#I���ll post those later

[abstractfrog]

Sherlock & co - the Lions Mane! a story i do not have any particular bias towards for any particular reason. i started drawing this basically right when the story was announced :3

[yuujiheart]

GUYS HEAR ME OUT!!!!!!!

WHAT IF YUUJI CURSED SUKUNA TO LIVE/NOT BE ALONE...

We can see here how yuji is trying very hard to convince sukuna to accept the deal. He first forced / threatened sukuna into accepting the deal. Which is different from what he did for Gumi, he allowed Gumi to decide for himself and didn't coerce him at all..

This is similar to what happened to yuta and rika. Yuta absolutely refused to let rika die here. He did it unintentionally since you know he was just a child..

Yuji is trying to do for sukuna what his grandpa did for him. I mean sukuna had no one to save him so Yuji wanted to be that person for him. And in my opinion sukuna was more scared of living than dying in that particular moment ig..

[megidoreyn]

Hey there, samurai! Have you been holding off on playing SMT IV? Do you want to experience SMT IV in higher resolution to better appreciate the wonderful art and intricate + detailed worldbuilding within this game? Well, look no further! The SMT IV HD Textures Mod is in the works!🎉 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 【⭐What is the SMT IV HD Textures Mod?⭐】

This is a mod made for the sole purpose of completely "remastering" SMT IV's in-game textures by hand, which includes: the UI + text, backgrounds, character portraits and other visual assets by manually recreating them in higher resolution.

By applying this mod, anybody can experience the stunning HQ detail originally present within the game that was forever lost within the game's original stunted 244p quality. 【⭐How do you manually recreate smaller detailed assets like the Character Portraits?⭐】

In contrast to other HD Mods or Remakes out there using impractical methods to "upscale" character images, our team is dedicated to redrawing the original crunchy ~300px Character Portrait sprites within the game into higher resolution by hand ourselves (using the ~7000px Key Art as a base). And sometimes, we have to redraw certain sprites entirely from scratch!

➡️As one of the artists part of the team, I'm very passionate about getting those iconic "Doi style" elements that are present throughout his SMTIV art. Personally speaking, it's an honor and a learning experience to be a part of this project in being able to faithfully recreate his work with as much respect and care as possible. That being said: We're all basically doing the work that an entire dedicated team within a company would usually do, out of love for this game! And because we want to provide something meaningful for the megaten fandom, too. If you're interested, stay tuned for more information! And don't hesitate to spread the word, too! ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 【Feel free to follow the staff linked below for any updates on twitter!】 Please give lots of love to the staff! Your interest and commentary means a lot to our humble team + helps motivate us to keep going!💪 ⭐HD UI Redesign, HD Demon Scans and more⭐: 👾Vesk ⭐HD Character Portrait + HD Sprite Redraw Artists⭐: 👾Lamprey 👾Reyn - PS: I'll be posting some of my progress here on tumblr too! ➡️Twitter log of sprites I've finished so far + Works in Progress ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 【Project promotional banner above and character portrait art credit within this entire post + the banner goes to myself (@megidoreyn on twitter and here on tumblr!)】

[nattikay]

How to use tìftang (the apostrophe thing) when naming your Na'vi OC

The most important thing to note here is that tìftang is not decorative!! It’s not just there to make words/names look cool! It’s a consonant and represents an actual sound (specifically a “glottal stop”, aka that little catch in the back of your throat when you say “uh-oh”). Adding tìftang to your OC’s name will affect the pronunciation of said name.

When using tìftang in your OC’s name, you want to make sure it’s next to at least one vowel (a, ä, i, ì, e, u, o) or diphthong (ay, aw, ey, ew).

✅ Ka'ul ✅ Ka'nul ✅ Kat'ul

It CANNOT go between two consonants—this is a VERY common mistake!!

🚫 Kat'nul This is not pronounceable! It’s like having a character whose name is meant to be pronounced “Bob” or “Jimmy” but for some reason spelling it “Bokb” or “Jimtmy”.

The reason for this is Na'vi syllable structure. Tìftang can start or end a syllable, but it cannot go in the middle of a syllable, because it cannot cluster with other consonants.

For practical examples of what that means, let’s look back at the previous examples:

Ka'ul can break down into either [ka'][ul] or [ka]['ul], so tìftang is either ends the first syllable, or begins second syllable.

Ka'nul breaks down into [ka'][nul]; tìftang ends the first syllable.

Kat'ul breaks down into [kat]['ul]; tìftang begins the second syllable.

So what about Kat'nul? There are a few ways to break it down, and none of them work. [kat'][nul] and [kat]['nul] are both invalid because, while the tìftang is at the end/beginning of the syllable like in the other examples, it’s clustering with t or n. Remember that tìftang cannot cluster with other consonants!

The other way to break it down—and probably the way most people unfamiliar with Na'vi would be thinking—would be [kat]'[nul], with the intended pronounced syllables just being “kat” and “nul” with the tìftang thrown in to look cool and alien. This doesn’t work because again, tìftang is not decorative! It is a letter with a sound (one that’s not even really physically possible to pronounce properly between a t and n even without the syllable rules), not a punctuation! Kat'nul-pronounced-Katnul the Na'vi is just Jimtmy-pronounced-Jimmy the human. Just spell it Katnul!

Speaking of clustering, here’s another mistake I see sometimes (though a little less commonly):

🚫 K'atnul

This is also not pronounceable, because while yes the tìftang is next to a vowel, within its syllable it’s clustering with k. Remember that tìftang can only begin or end a syllable; it can’t go in the middle of one like [k'at]!!

Now, here’s a quick thing to be aware of. Remember earlier on I mentioned that tìftang must go next to a vowel or diphthong? Let’s talk about diphthongs real quick:

A diphthong is what you get when two vowels merge into a single sound. Na'vi has four of them. They are written ay (a+i), aw (a+u), ey (e+i), and ew (e+u). That said, you could have a names like these:

✅ Kaw'nul ✅ Key'nul

…but not like these:

🚫 Kow'nul 🚫 Kuy'nul

Why does the first set work but not the second? Because in the first set, the w and y are not standalone consonants, but rather part of the aw and ey diphthongs. In the second set, however, ow and uy are not diphthongs, so the w and y are regular consonants, which means Kow'nul and Kuy'nul don’t work for the same reason as Kat'nul: tìftang cannot go between two consonants. (changing the spellings to Kou'nul and Kui'nul would work, however!)

tl;dr - to assess whether you are using tìftang correctly in your OC name, ask yourself three questions:

1.) Is it next to at least one vowel (a, ä, i, ì, e, u, o) or diphthong (ay, aw, ey, ew)? ✅ Ka'ul ✅ Ka'nul ✅ Kat'ul ✅ Kaw'nul 🚫 Kat'nul 🚫 Kow'nul

2.) Does it begin/end its syllable? ✅ [ka'][nul] ✅ [kat]['ul] 🚫 [k'a][nul]

3.) Is it clustering with other consonants? 🚫 [kat'][nul] 🚫 [k'at][nul]

If your answers are yes, yes, and no, in that order, then congrats!! You have used tìftang correctly!

