward to insist that Biden being four years older than Trump is a worse crime than 91 felony indictments, 2 impeachments, 1 insurrection, 450 million dollars and counting in punitive jury verdicts, more major criminal trials coming down the pipe, and just demonstrably being the worst human being alive in so many ways. I mean. Wow.
The good news, as I said in my other post, is that when people actually vote, these utter bullshit narratives get routinely blown out of the water, and that's a good thing. Because it turns out that unlike Super Smart Beltway Pundits' Super Smart Predictions, the average American does actually like democracy and freedom for women to make their own personal healthcare decisions, and they vote accordingly. So while yes, it's being made harrowingly much harder than it needs to be because of how much the media simply refuses to report that basic fact, and there is no amount of evidence that will convince them otherwise, at least we're trending in the right direction and, if we all pull our weight, can do it one more time. I realized the other day that I hadn't heard a fucking peep about Ron DeSantis in the last two months, and oh, how glorious it was. I yearn beyond words for the day (God willing, soon) when the same is true of Trump as well.
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deathsbestgirl · 5 months
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okay. writing about why never again should come before leonard betts is actually hard. because it's really just a few small moments in leonard betts make more sense if they're after never again, and it's so much better to go to memento mori right after the reveal at the end of leonard betts.
never again ends with silence. mulder cutting off his sentence. if it were going to happen, it would be then. but it doesn't, and so the silence persists.
leonard betts has a similar feel to arcadia, where they're trying to get on the same page, slip back into their roles. mulder uses humor at crazy moments, and scully pretends not to think it's funny and stays focused on the case.
in the end, she sits alone in the car in silence. waiting for mulder. he tells her she did a good job, she should proud. a verbal validation he doesn't often give, something she craves & loves, a little taste of something she wanted from him in never again. and she can't enjoy it because she's terrified. scully believes leonard betts and she just wants to go home.
it really strikes me the way there's no physical comfort. in paper hearts, scully was fierce. she tried so hard for mulder and failed. but in the end, he leans into her, they hug, she pets his head. in never again there was no comfort either. mulder was petty and he didn't understand. this time he's kinder when she was attacked, but there's a physical distance that isn't typical.
then in memento mori, she calls only mulder. scully tells him so tenderly. she has no idea what to do, and she know what this will do to mulder. he's with her when they go to skinner so they can officially open a case on it & investigate. when she doesn't explain it to skinner, mulder steps in for her. he tries so hard to be strong when they both know he isn't. but scully is being forced to face something she's left buried. now she can't.
in the hospital, she calls mulder to ask him to bring her stuff & call her mom. she writes letter after letter to mulder. begging forgiveness, telling him she'll only get through this because she knows he's out there, following his own path.
but their path is the same. he will follow her to her death.
they have never been as physically affectionate as they are in memento mori and the reduxes.
in elegy, she sees the ghosts, an omen of her impending death. when she finally tells mulder, he's hurt. he wants to be there for her. in demons, he believes she's dying and that he can't save her, and they both deserve answers. he doesn't want to live without her, he can't keep on his search for the truth without her. but he also won't ask her to follow him into this and he only calls her when he can't remember what happened, there's blood & he's in shock. she knows his suicidal tendencies, it's exactly what has her so worried. who will be there for him when she's gone?
mulder + scully know exactly what they have. scully will give him everything she has, even when it's only her dignity so that he won't rot in prison for something he had to do. mulder will follow her to end of the earth, to the grace without any hesitation.
small potatoes is so painful because of the unspoken agreement not to address their feelings. "mulder" shows up at scully's apartment, and she gives in. she's soaking up the attention she's always wanted from him. they don't kiss, she doesn't move to bridge the gap, she just waits. and then the real mulder comes crashing in and the pain is face is clearly visible. he knew exactly where van blundht was going. it wasn't even a question.
mulder isn't heartbroken that van blundht had a chance with scully and he doesn't, he's heartbroken because they chose silence and now she has a deadly cancer.
in detour, scully makes an attempt to open the door and mulder flees. he knew what was on her mind, but he still can't take it from her. she can't even be mad, but the silence persists and the gap grows.
there's nothing they won't do for each other, but leaving their feelings unsaid hurts them. to the point scully thinks all she's done is hold him back. and in fight the future, he finally says so many of the things she has desperately needed to hear. and she clings to her skeptic role because it still wasn't quite enough. their kiss was interrupted and they don't bring it up and fowley is present, driving another wedge.
from scully's perspective, mulder didn't trust her in never again, and then she lives it all over again because of diana. he doesn't trust her judgment, reduces it to jealousy because they both know her feelings. and she's still unsure of mulder's because of this, and the ever persistent silence. even after one son, he doesn't accept it. only after amor fati, when he was able to hear diana's thoughts and she consequently dies for helping scully save him, does he understand that scully's right. and once again, gives a beautiful speech. between all of this there's been "you're my one in five billion" and "i love you" and "you saved the world scully" and the hallway/bee scene and they play baseball & flirt. until he says to her, looking into her eyes, that she was his friend, his constant, his touchstone.
scully never hears what he says to diana about her. which could have helped her. but she only saw him holding her hand, clinging to diana's shared beliefs, because he knows her. and like in never again, she feels invisible. she feels useless. she's holding him back.
it isn't until the end of amor fati that the tension breaks. things become lighter when scully feels more secure. when he starts giving her the attention she has always wanted, when he lets her take the lead on cases, when she's allowed to believe sometimes without it turning their world upside down.
it's just a better progression. never again shouldn't be about scully's cancer diagnosis & impending death. it's about her, her patterns, mulder. it's about her struggles with what's expected of her, what she should want and the reality of what she wants & chose. her fear that mulder is an authority, and that she gives him that authority.
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air-of-the-waterfall · 4 months
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I think this is an unpopular opinion, but I didn't really feel bad for Scythe Volta? He chose to follow Goddard and continued with the mass gleanings despite knowing it was wrong. He gleaned an entire classroom full of children when he could have just... not done that.
He was under pressure from Goddard and it's incredibly hard to break away from an abuser (especially one so charismatic who presents themself as "reasonable") but Volta still made his choices as a scythe with immense power and responsibility in his hands.
He certainly didn't deserve the ending he got, but my feelings about him are pretty neutral. What is it that people love about him? /gen
I find him interesting as a case study about how pressure from society can drive people to do unspeakable things, because scythes are very forcefully taught that what they do is what's best for humanity. They have to justify it to themselves however they can in order to sleep at night, but right before Volta dies, he finally questions all that and realizes that Goddard's elegy aren't what scythes are supposed to be.
It's fantastic that a "volta" is the turning point in a poem, and Scythe Volta's death is the final straw towards Rowan killing Goddard and becoming Scythe Lucifer.
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carefulfears · 7 months
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the biggest thing about elegy is that it takes all of that unspoken isolation of this arc, and it slowly lets the audience in. the first thing that mulder says about the apparitions, is that they seem to be an "omen." an impending prophecy. and carefully, throughout the episode, both the audience and scully are waiting to see, not who the killer is, but what is being foretold. when they're going over records, and scully's nose starts bleeding, it's the one thing that they can't ignore. she wasn't even there in the previous episode. she was in the hospital. alone. they don't talk about it. she's "fine." she has "always been the strong one." just like in irresistible, years earlier, she does not want him to know how much she is struggling. but she doesn't have any control. it is dripping out of her. the sound of his voice when he says "oh, scully." and how quickly she responds "it's okay. i'm fine."
it's that kind of childlike grimace in him, the same man who flinches away from dead bodies and stares at the ground before his father. and she's so fast to try to restore order. it's okay. i'm fine. don't worry, i'll clean it up. i'll make it go away. when she disappears into the bathroom and sees an apparition there herself...i think she decides to go to the hospital because she just needs space, honestly. she's scared. he offers to drive her, to go with her, twice. asks, "you sure?" and she says, twice, "i'm fine."
elegy builds to two separate climaxes: the first, when mulder comes to scully's apartment. but before that, we see scully in karen kosseff's office, the same therapist that she had gone to in irresistible, and presumably has kept a relationship with in the years since. she tells karen that she's been diagnosed with inoperable untreatable cancer, and when karen asks, "you've kept working?" she answers, "yes. it's been important to me."
she's taken aback when karen asks why, is surprised at the question, and tells her "agent mulder has been concerned. he's been supportive, through this time."
