#Guess I'll get back to that one... at some point | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

akari-of-moonlight · 12 hours ago

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HELLO GUESS WHO'S GOING TO TRY TO WRITE A REGULARLY UPDATING FIC!!!

I don't have ao3. uh. here.

Kamimura Kazutoshi and the Unfortunate Reality of Interpersonal Socialization

Chapters: 1/17

Fandom: Tetro Danganronpa Pink

Relationships: Kamimura Kazutoshi & Everyone

Additional tags: Alternate Universe - Dorm AU, Fluff, Humor, Some emotional stuff will probably find its way in here but this is a silly fic, 5+1, kind of, it's more of a 15+1, I don't know how to tag fics help

In which Kamimura Kazutoshi slowly and unwillingly gets to know the fifteen other freaks in his dorm building.

I'll try to update this weekly on Sundays but this is my first ever consistent fic and I'm Nervous. to say the least.

Thank you to @thewhimsicalenderdragon for betaing I love you

Prologue (How the Fuck Does One Get In This Situation?)

Kazutoshi was going to bash in someone’s fucking skull.

That was the only thought in his head as he slouched against an empty wall.

It might’ve been a bit overdramatic, but sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and altogether full of spite and malice as he was, he didn’t have the patience for another painfully optimistic orientation just for the freaks in his dorm. He didn’t exactly come to university to fuck around and socialize.

Unfortunately, he didn't exactly have a choice.

Wonderful.

He gazed around at the unfamiliar faces around him, registering them each in turn.

The first person he saw, a brown haired guy dressed in eyeball-scorching, headache-inducing red, was engaged in equally as eyeball-scorching, headache-inducing argument with a raven haired girl whose voice sounded unequivocally patronizing. A third glasses-wearer stood behind them awkwardly, rolling his eyes every time one of them made a particularly pointed jab.

On their right, another group buzzed with a cacophony of exchanging exceedingly louder personal information. Kazutoshi groaned internally. If he was going to live in the same building as these people, they’d better be able to fucking shut up.

Within the group, Kazutoshi’s eyes skimmed over a short blonde girl whose violent arm waving had probably been on the receiving end of several manslaughter charges, a willowy girl who wore the bright red against her dark skin much better, if Kazutoshi were to judge, and a tall, slender figure hidden under an altogether unnecessarily large coat. He shivered as his eyes fell upon their painted kitsune mask, looking away before the slits of those eyes could catch him staring.

In a farther back corner of the room, another trio was gathered. This time made up of a tall, broad shouldered guy whose tattoos made him look like he should be on the poster of a movie Kazutoshi would rather die than watch, a tiny blonde girl who looked at most, like, twelve, and a large straw hat. There was probably a guy under the hat, but Kazutoshi didn’t get that far before registering a much more significant detail about the group.

The guy in the hat had open a backpack, and peeking out of it like a housecat was a fucking tiger.

Kazutoshi blinked, hard. Who the fuck let this guy have a tiger? How did this get past the administration? Better yet, was he planning to keep the fucking thing?

Kazutoshi had heard stories about exotic animals found and kept as pets in college, but he’d expected, like, a peacock or something. He flinched as the tiny girl reached to pet the tiger. He wasn’t exactly ready to see a small child get her fingers bitten off by a tiger. Miraculously, the tiger just pushed its face into the girl’s hands, like it was a cat urging scritches. He looked around, baffled that no one seemed concerned about the apparently very real threat of getting mauled to death by an oversized housecat in the middle of their dorm hallway.

Then he did a double take. He squinted at the tiny girl’s bouncy blonde twintails, vague memories floating to the surface of his now aneurysm-riddled brain.

No fucking way. No fucking way the live fucking tiger was somehow still not the most insane guest in that trio. The girl turned to say something to the tattooed guy, and Kazutoshi caught a glimpse of her face. Yup. That was Chiba fucking Airi. In his dorm. Playing with a fucking tiger.

Sure, why not? Why the fuck not.

Kazutoshi quickly turned to look over the rest of the gathered crowd. He needed something to cool down from whatever he’d just seen. No such luck with this crowd.

Leaning against a far wall, a blonde guy with sparkling blue eyes who looked like he belonged in a hotel staff lineup and a bright, bouncy girl wearing a fucking cape chatted as if either of their attire was normal.

A little further down the same wall, a small boy who looked like he’d blow over in a small breeze fidgeted with his stained jacket as his eyes fixed on the ground like he was waiting for a hand to reach up from it and pull him down into the depths of decade-old carpeted hell. He was the third person Kazutoshi had seen who made him wonder if he had somehow stumbled into a fucking middle school somehow.

The boy glanced nervously at the person closest to him, a girl with bright red hair who surveyed the room in a similar fashion to Kazutoshi, eyes flicking around with more analysis than nerves behind them. Her bright tattoo and toned arms made her look like a stereotypical delinquent, but she didn’t seem aggressive or hostile. Her eyes met his for a second and she raised an eyebrow. Kazutoshi looked away, caught, as he focused his gaze onto the last set of people in the hall.

A girl with vibrant orange hair tied up in twintails and a tall, awkward looking guy with soft brown eyes sat in vague silence next to each other. Kazutoshi couldn’t exactly read the air between them, and he didn’t think he wanted to. The brown eyed guy adjusted his overly formal suit – why would he wear a fucking suit for this? – and cast a glance around the room as well. He caught Kazutoshi’s gaze for a second and an awkward, nervous smile slipped onto his face like a greeting. Before Kazutoshi could respond, the suit guy turned away, looking like he’d remembered something. He fished around in a bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out something Kazutoshi couldn’t see. He hesitated, then offered it to the girl sitting next to him, who accepted it, the two of them starting up a less awkward conversation.

Kazutoshi looked away, opting to glare around at his more inanimate surroundings rather than be caught staring again. His eyes fell upon a slightly obnoxious sign declaring that he was going to have a stellar time in the Fujioka dorm. He rolled his eyes, wondering if it was set up by a member of the staff, or by one of his overly enthusiastic dormmates.

Behind the sign, the ominously cracked walls of the building displayed flaking light blue paint. The entire room they were in, which seemed to once have been a dining commons, but now was a fissure-riddled, weirdly barren lounge room. Kazutoshi glanced at the thin but vaguely threatening cracks, wondering how many students before him had prayed under this roof that the building would wait to fall apart until after they graduated. Not like he was going to break the tradition.

A high pitched whistle cut through his thoughts and his eardrums.

Around him, the others flinched at the same time, before turning to see the source of the sound.

“Jesus, Sasaki. Are you trying to give us all tinnitus?” The guy cosplaying a stop sign snapped, covering his ears.

The raven haired girl next to him sighed. “I’m trying to get their attention, Hiroaki.”

“Well, give me a warning first next time!” Hiroaki whined, red sunglasses flashing and practically radiating an obnoxious air as he crossed his arms.

“I literally– No, I’m not going to do this,” Sasaki said, shaking her head and turning to address the group as Hiroaki glared at her. “Okay! Thank you all for coming out here!”

“We… didn’t really have a choice,” the masked figure from the right corner pointed out. “The dorms are still being… cleaned.”

“Wait, what’s wrong with the dorms?” her blonde compatriot asked. “I just went straight here cause I thought it was, like, a get together.”

Sasaki tried to cut in over the murmurs of a lot of people who really didn’t know how to whisper. “It is, and nothing’s–”

“No, the dorms are fucked,” declared the red haired girl, still leaning against the wall. “Apparently the wildlife got to it over the summer. Rooms are trashed.”

“That’s not–” Sasaki tried, but she was interrupted by the chatter of overlapping voices.

“Are we sure it was wildlife, and not, like…” the girl in the red uniform piped up from behind the blonde girl, trailing off and gesturing in the direction of the tiger guy.

Chiba Airi leaned around the backpack that was blocking her view, proclaiming, “Sawa would never!”

“Is that a fucking tiger?” Hiroaki screamed from the front of the room.

The blue haired boy standing next to him shook his head. “How did you not notice that before?”

Hiroaki glared at him. “Oh, I don’t know, I was a little distraced by Miss High and fucking Mighty–”

“Okay!” Sasaki yelled, flicking her hands exasperatedly. “If you would all let me speak, I have a few things I’d like to clear up, as the only one here with information from actual staff.”

“She takes one summer of prep classes, and she thinks she’s queen of the school,” Hiroaki muttered.

“I heard that,” Sasaki snapped.

“Oh no, you did? I was praying you wouldn’t. This is a nightmare,” Hiroaki said, sarcasm thick enough to stop a bullet.

Sasaki muttered something that sounded like “You’re a nightmare,” and continued.

“Alright, well, as you all have been informed, the dorms are…”

“Fucking trashed?” The tattooed boy suggested.

“Temporarily out of commision,” Sasaki corrected. “But they’ll be ready by tonight, I’ll make sure of that. In the meantime, you all can get to know each other a little bit, and I’ll do my best to make sure all of you can unpack as soon as possible.”

“And it will definitely be ready by tonight? Like, actually ready?” Hiroaki prompted.

Sasaki turned to him with a tight lipped smile. “Yes, Hiroaki. They will be. Give or take… a few mattresses.”

“What?” Hiroaki demanded in time with a few others from the crowd.

“Just yours, Hiroaki,” Sasaki half-singsonged, the vocal equivalent of smoothing down a skirt. She turned to the rest of them with a forced smile, raising her voice to be heard over Hiroaki yelling about being an insomniac. “In the meantime, get to know your roommates! A good relationship with them is very important.”

The room dissolved into a gradient of panicked or excited chatter, everyone mimicking freshly dropped marbles in both movement and cacophony. Kazutoshi spotted the tiger being stuffed back into the hat guy’s backpack and breathed a sigh of relief. In the corner of his eye, he noted the guy in the suit glancing in his direction, before being pulled into a conversation with the orange haired girl.

Sasaki tapped the blue glasses guy, pulling him aside. Now a lone fire alarm in the buzzing crowd, Kazutoshi saw Hiroaki glance around at the others, as if he was looking for someone. Then his eyes fell on Kazutoshi, And he started walking.

Kazutoshi almost ran. He had the feeling he was about to regret not going for it.

“Hey you. Blue,” Hiroaki said, sauntering up to Kazutoshi with impenetrable smugness.

“Hey you, asshole,” Kazutoshi retorted, mimicking his tone. “Who the fuck starts a conversation like that?”

“Excuse me?” Hiroaki said, sounding appalled. “Do you know who I am?”

Kazutoshi rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, he’d seen the fashion designer’s name on a magazine or two. Assuming this was the same guy, though, he couldn’t exactly act all high and mighty if he was going to university here.

“I don’t care who you are. Fuck off,” Kazutoshi growled, eliciting a gasp so dramatic he was surprised there was any air left in the room.

“What the hell is wrong with you? And how do you not know me?” Hiroaki said, aghast. “What is your problem?”

“Well, currently, it’s that a fucking stranger won’t stop bitching at me,” Kazutoshi retorted.

“You’re so crass!” Hiroaki yelped. “And so uninformed. You seriously don’t know who I am? My heart bleeds, Kashimura.”

“Kamimura,” Kazutoshi corrected on instinct. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Wait. How the fuck do you know my name? Why the fuck do you know my name?”

Hiroaki crossed his arms, “Why should I tell you?”

“Oh, fuck off!” Kazutoshi snapped, mind racing. He hadn’t told anyone his name. He hadn’t even talked to anyone.

Luckily, Hiroaki obliged, his apparently bruised ego sending him back to his blue-haired human support blanket’s side. As he glared over his shoulder at Kazutoshi, he “whispered” something to the other boy. Kauztoshi heard the word roommate slip.

Oh fuck no.

Kazutoshi glanced around across the room like anyone in there could save him.

No such luck.

Maybe he could just live in the lounge room.

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irisluvsabby · 13 hours ago

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cowboy!abby x victorian princess!reader pt. 1

cw: mostly fluff but i guess it gets a tiny bit heated towards the end, abby is kinda mean at some point, abby is older, reader is a spoiled princess.

you were the daughter of the really powerful man in england which has granted you the title of princess, however you were known to be really bratty and have a strong attitude. you wouldn't go to your reading class, would try to run away as soon as you dad arranged you another marriage with your cousin etc. overall you just hated the royal life and wanted to have some fun.

but for your dad you were just ungrateful and bratty, which was okay before you went off one night to go to a pub and some peasants saw you kissing another woman. that was the last straw for your dad who decided to send you to america, in a farm that was owned by a close friend of him, he knew that back there, you wouldn't cause anymore problems to the royal family.

so after three weeks of long and exhausting travelling, you finally arrived to the farm your father sent you to, and you weren't exactly happy about that. that as until you saw the woman who runs that farm. tall, blonde, big muscles rather masculine and older than you. that woman looked like she came out of one of your wet dreams and suddenly you were happy about your dad sending you here.

"name's abby and i run this farm, your dad sent ya here as a part of your punishment right?"

"oh yeah- i guess so.." you said, looking up at her.

"follow me i'll show you your room."

she then walked to the house without even offering to carry some of your many bags.

"um would you mind giving me a hand?" you asked her like she was stupid.

"come on you have like three bags and i'm sure you can handle yourself"

you huff, trying to gather your three bags in your hands, god she was lucky she was so hot because if not she would've been a pain. when she opens the door of your tiny room, you're met with a single bed with one pillow and a few covers, a desk and a small wardrobe. you looked at the place in defeat.

"is there anyway i can get at least a king sized?" you asked abby innocently, referring to the bed.

she then chuckled, walking away back to the kitchen. "this ain't england hun, you'll deal with what i give ya." she said not even turning around to look at you.

"ugh." you huffed before starting to put away your things in the small bedroom. but not even 10 minutes after that, abby was back at your door, "come here i'll show u what u want u to do around here everyday." she said as she watched you fold some pink and white clothes she knew damn well wouldn't stay that color. "and maybe we should buy you some other clothes because i'm not sure ya want to take those to the pigpen darling."

all of the nicknames she gave you made it impossible for you to act bratty with her, it was like she had some control on you. "i mean yeah? but i thought i would only give out hay and stuff like that?"

she laughed before setting you back down on earth "hell no, you're gonna have your feet in mud. come on we'll go in town to buy some useful clothes." you sighed before following outside. she then jumped on one of two horses that were standing outside. "oh we're going to town horse riding?" you asked her in disbelief. "do you not have a carriage?"