If your answer is no to the first two or yes to the third, you can fix it one of three ways:

Move the tìftang to a valid position: 🚫 K'anul -> ✅ Ka'nul

Remove the tìftang completely: 🚫 Kat'nul -> ✅ Katnul

Add a vowel: 🚫 Kat'nul -> ✅ Kate'nul, ✅ Kat'enul 🚫 K'atnul -> ✅ Kì'atnul 🚫 Kow'nul -> ✅ Kowa'nul

Now go forth and tìftang responsibly! :D

[willowjay07]

[raelle-writing]

Phee and Jin as parallels in DFF episode 7

I feel like I haven't seen enough people talk about how Phee and Jin are parallels in episode 7. Both reacting in anger in ways that damage Non, and that they likely carry guilt for in the future...

Spoilers for episode 7 below:

In episode 7, we see both Jin and Phee react to Non badly after finding out that Non has had sex with Keng. And the way they both react to that information is... not good.

Phee reacts to the knowledge that Non has been "cheating on" him (I'd like to remind people that Non was coerced so we as the audience shouldn't label it that way, but from Phee's POV that's what it was) by telling Non to "get lost and die"

And he says this despite knowing that Non has su*cidal tendencies and tried to take his own life what seems like mere days before this.

I feel like people gloss over this because they understand why Phee is angry. And I understand too. But the point still stands that Phee basically tells Non to go k!ll himself despite knowing that the consequences of that could be dire... and permanent. If Non actually d!es, disappears, or heaven forbid actually kills himself after this? I don't doubt that Phee will carry the guilt of those final words for the rest of his life, and think of what he could've and should've done differently to prevent that unfortunate fate...

On the other hand, Jin. Who reacts to seeing Non sleeping with someone by recording him. Jin isn't shown to post the video himself, but he still made that snap decision in anger. Copper has said Jin reacted this way because he thought Non was cheating on his boyfriend...

But regardless of his intentions, the fact remains that the video he recorded is the one that was later released. And you can see on his face even in the past that he feels bad about it, feels guilty for his part in what happened. And in the present you see that same guilt...

There's a parallel drawn between these two boys. The two leads of this series who have revolved around Non this entire time. One with a crush, one, his boyfriend. Both dealing with harsh emotions and dragged into the mess that's been created by the others. They both react in anger to the same situation, both do something INCREDIBLY damaging to Non in a snap moment of anger. And both of them, I'm sure, carry that guilt into the future...

It changes Jin from a happy, smiley person into one who is serious and harsh to his friends, who has a damaged relationship with those closest around him, who calls himself a coward and wants to run to another country and never come back.

And it changes Phee from someone who whole-heartedly loves and asks the person he loves to be his boyfriend... to someone who can't get the words out, who seems afraid of commitment. Because he could get hurt? Or because he could hurt them again?

The impact of these actions have changed both boys in the present, and the parallels in the episode are so striking and interesting... and I don't think people talk about it enough. There's potential for a compelling story about these two learning to heal and forgive themselves.

And I hope the show delivers on it, because it would be an incredibly deep and compelling story that touches on dark pieces of humanity that we all carry. The guilt and shame of not always being our best person, and the impacts that has on the people around us. It could show something really touching and heartfelt if these two people who were kids during all of this can learn to forgive each other, forgive themselves, and move into the future together.

[z0mbi3k1d]

Romanticizing life Part 3

Studying ＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Take cute notes!! 🩰

Even if you don't wanna take cute notes at least make sure your hand writing is nice and legible. Mine isn't and I'm not saying that in a 'quirky' way like, no my hand writing is terrible lol. But I try my best to make my handwriting legible at least so I can read it later

Color code! 🍰

Colors and separating written things into colors is better for you to organize and inspect your notes

How to make your notes cute 💌

Highlighters

Colored pens

Stickers

Sticky notes

Focus 🌷

First find out your distractions and what distracts you then avoid/seperate yourself from it (I have little advice for this bc I'm reallyyy bad at it 😖)

Only listen to music if it helps you!! If you know it doesn't then don't listen, for me some songs help me focus better than others

Stay off your phone!! It does distract you, stop scrolling through Pinterest and liking Post's on Tumblr!! Put it downnn 😾

Additional advice 🎀

Blue helps you remember

Re-read the notes as soon as you get home, it helps remember them better

Brain food! Nuts/mints/blueberries/dark chocolate even coffee!

Chew the same flavor of gum when you studied on the test it helps you remember

Flash cards and diagrams! Those are the best ways

Take breaks, seriously!

Keep a planner and write down all your assignments there and plan on when to study

Upcoming Post's 🌸

Notespo (literally in like 30 mins)

How to get shoujo spring girl aesthetic (hopefully I'll get that in tomorrow) (rq)

Thanks for reading! 🩷

I love you all so so sooooooo much make sure to stay healthy and happy my little angels!!

Also thank you ll so much for 174 follows!! Xoxo!! 🩷

[friautyalltheway]

Up for a call?

⪩⪨ • Yunho x Reader Smut

⟢🎱

Warnings: Dom! Yunho, Sub! Reader, Phone sex, first time phone sex, fingering, mentions of hair pulling, porn without plot, starts soft but gets naughty, shy reader and Yunho

18+ below the cut!

Yunho being on tour with the band killed you. Yes- sure he would be coming back home in a few weeks again, but you needed him here with you. Of course, to cuddle and to just spend time together - but what you needed most right now was something entirely different. Everytime he went on tour, you became so fucking touch starved and simply needy. Seeing a single video of him performing and growling on stage made you go feral. But no amount of touching yourself could satisfy you enough. Nothing and no one was able to put up with Yunhos skills, which you were craving for right now.

After two hours of doom-scrolling through the latest tiktok-edits and twitter posts of your boyfriend, he finally texted you.

Done with the show for today! Up for a phone call? :)

His message read.

Of course Yuyu!! Just call me when ur ready - i ´ll answer!

You replied. You were looking forward to what he had to tell you about today´s show, and also you were looking forward to hearing his voice again.

A few minutes later your phone rang. Excitedly, you picked up. „Hi Yunho! How was the show today?“, you asked him.

„It went well. But i can ´t wait to come home again, to be honest. I miss you, and i miss peaceful, stress-free sleep…“

His deep, raspy voice went straight to your core. You were ashamed of how embarassingly horny you were for this man. He just wanted to talk, and here you were, thinking about him fucking you, whispering sweet nothings into your ear that would eventually make you come undone.

„Sweetheart?“, he asked. You realised you had been lost in thoughts for quite a while.

„Yes Yunho, sorry, I was just - uhm, distracted.“, you mumbled.

„Distracted? What distracted you, sweetheart?”

You took a deep breath, before you confessed what you had been thinking about for the past hours. „Yunho. It is that i miss you just- not in that way. I don’t know, it is kind of embarrassing to talk about that on the phone but- yes well, of course i want to cuddle up with you and stuff, but, oh god- i really need you in another… another way.“ you stuttered. You felt stupid. Hearing those thoughts from you was probably the last thing he needed right now, exhausted from an extremely long, exhausting show and-

„Y/N, so do I. I wanted to hear your voice. And do not get e wrong, of course I would love to be all cuddly with you right now, but what I really need is something that goes way further than just cuddling. It has been months since I’ve last been with you, touched you, and even on stage i could think of nothing else than just, shit- fucking you.”

You silently gasped at his confession. You felt like a horny teenager, sexting over snapchat- not like the girlfriend of an international Idol talking about how horny the both of you were on the telephone.

“God. I ´m so pissed off that you ´re two continents away from me. Wish you were here instead of your hotel room…”, you sighed.

You heard him draw in a sharp breath, and nothing could have prepared you for the things he was about to say.