KOSSEFF: Do you feel that you owe it to him to continue working?
SCULLY: (quickly) No. (pauses) I guess I never realized how much I rely on him before this...his passion...he's been a great source of strength that I've drawn on.
KOSSEFF: What happened last night, Dana?
SCULLY: I saw something. I, I don't know what to trust. If I saw it because of the stress, because the image had been suggested to me or if it was a suggestion of my own fears.
KOSSEFF: Your fear of failing him?
SCULLY: (exhales emotionally) Maybe.
this is such a rare admission from scully. first of all, she's being confronted. this is not normal. it is not normal to work to your death. it's like bill tells her, a couple of episodes later, "what are you doing at work, getting knocked down, beaten up? what are you trying to prove?"
(she hadn't even told bill about her cancer. she'd been sick for months. she thought she was going to die in memento mori, she knows she's going to die sooner than later. and she instructed her mom not to tell her brother. from the moment that mulder said "i refuse to believe that," it really was only going to go one way.)
she's being confronted. why are you working? (for mulder). do you feel you owe him? (no, i need him).
she's really alone. she's sick. like, she's really sick. she spent the last case in the hospital. she's having a hard time keeping up. she's thinning, and bleeding, and struggling. but there she goes, every day, at every hour. monster chasing. telling him she's fine.
(so much conflict comes from the way that mulder's ignorance perfectly enables scully's repression)
when he shows up, late, at her apartment, he comes in a mile-a-minute, about how he needs her "help" on the case, before asking her what her doctor said. (her answer, of course, being, "i'm fine.")
he tells her that everyone who has seen an apparition, was dying. every person who reported a premonition, was near death themselves.
SCULLY: Harold Spuller is dying too?
MULDER: Well, that's what I need your medical opinion on.
SCULLY: Well, what if he isn't?
MULDER: I would be very surprised. What is a death omen if not a vision of our own mortality? And who among us would most likely be able to see the dead? 
this is one of the most hauntingly isolating moments of the series...he has just told her that she is going to die. and he doesn't know, that that's what he said. she is forced to process it, completely by herself. and she doesn't believe in ghosts, or "premonitions," but she knows that he is right. (when is he not?)
("maybe harold is sicker than we thought he was.")
the second moment that this episode builds to, is the final confrontation between mulder and scully. after the murder is solved. after harold dies.
SCULLY: I saw something, Mulder.
MULDER: What?
SCULLY: The fourth victim. I saw her in the bathroom before you came to tell me.
MULDER: Why didn't you tell me?
SCULLY: Because I didn't want to believe it. Because I don't want to believe it.
MULDER: Is that why you came down here, to prove that it wasn't true?
SCULLY: No, I came down here because you asked me to.
MULDER: Why can't you be honest with me?
SCULLY: (defensively) What do you want me to say? That you're right, that, that I believe it even if I don't? I mean, is that what you want?
MULDER: Is that what you think I want to hear?
SCULLY: (softly) No.
they come really...close here? to talking about it? she almost baits him several times this season. she spends so much of this arc thinking...maybe, this will be it. maybe if she fucks off on assignment, gets a tattoo with another man, he'll say it. maybe if she calls him out for never celebrating her birthday, he'll acknowledge why this is the year he did. maybe if they spend a friday night with a bottle of wine, they'll talk. maybe if she tells him, those things you believe are death omens? i saw it. he'll know.
i can't remember which one of you said that all of their arguments are just how to love each other. she doesn't want to believe. but she's there, because he has asked her to be. even in all of their repressed denial, there is no escaping what's happening. it hangs over both of them.
i love the moments in this arc where she just snaps. in this scene when she says, what do you want from me? do you want me to just believe you? and her quiet resignation, when he makes her answer her own question. no. she knows that's not what he wants.
MULDER: (his voice softens) I know what you're afraid of. I'm afraid of the same thing.
SCULLY: The doctor said I was fine.
MULDER: I hope that's the truth.
SCULLY: (whispers) I'm going home.
"i know what you're afraid of. i'm afraid of the same thing."
except, no, he doesn't. and no, they are not.
but she knows what he's afraid of, just as her therapist had known what she's afraid of ("your fear of failing him?") and so she dodges his admittance with reassurance. she's fine.
that last scene, when she goes out and cries in her car, and she sees harold's ghost in the backseat. she is so alone. she's working on her deathbed. they don't talk about it. she's afraid, and she's not fine, and she is going to "fail" him because she cannot keep herself alive for him, and she can't avoid it. it's in the backseat. it's in the bathroom mirror. it's bleeding out of her.
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randomfoggytiger · 7 months
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Mulder's Love Story, S1 (Part 1): Instant Camaraderie to Easy Friendship to Unbreakable Trust
My own meta thoughts down below~!
What hasn't been said about the Pilot? All I will add is that I never read romance into Mulder's actions-- just sheer desperation for a friend and confidante, so much so he grabbed onto Scully's good manners, quick mind, and fairness within their first interview. His openness was won with her mosquito scare, and his faith in her abilities was tested and won in the graveyard.
Deep Throat showed him what the limits of her patience were and what an incredible backup she was in an emergency.
By Squeeze he was both unapologetically territorial and afraid she was unconvinced by him and his "Spooky" theories, one step away from boxing the whole package back down in the basement to travel further up the floors. He was immensely relieved to find she was not only ride-or-die for the Truth but also perfectly capable of weathering its many unexpected twists, turns, and gray areas.
In Conduit, Mulder was not afraid or ashamed to show how raw and unresolved Samantha's loss still was; and even trusted Scully's final call to pull him back from the grave and the Morris family.
The Jersey Devil tapped into the territorial streak of Squeeze but with more stakes: Scully couldn't have a life and be as dedicated to the work as Mulder. He knew this, mourning her absence until the siren call of the next lead made him forget his manners and barge into her personal time (ala Elegy, Chinga, etc.)
Shadows was the first time Mulder invited Scully out on a little fun activity outside of work (the Liberty Bell) even though the tourist site was likely already closed. On the heels of The Jersey Devil and right before Ghost in the Machine, it's easy to read this as his attempt to firmly establish Scully as his little buddy in and out of work (like the deep friendship he had shared with Jerry Lamana ala the deleted script, here on @x-files-scripts's page.) Scully's "I'd settle for a life in this one" teasingly echoes her "I would like to have a life" and his "I have a life" from their previous case.
Ghost in the Machine was the first of many of Mulder's "pasts" getting exposed to Scully, i.e. Jerry Lamana (who had asked Mulder to be his best man at his wedding), Phoebe Green (who had tormented Mulder during their dating years), and Reggie Perdue (who had been Mulder's mentor), Bill Patterson (who had been Mulder's authoritarian teacher), Diana Fowley (who had-- and was-- a tool of the Consortium to reign him in), etc. It sets the tone for Mulder's repeated failed disclosures to Scully, which makes her feel lopsided and unincluded in his inner circle (this ep., Fire, The End, etc.)
Ice was a heavy-hitting game-changer: it's the episode that tested Mulder and Scully's trust by stretching it to almost impossible limits; and yet, they persevered and succeeded. From here on out, Mulder's trust in his new partner is unshakeable and unbreakable (except for a brief stint of drugged-up madness in Anasazi.)
Thanks for reading~
Enjoy!
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george228732 · 2 months
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Fylass Through the Looking Glass - Chapter Fifteen - Dragon’s Elegy
The clouds of Wonderland were darkening, as a newfound sense of discomfort shrouded the group that was going back to the Looking Glass to get to Underland, as if a cold shadow was tagging along - the chills across the land were clearly signaling a bad omen, and maybe it was true, as those same clouds took the shame of bizarre, amorphous creatures, thing that shouldn’t be a problem in and of itself, but there was something about those figures that felt oddly artificial, as if someone was doodling without much care in a piece of paper - it felt foreboding, as everything else; a watching eye that was just so excited to see what was about to happen in the stage, a creature that was old, even older that Wonderland itself, a threat that was looming, always looming, but never got the chance to show up personally… For now at least.