"do you not know how to ride a horse?" she asked sarcastically.

"okay okay.." you said before getting on the other horse.

the ride to town was like 10 minutes, which with abby were 10 minutes of pure silence, you tried to ask her a few questions and make small talk but oh well.

once in town she took you to a store, claiming that you'll probably find clothes to your liking in here. and you did, that cowboy style was kinda growing on you. you got boots, two or three pair of jeans, and cute flannel tops with ruffles, you also found a cute sundress which you had to try on. abby was waiting for you this whole time so you decided to ask her opinion on the dress you had tried on.

"hey abby look at that", you said to her, getting out of the dressing room to show her the dress, it's wasn't that short but it was an over the knees length which was new for you but you didn't hate it.

she walked towards the dressing room to take a good look at you. "oh that looks nice, be careful tho the men in town won't let you go if they see you like that." she said with a grin. you frowned to that, "oh i do not want the men to notice me don't worry."

she raised her eyebrows "oh yeah? well okay then, come on we gotta go back to the farm." she quickly said before turning back around letting you change back and pay for your items.

once back at the farm, you changed into some new jeans and another more comfortable top abby gave you because you still missed a few.

back down, abby told her to follow her as she was taking you to the pigpen, "okay ima need you to clean that place, i didn't have the time to and yeah it's rlly gross, there's buckets of water outside, good luck.", she said before going back to her horses.

"um excuse me? why are you making me clean that for my first task?? can't i.. i don't know check if the cows are okay and give them water? i don't want to do this ugh"

you start complaining and abby did not like that a single bit. "listen to me princess, your daddy sent you here for a reason, and i'm the one in charge here, you'll do as i say okay?" she says without stuttering and looking down into your eyes.

"and what if i don't want to?"

abby waited a few seconds to walk back towards you, looking at you up and down, wondering how was she going to put her words right for you to understand.

"oh the princess doesn't want to do what she came here for? okay maybe you're not gonna want to eat tonight or maybe you're not gonna want to clean yourself after the day? because i'm the one who pays for that shit i can decide wether you're gonna use them or not, got it?"

abby genuinely seemed pissed off, like she definitely wouldn't take no for an answer, after all she only did a favor to your dad, taking you with her, so she didn't have to be patient with you, it wasn't her part of the deal.

"okay then.." you said in defeat, looking down at the floor.

"good. there's a rake, bucks of water and you can put what needs to be thrown away behind the pigpen." she told, not leaving room for protests as she finally went back to take care of her horses.

the next two hours was like hell for you. you never knew a pigpen could be that dirty, and that pigs would get in the way so much, but you could say you did good work, and you were proud of yourself.

you finally decided to go back to abby, telling her you finished taking care of the pigpen. and all she had to say was "took you long enough". you couldn't help yourself but feel a bit hurt as you did your best, but when she saw how the place was clean and you did great she told you to go back inside, get clean and get ready for dinner.

a few days had passed after the incident, farm work was still annoying and hard for you, but you were finally getting to know abby better and growing closer to her, you would tell her stories from when you lived in england, and she would tell you stuff she did when she was younger as she was about 8years older than you. and after figuring out you both liked women, some flirting took place inside the farm.

abby showing you how to actually ride a horse, not in the princess way, which implied her having her hands on your hips, and you couldn't say you didn't like it. you also started teasing her with that new sundress you got the other day. one day she was doing the dishes and that's when you decided to sit on the counter beside her, your dress riding up and letting her see your thighs pretty well.

"what do ya need doll?" she would say. which you would respond with something along the lines of "oh nothing, 'just like watching you", and that made the well composed abby blush, a sight you don't see often.

"you're gonna drive me crazy with that dress." she simply says, and you are surprised but very happy to hear it.

so you put a hand on her shoulder softly, "what if that's what i want to do hm?" you admit, voice full of confidence after abby's revelation.

without thinking abby moves away from the sink to place her self in between your legs as you were still sat on the counter, and abby being tall made it that you guys were really face to face for once.

that act made you shiver, and you felt your heart beat into your chest, either from your nerves or the anticipation. abby was making it hard for you to compose yourself so you didn't think about what you were about to do.

"kiss me?" you tempted, with doe eyes which abby knew she couldn't resist before putting one of her hands under your chin, and kissing you hungrily, like she waited forever for that day to come.

when the kiss ended, both of yours and abby's lips were swollen from the intensity of the kiss.

"should we take this to my bedroom yeah? i have a king sized" she winked, mocking you for the first day you got here. you playfully hit her, "just take me upstairs", abby chuckled at that before carrying you bridal style.

an: should i continue this into a part 2?

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 2 days ago

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THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY - Journal #12: Route 4 - "TRUE" ROUTE DAY 33-58 [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

//After I finished the Conspiracy Route of the game, I kept playing down the supposed "main" route of the game, without hitting any endings in particular.

//I do feel like I am just on the verge of one, so I will most likely cover that ending in my next journal. However, for this one specifically, I will be going back to the old format for these, covering it day by day, and breaking down my thoughts and feelings on each event that happens.

//Because trust me, there is...A...LOT!

//We get some CRITICAL revelations and new information in SPADES in this segment, and covering this many days, when I would normally do around 10, means this post has the potential to be quite long, so I'm going to try and abridge my experience and break it down as plainly as possible in the points where I need to.

//...Strap in I guess, and as per usual...

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED/SEEN THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS AND MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME.

//So let's get into it...

DAY 33:

//So to recap where we last left off, we completed the Conspiracy Route, which kicks off with a critical decision that is made in this battle.

//After the UFB defeats V'ehxness, she employs a gambit that involves kidnapping Kurara and Gaku, so she may absorb them to heal herself and replenish her Hemoanima. In the timeline that I played through previously, the path diverged after I saved Kurara, and left Gaku to die.

//However, in order to stick to the true beaten path, we need to save Gaku. So with a heavy heart, I went back to Day 33 afterwards, and decided to let Gaku get absorbed by V'ehxness.

//Well...I say "heavy heart." But I mostly mean that I'll miss Kurara. I certainly won't miss the Conspiracy Route.

//One thing that did annoy me here is that even though I've already done this fight in full, and despite how there's a critical decision at the end if it, this is the only time the game hasn't given me the prompt to skip the fight.

//Granted, it's probably BECAUSE of the decision at the end, but again, this is easily fixed if you just have a WAVE skip feature. Get on that, TooKyo.

//Anyway, Kurara gets absorbed, and I hate V'ehxness with a burning passion.

//Seriously, the more I see of V'ehxness, the more I dislike her. Not because I think she's a poorly written villain or anything. In fact, I quite like the idea of there being a character in one of these games who is just pure evil. But this narrative structure is a bit of a double-edged sword to be honest.

//On the one hand, this portrayal of a supremely strong and unyielding force of evil serves to further themes of war, loss, and the high price of resistance. It presents a more realistically tragic picture of struggle, challenging the conventional heroic fantasy of effortless victory.

//Because let's be real. The idea of the heroes ALWAYS coming out on top against their enemies in a game that is about the horrors of war is VERY unrealistic. The fact that only a few characters died in the original timeline, and most of them were offscreen, was in line with the idea of a video game. But this part of the story now feels like it could be happening in a real life scenario, where we are forced to watch our friends die as we slowly sink deeper into pain, knowing we can't fucking beat this threat.

//However, this approach, for me at least, becomes very narratively unsatisfying from how often it happens. Having a villain like V'ehxness runs the risk of making the game seem pointless when she consistently invalidates the effort by taking back control, reviving herself, or invalidating hard-won victories.

//If every strategic success is undone, and each emotional investment leads only to greater loss, the game can veer into narrative stagnation, where progress is illusory. Which undermines not only the tension, but...you know...the whole CONCEPT of the game?

//If the result is always the same—V'ehxness wins and someone dies—then the stakes lose their significance.

//But...hey, that's something I'm gonna have to get used to. I just hate her and needed to rant.

//You know, the funny thing is, at this point I was wondering if Takumi maybe had the power to jump back in time again, even if he didn't retain his memories. It doesn't make any sense to me that he could only do something like that once when he didn't lose the UFB's power.

//It didn't make an awful lot of sense to me that he didn't try for a better ending, but I guess that's player choice at the end of the day, since most of these endings are kind of independent of each other regardless.

//I bring this up because I recently watched a horror movie called Happy Death Day for the first time, and it reminded me of that.

//For those who don't know, Happy Death Day is a black comedy slasher film that is, in short, Scream meets Groundhog Day.

//The story follows Tree Gelbman (Yes, her name is Tree; it's short for Theresa), a college student who is murdered on her birthday, only to wake up and relive the same day over and over again. Each time she is killed, the loop resets, and she retains her memories, allowing her to gradually uncover clues about her killer's identity, so she uses each iteration to not only survive but also to become a better person, confronting her own past and relationships.

//Which felt like a really uncanny movie to watch, since I imagine Takumi doing the same thing with his timelines, going back to rectify his mistakes.

DAY 34:

//Like at the beginning of the Conspiracy route, Day 34 starts off with Sirei giving everyone the super energy drink.

//Bro is built different, lol.

//Anyway, this scene doesn't change too much from how it was in the previous route, except for two major differences.

//One: Gaku is here instead of Kurara, for obvious reasons.

//And Two: Nozomi is not present, also for obvious reasons.

DAY 35:

//Oh, so THAT'S where this sprite comes from!

//I remember seeing it in the demo files, and was thinking "How is Kako gonna secretly turn out to be some sort of horndog." And then the kinky group sex line from the demo didn't really reassure me on that.

//But no, she's not horny, she's just drunk.

//It is funny seeing the Tsukumo twins looking all high and dumb next to each other.

//Not much to report on, only that the gang have apparently been drinking all night, and I get Free Time again...Not that I can SPEND it on anything.

//Honestly, I was running a bit low on materials after all the upgrades and gifts and shit I was doing, but because everyone is drinking their depression away, and Nozomi is too caught up over Kurara's death, Hiruko and Eva are the only two who can come with me on expeditions, and that's not really worth the trouble in my opinion.

//The problem is there is very little else I can do in this Free Time because of that. Getting the resources I need to upgrade my kit, tools, and bonds using gifts isn't possible when basically everyone in my team is indisposed.

//So my only choice is to either sleep through the day, or do the VR missions, so I did the latter.

DAY 36:

//This whole next segment of the story gave me some tense feelings.

//For starters, Hiruko’s behavior is starting to mirror Takumi’s from earlier, right after he was knocked out by Sirei. She’s now putting total, unquestioning trust in Sirei, almost like she’s been rewired to follow him blindly.

//When Takumi finally brings up the secret she once uncovered about the war (the one she tried to reveal in the original timeline before Eito killed her) she doesn't seem to have any idea what he's talking about.

Which strongly suggests that, just like with Takumi, Sirei may have tampered with her memories too.

//I really hope this doesn't mean we need to go to ANOTHER route to find out what she was talking about.

//The silver lining is that Hiruko herself seems to sense something is off. There’s a flicker of awareness in her that gives hope.

//I can't help but laugh about how I immediately found Sirei endearing, but now that he's getting the chance to actually, you know, be a character, I REALLY don't like him. I'll talk more about this near the conclusion of this post, but this isn't the first sign of bullshittery we get from him.

//But while that confrontation brews in the background, we’ve got another urgent matter: cheering up Nozomi. She’s been through a lot lately, and Takumi’s determined to do something meaningful for her.

//The plan is to build her a telescope, so Takumi and Eva gear up for another crucial expedition, this time to gather the rare materials needed for it.

//Unfortunately, the rest of the team is still recovering or otherwise unavailable, leaving only Eva and Hiruko able to accompany him, like I said before.

DAY 37:

//Fortunately, this issue does get resolved the next day, as everyone manages to recover from their slumps, except Nozomi, which I guess is to be expected.

//Am I the only one who noticed that Nozomi is unavailable more than any other character in this game is on frequent occassion? There's always some sort of reason in each timeline that prevents you from hanging out with her or taking her out on expeditions.

//Anyway, Takumi gives her the telescope, and the two stargaze. Leading to a very soft moment between the two.

//I love these moments with these two. They're easily my two favourite characters in this game, and their interactions are so familiar and wholesome, and it's always the best part of whatever bad situation we end up in.

//For some reason, I feel more connected to them than I have any of Kodaka's protagonist pairs. And yes, I do mean Naegiri, Hinananami, and the Training Trio.

//I love those characters and their dynamics, don't get it twisted. But these two together are just the best and most wholesome.

//Maybe it's because Takumi and Nozomi are more Uchikoshi-coded though, like Junpei and Akane from 999.

//Anyway, the good times can't last because, as expected, Nozomi suddenly starts experiencing rejection symptoms again.

//Obviously, everyone knows about Nozomi's unique circumstances here, so Takumi goes to explain the problem to everyone, and that they need to raid an enemy base and have Nozomi absorb a Commander's hemoanima to cure her.

//This leads to honestly a pretty badass and just generally satisfying moment.

//Sirei refuses to allow Takumi to raid the base, because they need all hands on deck, and he can't afford to split the group. And of course, since Sirei has kind of bugged Takumi to make him subservient, Takumi begins to (be forced to) see the reason in Sirei's words. And the little shit clearly knows he's in control.

//At least he does for a moment.

//Takumi's love for his childhood friend finally overpowers the hold Sirei has on him, and if Sirei refuses to let him go, he will go by himself.

//Unfortunately for Sirei, the others don't accept this. Moko, Takemaru, and Yugamu agree to join him on the strike force, and Sirei is given no choice but to acquiesce.

DAY 40:

//Jumping ahead a little bit, because I don't have anything critical to report, but as we've done in previous timelines, we get to the Invader base, and fight.

//However, one thing that IS different this time is I actually had Nozomi use her healing ability on herself. As you know, in these rejection symptom fights, Nozomi starts the fight with two thirds of her health, and is chronically slowed. But I never used her own healing ability on herself to see if that cures it.

//Turns out it does, so why the fuck are we even bothering?

//Okay, I kid. I know that Nozomi is using the Hemoanima to heal herself, which would probably make the symptoms worse in canon. I just think it's funny that this illness can be resolved with the push of a button.

//Anyway, like in the other timelines where I did this fight, the Commander we battle against is Quenzelle, the Commander who flies in the air and drops eggs.