“I know that I ´m not here, but we can make the best out of our current situation, right? We ´re both horny and touch starved - so how about you get all comfortable, loose those clothes and imagine i was next to you, hm?”, he suggested.

Shit, what had gotten into him? Yunho usually was not this brave, sometimes not even being able to ask you for sex when you were together because he did not want to make you uncomfortable. But not that you ´d complain - you’ve been literally hoping for something like that to happen. Yunho just shamelessly asking you to have phone sex was all you needed today. It wouldn’t fill up the hole entirely, literally and metaphorically, but it would do enough to satisfy the both of you.

“Sounds very good, yes.”, you told him, your fingers already unclasping your bra, freeing your breasts. Your nipples were already heard, blame the AC blasting cold air in your room.

“Can you… tell me what you’re doing right now?”, Yunho asked with a breathy voice.

“Playing with my- with my breasts, i guess. Feels good, Yuyu.”, you told him.

“Oh, fuck, just imagining your hands playing around with those nipples, shit, we’ve barely even started and I’m already so fucking hard sweetheart”

Hearing him say this made you press your thighs together, the heat in your stomach intensifying.

You let out a breathy moan. “Shit, i’d like to see that right now… Feel it…”

“Oh yes, so do I. I can only imagine how wet you are already. Tell me, do you feel good?”, Yunho asked.

“Mhm. So, so wet for you.”

“Come on princess, finger yourself. Let me hear how good you can make yourself feel while thinking of my cock.” You slowly started fingering yourself, focusing on Yunhos instructions while you applied pressure to your clit with your thum, while your index finger went in and out of your wet pussy. You let out a string of quiet whimpers, loud enough for Yunho to hear.

“Yes, that´s right. Imagine it was my cock pleasuring you right now. Shit. Want to pull your hair and make you my little slut… Want you to fall apart…”

Hearing those filthy, filthy words coming out of the mouth of your usually sweet, innocent boyfriend made your walls contract around your fingers.

“Stroking myself for you right now, princess. Feels so fucking good…”

You added another finger.

“Tell me what you ´re doing right now, will you?”, he demanded.

“G-got two fingers inside right now. Fuck, it´s not enough. I wish it was you, baby.”, you explained to him. “Go on, add another finger. I know you can take it.”

“I don ´t know if I can, ´m close already, so, so close…”, you whined. The image of Yunho lying in his bed, hand on his erect member was playing in your head non-stop, bringing you close to the edge faster than ever before. “I ´m sure you can, come on. Hold on a little while longer for me.”

His words of encouragement reached you, and you did as he told you. Using three fingers now nearly made you fall apart, the pleasure becoming overwhelming, your orgasm approaching fast.

“Sweetheart i ´m sorry, but I am so close. Wanted to keep on going but imagining my pretty, little pathetic whore with three fingers in her pussy is just way too much for me, shit…”

“Yuyu, fuck… I ´m-“

“Come for me, princess. Let me hear those moans, hm?”

That was what sent you over the edge. With one last, loud moan you came, Yunho following close with a satisfied groan.

“God. What a way to end the day.”, he murmured. “You did so good for me. Love you, sweetheart.”

[thegamingcatmom]

Resi Village crack post in 3...2...1...

*The Lords and MM discussing what to do with MC*

OR:

*MC in the middle of yet another shitshow*

.

MM, pointing her finger: "Heisenberg - the mortal´s fate is in your hands-"

Lady D: "Mother Miranda, I must protest-"

Karl, imitating her in a pitch that is most unpleasant on the ears: "Mother Miranda I must-Oh, SHUT your mouth, super-sized freak!"

Lady D: *eye twitching, pressing her pointer finger to her ear as she recovers from that din*

Lady D, still prodding at her ear: "At least I am capable of producing sounds that will not be mistaken for a dying cat."

Karl: *indignant spluttering*

Angie: "HAHAHAA, she GOT you there! MEEEOOOOW!"

Karl: 😑

Lady D: 😏

MM: *wishes to be literally anywhere else*

Salvatore: *watery laugh*

Salvatore: "Hhahaaha, M-MghaOUUaaGRRahAH!"

...

Karl: "...Wtf was that?"

Angie: "Sounded like a dying cat INSIDE a dying cat! HAHAHAH!"

Salvatore: *watery spluttering*

Lady D: 🤦🏻‍♀️

MM, beneath her mask: 🙄

Karl: "More like a dying cat inside a dying cat on fire. HAH!"

Angie: *more mad cackling*

Salvatore: 🥺

Salvatore: "N-Not n-nice, no-no! Mother, they´re m-mean!"

MM, having zoned out ages ago cause she can´t deal: *elevator music*

MC, from the background: "...I thought it sounded pretty close actually."

...

*elevator music stops*

*everyone turns to her, only now remembering her presence it seems*

MC: *starts to sweat with all those eyes on her, clearly waiting for her to elaborate*

MC: "...I-"

Karl, who recovers first: "If that was a cat then I´m a giraff-eh."

Lady D: *giving Karl a rather extensive once-over*

Lady D, in all honesty: "Hm. The resemblance is quite uncanny."

Karl: *indignant spluttering*

Lady D: "And it´s Juh-RAFF, you ignorant fool."

Angie: "RAFF-RAFF! WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?!"

Salvatore: "Ohh I l-like dogs!"

Angie: "Me too! They´re tasty! HAHAAHHA!"

Salvatore: D:

Donna, finally having found the correct channel: "Now now, Angie... Lulu was an accident."

Angie: "True! We only accidently roasted her over the open fire like a suckling pig!"

Salvatore: D:

MM: *contemplates having some pork for dinner later tonight*

MC: *stomach starts grumbling from all that talk about pigs*

MM: *eyes shooting in MC´s direction at the sound of a lycan*

MC, all by herself: *catches MM´s eyes, gives a shy wave*

MM: *confusion*

MC: *stomach grumbling again*

MM: *realizes there is, in fact, no lycan near*

Also MM: *torn between feeling appalled and impressed at the sounds that stomach is capable of producing*

Karl: "What do you mean Juh-RAFF?! How fucking stupid does that sound?!"

Angie: "RAFF-RA-Mmpf Mhhh-!"

Donna, still covering her mouth: "Now now, Angie..."

Lady D, quickly losing her patience: "It was an exaggeration on my part to make you understand, you idiot manthing!"

Karl: "An exaggeration that was fucking pointless to begin with! Everyone knows it´s giraff-EH!"

Lady D: *eye starts twitching again*

MM: *elevator music*

Donna: *eerily calm as she keeps Angie´s mouth shut*

Angie: "Mpff mhmm! MPFF!"

Salvatore: *still processing the doggie incident*

MC, who clearly has a death wish: "...Actually-"

...

*elevator music stops*

*everyone turns to her*

MC, with a confidence that is entirely misplaced: "It´s giraff-EE."

...

MC: "...Yknow, like, a whole new breed! Futuristic giraffes. Cause they´ll be so advanced, they come with built-in GPS to find those branches!"

...

*tense silence*

MC: *swallows*

Karl: "That´s..."

MC: *prepares for a rather painful death*

Karl: "...Fucking BRILLIANT! HAHAHAHA!"

Angie, muffled: *mad cackling*

Salvatore: *uncertain watery laugh cause he has no idea what that means, dude just wants to feel included man*

Lady D: *torn between slicing MC to ribbons and...other things cause MC got the pronunciation right after all*

MM: *oddly charmed by that...curious specimen*

MC, in the face of it all:

.