On all the way through to get to the Looking Glass, everyone was eerily quiet, wanting to at least say something to ease the tension, but no words came from anyone’s mouth, even though they just got exposed to a mouthful of information, which it would be good at first glance, but thanks to that, now they have to deal with the fact that there’s a threat much bigger than the Jabberwocky, and even if it sounds redundant, it was the truth. 
Nonetheless, they had to take care of both of them sooner or later, and deep down, they knew that this trip back to Underland would be one they would never forget - the last time the ferocious dragon got to Underland, or specifically, the White Kingdom, grief and despair reigned for a long while, bittering the hearts of everyone, and from there, many forgot the friendship both realms once had, and many forgot that the other realm existed, and even though Cosmounse was surely a threat far more dangerous than it, it didn’t take of the fact that they needed to get rid of that dragon in one way or another - sure, its cycle would surely never cease, but at the very least, peace could be found for a while, or well, they hoped so.
A row of voices echoed through the path that bestowed upon the group, putting everyone on edge - it surely wasn’t something to be worried about, and yet, they didn’t want to take any risks whatsoever, so everyone drew their weapons, just in case; it didn’t take much to see that the ones walking next to them on the gloomy pathway were ones that they knew about before, being none others than the residents of the Tarot Town, along with their mayor, and a suspiciously familiar gray jay leading the way.
"Oh dear, I am glad I found-... You." The Mayor, Aeon spoke up, but quickly stopped herself from keeping up with the conversation when she noticed people that she never saw before, as far as her mind could go, but also the Spade and Club Suits were there too, and both Fylass and her seem to be intrigued and interested in each other’s presence, both for completely different reasons, it seemed, for as Aeon seemed to have saw them somewhere in her dreams, Fylass had an expression which indicated that they knew her in a personal level; no one that Fylass knows and holds dear deeply, actually know about who she was in the real world, but nonetheless, that didn’t really matter at the moment. 
Fylass tried to pretend they didn’t know about her when they realized the expression they were giving off, and didn’t say a thing, until someone else in the group did.
"...Oh, miss? …What are you doing here with your people? The weather doesn’t seem to be the appropriate one to wander around, especially if the villagers are going with you." Dero said, half lying.
"Regarding that, I actually wanted to request something from the Queen." Aeon said, with the gray jay besides her flying around, seemingly distressed by something.
"...? What would that be?"
"...It would request shelter at the Card Castle for me and my people. I got another one of those visions early in the day, and while I don’t have much recollection on what I saw, I know the message it was trying to send, and I fear for the safety of the Wonderlanders, so I thought that the Card Castle would be a more well secured place for protection."
Dero felt a shiver of unease when he heard that - it felt too similar to the one day he woke up in Wonderland for the first time, with all those people refuging at the Castle’s doors as the looming threat that started his oath kept on going.He pondered about that request for a bit though, and eventually came to the conclusion that he was not going to commit the same mistakes that led him to lose the one he loved.
"...I accept your request, and I am sure that the Queen will do so as well." He remarked and pointes his swords towards the starting point where the group had started walking. "Follow that path, and you’ll be there in no time, yet I recommend you to hurry, as like you said, your safety could be in danger - When you get there, I’d advise you to stay away from the windows and things along those lines, since it does seem like a huge storm… or something worse could happen." 
With those statements out of the line, Aeon silently nodded and thanked the Jailer as she and the other villagers of the town went to the Castle as fast as it could to still be considered walking, although, the bird that accompanied them seemed keen on actually following the suits and their gang, for reasons that seemed unknown, but it’s not like it could be important that a mere bird were following them, right?
When the rest of the villagers were out of view, the group kept on going towards their destination before it could be too late, time is running out, time is running out, and yet, some had their head lost in their thoughts.
"...I… I feel like I saw her once before… Is she… No, it can’t be." Maforanti thought - apparently, he still had difficulties in remembering some other things that should’ve been in his head when he received that epiphany, but he had to keep his mind busy regarding another event that was sure to follow.
The path leading to the Looking Glass was becoming more narrow, as if someone was contracting the mere fabric of reality, with the skies enclosing, and the trees stretching to make the path feel more claustrophobic, and the path of dirt lengthening to make each step feel more difficult to do; everyone walking along felt a sense of unrest, but the silence was still present, and it couldn’t be more palpable. 
Nonetheless, they got to the place where the Looking Glass is supposed to be, but the shack it was in felt contorted, and even more out of place than the rest of the world, and its inside didn’t help to ease that feeling as Fylass turned the knob to open it; the gray wooden planks of the floor and walls were peeling its layers like tapestry, as its remains were still on the air, never able to touch the floor, the table where that mismatch of a board was below now had a shape that was so far from what it could’ve been once, shape that couldn’t be described, while still having that board on top, and the faint smell of wet clay and vinegar floated across the decaying walls.
The Looking Glass on the other hand, looked just the same as always, but its normalcy compared to the rest of the room was what made it so off putting to even look at.
"...I got a bad feeling about whatever is going to happen on the other side, but at this point, it’s this, or having to bear the possible danger of not doing anything." Fylass said as they got closer to the Looking Glass, confirming that it was still able to be passed through, and such, they handed their hand towards the group that weren’t Suits or Pieces, so they were able to go through as well.
Step by step, everyone left Wonderland to finish off a threat that started ever since the gates of Underland were opened, and they were greeted by the same decrepit shack that greeted them in the other world, but now, the sheer, freezing cold winds welcomed them to the stagnant, possibly dying world, Underland. Buddy and Celeernyx didn’t even take a look at the surroundings outside the shack and they could already tell that something was extremely off, as if someone was taking off the air that the group breathed all of a sudden.
It wasn’t until Fylass opened the door that they realized the situation they were in - everything was far too cold for Underland, and the faint sound of a clock ticking echoed throughout the whole land, but what was the most eerie of everything was the silence that drowned Underland; yet another bad omen. It either meant the Jabberwocky wasn’t here yet, or it already caused everyone’s voices to get muffled by its jaws, like how it happened so long ago.
"I can already feel that this is going to be a great hassle… Let’s bring our weapons now, before we regret that we didn't do it earlier." Unicorn said, and so, the group took their weapons out due to perfectly knowing that this adventure will take a drastic move sooner or later, and were about to leave the shack to finally settle this for good, ot at least they hoped so - They knew the Jabberwocky would just rise again after a while, for its curse would just latch onto someone else, and the cycle would just repeat again, but at the very least, contain it for some time would be enough for the people, and it would be even more than enough that that creature doesn’t cause a disaster in Underland, yet again.
It wasn’t until Fylass stepped out of the door that they heard something that apparently had come with them through the Looking Glass, being that same gray jay the Mayor of Tarot Town was holding with her, one that was odd to look at, since it seemed to have some intelligence that a bird wouldn’t be able to possess, which is ironic, since in Wonderland, not much things make sense.
"...Huh… How did this bird follow us?" Banshee asked rhetorically, wanting to ask how didn’t anyone see that the gray jay was tagging along.
"...It shouldn’t matter, we need to get going before it’s too late to act…" Celeernyx spoke up right after.
The gray jay on the other hand, flew across the room and landed on one of Fylass’ antlers as the Wolpertinger they were now. The club wanted to take them off there, but after a couple of seconds of trying, they figured out it wouldn’t budge, so they left it be, besides, this world is running on a countdown, a house of cards if you will, and there will be no failsafe if they break it by not hurrying up. 
With this new "companion" tagging along with them, everyone got out of the dying walls of the room, hurrying to get to the White Kingdom to see if everything was doing ok with Neptune taking care of the Castle and the people around it from the Jabberwocky’s jaws, or if that creature already did its rampage. Dero and Giselle seemed to know the path to get there, including the King, Queen, and the Bishop, as if even after all those years, they still got to remember Underland before the incident, and years before such, Giselle’s own death… 
Nonetheless, the silence was still in the air, but gladly enough, when they got to the town close to the White Castle, none of the architecture seemed damaged in any significant way, proving that the Jabberwocky - somehow - haven’t gotten here yet, but that raised the question of where were the people, since at the very least, a modicum of noise should come from them; it was so quiet that the group could hear their own heartbeats, but oddly enough, not the sound of the ticking pocket watch in Fylass’ bag…
"...Wait a minute…" Fylass grabbed their bag, and look at its contents - that book, the pocket watch and… The Club Key, which guards their part of the Card Castle, and from there, their diary…
Fylass took out the pocket watch, and indeed, its hands were not moving, which wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself, but what was the most eerie of all was that it didn’t seem to be an external problem, and rather it seemed more as if time itself had stopped - it would be exaggerated to think about such possibility, but by closer inspection on the houses’ windows, none of the clocks that were visible through them seem to work either, which would explain the deafening silence, or at least, part of it.