//Although, one thing I couldn't help but notice is Quenzelle doesn't really drop eggs in any of the fights against him other than his initial one. I wonder why they gave him that power, only for him to never use it.

//Overall though, we have a fairly easy fight.

//But it ends interestingly, with Quenzelle saying similar things to Eva and Addamaque. He implies that humans were the ones who attacked the Invaders first, which we do get more information on later, but more on that in a bit.

DAY 41:

//If we got back to the school to find the Invaders attack, I would have pissed my own ass. Fortunately, we're in the clear.

//Everyone heads off to get some rest, but Takumi and Nozomi hold back.

//We get yet another touching scene where these two lovebirds open up to each other, and it ends with, surprisingly, Takumi telling Nozomi about everything that happened between them.

//INCLUDING how Nozomi is supposedly his childhood friend Karua, after having her memories of their life being taken from her...supposedly.

//Like I said, I love these moments between these two...And this one is my favourite so far. Takumi finally seems to realize how much this whole thing is weighing on him, now that he's finally being open and honest about it. How much he misses Karua, and his home, and his normal life, and how he chose to put the burden of saving his friends on himself, while blaming himself for every point he failed.

//And Nozomi understanding this, even without the context is just... *chef's kiss.*

//What makes it even better is that the English Dub makes it so powerful. Jay Rincon and Leader Looi do an amazing job selling the pain and recognition feeling between these two characters.

//Unfortunately, this wholesome and heartwarming moment is ended on a low note.

//Nozomi talks more about her backstory in corrolation to Karua, after Takumi notes that the scar is the deciding factor as to what helped him recognize her in the end. But Nozomi claims that her mother also died in the car accident.

//This is a completely different story than she told before, where she explained her mother committed suicide after her research was halted.

//This is a pretty big deal, beacuse avenging her mother was the whole reason Nozomi is even here. So what gives?

DAY 42:

//Takumi suspects Sirei might have fiddled with Nozomi's memory too, which is not impossible. And the idea is reinforced when the guy starts being a gaslighting little shit when Takumi confronts him about it.

//Sirei instead implies that when Takumi jumped back in time, he actually jumped into a different universe where things were a bit different. Considering how varied some of these timelines are, I don't think this is necessarily wrong, but that...

//...combined with that fact that THIS happens makes me think he's just fucking around.

//I got genuine trauma from this, because I saw this kind of scene essentially non-stop in the Conspiracy route.

DAY 43:

//I genuinely take back everything good I said about Sirei by this point.

//The guy is gaslighting the hell out of me, and is lobotomizing not only Takumi, but everyone else, because he's so insecure, and feels so powerless to control the members of the SDU.

//It makes me wonder why he even bothered trying to ease us into fighting in the first place if he could just tinker with our memories and make us into entirely different people who become subservient with him.

//What's upsetting most is as the commanding officer, Sirei is responsible for helping humanity win this war, yet it feels like every time we've fucked up in the past, it is always his fault.

//The entire casual route was his fault, for instance. And it's only because of his shitty commandeering of the situations that we lost Kyoshika and Kurara in meaningless sacrifices.

//And the whole thing becomes even more uncomfortable and disgusting over the ensuing days.

DAY 44:

//Honestly speaking, had I not developed such an intense hatred for Sirei's actions over these past few days, I think I might have been able to stomach Day 44 to 46...But as it happens, this part of the game ended up being incredibly controversial, and I think I'm starting to understand why people were complaining about it.

//Effectively, what starts this off is Kako makes Eva eat something strange, and for a brief moment, it actually seemed to snap her out of the brainwashing Sirei inflicted on her.

//She starts screaming something about her sister, and it looks like she's about to relapse fully, when Sirei strides in and takes her out, as he does OFTEN in this second scenario.

//Which you hate to see. Especially given how much I've already grown to like Eva.

//This kickstarts a three-day sequence where Takumi is roped by Sirei and Nigou into re-brainwashing Eva to make her compliant again.

//Honestly, this whole situation is emotionally exhausting. I wish the game gave us a choice to let us say no to the idea of brainwashing her, but instead, it feels like we’re being railroaded into complicity.

//I mean get it. Takumi’s probably still under Sirei’s lingering influence, and maybe that’s part of the point. But it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.

//At the very least, Takumi’s discomfort is obvious. He’s not okay with what’s happening, even if he can’t fully resist it yet. That small resistance in him is all we have to hold onto.

//And then it got…deeply uncomfortable. Because it's another roullette wheel game where you spin it, and whichever it lands on will be her new personality, until we get her back to "normal."

//The first time I did it, it landed on "Decadent." And...

//It got this...

//How the FUCK does "Decadent," mean HORNY!?

//Yeah, not gonna lie, I'm USED to Kodaka and Uchikoshi doing shit like this, but even for me, this was unsetelling and distressing.

//Anyway, it's a failure, so we try again tomorrow.

//On a brighter note, Nozomi reached Bond Rank 2 today. She’s still an absolute ray of sunshine, and honestly, we desperately needed that right now.

DAY 45:

//Despite all the shit that happens here, Day 45 actually starts off well.

//Gaku tried to recreate Kurara’s curry, and everyone eats it for breakfast that morning.

//Gaku doesn't get a lot of good moments after the initial time we see him step up to fight, and then I guess when he holds the festival to cheer Kako up and make up for making her upset.

//I don't hate Gaku, because he has his moments like this, and I like that he's still carrying the weight of being the one who survived when Kurara didn’t. Kind of shows that despite how much they hated each other, he does miss her.

//I was also a LITTLE happier, because when we brainwashed Eva again, THIS TIME the wheel landed on "violent." Which led to another one of these super angry breakdowns like the one in the Casual Route.

//Unfortunately, it doesn't last, but I WAS kind of hoping she'd break out and go on a rampage.

DAY 46:

//My heart bleeds for Shouma in moments like this.

//Throughout this arc, he's clearly been devastated by what Eva’s going through. You can tell he genuinely cares about her, and he just doesn’t know how to help. Watching someone you love fall apart while you’re powerless to stop it is like torture, I can imagine.

//The good news is we finally managed to "cure" her this time. She seems stable, at least for now. But even that is bittersweet, since, as Takumi says, this isn't really who she is.

//Nigou’s reaction is…a bit off-putting. He’s way too cheerful about Eva returning to her submissive state. I get that he’s relieved she’s not being harmed anymore, but his tone felt tone-deaf.

//She is still brainwashed, after all. But hey, I am also glad that we're not gonna kill or torture her any more.

DAY 47:

//Aw shit...Here we go again...!

//Yeah, I'm never gonna be a fan of THIS fight. Who knows how many more fucking times I'm gonna have to sit through it.

//This time around, we get to see Nigou in his human form during the hallucination. Which, in theory, should be fairly standard, but the moment he shows up, everyone in the dream starts threatening him on sight, which I think is really funny. Poor guy can’t catch a break, even in people’s dreams.

//Wow not even a reference, just straight up name-dropping the character.

//Also, Eva is here too, and in the dream sequence, she basically confirms that she is an alien. Though in the sequence the Artificial Satellite is her spaceship, so I'm not sure if that's meant to suggest something.

//The way this event pans out this time around is similar, but still different. So, apparently, due to her cryptoglobin being boosted, Turamtammi's power is now strong enough to the point where normal human ears cannot pick up the frequency of her music, which is why we all got corrupted anyway...

//Kiiiiiinda weird that this is only happening in this route and not any of the others where I've fought her?

//But just like last time, the UFB is able to resist the effects, and goes to save Takumi. Though we actually experience the game from his perspective for a little bit.

//I genuinely feel for UFB. The little guy just wants to be included.

//Well, THAT'S a hell of a statement.

//We end up in a huge battle again. Same setup as last time: facing off against Turamtammi and Nyewgank. But this time, I stuck around for the whole thing instead of fast-forwarding through it.

//But then…EITO shows up.

After we take down Nyewgank, Eito suddenly jumps in, siding with the Invaders, and of course, it's playing his wack-ass boss theme again.

//The more important thing though is, like before, Eito has unlocked the truth behind the war, or at least parts of it. And as he has a tendency to do, he's yapping during his boss fight.

//I was actually getting hyped for a proper showdown with him. Thought we’d get some intense back-and-forth…but nope. I obliterated him in a single hit. So so much for dramatic tension.

//After the fight, in typical Eito fashion, he pulls a wild move and absorbs both Turamtammi and Nyewgank before we can.

//Eito starts unraveling the whole mystery too. Not only does he essentially confirm that Sirei has been messing with the group's memories, he even makes a case that there’s no guarantee that the people we think we’re protecting are even on the Artificial Satellite anymore.

//He also explains that the reason he's siding with the Invaders is because his final plan is to absorb our Cryptoglobin, then allow himself to be consumed by V’ehxness to reach some twisted form of transcendence, and make her all-powerful so she'll kill us all.

//Not sure why he wouldn't try to do it the other way around honestly; let V'ehxness absorb the power then take it from her so that he can be the one to kill off humanity. But Eito is as Eito does I guess?

DAY 48:

//Seeing as UFB managed to save the group the previous day, Takumi goes to talk to Sirei again about letting him get on the squad. This time, we will get through to him.

//...Or not.

//FUCKING TRY HARDER TAKUMI! MY GOD!

//Takumi doesn't even have the excuse of being subservient to Sirei anymore! He's kind of moved past that, so now he's just pussying out!

//Speaking of which, luckily, the gang are starting to catch on to Sirei's antics. Obviously, no one is willing to accept this kind of idea coming from Eito of all people, but Tsubasa and Takemaru present physical proof that something fucky is happening.

//Takemaru keeps a journal/diary, and in it, he notes that he went to talk to Eva about something, which he has no memory of doing. He most likely heard something critical from her, and Sirei ended up erasing it from his mind.

//When the trio go to ask UFB about it, Takumi is so eager to get to the bottom of this, he almost lets himself get eaten by the Undying Flames in order to get his attention.

//Side note, the English Dub lines don't match with the English text. Not a big deal, but it's weird that this is the only time in the game so far that this has happened.

//Unfortunately, UFB doesn't have any idea about the process. But even though we don't get definitive answers about the memory tampering, the group agrees to discuss amongst themselves about letting UFB join the team.

DAY 49:

//Leading on from that, the group all gather in the cafeteria, and it's time to do something that we haven't done for a while now. The negotiation minigame.

//On Sirei of all people.

//There is actually some funny dialogue exchanges in this scene. Namely:

Gaku: H-Hey, if you guys shut me down like that, it makes me sound like a dick... Takumi (internally): You are kind of a dick.

Kako: Maybe if we figure out his weakness, we can negotiate.

Ima: What an annoying little mini game. I want no part of it. Gaku: We can just make Takumi do it. He's team leader. Takumi: I was already planning on it...But the least you could do is not say it like that...

//The interesting thing is throughout the day, we actually get multiple different gift ideas for Sirei, though I don't imagine any of them really work.

//The three gifts are a gun, a bottle of wine, and a globe. I gave him the wine bottle, and while it seemed like he was taking the bait, he ended up smashing it.

//As if he couldn't get any more annoying.

DAY 50:

//So, you might not remember, but in the original timeline, when we got to Day 50, Sirei suggested that he had a gift prepared for the rest of the group in the cafeteria. But obviously, because Sirei was dead by that point, we never got to see it.

//Now though, we do. But it turns out it was just a couple of dingy little badges.

//Classic bait-and-switch for these types of games.

//HOWEVER, the cafeteria meeting does yield interesting results.

//Largely the reason why Sirei refuses to let the UFB be part of the team is because in his eyes, he is not a living being, and doesn't deserve to be treated as such. He exists purely to be a weapon, and has no human rights.

//However, Nigou reveals that despite Sirei's words, the opposite is very much true. Because part of his duty has been to protect the UFB, and because they've spent so much time together, Sirei has so much familiarity with the child that he's come to view him as a sort of son, and cares about him more than he lets on.

//The reason he is so obstinate about this is because, as an AI, he doesn't want his own feelings to sabotage the mission.

//Nigou helps Takumi create a photo album made of memory banks shared between him and Sirei, and Takumi gifts it to the Commanding Officer, finally initiating the minigame.

//And...to be honest, I get that this is supposed to be a serious, passionate moment of depth for Sirei or whatever, but honestly, it just came across as really silly to me.

//The good news is that Sirei becomes willing to compromise, and asks Takumi to make a deal.

//To be honest, it's not a very good deal, but Takumi is willing to bend to it if it gives UFB the chance he needs to achieve his desire to have friends and classmates. Effectively, he says that if Takumi and the others agree to stop poking into the matter about their missing or manipulated memories, he'll try to pull some strings to make it happen.

//Takumi does tell Sirei to stop doing the memory manipulation though. Whether or not he will comply with that counteroffer remains to be seen.

DAY 52:

//The UFB arrives at Takumi's room and uses the door like a normal person, which somehow scares Takumi way more than the way he usually appears, which I think is funny.

//Anyway, Takumi takes the boy to the cafeteria to finally meet everyone properly, and they begin to introduce themselves.

//I don't remember if this was brought up before, because I genuinely don't remember, but apparently, when the Undying Flames boy fires off the final attack, his body will be burnt up by his own Undying Flames, and he will die.

//Granted, he DID die in other timelines. Like, I remember him doing so in the Retsnom Route when we used his final attack on V'ehxness. But I thought that was just him overusing his power and his avatar disappearing. The final attack does still kind of happen.

//Which is sad, and unfortunate that it took until Day 50 to finally turn Sirei's thinking about it around. Because now we only have 48 days or so to get to know this dude and become friends with him.

//We get another choice here, for Takumi to make a judgement call. Letting the boy join the team or not.

//Now, this is a weird choice considering the efforts we went through to actually get him to this point where he's meeting the others, and it feels too cold to turn him down. So I ultimately decided to let him on the squad.

//I guess the whole reason why is because if the boy joins the group, chances are our fights will get longer and harder, because we won't be as prepared defensively. Keeping him where he is means we'll be safer and more secure, but like...I couldn't do him like that.

//What's even better news is that now we're at this point, UFB finally gets a name, meaning I don't have to call him ghost boy or UFB anymore. And that name is...

//Honestly speaking, I expected the boys name to be Hie or Hono or something like that, since it's Japanese for fire or flame. But I did a google search, and this does kind of make sense.

//Shion in Japanese is spelled 志音, made from the kanji for "will/purpose" (志) and "sound" (音)

//So effectively, it's eluding to the fact that he is humanity's voice incarnate, since he's the reason we're going to win this war against the Invaders.

