#I believe I mentioned this incident in an earlier write-up

[magicalrocketships]

☔

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

Oh, I'm sure I've talked about this before but L U C K I L Y I retain zero information, particularly when I'm tired, so this means I get to explain it again.

SO, the plot which I won't ever write because it gets pretty dark and it also requires me to make up an injury (I got the idea from the first series of Chicago Fire, where the dude whose name I've forgotten (no, really, I retain no information anymore) has a life-changing made-up ?neck? injury where he requires surgery and it will take one year+ to recover from the surgery so he self-medicates and then it's miraculously fixed by a dazzling new surgery in one episode after making it an entire plot for an entire season):

Canon divergence somewhere along the way, maybe the pandemic doesn't happen, maybe he never really got as publicly involved in streaming, whatever, but what's key is that Max doesn't have anything really going on outside of racing and it's this year

So Daniel's left RB/Mcl, and Max is focused focused focused on racing and maybe he gets his first world championship a year earlier but whatever happens, he doesn't build that strong sense of home outside of racing (no cats, no partner, no online streaming, just what's becoming an unhealthy focus on racing and winning at all costs)

Then there's an accident. It happens off-track, so it's not a racing incident, and it's not Max's fault. His car gets hit. And Max is injured. He breaks something in his neck (I am assured this injury does not exist in the manner employed by Chicago Fire. For the purpose of this imaginary not-to-be-written fic, it 100% exists).

Max is told he can't race, maybe forever, but likely for at least a year post surgery

(and at this point I'm just going to c&p from the chat fic doc I saved months and months ago, and it's going under a cut with a content warning here for suicidal thoughts, some mention of disordered eating and childhood abuse, look after yourself, pals)

surviving to drive: the max verstappen recovery story (~3k)

Anyway max realises that he has exactly one (1) thing in his life, racing, and it's just come crashing down and he's v emotionally unhealthy as we know and has nothing else going on so when he loses racing he believes there is literally no other reason to keep going plus he's in hospital

anyway daniel ignores all of max's emotionally unhealthy bans on hospital visitors and sneaks in to see him and he's like... "something is very wrong here"

he leaves and max thinks he's chased him away but then daniel comes back later that day and he's like, "you don't have to have the surgery in this hospital, you can have it done in any of these places *presents a list* so pick a place and we'll go there instead"

so yeah they just go somewhere else and daniel rents them a house and just hangs out with a secretly suicidal max who sees precisely no reason to wake up every morning if he's not racing

and daniel has precisely zero idea that max is still here/alive/whatever just because daniel is there every night and every morning and max doesn't want daniel to have to see him like that

ANYWAY max is very clearly not in a good place and his dad sends him messages telling him how he can improve his recovery and get better faster

it becomes more difficult for max to hide the fact that he's alive mostly by virtue of not being dead right now

and he's had the surgery or whatever and he's looking at a 12 month recovery so he's definitely out for the whole of the next season so daniel's like, "It doesn't matter how long recovery takes, take your time" which of course he has precisely zero idea of how to deal with since he's been racing so long and has nothing else in his life

Something happens idk he breaks a glass and Daniel finds him with cut hands and a piece of glass idk and Daniel's like, "a new crisis! I can help with that! this is clearly not something that max has been dealing with daily for weeks now, it's a new thing!"

so he's like, IT'S THERAPY TIME BABY, no more clutching a handful of broken glass and bleeding everywhere, superdaniel is here to help

yada yada finds max a therapist and max HATES IT, HAAAAATES IT, he's uncomfortable and the therapist makes him feel worse and he still wants to like... not be here if he can't race today, he can't wait a whole year

and daniel asks him how it's going and Max lies because why wouldn't he and he's been doing miserable things his entire life that he didn't want to do so what's another thing on top of everything else

meanwhile Daniel's like... hmmmm this is scary Max looks worse

and he sits in on a therapy session and half way through he's like, "nope, we're ending this, sorry, bye, you can have the money for the whole hour but we're never speaking to you again"

points out to Max that that therapist was awful and why didn't Max just tell him how awful it was and how it made him feel

Max, who's never had a choice over anything in his entire life: "..."

anyway he gets max to try another couple of therapists and in the end there's one who is NOT monstrously awful and does not make Max feel like he wants to scratch his own skin off

so Max gets THERAPY and it becomes clear that max's childhood was weaponised beyond belief and he doesn't even know what foods he likes and doesn't like

because he never got a choice and he was always on some kind of food plan that his dad could withhold or not according to how max was doing in every other area of his life

well of course, he gets a whole year of therapy and it turns out his dad was an abusive asshole and he is BLOCKED from Max's phone

and Max has to do things like "make sure his life has more than just racing in it"

so he reads a book

the first one he's ever read

he tries food and tries to figure out if he likes it or if it's just a source of energy he has to eat anyway

he gets a PLANT

it DIES

anyway whatever he gets therapy and he lives in a house with daniel and is allowed to feel some things because he never really felt anything before

and daniel goes off and does some promo stuff idk and films some shit from the house and max is maybe in the background or something and no one's heard from him in ages and in fandom it's all like MAX IS IN DANIEL'S HOUSE etc

and the drive to survive people get in touch and are like, can we interview you for the series even if you're not on the grid, do some stuff about your recovery etc etc

and max is like... i guess

he's not, like, actively suicidal any more because his life has actual pillars of stuff that isn't just racing

his life isn't just like dependent on one jenga tower of racing with the pieces falling down

like, he can't wait to get back to racing but he's like, six months in to therapy or whatever and he's been living with daniel and it's... nice to just... watch movies with him and eat stuff and play computer games (daniel banned racing games so max has had to... compromise)

and maybe there are some... warm feelings

some best friend shit when he's never had real time for a best friend

some "i could probably spend more time with daniel in a forever kind of a way and not get tired of it" you know

BUT ALSO, daniel blowing up his life for max, he saw max in that hospital room and didn't once question what it would mean to him to step back and just... fuck shit up so that max would be okay

anyway drive to survive team show up and they do a bit of interviewing and it is VERY CLEAR that this isn't a natural fit for an episode because Max has, for once, got some shit to say

so they come back with an idea for a spin off documentary that's just Max and this injury and getting back to driving

because Daniel has kind of been fielding red bull this whole time, saying "he's not racing this year, leave him alone, give him some space", and he's got to go out and talk to them or do some promo stuff with them, whatever, he's going away

Max says the timing is good because he can do the main body of the interviewing about what's come before etc, then Daniel can come back and do his bits

and then the docu team are like, "where do you think you'd be right now if you hadn't crashed" and Max looks at the camera and says, "dead, I think" and the team know they're on to a winner because Max has realised that actually, driving like you don't care if you're alive if you don't win isn't actually okay

anyway Max does the documentary interviews and Daniel comes back and Max tells him he can talk about whatever he wants, it's fine but when the team ask him about helping Max when he realised he wasn't coping, Daniel won't give any details and says it's Max's story to tell and he just wanted to make sure his best friend was okay

not realising that he looks very much in love during this idk

ANYWAY SOME TIME PASSES and they do a bit more documentary stuff and Max is preparing to race again and Daniel is doing some stuff with red bull and he flies out somewhere to do an interview and photoshoot for some magazine or other.

The first clips from the documentary are released and they're on youtube and clipped up for instagram and Max posts them but the first picture is just like, 'this contains discussion of suicidal thoughts' etc

Daniel is preparing for this photoshoot and interview

anyway the first clip is about Max in hospital and they go straight in for the kill, Max saying, "I didn't want to live if I couldn't race.

"I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to speak to anyone, I shouted at the nurses, I just wanted to get somewhere so I could figure out how not to wake up again. And then Daniel walked in.

"He didn't know how bad it was, he didn't know anything specific, but he knew something was wrong and he got me out of there and he brought me here and got my surgery moved. And he didn't know he saved my life that day. He won't know until he sees this. But he saved my life that day."

END OF CLIP ONE, start of clip two

"You were suicidal," the interviewer says

"Yes," Max says. "The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't want Daniel to find me. He'd moved me to a different hospital and he'd rented this place for us so it was close to the doctors, and every day I woke up and he never knew that he kept me alive just by being here."

"But he found out in the end."

"Not how bad it was. Just that it was bad. And he got me help. And when that help didn't work, he got me more help. He's the best friend I've ever had, and I still haven't been able to tell him how bad it got."

end of clip two, start of clip three

except this clip is DANIEL

"I snuck in to see him in hospital. he wasn't doing great. He was kind of lost, and I didn't really know what I could do, but, like, I figured he needed some space so I got him some. Different hospital, different views, nothing to remind him about racing."

"But he was struggling?"

"Yeah," Daniel says. "He struggled. It was hard to see him when he couldn't race. He's my best friend. It was hard when he wasn't doing so well. But he's doing great now."

smile smile etc Daniel being happy

then a final max clip i think

"Do I still have that drive to win? God, yes. I'm going to win. That hasn't changed. I just want to live as well. I want to wake up tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that, and win."

then a final slide with the documentary logo on and some suicide prevention helplines, idk

ANYWAY imagine Daniel, if you will, at a photography studio about to have pictures taken, crying his eyes out in the toilets because he's just found out Max wanted to die

so Daniel, who is always very professional, entirely bails on both the photo shoot and the interview so he can go home because he needs to see max

and Max lent him his plane because that's a normal thing excessively rich world champions have so it's not a fucking nightmare getting back from... wherever the interview is, somewhere not that far away in europe

and Daniel chooses to respond to Max's documentary clips on instagram

[ASIDE, my beloved friend as I was telling her this over Telegram, in response to that above: WHY????

Me: because this is MY 4am hurt comfort fic baby]

so anyway he makes a text post that just says Max is the bravest and best person he knows, he's fought so hard to be here, and that there hasn't been a day in Daniel's whole entire life that would have been better if Max wasn't here on this planet, and he's so glad he stayed

and then another one which is like, if anyone else feels like they don't want to go on, please stay, people love you, here's some helpline numbers etc

and Max just replies to him with a blue heart

important to understand that this is my four am comfort fic so it is ENTIRELY appropriate that Daniel walks through the door and both hugs him and starts to cry

and Max hugs him back but does not cry because Max has broken through a lot of shit in therapy but he is not a crier

but he IS accidentally in love with Daniel

and Max makes some Choices in his life, as Daniel does, but this choice involves touching Daniel's cheek and glancing at his mouth and then up at Daniel and Daniel kind of nodding and then there is a KISS

which is badly timed really considering that today has been very emotional and Daniel is still crying and has been travelling etc and they've never actually addressed any of this

so Daniel needs a moment and he goes into the bathroom to stare manfully into the mirror and wash his hands and face and when he comes out Max doesn't let him say anything, just launches into a multi point in-person powerpoint about how they should be together

[my friend: maxplaining his way into a relationshippp]

which Daniel, it turns out, entirely agrees with, but he's really kind of emotionally burnt out right now and would really just like a hug and a sit down, so he tells Max yes, of course, but could they just talk about it later and hug right now

How good is Max at listening to instuctions to stop talking?

not marvellous it turns out but daniel kind of likes it when max gets enthusiastic about stuff

even if the stuff in this case is a multipoint argument in favour of them being quite gay together

OH OH OH now we skip forward a bit

to when Max is racing again

first or second race out there for red bull

and daniel is kind of tied to red bull again

anyway Max WINS

hurray etc he's a conquering hero with a recovered broken neck

so once he's out of the car idk he's done the bit with the team and he spies daniel and goes over to hug him, which the cameras in general love, and then he goes off to do some kind of next step celebratory thing, cool-down room, whatever

only partway there he's like... um

has a feeling, one or two, you know the kind of thing

max hasn't historically been very good at feelings

or healthy choices

but anyway, he decides to act on this one, which is to go back to where Daniel is, and kiss him

which is as much of a surprise to daniel as it is to the whole of the media who are still around to film him

and then Max just turns back around and heads for the podium, so there's a very nice accidental shot of Daniel, afterwards, just smiling and ducking his head and touching his thumb to his lip

which turns into a very popular gif

for reasons

Anyway!! there is a LOT of discussion about Max losing his edge now his focus is not only racing

the documentary talks a lot about Max's childhood abuse and limited food intake etc etc but doesn't mention his dad by name

Daniel races again somehow but probably not in the fic

daniel ends up losing some bet or other and has to do a computer game live stream from his living room of some cosy game idk and the whole thing is interupted by max just living his life in the background

max getting up and sleepily saying morning, max going for a run and kissing him hello, max going in and out of the sim, idk, the two of them making weird noises at each other because they still do that

OH I forgot they buy a house together like immediately after getting together

somewhere green again and it's in both their names because they've lived together for a year already and whatever

and still don't tell anyone they're together even though red bull has them residing at the same address

and ZERO people realise until after the kiss on screen

and obviously the docu clips suggest they've been staying together

and Max gets to say to Christian that they literally own a house together when he expresses some degree of surprise at kissing in public

not their fault no one noticed

Forgot to say that max and Daniel get filmed driving about and max stalls his car and doesn’t know if he likes olives and maybe they forget they’re being filmed

And also that when the documentary finally airs all its eps Netflix on Twitter are like “lol bet you can’t figure out which bits we filmed after they got together and which were before because we certainly can’t, lol”

And Daniel’s in the comments, like “do I get a prize if I get it right”

He gets 9/10 clips right but no one but max knows

Anyway when they buy their house max has zero shits to give about the decor so daniel just gets a decorator in and the only thing max wants is a fancy catio for when they’re not there and his new cats want to go outside

Daniel arranges this because he’s a sucker for max.

anyway that's general plot of surviving to drive: the max verstappen recovery story, the end.

