#I'm curious about how this will develop. For a change I know almost nothing about this show

[comicaurora]

I heard you talking on a recent OSPod about Hades, and as someone who very much can get ADHD-yoinked into games, it got me curious, but I'm...not great at video games and have found Dark Souls-y games where you try over and over and keep failing at the same task kind of frustrating. How's your Hades experience been in those regards? (although I'm not sure your general game skill)

Hades feels like it's really carefully designed to circumvent those frustrations.

I also hate the feeling of lost progress, which had me wary about playing a roguelite defined by constantly trying and mostly failing, but by far the most helpful part of the game design is that Zagreus also hates it, so it feels like the game and I are on the same page about it.

It also helps that most of the actual, tangible progress in the game is bound up in advancing the character arcs, which isn't a totally skill-free experience since it involves finding a couple characters out in the underworld, but a lot of it can be done back in the House of Hades, so every time you lose and die you can run around having conversations with everyone, almost all of which will be new and unique and advance your arc with them. If a character doesn't have a new interaction for you, you usually just can't find them on the floor, so there's very little time-wasting.

Speaking of, there's a lot of advancement that can only be done in the House of Hades, and a lot of it involves resources you can actively choose to seek out on runs. I did a couple runs today where my only goal was getting the last of a specific olympian's Boons so I could fill out their Minor Prophecy achievement and reap the rewards, and everything after that was just a bonus. This means the game is passively encouraging the player to develop secondary objectives beyond just making it to the end of the game again. It also helps that making it to the end of the game basically just gives you a weapon-unlocking resource and another small slice of conversation with [EXTREMELY OLD SPOILERS] so while it feels important, and is necessary for advancing towards the true ending of the game, it's not so overwhelmingly rewarding that you feel absolutely crushed when the final boss takes you out halfway through his second healthbar again.

You also benefit very greatly from not playing the game the same way twice - using new weapons or adding new challenge modes is the only way to re-acquire the unique boss rewards for the three main regions of the underworld, instead of the more generic resources that replace the unique ones after you win them for the first time, which means instead of feeling like you need to optimize a winning build and then use it every time, you're encouraged to play with the other weapons that you might find unwieldy or annoying, and if you manage to beat even the first boss with them, you'll be disproportionately rewarded. Also, on every run a random weapon will be empowered to give you bonus resources if you choose to use it, so even if you're a strictly melee-only main you might find yourself willing to figure out how to use the bow in exchange for the extra gems. The Boons you get also dramatically change the strategy you're likely to naturally fall into over the course of fighting your way out - some builds are extremely melee-based, others just boost your ranged abilities to the point that you can mostly just dash around the battlefield while your Casts chew through everyone's healthbar at top speed. So when you reach the final boss, you're not going to be using the same strategies, and even if you lose, it feels less like you had a skill issue and more like you've learned something to look out for or try out next time around. The final boss's strategies and moves don't change either, so you'll know what to expect every time even as your own moveset might be completely different from run to run.

In my personal experience, I have a pretty good feel for when a game is disappointed in my performance. Nothing says "the designers didn't expect you to get stuck here" like endlessly looping dialogue or not-so-subtle hints that you can knock down the difficulty if you need to. Hades has thus far done this to me very little, and only in specific areas - even if I'm no longer getting unique banter with Theseus every time I kick his ass, I'm still having unique conversations with Asterius in the same region and it doesn't feel like I'm anywhere near done with the dialogue back in the House. Zagreus's dialogue when he enters the same three boss arenas will also randomly go from seemingly-interchangeable lines of "yep it's this boss again" to much more unique angles that legitimately change the game from then on. Yesterday, after killing the bone hydra something like a dozen times, he randomly decided to nickname it Lernie, and now he consistently calls it Lernie and every time I kill it the victory banner says "LERNIE VANQUISHED". Today he got Tisiphone to say his name instead of just "murderer" all the time. The game knows you're going to be fighting these guys a lot, and this tells me I haven't outstayed my welcome in the anticipated main timeline of gameplay.

If I have a frustration, it's that I'm not always sure that what I'm doing is advancing the character plotlines, and you can only talk to a character once on any given visit to the House. The game kind of helps you out here, your little information codex will tell you stuff like "Learn more by having X more conversations with this character" or "learn more by deepening your relationship with this character" but it can still be pretty vague and opaque. There's no dialogue trees, Zagreus basically just says what he wants, so when, for instance, Achilles indicates that I should talk to Nyx about maybe getting Orpheus's deal with Hades undone, it's a little frustrating that I can't then go over to Nyx and ask her about that. Or, in fact, ask her about it at all in any of the dozen runs I've done since that nugget got dropped. It's not a game-breaker, but it is a little frustrating. On the other hand, this is clearly intentional, because this means you're tempted to get back into a run as quickly as possible, because then when you die more conversations will have unlocked back at the house - but also, to deincentivize just running out and dying on purpose to get those dialogues going, there are some characters who will only appear in the House if you get far enough into the run to deal with them, and certain characters whose arcs and dialogue only advance if you find and talk to their missing loved ones out on the run. So you'll always have something new back at the House, but you're strongly encouraged to get as far as you can before you die, because the farther you get, the more you'll have to do when you get back.

The game is basically designed to never, ever make you want to sit still. You can quickly exhaust everything there is to do in the house, and that makes you want to go out on a run and see what new things will happen. Then while you're on the run you have the benefit of randomization keeping things interesting and making you make plans for the next time you encounter a given character. It's got a good rhythm to it!

[obsessedwrhys]

Hi!!! could you make a headcanon of valen with fem merlin please? I've been searching and there's almost nothing ;; thank you also for making the headcanons of other characters ♡

|| VALEN DATING HEADCANONS ||

ᯓ★ just lots of fluff, reader is fem!! (I'm glad you like my other work ☺)

Despite his good looks and the rumours told by the villagers, he's actually inexperienced with love. He's constantly busy with his duties so he never really felt it was necessary to be in a relationship.

That was when he met you and oh boy did he fall head over heels for you HARD.

At first he didn't think much of it and simply just saw it as a task by Hogan to protect you, but the more you guys spent time together, the more he enjoys being by your side.

He was in denial the moment he realised he had developed feelings for you but he also couldn't deny what his heart wanted. So eventually he just chose to go with the flow.