"...This is getting worse by the day, huh…?" Ades said, trying to process the situation at the moment. Either way, seeing how nothing else was happening at the Town, whether that be literally or figuratively, the rest of the group decided to get to the White Castle to confirm if everything was okay.
Step by step, it was as if the climate was getting colder to the touch, to the point that it became almost unbearable, and the distance was harder and harder to see due to an odd fog that started surrounding the place entirely, like that fog that covered Time’s Clock Tower - things get inexplicable in the span of a few seconds in this world, to the point that it seemed that someone was tampering with the fabric of reality once again, and if that were true, they knew exactly who it was, but they were too busy and dreaded of such assumption that no one would prefer to utter his name.
Nonetheless, even with the world conspiring against them, they got to the doors of the White Castle, and from there, it was much clearer where did the people go - they were taking shelter in the gray, marble walls of the castle, apparently knowing the danger they were under, as well, with many being too silent out of the fear that if the Jabberwocky got here, they would all be doomed for sure. Neptune was close to the King and Queen’s thrones, doing his job as well as he was capable of without the Royal Pieces’ orders.
After a little though, he got to see the group amongst the people that were taking shelter.
"My King! My Queen!" He said as he walked towards them, being careful of not tripping someone out of the blue, and when he got to them, he bowed to them in a respectful manner. "I did as you were told and kept your Kingdom safe."
"...I am grateful for such, however… I must ask, why are all these people here?" Buddy said - in any other context, this would lead to any sort of interrogation or even scorn, but knowing the situation they were in, it was a relieved thank you, disguised as a question.
"My King, the people witnessed the Jabberwocky in the far away distance, and wanted a place to be safe at, so I thought it’d be for the best if I let the townsfolk stay until the situation got better, but knowing the danger that creature means to all of us, I am not so sure…"
That sank dread on everyone’s minds - The Jabberwocky really got here, but it was by a miracle that it hasn’t spotted this place yet, but it wouldn’t take long until it did… Lucid came down with an idea to keep the people safe, though.
"...What if we send your people to Wonderland? The Jabberwocky isn’t there, and if it goes back, we can send your people here again, as we take care of that menace." Deep down, Lucid wanted anything but to see their friends and loved ones hurt, or even dead, but there wasn’t any more choice on what they could do, yet dragging people like Fylass or Chaos to this didn’t sit well with the Porcelain man.
Speaking of Chaos, though, since he realized what he really is, he couldn’t look at Neptune the same way, knowing that at the very least, they could’ve been friends, or even more before he lost his memory, and his silence was nothing like how he would have acted in any other way; The Mad Hatter didn’t seem mad anymore, just… bleak, but probably thoughtful. Neptune on the other hand, looked at him with a sense of faint memories and nostalgia, whether it was before Chaos could have time with him, or after, who’s to tell? Anyways, Neptune still had a job to do, and he thought that what Lucid had said could be a good enough idea to keep everyone safe and sound.
"...The Bishop seems to have a decent plan… Do we go with it, my King?"
Buddy pondered on that - he had been so rude and disrespectful to not only the Wonderlanders but also the same people which he should appreciate since they are part of the same hierarchy he’s part of, and even then, they’re still willing to help out, it maybe wasn’t for him, or maybe it was, but what mattered was that even after all of that trouble, the people that he wronged in this adventure still wanted to help out. It reminded him of simpler times where everything was okay and he didn’t have much to worry about… Those times are gone by the same creature that is terrorizing Underland right now, and the Wonderlanders surely were at fault, but… at this point, did it even matter?
"...Yes, yes. It sounds good enough, please go through with it - One of the Suits should accompany you people for you to go through the Looking Glass, though…" He said. 
"I will do so." A voice spoke up, being Giselle’s, with Dero right beside her - with what happened on the Card Castle when both were on their own, he wasn’t that keen on going with her, knowing that she didn’t want to be at his side, at least for now - he knew something was troubling her, but he also knew that he wasn’t in any position to do something about it, or at least, he believed he wasn’t.
"...Okay. I’d recommend you to hurry, before that thing notices you and things go sour. There’s little to no time left for us to wander around doing nothing." Buddy remarked, as Neptune and Giselle left the scene to try and get the people to get out and take shelter in Wonderland, being one of the few actual options they had to avoid annihilation. Some were immediately on board, some others refused as the offer was on the table, but anyway, all of them ended up complying in one way or another, and as silently as they could, the Castle was quickly emptied, with only the group standing on the now lone walls.
Fylass, although being mostly quiet as things enveloped, seemed extremely troubled - not only because of the Jabberwocky, not only because of Cosmounse, but also for something else, that no one could put a finger on what it was - The gray jay above them seemed also distressed, as whenever the kid took a step that placed them closer to any window or door leading to the outside, the bird would try to make them go back, may be by chirping right next to them or even trying to use its faint strength to make them back away, not that the kid wanted to get out just now, knowing what kind of threat was outside the Castle’s walls.
"You seem quite anxious, dontcha?" A voice spoke to them on the side, being Rooky’s voice which just so happened to get out of the crown willingly, with Buddy taking notice of that, being fitting now, considering that she was extremely quiet due to staying in that crown, and only some people could hear her, for some reason, Fylass included.
Fylass was taken aback for a second, but quickly gained composure.
"Well… Yeah, I am, but it’s for what’s happening right now, and such…"
"...Are you sure? I ain’t gonna get mad if you’re lying!" She snickered.
"..."
"It’d proooooobably recommend you to spill the tea before it’s too late for you to do so, I am part of a crown, but even I know that bottling up feelings just so no one can see them is dumb. You’d bet how Buddy would be acting sometimes after a certain incident."
"...You know that?"
"Maybe! Maybe not! I am just waiting for them to notice."
"Why haven’t you told them anything?"
"Because it’d be funnier that way! Besides, do ya reeeeeeally think that they’d trust a word that I say? Being a crown apparently takes away points of credibility!" She spoke up. "But I digress, what I am saying is that at one point they’ll probably discover whatever you’re hiding, but making sure you reveal that to them, or that they figure that on their own depends on ya!"
"..." Fylass stood silent, thinking on what she just said - they wouldn’t want them to know that they could maybe not even exist, being just a figment on someone’s imagination, and yet, that feeling is eating Fylass from the inside, not being able to share this with someone just caused them more pain, but they didn’t want to cause more pain to others.
"...But-" Fylass was about to say something until they noticed something in the distance, or well, someone else noticed that something in the distance; The Clock Tower was seemingly acting strange, with its hands moving back and forth erratically, to the point that its hands spelled out impossible hours, which was odd, since time had stopped. The fog made it hard to see, but it was clear that something was very, very wrong.
"...Er… Apparently, the Jabberwocky isn’t the only thing we have to deal with now." Unicorn said, also noticing the anomalies that were going on in the Tower. 
"Could Majaway be there? That’s the only explanation I could figure out on this…" Celeernyx remarked.
Eventually, it came down to a consensus that they needed to get there, to not deal with two problems at the same time, and might as well try to fix one of them before they went through with the next one. The Gray Jay on Fylass’ head insisted the kid not to keep going, but it had to be done, and as the Wolpertinger left, it had no choice than to begrudgingly tag along to a possible danger that had to be dealt with.
The area was even harder to get to than the White Castle, being something unremarkable for sure… It was freezing cold, with the cold winds so familiar of the area making it hard for one to focus due to the foreboding sound they made, and the fog getting increasingly thicker and harder to look through, until eventually, it all stopped.
The cold of the land disappeared.
The winds stood still in the air.
The fog stopped being a thing.
Now, the Clock Tower was on the view, and an impending sense of doom made itself present amongst the dread and discomfort. It looked… off, ignoring how its hands moved erratically as the sound of gears turning could make someone deaf if they got closer, there was something about it that felt dangerous to even touch, and even Time himself didn’t feel okay by stepping on it, being just as quiet and usual, to the point that not many didn’t even notice he was there.