[wayfayrr]

Hi! I saw your requests are open and I read what you posted about fem!reader with piercings, and I wanted to request fem!reader but with lots of tattoos, maybe a full on sleeve tattoo on one or both arms in chain’s world if that’s ok (´･ᴗ･`)

It can be with anyone you want, whether it’s someone you’ve been wanting to write about, or whoever would give you the most motivation, or whoever you think would be the most interesting to do in this scenario, have fun with this ♡︎

That's very okay anon!! Ngl you actually scared me with the timing of this ask though, I was literally talking to a coworker about how I've always been considering a sleeve then I saw your ask just a bit later JSVNJODN!! But this was really self-indulgent in the end! the tattoos reader has are only loosely described If anyone wants to know what I was picturing as I wrote feel free to ask I'm happy to share!!! I ended up writing for Sky since he's my favourite! I hope you like it!!

“You and I are sharing a room tonight then, my dove? I can’t believe they’ve let me have you all to myself like this. It’s the perfect chance for you to show me some more of your music…”

That incident earlier seems to have given Sky far more confidence around me now, not that I’m saying that I don’t like how much more touchy he’s gotten, it’s far from that. Sky having more confidence to act how he wants around me rather than how he thinks he should act or like he’s trying to keep me at arm's length feels wonderful. Even if he is still teasing me about it. His laugh when he’s not holding back at all is still one of the most beautiful sounds, and I truly doubt it’ll ever stop being one.

“Yeah, maybe I can use the chance to show you some decent things, first though I’d rather get into something more comfortable and settle.”

“I’m looking forward to it dear, if you’d prefer you can go in now and change while I change somewhere else?”

“Thanks Sky, I’ll see you back here in a second then.”

It’s only fair I tease him back with a kiss, what if he’s going to be so confident with how he holds me most of the time now it’s only fair that I can be more confident as well. Sky didn’t take long either, coming back just as I finished changing, no doubt faster due to being more used to how these clothes just are. And he’s staring at me, Oh right! He’s not seen my tattoo before. He’s got every right to be curious, given I’ve never mentioned it before. The feeling of his hand hovering right over my arm almost feels near intoxicating, he’s so gentle like he’s afraid to do something wrong.

“Dearest would you mind if I..?”

“I don’t, I um well I should’ve told you a bit earlier shouldn’t I.”

“No! I mean, no I’m glad that I found out like this.”

He’s completely enamoured with the biggest tattoo I have, the one on my left arm. Tracing the lines so tenderly, like he’s scared of being overindulgent in giving me attention. It’s almost taunting how softly affectionate he’s being even just for this one, like he thinks I deserve to be treated with the same tenderness as someone would a piece of art within a gallery. Is he going to be like this with all of them?

“It means I get to appreciate your beauty without anyone interrupting, and I don’t think I could bear to share your attention right now.”

“T-thanks Sky. I swear if it wasn’t for the fact I can’t stay in Hyrule I would’ve already asked you to date me.”

“Why should that stop you dearest?”

“Well because I don’t want to cause you any pain when I have to leave, I can’t bring myself to be the one causing you that pain.”

The way his hands tensed around my arms as I said that, along with the face that he pulled? Sky doesn’t seem all that infatuated with the idea that I could leave him, not that I want to, not that I have the choice. His grip loosened quickly though, him pulling me into a gentle hug instead with a whine. Still obsessing over my tattoos at the same time, but with his focus changing from my sleeve to the band on my right instead although now his touch feels more like he’s trying to ground himself. Ironic really.

“Why would you assume I wouldn’t follow you? I couldn’t handle you leaving if I were courting you or not. Not now.”

“I can’t ask that of you Sky, you’re too important to the future of Hyrule.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t asking. It’s my choice.”

[kisses4suna]

helllooooooo!! sorry if your requests arent open but i was wondering if you could do different types of enemies to lovers with the inarizaki boys??

i absolutely loved your inarizaki boys as your boyfriend so i was wondering if you could do my fav trope with them!

enemies to lovers w inarizaki boys !

☆ featuring. atsumu, osamu, suna. + fem!reader

☆ note. omg ahhhh how did i not think of this?!?!?!??! tysm for the req, as u can see im literally having writers block so tyyy !! if this isnt exactly what u meant pls correct me and i can write u a new one :) ALSOO SHOULD I DO A PART 2 WITH KITA, ARAN AND AKAGI??????? ++ not proofread, sorryy

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

ATSUMU MIYA !

ENEMIES TO LOVERS TYPE : annoyed girl + annoying boy

- atsumu just LOVES getting on your nerves, by any means necessary, flirting, teasing, name calling, literally anything!!

- but he does know about boundaries and where to cross lines, so if he ever says something and notices that you’re uncomfortable, he quickly apologizes and plays it off!!

- he thinks youre way cuter when youre annoyed so what does he do??? make u even more annoyed like the gentleman he is <3

- but in all seriousness, he’s had a crush on you since day one when he realized how supportive you were of his passion for volleyball

- there’d be times where you stay with him after practice because osamu would leave earlier with suna and you’re just worried that atsumu is overexerting himself

- he noticed this and he literally had stars in his eyes when he realized that, you stay with him after practice cause youre worried, which means you actually care

- literally makes his crush on you sooo obvious but youre just way too clueless to realize

- plus not to mention that you are extremely in denial for your crush on him too, so when suna starts interrogating you asking you stuff like “if you dont have a big fat crush on atsumu then why do you stay after practice with him” and stuff , you just start stuttering and making up lame excuses.

- it took suna months of convincing you that you like atsumu, and when it finally strikes you that you do, you start acting differently towards him.

- like in all the movies, atsumu starts to think that he did something wrong so he tries to apologize to you but then you’re confused cause you’re not sure what he’s sorry for

- he tells you that he’s sorry if he ever made you mad or uncomfortable or anything, and you ask why and he just says like “you’re avoiding me, i dont like that” and some how your crush for him just comes out

- his eyes widen and he doesnt believe anything so he slaps himself across the face and pinches his arm to make sure he isnt dreaming

MIYA OSAMU !

ENEMIES TO LOVERS TYPE : culinary rivals

- osamu secretly attends culinary classes without ANYBODY knowing, which means nobody from school, and nobody from his life.

- first time he went to the class, he spotted a small cooking station by itself, however he didn’t know the person using the station right next to his was a girl from his school

- “no fucking way. you’re miya osamu!” you say, he turns around slowly from the front of his stove, “what? how do you know”

- “you go to my school! your stupid twin brother rejected my best friends confession!” osamus eyes squinted, then quickly widened, “wait a minute, you go to inarizaki?!”

- “yes dumbass! im in your math class dickwad!”

- after that incident osamu told you to never tell anyone about your encounter, he said that if word slipped out that he attended these classes then his entire volleyball team would make fun of him especially suna. and not just that but then all of his, and his brothers fangirls would sign up to join the classes, which he didn’t want.

- you promised that you wouldn’t say a word, as long as you could use the station next to his.

- you two didn’t seem to get along, osamu says you “act too much like his brother” and meanwhile you always say that he “constantly copies your dishes”

- you always called him out on copying your dishes and food recipes, but he just starts arguing back saying that just cause he makes it better doesn’t mean it’s an excuse for you to be mad, and after saying that you decided that you will make whatever he makes, but better.

- you know you werent supposed to tell anyone from school about how he attends these little culinary classes, but that doesnt mean you cant tell your little brother about it. besides he’s like 10, who would he tell anyways?

- you start talking to him about how annoying osamu is, everything he does or say gets on your nerves.

- that was just the first day though, after a whole two weeks of your brother hearing nothing but “osamu this”, “osamu that”, he finally felt fed up, “oh god! shut up y/n, do you ever talk about anything else but osamu!! you got a crush on him or something?!”,

- you shouted no, with no hesitation, then your brother kicked you out of his room, telling you that you’re not allowed back in until you realize how much of a phony you are for saying no to that question

- stomping back to your room, you shut the door and just laid on your bed, and you couldn’t stop thinking about what your brother said

- the more you thought about it the more you realized ‘oh god i do like osamu’

- you had to hide your feelings, by yelling at him more in the kitchen.

- days passed by and the culinary class instructor saw how you two never got along, so he decided to pair you two together for a team exercise, to lean to actually shut up and stop arguing.

- the entire ‘team work’ thing flopped and you two ended up arguing even more. the instructor kicked both of you out of the studio building, telling you two that you’d have to learn to get along before you step foot inside

- you both sighed and walked out of the building with your heads down, “hey listen, i know you don’t like me, which i don’t get why but i want you to know that whatever i did to you, i’m sorry.. and if i’m being honest, i did copy yer’ dishes, only cause yer’ actually a very good chef. i’m impressed, and sorry for comparing you to my annoying brother..” he said, looking anywhere but your eyes,

- “no! i’m sorry.. i was quick to assume stuff and- i was just being competitive.. it’s my fault we don’t get along”, his eyes met yours, and quietness took over, it wasn’t awkward but there sure was tension, and it felt like a long staring contest.

- you didn’t want to lose and be the first to look away, but you could see osamu’s eyes lower from your pupils to your lips, and back to your eyes, “yer’ gorgeous when you aren’t screaming like a demon ya’know?”

- as much as you wanted to just scream and run laps around in that moment, you tried to keep your cool, “then kiss me”

SUNA RINTAROU

ENEMIES TO LOVERS TYPE : i hate u + u know u dont

- this cocky bastard who i totally dont love

- he will tease you any chance he gets just for a reaction, but in reality we all know how much of a simp he actually is for you, but will just never admit it

- imagine being the manager for inarizaki’s boys volleyball team, and suna being the little shit he is, makes you do extra stuff and gives you a hard time just because it makes him laugh and cause he knows you hate it

- he will throw balls purposely around the court that way, you’d have to collect all of them, or he’d make you drop all of the water bottles you just refilled. but he doesn’t do it just to be mean, he purposely does it so he’ll get in trouble by kita, and kita forces him to help you

- in his mind, by helping you then that means more time to talk to you, or at least spend time with you and plus it takes time away from practice

- “suna rintarou you little piece of shit!! look now i have to clean the floor AND refill your stupid waterbottles!”, you screamed at him, “pffttt!! oops..” he says, holding in his laugh

- “suna, help y/n or 50 laps.” kita glares at him from behind, “yes sir- i mean captain- i mean kita-san!” he says, he knows kita would say that but that doesn’t mean he isn’t scared for his life

- “hey y/n-“

- “don’t talk to me dickhead”, you cut him off, “you’re such an asshole suna rintarou! i hate you!”