His behaviour wouldn't change drastically but he does seem to develop a few traits when he came to the conclusion that he had a crush on you.

His eyes would linger on you longer when the group discusses on a topic, his brows relaxed as he's giving you the heart eyes.

And how he was always the first person to check up on you after every battles, making sure you weren't hurt anywhere.

He would also notice little details about you. How you seem to rub your arms when you're awkward or play with your hair when you're bored.

There was this one time he noticed you shivering a bit on the cold night so he offered you his cloak/cape, you thanked him which made his heart swoon but his face hid it with a simple smile.

When your group made it back to Holistone after your eventful journey, he was quick to treat everyone with drinks. It was there where he confessed to you.

Scenario ↴

Everyone had left to chat with their friends and he found you drinking alone at your table. With the opportunity in his hand, he slide into the empty seat beside you.

"You're alone, where are your chipmunk friends?" He'd ask with his arm rested on the chair and the other on the table.

"They left to check out the market" You'd say with both your hands wrapped around your glass.

He eyes your face for a while as he tries to think of the right words to say. He gulps but tried to cover it up by pretending to clear his throat.

"I uh—"

"Your face is red"

"Huh?" His eyes widened, but when he realised there was no way out, he ended up relaxing his face with a defeated sigh.

"I guess nothing bypasses the magister. Not even a knight's feelings..." He'd smile warmly at you when it was your turn to be flustered.

The second you guys started dating, it was huge news to the villagers. They were curious how you managed to catch his eye when all of the women have been trying their hardest to get his acknowledgement.

Some even made up rumours that you might have used a love spell on him.

Throughout the relationship, Valen would definitely be affectionate. Expect lots of flirting and corny jokes.

"You’re so beautiful that you made me forget my pickup line"

"Valen go to sleep..."

He's also very open with PDA, nothing too extreme though, just simple things like holding hands and kisses on the cheek or forehead. He just loves to see you smile.

I have a feeling that since you two are dating, it would be easier for Valen to figure out you were Merlin. He wouldn't be mad that you hid it from him but rather he understood your reasons for it. Also, he wouldn't say anything about it until your secret was revealed by Mirael.

He'd just stand there with his hand on the handle of his sword, completely unfazed because what kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't know that first??

Once your secret was out, expect him to ask lots of questions about your magic.

Like can you give a cat wings?

How does it work?

Could you make him 1 inch taller?

The first time he saw you use your magic outside of battles was when you used it to tie your hair. It baffled him but he had to admit it was fun to watch.

Thats why he would always stare at you all excited whenever you used your magic to do simple tasks. His excuse for his behaviour being "How can I not watch when you look so effortlessly gorgeous 😚"

His petname for you is Dove and this is a headcanon I will defend with all my heart.

He picked the name because he always found doves romantic, the name was easily decided the second you brought love into his life.

I just have a feeling his kisses are playful most of the time but when he's really serious, it'd be the most breathtaking kisses you could ever experience. His hand will always find its place behind your back when you two share the moment.

He definitely adores it when you kiss him too, especially on his cheek where his scar is. He also likes it when you trace your fingers across it because it always help him relax. Your gentle touch soothing his soul from a bad memory.

One more thing. He becomes more protective over you. Not in a bad way though, he knows you can defend yourself with your magic but that doesn't mean he's not gonna try to protect you from the enemy.

He doesn't care if the person is bigger or stronger than him, he'll still draw his sword.

After every fight, you'd always tend to his wounds and even through your complaints at his recklessness, he'd still look at you with genuine love in his gaze.

"You're such an idiot"

"A charming one right?"

He shows you off A LOT. I'm talking like crazy lot. Every conversation he shared with anyone, he's always gonna talk about you several times. It drives Hogan crazy, don't get me wrong, he's happy for you two but he can't seem to get his lovesick head to function.

I make him sound like he's crazy about you (which he kinda is) but it's just he's really proud of you. He's so very supportive of you!! He might even have Chippy and Hammie beat at being your number one fan.

Like hello??? My girlfriend is saving the world here 🙄

Of course, he's a very understanding person. If there's anything you're uncomfortable with, just talk it out with him and he'll make sure it won't happen again.

Now for dates. He likes to take you to the most prettiest spot of Holistone or any places he knows. You guys would just spend time chit chatting or cuddling.

Your personal favourite was when he had managed to plan a picnic for you two on a hill, it was adorable watching him cut the food into smaller slices and then feeding you, it was his way of giving you the princess treatment.

Well he is a knight and it is his duty.

Since he's very affectionate, he can also be a tease. He likes teasing the height difference between you two. He finds it adorable.

"You're so small. Are you sure you're as the myth foretold? The mighty merlin? So cute..." He'd stroke your hair with a smile.

I feel like he'd teach you some skills to defend yourself just in case. He knows your magic is powerful but he's not gonna risk it, not when it comes to you.

The lessons would mostly be basic hand-to-hand combat. There was this one time you managed to beat him in a friendly duel and even though he was going easy on you, he was still proud of you regardless so he showered you with compliments.

Another thing I'd like to add is that he secretly write poems dedicated to you. He's too embarrassed to share them with you so if you ever found out, he thinks he'll actually dig a hole and bury himself alive. He'll only share ONE poem with you once he finishes rereading it for the 19373th time and making sure it's good.

By the way, this man can get jealous. He doesn't like seeing Lorsan get too close to you. Half of the times he'd actually cross his arms without even realising when watching you two talk. You always laugh at his behaviour which he does not appreciate.

"What are you laughing at? I don't see anything funny about it..."

Also did I mention how he smells like white musk?? You know like those scents that you smell and you just feel so in love??? Yeah that.

Honestly... 100/10 BOYFRIEND!!

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 181 (Dealing With Robin Banks)

While the Landgraabs and Gordons memorialized the dead, resurrected lawyer, Felix Psyded, Esquire, arrived at the San Myshuno courthouse across town. He and Emit had even brought Agent Cali Skye to provide reinforcements.

The time traveler turned to the secret agent with a smile. "Thanks for coming, Agent Skye."

"Thanks for inviting me," she said. "After helping you get into this phone, it almost feels like this is my time thief, too."

"Your help's been invaluable. It's only right you should be here now."

Judge Robin Banks emerged from her chambers, greeting them in an open library space that was otherwise deserted on this rainy day.