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"...I fear whatever’s going to happen next." Ades said again, as Fylass got closer to get to the entrance door, being opened by something or someone, long before they got there. It was all too quiet, until all of a sudden…
A growl was heard in the sky.
It was enough to shake the ground and the hearts of the victims that heard it, and by taking a look at the now dark skies, they saw it, the Jabberwocky, and sadly, it saw them too.
"...Oh no." 
The fog, cold and the winds appeared again in the span of a second, and the creature flying across the skies quickly flew across the group, placing everyone into a panic.
"RUN!" The first of the voices yelled across the chaotic grasslands, making it clear for everyone that they needed to flee if they wanted a chance to live - taking advantage of the muffling sound of the winds and the thickness of the fog, everyone ran to a random direction with the hopes that the Jabberwocky wouldn’t be able to see them.
A creature so mighty would place everyone in a panic quickly, but in the case of these people, many only have heard of it, but never got to see this creature fighting in its full glory, and that was terrifying, as for the ones of the White Kingdom, this only brought them the worst memories of loss they could ever think about, and if they didn’t hurry, they’ll be part of those stories as well.
The sound of the grass being flown around thanks to the strong winds was just for the setting, to see a tragedy play out in a random theater, and sadly, there were both spectators and actors in the same play -  a twisted scenario serving for entertainment of a few.
Fylass (with the gray jay still in head) quickly stumbled with Lucid and Buddy in the fog, being relieved that at least they found someone across the chaos, but it quickly shifted into panic as they heard the creature possibly getting closer, and it was time to get the others and run - poor them that didn’t plan this all the way through.
It would’ve probably ended well if the fog hadn’t disappeared out of the blue - like a cruel joke, it wouldn’t have ended well for any one, huh? Repeating a tragedy that both Wonderlanders and Underlanders would have to go through - it was only fair, right? Now they were exposed to the creature hunting them down, and it was pretty convenient that it saw the Wolpertinger and their companions first.
As the Jabberwocky flew towards them, Fylass pondered on what they could do in that short span of seconds… This creature going after them was created by them, after all, for they knew that this place wasn’t what it seemed, they knew the truth, but the others didn’t…
"..." Fylass remembered what Rooky had told to them, and at this point, whether it was for them to know the truth, or for them to finally understand them, and what they go through, Fylass got the cleaver from their bag and threw it towards the King and Bishop with the Club Key still inside, and sprinted towards the creature that would kill them with the hopes that maybe, they could have a bit more time to escape if the fog came back to save them in time.
With a swift move, they seemed to have managed to make at least the faint bits of damage to the Jabberwocky’s face, as they were lifted towards the skies for the final act, with the gray jay doing its best to avoid the same attack and fate.
Lucid yelled for their name as it all went through, not wanting to see another one of his loved ones die by the same methods, but it was all too late. Fylass knew they could come back as long as they fell asleep like some mere dream, but no one else knew, so in their eyes, they could only see how that dragon opened its jaws and all of a sudden, the kid was, sadly, no more, as their body shatters inside the creature.
The deafening silence came to be again, as if everything had stopped in time, with Lucid, Buddy and the others seeing how the kid died in front of their eyes, unable to save them in time, and they could only stay on their knees in hopelessness and shock, as the fog didn’t seem to go back, and the Jabberwocky was going to go after the King and Bishop.
Or well, was.
Dero, not being able to afford being in disbelief in a situation like this, intercepted between the future attack and took his sword out, trying to attack it once more with the hope that his attacks would be enough to scare it away, but surprisingly enough, no attack came.
Everyone had closed their eyes to not see the rampage, but no rampage came - everything went quiet, so so quiet, and when they opened their eyes, yes, the Jabberwocky WAS there, but it wasn’t moving - in fact, it was still and stiff on the air, stuck in time, still with that expression that a wild animal would make before eating its prey.
"..." Dero was only filled with questions and sadness, not only for this, but also because he had, yet again, lost someone that he could’ve maybe protected, and in ire, he started swinging his sword around, hoping that that would be enough to kill it, but no damage he could make seemed to even leave a dent on it, apparently because of the position it was in, not being able to give or receive damage, resembling a taxidermied animal, but those eyes were still full of life…
Lucid cried out for Fylass’ name, knowing that he was gone, and wouldn’t come back, or at least for now.
"WHY?! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!?" He yelled, doing his best not to choke on his words. "AS SOON AS I SEE A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR MYSELF AND THE PEOPLE I LOVE, THIS HAPPENS! WHY?! FIRST MY BUDDY, NOW THE KID?! WHY AM I SUCH A FAILURE?!"
Buddy was silent at this point, not being able to process what just occurred, but that last statement made him click something on his head.
"...Y-Your Buddy? …Wait… What do you mean by that…? You weren’t there on that… day…"
"...!"
"...S-Shard?" He spoke up. Shard, that name Lucid had before losing his old buddy and body in Wonderland, that name that no one should be able to remember at this point, besides someone that would be close to him on those days… Was he…"
"...That’s… T-That’s my name…" Lucid said, trying not to drown himself in his sorrows. "...How do you…"
It was clear who they were talking to.
Apparently, they weren’t gone, they never were.
"...Mags…?" He got closer, and all of a sudden, it was clear who he was with the whole time, and without words, the two got themselves in a massive embrace, crying over a loss, and crying over seeing another loss being healed.
The others would try to follow, not knowing what was exactly happening, but it was all too confusing to focus on more than one thing.
Lucid, as he realized the truth of the current situation, grabbed the bag Fylass had thrown to him, as one of his sorrows was eased, another one followed… Although…
This isn’t the end, now is it?
-------
@galakianexplosion (DRAWING AND SUCH :D)
@heiressofdoodles
@lostsoulau-ask
@loaflovesdoodling
@ilikesillythingswooo
@monsterhatdoodles
@moon-mage
@kirby-universe-4162
@den-of-the-blue-dragon
@kachikirby
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goodomensafterdark · 3 months
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Grief is the Thing with Feathers
Good Omens After Dark user Puddinpocalypse's salvo in the Angst War, focused on wings and loss.
Soft, sure fingers ran along the shafts of his primary feathers, rubbing manicured fingernails against the sensitive casings of the emerging ones. Crowley’s wings shivered under the intense attention, the rustling sound barely audible over the record playing Rachmaninoff’s Elegie. The mournful piano slightly distorted from Aziraphale’s insistence on using the outdated technology, a comforting sound he had grown accustomed to over the years. The demon lay face down on the bed, a thick duvet pulled just over the curve of his buttocks, secure and comfortable. One folded black wing wrapped in a warm, damp towel awaited the angel’s diligent ministrations whilst the other was flexed to its full extension, a soft-bristled brush taken in tiny circular motions over the more stubborn casings. 
“This must’ve itched like the dickens, Crowley, however did you manage this long?” Aziraphale exclaimed gently, paying careful attention to a particularly sensitive blood feather that had been bothering him for far too long.
“Mmmm, feels nice, angel.” Crowley moaned into the pillow, wing quivering before giving himself into the diligent hands amidst the delicate piano and soporific warmth of the covers. 
From his vantage point on the threadbare rug in the middle of his lounge, Crowley stared blankly at the scattering of black feathers that lay on the smooth, poured concrete floor. Wings haggard and throbbing, itching. They’d manifested themselves at the start of his moult, stubbornly refusing to be banished away to the ethereal plane where they were usually happy enough to be stored. He felt ungainly, clumsy in this cluttered human world with wings that caught on doorframes and cabinets. 
Continue reading on AO3.