- “you know you dont” he says smirking, going closer to you, as you refill the bottles, he leans his back against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest

- “i do!“

- “you know you love me” he shrugs, unfazed

- you rolled your eyes, “and what if i do?”, yeah, suna can easily predict reactions, but that he did not expect. his eyes widened, and he just stayed silent, “yeah that’s what i thought rintarou.”

- he follows you back to the court with literal heart eyes, following you like a lost puppy, “what? you need something from me?” you turn around asking him. “do you mean it?”

- “suna, i can’t read minds, what do you mean, ‘do you mean it’?” you ask him, mocking his voice, “you love me, don’t you” he asks, smirk growing bigger by the second, “ask me out first, then we’ll see”

- “alright then, y/n, please let me go out with you?” he asks, his face going closer to yours, just inches away, you flick his forehead, “sure thing idiot.”

- oh how the tables have turned, in this case you are teasing him and testing him. throughout the rest of the practice, you kept staring at him, and when you passed him his water bottle you made sure to brush your hand against his.

[waitmyturtles]

Alright. I’m all caught up on The Eighth Sense. WHOA. Whoa. WHOA. Good. Lord. 

First off, before all the theories: this is obviously a really fantastic show, by way of the soundtrack; the use of silence; the cinematography and very varied filming styles; the use of LIGHT and lighting; the film editing and smart, sharp editing cuts (more on this in a sec), and the utterly, UTTERLY amazing acting. CHOPS, we are seeing CHOPS in a show that’s just reducing the usual K-drama tropes to DUST. WOW, KOREA. KOREA SHOWED THE HELLLLLLL UP for this one. This is like zeitgeist-level stuff.

And, oh my god. The kissing scene in the waves. The scene in bed. My heart was taken away. The last scenes, the storm coming in, the waves getting higher and higher, Jae Won yelling Ji Hyun’s name. WHOA.

I know from what I’ve reblogged so far that these points are all being discussed, and I have yet to really dig into the tag because I need to process all of this out in writing first, so I’ll do tag and conversation-digging over the rest of today and tomorrow and re-group with the fam. But working in part from my last post after episode 5, I’ll offer a couple thoughts and theories now, because I just need to get them down, whoa. 

I want to set some macro context for myself first, to kind of do a journey map on my understanding of Jae Won. From the start, his friends talk about how Jae Won’s dad is a big shot. Jae Won’s life is supposedly set: if you know about chaebol, you’ll know how controversial it is in Korea (many, MANY K-dramas feature chaebol, including Crash Landing On You and the much more recent Why Her?). It’s controversial because, of course, you always wonder if the "right” people are taking over a business, not by way of merit or talent, but only by way of inheritance (peep the “nutgate” incident with Korean Air as an example) (it’s INSANE) (chaebol is INSANE).

So Jae Won’s friends are, in my view, seething with jealousy that Jae Won has his life set. His dad is prepping Jae Won to take over. Jae Won is rich, good-looking, smart, and the ladies love him. 

That’s a lot of pressure for Jae Won. Putting together that his younger brother died, and he’s seeing a therapist, and that it was his parents that had originally sent him to therapy, and it’s indicated that he’s drug-dependent: I do believe, as many of the fam does, that what we’re watching in many of these scenes are dissociations and/or hallucinations. I do believe that, particularly by way of how the show is edited, with REALLY sharp cuts, scenes ending awkwardly and jumpily, scenes filmed in really fuzzy and weirdly lit ways, and threading pieces of scenes together in inconsistently-told ways. The hand-holding scene on the outdoor steps earlier in the series, and how it’s changed by a quick edit when the guys are shown NOT holding hands while walking on the sidewalk right after. I feel like the editing of the show serves as a correction for the jumps happening in Jae Won’s mind and memory.

I offered a theory in my last post that Jae Won might not have gone to the military at all while he was out of school -- that he was instead institutionalized. I set that theory in part on his therapist referencing a previous hospital stint, and on something he said in episode 4: “I just came back from the army. My sense is not on point.” When I first heard him say that, it didn’t smell right to me, as I thought that acclimating back to society after the military was more common for Korean men as almost all Korean men have to get drafted. But I’ve changed my mind somewhat after convos with the wonderful @emotionallychargedtowel and @stl29tide in the comments of that post, with ECT mentioning in part that it’s very common for returning soldiers to experience difficulties while re-acclimating back to society.

So I’m now caught between two theories here, and I wonder if either can be applicable.

Theory 1) I do still think it’s plausible that Jae Won didn’t go to the military while he was away from school -- I think it’s plausible that he could have been institutionalized, but I’m less sure about that now, after the convos with ECT and S2T (thank you BOTH for your insights!). 

Theory 2) Jae Won DID indeed go to the military, but his difficulties re-acclimating -- VERY MUCH ALONG with his other present issues -- have contributed to a serious dissociation episode in episode 6. This is likely more plausible.

Both theories are linked by yet another opinion. I believe that when Jae Won woke up after his bender in episode 5, he dissociated after his dad began knocking on his door and yelling. I’m not sure if the camera breaking was in the dissociation or in reality, but I believe the entire beach trip in episode 6 was part of the dissociation triggered by Jae Won’s dad and the pressures that Jae Won’s dad represents. I believe the utterly gorgeous filming style, the lighting, the weird jump to sleeping inside on a bed from the beach, the inconsistent scenes from morning on the beach, to surfing, to sex, to surfing again, to possible drowning -- I believe all of that is meant to be representative of dissociation.

Whew. Okay. Another theory. I do believe that Jae Won’s dad/family sent Jae Won to therapy in high school, possibly after his little brother’s death. I also still believe, as I posited in my last post, that Jae Won’s therapy could be a form of conversion therapy. Why do I think this?

(I just want to say that I keep repeating “I believe” because, y’all -- I totally think this entire series could be one big dissociation. Fight Club-like. So I’m trying to grasp at what I think is real-ish by indicating those factors as such.)

I can’t find it.... damn it, I can’t find it, but someone posted about the bed scene, and how Ji Hyun seemed more comfortable than Jae Won in bed. How Ji Hyun actually seemed/seems more comfortable in his queerness than Jae Won. (If anyone can link me to that post, I would be forever grateful!)

That REALLY got me thinking. I thought that was SO SMART, and I rewatched the scene to confirm that I agree there, which I do. 

Another piece of evidence to this theory, as I mentioned in the comments of that last post, is when the therapist says in episode 5: as Jae Won talks about Ji Hyun (or....at least....we *think* he’s talking about Ji Hyun), the therapist says “I hope you can build a good relationship without crossing the line.”

Now. BEFORE episode 6, where Jae Won talked about his little brother, I wondered why Jae Won was in therapy. It was STATED that he was there because of high school pressures. But the ways in which that therapist has been presented have been so weird. Like in episode 1 -- in only the SECOND scene of the entire series -- we see the therapist joking around, saying “For God’s sake, just tell me what your worries are!” and then giggling. I mean -- um, maybe they have a good rapport, but that’s definitely not how *I* learned how a therapist should act in grad school, ha. (I’d LOVE @emotionallychargedtowel‘s thoughts on the therapist’s bedside manner if you’re up to it -- no pressure at all.)

After putting together the chaebol deal with Jae Won’s dad, and that his family sent him to therapy in high school, and that the therapist talked about him being in a hospital in episode 5, AND that line about “[not] crossing a line” -- all of this screams to me of Jae Won’s family trying to “set him straight,” if you will. I seriously wonder.... if Jae Won became drug dependent vis à vis his therapist because his family needs him to be “normal” to take over the family business. I wonder if Jae Won, with EVERYTHING he might be holding -- from his queerness, to potential guilt related to his little brother, to the PRESSURES of being the family heir -- was either PUSHED to be drug dependent to fall in line, or has fallen into addiction as a result of those pressures.

I... would not put either of these theories past a domineering chaebol family.

Finally. After re-watching the very first scene of the series, and the very last scene of episode 6, and seeing how they’re the same, it all seriously makes me wonder if everything that we’ve seen so far is one big dream sequence. 

IN OTHER WORDS, Y’ALL. HOLY SHIT. Anything and everything is possible in this absolute MASTERPIECE of a show.

Other quick notes before I stop:

1) I stan Joon Pyo and Ae Ri -- MVPs. They care for our boy! (....if Ji Hyun even exists.)

2) Jung Seo In, who plays Ji Hyun’s boss, was also in Where Your Eyes Linger (I knew I recognized her!).

3) I’ve seen so many posts referencing the AMAZZZZINNNGGG music of this show, placed and edited SO WELL, and I just want to say that I am loving all the analyses.

Okay, phew, that’s all I got. I’m on the train with y’all for the rest of this ride. 

(@lurkingshan, tag tag!)

[lyranova]

I made a post earlier this evening, which i have since deleted, but am now reposting with a few additions and revisions, but it will ultimately be the same as the first one.

1.) Hate will NOT be tolerated on this blog. Period, full stop. If you come here spewing your hate for a certain ship underneath my posts, in my DMs, or both, I will not hesitate to block you.

2.) While this post refers to a specific incident that happened today and back in April (iykyk), this isn’t a call out post. This is more of a general observation that I have noticed in the Black Clover Fandom, and in other ones as well, regarding shipping on social media.

Now this will be the last time I mention or bring this up on my blog, unless for some reason, i feel that I must bring it up again. But with that being said, if you are one of those people who believes that “if you write for any other ship besides x and x then you’re a fake fan!” Then I believe you *seriously* need help.

I understand some people are very “protective” of their ships, really I do, but just because someone writes for other ships besides “Ship A” doesn’t make them any less of a shipper for “Ship A”. Sometimes, as a writer, it’s fun to explore different things/tropes/prompts etc;. It keeps things fun and exciting!

Does me writing for Finral x Finesse make me any less of a Finral x Vanessa shipper? No.

Does me writing for Yami x Reader make me any less of a Yami x Charlotte shipper? No.

Does me answering an ask, asking if I would write a Yuno x Noelle fic, make me any less of an Asta x Noelle shipper? No.

I still love all of these ships and still ship them even though i will ocassionally write for other ships, it helps me grow as a writer, and sometimes it’s just fun and interesting, like shipping is supposed to be!

Shipping is supposed to be fun, interesting, and a way for you to explore dynamics/scenario’s/tropes/etc; freely! So please don’t take it so seriously that call people “fake fans”, “fake shippers”, and “ruining shipping in Black Clover”.

Because the one ruining shipping in Black Clover, is not me, it is you.

Rant over, thank y’all for listening 😆!

[go-river-flows]

Welcome back to the Avatar Programme

Part 6 of 13

Summary: I was part of the Avatar programme. Simple as that. Then that changed after the schoolhouse incident. 

Just want to apologise for the late upload. I had a lot on my plate and was working a lot this week. And the photo below was taken from Pinterest, since I couldn't find any gifs of Norm on tumblr. Lol I also wanted to change some of the dialogue parts, Na'Vi will be in Bold Italics like this: “You're jealous.” I think it makes it a bit easier to read and flows better.

“Jake. Jake!” Grace called out, her torch in hand, flashing it in his eyes checking for dilation.

“He’s in alpha,” Max said, “He’s coming out right now.”

“Come on back, kid. Come on,” Grace continued. Jake’s eyes responding as all of us huddled around his cradle. “That’s it.” She slapped his face a bit, as he gasped in confusion, finally waking Grace and Max helped him sit up.

“Is the avatar safe?”

“Yeah Doc. And you’re not gonna believe where I am,” he chuckled wheezily.

I sighed, relieved that his avatar was someplace safe and relatively unharmed, or so Jake says. Liz, one of my research assistants, pulled me back to my office and handed me the cases. She stood in the doorway, arms across her chest watching me unpack all the samples, identifying them and handing her the ones she needed at that moment. She stood staring as Norm poked his head over Kat.

“Hey,” he gently knocked on the door frame, “I wondered where you disappeared to.”

I looked up at him, eyebrows quirked.

“I'm here. I'm always here,” I say bluntly.

It got awkward again, before he spoke.

“I just, uh–” He started to speak,”–I overheard…earlier. About Tom…Uh…”

“Oh god, Norm. Spit it out,” I shot him a look.