"Mr. Psyded, I'm surprised to see you here all the way from Britechester. Isn't Ash Landgraab's next custody hearing scheduled a few months from now?"

"This is less about the custody trial and more...well, we found your phone."

She arched her brow in confusion. "How do you know about my phone? I ordered a new model from the developer and it was supposed to arrive after my wedding, but they sent a note about shipping delays just this morning."

"We - well, a friend of ours - found it in Champs les Sims in the 1940s."

The newlywed judge eyed the trio as Cali held up the phone. "Does this look like the one you ordered?"

A quick nod was followed by a sour turn of expression. "You obviously intercepted this from the post office. Why? Are you attempting to blackmail a judge?"

"Not at all, Judge Banks. Congratulations on your recent marriage, by the way. My wife, Lilith, and I were married at the same chateau in Ravenwood. We just moved there."

"Are you here to talk about my wedding or finding my phone in another century?"

"Both, if you'll allow us. I did some research into your husband, Jonathan Banks, and it turns out he's working on a high value project for his employer, Landgraab Engineering."

Judge Banks froze. "He signed an NDA so we don't talk about it."

"You don't have to. We know all about the project. But thanks to my friend Emit, here, we also know Jonathan's going to ask you to be his guinea pig."

"That's ridiculous!" she scoffed, but as her brow creased to anger, Felix suspected she already knew plenty - regardless of any non-disclosure agreement.

"Has he already asked you?"

As if called by the Watcher at the very mention of his name, Judge Banks' husband, Jonathan, approached the foursome with a curious stare. "Have I already asked her what?"

Judge Banks jumped to greet her new husband with a kiss on the cheek. "Nothing important, my dear. I'll just be a few more minutes and then we'll head out for lunch."

"It's very important!" Emit protested with indignance, but Felix waved his hand to speak.

"We were just curious how the biometric time travel project was going with the sudden death of the project lead, Geoffrey Landgraab."

"How do you know about the project?"

"The Landgraabs aren't very tight-lipped about it in front of their grandson, and he doesn't keep secrets from his mother and stepfather."

Judge Banks sat down again with a frown, but her husband, Jonathan, a former military man, stayed standing with his spine straight.

"I'm so sorry! We haven't made proper introductions. I'm Felix Psyded, Esquire; I presented a case before your wife almost a year ago. These are my friends - Agent Cali Skye and time traveler Emit Relevart."

Jonathan's jaw dropped. "You were the guy on the news. Did you ever find your time thief?"

Emit nodded carefully. "We found your wife once - in 1920. But she got away again because of your biometric wristboard."

"This is absurd!" Judge Banks cried. "I should call the precinct to hold you in contempt, Mr. Psyded."

"I don't mean to sound contemptible, Your Honour. I know it's hard to believe, but you know what your husband's been working on. We're here to convince you both not to pursue biometric time travel, because each trip through time risks changing the future for the worse. In the future, they won't stand for what you'll do - running through time just to experience it, dropping phones from the modern day in the middle of a warzone a hundred years ago."

"And that won't even be all of it," added Emit. "The future calls people like you 'joyriders' and it's a serious crime. If you're ever caught, you'll be shipped off to exile somewhere in the future."

Judge Robin Banks could hardly believe what she was hearing. "What are you even saying? At some point in the future my husband's going to hook me up to a biometric time travel device and then I'll use it to gallivant through the centuries? I'm a judge!"

"There's your phone. The developer will probably never find it because you already have it now. That's how we know it was you. We'll always know it's you, and we'll always know where to find you, now."

"Are you threatening my wife?"

"Not as much as she threatens the future!" Cali jumped in. "Do you have any idea how many dimensions are out there, and how precariously they're placed side-by-side? Moving sideways is risky enough, but moving backward and forward could cause people you've known for years to cease to exist. Did you consider any of this when you signed up to help the Landgraabs? What about when you shared details of it with your wife?"

"I trust Robin. That's why I asked her to help, when it's ready," admitted Jonathan. He couldn't mask his excitement as these visitors revealed his work on biometric time travel would eventually be successful, but he did understand the gravity of the project he was working on. "Geoffrey wanted the smallest possible team on this, and I trust Robin more than everyone at Landgraab Corp. Now that Geoffrey's gone, no one knows what to do with the project, but even if the project dies with him, Landgraab Engineering will never destroy their research."

"Felix owns the patent to the time travel device," Emit said. "He could sue."

"Landgraab Corp. never fears getting sued. They've got enough money to drag anything through the courts for years until you settle."

"I wouldn't take it," Felix insisted. "It would constitute a conflict of interest with my clients. But it strikes me that your wife should have recused herself from the custody trial for the same reasons."

"The project hadn't even started, and Jonathan and I weren't married then."

"You are now," Felix reminded her. "It'd be a shame if someone raised the issue with the court. You might even be stripped of your gavel."

"This is blackmail." Judge Banks fumed.

"Robin. Wait." Jonathan spoke low, his voice serious. "Working for the Landgraabs isn't the greatest job I've ever had, but I needed work and they recruited me."

"I've got the patent. Work for me."

Jonathan laughed. "The Landgraabs have an even better lab than the military, so what are you offering?"

"Transfer Ash Landgraab's case to a judge in Brindleton Bay and if you won't leave the company, take the lead on the project, instead. Slow it down, turn it into a lifetime endeavour. They already know the only person who could take it over is too young to do it, so you won't have to worry about quick results."

"There's nothing in it for me if I do that," argued Jonathan.

Felix shrugged. "I wouldn't say nothing. You'll be running Landgraab Engineering and be set for life. You could engineer anything. All we're asking is for a little caution when it comes to time travel."

"So I'd work for Landgraab Engineering, but as far as the time travel project is concerned, you want me to secretly work for you?"

"You'd also be working for the benefit of the future."

"This is all ridiculous," Judge Banks huffed.

"As ridiculous as uprooting a boy from his primary home over time travel and ghosts, when you're entertaining the idea of jumping through time to prove your husband's invention? I understand you're an adult and your job is to protect kids in the system, but..."

"But nothing, Mr. Psyded. I never make decisions lightly. And even though I feel strongly about protecting children from the dangers associated with time travel and ghosts, I can't say I've never been personally intrigued."