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babe wake up androgynouspenguinexpert posted another character analysis from the train during her finals week because she's banned herself from drawing anything new
its time to tackle vega, because he's cool.
all of the characters carry a unique narrative theme or motif - the importance of self worth for gavin, impostor syndrome for asher, consent and control for marcus, etc. vega's theme is one of, if not my favourite: nature vs nurture, learned behaviour, and the morality of necessary evil.
vega doesn't start out as a moustache-twirling villain, but he's certainly hurting people for selfish reasons. however - the line between right and wrong starts to blur even across vega's first few appearances. as he points out himself later, vega has essentially created a closed loop of suffering to feed from. yeah, he got someone roofied and kidnapped, which is bad, but he's limited his victims to two people. ivan and baby. there's even a case to be made about baby's safety - ivan is volatile and incredibly dangerous (breaking either glass or ceramic with his bare hands???), but we never see him physically harm baby other than restraining them.
vega's age (pin this) has granted him an incredible level of experience and therefore intellect. he's probably the smartest piece on the board right now, save maybe for brachium (but he's sort of on a board of his own anyway). vega knows exactly what he is. he feeds on suffering and agony, and there's nothing that can change that. equipped with this knowledge, vega has managed to streamline the production of agony without really getting his hands dirty, and basically guaranteed the survival of both people involved.
then in comes caelum. he accidentally discovers vega's operation, and immediately runs to freelancer for help. vega proceeds to kick the shit out of caelum for snitching, and almost kills him. again, this is bad. i'm definitely not defending vega's actions here - but think of it from his point of view: he's set up a way of passively producing agony and is minding his own business. a daemon who is 24 (at time of writing) stumbles across this, and immediately threatens to shut it down as well as get him arrested. that's like a toddler walking in on a meth lab and running to the cops. vega probably could drop everything and relocate to avoid the department, but that would take a lot more time and effort than just soccer kicking the toddler over a fence. so he tries, and fails, because gavin steps in. gavin being able to overpower vega - despite being potentially hundreds of thousands of years younger - speaks to the inefficiency of vega's agony system, and he's smart enough to be well aware of that. agony (in a relatively nice part of california, anyway) isn't really a renewable resource like lust or joy are. harming someone, whether physically or otherwise, enough to fuel vega for any significant amount of time would either permanently damage or kill that person. that's not sustainable.
and then vega gets arrested. the human government asks a being probably older than civilisation to pinkie promise he'll stay in a little concrete box for a while. vega explains later that he doesn't believe in unnecessary violence - unless he decides that it is necessary, i guess - so he probably went along with his arrest fairly peacefully. there's another analysis in here somewhere about where (or from whom...?) the department learned its containment methods, considering they haven't really figured out aria yet.
but anyway - vega gets tossed into maximum security. and even from behind the ward, he's finding subtle (and less subtle) ways to stir the pot, especially with his new department-assigned therapist (another quick aside that's too good for the tags; did anyone else find it super fucking funny that vega's first real friend on elegy is his therapist?). i think vega feels neutral about elegy, leaning ever so slightly towards liking it, but he knows what he is. a demon. vega never was, and never will be, human. that's why he never audibly speaks (which is a fantastic detail) - he's rejecting the most basic form of modern human communication. language. yes, he knows english, but he's probably never spoken a single word out loud. vega's fear of daemons growing away from their roots is also why he starts testing for cracks in the warden's façade - he's worried that daemons are starting to assimilate a little too much. they're losing their identity as a separate species, and losing sight of the sacrifices made during the cacophony. and he's right - the cacophony has entirely faded into myth. his suffering and loss has now been turned into a fable; a cautionary tale about dealing with forces beyond our control.
next is the escape, which is both interesting and sick as hell. vega proves that he's not a fan of violence for the sake of violence by mincing some solitaires, tossing an unconscious warden over his shoulder, and escaping the detention facility. this is vega's first real selfless action. he definitely could have left the warden to the solitaires, but chooses to save them because of their compassion towards him. this shows a little of vega's internal struggle - he's never been around unconditional like, let alone love, because he doesn't need to. he needs to be unlikeable. manipulative. cutthroat. these are the things that keep him safe, but more importantly fed. we know from his imperium counterpart (who will eventually be getting a post of his own) that vega wants to be wanted. as much as he denies it and dodges the topic when it's brought up, vega is not intrigued by the warden because he can toy with them. he's drawn to them because they're willing to understand. they're hesitant, but for now they're giving vega the benefit of the doubt. he's never been given that before.
he also starts to wear down the warden's already fragile sense of morality with the kidnapped department officer. although his methods are very questionable, vega is correct again when he explains that he doesn't really have a choice. he won't hurt the guard, and the guard can't hurt him or the warden, but will keep spewing out hate that vega can feed on for the forseeable future. he's killing two birds with one stone as well - the warden is an inchoate. it's far easier for vega to track down (read: kidnap) one racist than to juggle the emotional intake of two people.
i don't think vega is just trying to break the warden out of their department mould for the sake of shenanigans, nor does he want to return to the glory days - vega knows that humanity and daemonkind are now inseperable after the imprisonment of the sovereigns.
he just doesn't want daemons - genuinely good people trying to make the best of a not fantastic situation - to lose sight of what they are. what they used to be. not anarchists, or pawns for the department. starchildren.
forgive me. i tend to wax poetic.
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]He was wary. It was impossible not to be after all, going to meet up with someone in the same field as his… someone even better, much more influential and big, with an extreme ease to acquire products.
To lure in the innocent
Even then, Elegy walked with a sense of confidence, phone in hand as his eyes reread the agreed address. It was near a famous bar, ‘The Jackalope.’ He went there only once, not quite his cup of tea. The rain was much thicker once he arrived to stand near the back door, umbrella in hand, adrenaline suddenly presenting itself in the way his hands just ever so slightly shook with expectation. Now all he had to do was wait.[
[Suddenly, the silhouette of a much shorter man appeared and walked towards Elegy, as it got closer it was obvious it was Fox, one of the most influential figures in the deep, dark corner of the internet. He was wearing a rather expensive looking suit along with a matching fedora and some nice black dress shoes, they clicked loudly on the pavement as he was under his own, more luxurious looking black umbrella.
Usually, the beastkin would visit this bar to attempt to capture his next, unfortunate “product”. That, thankfully, wasn’t the case here. Instead, he used it to meet up with the hypnotist as he was curious over his practices, wanting to learn them for his own benefit. Hey, maybe it might even help Elegy out in his field and boost his own work!
It felt like the rain grew stronger once Fox was standing right in front of him now, his orange eyes glowing with excitement as he had a smug grin on his face, chuckling under his breath.]
“Excuse me, are you Elegy?”
[The older man asked, waiting for the other to respond as he listened to the rain hammer down onto the bars rooftop.]
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kwebtv · 6 months
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Mark Goddard (born Charles Harvey Goddard; July 24, 1936 – October 10, 2023) Film and television actor who starred in a number of television programs. He is probably best known for portraying Major Don West in the CBS series Lost in Space (1965–1968). He also played Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard, in The Detectives, starring Robert Taylor.
In 1959, after just three weeks in Hollywood, he landed a role in the CBS Four Star Television series Johnny Ringo, having played the character of Cully, the deputy to Don Durant's character of Ringo. At this time, he changed his name to Mark Goddard at the suggestion of his friend and mentor Chuck Connors of The Rifleman. Goddard appeared as Norman Tabor in the 1960 episode "Surprise Party" of the CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He was cast as Sheldon Hollingsworth in the 1960 episode "To See the Elephant" of the ABC Western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. He played Tod Rowland in the 1960 episode "The Mormons" on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Goddard also appeared in The Rifleman as Marty Blair in 1962 in the episode “Mark’s Rifle.”
The Detectives, another production of Four Star Television, was a hit series which ran on ABC and NBC from 1958 to 1961; Goddard was signed for a role lasting three years (64 episodes). In 1963, Goddard appeared as Roy Mooney on the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Potted Planter". In 1964 Goddard appeared as Richard on The Virginian in the episode titled "The Secret of Brynmar Hall." That same year he guest starred as a wild killer named “Boyd” in the episode “Journey For Three” on the TV Western series Gunsmoke (S9E36).
Goddard's next role was Major Don West on Lost in Space (1965–1968). A blossoming romance initially existed between West and Judy, the elder daughter of the Robinson family, but by the middle of the second season, West maintained an adversarial relationship with the hapless, sociopathic Dr. Zachary Smith
Goddard guest-starred on three ABC series, The Fugitive, The Mod Squad, and The Fall Guy and for a while, moonlighted as a Hollywood agent. In 1970, Goddard co-starred with Kent McCord and Martin Milner in an episode of Adam-12, in which he plays a friend of Pete Malloy (Milner), who is killed in the line of duty. The episode was titled "Elegy for a Pig" (so titled and announced by Jack Webb himself). Mark Goddard also played Ellie May's beau on the Beverly Hillbillies. Goddard played a supporting role in a 1974 episode ("Dark Legacy") of CBS's Barnaby Jones.