“We went to the school earlier. I didn't want to mention it, but then I overheard you talking to Grace about Tom,” Norm paused again, “You know what…Never mind, I just…”

“You just what?” I shucked my teeth.

“I miss Tom too. He was a good friend. And so are you, you can always come talk to me about it,” he looked at me sympathetically, quirking a small smile, “Have a good night.” 

He left as quickly as he arrived.

“What the heck was that?” Liz asked curiously. I chuckled at her confused expression.

“Nothing. Here are the samples, but go get some sleep. It's late,” I handed her the last of the samples. She reached out to grab them before leaving around the corner. I sighed deeply, sitting down in the chair, I looked around my cluttered office. Paper, books and small trophies decorating the shelves, albeit a bit disorganised. I turned in the swivel chair, looking out the window into the twilight. I turned back to my desk, thinking about Grace’s words, he knows nothing. Guide him, teach him. I clicked my tongue, grabbing some untouched and clean paper that hasn't yet been covered in coffee or tea. Starting to write everything I knew about Pandora. 

Startled by the knock on my office door, I shot up from my slumped over position. Noticing that a blanket was draped over my back, my chin had a lovely stripe of dried drool rubbing it away. I realised I had fallen asleep. Looking up, Norm was at my door again. I looked over my shoulder as the sunlight shone through my window. It was morning. Groaning at the light, I covered my face head back on the table, rubbing it as he chuckled at the sight.

“Morning sunshine,” Norm barked out a laugh.

“Ha-ha-ha, very funny Norm,” I deadpanned at him.

“I didn't see you in the canteen,” he entered with two plates in hand. He took a seat on the chair on the opposite side of my desk.

“Did someone come earlier?” I asked, my head still on the table.

“Hm? I don't know. Why?” 

“This blanket wasn't on me last night,” I raised the edge of it.

“You were in here all night? Ha, figures,” he looked around, turning in his chair, “You workaholic. Must’ve been someone on your staff.”

“You clearly don't know my staff. No one comes in here unless I say so,” I mumbled.

“So you don't want this piece of toast?” he quipped, I raised my head quickly getting whiplash, my hand shooting out to grab it.

“This peanut butter?” I pointed. Norm just nodded as I bit into it, moaning at the taste of real peanut butter. “Oh…my…god,” I moaned, “Where’d you get this, those stupid soldiers hog it all. ”

“What were you working on?” He looked around my desk biting into his toast.

“Uh, just some paperwork,” I looked down at the mess on my table, frowning as I looked back up at him, “What are you doing here? You're normally in the canteen with the science team.”

He suddenly choked, being called out suddenly made him a bit nervous, clearing his throat he ignored my question. Shoving the rest of his toast into his mouth. I stared at him, eyes boring into the side of his head as he averted his gaze. When he finally finished and swallowed, he spoke.

“I-I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

“What are you hiding, Spellman?” He slowly closed his eyes, annoyed he pitched his nose bridge.

“It’s just Jake. I worked so hard to get here, logged so many, so, so many hours. Trained. Learned Na’Vi, everything. All nine-yards, and he just gets accepted,” Norm’s frustration spilt out, “His avatar is in the Omaticaya village right now, exactly where I want to be. Where I worked so hard to get to, and I'm not there. And now, he’s sitting in the canteen with the science team. Just, ugh.”

I listened whilst finishing up my toast. Licking my finger that some peanut butter had gotten on.

“You're jealous.”

“U–-U-Uh, Yeah. Of course,” he stammered.

I cleared my teeth from the peanut butter, I stretched my arms and legs. Standing up, I gestured for Norm to follow, as I exited my office. Walking down the hallway, through some door, I passed by the ladies toilet. Stopping then going into the toilet.

“Wait here,” I turn to Norm, continuing through the door. I quickly relieved myself and washed my hands, exiting the ladies Norm was waiting outside leaning up against the wall nearby. I gestured to him to follow again as he removed himself from the wall, unsure where I was leading him to.

As soon as we saw the ‘GYM’ sign, he stopped me.

“O-oooh, no. Nope,” Norm’s eyes widened gaping, “This is where you’re bringing me? Hell no.”

“What? What are you so afraid of?” I asked, grabbing his wrist, yanking him into the gym. I pulled him to a standing boxing bag, letting go, I stood in front of the bag taking a stance. “I'm gonna teach you to punch,” I said, leaving him with his mouth open in stunned silence. I swung a firm punch at the bag, budging it a bit. 

“Um…okay,” Norm reluctantly agreed. 

“First take a stance,” I instructed as he copied my open legs, arms close to my body. I checked over his position, gently guiding his left elbow a bit closer to his body. ”Keep your elbow near your body, tuck it closer to your head. If anyone tries swinging at you you can use that arm to block.” 

He followed as I extended his right arm toward the bag, “This is your full extension,” moving him a bit closer so his fist touched the bag, pulling his arm back to a tucked position. I took a step to his right and I demonstrated a punch into the air. 

“Now you,” I proclaimed. He sucked in a bit of air before landing a proper punch. A look of amazement and amusement decorated his face as he chuckled. Landing another blow with his other hand. He continued again and again laughing a bit. Even I chuckled at his amusement.

A familiar voice cut through the air, “What up cutie.” Wainfleet. I internally groaned as my happiness disappeared in a moment, rolling my eyes. Norm turned to look. With a new sense of security? Or maybe it was stupidity? He took four steps toward Wainfleet and as if Eywa herself descended from the skies to give him strength, he took stance, landing a punch at Wainfleet’s jaw he fell back holding it wincing at the pain. My jaw dropped, not believing what I was seeing.

“Don't you dare talk to her like that again, you piece of shit. You don't talk to a lady like that!” Norm demanded out loud, some soldiers gathering with curious yet delighted expressions, they began to laugh at Wainfleet entertained by the drama. I pulled Norm away trying to create some distance between the two.

“Okaaay. You’re not doing that again. Come on, let's get out of here,” I took his red and slightly bruised knuckles in my hand, pulling him quickly out of the gym. In our rush we almost ran straight into Grace and Jake. I removed my hand from Norm’s as they were directly in Jake’s line of sight. An unreadable expression on his face when he saw Norm’s hand in mine. They made their way to the cradle room as I retreated to my office. Being stopped by someone before I could walk further.

Part 7

Side story: In which Wainfleet gets punched by a science puke

Taglist:

@sleepilysworld

@drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

@wolfmoon8269

[transboykirito]

No, no like I don’t think anyone gets it except for me and you. Asuna reuniting with Sugou opens up the door for her to finally PROCESS whatever she’s been through. She’s been on shut down for like two years let her feel things. Of course I don’t want Sugou NEAR Asuna but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a reunion, a reunion can be something as simple as someone bringing him up.

If Asuna reunited with Mito then it wouldn’t carry as much weight, it would be just like that one scene where she reunited with that one girl from her old school (don’t remember the name… don’t care)

And before anyone comes for me, no, I don’t like Sugou. No, I don’t think rapists should be anywhere near survivors. I AM a survivor. Let’s all take a step back, this is a fictional story.

EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY YOU GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! also shikimi is the character you’re talking about. but like. idk the word reunite makes me think it’s someone from MUCH earlier in the series… and the progressive movies aren’t canon… and to make them canon retcons so much of the story that reki JUST RECENTLY IN THE LAST FEW VOLUMES mentioned again… like…

ALSO sugou and asuna’s plot line isn’t OVER. “reki can’t write characters like sugou!!!!” he… isn’t finished with him… like i understand the criticism but sugou is very much not a finished final product and reki has hinted at and also outright stated as much… sugou and the alo incident have been brought up again as recently as moon cradle… he’s never stopped being relevant to asuna’s character development and story progression… it makes sense that reki would give her that closure in this arc…

idk i joked much earlier that it’d be funny if all the old villains came back for Beating The Shit Out Of Kirito: The Sequel: This Time It’s Personal but i do really believe that reki’s alluding to at least SOME of them having all their loose ends and plot lines tied up and given closure

also asuna just DESERVES the closure. we see how much her past is still haunting her. her and kazuto are functionally engaged now that’s great they have sex now that’s great. she’s had no closure. mother’s rosario (less than a year ago within the timeline) she’s still debating if sugou would have been Like That if things were different, or if she would have turned out like him.

she’s moving forward, yes, but her past (sugou being a significant part of that) is still dragging behind her like a dead weight. she needs actual closure. and reki knows that.

[adachimoe]

Translation: Katsura Hashino's 2008 Persona 4 Developer Interview (Parts 1/3/4)

I paraphrased and summarized parts of this interview before, but now, here is an actual full text translation... This was translated by Alex Highsmith of Shmuplations, a professional who has translated a ton of video game developer interviews before. I asked him to do these 3 specific parts as I believe they are the juiciest parts of this interview and probably the most interesting to people who are fans of Persona. Full text below the read me cause of how long it is. (ﾟДﾟ*)ﾉ

You do not have permission to post anything from this interview on the god awful Fandom wiki.

--------

[[PART 1]]

--I understand the title "director" implies a range of different jobs, depending on the project in question, but would you mind explaining in detail what your role in Persona 4 entailed?

Hashino: Mainly, designing the systems and crafting the rules for the game. I also worked on the story outline and themes. I left the details up to the staff who were specifically in charge of the scenario and system design, but I would also make revisions and changes to the stuff they brought to me.

--That's actually a great transition for my next question: what is/are the theme(s) of Persona 4?

Hashino: The theme, um… it's a small-town murder mystery. (laughs) First and foremost, I wanted to make an RPG that would revolve around a murder mystery. After Persona 3, we worked on P3 FES, and we were developing P4 in tandem. I spent some time thinking about what the players who enjoyed P3 would find interesting in the next game--what would they like to see. From there, our ideas eventually took the shape you see today, of exploring a string of murders in a small country town.

--So, just to re-cap then: with P3 in mind, you decided to set this game in a completely different small town, then for the plot, you arrived at the idea of a serial murderer…? Is that about right?

Hashino: Well, not exactly--the "small country town" and "murders" ideas basically came together as a set in my mind. It's kind of a Kosuke Kindaichi vibe… I've always loved those kind of mysteries, where a person from the "big city" visits a small town, and during his stay he solves a mystery of some type.

--That reminds me of Kindaichi's works like Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan) and Yatsuhakamura (The Village of Eight Graves). Do you like mystery novels, then?

Hashino: I'm not an expert or anything, but it's a genre I've enjoyed since I was younger.

--What are some of your favorite works?

Hashino: For older stuff, I like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Also, he's a sci-fi author, but I also enjoy writers like Isaac Asimov. I love those classic older works, and when I was a kid that was all I read. You know there were those kids in elementary school, right? The ones for some reason would write all their book reports on mystery novels?

--Ah, yeah! There were some kids like that at my school too. (laughs) So then, why did you decide to add mystery elements to Persona 4?

Hashino: I think it should be obvious to players what's interesting about your game, and what kind of story it is, before they buy it. This is something I reflected on and realized after Persona 3, but for the earlier games, it was hard to know what they were about until you played them. So this time, the premise is simple and upfront: there is a murder incident in a small town, and the adults are oblivious to the truth of the situation. The protagonists then proceed to investigate--sort of like a Junior Detective League--and attempt to solve the mystery.

--You mentioned the earlier games and reflecting on them… am I right to assume you weren't only looking at P3, but were thinking about the whole flow of the series, all the way back to P1?

Hashino: No, in terms of being inspired to make the content of the game more obvious, I was talking about P3. The truth is, P2 and P2: Eternal Punishment were so long ago, I wasn't really thinking that far back. Plus the fans themselves consider P2: Eternal Punishment to have wrapped everything up. However, when the very first Persona came out, the developers then (my senior colleagues) were trying to make a new style of Megaten game, something that would appeal to more casual players. So for me personally, there was a sense of going back to the roots in wanting to do the same thing with P4.

--Would that include the basic question of "what are Personas…?"