Cali studied the woman and saw someone even more eager than she had ever been. "If you want to time travel so badly, I can't offer that, but I'm close to retirement and my agency will need another dimension hopper to replace me when I do," said Agent Skye. "You could probably do both if they bring you on as a contractor. You might not even be the first judge we've had with the agency. I'm not sure, I'd have to check. We're a secretive organization, but our goals are genuine. We're just trying to keep people safe, and if you dimension hop with us, you'll never run the risk of breaking the laws of the future."

Judge Banks looked hopefully at her husband. "That could be fun. You did say you wished the Landgraabs wanted to engineer an end to world hunger instead of a time travelling device. Maybe now that Geoffrey Landgraab's gone, you'll convince them to let you run Landgraab Engineering, after all."

Felix stood, ready to shake hands. "Do we have a deal?"

The judge nodded. "I'll recommend the case for my colleague, Judge Morrison, in Brindleton Bay, and tell him to rush another hearing. And I'll stay away from time travel."

Jonathan went along with his wife, but he looked a lot more nervous. "I better not regret this, Mr. Psyded. Esquire."

"Just remember, I told you to leave Landgraab Engineering altogether. But we'll do it your way. You're not wrong that it could be the best solution, if it doesn't backfire."

"Well, I assume my wife and I are on some kind of watchlist in the future?"

"You are now that my superiors know your names," Emit confirmed.

"We'll do it," Jonathan said, though he couldn't hide his trepidation. "But only if I get promoted to project lead at Landgraab Engineering. If they bring in someone else to lead the time travel project, I won't have control."

"You seem to want it badly enough," Felix observed. "I think you'll be fine."

With that, the judge and her engineer husband left the trio in the library. They had to hope the newlyweds were people of their word - Ash's custody case depended on it, let alone preserving the future - but they all felt a surge of confidence.

"I think it worked," Felix said after they left. "I think she'll call Judge Morrison in Brindleton Bay as soon as tomorrow morning." ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

WCIF: Jonathan Banks was actually a Gallery detective sim that came in second when @dinosmyte picked Conrad to be Heather's one true love. I held on to him for later use and decided now is the time. @oimygiblets is the Watcher presiding over the mysterious agency and its stories, so I won't be following Judge Banks to her secret new job at any point, but I do want her and Jonathan in my save, especially with Jonathan taking over for Geoffrey (in secret partnership with Felix?) at Landgraab Engineering.

The original gallery sim by hammetrs is named Jonathan Yáñez and comes with a ghost dad. You can see I was already plotting for a generation of ghostly storylines when I picked him as one of the options. We didn't use his ghost dad, but we have enough of those wandering about already. Also I hate that I whitewashed him a bit with the surname but obviously it had to be Banks since I made a whole thing about it being the time thief's married name. Maybe this handsome military man changed his name for some reason. 🤷

[felvahkiir]

I feel like we need more stories about Dreamtale's 500-year timeskip cause like... you're telling me Nightmare went through centuries of life experiences and character development and building an entire tyrannical empire from the ground up and we don't get to see any of it?!

Like, I get it, it puts the reader in the headspace of Dream having to wake up and see everything so drastically changed from what he knew, but so far I've seen almost nothing actually exploring what all actually happened during that time. How did Nightmare go from "traumatized power-drunk child slaughtering everything in his path" to "calculating and ruthless tormentor of the entire multiverse"? Where did he go after the whole apple incident? Did he go into hiding or did he immediately start terrorizing the humans that were left? How did the rest of the world react to him? Did they try fighting back, and if so, how? Where did he get the shadow papyri and an entire goddamn castle? Did he build it, or did it belong to someone before? How the hell did he find out about the multiverse in the first place? There's SO MUCH to play around with here; 500 years worth of content! I know we gotta keep at least some of the mystery but I'm wayyyy too curious about what Nightmare's early years might have looked like-- post-corruption, but before he had any understanding of his power or a reputation to rely on.

[tvlandofficiall]

since you think seam will be a secret boss, what do you think their motive will be for fighting us?

i personally think that, over the course of the game, seeing how strong the heroes have become, they start to have hope for the future. they've been trying not to, because they know these hopes will inevitably be dashed - better to not have hope in the first place, so that it doesn't hurt when they're proven wrong, right? but they just can't help themself.

so the fight is basically one last desperate attempt to snuff out their own hope. if the heroes are strong enough to beat seam, seam will finally let themself have hope that maybe this messed up world really can be fixed, and they will lend the heroes their strength to help them do this.

i have more thoughts on this matter but i have trouble putting thoughts into words...!

i'm going to take this ask as an opportunity to tangent about something i've wanted to tangent about for a while, but to make sure i answer everything here, let's break it down;

this question is one i see a lot. it's a pleasant surprised to see you've pitched it as something with an answer you've thought about, because most often i see it used as a counterargument proposed without an answer. "why would seam want to fight us? they're a nihilist!" is something i've seen in a few threads and comments sections when the topic of seam as a boss comes up. but being a nihilist doesn't make them a flat character – undertale has a whole separate character that is a bit of a nihilist, too.

but seam isn't just "sans but again", either – toby fox simply likes to play with character foils across both of his games and these two have just as much that sets them apart as they have in common.

i like your idea – of the trio casting off being so-called "heroes" and challenging fate itself instead. seam beginning to develop cracks in their bitter and cynical attitude towards them as a result could certainly be an interesting turn for their character to take. overall with seam, a part of what makes predicting them tricky is that they're a shopkeeper who'll almost certainly get new big chunks of dialogue with each chapter. think about how much of their dialogue is situation-specific across both chapters – and think about how much dialogue shopkeepers get in general! and their secretive personality certainly doesn't make them an open book. that said, we do still have a good foundation of other things right now that could motivate seam to fight us. seam loves to fight, has a bit of a bitter 'tude towards the trio thus far, is curious about what might've happened to jevil, and seems to want our shadow crystals for something. (see my big seamnalysis for me going more in-depth on all that.)

these are all left as dangling threads – points of intrigue that could be touched on again at some point in the future. and if they are, all of them could make for interesting boss fight material! my personal pet theory is that i like the idea of seam wanting us to get stronger so they can finally have a good fight again, but another idea i've been entertaining lately is that if they do want the shadow crystals because of some more directly gaster-related reason, maybe it's out of curiosity. after all, gaster exists on a higher level of fate than even the light world – and given his ties to the prophecy and to us he seems pretty concerned with making sure nothing shakes up the status quo. to know everything about fate – not to change it, just to know it – that'd be an interesting motivation too, even if that idea leans more towards something i'd like to see explored in fanwork than it does towards a prediction i would feel certain making about the game itself. there's a lot you could do and a lot there to work with!