In 1979, Goddard starred as Ted Clayton on One Life to Live and as Lt. Paul Reed on The Doctors. Later, he starred as Derek Barrington on General Hospital. (Wikipedia)
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lurking-latinist · 10 days
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re: these tags
THAT'S SO COOL AHHHH!! good for you aubreyad community stays winning
[introducing this with a disclaimer in case i'm wrong about everything: i am only halfway through the series rn (just about to finish 10) and also am but a mere undergrad classics major who has yet to even declare said major and I probably don't have the right to be yapping about propertius. nevertheless i shall.]
anyway i have been growing persistently more insane about diana's proximity to a Lot of classical imagery, like how her first appearance in post captain is literally during a fox hunt + all the gender stuff she has going, obviously linking her to mythological diana (and artemis if we're going to conflate the two) but your take has sent me in a whole new direction with that-- because she doesn't actually really embody the artemis archetype all too much overall (an emphasized character trait being that she's notably Not Chaste) EXCEPT in relation to stephen, w/ whom her relationship is much more brotherly than it is sensual i guess?
which would align very well with your idea of diana as elegiac puella-- sort of in a way being mythologized by stephen-- resulting in the reader actually being able to see two different manifestations of her character (one through the eyes of an omniscient prosaic narrator and one through the perspective of stephen as a "poet" figure). and i just think that's neat.
my latin class has also been looking at a few of propertius' love elegies and, at least to me, they read a lot like if stephen 1.) hated himself significantly less and 2.) were less indecisive in writing about his Feelings?? 1.8 (and all of the poems concerning cynthia moving/traveling away and propertius being all moody about it) is very reminiscent of the arc from post captain to the surgeon's mate imo. 1.12 is also Literally Him-- "cynthia prima fuit cynthia finis erit" can be compared to stephen's poetic catastrophizing about how his life is Literally Over and Love Is Dead when he believes to have fallen out of love with diana!?!? i'm going to lose my mind.
sorry for dumping all of this on you unprompted and also sorry for the fact that it probably does not make sense. peace and love
if undergrad classicists don't talk about propertius literally WHO WILL. (genuinely my currently-being-written phd dissertation chapter is based on an idea I had in the class I read propertius in freshman year. never feel like you're not a 'real scholar' or something yet, because you honestly never do become something different, you just keep reading and talking and this is what we do! there's nothing realer than this!)
oh wow that's really well put--we kind of get to see her from an omniscient-narrator perspective and through the eyes of her lover who is Not Being Normal About Her. very nice!
yeah I keep reading bits of propertius and being like "hmm is po'b going to quote this one I wonder." (he doesn't mostly but I keep thinking he should. because I want the aubreyad to be denser and less accessible I guess? :P) there's a lot of catullus woven in too of course - I associate Catullus 72 with the 'falling out of love' arc (my dude that is not what falling out of love looks like).
oh gosh yes 1.8 -- that was one of the things I was trying to describe to Distinguished Classicist, the way she's so -- what's the word I want? not volatile... she disappears. she's constantly Gone. you turn around and oops, she's eloped to Sweden. (honestly though if Cynthia and Propertius could manage to have *fake* revenge affairs that would actually be *great*, for them that would be an improvement.) Gareth Williams (in a chapter called, amazingly, "From Grave to Rave") describes Cynthia as "ever only elusively visible in the narratological mist" and I feel like that's a bit what's going on with Diana. For her there's a genre element as well--she's a woman in the Men Going to Sea books, and even though the Aubreyad gives way more time to women than the average Men Going to Sea book, the fact is the camera frequently simply isn't on her. We see far more of Stephen thinking about her, hearing rumors, etc. than we do of her actually being on the page. Now in elegy nobody seems to be quite fully on the page, we only get "fragments of story" as Genevieve Liveley and Patricia Salzmann-Mitchell say (excellent collection by that name btw, I recommend checking it out if you're at all interested in narrative and lyric/elegy). But Diana manages this while being in a novel, which is impressive to me.
yeah stephen as a character is a lot more... self-reflective? than propertius' speaker. for one thing he's in a novel, I think, so he can actually... have a series of contiguous experiences. he's also a compulsive diarist which is helpful for self-reflection I guess. and more mature, like, as a human being, than propertius' speaker, who apparently does nothing with his life except be in love and write poetry, he doesn't exist outside of as a poetic voice whereas, again, stephen benefits from a third-person narrator and has medicine and spying to do and so on. also he's Catholic.
I love the "Catullus-and-water" line, it's like O'Brian just put in a little wink to those of us who would notice this, like, "yes I am doing this on purpose." All in all I've pretty much defaulted to assuming that O'Brian is doing things on purpose. although he did forget Babbington's first name that one time and retconned it very awkwardly
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yogoodfella · 4 months
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Very well, I shall share my thoughts, as best as I can, right here. We've been waiting much for this, and there are things to be discovered about them every hour, so I can't really say that this'll be a complete analysis. Nevertheless, now it's really the time to go back on stage! These talks will talk about the cards purely on their role, their design, and references. I won't insert any of my fanfic thoughts there, though I have a few.
Let the new tour begin!
Melodious Concerto
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So we start off with the simplest card to talk about. This is what is essentially a Polymerization searchable by the new support, only it summons a Fairy Fusion and can use the Pendulum Zones as materials, which isn't much trouble in Melodious' case, as you'll see. This doesn't even require Melodious Monsters so... It could have potential even outside of a pure version. The GY effect is also kinda neat. It's the first Melodious card that can let you draw, which can make for some topdecks with its randomness.
Also... Aria and Elegy on the art. You know why they're there. Actually though... It's a bit weird of a pose for a Fusion Spell. They're not swirling towards each other, really, and they shouldn't exactly be used as Fusion Materials from the Field to begin with... It looks more as if they're on the Field, with their effects activated to protect the whole board. The pentagrams in front do seem to form a wall, after all.
Refrain the Melodious Songstress
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Refrain comes up, belts one out with a grit that's hardly showed by the Melodious in their singing just so she could announce that she's pretty much all we've been waiting for: a Pendulum Melodious that the archetype lacked, a GY dumper (with an annoying caveat) and a Stratos (that works EVEN ON NORMAL SUMMON). These two things alone were amidst the most asked for by players, the first for theming and second for consistency. And she's great in both.
I say so because both Refrain and her companion, who's next up, can place themselves in the Pendulum Zone after a Melodious Fusion is Fusion Summoned as they're in the Extra Deck. That does mean that they can't do this off of Ostinato, but the card became so good in here anyways that they can afford to wait before going there.
Her on-summon effect is Stratos, not much to say, that's amazing and new to Melodious. But her pendulum effect is annoying because it brings back a tradition with Melodious Support that no one missed: conflicting with Aria. Because it Targets in order to get a Melodious from your deck to the GY... And it has to be a Fusion Mosnter so there aren't many opportunities for this. Then again, it's not that big of a deal right now, as there aren't any Main Deck Monsters, even in this set, that have effects off being sent to the GY. But it definitely has potential!
Design-wise, she looks lovely. But I'll reserve most of my thoughts after her companion is covered, which is warranted since they're meant to be parallels of each other. A thing unique to her, though, is her hat and her fiery-colored scheme, especially the hair. I wonder if that's actually a reference to Halil...
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Remember this kid? He was the one who actually prevented Yuzu's first Pendulum Summon, and his theme consisted of Fire Genies. Could it actually be that the designers were somewhat inspired by this? It's all vague for me, but it would surely be cool if true.
Couplet the Melodious Songstress
And here comes Couplet, manifesting our joy in her songs! Let's see what, of her own, she can offer.
Her Monster effect is quite interesting: a Special Summon of a low level Melodious if it's revealed while added to your hand in any occasion besides the Draw Phase draw. Any occasion also means Shopina, Bloom Prima, and Soprano's effect of retrieving a Melodious from your GY. And she shares Refrain's effect of placing herself in the Pendulum Zone at the same condition. For her Pendulum effect... Well, she's a Spell/Trap searcher, as opposed to a Monster one. However... "Melodious" Spell Traps are actually very little. Most don't have that name, so the only targets are Illusion (very much a meme) and the new Concerto. Still good as a follow-up, but it's a shame she doesn't add Ostinato. Probably would have been OP though. Oh, and to keep the theme of Melodious being somewhat pure, you can only Pendulum Summon lights with her (very good) scale.