.

.

Yknow that feeling when you´ve won a game but have no fucking clue how you did it cause those damn rules make zero sense to you?

MC knows the feeling.

[trivialbob]

I ordered stuff from Target.

Target has to compete with Amazon, but I don't know how it makes money with the effort to gather items, pack them and ship a box to my house in one day with no extra charges.

For years I ordered mesh polo shirts from Lands' End or LL Bean. This one from Target was $12 versus Bean's polo at $39.99. The mint colored shirt feels like it has slightly thinner fabric, but does not feel cheap. Knowing I saved $28 makes it feel luxurious. I'll order more of them from Target.

When ordering I peruse the web site and add things I didn't originally have in mind. When the big cardboard box arrives, opening it is tantamount to digging into a Christmas stocking.

Shout wipes might be useful for traveling or those occasions I go downtown to the office. Of course I included pizza flavored Goldfish crackers. A multi pack of tissues I ordered saves me the arduous task of carrying them to my car in Target's parking lot.

Post-Its are useful. Buying them reminds me of r/AskReddit questions. What is something Bob in 2004 would not have imagined doing twenty years later? That would be BUYING sticky notes instead of stealing them from the office. There's no office supply cabinet these days.

My son and daughter-in-law and their two dogs are staying here this weekend. Jack is playing in a softball tournament that's closer to my house than his. He's on a team with my brother-in-law and his high school friends.

Pictured here is Lily on top of the couch. She likes to rest at high points in the living room.

I went to one of Jack's games today but didn't stay for later ones. He and Ali went out for pizza with the team when the games were done. They're bringing me leftover pizza (free food!) so I'll take them out to the brewery tonight.

[chillbusinessax]

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 10 analysis & Implications

Sarada vs Hidari & the Mangekyou of Sarada: As we know, the fight between the last survivors of the Uchiha lineage is approaching: Sarada & the Shinju of Sasuke. Sarada’ll face a Shinju that’s absorbed Sasuke’s chakra & powers, plus the power of the Ten Tails. It’ll undoubtedly be a fight that’ll offer one of the most impressive battle choreographies & 'll foster necessary character development as she faces a formidable enemy. The first time Sarada encounters Hidari, he automatically attacks with Chidori. Sarada dodges & counters with Chidori. This symbolic act kicks off the fight, as only two living people can execute Chidori: Sasuke & her. However, she’s confused; although it’s clear her opponent possesses Sasuke’s chakra & powers, Hidari isn’t Sasuke. (This topic’ll be addressed in another section of the post). Sarada holds one of the most important positions & stories in the manga, being the heroine of the story, heir to the Uchiha power, immune to omnipotence & possessor of the Mangekyō. Why have 10 chapters passed & nothing has been revealed about the Mangekyō? Even the rebirth of the Kyubi was revealed before the powers of the MS; the answer is simple: the abilities Kishimoto’ll grant Sarada in the Mangekyou’ll be convenient to the story’s context. When the power of that Mangekyō is discovered, it’ll be a pivotal axis that’ll mark a before & after in the narrative of Two Blue Vortex. The Mangekyou Sharingan is meant to be a decisive point in the plot. To contextualize, among the special abilities known so far in Mangekyou users, there are dangerous & high-level powers like Kotoamatsukami, Tsukuyomi & Kamui. Theoretically, Sarada should awaken with the Mangekyou two special abilities (they can be both new & those already mentioned, for example, Itachi & Sasuke had Amaterasu in common), in addition to the Susanoo (considering the divine weapons of Susanoo). The Sharingan is a dōjutsu of Ōtsutsuki lineage that comes from the Rinne-Sharingan; it was Indra Ōtsutsuki who awakened & bequeathed this ability to the Clan descended from him, the Uchiha Clan. It’s important to highlight that, with just the Sharingan three tomoe, definitive techniques like Izanagi, a technique based on Hagoromo’s Banbutsu Sōzō no Jutsu, & Izanami, both Kinjutsus characteristic of the Uchiha clan, could be used.

The last thing to discuss in this section (which’ll likely generate antagonistic opinions in the fandom) is the fact that, observing how events are unfolding in chapter 10, where Kawaki had (and was the only one who could) intervene in Himawari’s fight against Jura, the complexity of these enemies, representing not just an individual but a collective problem, being a monthly manga & mainly, the way Boruto is (and has always been) emotionally involved with Sarada, I wouldn’t be surprised if, sooner or later, he joins in Sarada vs. Hidari. He knows the danger these enemies pose & won’t hesitate to support the fight. Only two people have, on an emotional level, the authority to intervene & support this fight: Sakura & Boruto. This position of Boruto is something Kishimoto has made clear from the beginning of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, just as Sarada intervenes without regard for her own life when Boruto needs her. This feeling is mutual between them & is fully justified. Although some of the fandom may see it as a regression in Sarada’s character, it’s actually an enrichment of the characters & an added value by Kishimoto, a shōnen where, beyond the fights, bonds & expressions of human feelings are valid to show & are present. Additionally, it would allow us to see quite an interesting team battle choreography, as Boruto & Sarada have always formed a formidable combat team. The heir of the Hiraishin & the heiress of the Mangekyou united in battle.

2. The Shinjus: They’re still a mystery. In fact, they don’t even know exactly what they are. Hidari asked himself & the other Shinjus: “Exactly What… are we?” We know they’re the result of a “claw grime” absorbing a person’s chakra. They’re a divine tree evolved & self-aware, produced by Code’s Ten Tails, created from the chakra of the person they’re absorbing, but the implications of this are still unclear.

We also know that the people the Ten Tails has absorbed are still alive. However, how long’ll they remain alive after the “claw grime” absorbs them? Will there come a time when Sasuke & the others sealed’ll die if not released? If Sarada kills Hidari, or if someone kills one of the Shinjus, does the person get released or die? And when releasing the person, does the Shinju die? These are questions still without definitive answers. Only time & the plot’s development’ll provide us with more information about these mysterious beings.

We could see this as the birth of a new species, or rather, the Ten Tails’ species becoming conscious. Moreover, they have a goal linked to the person from whom they’re absorbing chakra, which, if they manage to fully absorb, they’ll find a higher degree of evolution. The powers of the Ten Tails, the human abilities of the “sealed” person, the Rinnegan, the ability to launch bijudamas with their eyes, & even their wisdom & thirst for knowledge, make these enemies something totally unknown & formidable. Keep in mind that, in addition, their main goal after their “target” is to devour an Ōtsutsuki, therefore, they have the capacity to face enemies with levels of power that humanity isn’t capable of facing.

It won’t be a short battle & everyone’ll probably have to support each other to achieve something against this threat. Kawaki, upon learning that Himawari was in danger, quickly headed to the battle. Boruto, due to the resonance between the Karmas, can’t be near Kawaki, so he’ll likely assist in the battle within Konoha.