Hashino: Yeah. We tried to depict these characters' struggle in a head-on, direct way, while at the same time returning to the fundamentals of the Persona series. That is, rather than thinking in terms of sequels and multi-part stories, we wanted to go back and once again ask ourselves, "OK, so what role were the personas really meant to occupy in this world…?" And what approach would be best to attract a new generation of users and show them the appeal of Atlus' RPGs…? We talked about what makes a Persona game a Persona game… were there necessary criteria? For example, with the progenitor of Persona, the Megami Tensei series, you've got the light side and the dark side, that contrast of exterior and interior (omote and ura)--if those are the foundations of Megaten, then what are Persona's…? Those were our questions as we began the development of P4, and to tell the truth, I was somewhat uneasy about the answers we would reach. When I look back at P3 now, it ended up being a big success, and ultimately that's the most important thing for any game.

--Did that anxiety stick with you until the reviews finally came in?

Hashino: I mean, there were people at Atlus saying stuff like, "Maybe we shouldn't have called it a Persona game…" and "This isn't Persona." (laughs) But the opinion of the players is the most important thing, so now I can say that I'm very satisfied.

--So do you know now precisely what makes something a Persona game?

Hashino: Hmm, well… one example, I guess, would be the "angsty" feeling of the games. When you're young, much of your life is managed for you by adults, but eventually everyone has to break out of that protective shell--and it's a bit like being on a train where the rails suddenly disappear, isn't it? Sooner or later, that time comes for everyone, but that de-railing provokes a keen sense of angst in many young people. Yet it's almost like we don't want to forget those times… there's a nostalgia for it, you could say. When you become an adult and are stressed out by your job, it's very difficult to find the time to re-discover yourself. I think it'd be cool if Persona can provide people a chance to re-experience that in game form, to go back to the beginning and reflect on it all once more. Of course, I don't think this is unique to Persona--there's a lot of works of art in the world that have a similar appeal.

[[PART III]]

--Going back a bit, I wanted to ask some more specific questions about the development process. What were some of the challenges you faced in creating a mystery?

Hashino: I'd say one big challenge was interweaving the real-world elements of the murders with this fantastic psychological world where you're battling with personas. I mean--OK, there's these murders, but then if all of a sudden a Shadow pops up out of nowhere, it would be like… "forget these murders, wtf is that!!" (laughs) Also, in P3 the dungeon fights were basically just for training, and in the beginning they don't have much connection to the story. We wanted to intertwine those more with the story, so for P4 we first came up with the idea of someone getting kidnapped, taken to this mysterious other world, and you have to go rescue them… and that led to us coming up with the serial kidnapping-murder part of the story.

--It sounds like rather than having a whole mystery story figured out from the get-go, you rather focused on how to artfully interweave the gameplay systems and main story.

Hashino: I often start from the end, so to speak, like coming up first with a catchphrase and working backwards from there. For this game, too, rather than working out the details of the story, I had more general situations in mind: a town is enveloped in fog and a person disappears -> the main character goes to rescue that person. Just that brief outline sounds exciting, right?

--That being the case, at what point did you come up with the character of the villain Adachi?

Hashino: Actually, this goes back to the discussions we had at the very beginning of the development when we were creating the plot, but one of the themes we hit upon was "how do we get our information." So initially, we wrote the true final villain as someone who mistakenly thought they were doing the right thing.

--Are you talking about Namatame?

Hashino: Yeah. And there was something manipulating him behind-the-scenes, and Adachi was not the villain then. However, as the development went on, we felt the story development was lacking in something, and it needed one more twist with regard to who the true culprit was. The first candidate for that role was Yukiko, actually. (laughs)

--What!!

Hashino: Yeah, I mean, when you think about "murders in a small town" stories like this, a Kindaichi story would have the killer be someone like the ryokan proprietress. (laughs)

--Oh yeah… I know what you mean.

Hashino: It was something I talked about Soejima with, only half-joking of course. The idea of Yosuke the villain also came up. He was a character with solid reasoning abilities and good judgement; it would be believable to players, we thought, that he could have plotted everything himself. We also discussed making the culprit a "likable villain". But we were hesitant about making one of your party members the killer.

--Being betrayed by a close friend like that would be quite painful indeed.

Hashino: But the biggest reason we thought Yukiko and Yosuke wouldn't work, was that we thought players would find it boring if we gave the killer a merely personal motivation for his crimes. That kind of simplistic motive belongs in the realm of Tuesday afternoon TV crime dramas. So we went back and re-examined our themes about information: and this links up with the notion of irresponsibility on the part of the person disseminating the info, but when you think about it, doesn't the responsibility for what happens with that information ultimately lie with the recipient? It's hard to explain, but yeah… we felt the connection between ill-intent and that kind of irresponsibility fit the game the best.

--And that's where Adachi comes in.

Hashino: Initially, Adachi was created as a character whose role is to facilitate the exchange of information between the protagonists and the police investigation. But he seemed a little out-of-place there amongst the other adult detectives, and personally, I started to worry that he would stand out to players as odd and it would be too obvious that he was the killer. So we switched gears midway through the development and took his character in a different direction.

[[Note: I spoke with Shmuplations about this particular part and he understands why this sounds confusing: Does Hashino's "initially" mean "Adachi's character existed before we needed a new culprit" or "we then proceeded to make the character of Adachi to be the new culprit"? While he believes the former is more likely, Hashino does not specify this within interview itself.

I believe this can be read in combination with what Soejima said about Adachi in the Design Works where he mentions Adachi used to be a red herring and then was re-designed after he became the culprit. This is further supported by the 2009 Gamasutra interview where Atlus talks about a villain character changing in development but their design being done before the change and the character's design not looking villain-like.]]

--That "something" manipulating Adachi was, of course, Izanami… was that also something that was revised midway through?

Hashino: Actually, Izanami was there from the very beginning. Even before we had the themes figured out for P4, in the previous games we'd used a lot of Greek gods, so we talked about how this time we wanted to focus on Japanese mythology. And so, around the time that we decided on the theme of uncertainty surrounding the truth and the rumors you're hearing in this small town, I thought these native gods and goddesses would be a force resisting that kind of social anxiety.

--I see. And the story of Izanami and Izanagi is one of the most well-known in Japanese mythology.

Hashino: As we worked out the plot, I took that story of Izanagi descending into the underworld (Yomi) and gave it my own expanded interpretation. In the myth, it is Izanagi's inability to accept Izanami's death that, ironically, nearly gets him killed by her: but I added my own interpretation, that the news and rumors we hear from all these sources == death (that is, it's an invitation for you to cease thinking).

--That's an unusual reading.

Hashino: At the time I thought to myself, "Nice, now this sounds like an idea that would be in a Persona game." (laughs) Izanami sees that humanity has stopped thinking critically for themselves and has surrendered to whatever they hear, and she thinks, "These unthinking people might as well be dead, so I will grant their wish. If I'm wrong, prove it to me." Then, when she happens to encounter certain humans that appear interesting to her, she bestows on them the power to change their reality, and that is how it all begins. But the protagonists are far stronger than she had thought, and though she had planned to merely be a spectator, they strike back in a way she hadn't expected. (laughs)

--Does the fact that she is defeated in the last battle mean that she had erred in her judgment?

Izanami: Yes, definitely. The ability Izanami uses in the battle, "Thousand Curses", I imagined it as a metaphor for all the lies the media tells. And likewise the ability the player uses, "Myriad Truths", that represents the trustworthy words of those people closest to you. I hope players get the message I was trying to convey, that no matter how much irresponsible, unverifiable information the world tries to deluge you with, you can always rely on the truths of your trusted friends to see you through.

--Whoa… that's deep!

Hashino: Also, the fact that there is a date and time that the world will end within the game--that day is meant to symbolize imported culture. There's a similar commentary with the native Japanese deities and a resistance to globalism. The way the Inaba shopping district resists the incursion of the Junes department store chain is part of that too.

[[PART IV]]

--I think the story of Persona 4 wraps up very neatly, but was it a smooth process, writing those scenarios?

Hashino: No, it took a lot of time and research to come up with plot twists, red herrings to throw players off the scent, and all the things you would expect to find in a proper mystery. There were a lot of additions and revisions too. As I mentioned above, in particular I wasn't satisfied with the plot development in the first draft, so aside from adding a "true villain" we also made a lot of changes. In the first draft, for example, we weren't originally planning to have Morooka die.

--What?!

Hashino: We had planned to include Mitsuo and the Void Quest, but we wanted to put a big surprise in there that would really betray player's expectations, and sadly for him, Morooka was sacrificed for that.

--It was kind of a shock.

Hashino: Many people told us that, yeah. It surprised us how popular Morooka was.

--He makes a bad impression on you on your first day at school, but there's many moments throughout the game where you realize he actually cares for the students' well-being.

Hashino: Hah, that's so funny, because I had no intention of making him that way.

--Oh, really?

Hashino: For me, Morooka was the kind of character you'd see in a typical school drama, basically just your typical unpopular homeroom teacher. But perhaps the staff in charge of that scenario had a lot of affection for Morooka, because they added all these extra details and episodes that gave depth to his character. So his popularity had nothing to do with me--it was all our staff.

--It really made that fight with Mitsuo intense. It was like, "THIS IS FOR MOROOKA!" (laughs)

Hashino: It got people fired up, didn't it? I'm glad his sacrifice was not in vain. (laughs)

--Speaking of unexpected stuff, the whole sequence when you're going to Yomotsu Hirasaka for the final fight with Izanami really took me by surprise. It was very difficult to find that route though.

Hashino: For the Normal Ending where you fight Adachi, we were hoping players would see that and feel a sense of closure: "ah, it's all over now." Then, say you still feel something isn't quite right, so you talk to a friend who saw the true ending, and when you go back and search and find the answer by yourself, it's like a fog has lifted from your own brain… I thought that would be cool, if your real-life gameplay experience sort of linked up with the game itself in that way.

--Ah, I can see that, definitely.

Hashino: Of course, partly I just wanted people to play to the very end of this game that we had put so much time into making… (laughs) In the beginning I was saying, "Let's keep it a secret for at least half a year."

--It seems like it must be tough to hide a true ending, or provide the right level of hints.

Hashino: Recently it feels like players are very sensitive to the dialogue, and can detect the slightest whiff of anything suspicious. That's why we put these hints at the very end, hidden in each party member's greetings. We made them say some things that just don't quite add up, hoping that players would suspect something is still hidden. Also, the fact that the Judgement Social Link isn't at MAX despite being so close to the ending is another hint that there might be something more.

[[Note: Judgement maxes after you clear Magatsu Inaba. This is not a translation error. It's an error that Hashino makes in the text.]]

--It sounds like a very tough balancing act. On the one hand, players will get bored if they know what's going to happen, but if things are too vague and opaque that's not good either.

Hashino: Exactly. To that end, when the final draft of the scenario is finished, we have the entire staff read through it to see if they spot anything weird. After reading it, one of our staff blurted out, "The Killer is Yasu!" (laughs)

[[Note: This is a reference to the Portopia Serial Murder Case.]]

--Ah, right, that famous spoiler from Portopia, where the detective's assistant Yasu is the killer. Now that you mention it, that does sort of match up with Adachi's position in P4. (laughs)

Hashino: It's a pretty old game though, so I figured there's no players today that would think that. Nevertheless, early on when we put Adachi's face in some of the magazine spots we did, there were apparently people who were saying "The Killer is Yasu!" in response to him… you see, actually, in the beginning, Adachi's first name used to be Tamotsu (保), which can also be read as "yasu", right? Maybe I'm overthinking it, I thought, but we were trying to really control the timing of the hints we fed to players about the killer, so we hurriedly changed his first name. Of course we'd already finished the voice recording, and there were lines like "Hello, I'm Tamotsu Adachi", so we had the sound staff re-edit those clips and cut the "Tamotsu" part off.

--Sounds like a lot of work.

Hashino: I never imagined "The Killer is Yasu!" was that well-known! (laughs)

[[PART 5]]

--Now that you mention it, because Adachi had a very famous voice actor, I bet that tipped off players to think, "Ah, Adachi must be the killer or someone important."