//Things seem to be looking up...but even with Shion on the squad now, things don't end to brightly.

//Takemaru doesn't take kindly to the deal Takumi made with Sirei. Obviously, Takumi doesn't like it too much either, but he only went with it because he had Shion's best interests in mind.

//Meaning Takemaru is most likely going to take matters into his own hands.

DAY 53:

//As was sort of to be expected, Takemaru didn't show up for the morning meeting, but neither did Gaku. Meaning the two of them were likely plotting something.

//That aside, Shion is now available during Free Time events. He can't be given gifts, and he's not in the report card, but he does have his own bonding events that can be unlocked through talking to him.

DAY 54:

//This kind of just continues on from the effects of the previous two days. Only that Yugamu starts acting a little bit sus now.

//This isn't part of the plot, but I spent some time with Kako today in the library, and there was a kind of sad event, which is pretty rare. In short, she was talking about ghosts, and said she wanted to see her parents again as ghosts.

//Speaking of Kako and her brother, she and Ima believe that Gaku is acting really on edge, even for him, and they believe that someone is goading him into believing what Eito said about everyone's families not being safe on the Artificial Satellite.

//Strange though, since there doesn't appear to be anyone outwardly having a reason to do so.

//And they really want to emphasize this because they play the same flashback sequence twice in quick succession? Like...yeah, game, I get it!

//Takumi, you've had HALF A WEEK to take the initiative! Just fucking do it! Stop stalling!

DAY 56:

//This day was quite possibly the most tense in the story so far.

//In the morning, Gaku somehow hijacks the school announcement system, and tells everyone he's going to force Sirei to contact the Artificial Satellite, no matter what it takes, and tells everyone to head to the Gym if they want answers.

//Everyone rushes over, but it doesn't go down well. Sirei is nowhere to be seen, and for some reason, without ANY proof, OR indication, Gaku, Takemaru, and Moko blame Takumi for siding with Sirei, and fucking ATTACK HIM and the others.

//This time though, it's not shitty writing that's to blame for the characters acting up for no reason. But we do get a cool sequence here before the fight, where we get a transformation sequence from GAKU'S perspective, IMMEDIATELY followed up by the same sequence from Takumi and his group.

//I wasn't expecting Gaku of all characters to have his own version of the cutscene. Eito and Nozomi did make sense, at least.

//Anyway, we get a fight here. It's not too difficult, especially because Moko, Gaku, and Takemaru ain't got nothing on Takumi's team which is himself, Nozomi, Hiruko, Tsubasa, and Shouma. With just three of them, they're very easily beatable.

//I like the idea of Takumi using his super powered Azure Blitz on them to get them to shut up though.

//ANYway, after being defeated, Takemaru and the others calm down, and the truth comes to light. As it so happens, Yugamu was taking advantage of their already tense feelings, then used drugged snacks to strengthen those feelings until they were sent spiralling into a pit of fear and doubt, which led to them attacking the others.

//All of this was to create the perfect distraction to allow Yugamu to capture Sirei and get answers out of him. And he's able to do so by performing surgery on himself and removing the bomb from inside his chest.

//The reason he did this is because Yugamu himself is concerned about Eito's words, and doesn't think it's wise to outright dismiss them. Especially since Sirei has been especially shady.

//He goes on to explain that he had a "loved one" back on the Artificial Satellite. Someone that he promised he would kill one day when not tied down by his family's work. And if there's any indication that that person may not still be alive, then he wants answers, if nothing else.

//Nigou and the others manage to persuade Yugamu to release Sirei by explaining that, even if Sirei wanted to contact the Artificial Satellite, the classified nature of his mission prevents him from doing so easily.

//Though Takumi eventually convinces Yugamu to let Sirei go, the assassin still demands answers. Sirei finally complies and reveals the truth.

//He explains that his entire existence is dedicated to fulfilling his mission. To do that, he needs not only the intelligence to follow his programming but also the flexibility to adapt to unexpected situations.

//As he puts it, his consciousness is shaped by "the will of humanity."

//To make the best possible decisions for the human race, Sirei has been programmed with simulations of humanity’s collective thought patterns. Every time he faces a choice, he runs these simulations to reach an unbiased outcome. In other words, he arrives at decisions by effectively running a virtual majority vote based on all of humanity’s perspectives.

//Since the mission is critical to humanity's future, it's only logical that it reflects the will of the species as a whole. And because the mission is classified, and he doesn’t have the luxury of asking each person individually, he relies on these internal simulations to determine the consensus.

//This process can take time, which is why he sometimes vanishes for long stretches. Additionally, to keep the mission free from individual bias, Sirei is unable to follow orders from any single person.

//Which is really interesting and also...

A LOAD OF CRAP!

//I'm sorry, I GET that humanity are not ever presented as being a righteous species in this story. But you CANNOT convince me that all of the terrible shit Sirei did is based around what the majority of the human race would do!

//If this is consistent throughout the different timelines, my suspension of disbelief will not account for an entire race of people thinking it's okay to:

Brainwash people, and in one outcome, to the point where one becomes disillusioned with reality.

Not allow ANY sort of contact with the characters and their homes.

Commit war crimes on these level (largely with Eva)

KIDNAP a bunch of LITERAL CHILDREN!

Make said children FIGHT in a WAR!

//And SO much more!

//What makes it even more stupid is quite LITERALLY in the same breath, Sirei and Nigou admit that the mission is confidential, and only a select few people on the Satellite know about it.

//THEN THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR!

//I GUARANTEE you that if humankind knew about what was going on, the results would be VERY different!

//OF COURSE humanity aren't allowing contact with the Artificial Satellite. Humanity don't even know we're FUCKING DOWN HERE!

//It's honestly infuriating that people can look at this and NOT see a very blatant problem with this system. It's not only nonsensical, but it's egrigiously self-destructive!

//Of course, I don't blame Takumi and the others for leaving things at that, because...how the fuck do you even RESPOND to something like that?

DAY 57:

//Alright then. THIS is the point where things start to get kinda nutty, so prepare yourselves.

//The next enemy attack happens today, and the Invaders are once again joined by Eito, but this time, the fight is a little bit different.

//But if there's one thing that's the same, it's that it's yet another Eito fight where the guy just does not stop talking throughout the whole thing. And this time, it's a back-and-forth with Sirei.

//Side note, just in case I forget to bring it up later, this is another part of the game where Sirei really kind of got on my nerves, because he doesn't justify himself AT ALL during this back and forth. Eito plants the ideas of doubt into everyone's heads about what he really found out about the war, and goes into detail explaining when and how he discovered it, even if he doesn't drop the whole truth immediately.

//And Sirei only responds by saying effectively "He's lying, shut up, fight."

//Does he WANT me to be on his side or not?

//Also, Eito does tell all the revelations he discovered during the fight, but it's hard to keep track of them all. He does give on major hint, where he mentions that Earth died a long time ago, and there's more to World Death than we know.

//The more important thing here is that this is a fight against Zen'ta, the commander who can copy people's appearance, and who did so to Moko in the original timeline. This time, however, she seems to do it for Eito, suggesting that the real Eito Aotsuki was killed and replaced with her.

//This is not the case. Eito is still in this fight; he's simply hidden among a mess of clones.

//In order to defeat them all swiftly, we use the same ability that was used previously at the end of the Retsnom Route with Shion putting all his power into a final explosion to take the enemies down.

//Which...is confusing.

//I know that Shion is effectively on the team now, but if I rememeber correctly, didn't using this attack kill him in that timeline? That, coupled with how this fight ends, should really have been the end of the guy.

//Speaking of flames and Ultimate Moves though, I've noticed that almost every time I've fought Eito after the initial final boss of Route 0, I've always unintentionally finished him off using Takumi's Azure Blitz.

//I think I'm gonna try and keep that trend going ;)

//But after Eito and Zen'ta are defeated, the final scene of this day is RIPE with plot twists.

//Firstly, much like he did to Turamtammi and Nyewgank, Eito absorbs Zen'ta before any of us have a chance to, but then V'ehxness shows up to absorb him, just like he planned for. But BEFORE he has a chance to, he tries to drop lore on the war, only for Sirei to suddenly dash down into the field, because he's desperate to cockblock the group from any of the answers.

//But in doing so, he almost gets taken out by Zen'ta, still holding together a form of Eito. But before Sirei can get merced, Nigou jumps in the way of the attack, and dies in his place.

//Which after everything I've had to suffer through with Nigou, the only thing that makes me sad is that Eva was made to watch a character who, in a odd and sketchy kind of way, did try to keep her safe.

//Like I said, after that, Eito absorbs Zen'ta, which heals all his injuries and fatigue, and then V'ehxness appears to absorb him. V'ehxness manages to get MOST of Eito's power, but before she can get all of it, Shion dive-bombs into the battlefield to rescue him.

//As a side twist, it's revealed in this moment that Eva is actually V'ehxness's sister.

//She really IS Mukuro, huh? Secret 16th party member, sister's with the megalomaniacal main villain, is originally an enemy to the party, etc. The list kinda just goes on.

//And as she...seems to have a habit of doing to be honest, V'ehxness decides to leave her final attack for later, so she can once again spend some time recovering from her injuries, and also to give Shion a chance to recover from his.

//This day ends with another choice, with Eito now at our mercy and somewhat crippled by V'ehxness - to either kill him or spare him, much like the first choice that was made after Takumi jumped back in time.

//As you can imagine, there is no way I am killing this fuck, no matter how much he might deserve it. Takumi justifies the reason being he doesn't want to kill another human being, but I personally just want to hear him finish what he was saying.

//And I don't give a damn what Sirei says. He can't be trusted any more than Eito can.

DAY 58:

//Everyone gathers in the courtyard the next morning to hear what Eito has to say, with Eva carrying around the destroyed carcass of Nigou, which makes me a little sad tbh.

//As expected, Sirei does basically EVERYTHING he possibly can to stop Eito from talking, endlessly nattering on about how everything Eito says is a lie, and when Eito finally starts dropping the truths, he even clams up and refuses to affirm what he says, which isn't earning him any brownie points.

//But thankfully, Shion interjects and blackmails Sirei at the right moment, saying he'll have the SDU members break into the defense room and kill him if he doesn't answer their questions, so Sirei is given no choice but to bend, leading to him and Eito finally dropping the big reveal...

//At least...the first one, because there seems to be even more to the story that I don't know yet.

//Mad respect for Shion though. I feel like ever since he's been getting more screen time, he's really become a great character.

//The major plot twist in this game centers around a single, crucial detail that was deliberately kept from the characters for these 158 days. When this truth is finally revealed, it completely reshapes our understanding of the story.

//That key detail...is that we are NOT on Planet Earth.

//Throughout the game, everyone believes the Tokyo Residential Complex is an underground shelter on Earth, built to shield the last remnants of humanity from the apocalyptic event known as World Death. Shion was supposedly sent to Earth to eliminate the Invaders—monsters thought to be Earth's final threat to humanity—while the rest of the Special Defense Unit protected him at the Last Defense Academy until the weapon could be deployed. Meanwhile, the remainder of the human population supposedly escaped the planet and relocated to an Artificial Satellite to avoid the fallout.

//But the reality is far more complex. While World Death DID trigger the war, Earth itself was destroyed long ago, ompletely devoid of life, and likely no longer even exists. The damage was catastrophic, far worse than the devastation seen outside the fire barrier.

//In fact, Sire's EXACT words are that Earth was "on the verge of exploding."

//In truth, humanity had spent generations constructing the Artificial Satellite as a means of leaving Earth entirely. THAT part, at least, remains true, but not in the way that everyone expected.

//The Exodus Project, which everyone believed was an evacuation plan to survive the war, was actually a mission to abandon the real Earth and find a new world for what was left of humanity. As it turns out, the Tokyo Residential Complex where the SDU lived has always been located on the Artificial Satellite. Meaning this is where we ACTUALLY were at the beginning of the game.

//During the Satellite’s construction, humanity also searched for a suitable replacement for Earth, and they eventually discovered one.

//This new planet, known as KXK-787, or as Eito and the Invaders refer to it...Futurum.

//Which is...a little on the nose, but hey, I'm not complaining.

//The planet is strikingly similar to Earth. It's in a life-supporting zone, covered mostly in water, and has all the right conditions for human habitation.

//That’s where we are now. Not Earth. Futurum.

//One of the main reasons so little is known about Earth within the Tokyo Residential Complex is because humanity left it behind centuries, possibly even millennia ago; long before Takumi and his friends were ever born. Sirei explains that the SDU weren’t told the truth because it was considered too abstract and disconnected from their reality, which would only confuse or destabilize them.

//Which I'm gonna have to call bullshit on, even if I do kind of get it? If you ask me, Hemoanima, Shion, the Invaders, World Death, and almost everything else that came before this is far more complicated and otherworldly than even space travel. At least sci-fi is a genre that's been confirmed to exist in this world. And yet those concepts are the one's that Sirei spends the least amount of time explaining, because understanding it any more than we do would be "pointless."

//As I've said before, there was also an underlying desire among some humans to bury the past and avoid facing the guilt of destroying their home world, but more critically, after humanity's departure from Earth, internal divisions began to form.

//Some factions believed humanity should return and face the consequences rather than flee. This ideological clash nearly led to civil war, prompting leaders to restrict access to knowledge about Earth and the Artificial Satellite. As a result, most civilians were left in the dark.

//I really appreciate this twist because we’ve already seen evidence of it! This idea is pretty much what the Conspiracy Route revolves around, with the Anti-Exodus faction and Gotou. It’s satisfying that the primary route reveals this later, giving us new insight and a clearer explanation for earlier events.

//Still, despite all the time, effort, and sacrifice poured into the Exodus Project and the journey to Futurum, humanity made a critical error: Futurum, while eerily similar to Earth, was already inhabited by an intelligent species. One with its own society, history, and belief systems.

//That species is V'ehxness and what we’ve come to know as the School Invaders. In actuality, they're their own species of intelligent lifeforms called "futurans." Not creations of World Death AT ALL.

//Initially, humans tried to communicate and negotiate with the futurans, but remember, the only reason Takumi and the others can even understand them now is because of the Hemoanima, which allows for some level of translation. Without that bridge, misunderstandings led to conflict, which escalated into full-scale war.