[writing-whump]

Finally free

Isaiah stays home. Seline dares to have a talk. Headache, fever, angst and fluff.

Seline really hoped the sounds coming from the kitchen disguised her coming down the stairs.

She had her laptop under her arm, she had her speech prepared, she was hyping herself up for this since Isaiah came home at 4 pm and promised to stay home for once - but it was still hard.

Everytime she made a few steps forward, she lost her nerve and ran right back behind the wall. On one of her tries, she managed to glimpse Isaiah's back, but that was it.

She debated with herself to leave the plan for another day, since the effort was emotionally taxing, when Isaiah cleared his throat. "I can hear you, you know?"

Seline hid her face in her hand, slowly coming closer. Isaiah shut the stove off, wiping his hands. "What is it?"

There was no sign of frustration or anger in his tone. Just the calm, slightly curious patience. She peeked through her fingers. "You got time?"

He shrugged. "I got time."

"Can I ask you something?"

Isaiah looked a little amused now. "Of course."

"I just want to say that it's fine if you say no. You don't have to- there is no obligation- if I'm bothering you, you can be straight with me, I will completely understand-"

Isaiah's sigh interrupted her rumbling. "You are not a bother. And I never had the obligation to begin with. What can I do?"

Seline hugged the laptop to her chest, chin on top of it, looking up at him from under her lashes. "I was just wondering...if you could..."

"My hearing is great, but you have to actually speak."

She winced and looked to the side. Yeah, maybe that was a good strategy. Not looking at him was easier. "They allowed me to develop my own course at work...and it's ready for the first consultation with the boss so I was wondering if you could...check the grammar for it?"

Isaiah looked a little buffled, before shaking himself. "Uhm, yes, no problem."

Her cheeks were burning as they both sat down at the sofa and she handed him her laptop with the presentation. It was entirely embarrassing, even worse than she imagined.

She was the university writing assistant. She gave lectures and consultations to students about scientific writing on daily bases, but she still needed her second language of German checked. Especially for the four cases and their corresponding articles.

Isaiah said nothing, scanning the power point slides, humming to himself. She stayed sat next to him, with a good meter of distance, tense as a string.

"Congratulations," he said into the silence.

Seline almost jumped out her skin. "W-what?"

"I didn't know they let you make your own course. That's amazing." He clicked on the next slide, changing how two words came after each other and then added a different preposition. "And this course is impressive. How you change between the theory and practical parts and these exercises are very imaginative."

"It's sort of a workshop format, that's why it's so long. 4 hours. It's not a whole lecture series, there should be like two dates a semester and it will only take place if students actually sign up, since it's not a mandatory course..."

"Don't think just any student assistant can be asked to design a whole 4 hour workshop course from scratch."

She brushed a blong curl behind her ear. "It's about creative methods in scientific writing. It's what I know."

"You are an expert at it, yes. That's why you can do it and that's why it's impressive." His green eyes sparkled as they slid towards her before flickering back to the screen.

"I can pay you back for this," she added into the awkward silence. "If you need any paper checked or feedback for anything..."

"Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have many papers in law school. It's filled with old-school exams," he said with a huff.

He was watching her curiously like he was looking for new details since they saw each other. It had been some time since they actually spent more than two minutes in one room.

They have not talked about him diving into law school right after finishing his psychology degree. Or about her designing a workshop or going to conferences to present her work.

There was a lot she missed talking about with him. Aside from the whole wolf, pack, and boyfriend drama, Isaiah was intelligent and philosophical, knowledgeable about many fields and with an appreciation for abstract topics that she loved.

Not just anyone could handle her in discussions.

"Oh yes, you and your law school," she said with a grimace.

His eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"What? You left the fate of us, social scientistis, with our love for research and critical thinking for money and power in a safe work field. You gave in to pressure. Your epistemological development will come to an absolute halt, memorizing things and leafing through law books."

She had no idea where she got the audacity to say that. After a tense beat of silence, Isaiah solved the attack by laughing. "I had no idea you held law students in such bad regard."

"Law students, medicine students, it's all the same. Memorizing, memorizing, memorizing. No context, connections or relationships, no development of opinions, perspectives and theories. You are gonna go all stupid there."

Isaiah looked astonished and terribly amused at once. "Hopefully, it won't be so bad. I have a good reason why I'm doing this."

"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Strengthening your Executioner position? Your wolf standing between humans? Or protecting Rip?"

"You know a lot," Isaiah conceded, clapping the laptop close on the table and leaning back against the couch. "Anything else I have been doing wrong lately?"

Seline hummed, making a face like she was considering it. "That's it for the start. I'll make you a list until next time."

Isaiah snorted, his head tilted back, eyes closing. "Man, I'm so tired."

"From being home? Finally catching up to you," she said, crossing her arms.

"Don't sound so pleased."

"I'm pleased. But you are also not the only one," she admitted. "There is a faculty festival tonight. But after just coming back from Klagenfurt from the conference, the literature club I have tomorrow and the party thing at work on Friday, I feel so so lazy. I don't want to go."

Isaiah opened one eye. "Then don't go. That's a lot of socialising for you. You deserve a break."

"You make me sound all antisocial," she complained, sliding down on the couch to lie down next to his tight.

Inconspicuously, she put a hand to her cheek, trying to pass some coldness to her skin. Her head hurt since midday without any apparent reason.

"You have gotten really intense. It makes me think it might not just work and research. That you are...trying to find other people to replace us with."

She huffed. "I'm only replacing you. That's a joke, sorry." A long breath and a pause. "But I need more people. I have become...too dependant on this pack. On you and Matt for contact and exchange of ideas."

A long pause from him this time. "I see. That makes sense."

"And now I'm betraying my plans. I feel so guilty," she voiced her feelings out loud, changing the hand she held against her cheek. Allowing herself to lie down and close her eyes was so pleasant.

She thought he wouldn't notice with his own eyes closed, but she suddenly felt his palm on her forehead. "You don't have a fever, but you feel warm. Are you not feeling well?"