Hashino: Ah, yeah, that could be. I don't know a lot about voice actors, so I wasn't aware of that at all and merely chose the voice actor who I thought best fit the role. But many of the voice actors in Persona 4, not just Adachi's, received a lot of praise.

--------

You do not have permission to post anything from this interview on the god awful Fandom wiki.

[ajstudio]

Edit November 9th, 2023: I corrected the date of Dracula's defeat to November 6th like the book dates since I am currently finishing the audiobook a second time.

======

On September 6th, 2022, I shared this realization with my friends on Tumblr and I remember going bonkers over it:

I shared this with Maddie. I realized something while I was going through the novel, Dracula, again. So the events take place in the month and year the book was published in May 1897. But doesn't that seem off? Then it occurred to me that the seven-month-long events of the book happened before it was published.

Then I remembered that Jonathan and Mina have a son at the end of the book and it's mentioned that seven years had passed. So the events of Dracula took place in the year 1890 or as early as 1889 before the book was published.

So my idea is Abraham Van Hellsing had Bram Stoker publish the book with the year changed.

Also, while a sequel was written by one of Bram Stoker's descendants (which wasn't well received by the fandom) it did mention Abraham had Bram Stoker publish the book because he wanted to help other people that went through the same ordeal he and the others had with Dracula.

So according to Jonathan he and Mina had Quincey on November 6, 1890. One year after Quincey died and Dracula was defeated.

======

So I am making this post because I not only made a mistake on the year the events of the book take place, but I have two possible years the book is set in.

The clue I am going by is the conversation Mina has with Abraham Van Hellsing when she recounts to him Jonathan's shocking although justified reaction to Dracula showing up in London. She mentioned it happened on a Thursday, and earlier in the book she wrote and dated the episode happening September 22nd.

With this information, I went to Time and Dates to look at 17 calendar years for a September 22nd landing on a Thursday and found three: 1881, 1887, and 1892.

I want to believe the events happened in 1887 since not only would Quincey Harker have already been born and seven by the time his family and their friends return from visiting Dracula's Castle in Romania but following these events Abraham Van Hellsing gathers the handwritten and audio accounts of their time dealing with Dracula.

He writes the manuscript that would become the Dracula novel or he meets Bram Stoker who writes the novel after meeting Abraham because Mr. Van Hellsing wanted to help other people that would likely deal with vampires like he and his group did.

After having a difficult time getting the novel published Dracula finally hits the shelves on May 26, 1897, which is ironically Dracula's Day.

I needed to dig a little more before settling on which year Dracula took place in, and boy I hit something and find another clue I overlooked: the Demeter.

After reading up on Bram Stoker and an interesting article about his time studying for the elements pertaining to his novel on Time's website, apparently, the book was centered around real-life events and real-life people.

Jonathan Harker, his wife, and Dr. Seward were real people. The Demeter Incident was real, but the ship was called Dmitri. The sailors said the incident happened a few years ago. Bram Stoker started working on Dracula in the summer of 1890. So I can without a doubt say it was set in 1887. Which gladdens me.

When he tried to hand over the manuscript to be published as a non-fiction book his editor refused it since it pertained to events centering around a mass murder and then before it was finally published in 1897 101 pages were cut out, the epilogue was shortened, and other alterations were made to avoid a mass public panic since the madman was believed to still be around.

I never expected to learn this much about the book and its events to this magnitude but I was certain I would need to change some of the dates on my previous post about vampires and ghouls.

Sources

------

Dracula by Bram Stoker

@merumely @thirstyforlulu @alucardownsmyass @doodleferp @diamond-star @sundove88 @michi-tala @amikartest @trashbaby92 @goblins-riddles-or-frocks @blood-and-cigars @the-hellsing-organisation @icecry @thecrimsonwingsfckerabridged @elixirvitae @therejectkat @alucrd @autumnaaltonen ​ @valentine-bites @theloveandthedead

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

hello Blair 👋 I saw you mentioned Alanza and I’m showing up bc despite jc completely fumbling her, I still like her

I think the two biggest issues is when she’s introduced and that the game does not know what to do with her. She should have been introduced before Rowan’s death. That way we get to know her as her own character instead of “Rowan’s replacement.”

Since she’d be the new student for the year, I’m pretty sure people would still suspect her of being the mole. My guess is that jc dropped her because so many people seem to dislike her. There’s a whole can of worms on how hphm handles its numerous characters. I will have to save that for another day.

Alanza was set to be an interesting character and I do wish we had learned more about her days at Castelobruxo. I’m ignoring my own numerous headcanons to flesh her out. Main things that stick out to me is her time surviving in the rainforest as a first year. She has this very cheerful demeanor but surely that must have had an impact on her eleven year old self. Then she’s supposed to be from a prominent Brazilian wizarding family. What are they like? How do people treat her as a member of an at least somewhat famous family? She seems to enjoy adventuring so of all the characters to join the vault hunt, she should’ve been included. Then the wiki says she was part of a band back at Castelobruxo (it also says she can play nine instruments which I do not remember.) What if we saw her bonding with the Weird Sisters over music?

Jumping into headcanon territory: I’ve headcanoned that Alanza’s upbeat demeanor contrasts with her parents’ more serious selves. When her grandmother was alive, she was able to mediate between Alanza and her parents. However after she died, things became more tense at home. It also didn’t help that their fame meant Alanza was constantly being compared to her family. She decided to become an exchange student partly to get a fresh start where people will judge her as her own person and also bc like I mentioned earlier, she likes an adventure.

to be nice to hphm, Alanza’s design is my favorite from this game. I don’t have some deep analysis on it; I just think she’s cute. Plus I like the mole she has.

Oh, I like her too. She just...feels like a one-off, like a character introduced in a TLSQ who then slides into the background.

Instead, like you talked about, the story drops everything to introduce her - right after Rowan dies and The Circle is formed, no less - and not long before The Mole is first mentioned. They had to know, right? The writers had to realize the circumstances surrounding Alanza were suspicious, so I think she was a deliberate red herring. Especially giving her a loose connection to Rakepick. But she's a red herring who never gets herring'd, because the characters never outright suspect her.

I didn't even realize she was widely disliked, is that true? Because I liked her just fine. I was suspicious of her past and her motives, and it wasn't lost on me how the story tried to insert her into a "Rowan" like role (which it later did more directly with Corey) but hey, that wasn't exactly her fault, and assuming she was totally genuine in her nature, then she was a good person, right?

The Rain Forest Incident is so telling. I've always had the headcanon that Rakepick rescued her from that bit of trouble. Because despite what Alanza says, despite what the writers might want us to believe, there is no way she could have known Rakepick smelled like cinnamon without having gotten close to her. MC didn't even know that.

As far as her time in Castelobruxo, I'm getting...Weasley twin vibes. Popular with the students, nightmare for the staff. If she comes from a prominent family, that's already easy mode for popularity like it was for Draco. Not to mention she's in a band and is apparently multi-faceted? Nah, this girl had friends. But then again, none of them write to her when she moves out to the U.K, so maybe it was all just surface level? Sad to say...

Oh man. What you're describing is...so familiar. It reminds me a lot of Tulip and her situation with her own family, right down to having grandparents who mediate. The idea that Alanza joined the exchange program to get away from - at least part of - her family is devastating, but it makes sense. She chose to remain at Hogwarts for another year, and neglected to mention why. But she would have been 17 by that point, so, it would be her choice, right?

The Casteobruxo robes look superb, they really do. They're one of the few costumes that genuinely look like something people in this world would wear, because yes I'm still hung up on how none of them wear robes in the movies. As far as her face goes, she is adorable, that's for sure!

[stwritings]

Funny Seeing You Here

Synopsis

Long time in-patient y/n was looking forward to her upcoming discharge date from the Hawkins Memorial Hospital. That is, until she became acquainted with an unlikely familiar face, Eddie Munson.

Author’s Note

This is a fix it fic following Stranger Things season 4, volume 2. In this fic, we’re going to forget the fact that the Duffer Brothers decided to delete Eddie from the series. :-) These events take place after the battle in the upside down. I’m also choosing to change the ending of season 4 by having the issue with the upside down resolved, therefore, Hawkins is not plagued by the massive earthquake that resulted in new portals being opened.

What To Expect

Slow burn, angst with a happy ending, fluff, smut in later chapters. ♡

Series Warnings

Mentions of mental health struggles, SMUT (in the later chapters, 18+ to read this story), angst with a happy ending, canon-typical violence.

Chapter 2

It wasn’t long after witnessing the police and paramedics storming through the hallways that y/n was ushered away to her scheduled afternoon group therapy session. She normally participated a lot and contributed to the conversations, but today was different. She was so intrigued by the earlier events that had unfolded before her that she was really struggling to focus on the mundane discourse that her daily discussions entailed. It’s safe to say, today’s session was a write off.

Once the discussion concluded, she didn’t waste a second getting out of the there to rush back to her unit, in search of Wayne. She was hoping he could provide more details on the mysterious patient her mind was consumed by. Despite the strict privacy policy the hospital enforced, Wayne and y/n we’re close and would often discuss the latest hospital gossip together. Although they did enjoy discussing the events that would take place, whenever y/n would inquire about an incident, Wayne would always refrain from using names, not wanting to leak sensitive information. She admired that about him and thought it was quite respectful. He showed more discretion than most of the staff did.

While making her rounds around the unit, she finally caught up to him in the hallway.

“Wayne! Hi!” She blurted out at the first sight of him.

“Good afternoon, y/n. Quite the energy you’ve got today!” He replied, a bit wide-eyed. “How was your group session?” He asked, somewhat perplexed by her eagerness.

“Good, we uh… It was good!”

He gave her a bit of a smirk, accompanied by a side eye. “That’s good to hear!”

As Wayne started to turn away, redirecting his attention to the clipboard he was holding, probably wanting to complete some forms he would often be working on, y/n interjected again.

“So uh, apparently there was some commotion over in the emergency department earlier today!” Dang… That came off more abruptly than she had hoped it would.

“Oh?” Wayne responded, his curiosity getting the best of him as he set down the clipboard on the nearest table.

“You didn’t hear?” y/n continued “Apparently a ton of police officers rushed into the ER with paramedics and a patient!”

Wayne looked perplexed, which wasn’t a good sign. Usually he would entertain y/n with additional information he had on the matter, but this time, he didn’t seem to know anything about this incident.

Crap. She was really hoping to learn more.

“That is interesting, you’ll have to fill me in when you hear more about it!” He said, picking the clipboard up from the table and smiling before redirecting his attention to the paper.

A dead end. Maybe y/n would have better luck hearing about what happened through the grapevine.

_

The next few days were rather uneventful. Same routine, different day. Y/n was starting to lose interest and forget about the incident, until she overheard a couple of nurses quietly talking by the water fountain near her room.

“I can’t believe they finally caught him!”

“Well, it’s about time, could you imagine what more he could have done had he still been on the run!”

Her eyes shot up from the book she was reading and she froze, focusing all her attention on the conversation that was being held no less than 10 feet from her room.

“I just don’t feel safe with him here, did you hear what he did to that poor cheerleader? It’s only a matter of time before he does that to one of us.”

Suddenly, it clicked.

Eddie Munson.

She remembered initially hearing about this story.

Although there weren’t any televisions in her unit, Wayne was pretty good at keeping her up to date on the latest news around town. The most recent buzz worthy story she had been informed on was that of Eddie Munson; the suspected cult leader of Hawkins, wanted for the murder of Chrissy Cunningham.

She was genuinely at a loss for words. I mean, it’s not everyday you hear about a crime of this caliber happening in your hometown, especially involving a suspect you know. From what she had heard from Wayne, the media was in a frenzy, perpetuating so many narratives on Eddie Munson and this so-called cult he was running.

Y/n had gone to school with Eddie, in fact, they were the same age. She first became familiar with him in their history class where he was sitting across from her.

Sure, Eddie was eccentric, but he was certainly no murderer. At least, as far as she could tell. She couldn’t remember what was said, but they had exchanged a few words from time to time, most likely regarding homework assignments, to which he was always very kind and forthright. She couldn’t help but think that these rumors of him being affiliated with satanism were most likely due to his interest in playing Dungeons and Dragons, as well as his fondness of metal music.