//The real challenge for humanity was that, while they held the technological edge, the futurans possessed a unique biological advantage. Occasionally, individuals were born with a rare type of blood that granted them immense power in combat, so overwhelming that even humanity’s most advanced weapons were rendered useless against them.

//You've probably already guessed it, but that special power is Hemoanima, or Cryptoglobin, which the Enemy Commander's have. That's why they're heralded as heroes in their culture.

//The Commanders; V'ehxness, Eva, and the others; are seen as divine champions by the futurans, chosen by the god they worship. Humanity’s advanced weaponry was completely ineffective against them, and for generations, people struggled to overcome these powerful defenders. No matter how much effort was put in, humans simply couldn’t overpower them or claim the planet.

//V’ehxness, while undoubtedly driven by her own dark motives and goals, stands apart from the rest of the Commanders. The others aren’t malicious; they’re simply defending their homeland, fighting for survival against what they perceive as an alien invasion...just as the SDU believed they were doing all along.

//The ruins outside the school aren’t the result of World Death. They were once vibrant cities filled with ordinary futurans. It was the battles fought when futurans were forced to protect themselves from human aggression that reduced them to rubble and forced evacuations.

//In summary, from the very beginning, humans and the members of the SDU are the REAL invaders. Humanity struck first, making the futurans view the SDU as extraterrestrial enemies bent on wiping them out and taking their world.

//And the SDU does NOT handle this revelation well.

//To his credit, Sirei doesn’t try to justify or deny humanity’s actions. He admits it’s a war of conquest, plain and simple, but insists it’s a war born out of necessity.

//The Artificial Satellite was never meant to be a permanent solution. Its systems are deteriorating, and its limited resources are running out. Over the years, the population has dwindled drastically, and humanity is quite literally running out of time.

//Sirei explains that he kept the truth from the SDU because the vast majority of people aboard the Artificial Satellite have no idea a war is even taking place, let alone that the SDU has been deployed on a mission to secure a future for the species. Only high-ranking officials in the government and military know.

//Because of fucking course they do.

//Life on the satellite is already confined and grim, so adding the burden of war would have pushed the population over the edge. The only public clue that anything is wrong is the emergency alert system in the TRC that warns of attacks.

//Then there’s the truth behind Last Defense Academy.

//The school is actually a disguised spacecraft, deployed from the satellite and doubling as a planet-killing weapon. Takumi and the others were placed aboard and sent to Futurum alongside Shion. When they landed, Shion ignited the Undying Flames around the building to shield it as he charged up the energy needed to activate the weapon.

//The reason it looks like a school is because Shion always wanted to attend one, and to live like a normal kid. And since he’s the cornerstone of humanity’s potential victory, they granted him that symbolic wish.

//It also helped that only young people around Shion’s age were physically compatible with Cryptoglobin transfusion, so the school concept made practical sense, too.

//On the topic of Hemoanima/Cryptoglobin, it originally came from Futurum. Only those with this unique blood could harm others who carried it. Desperate to turn the tide, humanity began experimenting with the substance until they were handed an opportunity they couldn’t ignore.

//A child was born on Futurum with unimaginable power. So much so that the futurans believed he was a divine figure, calling him "The Second Coming." In a horrific act of desperation, humanity kidnapped the boy.

//That child…was Shion.

//And this is arguably the darkest twist of all. Shion is a native futuran, abducted and used as a weapon to annihilate his own people and destroy the very planet he was born on. Also, his presence allowed human scientists to make rapid progress in Cryptoglobin research, ultimately enabling Takumi and the others to receive successful transfusions.

//Which brings us to the present: the SDU has landed on Futurum, accompanied by the kidnapped "Second Coming," with the express purpose of wiping out the native population and taking their world for themselves.

//Tragically, this war has raged for almost as long as it took for humanity to even discover Futurum. At this point, diplomacy is impossible. The SDU has already killed multiple revered Commanders, and absorbed their powers, meaning the damage is done.

//There’s no turning back now, for either race.

//This is an interesting thing Sirei says here that I want to draw attention to, since he uses it to kind of justify the case he makes for not only fighting a war of aggression against this innocent alien species, but also for lying to the SDU's members.

//He follows this up by adding that "righteousness belongs to the winner."

//Which is sad...and also kind of true.

//There's an old saying that "History is Written by Victors." It doesn't necessarily mean the same, but it's put in a similar context.

//I have admittedly mixed feelings on this justification, because while I do somewhat agree with it, I feel the need to point out that when you look at the humans and the futurans, the humans are shown to be FAR FAAAAR more destructive!

//Humanity's invasion of Futurum isn’t driven by malice, but by necessity. And yet, this desperation doesn’t absolve them, only deepening the tragedy. So far, humanity has:

Rendered their own home planet uninhabitable, then abandoned it.

Suppressed historical information about Earth and the Artificial Satellite to avoid accountability.

Initiated a war against Futurum; a habitable alien planet already home to an intelligent, INNOCENT species.

Destroyed most of said planet's surface over generations, rendering many innocent futurans homeless or dead.

Abducted a futuran child prophesied as The Second Coming, to use him as a living weapon.

Forced said child to power a world-ending weapon aimed at his own people and home planet.

Used said child's blood to develop a bioweapon program that empowered young people to kill the native population.

Sent them into battle as legitimate child soldiers without fully disclosing the ethical implications or reality of their mission.

Killed and absorbed the powers of revered futuran Commanders who were defending their home, effectively dismantling the spiritual and physical protectors of the planet.

//Meanwhile, the futurans:

Lived on the planet peacefully long before humanity’s arrival.

Were attacked for the legit only reason that the humans, while willing to go through the effort of spending generations building an escape ship, then another few generations fighting a war against them, were not willing to go through the basic effort of learning their language.

Defended their people and planet from invasion.

Revered their defenders as sacred, not militaristic like the humans did the SDU.

Were made to be the aggressors, even though they were the one's defending their home the whole time.

//if you think about it, the only one of the futurans that is in any way evil is V'ehxness. But that's because she has her own will to power that exists independent of the war she's fighting. She herself just wants to kill Shion and take his power.

//Even then, she too is just defending her home planet from humans.

//Also, the idea of their being no good and bad in this war isn't really real, because if you look at things from an outward perspective...The quote should really be "There is no good in war." Period.

//Legitimately, the only people who are innocent in this war are the SDU, and the other Commanders. The face of each side of this conflict are varying degrees of malicious and evil.

//The leader of the futurans, V’ehxness, is revered by her people as a divine protector, but beneath that venerated image lies a deeply corrupted figure. She’s responsible for murdering her own people, has abused her authority, and (as revealed in the current route that I am currently on) has committed heinous acts of child abuse and SO much more. Her crimes extend to attempted familicide, and perhaps most damning of all, betrayal of the very religion that her society is built on. Driven by a god complex, she sees herself not just as a savior, but as a divine being above reproach, violating the faith she once symbolized.

//On the human side, Sirei, the orchestrator of the entire SDU operation and the public face of the human campaign, represents a colder kind of villainy. While he claims to act in the name of survival, he is the architect of a war of conquest against a largely innocent species, and his list of atrocities includes manipulation and brainwashing, child exploitation, unethical scientific experimentation, and psychological torment of a futuran woman, Eva, as well as the rest of his own team, especially Shion. Yes, Sirei sees Shion as a sort of son since he's raised him for most of his life, but Shion is still being used as a living weapon. For Sirei, no act is too extreme if it serves the mission, but his "pragmatism" has long since crossed moral boundaries.

//And the threat doesn't stop with just these two figureheads. Eito, a third-party actor, is arguably even more dangerous. Unlike V’ehxness, who believes she is protecting her people, or Sirei, who believes he’s securing humanity’s future, Eito fights for no one but himself. His desire to exterminate humanity isn’t rooted in justice or defense; it’s driven by a pure lust for power and destruction. He’s already committed multiple atrocities of his own and represents a wildcard force of chaos that stands to push an already tragic war into absolute annihilation.

//I would even extend this implication to the other third parties we've met so far in the other routes; Retsnom and Gotou.

//I'll give Retsnom a bit of credit, since it is effectively just a wild animal at the end of the day, which kind of mirrors Darumi's own apathy for it's own existence, but this doesn't take away from the fact that it either kills or absorbs everyone in three of it's route's four endings.

//And then Gotou...Gotou is just a fucking asshole.

//In the end, while the war began as a desperate struggle for survival or a fight to protect one’s homeland, it's clear that those in power on both sides have become monsters in their own right, and innocent people with GOOD moral compasses don't get caught up in it.

//Anyway, I ranted about this long enough, but the conversation ends with Eito saying that what he said before about our loved ones not being on the Satellite was mostly just a bluff. He himself doesn't know for sure, but mentions that he thought it might be due to Sirei's memory tampering...

//...which unfortunately causes Eva to momentarily regress and murder Sirei again.

//As much as I have grown to dislike Sirei's means that definitely don't justify his ends, having him around, especially now that he's being forefront about everything and explaining his motives in full; seeing him just suddenly die was shocking and upsetting.

Conclusion:

//I wanted to stop it here, because frankly, I originally planned on having this lead on to the next few days up to Day 60. But I've decided to hold off until next time.

//Simply because the stuff that happens in the subsequent next part of the story ties pretty heavily with the next ending I got.

//And if you have any understanding of this game at all, you'll probably know which ending I got next.

//I don't really have anything left to say that I didn't already say to be honest. Just that the twists and turns in this story are getting hella intense, and slight spoiler alert, we're apparently not done yet.

//Before this, the one thing I failed to mention in my main recount is that after Eva kills Sirei, Shouma starts having a moment. He starts to struggle on the verge of remembering more about the group's time at Kamukura Hospital, and that's what's going to lead into I think the second half of this giant twist.

//And my beating heart can only imagine what that might be.

-Mod

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theotherrookie · 10 hours ago

Text

Erica's ears perked up. She was glad Travis appreciated her choice of nicknames. That meant they could both have fun with it.

"Yep! And then you could do all sorts of things like standing ominously behind someone, or breaking things in two for no reason—" she tilted her head, "Do you think you could break a phone book in half? We could also find other stuff that is more readily available than one of those old things."

Indeed, the elven shenanigans couldn't be so easily stopped once they were encouraged.

"Nah. Willow has to do her thing on that fancy dashboard screen over there." Erica paused to slide in once the windows were rolled down, "And I get more leg space back here!"

It wasn't safe to ride with her legs resting on the seats, but she too could have some fun while the kids weren't around.

"Or my creator's office." Willow added, "Some smokers do their very best to discourage others from getting addicted. They fail to realize that effort should be better spent towards dropping it themselves."

"But that gets some of them out of the way faster." Erica said, leaning back, "You know, Rook's mum goes back to the afterlife sometimes. I bet she's been looking for Cassandra..."

"With nefarious intent, of course."

Rook's attitude had to come from somewhere. They could only imagine the kind of commotion Veronica caused whenever she had to retire beyond the veil for a few days.

"Yeah. I don't think I'd be able to sit back here if we had to keep the windows up." Erica said, before grinning, "Hell yeah. Hit it, Willow!"

Willow placed a hand on the dashboard and quickly disabled the GPS, before tapping into the radio. She decided to start with a song that should fit everybody's taste, as well as the general atmosphere.

"I'm taking requests." she stated casually as she leaned back.

The pocket dimension used to be a secret so jealously kept it was at one point something of a mystery with the Order itself. Had he known about it, Five would have thrown a fit over how it looked like Rook might just start organizing guided visits at this point.

Lucien felt the need to keep an eye on Russell as they proceeded. He was in a pretty ragged state the last he had been there. Lucien figured it could bring back some bad memories.

"Well, I guess you guys now know where the mean monsters go when they get in the orb." Rook said, "This is actually more effective than standing around waiting to be smacked off your feet while in the middle of sucking someone off."

She had no idea why Five didn't use the orbs, but she had the feeling he either didn't know about them or simply refused to use them for some reason. He probably wouldn't have been such a sadistic freak if he for once did things like everybody else.

"Thank you, Leofric. I'll be happy to show you around." Veronica replied, before she stuffed a few more vials in her bag.

Rook did her best to help store all the equipment, calling up an extra chest for Leofric's armor. She appreciated the logic of leaving the bulk of their equipment behind. Not everybody's outfits fit like a glove the way her armor did.

So she considered her options, then decided to call up her necklace and hide her wings. "Well, that's one weight off my back."

Lucien rolled his eyes, "That certainly makes a difference."

"Hey. When I change out of this, it'll be into my pajamas." Rook snapped back, "Well, you could have Antonio take a thirty minute dive, or you could be stuck on the infinite stairs from Mario 64."

Both were equally unfortunate situations. But with Rook around, there was no risk of them getting lost.

"All because the Brotherhood guys are a bunch of idiots."

"Excuse me, they're my easily manipulated bunch of idiots." Lucien pointed.

"Yes, well, we can get going when you guys are ready."

"I will hope you do." Willow replied, "And perhaps that day I will show you my Citadel."

It was a bit extreme for a first outing, but it's the thought that counts.

"I'm the mightiest birb." Rook said, "And I will dominate the skies as well as the skatepark!"

And if all else failed, her improved healing factor would peace her back together quickly.

"That's the Big Bro." Erica said, pointing to Antonio, "And you're Bigger Bro. It's easy!"

And more accurate, considering both were also 'cat brothers' to her. Besides, it sounded more menacing if she threatened to call up an older brother.

"It'll be something fun to play with while we fix the pool." Erica added. Rook predictably didn't look as enthusiastic at the idea.

A swimming pool still would have been more interesting than Five's car. Erica shifted on her feet for a bit, then hopped on the roof, leaning over to look inside while Travis worked.

"Well, it looks like it can go fast." Then again, that was mostly because it was red. "Willow rides shotgun. It's the rules."

"Aside from the rather crude image, I believe we should keep the windows down even after fumigating the entire car." Willow suggested.

She doubted Veronica's potion could do much against the stench of cigarette smoke.

"Well, it is a pocket dimension." Rook chimed in, "It was put together and fit between the realities and we can come and go through the little holes that form when we come in."

"Of course, we ensure such breaches are sealed." Veronica reassured, "This way we don't get each other's clutter mixed."

Speaking of, she would replenish her supplies while they were there. Veronica turned as several old wooden shelves, each filled with potions and ingredients, descended to their right.

"Feel free to have a look, Leofric." she offered, "And take whatever you may need. This is my smaller stash."