Seline nuzzled her face against the couch on the side. Isaiah's hand was so nice and cold. "Nah. Just a headache. It’s my own fault so I deserve no sympathy."

"How so?" She could hear the frown in his voice without looking.

"I stayed up too long last night. If I mess up my schedule too much, I get headaches these days. It's so unfair! As a teen, between my binge watching of anime and trains at 6 in the morning, I slept barely three hours, and I was always fine. Is this old age already?"

"Don't think that's how old age works. Or maybe you have just been doing it too long."

Isaiah's cold fingers gently combed through her hair.

She grabbed his hand. He froze in her grip but relaxed, when she held it against the side of her face. "Your hand is too cold, but I'll use it for my own purposes today."

He laughed softly. "At your disposal. I could use some warmth."

"It's so nice to be home. No makeup, no tights shirts, I can let my hair down, not worry about my skin," she stretched her back like a cat, "...ahhh, finally free."

His hand tensed against her skin and it downed on her, what she said.

But his hand remained, grounding her with a closeness neither of them quite dared to acknowledge.

Seline rolled up her head to prop it on his knee in silent apology. She didn't mean to say that aloud.

"Love only makes things complicated," he agreed, his voice barely above whisper. "I'm glad you can relax more...like this."

She opened her eyes then, staring at him from upside down. "No worries. You'll see all my horrible sides now. And you can show me yours too. It will be totally safe."

"Yeah. No danger to us."

"Exactly." She reached out her hand towards him. His eyes opened instinctively, watching her, though she didn't touch his face. "Don't fall in love with me again."

He chuckled softly, letting the silence stretch as if daring her to keep the promise for them both.

[the-power-of-stuff]

The Live-Action Sukka Manifesto that I Just Couldn't Keep in My Head

So I've been marinating in my live-action Sukka thoughts for the past three days, and when someone sent me an anon asking if I had any thoughts about the changes, at first I went, "DO I EVER?!" and proceeded to dump my entire brain on the page.

But then I worried maybe the anon wouldn't want to see my entire brain and figured I'd make my own post with my Many, Many Thoughts, and reel it in a bit when I answer the ask. And then link here if they're interested in the dissertation.

I'll put all the excessive details and spoilery stuff under a cut, but I'll start by saying, I didn't hate it! And I was afraid that I would.

There were things that I was bummed or had mixed feelings about, but there was also a lot that I genuinely enjoyed. All the Sukka interactions were cute and still had some decent character development, and I had fun with the episode overall (I've watched it thrice mind you, and definitely have not given the rest of the series that kind of attention). And I didn't necessarily dislike the differences from the original; I think I've just taken more of a "that was an interesting interpretation" approach.

But I better start that cut now, because I'm about to go on and on about this. I'd love to know what others think, though!! Even if the opinions aren't the same as mine! Please feel free to comment, reblog, shoot me an ask. If nothing else, I'm excited that the LA has gotten people talking about ATLA again.

So, I want to start with Suki’s characterization, which overall I found to be delightful, even if it was a bit of a watered-down version of her animated self.

In the original show, Suki is confident, sassy, and doesn’t take shit from anybody. She’s proud to the point of almost being arrogant, and even a little mean. What we get in the LA is someone who’s still confident in terms of her status and her skills, and still proud of her heritage and her role in her community, but with significantly less sass. And while LA Suki still seems like someone who wouldn’t take anyone’s shit, we don’t actually see LA Suki deal with that much shit from anyone (because Sokka isn’t really giving her any). 

There is one moment in the show where her interaction with Sokka is a little contentious, which is when he tries to relate to her as a fellow guardian of his people. I think Suki’s question to Sokka about how is he protecting his village if he’s not there is meant to be a challenge to his swagger. However, the line is delivered with a softness that makes it seem as though Suki is, at least in part, genuinely curious. (This curiosity makes even more sense when we consider the fact that Suki’s eventually going to leave Kyoshi Island so she and her Warriors can take part in the war effort, and that she will have to contend with the question of “how do you do that without abandoning your people?” when coming to that decision. The LA lays a lot more of this groundwork than the animated show did: Suki outwardly expressing her desire to see the world, her mother’s secretive looks every time Suki gazes longingly at Sokka the possibilities…)

Compare these two moments, for example. These are both scenes where Suki expresses disbelief at Sokka's claims about his warrior-hood. But in the LA, Suki speaks rather quietly and mildly, in contrast to the brash sarcasm of her animated counterpart. LA Suki is also tilting her head down and away, looking at Sokka indirectly. OG Suki is leaning in close, getting in his face, smirking derisively with her hands on her hips.  

I think there’s something to be said about the LA in general smoothing away certain personality traits that could be seen as negatives but that are actually strengths that are so narratively well-developed they occasionally show up as flaws (for instance, Katara’s fury, or lack thereof). Animated Suki is prideful and stubborn; she berates Sokka until he gives her sad puppy-dog eyes and has zero hesitation about making an example of him in front of her whole class. It’s a little ruthless, but these traits are also 1) what gets through Sokka’s thick skull (he, too, is prideful and stubborn), and 2) what makes her such a dedicated ambassador of Kyoshi and such a strong leader of the island’s Warriors at such a young age. I feel like the LA writers were afraid of making any of the protagonists seem too abrasive—everyone in the LA has had their edges sanded down, including Zuko, including Aang—and in general this tends to lead to less realistic representations of humanity and conflict, less satisfying character development arcs, and fewer opportunities for reflection and learning. 

That being said! I went into watching the LA with negative expectations about what we would see in terms of character development, and thus was pleasantly surprised. 

The LA removed the need for Suki to be as ruthlessly stubborn as she is in the animated show because LA Sokka’s skull is not so thick (and I'll get into that a bit more later). So what we get instead is a sheltered Suki with a helicopter mom who is so hilariously awkward that she has no idea how to interact with other humans. And, to be honest, I enjoyed this version of her so much that I even thought to myself, “I wish I’d thought of that!”