Now, it had been a long time since y/n had played D&D, and her memory of the rules were rather hazy, but she did remember what pleasure and fun she had playing the game at the time. She was also a metal enthusiast, having quite the cassette tape collection. This allowed her to empathize with Eddie, as she had experienced firsthand the judgment and disapproval that came with listening to this kind of music. Despite this, she had to admit, she couldn’t truly put herself in Eddie’s shoes as her interest in metal music was more of a well-kept secret, only discovered by her parents overhearing the tunes coming from her bedroom speakers, or her friends spotting the Iron Maiden cassette tape playing on her Walkman.

Through her similar experiences and brief encounters with him, she had a hard time believing Eddie was capable of such atrocities and instead, wrote it off as a product of the Satanic Panic. He was, after all, the perfect candidate for such accusations. From his bold, provocative appearance and personality to his non-conforming interests, it was no surprise he was the target of such hate.

Her ears were peeled more than ever as she started getting up from her bed to carefully walk towards the door, hoping to get more information from the conversation going on regarding Eddie.

“If that Manson kid even steps foot near me, I swear I’ll-“

“Munson” y/n blurted out. As the words left her lips, she realized that she had intended for his name to remain an internal thought.

The nurses turned over quickly; eyes as wide as can be.

“What was that, dear?” One asked, trying to play it off as if they hadn't just been caught gossiping about a patient.

“His name is Munson I’m pretty sure, not Manson…” She sheepishly said, cursing her tongue for betraying her in a moment that was meant to be strictly observatory.

The nurses quickly exchanged glances before parting ways, leaving y/n alone to wonder what the full story was, and how this so-called “murderer” ended up here in such a battered state.

_

Chapter 3

Let me know what you think & if you’re interested in being on my tag list ♡

[kurokoros]

I think s4 sucked.

While I liked Eddie because it reminded my husband of himself and me of my friends in high school (metalhead nerds), he played the role Steve had in Dustin's life. They didn't really elaborate on his presence in his life or why Dustin looked up to him, when the few times Eddie interacted with Dustin that they showed us from the first appearance he's mean and brash to them. Steve was suddenly pushed away to write in a character they could have die without everyone being upset they killed Steve (which, jokes on them because Eddie got a HUGE cult following).

The whole relationship talk between Steve and Nancy completely undid their growth and relationship from past seasons. It felt surreal for that conversation to happen. The whole Jonathon Nancy thing was weird too. Honestly, they should have just written a break up in and the season would have acted out the entire same way, it just felt like they forgot it?

Also, they have no clue how small towns work. I could get behind the lab, because there are many random ass military bases in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. There are random research facilities. But you expect me to believe there's suddenly a MALL? not only a mall BUT A SECRET LAB WITH HUNDREDS OF WORKERS??? like yes suspend your disbelief but cmon

I definitely agree with your first two points.

and oh my god the mall thing just pisses me off soooooo much! like, I grew up in a small fucking town in Wisconsin, okay? population ~5K. my graduating class was under 120 people. you have to drive thirty minutes in any direction to find a shopping center bigger than the local family-owned grocery store or the dollar store that came eventually. we're talking small-small, everyone knows everyone, cows and cornfields smalls.

S1 basically nailed the small town vibe. the kids all knew who Steve was in episode one because of his reputation. some guy in town recognized a picture of Will as "Lonnie's kid". some random guy recognizes Nancy on sight after the whole spray-paint incident. Powell and Callahan know about Joyce's history of paranoia. etc.

the only questionable thing was the AV club radio because lmao with what funding??? but I'll give it a pass for being relatively inoffensive.

S2 was a good follow-through.

and then S3. what a fucking shit-show. first of all, no one would build a mall in the middle of nowhere, when Hawkins is supposed to be like an hour outside of Indianapolis or something. who built the mall? the russians? where did they stay while building it? how did no one clock the sudden influx of fucking russians in small-town America??? where is the logic duffers??? did you take it out back and shoot it like you did with Hopper and Steve's characterization in S3??? how did Nancy not know who Robin was when they've been in the same class for years? How does Robin know so many languages? Hawkins would have like one secondary language at best, the rest are just a lazy way of telling the audience Robin is smart.

S4 almost got the vibes right again, but there's Eddie, school weirdo that's never been mentioned, and the creel house murders, which would have been well known in earlier seasons, and former jock Steve has NO INTERACTIONS with the basketball team that he would absolutely know!!! (and hawkins apparently has a swim team, which I call bull on because this school doesn't have the funding, but it's crumbs for Steve so it gets a pass).

[sollannaart]

Józef Poniatowski and Berezina’s crossing

On occasion of the anniversary of the battle of Berezina, which happened 210 years ago, let me tell you a little bit on the topic what was happening with prince Józef at that time.

Wojciech Kossak, Burning banners, fragment of "Berezina" panorama

Some paintings, as, for example, the above placed part of Wojciech Kossak’s famous ‘Berezina Panorama’ show prince Poniatowski among Napoleon’s acting military commanders, but this does not reflect the reality. Because...

Well, prince Józef did present among French troops at that time and in that place, but was neither in command of the Polish corps, nor even able to stand.

To explain, however, the reason of such circumstances, we need to go back, for a month and 500 kilometers eastwards. Because there, near a town called Gzhatsk, on the 29th of October there had happened an accident with prince Józef.

Generał Poniatowski, as one of his adjutants, Józef Szumlanśki (more about him I wrote here), recalled, in a desire “to have a better look, spurred his huge English horse to jump onto an adjacent hill. The latter, unfortunately, turned to be rather steep, so the horse did not take the measure right and fell together with its rider...”  Prince Józef  thus was pinned down by his own horse, and for viewers, the incident looked so terrifying that they believed that Poniatowski had been killed in it!

A French engraving, showing prince Poniatowski and the polish lancers during the Russians campaign in 1812

I haven't been able to find any image depicting such a frightening event as described above, so as an illustration to it let me put one with prince Józef riding horse and a one lying near. 

And regarding prince Józef’s state after such an incident -  well, in fact, as you all know, it didn’t kill him, but its consequences were severe ones. It took a lot of time for doctors to stop bleeding, with the high probability Poniatowski had got brain concussion (though such a diagnosis had not been made that time), and, what’s more essential, prince Józef leg had been dislocated.

A man with such a trauma, of course, wasn’t able to ride a horse and thus general Poniatowski had to hand command of the Polish corps to general Zajączek. The only mean of transportation left to prince Józef in such condition as his was a carriage. And the only road - to the west, together with the rest of Napoleon’s troops.

Initially, Poniatowski’s carriage was riding together with the Polish corps, but by arriving to Berezina had been moved, for greater safety, to the group of vehicles of the imperial guard, who were to cross the river much earlier than the Poles. (This circumstance is a rather important one, being it otherwise - prince Józef’s destiny might have been different...)

 And thus we’ve come to Berezina, or - more precisely, to its crossing by the Grand Armée.

I won’t write about the battle itself, neither about the courage of the French pontooners - these brave deeds are out of this post’s topic - but what I ought to mention are throngs of people in queues to cross the river and difficulty of getting even into these queues.

January Suchodolski, Napoleon's troops crossing the Berezina River

Being not on horseback, prince Józef had to wait his carriage’s turn. In the evening of the 27th of November it still had a three quarters of the mile to the nearest bridge, and the chances of being left on Berezina’s eastern side (and thus being eventually captured by Russians) were increasing with with every hour of waiting.

And then colonel Szumlański, the adjutant of Poniatowski I’ve mentioned above,  came up with a tricky idea. As he later recalled: I found a detachment of the Guard's gendarmes who, partly at my most urgent requests, partly with generous pay, came to my aid. Shouting "by order of the Emperor”, they...” made all the vehicles standing in the line before prince Józef to have made him way, pushing aside or capsized those who couldn’t have done it by themselves. “By half past three in the morning this operation was successfully completed.” 

Maria Artwińska, The White Lady of the Poniatowski family over prince Józef’s carriage near Berezina

As the final illustration of the post let me place a drawing by the Polish painter Maria Artwińska, who depicted prince Józef’s carriage together with... a ghost. The latter is the notorious White Lady of the Poniatowski family, which allegedly appeared before them at crucial moment of their lives'. Prince Józef is said to see the ghost thrice, first time at Berezina, then during the May night in Kraków, when making a final decision to stay with Napoleon, and finally - in the battle of Leipzig, shortly before his death. 

[magiefish]

A Timeline for The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The years here are dated according to which of the three years of the novella they take place in, not their historical location. 18– is used for unknown years. Notes are placed underneath each with speculation and justifications for the dates provided.

18–, 10 years previous: Jekyll and Lanyon have a falling out

This previous is dated from Chapter 2, not the first experiment

Year One

18– ??: Jekyll turns into Hyde for the first time.

The door story is dated in winter (December - February) and Utterson is still concerned about the will, so we could assume that Jekyll turned into Hyde for the first time earlier the same year or late the previous year

Lanyon says the entries in Jekyll’s logbook dated back ‘many years’ but ‘ceased nearly a year ago’. This occurs early in January of Year Three of the novella. I have no explanation for this, maybe he was just still in Year Two brain, happens to the best of us.

18– ??: Jekyll gets an apartment and a housekeeper for his Hyde persona in Soho. Simultaneously / around the same time Jekyll tells his household about Hyde and calls upon them to make himself ‘a familiar character’.

18– ??: Jekyll writes out the holographic will leaving everything to Hyde

1801, sometime in winter, 3 am: Hyde tramples a girl and is forced to pay money for it. He stays in Enfield’s house for the rest of the morning and the cheque is payed when the banks open.

It’s most likely December - It’s winter, and the Danvers murder occurs ‘nearly a year’ later so December would make sense seeing as November’s still autumn and this is the closest winter month to October.

If after Chapter 3 the events are ‘nearly a year later’ also, it can assumed that the events of Chapter 1 - 3 likely all take place over December / early January

1801, ??: Following the Enfield incident, Jekyll creates a separate bank account for Hyde

1801, Sunday: Utterson walks past the door with Enfield and he recounts his story. Utterson goes home and examines the will before deciding to go and speak to Lanyon where he learns he and Jekyll have not been friends for 10 years.

1801, unspecified amount of time (few days perhaps?): Utterson waits for Hyde

Still winter, mentions frost

1801, after a time: Utterson meets Hyde.

1801, two weeks later: Utterson talks to Jekyll about Hyde after a party.

Year Two

1802, August: Jekyll turns into Hyde involuntarily for the first time and goes cold turkey.

The event is dated ‘two months previous’ to the murder in October, so it’s August

1802, October: Hyde murders Sir Danvers in view of a witness maid before fleeing the scene of the crime. He turns into Jekyll at home and destroys the key to the back door. The maid calls the police at 2 am after fainting for an unspecified amount of time. They call on Utterson the same day and investigate the crime scene and Hyde’s house. Utterson goes to Jekyll’s house late in the afternoon to talk to him and receives a letter supposedly from Hyde, but a servant tells him they received no letters. He goes home and shares a drink with Mr Guest who compares the letter with a dinner invitation from Jekyll and concludes that they were written by the same hand.

Jekyll says the news of the murder became public ‘the next day’ but Utterson hears people crying it in the square when he visits Jekyll which is presumably on the same day of the murder. Possibly the murder occurred late the previous day before midnight, and the maid was passed out for like two to three house before waking up at 2am and calling the police.

1802, October to January: Jekyll renews social activities and charity and sees Utterson more regularly, ‘almost daily’. He continues to sin in secret but in his Jekyll persona.

18–, 10th December: the date on Jekyll’s letter to Lanyon.

The letter was written on the ninth and Jekyll believed the letter may be delayed and Lanyon wouldn’t receive it until the next morning, in which case it would make sense for him to date it 10th JANUARY in anticipation. December is either a typo that wasn’t caught even after 100 something years or Jekyll/Hyde was so out of it that he completely misdated the letter.

Year Three

1803, 8th January: Utterson dines with Jekyll & Lanyon

1803, 9th January: Jekyll sends a letter to Lanyon requesting his help. Lanyon receives Hyde at midnight.