The battles against these enemies’ll be fought in teams & will likely be more than one confrontation. Although symbolically each Shinju has its target, it’s clearly a global problem, so it’s normal for third parties to be involved, even mixing scenarios. Everyone is in a conflict on the scale of the Fourth Shinobi World War, where everyone had to ally to achieve something against the common enemy. But, to summarize, the protagonists of the battles go like this:

Kawaki & Himawari vs Jura

Sarada & Boruto vs Hidari

Konohamaru & Team 10 vs Mitsuri

Eida & Daemon vs Bug

3. Himawari & Kurama: It’s interesting to see how they’ve imprinted on her the concept they initially had with Boruto (Byakugan + Kyubi). With lineage from Hamura’s line (Hyuga clan) & Ashura’s line (Uzumaki clan), & now with the Kyubi, she’s placed among the most powerful characters with raw chakra of the new generation. It’s surprising that Kurama’s return has caused astonishment in readers, considering it’s predefined that the tailed beasts don’t die definitively but reincarnate. A precedent for this is Isobu. Moreover, there’ve been hints (especially in the anime) that Himawari would somehow be related to the tailed beasts. She’s always shown interest in them; she even coexists with Shukaku in an anime episode.

The relationship between Kurama & Himawari started on good terms. Kurama retains his memories, including his time with Naruto, with whom he formed a bond of friendship & familiarity after they understood & accepted each other as equals. This precedent opens the opportunity for a friendly & mutual collaboration between Himawari & the Kyubi. An interesting fact to consider is that Kurama retains his past memories. There’s a possibility that they haven’t been altered by omnipotence, & if that’s true, he could convey to Himawari that her brother is actually Boruto, & that all the experiences she believes she shared with Kawaki (before omnipotence) were lived with Boruto.

Some believe that Himawari’s suspicions are due to the hidden power in her (the Kyubi), but that’s not the case. Sadly, Himawari was affected by omnipotence, & the fact that she feels Naruto & Hinata are alive & that “Boruto” would never harm them is because, due to the effect of omnipotence, her experiences lived with KAWAKI make her believe they were actually with Boruto. In short, what’s really being conveyed to the reader is that Kawaki would be incapable of harming Naruto, & that’s why she feels Naruto & Hinata are alive. Remember that omnipotence exchanged in people’s subconscious the memories & concepts they had of Kawaki & Boruto, but it didn’t alter reality.

4. Regarding Inojin: Another event that caused a stir is that Inojin was impaled by Jura. There’re already people who’ve prematurely concluded that Inojin is dead, but the truth isn’t definitive.

If Inojin survives, this’d mean 2 things:

Himawari might use some special power of the Kyubi to heal Inojin.

Inojin could be saved by the ninja medical unit, or by interference of ninja technology, although it’s important to understand that ninja medical jutsu & ninja technology have their limits.

Otherwise, it’d bring many implications to the plot. It’d be an emotionally shocking blow for many characters, starting with Ino & Sai, the Ino-Shika-Cho team that was raised as siblings, & other close friends of Inojin. It’d be the first character from the descendants of Naruto’s generation to die in battle just as the conflict begins, showing how dark the situation in TBV could start to turn. For Himawari, already the fact of losing her parents hardened her character, seeing the death of a special friend for her, who also died trying to protect her, would awaken a deep desolation.

For others like Boruto, Sarada, Sumire, & Mitsuki, who’ve known & shared time with Inojin at the academy, & Sarada & Boruto who’ve known him since childhood, it’d be an important before & after. It’d show them that no one is safe in the situation they’re living & that they’re facing dangerous enemies who don’t value human life. For Boruto, it’d be a hard blow to know that he might’ve helped, but the activated karma didn’t allow him to do anything in that situation. For the older generation, the loss of Inojin would make them aware that they failed in their mission to bring an era of peace to their children & the new generation, & the harsh reality that a new war has begun.

5. Boruto & Kawaki: Kawaki identified Boruto’s weak point in the previous chapter. It’s impressive that all of Boruto’s shinobi feats in the first 9 chapters were due to his pure training, without relying on the power of Karma. This is a great source of power, but at the same time his greatest weakness. Something must’ve happened over those 3 years that led Boruto to radically avoid karma. That fear has to do with Momoshiki, who finds a way to materialize & take over Boruto’s body by channeling through karma.

As we know in advance, in the battle Boruto vs Kawaki on the faces of the Hokages, Boruto can already activate his Karma at will. That is, by that point, Boruto’d probably have full control of his powers. But, seeing that Kawaki noticed that Boruto’s weakness is the activated karma, a possible scenario is envisioned: The cause of the destruction of the Shinobi era & what subsequently leads to the last confrontation between brothers is that Kawaki exploits Boruto’s weakness, causing him to lose control & Momoshiki to cause destruction. For some reason, Boruto regains control of his body & enters battle to defeat Kawaki.

Considering Boruto could lose control of the Karma at any moment & is emotionally affected by it, you can be sure that Sarada’ll be the one to help him channel those emotions. She’s the person he calls home, the intact fragment of his past, & she’ll be the one to show him he has the strength & will to stop Momoshiki. Sarada has always been a light in his life & was the one who thwarted Momoshiki’s plans to take over Boruto. The fight against Momoshiki is a battle waged on the plane of emotions & wills. And rest assured, Sarada won’t let Boruto fall into darkness; she’s the love that’ll turn Boruto’s vortex into a spiral. As always, Kishimoto gave us a great reference to this in Minato’s one-shot: Sarada is to Boruto what Minato was to Kushina & what Hashirama was to Mito.

There’re many more points that could be discussed, but this is what I wanted to highlight from the chapter. Boruto TBV is just beginning, there’s a lot to go through before drawing definitive conclusions.

Before closing, I’d like to point out that to know what ideas & projections Kishimoto has for the characters & their interactions, it helps to know chapter 700 of Naruto, “Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring”, & the novels belonging to Boruto’s timeline, some of which are written by Kishimoto & others directly supervised by him. These fit very well with how the characters are behaving in TBV. After Kodachi delegated the writing back to Kishimoto, a change in perspectives is noticeable. TBV is a pure concept of Kishimoto, so for those who like to theorize, analyze, or simply have a more complete understanding of the work, I suggest reading those stories that are part of the canon.

And lastly, beyond criticizing or causing fights in the fandom, enjoy the canon! Kishimoto has great things prepared.

[nattikay]

so in my previous post the other day I mentioned in the tags that I recently saw an OC name that was a string of five consonants followed by a single vowel and was baffled on how it was meant to be pronounced. I’m not going to say what the name was because I don’t want the person to feel called out—this post is not meant to be a criticism nor tutorial/lesson nor rant—just pure autistic rambling about this silly little interest of mine.

anyways, that name got me thinking: how many consonants could you put next to each other in a Na'vi word/name while still being phonetically valid? Well, I guess that depends on whether you’re counting by phonemes or letters.

First let’s go very briefly over basic Na'vi syllable structure: every syllable must contain one vowel or diphthong or pseudovowel. The syllable may optionally start and/or end with a consonant. Up to two consonants can cluster at the beginning of the syllable (there are some more specific rules for this but we’ll save that for later), but not at the end. Here’s some examples (remember that tìftang (') is considered a consonant):

taron - [ta][ron] ikran - [ik][ran] 'itan - ['i][tan] oare - [o][a][re] snafpìlfya - [sna][fpìl][fya]

Based on these rules, under the right conditions (a syllable that ends in a consonant followed by a syllable that begins with a cluster) you can string up to three consonants together and still be valid (note that you need at least two syllables to do this! The string of lfy in snafpìlfya works because the l and the fy belong to separate syllables! You would not be able to have all three together like that in a single syllable.)

BUT! What if instead of counting by phoneme, we count by letter? Let’s talk about something called digraphs. A digraph is when two letters are used to represent a single phoneme. For example, in English, th is a digraph: it’s not a t-sound and an h-sound right next to each other, but rather its own unique sound.