Suki is a straight-up weirdo in the LA and I love that for her. The way she puts Sokka in a chokehold and then looks at him after she sets him free like, “That was good flirting, yes? Would you like to be my boyfriend now?” And then her disappointment when Sokka walks away as if she’s thinking, “Why didn’t that go well, I thought boys loved getting put in chokeholds?” She is so precious, I just want to put her in my pocket. And this characterization might even be more broadly relatable than a super-confident Suki brimming with sass. Who among us hasn’t made a complete fool of ourselves in front of a crush by coming on way too strong and having no idea how to flirt? I mean…real. 

And because Sokka is also mostly just making a fool of himself trying to impress a pretty and talented peer (instead of covering up his insecurities by wrapping himself in misogyny) this leaves room for the two of them to be attracted to each other right off the bat and for their interactions to be more overtly romantic throughout the entire episode. Which, avid shipper that I am, I have to admit I have been gobbling up for the past three days straight. This episode was an IV drip of romantic tropes hooked straight to every Sukka shipper’s veins. 

Shy glances from across the room? Check.

Walking in on the other person half-naked? Check. (Y’all, Suki looks Sokka up and down for a FULL TWENTY SECONDS yes I timed it from the moment she appears in the background, yes you should count it to see how long that really is. Talk about awkward.) 

Tripping so they end up falling into each other’s arms? Check.

Wide-eyed shock that turns into surprise thirst after being pinned to the ground? Check.

Shooting each other satisfied smirks as they kick ass side-by-side? Check.

Jumping in front of literal fire for each other? Check and check!

Like, I could live off this for the rest of the year. 

But look, there’s a lot that I love about the way Sokka and Suki’s relationship is portrayed in this episode besides those romantically indulgent tension-creating moments, and it has to do with Suki’s admiration and validation of Sokka. 

Suki really looked at this boy with his mouth stuffed half-full of steamed bun and went, “Must have.”

With the removal of overt sexism from this episode (for better or worse), the story focused much more heavily on Sokka’s development as a leader. He still has that sort of posturing display of self-confidence that comes from inexperience and trying too hard to prove oneself (“Ferociously…deadly tiger whales…”), and while at first Suki seems put off by this and his attempts to liken himself to her (“I’m not just a warrior, I’m a Kyoshi warrior”) it doesn’t take her long to decide (*cough*after seeing him shirtless*cough*) that she doesn’t actually mind this behavior (and in fact maybe she kind of likes it because maybe it means he likes her and maybe it means she can show him how much she likes him by slicing the tops off all those melons with her fan). She seems genuinely interested in his boomerang and impressed that he hunts, and then later, she immediately takes interest in training him in the Kyoshi Warrior style. 

After they spar, she casually refers back to the fact that he’s his village’s protector, and this time, she does it without the disbelief and defensiveness. Because he’s finally stopped posturing. He opened himself up and gave himself over to Suki’s expertise, and in that way he proved that he has the will and desire—the heart—of a warrior. And Suki tells him so while touching him gently and gazing at him longingly in the soft golden glow of the late-afternoon sun. And as a die-hard Sokka stan, I love seeing him loved and appreciated like this. Adamantly. Ardently. The Sokka cheerleader in my head is going wild. “YEESSSS!! Our boy deserves this!!” Because we know that, in the animated show, he goes through a lot more struggle and self-doubt before he receives this kind of external validation. And while we also know that this makes for an incredibly satisfying growth arc, I gotta admit that it’s a fun bit of indulgence to watch Suki talk Sokka up directly to his face and then want to kiss him really bad. Y’know. As a treat.

That said, I'm very attached to and appreciative of the way their relationship is framed in the animated series. I love that their respect and affection for each other grows even after the disaster that is their first few interactions. In the LA, they are drawn to each other immediately, and the only barrier seems to be a bit of awkward stepping-in-it-ness. In the original, they have legitimate conflict, and they both have to give a little—Sokka becomes more humble, Suki becomes more tender—before they get to that point of potential romantic interest. And I think it says a lot about Sokka’s character and his desire to learn and grow that he is willing to humble himself in front of someone who, as far as he’s seen, has very little regard for him (slash has a good deal of animosity towards him). Giving himself over to Suki’s expertise costs him more in the animated show. But once he does, he and Suki learn and grow together. He shows Suki who he really is, shows her how dedicated and determined (and fun and a quick learner) he is, to the point that, by the end of the episode, she can allow herself to be vulnerable with him. And she does validate him in the original Kyoshi Warriors episode, just less directly than the LA. Her kiss on his cheek and “...but I’m a girl, too” is about forgiveness and acceptance and acknowledgement and respect, as much as or even more than it is about affection. There’s a little bit of romance, too, but it’s just little baby seeds of it, and it feels very natural to let those seeds germinate over time until we see Suki again later in the series. 

Which brings me to the live-action kiss. 

I’ll be honest, I was a little on the fence about the kiss. I want Sokka and Suki to kiss as much as possible in every conceivable universe. So there’s a part of me that was banging on the table and whistling with obscene joy. But the other part of me thought it was too much too soon. However, my hesitance pre-supposes some things about the second season (not least of which that there will be one), namely that it will handle the reunion with Suki and crossing the Serpent’s Pass anything like how it was done in the original. (Of course, one thing we now know for certain can't happen in a hypothetical LA season 2 is Suki pranking Sokka at the ferry station because he doesn't recognize her without her makeup. Do I love the expression on LA Sokka's face the first time he sees Suki's? Yes. Am I sad that this completely ruins their whole "You don't remember me? Maybe you'll remember this!" game? Also yes. But truthfully, I don't know if LA Suki would've been up to the prank, anyway. Not sassy enough. ;))

The Serpent’s Pass is one of my favorite episodes of all time, and that moment on the bluffs when Sokka and Suki are talking around Sokka’s loss, with the moon shining down on them all the while, and they almost kiss with the moon hanging between them in the background, and then Sokka pulls away without any other explanation besides, “I can’t”? That scene is so absurdly powerful and beautiful and an amazing moment of character development for them both, and I feel like it loses a lot of impact if they’ve already made out once. The fact that they kiss for the first time after that moonlit moment, when Sokka realizes that Suki doesn’t need protecting the way he thought she did, and in fact she was there to protect him, and he can finally just let go of this burden that he’s been carrying with him since Suki first mentioned she was joining them (slash since his dad put him in charge of an entire village at 13), and then and only then can he open his heart to what he feels for Suki, and in fact opens it so wide that he just cannot help but jam his mouth onto hers before she’s even finished talking…? I mean. C’mon. That’s poetry. But, again…loses impact if they’ve already had a first kiss.