"This isn't the best time to run a clearance sale, mum." Rook pointed, "Gather everything and just put it here–"

Rook snapped her fingers to summon a large crate. Lucien was the first to dump his gloves and mask, taking a moment to adjust his cuffs, before returning to his place by Russell's side, ready to take his hand and not let go for the duration of their stay in that void.

"Well, we could do that, but there's just a small issue." Rook summoned a long rolled up carpet and gave it a good kick before watching it roll forward, then up, down and spiraling back above their heads in every direction. "We had a little accident a while ago and I'm still not done sorting out the physics in here. It gets trippy if you mark it like that."

#pushspacetocontinue #scholar of flames - Rook #cyber core - Willow #elf in training - Erica #hunter hunter - Lucien #ardens medica - Veronica

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sebadztian · 2 days ago

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Epsiode 12, here we go!

And the subtitle works!

Spoilers, obviously...

NO RECAP! Very important! We're on the 12th episode now and we only have 1 more episode left. I'm glad they didn't waste precious minutes on recap.

I've always thought that Sascha has black hair for some reason... but no, their hair is actually brown. I do hope to see them again in the future.

Yeh, the start of WW1. It was a long time ago...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sebastian is not stupid. He most probably has eidetic memory and he has more than enough experience to set things into motion, start a war, spread a plague, make Ciel fall in love with him... One needs brain power for that, to predict how certain words and action would ripple across the pond, just like the butterfly effect.

Hello, Grelliam! Long time no see! Let's see... the last time we saw them was... Hm... The Campania arc, I believe. Will did make an appearance in the manga at the end of Campania, but I can't quite remember if he made it to the screen.

Did Grell get a new coat? Madam Red's coat didn't quite fit her, but this one does. And it looks kind of like the red version of Sebastian's black coat. She must've wanted them to match. Or did she want to match with Will? Or both? 😁

Ah, so Alan & Eric did make it to the anime. What a coincidence, since they also aired the musical earlier today...

While Grell's reason to have offed herself was quitr obvious, I think Will decided to do it because he didn't want to be a corporate slave anymore. Well, guess what...

Well, they look like a mess...

How did I forget that Tanaka can speak German?!

Yeah, Heinrich definitely has seen Vincent in a dress at some point...

I've always been wondering, just how rich & powerful Diedrich is... He obviously holds a very respectable position in the society.

Jealous!Ciel is jealous! Don't worry, Bocchan. Sebastian will be yours again soon enough.

See? He's bathing you.

I'm very sure that Ciel can bathe himself, but of course, he'd have Sebastian bathe him. They simply can't keep their hands off each other...

A question though, where did Ciel get those clothes from? Didn't see any trunk or suitcase.

Did Diedrich eat anything other than sandwiches? Anything at all??

Oh, so the sandwich was an appetiser...

Sebastian actually looked both disgusted and affronted. As though Sieg's lack of manners is offending him on a personal level.

Glad to know that Ciel didn't get PTSD from a ship...

Unruly girl... Ciel doesn't mince words...

Ah, so they finally acknowledged Nina Hopkins...

To see Sebastian got completely ignored...

His face tho...

Is Sieglinde getting married? Why did Nina envision her in a wedding dress?

Ah, they're finishing each other's sentence... Sebaciel is back!!

Whoa! Whoa! Nina is working on a large order for a choir?! Foreshadowing much?? The boyband arc is coming?!

Speaking of, did UT commission her to make r!Ciel's attire as well? Did she not suspect anything?

I CANNOT!! THIS IS WAY FUNNIER THAN THE MANGA!! 🤣🤣🤣 and that "BOINK!" sound effect is a cherry on top!

And the episode ended with Wolf's scream of horror...

See you next week!

#sebaciel #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #kuroshitsuji #black butler #green witch arc #episode 12

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daydreamerswriting · 2 days ago

Note

hello!! how's it goin! im a rather new follower, and i absolutely love your work! :) (my outsiders musical era goes crazy, also EMMA PITTMAN LIKED MY STORY ON INSTA WHAT) anyways, i js saw that you said for anons to be more specfic, so i have a few ideas if you want to choose which one you vibe with the most so you don't just gotta write something that youre js like "meh" with anyways- johnny cade scene, where hes sittin outside his parents house and reader walks up with dally like... "johnny you good?" and then reader comforts johnny (privately if you wanna add a lil smooch in there ;)) if you wanna do a headcanon for everyone maybe a greaser family game night: and everyones favorite game, their play styles etc (like i know two-bit would be steal money in monopoly) and my last idea (ideas are hard-) maybe a best friend!reader and (insert a greaser) stickin up for (inserted greaser) after a soc tries to talk bad about them :> also sorry if you've done all of these already ;> have a great day!

an: thank you for all the ideas anon <3 I'm going to do the game night one because that's so stinkin cute and I love writing platonic stuff 🥹 I'm going to do hc

W: this isn't really x reader– it's more just general hc

Like anon said, Two-Bit absolutely steals money in monopoly

If someone doesn't notice that he landed on their property, his lips are sealed and rent is not getting paid

Dallas is somehow in jail for the majority of the game

Steve has a get out of jail free card and tries to sell it to Dallas for real money

Lots swears and threats and name-calling

Soda is the most chill

Ponyboy and Darry are the only one getting the question cards right (I forgot what those are called)

They have never actually finished a game, it takes too long

By the end of playing, at least Two-Bit and Dallas are drunk

When playing Life, Dallas, Steve, and Two-Bit choose not to go to college

Dallas somehow gets multiple wifes

He also avoids the kids, but gets some cats and dogs

Sodapop needs two cars because he's somehow accumulated 8 kids

There are fights at the beginning over the cars because these children want specific colors

"I wanted to be blue!" "I'm already blue." "Give me red." "No, I had it first"

Darry almost always wins

Steve tries to sell his children

Ponyboy wanted to play Clue

No one else did, except for Darry

Two-Bit is peaking at everyone's cards

Dallas is messing with the murder weapons

So is Steve, he's stabbing Soda with the knife

Ponyboy is taking this may more seriously than everyone else

Johnny and Two-Bit will interrogate people

"Dallas, did you do it?" "Yes."

Pony: "thats not how this game works 😢😠"

Soda once guessed, "no weapon, they used their hands"

Again, they fight over the colors/characters in the beginning

"I don't want to be Mrs. Peacock!" "I want Professer Plum, he has a cool mustache." "Stop taking Miss Scarlett from me!"

Dallas doesnt note anything down because he swears he doesn't need to and can remember (he doesn't remember)

Johnny is always so close to figuring it out, but still loses

Steve: "Soda, I'll show you my cards if you show me yours." Pony: "Stoppp."

Ponyboys favorite game is Clue (but he prefers to play with just Johnny and Soda, or his other friends) and Scrabble (cause he always wins

Steve's favorite game is candy land- except for when he's about to win then gets sent way back, then it's he hates it

Soda's favorite is a tie between Candy Land and Life

Darry's favorite is Monopoly

Two-Bits favorite is clue, but only because he doesn't take it seriously and likes to mess around

When playing scrabble, everyone (expect Darry) is poking fun at Pony for playing big words. They think he's a nerd

Lots of swears and inappropriate terms are played– Darry tries to stop it, but eventually gives up

"You can't play titty, Dallas." "I can and I did. Give me my 12 points."

No one really likes scrabble except for Ponyboy and there's lots of groans when he picks it

Whenever he's losing a game, Steve reminds everyone who he's always beating them at cards and in arm wrestles

Speaking of– there's lots of mid-game arm wrestles

An: sorry this isn't really x reader, I still think its cute

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canirove · 2 days ago

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Lamine Yamal Imagine

Author’s note: Another Wattpad request. They wanted something where either the reader meets his parents for the first time, his family really like her, or his brother gets attached to her, so I've done I mix of the three things. Hope you like it, and thank you for reading! 💜

Masterlist

"I think they don't like me."

"Uh?"

"Your parents, Lamine. They don't like me."

"Of course they do!" he says.

"They don't. Didn't you notice how... stiff they were while you introduced us?"

"That probably is because you are the first girl I'm introducing them to and they don't know what to do."

"It's because they don't like me."

"They..."

"Lamine, can you please come to the kitchen and help me with the food?" his mother says, interrupting us.

"Yes, of course" he smiles. "I'll be back very soon, ok?"

"Ok" I nod.

"And you shouldn't worry about my parents. He" he says, pointing at his little brother. "Is the one you need to charm."

"What?"

"He has like a sixth sense when it comes to people. If he likes you that means you are a good person."

"But Lamine, I don't know my way around kids. What if I say something to him and he starts crying?"

"He won't. He is going to love you as much as I do" he says, kissing my cheek. "Now I better go before my mum starts yelling at me."

"But..."

"See you in a bit" he smiles, leaving me alone in the living room with his brother.

He is playing with some toys, completely ignoring me. Should I say something to him? Ask him if I can play with him? Will he understand what I tell him? He still is too little and...

"Oh. Hi" I say when he looks my way and smiles at me. "Wait, what are you doing? Do you need help?" I say he struggles to stand up. "No, you don't" I say when he finally manages to stand up, his legs shaking a bit.

"You."

"Me?" I say with a confused look.

"You" he says again, walking towards the sofa where I am sitting and leaving a little toy on my lap.

"Is this for me?" I ask him.

"You" he smiles.

"Thank you" I smile back. "This is Chase, isn't it? From Paw Patrol."

"Powpowpow!" he says, hitting the sofa with his hands.

"I guess that means Paw Patrol" I chuckle. "Do you like Chase?" I ask him, showing him the toy.

"Mimin."

"Lamine likes Chase?" Mimin is the way he calls his brother. Lamine doesn't like it, but I personally find it very cute.

"Mimin!" he says again with a little giggle.

"What about you? Which one do you like?"

"You" he replies, taking my hand.

"Do you want me to go with you? Ok" I say, following him to the mat where he was playing, his toys scattered everywhere.

"Oh, I know that one too" I say as he gives me another toy. "This is Marshall. Is he your favourite one? He is" I chuckle when he starts giggling and clapping his hands, something Lamine very proudly told me he had taught him.

"You" he says, picking another toy.

"That's Skye. Am I Skye?"

"You" he smiles, giving me the little toy.

"So you are Marshall, I'm Skye... and Lamine is Chase?" I ask him, his reply being once again a giggle and some clapping. "Then if I'm Skye... I must fly!" I say, playing with the toy as if it was flying, his giggles filling the room. "Oh, Marshall, I'm stuck!" I say, making a funny voice and hiding the toy between some teddies. "Please help me!"

"I think Marshall is going to need Chase's help" a deep voice says behind me.

"Shit!" I jump, making Lamine's brother laugh.

"Sorry for scaring you" he chuckles. "But does Marshall need my help?" Lamine says, back to using the deep voice.

"What is that?" I laugh.

"Uh?"

"That voice."

"That's Chase's voice."

"What?" I laugh again.

"He likes it" he she's, nodding towards his little brother, who is focused on getting the Skye toy from where I had left it. "Don't you?"

"It doesn't suit him."

"And the one you made for Skye suits her?" he says with a teasing smile.

"Yeah" I shrug.

"You!" his brother says, giving me back the Skye toy.

"Thank you, Marshall" I smile, Lamine laughing next to me since I've used my funny voice. "Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not, I swear."

"You... are!" I say, hitting him with a teddy and only managing to make him laugh louder, his brother joining him and clapping his hands.

"Marshall, don't laugh and help Chase! Look at what Skye is doing to him!" Lamine says to his little brother, who just looks first at him and then at me before going back to focusing on his toys.

"Looks like Marshall doesn't care about Chase" I say with a teasing smile. "He probably thinks Skye is right and that she should hit him... again."

"Ouch!" he complains. "But if we are in the mood for fighting..."

"Lamine!" I laugh when he wraps his arms around my waist and throws me on the mat with him.

"You started this" he says as he starts tickling me.

"Marshall, help!" I say, using my Skye voice.

"What... hey!" he says when his brother jumps on his back, his Marshall toy in one hand while he just giggles. "You help her but not me?"

"Mimin!"

"Yes, Mimin needs your help, not this" Lamine says as he helps him sit on his back, holding him with one arm to make sure he doesn't fall.

"Looks like he likes me better."

"How not to" he smiles.

"What are you doing?" Lamine's mum says when she walks back in the living room.

"Marshall is helping save Skye from Chase's tickling. But I think Marshall thinks Chase is a horse or something."

"What?" she says with a confused look.

"Nothing" Lamine chuckles, sitting up while putting his brother down, something he doesn't seem to like too much since he starts pouting.

"Hey, it's ok" I say to him. "You saved Skye!" I say with the funny voice, making him smile again and... "Oh" I say when he walks towards me and hugs me.

"Looks like he likes you" Lamine's mum says.

"Don't we all?" he says.

"We do" she replies. And when I look at her, she is smiling, that stiffness from earlier gone. She looks so... relaxed. "Anyway, lunch is ready, so time to wash your hands, little man."

"No!" Lamine's brother says, hugging me tighter.

"Mimin and I also have to wash our hands, but you go first with mummy, ok?"

"Go, little man. Chase will protect Skye, don't worry" Lamine says, his mum finally managing to take his brother away. "He seriously likes you" he chuckles. "And did you hear what my mum said? We all like you."

"She did say that, didn't she? It wasn't just me imagining it all."

"Nope" he smiles. "So, should we go wash our hands and go eat, my lady?" he says, standing up and offering me his hand. "You are going to love my mum's pasta, you'll see."

"Let's go... Mimin" I say with a teasing smile as I take his hand.

"Not you too" he groans.

"But it is cute! Like you."

"Umm... no."

"It is. And I know deep down you like it."

"Yes. But very deeeeeep down" he says, making me laugh.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I'll send you the pasta recipe later today. Maybe when this little monkey is in bed" Lamine's mum says, struggling to hold his brother in her arms.

"Kai!" he says.

"Kai? What does that mean?"

"Oh... I think I know. Wait here" Lamine says before leaving me alone with his family.

Turns out that he had been right and his parents had been a bit stiff around me because they didn't know how to behave around me. But thanks to his little brother wanting to eat next to me and basically being glued to me during the whole lunch, things were a lot more relaxed, all of us quickly finding ourselves chatting about everything and anything, his mum and I bonding through our love for food and cooking.

"Were you asking for this?" Lamine says when he joins us again.