Na'vi uses a total of 11 digraphs: the consonants kx, px, tx, ts, and ng; the diphthongs ay, aw, ey, and ew; and the pseudovowels rr and ll. Sometimes the letters used in these digraphs can also be used separately (for example, with ts, both t and s are valid on their own), but sometimes they can’t—x is NEVER used outside of kx/px/tx, and g is never used outside of ng in the forest dialect (it can stand on its own in the reef dialect though, as long as it’s at the beginning of a syllable).

Let’s look at some more examples, but this time with words that use digraphs:

nantang - [nan][tang] tskxekeng - [tskxe][keng] flrrtsawl - [flrr][tsawl]

More specifically, let’s compare the words fnan and skxawng. Both these words have the same number of phonemes: f-n-a-n and s-kx-aw-ng, but because skxawng uses almost nothing by digraphs, it has nearly twice the letters! The only way to make it longer would be to replace that first s with a ts, thus giving you the longest possible syllable in terms of letters (tskxawng).

Why specifically ts instead of one of the other digraphs? Well, I mentioned briefly before that there are rules on how consonants are allowed to cluster, so let’s go over those real quick:

If you want to start your syllable with a single consonant, you can use any consonant you want. But if you want to start your syllable with a cluster, the first phoneme MUST be f, s, or ts (yes only those three), and the second phoneme MUST be l, k, kx, m, n, ng, p, px, t, tx, w, or y. The second phoneme cannot be f, h, s, ts, v, z, or tìftang. So for example:

fmi works, but not pmi tskxe works, but not ngkxe stawm works, but not ktawm flrr works, but not fvrr fngap works, but not ftsap syaw works, but not s'aw

Now, while any single consonant can start a syllable, only certain consonants are allowed to end one (and remember, clustering can only happen at the start, not the end).

The consonants that can end a syllable are: k, kx, l, m, n, ng, p, px, r, t, tx, and tìftang.

The consonants that cannot end a syllable are: f, s, ts, h, v, w, y, and z. So for example:

Tul works, but not tuz Kin works, but not kif Zup works, but not zuh Srung works, but not sruts Pam works, but not pas

Now, remember that this is for individual syllables. A word can have multiple syllables. Sruts is not a valid syllable, but something srutsen could still be a valid word because it is two syllables: [sru][tsen]

You might also see syllables like maw or pay that look like they end in w or y, but these still work because remember that the w and y in these words are not standalone consonants but part of the diphthong digraphs; the phoneme breakdown is not m-a-w but rather m-aw. So, maw works but not mow, pay works but not puy, etc.

There are also some special rules for pseudovowels. If you use a vowel or diphthong, starting and/or ending your syllable with a consonant is optional: a, ma, mak, ak, ey, mey, meyk, and eyk are all valid syllables.

But if you use a pseudovowel instead, the syllable MUST start with a consonant (remember that tìftang counts as a consonant) but CANNOT end with one. So 'rr, mrr, wll, etc. are valid, but not rr, srrk, plln, etc.

SO! With all that in mind! How are we gonna create our consonant monster word? We know that it’s gonna be impossible to have more than three consonant phonemes strung together, but we can mess around to get a whole lot more individual letters.

We’re gonna want to use as many digraphs as we can, so we’ll want to use either diphthongs or peusdovowels in the vowel slots. Syllables with pseudovowels can’t end in additional consonants so let’s use a diphthong for the first syllable, but diphthongs are spelled with a vowel first so let’s use a pseudovowel for the second syllable.

We’ll want a cluster at the beginning of the second syllable, and let’s use ts as the first phoneme since that’s the only digraph allowed in that position.

The beginning of the first syllable doesn’t really matter because there’ll be a vowel breaking up the chain anyways, but let’s digraph-cluster that one too just for the heck of it to make the word even more cursed. Let’s go ahead and tack a third syllable on the end as well, a short single-vowel one, because why not.

That leaves us with something like:

Tskxayngtsngrra

string of y-n-g-t-s-n-g-r-r, nine “consonant” letters in a row!! (albeit still only three consonant phonemes: ng-ts-ng). Syllable breakdown is [tskxayng][tsngrr][a].

absolute hot mess, but still technically valid! 🙃 lol

[decepti-thots]

Really enjoy your post about Optimus holding onto skewed views of his relationships. I think a lot about how soon he started calling Megatron a friend when they interacted maybe twice and said interactions weren't exactly pleasant. How he undermined Bee and treated him as just another politician while calling him friend. How we don't really see him have much of a personal or pleasant relationship with Prowl and he calls him friend. There's so much distance between Optimus and the people important to him, and we know he knows that, but he doesn't talk as if that distance is there most of the time. By the end of IDW1 it really felt like he didn't have any friends at all even though a lot of characters would probably say otherwise. The character we see have the most significant legitimate friendship with Optimus (in my opinion) is Senator Shockwave. And even he had ulterior motives.

This is EXCELLENT anon, exactly right IMO. A lot of the Megatron-Optimus stuff in particular I think is a peculiar byproduct of phase two writers (lbr, mostly Roberts) attempting to make IDW Megatron-Optimus into something that more strongly resembles the kind of dramatic narrative that exists in other continuities but realistically just does not make sense in IDW at that point; obviously the easy one to point at is TFP, but actually this also is a situation where Marvel G1 and G1 generally actually does also have that vibe, if you take into consideration the lesser-known prose stories for Marvel especially. And it has this fascinating knock-on effect in IDW of creating the dynamic you're highlighting here, which honestly is much more interesting than if Optimus had had those genuinely close relationships, and which I think Barber is able to kind of work with more deliberately in his later work in the comics. He's constantly trying to create these connections retroactively, to fill a gap because the gap exists in the first place. Hell, at one point in the exRiD/OP stuff he calls Soundwave 'old friend', and like. They are not old friends. But Optimus certainly would have known of Soundwave, and you can see how the narrative would get constructed, out of the need to have some kind of interpersonal continuity he would otherwise totally lack. It's like he so lacks strong interpersonal relationships he substitutes symbolic ones by way of the war, almost. It's all he has after a certain point! Those ideological touchstones, in place of actual connections, some of it self imposed, some of it externally forced on him.

A lot of the real tail-end stuff with Optimus in IDW is about constructed narratives and their power and how they can constrict the people trying to live within them, and I think it fits perfectly with this, honestly. IDW Megatron and Optimus weren't ever actually friends, but they both understand how they could have been, and in their own way they both try and create narratives in their post-war lives that allow them to explore that now they've made themselves into people who cannot properly connect to anyone around them. (I really dislike the LL 'Megatron goes off to the functionist universe' stuff for various reasons, but one thing I actually do think is potentially fascinating is the way it allows him to live out a fantasy of actually knowing Orion, just because it highlights how he never did in the way the audience might assume by default.) And even pre-war, the way Orion lived his life- essentially as someone who did not understand his own complicity in the downfall of things and the structures of corrupt power until it was too late- did not create any long-term interpersonal connections. He can mostly only imagine them. He wants them, but he can't find a way to make them, so he tries to turn those imagined connections into reality just by saying them.

And again, it's definitely accidental, but it's weirdly fitting that the one other character he actually does have any canonical basis for an 'old friend' thing with... leaves. Which is Ratchet. It's weirdly fitting I think that Ratchet, who actually knew him in some intimate capacity pre-war, who is his old friend, is the person who is explicitly like 'no, I can't stay here anymore because there's no room for me' and leaves him, not unkindly, but definitively.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Every week it's something...