Admittedly, I couldn't find a specific reference in the design. She's cold color coded, the opposite of her companion, so maybe you can link it to Olga, Halil's Tag Duel Partner. However, I do very much like her skin tone being green. Weird, exotic colors were pretty much a staple with the Melodious Divas at the start, but we haven't really had a standout since Soprano. It's nice to see them back, even it's really only the case for Couplet and another Monster.
But... Let's do an extra segment.
Refrain and Couplet complete one another
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It's evident that these two were designed as a pair because they mirror each other quite a bit in their effects, and their scale can Pendulum Summon the whole of the Melodious archetype. However, it's not just the effects that synergize, but also the designs.
Both artworks share certain elements such as the hand-over-chest pose, the light (very much the Pendulum's light) shining from above, and the most relevant one, double-ringed bracelets with a gem on the middle, just like Yuzu's! Refrain and Couplet also have differences in design that makes them mirror of each other: they share the color scheme and design of the dresses of Mozarta and Shopina respectively, albeit the armored, plated parts are different (Refrain has chest covered, and plates on her left hip with a blue gem on one, and one on the right shoulder, and Couplet has her torso covered with plates on right hip with a gem I can't quite make out -higher res is needed here- and left shoulder). There's some more asimmetries between their outfits as well, so they do look weird unless you see them together, which you should in a Duel. And they both have neon pentagram-shaped butterfly gown wings and that's just SO PRETTY. And both have black markings down their opposite eyes.
Bach(a) the Melodious Maestra
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Now THIS. THIS IS MONEY.
In both ganeplay and design, this Card is just incredible, I might just be in love. I'll unashamedly admit that she's by far my favourite card of the set, and I know that another one has risen way above the rest in terms of popularity (in one day, which is legit impressive).
Let's get over how she's in game: a beastly extender who also acts as Fusion support. She requires 2 Melodious Monsters, making her the prime target for Ostinato. And she has 2 Special Summons of Melodious: 1 from Deck when she's Special Summoned, and one from the GY when she's sent to it, BY ANY METHOD (so also Diviner and Brilliant Rose). Well, this excludes herself, but it's still 2 Special Summons from favorable places, and it can be, in the second case, EVEN THEIR END BOSS. AYO. That's unbelievable enough, but here's another thing: Fusion Melodious' effects cannot be negated while she's on the Field. So that means even her own Deck Special Summon. Fantastic, she's legit incredible.
And now how about that design. Also incredible. The elegance and majesty of the Maestras was effectively brought back full force, and with an imposing black and orange scheme with gold accessories (even a huge treble clef that her left arm goes through), and red underdress, like a rose. Also her Hair's a bass clef and with her red eyes, hat and everything, I can feel her OP-ness and elegance, this is just magnificent.
That one-eyed golden mask of hers is also a really cute nod to Lunalight, albeit I don't know whether that makes her red eye glow more of if the other's obscured by the hat. But still... Red eyes, dark scheme, transparent gray veil, imposing pose, and inspired by Bach... This can go very well as a Parasite Fusion. Well, in this case, it's a reenactment, a gloomy one... And upon researching Bach further and remembering his songs... Dark, disturbing tones, especially with his Fugue in D Minor, really hammers the darker tone a Parasite Fusion card oozes. Not to mention the shade of purple of the background, as well as ORGAN PIPES AS BACKGROUND... The inspiration is too much, this is GENIUS. UNBELIEVABLE.
But she was not the main star of the show. In the fandom, for who she represents, and as a Card, we now have the main star of the concert:
Flowering Etoile the Melodious Grand Choir
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As soon as Melodious was announced to come back, she was front and center. Well, of course! Not only is she the end boss, but she's also the Anime Character stand-in that all ARC-V decks got as of late! That's right, Yuzu has finally joined the Melodious Ensemble and become their End Boss.
This makes her position similar to Brave Masurao of Gongenzaka inspiration. However, while at launch Superheavy Samurai was more focused on efficiently going for generic negates, Melodious has to stay pure, so she's going to be core to any threat and disruption they can pose. Making her a 3 material Fusion also prevents Ostinato from just launching her in one move.
And yeah, while it's limited to essentially have just her (and Schuberta) as disruption, she's a really fun and potentially devastating one: she makes you banish any number of Melodious Monsters (until the End Phase) in order to return up to the same amount of your opponent's cards to their hand. You can do one or two early to disrupt combos, or call off the whole board while they're about to be wiped out and save them. Also the bounce doesn't target, and it's the same idea I had with my custom end-boss! That does mean, however, that the Melodious don't count themselves as Special Summoned anymore, so if Aria or Elegy get banished, they've lost their script. However, this does mean you can reset Schuberta's "once while face-up on Field" effect.
Also, if her opponent disposes of her except returning her to the Extra Deck, she can Special Summon pretty much any Melodious besides her.
But let's talk to the bigger reason she's broken through and risen above the rest... Her design and inspiration.
Well, I'll open this up with a take that I'm not sure you guys are going to like. Nevertheless, I've always been fairly open with criticisms. Even still, I promise to be fair.
I'm very ambivalent to this design. I like how she looks as Yuzu, but I don't like much how she looks as a Melodious Monster.
I'll go for the latter first. I feel like her style is very much contrary to how the Melodious dress in a way that she feels way more like an Idol rather than a classical singer. And Yuzu wasn't really much of an Idol, unless the Mikiyo duel, which had as much focus as anyone has on breathing when not told to do so manually, became the prime inspiration for this design. The bottom part is SO BUSY. Flowers, medals, gown after gown, ribbons, stars, it's just too much! If you changed her eyes a little bit, she would look like a Trickstar Monster! Also I can't make out what her hairstyle's supposed to mean, unless it's all kinds of bass clefs strung together.
That's where my conplaints end, because here comes the other part of the design... Which tends to be more of the focus when it comes to porting a character as a monster, which is the character part.
As Yuzu, the references are fantastic, simply put. She's pretty much got everything (besides other characters' themes aside from one) that Yuzu represented:
The bracelets are back, Yuzu styled, and on both hands this time.
The Hair colors are exactly like Yuzu's: soft, light pink with some darker tones, and it's somewhat reflected on her dress as well. Also the treble clef hairpins, doubling up as a callback to Yuzu and Bloom Diva!
Her flowers are Citrus flowers, and Yuzu is very much Citrus in japanese!
The mail below the flowers has an interesting pattern: one plain, one orange with a bright star, just like Yuya's goggles.
Admittedly this one's a reach, but there seem to be white butterfly-styled hair clips and white flowers on her slippers. You know... Like Pendulumstatue White Butterfly and White Flower? Kinda, the styles of such are not the same.
THE PINK PENTAGRAMS OF VICTORY! They're on both of her hands as tatoos!
So yeah, this one looks as if she had more of the job of referencing Yuzu than being a Classical Melodious Monster. It's definitely growing on me, especially as I've seen fantastic artwork of her already (IT HASN'T BEEN A DAY) and there's one last thing about her that makes her super valid: the Japanese name "Melodious Floral Song Goddess".
Yuzu joined the Melodious Ensemble and became their goddess.
Perfection.
Miscellaneous thoughts and conclusions
Ok! Phew! Each Monster is now covered, although here's some more of my thoughts before we close this off.
No Ostinato searching makes our Hands still reliant on having it already. Well, it's to soon to say that, because the theorycrafters are still working on the combos and it looks like Refrain and 1st Movement are also excellent starters, so we'll see!
Sadly, there aren't any references to Masumi and Sora in any of Melodious' presence, which is a shame. Heck, pretty much anyone besides Yuya is missing, and it's a bit of a blow considering the many great friendships she had. But I have hope for the future now that it's confirmed they haven't left Melodious to languish. Who knows, something even greater might happen!
There's no way Melodious is a top contender: that would require alienatingly strong support and more, because Melodious tends to be Pure in Monster variety. They'd need an entire revamp whereas these add another step to their current one while making it more active and fun.
Overall, I'M SO HAPPY that the support came back, and this fully inspired me! No doubt, you'll see more from me about these lovely ladies and their performances! I've got the ideas rolling, all that's left is letting them rock.
It's good to be back, weirdos!
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