"Kai!" his brother says with a big smile.

"He wanted a toy?" his mum says with a confused look.

"He wanted that toy. Skye."

"Oh... Kai... Skye..." she chuckles.

"You."

"Is this for me?" I say as he gives me the little toy.

"You" he smiles.

"I can't take it, it's yours."

"Maybe this is his way of saying he wants to see you again" Lamine says. "You have to pay him another visit and give him the toy back."

"Oh you little cheeky thing" I say, tickling him and making him laugh. "Will that be ok with you?" I ask his mum.

"We would love to have you back" she smiles.

"Thank you" I smile back. "Then see you soon, Marshall" I say, using my Skye voice.

"Now that is a good fake voice for a toy, not like the one Lamine uses" his dad says.

"Hey!" he protests.

"Just stating facts, son" he shrugs.

"Whatever" he replies, rolling his eyes. "Ready?" he asks me.

"Ready. Thank you for having me."

"Thank you for coming" his mum says.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"See how they all were going to love you?" Lamine says once we've left his house.

"Yeah" I smile. "Thank you."

"What for?" he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"Just... thank you. Mimin" I say with a teasing smile.

"Dear God" he replies, rolling his eyes. "Though you know what? If that's how things are going to be from now on... I think I'm only going to talk to you as if I was Chase" he says with that fake voice, the rest of our walk being more teasing each other and laughing together.

#lamine yamal #lamine yamal x reader #lamine yamal fanfic #lamine yamal imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

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walkingworlds-blog · 2 days ago

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Wei WuXian walked toward the rendezvous point that he and Lan WangJi were supposed to meet at. Nobody walked among the sparse lights that flickered in the night. Without having to look around, the white-robed figure stood at the end of the street, standing motionless with his head hung low. Before Wei WuXian made any sound, Lan WangJi looked up and saw him. After some hesitation, he walked over with a darkened expression. Wei WuXian didn’t know why, but he involuntarily took a step backward. He could almost see scarlet streaks of blood by the corners of Lan WangJi’s eyes. He had to admit… Lan WangJi’s face really did look quite scary. (Chapter 24)

This section is utterly murdering me.

In an "oh, this is an actual peek at how LWJ is actually handling the early days after WWX comes back to life" kind of way.

You have to understand: WWX has been trying to escape him ever since they met again (under the unfounded fear that LWJ would go after him if he knew who WWX actually is).

Wei WuXian originally wanted to sneak away during their expedition off the mountain. However, even though he attempted to run away multiple times, it always ended with Lan WangJi carrying him back with one hand holding the back of his collar. (Chapter 20)

One can argue about how much of an actual effort WWX was putting into the entire escaping ordeal, but the fact remains that LWJ has been stopping him consistently enough it's no secret. LWJ, however, doesn't have a way to know that's why WWX is avoiding him. Hell, he probably thinks it has something to his confession in the previous life, which is heartbreaking all in itself.

The pace of the conversation was extremely fast. Lan WangJi only paused for a moment, and Wei WuXian added, “Go. Any later and the person would have run away. I’ll be back!” Hearing the ‘I’ll be back’, Lan WangJi took one deep look at him and walked off without any more words. (Chapter 23)

(The translation I'm reading in another language makes the "I'll be back" be "I'll be back for sure." I can't tell which is the more accurate translation, but I thought it relevant to point out.)

However, in this moment, WWX asks them to act separately (something LWJ has been actively avoiding) and does so with the promise to meet up with him again. LWJ seems to hesitate, but ultimately chooses to trust WWX and does as he says.

And then, with his task over, he reaches the spot they're supposed to meet at. The hours pass and WWX is nowhere to be seen. By the time WWX gets there, LWJ is looking down with his eyes bloodshot, stuck in place, waiting ever so patiently for him but clearly not in a good space of mind. The intensity of his whole demeanor takes WWX aback, at least until LWJ realizes WWX is hurt and the turmoil is replaced by concern, but.......

It has been hours. He has been having to keep an active eye on WWX so he doesn't escape for a few weeks at the very least. He finally decides to trust WWX, to separate for efficiency's sake for a short while, and he probably believed himself the fool for it. That he, by some miracle, got a second chance with the man he loves and that man rejected him even as a friend in the single, most backhanded way possible.

As happy as he must be to have WWX back, there's no way LWJ in the early parts of the novel is having a good time. Most likely, he spends 90% of the time second guessing WWX's very, very confusing behavior towards him. And, at this specific point, I feel he's actually nearly at his limit. His position is so frail, after all, having to impose his presence on the other to be even given a chance and, for a moment there, he's likely to have believed it all a lost cause once again.

#mdzs #wangxian #mo dao zu shi #mxtx #as cute as the moments of affection are #these moments of weakness when the entire situation is becoming a bit too much for the characters are just as insightful if not more to me #ofc things start to look up from this moment onward as WWX realizes LWJ truly means him no ill #and genuine trust starts to develop between them #The fact WWX starts to realize his own feelings and flirt intentionally doesn't make things any easier on LWJ tho #but that's a different kind of hell from the one he's going through in this specific scene

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herotome · 3 days ago

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Hello !

I have no idea if this has been "asked" before, but I've finally found the motivation to make my own vn/dating sim. I was wondering if you had tips or "warnings" to give based on your experience ?

I've mainly been struggling with gluing all of my scene ideas together, even after choosing the ones that felt truly relevant. I've got the main plot points down, but it's pretty hard to find what to put in between. I also have trouble coming up with player choices ideas.

I'd also like to mention that I'm very much looking forward to playing the full game, no matter how long it takes you to make something you'll be proud of. It's pretty rare for me to find a dating sim where all of the RO appeal to me. The MC's real cool too.

The writing, the sprites, everything's absolutely brilliant ! The UI really fits the game and looks real good too (graphic design major here !).

Thanks for reading ! (Hopefully there aren't too many typos, English's not my first language).

I love hearing when people are inspired to make their own games! In fact I got to know @qkayoostudio from an ask just like this. 😁

Honestly, I struggle with the same things. In between important scenes, often I'll need to put some sort of transition... and coming up with that transition can be very challenging when I'm dry on ideas.

Similarly, dialogue choices (which used to be my FAVORITE part of writing) have become more difficult to write, because working on the main plot(+art direction+code+sound cues+etc) drains a lot of my creative energy, so there can be very little left to put towards the small things.

It sounds like you're focused in the right areas though! I guess my advice is... try not to sweat it. You can always put in a placeholder "insert dialogue choice here" and come back later. Some of my most popular choices and lines are added in waaaaay later in the process, if that makes sense.

A lot of my most recent script is peppered with "idk I haven't written this part yet."

Other advice...

For the most part, small indie games that die in development come from two realms of inexperience:

giving up too early

pushing oneself way too hard

Learn about burn out. Try not to do it. Your body will pay the price. If you're pulling all nighters to finish a project faster, consider that the project will be unfinished for even longer if you crash out from sheer exhaustion. Get some sleep and take care of yourself, that's the best way to ensure a project gets finished, period. You can't finish your game if you're unwell or dead.

As long as you're still alive and willing to work on it, the project isn't dead. I remind myself of that a lot.

#herotome ask #oelvn #visual novel #otome game

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purplesimmer455 · 3 days ago

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Back in San Sequoia:

Megan comes back from work early, at 2pm. She'd been sitting at her desk for a bit too long, and she can feel her back grumble as she stretches. Her back pain and overall body stiffness is forgotten, however, when she spots her girlfriend Iseul. "Hey baby," She says and Iseul’s eyes light up as she bounds towards Megan. They share a kiss, and Megan's niece and neighbor Piper, who Iseul had been talking to, grins and shakes her head. "Auntie Megs, she was just waiting for you to show up," She says as Megan pulls away from Iseul, who grins sheepishly and runs a hand through her hair. "What? No, I was shooting a wedding a few blocks over and came over once I finished." She says and Megan grins. "Sure, Kang." She says teasingly, but pulls Iseul in for a second kiss as Piper averts her eyes and grumbles.

Piper invites Megan and Iseul into her and Cam's apartment. "Emmy's already there," she adds to Megan, who nods. Megan heads over to her daughter first, checking on her and asking if she's done her homework. "Yes mom," Emily says, rolling her eyes lightly but smiling. "I'm just making sure, nooboo. This time next year, you'll be off at college," Megan says, a wistful note in her voice. "I know," Emily says softly and she grins at her mom. "I'll video call you and text you, don't worry." She says. "And visit too, if you can. I'll pay for your ticket here," Megan adds and Emily nods, trying not to show how sappy she feels at the thought of being away from her moms.

Meanwhile, Iseul strums an air guitar to some metal music and then goes to talk to her niece Cam, who's wearing a rainbow checkered button up shirt over a black tank top. "How are you, Cammy?" She asks and Cam grins. "Good, I took your and auntie Megs' advice. I'm still at my engineering firm but doing some hobbies on the weekend to see what I like," she says and Iseul nods. "I'm guessing you're good too? From the way you're glowing and smiling all the time with Megs around," Cam adds teasingly. "Not just because of her. Maybe I'm happy to see my youngest niece," Iseul says, raising a brow but she cracks a grin as Cam nudges her. "Yeah, I've been good. Things aren't perfect, but whenever I see Megs and get to hold and kiss her, it's like the world is a bit brighter," she adds softly and Cam nods, her eyes soft too. "Yeah, I feel the same way with Piper," she adds.

Edit: At one point, Piper and Megan went outside and Piper used her inspiring siren song on Megan for fun. A sim in a bear costume happened to walk by, and she turned to look at them and some of the song blasted their way. 😳😂

#ts4 #ts4oc #Iseul Kang #Megan Liao #Piper Feldman-Chen #Cameron Kang #Emily Liao-Feldman

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thetruearchmagos · 1 year ago

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Starting on College Tennis: Origin Story for reasons that honestly escape me, and boy is my complete lack of sports knowledge really kicking my ass right now.

#if #ct:os #Hope the whole tutorial mode thing actually helps #Damn still annoyed my Merry Crisis save seems to have just vanished #Guess I'll get back to that one... at some point #For now. This

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skeletalheartattack · 2 months ago

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for the past couple of days, i've been working on Boe's house in limbo and getting it to look close to how i've been picturing it in my head - here's a couple of shots so far showing off the exterior and interior, with the top screenshot being further along in progress than the other exterior shots.

#boe #boe tai marrow #my characters #my art #everything's mostly just in developer flat textures since idk what textures i plan on using yet #also part of me doesn't want to texture everything only because i kinda like how this looks #not that i'd point to this as being the artstyle for limbo or anything. just my brain seeing nice colour combos #my first attempt at this was based off an image of an old victorian house doll house. and because i only ever had one image -#it made working on anything besides the front angle kind of annoying #so i eventually resorted to looking up old victorian house plans and building off those. and then mirroring the plans horizontally #at some point i gotta try working on the cellar and attic #but im not ready to go about hollowing out the attic & its brushwork just yet.#i'll likely make a copy of the roof portion and design it separately. then plaster it back on once ive got it the way id want #thats what i did with both floors. laying them out separately then combining them and adjusting the connecting bits from top to bottom floor #also the houseplans i was working off of (for reference is like. design 10 of the daily bungalow) has an illustration of the house #but for the life of me. the roofing above the front porch that's above the stairwell is apparently supposed to slope more sharply #but genuinely i couldn't get it to match the illustration (which im guessing isn't 100% accurate anyway) without the interior being cramped #would've also liked for the porch roof to be a bit more sloped as well. but i couldn't go much higher due to the second floors windows #i think ive mentioned it before but with my ms paint art with Boe in it. the house in that (and the art itself) isnt canonical to Boes life #this essentially is the first time im properly visualizing that world #atleast in terms of blocking it out atleast

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withthewindinherfootsteps · 1 year ago

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So we know that Wei Wuxian's treatment after his death was horrible. Even if nothing could impact him directly, there was still neverending slander, hatred, misinformation, theft...

But, for a while after he died, the sects did try to impact him directly – namely, frequently trying to resummon his soul. And today I'll explore the possible reasons for this, their likelihoods, and why I'm so, so thankful that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the summons. Because, spoiler alert (or, you know. maybe not)... none of them are good.

(Long meta ahead)

In my opinion, there are four likely motivations for this: confinement, coercion, torment, and potentially destruction.

Out of all of these, confinement is probably the most likely motivation, at least for most sects (Jins and Jiangs excluded, though it was likely what the Jin sect said their motivations were – but I'll get to them later). This one is the most simple – we know spirit-trapping pouches exist, and we know the sects also placed 120 stone beasts on the Burial Mounds to prevent Wei Wuxian's soul from escaping. Therefore, this seems to be the most likely motivation – and fortunately for Wei Wuxian, probably also the best case scenario, though it still certainly isn't a good one.

For the second, coercion – this is where the Jin sect come in (more specifically Jin Guangshan with the help of Jin Guangyao). Due to their wealth and resources, they're likely the sect who played the largest role in the soul-summoning rituals. We know what they're willing to do to try to gain power – keeping Wen Ning under the pretence he was burned to death and trying to control him with the nails, and working with and helping Xue Yang torture people to help him refine his demonic cultivation, in order to have the Yin hufu fixed. Along with working with many other cultivators, alongside Xue Yang – Jin Guangshan really, really wanted that seal.

And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources and these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

(Note that working with these cultivators very likely happened after Wei Wuxian's soul had failed to be summoned, since this happens some time after Wei Wuxian's death, whereas the soul-summoning ceromonies presumably started happening very close to it.)

In the previous paragraph, he's also quoted as having 'lusted after' the Yin hufu, which we already knew but it's nice to have a direct quote as evidence.

Now, would Wei WuXian willingly work with the Jin sect in doing this? No. We know that, and, given Wei Wuxian's actions in his first life (refusing to hand over the Tally, not being afraid to stand up to the sects, etc), I’m pretty sure Jin Guangshan knows that, too:

He beat around the bush a couple of times, using all his skills, yet Wei WuXian didn’t give in no matter what, and it made him run into a bunch of obstacles. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

So this could actually make things go two ways. One, I'm wrong and that wasn't actually part of the Jin sect's motivations, since they know they wouldn't be able to control him (and in that case, had they managed to summon him, I could imagine them putting him in a spirit-trapping pouch and doing something similar to what Jin Guangyao did to Nie Mingjue's head. Which, also, not good). Two, it was a part of their motivations, and they hoped to find a way around that. After all, there are other guidao users out there now, and Wei Wuxian would now be a gui*. Also, cultivators can obviously harm ghosts – see the very existence of Night Hunts, and I'd include Xue Yang's talisman-caused destruction of A-Qing as well (while he isn't a traditional cultivator, talismans can be used by everyone).