I usually don't post anything like this but as of today, I'm exhausted with everything that's been happening for the past 5 weeks. Every week it's something and it's been like this since after 7x4 aired.

Be clear, I only ship Buddie!

I will NOT ship Buck and Eddie with any other LI and I'm not closing on them.

Until recently, it was fun when I wrote speculation and did metas but lately... it hasn't been.

For the last 5 weeks there has been nothing but toxicity, anger and frustration aimed at Buddie shippers when all some of us want to do is enjoy watching and celebrating the love story 9-1-1 has been writing, showing and telling for Buck and Eddie over the last 6 years. However, it's been a real struggle for the past several weeks and over the last two weeks, something has been said either in an interview or a live that just figuratively kicks Buddie shippers down even more. Some not all of the BT shippers have been rude, hostile and obnoxious by sending hate to people's DMs because a true Buddie shipper isn't/won't multi-ship both Buddie and BT and they've been filled with harassment (My anonymous asks are off and I still got some hate messages from blank or fake blogs). Or the responses being given about what's happening with Buddie have been adverse. Please understand, I get it, the fans who keep asking actors/actresses about Buddie shouldn't, especially when they aren't part of the ship.

But this season is giving seasons 5 and 6 vibes with the BTS pics, interviews and everything else. Back then, every time we thought LD or TayKay was about to leave, KR blindsided the audience with some BTS pics of them the day an episode was set to air that killed the vibe. Last week it was the Buddie karaoke scene being removed from the episode, then TM lashed out a few days later because viewers were upset about the karaoke scene being removed even though it had been used to promote the episode for three weeks. Furthermore, the news about it being deleted was released and obtained via an interview with KC. This week it's those stills with Eddie and Maris*l and on top of that the joke JLH made about Buddie not happening. She corrected it but gosh this is tiresome.

Of course no one on the show is going to spill the beans about if they will go CANON but holy moly... can Buddie shippers catch a f~cking break for once or is this h€ll going to continue for way longer than it should?

[blue-sunflower-bee]

More of this because the AU is giving me so many ideas.

This brain rott contains werewolf! Ness headcanons with human! Mike and Abby aka me just using my fav werewolf tropes on them. Whenever I get new ideas, I´ll just add them to this post. A gift to @skxtchb3ar and @neo-gaytheory

Ness is the only were in his family, he was bitten when he was around 7 and even tho his family is still kind to him, he noticed that they´ve grown more distant and he´s more like an outcast among his family members.

Sparky´s is a special diner that is open 24/7 but during the night it´s open for supernatural creatures only and builds a safe space for any species, one reason why Ness found himself drawn to this place and started working there. The staff has become more of a family to him than his real one.

He stopped eating meat in human form because thinking of the animals he probably had killed as wolf made him feel guilty and somewhat nauseous.

He actually tried to keep his lycanthropy a secret from Mike in the beginning, but Mike isn´t stupid and got suspicious quickly.

"This isn´t easy for me, but I gotta tell you something..." "Yeah, duh, you´re a werewolf, I know." "But...how?" "Really? You always mysteriously vanish during full moon nights, get really excited when I pet your hair while we cuddle...and you once gnarled at a chihuahua when we were out on the streets." "Yeah, because he was being really disrespectful!"

Mike once got him a squeaky dog toy to mess with him

When Ness gets very anxious, some of his wolf traits, like tail or wolf ears, become visible, that´s why he only takes the night shifts before full moon. So when nervous, Ness just like... sits around with a set of wolf ears. Abby adores his fluffy "doggo ears".

Something similar happens when he becomes impatient or angry. The only time Ness really scared Mike was when they were fighting and Ness, losing his temper for the first time, snarls at Mike and his teeth and eyes changed.

Ness usually wears sunglasses when he goes out because he´s afraid his eyes will give him away

Ness whimpers like a dog when he got nightmares or when he is injured.

Mike gives him extra head pats and snuggles when full moon is around the corner.

At first he searched for abandoned places for those nights, but later on he spent those in their bedroom with locked doors, while Mike sleeps on the couch. It took a while for Ness to trust himself enough to actually allow Mike to keep him company during full moon nights.

As the transformation burns a lot of calories, Mike usually treats him with a big breakfast once the full moon night is over.

Mike is constantly asked if he got a dog because all of his clothes are covered in Ness´ fur.

In this AU, they actually met during a full moon night when Mike started his first shift at Freddy´s. Ness had gotten himself injured and Mike found him and patched him up

[otomelavenderhaze]

I can't stop thinking about the cave dialogue in which Rayan talks about Chloé, his ex wife, therefore I went back to read whole scene back from University Life episode 8, because what Rayan describes in episode 17 of LL is too diferent from that UL episode and from everything I could remember about it.

It's not to say that I caught some sort of insane discrepancy and AHÁ!

It's more because I find it interesting and I thought maybe others would find it interesting as well. So first I wanna show you what Rayan says in episode 8 of UL (which I never translated before until this post):

In my playthrough of it, back in the day, I asked him directly if he have a wife, which he answers yes first and then the proceeds to talk about it...

"And she will forever be my wife. But the last time we saw each other was seven years ago. Already… seven years… My wife, Chloé, died seven years ago. In a terrorist attack. Some savages came in shooting. No fixed target. In shop windows, in people and even in children."

"There were many wounded, and fortunately few dead. But Chloé is one of those who didn't survive… All that happened seven long years ago. It took me time. At first I didn't want to move. I wanted to keep everything, the smallest memory."

Now why I am showing this 4 panells?

This is important to understand how she died, how sad Rayan showed us to be about her death and his attachment towards Chloé.

He even goes as far to say:

"We met in high school and we got married at 23, in a hurry. We didn't tell anyone. But I'm not going to lie to you and say that everything was all roses."

Candy asks him, how so?

"We often quarreled. We stayed together for a long time, we didn't get to know anyone but each other and, sometimes, we even doubted. But when she left… I was torn apart."

Now we will never know why they used to fight, what made them marry so young and so quickly to the point where he implies they didn't even had a wedding ceremony.

Which makes this difficult to understand what compelled both of them to take such actions - maybe they they were just impulsive, but without a reason behind such impulsivity it's hard to tell if it was warrant or not.

But then, the actual panel that made me do this post in the first place eventually comes up in that same conversation with Candy:

"I loved her with all my soul. Before anything else, she was my best friend. But, sorry… I opened up too much…"

And I believe he did, regardless of anything else, because it makes sense for Rayan's character to marry someone for love.

That's the kind of "person" he is, that's why when he falls for Candy, he's ready to assume so many risks and even later talks about leaving his job for her just so they could have a less tense relationship.

This sets up him to be someone that would intensily love another person and do everything for them - they being Chloé or Candy.

I could say this is actually the point of that whole conversation: to show that he isn't someone that takes love lightly or shallowly, which helps us readers to trust his intentions and to believe that, yes, for love he would indeed be honorable, truth and passionate, instead of a player or a man that just wants to have fun with one of his students.

Not mentioning that he presents himself as a tortured soul that lost a wife tragically and never fell in love ever since, but falls in love for you, the reader, because you're special and irreplaceable, is something very flattering and, even, I dare say, romantic.

Meow meow is sad and you're the only one who can fix that for him.