1803, 10th January: Hyde turns into Jekyll in front of Lanyon. Jekyll goes home and sleeps, but upon walking across the court in the morning he turns back into Hyde. It takes a double dose to restore himself, but six hours later he turns into Hyde again.

Hyde is received by Lanyon at midnight so in the intervening time to make the potion the date has technically changed to the 10th

1803, 12th January: Utterson calls upon Jekyll and is denied

1803, 13th January: Lanyon writes his narrative

He places the 9th January as ‘four days ago now’

1803, 14th & 15th of January: Utterson calls upon Jekyll and is denied

1803, 16th January: Utterson dines with Mr Guest

If dated from the 12th, the 16th would be the date of the ‘fifth night’ mentioned

1803, 17th January: Utterson visits Lanyon who he finds sick. He says he’s had a shock and refuses to elaborate, but decries Jekyll. Utterson goes home and writes a letter to Jekyll.

Again, if dated from the 12th, the 17th would be the date of the ‘sixth night’

1803, 18th January: Utterson receives Jekyll’s response letter which tells him that he intends to seclude himself for the rest of his life.

This is the ‘next day’ from the 17th

1803, 25th January: Lanyon takes to bed

A week from receiving Jekyll’s letter on the 18th

1803, around 25th to 8th February: Lanyon dies

‘In less than a fortnight’ from the 25th

1803, night after the funeral: Utterson opens Lanyon’s last letter and finds another letter inside telling him not to open it until the death or disappearance of Jekyll.

1803, unspecified period: Utterson continues to try and visit Jekyll but eventually falls off

1803, Sunday, unknown month between January and March: Utterson and Enfield encounter Jekyll at his window before he abruptly retreats.

1803, March, Sunday: Jekyll cries out to god. This is the last time Poole hears him.

The last time Poole heard Jekyll was ‘eight days’ before the last night, which if we date to Monday would make this day Sunday

1803, March, for a period of a week: Hyde locks himself in the cabinet and calls on Poole to get chemicals for him

1803, March, possibly Monday: Jekyll writes his statement under the influence of the old powders. The last night occurs: Hyde commits suicide and Utterson goes home to read Lanyon and Jekyll’s narratives, promising to return before midnight.

Poole says he’s been called upon ‘all of last week’ and has been scared for ‘about a week’. ‘Last week’ would imply the week has passed, so Monday would make sense.

Jekyll’s statement is ‘dated at the top’ to the same day as the Last Night. If Jekyll wrote the statement this would be unusual: Poole recalls the last time he heard him being ‘eight days’ from the last night when he cried out to god. Why would Jekyll cry out to god if he still had some of the old salt? Was he crying out because he realised he had run out of it?

Why would Poole only hear Hyde and not Jekyll from that day if he still had some of the old salt? Jekyll remarks that his face is now ‘sadly altered’ so he could be an imperfect transformation, not fully Jekyll but not fully Hyde.

Alternatively, Jekyll could have not written that statement at all. Hyde didn’t destroy it despite it being in plain view, and we know he shares the same handwriting as Jekyll. He also wrote letters to Lanyon and Poole while stuck as Hyde in the hotel in his Jekyll-handwriting and neither questioned wether or not it was him writing. Who’s to say Hyde couldn’t convince Utterson too?

[kathxsoupp]

In Love With a Fever: Chapter 5

William Afton x law enforcement ! reader (fem)

HELLO HI I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!!

Summary: Reader is a detective who was put on the missing children incident case, her person of interest is William and is currently investigating him.

WARNINGS: very graphic violence throughout the whole fic, eventual smut, slow burn, age-gap between reader and Will, manipulation, mutilation, broken bones, use of pet names, Will is obsessive, mentions of death, death and murder, there will be smut, a lot probably, I think, dub-con at some point maybe, fluff and angst, idk if I missed something just read with caution

Notes: NOT ENTIRELY LORE ACCURATE!!! This fic is also posted on my AO3, linked in my pinned post, I'm updating this fic every Monday and it's the first thing I have ever posted, so I hope you like it!

--MINORS DNI--

Chapter 5

He stood before his office window, thoughts racing through his mind. The satisfaction of his perfect plan slowly but surely working out made him feel like he was on top of the world. The clueless girl like an angel sent from heavens above right there for him to use. He promised himself he wasn’t actually going to fall in love with her or anything. He didn’t perceive her as that special. She was just there to cover for him. She was there for him to manipulate and shape into what he needed her to be, ‘so don’t fall too hard sweetheart. I’ll get rid of you in the end anyway.’

The clock finally struck 2:30 pm. You looked into the mirror once more, fixing your appearance and taking a deep breath. You were a little bit too nervous for a work-related meeting. If you could always be so professional about your job, why couldn’t you do the same right now? Working in law enforcement was always your dream job. True crime, mystery and even horror and paranormal stuff always intrigued you so much. That’s why you were so excited about being on this case.

You’ve known about Freddy’s for a while and about the diner that came before it. To be honest, you were still hoping you could maybe somehow get Afton to show you the robots, since you didn’t get the chance earlier. You wanted to know more about them. How they work, how they were built if there’s any stories behind them, etc. The animatronics were interesting to you, but you also found them a little bit creepy. That didn’t discourage you from wanting to find out more though, quite the opposite. Now you needed to focus on the task at hand.

You grabbed your bag and left your office. You walked out of the building and headed to the appointed place. The café wasn’t too far from where you worked. It was about fifteen minutes away, so you decided to just walk instead of driving. You got there a little earlier than you meant to. At least you had the time to find some place to sit and collect your thoughts.

Ten minutes later, he arrived. You looked up from your notebook and your heart skipped a beat when you saw him.

Why were you this nervous?

Breathe, (y/n). Breathe.

You stood up from your chair with a small polite smile and held your hand out to him.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Afton. Thank you again for taking the time to speak with me.” You greeted him. He took your hand in a handshake. “The pleasure is all mine, agent.” He said, returning your smile.

You couldn’t believe how quickly he got so comfortable around you; however, you didn’t exactly mind that. It was your intention to get him to trust you as much as possible. They tend to be the most talkative then. You both sat back down, and you opened your notebook to write down anything he says.

“So, how have you been since we last spoke?” you asked him. “I’ve been alright, but I have to say I’m still very concerned about the recent events.” he replied with a serious look on his face. “It feels so surreal to me, and it has left me feeling quite numb I have to admit.”

Your heart ached at his words. You knew he was also a grieving father and couldn’t imagine what it must be like to go through the pain all over again.

“Again, I am so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what that must be like.” “What was it you needed to talk to me about?” he said to change the subject.

You were now a little nervous to ask about his family. You didn’t want to make the situation worse than it already was, but you didn’t have a choice, really.

“I just needed to ask you a few more personal questions. I promise you it’s just routine work, we need any lead we can get so we can finally put a stop to this madness. Would you be comfortable with that?”

He smiled to himself. He didn’t think his act would be so good you’d believe every single word he said.

“Of course, miss (l/n). Go ahead.” He said with that same smile, leaning forward, hands on the table fingers intertwined.

You asked him some questions you had written down in your notebook. Everything went well, until you mentioned the co-owner of the pizzeria, Henry.

“Henry, huh?” he said. “I have to say Henry Emily is the nicest man I know. Cheerful all the time, always happy to help, but he’s been acting strange lately. You know, I don’t want to point fingers at anyone, and I genuinely don’t believe he could be a suspect here I just figured you should know.”  “What about his behavior do you consider as strange?” you asked with a furrowed brow. “Well… he’s secretive and startled easily, I guess. Every time I speak to him, he seems nervous Fidgeting with his hands, not his usual calm and friendly self, but that might just be this whole situation getting to him.”

Interesting. You made sure to note down what he told you and then closed your notebook.

“Alright, well that would be all from me today. Thank you again for meeting up with me today, Mr. Afton. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” He leaned forward in his chair closer to you. “I saw you looking for the animatronics the last time you visited my restaurant. Tell me, do those fascinate you?” he said with a small smirk. Your face went red. “Oh you did? I didn’t mean to stare, but yeah, I have to say those are very interesting. It’s a shame I didn’t get to get a look at them.” “You know, if you want, I will gladly take you to see them sometime. I can show you around too. Show you how they work, I can even let you see the blueprints, if you’d like.”

His offer shocked you. You didn’t expect him to be so eager to show you his work. Especially when you were literally a cop, a possible threat to him. The fact that he would voluntarily like to spend time with you showing you his restaurant gave you the slight feeling he really had nothing to hide, but you couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. And as much as you hated to admit, you really wanted to accept. You wanted to see the animatronics and spending time with him would be the cherry on top. You knew it would be so unprofessional. You knew it wasn’t right, but there was no way you could say no.

“Really?” you exclaimed a little louder than you meant to. “You know, I’d love to, but I don’t think it’s right you know. And besides, I wouldn’t want to be a bother to you.” You answered with an apologetic smile, but you prayed he would insist on his offer. “It wouldn’t be a bother at all, love. I was the one with the idea, wasn’t I? And as for the professionality of it,” he lowered his voice, “if you can keep a secret so can I.”

The nickname gave you butterflies. His attractiveness was a little too much for you. You hated it, but you were melting on the inside. You did your best to not make a huge deal out of it. He was a brit after all, and it most likely didn’t mean anything. You pushed your thoughts to the back of your head and leaned forward to get closer to him.

“My lips are sealed, sir.” You replied with your voice lowered, mimicking his, and with a smug little smile. He grinned. “It’s a deal then, agent. Tomorrow, after work, at 9:00?” You kept your smile. “Sounds perfect.”

[kissitbttr]

Hey! I kinda just wanted to give my perspective on the whole dark content discourse going on right.

TW: Mentions of Childhood SA.

I am a CSA survivor. It happened to me when I was very, very young, like all the way back in elementary school.

I want to start this off with the statement of not all coping methods are healthy coping methods, and I think we should recognize that. We should recognize that certain kinks can develop due to past sexual trauma while also recognizing that there are better ways to cope out there.

I am in no way condoning any blogs that have written ped0philac content or actual r@pe content for the sake of kink.

I do think it is important to also acknowledge that R@pe, real r@pe, and consensual-non-consent (cnc) are not the same thing. In all cases of CNC, there is consent. It is fantasy because the point is to set up a scene. In all cases of proper CNC, all parties are consenting to play a character/role, and I think it is important that we understand these distinctions. A lot of victims of SA or r@pe like these fantasies and doing these scenes because they know that they have the power to end the scene at any time.

In general, for submissive parties in kink, being able to stop the scene is a source of power, and the aftercare that follows is also a source of comfort for them (again, given that all parties are executing their scenes properly).

I just wanted to add to the discussion and kinda explain the logic behind these kinks, so take this as you will. As I said earlier, not all coping methods are healthy coping methods. At the same time, however, I do not believe we should shame or harass those who find these coping methods are helpful to them (not saying that this is what you are doing - just speaking in a general sense!).

Anyways, I love your work. I just wanted to add to the discussion. Thank you!

first let me start off by saying how proud i am for you to be able to stay with us to this day and being strong, my love! i am so sorry that you have to go through that horrible incident. no one ever deserves it, i hope you are surrounded by positive environment and love right now <3

this actually a very helpful information. like i said before, i am no one to downplay any SA victims and their choice to cope though i would admit that it just confuses me for a bit. because not all authors here actually mention about going through a traumatic experience as a reason for them to write it. not that they’re obligated to say it by any means!

I appreciate your point of view and for you to come at me nicely about this. because instead of telling me to piss off, you actually give me a few insights that i would actually look through later on in psychological matter.

one thing that i’m concerned about when it comes to authors writing these type of content is we know how vulnerable tumblr audience could be. whether it’d be minors or not who then would develop these sort of kink and then eventually seek for it. so instead of actually coping, they just enjoy it. and i don’t want that to take a dark turn. because i once read one piece that involves either one, and i had to stop because it’s far too gory and insane for me to finish. in my head i was like ‘fuck how could they even think to do this’

i am not saying it’s the authors responsibility to keep an eye out on every single person who read their work but there’s nothing wrong with actually being careful every now and then.