Now, would either of these methods actually work? I'm inclined to think not really (and I expand on the former method in a note below). Would that stop Jin Guangshan/Jin Guangyao/the cultivators they employ from trying? Especially considering Jin Guangshan's lust for power?

I'm inclined to think no, too.

For the third, look no further than Jiang Cheng's reputation of capturing and torturing demonic cultivators after Wei Wuxian's death, due to thinking they could be him. And this does happen – Jin Ling knows and talks about it, and there's not real motivation for him to negatively lie about someone he loves. Also, when they come across each other at Dafan Mountain, we're told this in Jiang Cheng's inner voice:

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. - MDZS Chapter 10, EXR translation

This mainly shows that he's tortured people before, rather than that he's tortured people because he thinks they're Wei Wuxian, but this reason is confirmed by Jin Ling in Chapter 24. Of course, the reason is also mentioned in this chapter, and there are other moments in the chapter that illustrate my point better**, but they come from second-hand sources which I know are easier to deny. Do take note of Jiang Cheng's expression both times he comes across 'Mo Xuanyu' (after he suspects he's Wei Wuxian) in Book One***, though:

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring [Zidian] again. He spoke softly, “… Well, well. So you’re back?” - Chapter 10, EXR Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy. - Chapter 23, EXR

This does seem to line up with what people say his attitude to Wei Wuxian is – there doesn't seem to be any happiness at seeing him again at all. The only time a word that could suggest that ('ecstasy') is used, it's accompanied by 'raving', and considering the context and the other possibilities of his expression, it's... probably not due to happiness at being reunited.

So, considering 1) this, 2) his contribution to the Siege specifically intended to kill Wei Wuxian, and 3) that at the time of frequent soul-summoning Jiang Yanli's death would be even closer for him, I feel pretty confident in saying that yes, this is likely a motivation for the Jiang sect in trying to re-summon Wei Wuxian's soul after his death. And, as mentioned earlier, cultivators can harm ghosts (and we know Zidian is able to remove souls posessing a body from that body, and that Jiang Cheng used Zidian on 'Mo Xuanyu' in Chapter 10. If it wasn't able to restrain/harm ghosts, or other methods weren't able to, why would he risk Wei Wuxian's soul escaping?).

And finally, option four: destruction. We're heading into much more speculative territory here, so don't consider this on par with the first three. But consider this:

We know there are some spells, like Xue Yang's talisman used on A-Qing and the body-offering ritual, that can ruin the returning soul’s reincarnation cycle by destroying it. Therefore, soul destruction is possible.

The 'main'/supposed reason for summoning Wei Wuxian's soul back is to stop the "cultivation world, or even all of mortal land" from being "faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair" when Wei Wuxian inevitably returns. While, as mentioned above, I severely doubt this is the motivation for certain sects – and to me is likely a rumour which the Jins (again, especially Jin Guangsha) fanned the flames of to justify summoning Wei Wuxian back for their own purposes**** – there are other sects which would take it more seriously.

Although likely disrespectful, people already thought it served Wei Wuxian right to die without his body intact by the time of the second siege – something believed to negatively affect your reincarnation in your next life*****. This is only the logical next step, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would believe that, again, it would serve Wei Wuxian right, or would at least lead to less harm of the world in the long run.

For these reasons, I could definitely see this as an option for some sects, especially the sects who consider themselves more 'righteous' (cough cough the Nies under Nie Mingjue cough cough). After all, evil is evil and good is good, and the evil deserve what's coming to them. And what better way to prevent that than from preventing his soul from returning at all? So for the Nie sect – and likely some of the smaller sects involved in the Siege, since among them, additudes probably vary – yes, I do think it could be a motivation.

I’m not as sure about the Lans being willing to go this far, and that’s largely for two reasons. One, Lan Wangji’s presence and his relationship to Lan Xichen, who does (not always, but he does) let this affect how he treats Wei Wuxian. An example of this is that, when Wei Wuxian's return is made public, Lan Xichen does let him hide and shelter at the Cloud Recesses instead of trying to pursue him, likely majorly due to Lan Wangji. I'd argue that the aftermath of the Nightless City also acts as an example of this, although it definitely isn't perfect. But though he, Lan Qiren and the 33 elders do come to find Lan Wangji and do not let him continue to shelter Wei Wuxian (after they see Lan Wangji's feelings), Lan Xichen doesn't use this opportunity to kill/capture Wei Wuxian, despite Lan Wangji being in a worse condition due to having fought 33 elders, Wei Wuxian being catatonic, and Lan Qiren likely supporting this outcome (especially considering he was the one who led the Lan sect in the Siege – chapter 68, Wei Wuxian's POV). And he did let Lan Wangji take Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds after:

After he went out of his way to send you back to Burial Mound and returned in such low spirits to receive his punishment, how long he kneeled before the Wall of Rules! - Chapter 99, EXR

Again, this was right after the Nightless City massacre – there isn't any goodwill towards Wei Wuxian at this point in time.

Of course, the Lan sect did participate in the siege after Lan Xichen knew of Lan Wangji's feelings towards Wei Wuxian, which Lan Xichen was no doubt a part of (although Lan Qiren lead the Lan sect in the siege, Lan XIchen had to have at least known/given his support, if not participated.) And it should be considered that Lan Xichen letting Wei Wuxian shelter at the Cloud Recesses was after Wei Wuxian had been back for a while, and had not caused the downfall of the Cultivation World, like many suspected he would after his death. And of course, as stated previously, his handling of the aftermath of Nightless City wasn't perfect either (though please note that his main motive here was to protect Lan Wangji from being potentially executed, rather than anything about Wei Wuxian himself). So caring about Lan Wangji doesn't mean he won't harm Wei Wuxian. But I do think he could find bringing Wei Wuxian's soul back to completely destroy it a bit excessive. There is, though, the chance that the elders of the Lan Sect would react to this differently, and of course they would have a sway on both Lan Xichen and the Lan sect as well.

The second reason is smaller, but there seems to be more focus in the Lan sect than in others when it comes to letting ghosts rest peacefully/helping them move on. And that could definitely lead to more resistance to the idea of summoning a soul back to destroy it as well, which could especially impact the elders. So I'd assume that the Lan sect would be the most likely sect to summon Wei Wuxian's soul back just for confinement, or just for some way of making sure any resentment is disippated, his spirit moves on, and he can't cause more harm to the world (eg via Inquiry)******. Not that he would or does as a ghost or as a reborn person, but that's unfortunately not relevant to this.

But yes, as a motivation for the Nie Mingjue-led Nie sect? Absolutely.

So, these are the main motives I suspect to be behind the attempted summoning of Wei Wuxian's soul after his death (and if I've missed any, please let me know – I'd love to have a discussion). And, of course, none of them lead to anywhere good. Because of course it wasn’t enough to besiege Wei Wuxian, murder the 50 non-combatants he was responsible for (and throwing them into the blood pit as a mark of disrespect because why not?), and lead to his death via him getting torn apart. It wasn’t enough to steal all his inventions, and use them commonly while still slandering him with no reprieve – or to steal his notes and give them to people like Xue Yang to study (Villainous Friends, again) and to use for their own, extremely extremely harmful, purposes. Of course, the cultivation world has to try to harm Wei Wuxian after death as well ((:

We don't know whether Wei Wuxian rejecting the summoning ceremonies was conscious or unconscious, but if it was the former, these are very likely reasons he refused to return in this way. If it was unconscious – for example, maybe during the frequent soul-summons his soul was in a weakened state due to him dying from a backlash of resentful energy and getting torn apart, and it healed over time but not before the soul-summoning rituals stopped – well, I can only be thankful.

Finally, let me leave you on the thought that – although it may well have happened since we don't spend much time in the immediate aftermath of the Sunshot campaign – there isn't even any textual mention of this happening to Wen Ruohan. Who, while not being a guidao user, was still very dangerous, still an extremely powerful cultivator, and still had a lot of reason to feel resentment. So.

:')

Thank you for reading!

*Considering what we see of how Wei Wuxian's guidao functions – redirecting the ghosts'/corpses' resentment into doing something they'd want to do, eg attacking people, and directing it towards a target – I'm not sure using it to force a spirit to do something 1) extremely specific, and 2) explicitly against their will would actually work. Iirc the closest thing we get to this in text is Wei Wuxian using the corpses of Wens to attack other Wens in the Sunshot Campaign, but he's still just directing their resentment to a target of his choice, and fierce corpses do tend to be on the less concious side of things (hence why Wei Wuxian had to awaken Wen Ning's consciousness). Considering how Wen Ning attacks Wei Wuxian and the Burial Mound Wens before his consciousness had fully awoken, I... really don't think those fierce corpses were able to differentiate (or didn't care).

Meanwhile, ghosts seem to be a bit more in control of themselves – see A-Qing, and Wei Wuxian's own descriptions of his ghost self.

That, alongside ghost!Wei Wuxian being able to resist his soul-summoning and the fact that pretty much all of the new guidao users are a lot weaker than he was, does make me think that this this wouldn't work. I do wonder about Xue Yang, since his methods are pretty different as well, but he's more of a modao user than a guidao user (he controls living corpses rather than dead people) and I don't think you can insert physical nails into ghosts?? Though if he was specifically instructed to figure out some way to control ghost!Wei Wuxian (who's probably kept in a spirit-trapping pouch in this scenario), he might be able to do something at least. Though also he was also struggling to piece Xiao Xingchen's ghost soul back together, so he may struggle with those areas?

Well, whatever the potential outcome, I'm so so happy once again that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the soul-summonings...

**Mainly this:

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. - Chapter 10, EXR

But I have heard people say 'you can't prove that it's just more rumours' before, and I wanted my evidence to be as watertight as possible.

(And, off-topic... isn't it really sad how Jiang Cheng, in the present day, is described as young? Because, for a clan leader, he is. And another thing he is, is close in age to Wei Wuxian – who was killed 13 whole years prior :') )

***And do note that the only other time they run into each other before Wei Wuxian's identity is revealed to the world apart from this is their brief interaction at Jinlintai, where he can't just act however he wants. The next time they run into each other after it, Jiang Cheng is literally taking part in another siege against him, and still extremely hostile ("surrounded by hostile energy, face insidious, staring straight at him" – from EXR chapter 60). Then he loses his spiritual powers and can't do anything. By the time he regains his powers, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wen remnants' corpses have saved everyone during the Second Siege, and though public opinion hasn't properly shifted quite yet, it will soon after Sisi and Bicao tell the story of Jin Guangyao, and voila, a new scapegoat (do note that he doesn't completely bar Wei Wuxian from entering Lotus Pier after the Second Siege, though). Plus, throughout it all, Lan Wangji is still constantly present, which makes it hard for Jiang Cheng to really do anything. And then he's finally faced with the Golden Core reveal, which does alter his motivations towards Wei Wuxian (obviously the resentment is still there – read chapter 102 – but it's also mixed with other complex emotions, and he seems to start being able to move away from that a little in Chapter 103). I still definitely wouldn't describe Jiang Cheng's attitude towards him as positive, but it isn't at the point it was at the start of the novel (eg Chapter 10).

But even if his attitude does change, or would for whatever other reason apart from the reveal, that still doesn't change an initial motivation so isn't relevant to this meta. We know his intentions at the start.

****It's also possible they may have originated it, but I think WWX's reputation was bad enough for it to form naturally. Though you can trace a major part of that back to them, too.

*****That belief isn't outright stated in MDZS, but the fact people are specifically talking about the status of WWX's body in the aftermath of his death suggests that this belief does have some grounding in the MDZS universe, at least? And we know MXTX has included it in TGCF (though that doesn't mean it's definitely in MDZS), so she has used it in her works. If this isn't the case in the MDZS universe I am sorry (although that could also mean there's less importance placed on not disturbing the reincarnation cycle in the world of MDZS...? Which would work towards my original argument) – I don't want to spread misinformation that something is definitely true, I just think there's evidence to suggest it is true, which isn't the same thing.

******Again, I think this would depend on who ends up having more influence over who in the Lan sect. After all, normal resentful spirits only do what they do because of their resentment in death, whereas Wei Wuxian is 'dangerous' because of who everyone thinks he was in life – so him being reborn naturally could also 'cause a lot of harm to the world' during the time period this version of him would live in, unlike the resentful ghosts they appease. This could definitely lead to many advocating for confinement, I think.

#writing this takes me back to my nie huaisang one #'detective metas' i'd call both of them #as opposed to analysis of characters or themes #it may be less 'meaningful' but it's still fun to explore and speculate within a world you love #...albeit maybe not for this one because. mdzs jianghu when i get my hands on you-#also i fully acknowledge i may be wrong #but again i'd love to have discussions about these! debates and knowledge exchange are what leads to better understanding of source materia #which is a major goal of mine in writing these #mdzs meta #my meta #wei wuxian #mdzs cultivation world #long post #mo dao zu shi #gdc #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #魔道祖师 #mxtx #detective meta #<– if i ever make this a tag #also i feel like you could write a fic (angsty or not so angsty depending on where you go with it) where the lan sect somehow-#-summons ghost!wwx back (not sure how bc the jin and jiang sects would probably want 'custody' of him more - and i don't think summoning-#-rituals are done by just one sect at a time? but imagine it happens) and idk he's kept in a spirit-trapping pouch or sth #lwj probably isn't told bc of what happened after nightless city - elders can't really trust him in matters to do with wwx #but maybe lxc feels bad for him or sth (especially bc he's mourning him and stuff + what happened after he found out wwx was dead)#and tells him and maybe brings wwx's soul to him for a bit so wwx can respond to inquiry #and they talk and obv. wwx is NOT happy with the situation (both rn and yk bc of the VERY RECENT SIEGE)#but but but! the thing that would stop this being completely depressing is that LWJ HAS A-YUAN SO WWX FINDS OUT HE SURVIVED #also lwj's injuries would likely come up at SOME point which would lead to wwx finding out abt nightless city afermath #AA NOO THE TAGS WENT ON FOR SO MUCH LONGER BUT I GUESS TUMBLR DOESN'T ALLOW SO MANY i'll have to make another post...

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