Personally, I don't like how mcl writes grief, I don't think they know how to dose it without losing their hand, so it comes off as shallow for me, but I guess it serves as another thing: Chloe was loved by Rayan, but Candy needs to be special. The player needs to feel special.

Which brings us to this part of the conversation:

"Every women had something of her own. I saw her everywhere. And yet, it's been seven years. Since then, I have been unable to get involved with another woman, in a new relationship. Even in a simple friendship."

"Until… I met you. I don't know… For the first time, I met someone who has none of her. For the first time, I felt entitled not to think about her."

I understand why in an otome game is important to get the romance right and make the player feel compelled to play the character's route, after all, who wouldn't want to feel special, even if it's only on a game - that's why we have so many MCs or main characters in videogames that are heroes, that cares of others or the place they belong to.

However, I will say, maybe they should've worded it differently, maybe it's not so much about feeling entitled to not think about her, but when I realized, I wasn't searching for her traits on you, I wasn't thinking about her anymore, I was ready to move on. But this is just how I would've done it, just so it would come from Rayan the agency of the "healing" - in another words, he had healed himself before he met Candy and falling in love with her was just another evidence of that.

Which brings us back to episode 17 of Love Life, our Honeymoon episode (and pay attention to the parts that I will mark in blue):

"Y'know, I honestly didn't think I would get over losing her. And then after you got in my classroom and into my life. So, yes, I should have a star up there shining for me. Because, with you, I understood the meaning of true love. And it wasn't the same of what I had with Chloé."

"Sometimes, I think, if the story/timeline was another, if I had met you first before I met her... She and I would've been simply friends, without anything else between us. If fate hadn't been so cruel with her, it would've ended like that anyway, actually. I think she would have been happy to see me so happy these days."

"Just like I would have been in seeing her meeting someone else just as important as you're for me. And when I think of her today, is in this way: as a friend that left too soon. And that, of course, I still get a little with my heart tight. She was someone wonderful/beautiful. There's still some of her in me. But, when I met you, I was like a ghost."

Only Rayan to friendzone the dead.

"Thanks to you and our love, she just became a beautiful star, just like my father..."

At first I thought he was saying that he never really loved Chloé and that Candy made him realize that (How? Don't ask me, he doesn't say how), but thinking about this post and re-reading everything made me rethink my first impression of it.

It's not so much that he didn't loved Chloé, but admittedly, and for reasons that Rayan didn't say, he thought love was something else and he thought he loved her because of that notion, and then his notion of love changed because he met Candy and now he thinks that love is truly what he feels for Candy.

I, as someone that played all of his route, can't really say or even figure out how he would've come up with that reasoning.

Was it because for the first time ever, he had put someone else on his top priority, or at least in a more important position than his reputation and career (which he deeply cares for)? But wasn't he a passionate person to begin with? So isn't it natural for him, once he was sure he fell in love for Candy, to put her as his top priority?

Was it Candy presence alone in his life, simply being there, what made him create that notion? How she taught him that?

I don't know, because the way they fell in love was pretty quick and pretty normal I would dare say - normal not in the sense of, he was her teacher, normal in the sense there was nothing remarkable about their dates, the way they sneak around or in their conversations.

I think if he had realize that falling in love with someone new meant that he had "healed" from his past trauma, that he only had feelings for her because he was ready to have feelings for someone again and the sense of normalcy and easiness he felt in being with her was all he ever wanted after going through so much sadness and heartbreak, then, it would make more sense and sound more realistic, maybe?

But again, they wanted to spin that Candy was special, she needed to be the one that changed him, that was like gravity to him and he could not resist the pull of her.

“... It's just that, with you, I never got under the impression of playing any kind of game. Because I had a lot to lose. Before I met you, I had accepted to never love again. I didn’t want to ever risk lose someone ever again... And, above all, you came to enroll in my course. I looked up and knew that my certainties were worthless...” (episode 14 LL)

That's why I talked about his career before.

They set up Rayan to be someone that loves his work, that cares about his reputation and his career, if not, as he only thing he had since he moved away from his family and was living alone.

Risk it all for Candy was to show that he wasn't playing, he wasn't just trying to get a kick out of it.

And knowing how he got after when Marina actually got him fired, how much of a mess it made him, this put things even more in context, it shows that truly, risk it all for her was no joke, even thou, they used to be pretty reckless about it (never gonna forget their first kiss, crazy, both of them).

Which brings me to one of my favorite parts of dialogue in Rayan's route, episode 15 LL, the marriage proposal dialogue:

"It’s funny... for a long time I thought that love was like a burning fire. And I even thought that, in my case, all that was left was ashes of it. Until I met you and I understood that I didn’t know anything. That I have got it wrong in my whole life. With you, I understood that love is like a stream/flow. A wave that breaks again and again without stopping. And that drags everything wherever it goes. You imposed yourself on me like an evidence. In the calm. I knew it right away. But I only understood it this well later on."

Think that love was like a burning fire: it lights up, it shines bright, it consumes itself, then it becomes ashes and there's nothing left of it.

Ouch, Rayan. 😢

Not to mention the destructive nature of fire, but I don't think Rayan or the person who wrote this scene thought it like that necessarily, I think it had more to do with how fragile and how it consume itself, which feels more how like I would expect from how Rayan described his relationship with Chloé before: intense, too quick to think everything through, the fighting, the feeling that it wouldn't last anyway.

Meanwhile Candy is like a strong wave or a strong stream, his love for her dragged everything with it: all his reasoning, his principles and scruples, the risk of losing his reputation, his career, AND breaking again and again, because it didn't matter if he had build any walls to keep her out in the begining, she somehow brought it all down.

Two kinds of love, one feeling less truth and lasting than the other.

While it would've better, in his head, to have remain just a friendship with Chloé, with Candy, there was no way for it to have ended just in friendship, it would always be more.

You can see the contrast between his feelings for Chloé and his feelings for Candy, how it was different and the key word should always be different.

It surprised me to see him talking about their wedding too, Rayan and Chloé married young and in a hurry (we will never know why), meanwhile, Rayan found Candy in a stage of his life when love wasn't even in the table and when it finally came back to the table, Rayan wanted everything, he wanted celebrate it having a proper wedding ceremony and all.

But those are little subtle things that they left out in the air, instead of saying it so clearly like they did so many times before.

Personally, I don't think would've make any sense for Rayan's character to haven't love Chloé, considering they built a life together before he even met Candy, the same way, I don't think we could've ever thought that Rayan loved Chloé more or even the same way he loved Candy.

Cuz, Chloé and Candy not only met him in different moments of his life BUT ALSO, they totally two different women, it would go without saying it.

But I guess, they wanted to make it even more screaming that it was the case, which I can understand why.

I mean, people thought that Rayan had really tried something with Marina, outside of his route: which for those people I always told it would be impossible.

It would go against what they presented to us about him during that first dialogue in episode 8 of UL and it would represent a contradiction in the writing itself. It would bend the rules that they set themselves to follow too grotesquely. Not to mention, MCL never gave other love interests to the Lis that stayed on the side lines.

Unless, of course, they had set things up that we would understand that Marina was such a special existence is moving like Candy - which, okay, I could've accepted it, but they didn't so. That's why I was so sure of it.

Y'know, have to read so much back in his route to make this post made saying goodbye to his route so hurtful but also so fulfilling, I always loved how they wrote him, despite having my criticisms, I am happy that I got to experience Rayan's route from the start to end.

If you haven't played his route like ever, I totally I encourage you to do it now that we got it all. xD