But who knows what, if anything, they’ll actually do with that storyline. So for now, I’ll just enjoy my live-action Sukka kiss because, honestly, dream come true.    

Or almost a dream come true. Because there's a huge camelephant in the room that I haven't addressed yet, isn't there? The lack of Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform...

And I don’t think we can talk about the omission of Sokka’s Kyoshi Warrior uniform without talking about the omission of Sokka’s sexism. Because if Sokka isn’t sexist, then why do you have to put him in the dress and makeup of traditionally female warriors to make a point about how women are strong and capable, too? So here’s what I’ll say about that (and I know there’s a lot that people have said already, so I’ll try not to belabor the point.) I don’t think leaving out Sokka’s sexism was necessarily a detriment to his character arc. I do think, however, that leaving out Sokka’s sexism was a detriment to the message the show was trying to convey about sexism. 

Now, in the Northern Water Tribe episodes, the LA still gives us a message about fighting against the kind of systemic, institutionalized sexism that you might not be surprised to encounter within a very old-fashioned society or from a very old-fashioned gray-haired man. But what about the off-the-cuff, everyday kind of sexism that you might experience from an otherwise good person who is close to you? A person who loves you and would do anything for you but who gets carried away teasing you about “girly” things because of intrinsically-held biases that they’re not even that conscious of having? 

I think it’s important and meaningful for male and female audiences alike, and everyone in between, to see these different forms of sexism and misogyny—to see them, to recognize those behaviors in others and in ourselves, to be able to name them, and to have examples of fighting against them. We see the former kind—institutionalized, systemic—in Pakku. And we did see the latter kind—familiar, personal—in Sokka. And now that’s lost.

Not only that, but there’s the form of sexism that says boys aren’t allowed to do feminine things lest they relinquish their maleness. And in the animated show, we got to see Sokka combating this form of sexism, too. Not only does Suki show him that girls can be fierce warriors as well as boys, but he learns that wearing makeup and a dress does not make him any less of a young man.  

So, yes, I think the lack of Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior garb was a missed opportunity. And not just because Sokka looked really good in uniform and we all should have had the chance to see that, including and especially Suki. 

Alright, this is more than long enough, so I'll leave off with a moment from the LA that gave me great pleasure.

I needed this moment, y'all. And I was so afraid it wouldn't happen. I needed Sokka being protective, I needed him using his newfound Kyoshi Warrior skills to fight, and I needed him jumping in front of fire for the girl who'd taught him. If we couldn't have Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, at least we had this.

[blackdigitalrose]

Thurs - Maho Girls Precure! - EP 14 - 16

It is difficult trying to watch this one with out spoiling the sequel... I post this then Tumblr just gives me a bunch of Witchy Precure stuff, I don't want to check out till I'm finished -.- it's so awkward.

Ep 14

That sounds like most people really. However, your telling me that Mirai is good at science but sucks at maths, despite science involving maths or is Mirai only good on the practical end, rubbish at theory?

That's villainy smarts, pulling their resources and experiences together to share and strategise against the Precure... unfortunally, like a lot of things, it doesn't go anywhere, especially past the end of the ep, where it ties into the ep theme.

There is nothing lowkey about that, I thought the point was to keep your cover discreet, be unknown because you'd be in super big trouble if busted?

They said "beneath the land" how is the moon spitting one out beneath anything? On top of that, why don't these Linkle stones just grown on trees with their stupidly easy accessibility... Kinda makes the bad guys seem incompetent when you considered how easy its been up to this point.

EP 15

Surprisingly a Ha-chan focused ep, which boiled down to, parenting is hard and Ha-chan has an array of costume changes, almost blowing their cover.

Got to wonder if any of these will be seen again or if they are just a one ep bit of fun. Also, it turns out Ha-chan isn't as mysterious as they lead you to believe, seems like one of the baddies may know of her. Outside that, there really wasn't an ep here, just a kid being a kid, doing kid shenanigans because they don't understand enough to grasp the situation.

EP 16

Can't say I was expecting to see him again, with a bit of lore and a backstory to, to add to the world building.

Mix of both worlds, was nice seeing the magic trio again, surprised it was in person, I figured due to the not so apparent, not meant to be interacting with each other rule that it'd be some sort of magic phonecall of sorts

This feels like it should be part of a Precure bingo card at this point.

And that is some weird looking CGI, it sticks out so bad next to the background. Surprise, surprise though, the bad guys are shaking up the formula in this ep. I guess the threat of extermination by the big bad would do that for you.

And is this our first official bad guy to fall? Not the one I was expecting to go first mind you but a curious development.

A fun, slice of life trio of eps really of trying to juggle both worlds still and Ha-chan's significance and importance is on the rise. Even after running out of Linkle stones, there's always something else to go after it seems.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 144 thoughts!

I don't think any other chapter of Oshi no Ko has ever baffled and confounded me quite like this one. Viewed solely in isolation this is a perfectly fine, functional chapter but as the followup to 143 and everything it contained, I actually feel like I'm losing my mind a bit. 143 might as well not have happened for all the weight it's given in this chapter. Ruby is not remotely acting like a girl who just tongued her crush of 18 years and in general, the total absence of any reference or cushioning of the shock of that event is just so loud and so jarring and so completely out of touch with how OnK has handled romantic developments in the past.

Both AquAka kisses had at least a scene or two in the chapter immediately following of characters reacting to and reflecting on both the event itself and the status quo change it represents in the relationship. Even 124 has that scene of Ruby clinging onto Aqua to let the viewer know what the new dynamic between them is going to be from now on. This chapter has nothing of the sort; I wasn't kidding when it says it feels like the kiss never even happened. The only thing I can point to is Ruby's little "we have sensei at home" exchange with Tsukuyomi but that's… kind of just exactly what she would've said even before the kiss. So if it has resulted in absolutely no change to their dynamic that we can see thus far, what was the point in ending the chapter on that note?

The part of me that is cynical and jaded can't help but suspect that this is intentionally hot button reaction bait paced specifically for the purposes of keeping OnK a trendy topic in the lead up to season 2 of the anime airing, But Who's To Say, Really.

I also had my worries about this last chapter, but unless we skip back in time to address it, it really looks like we've skipped over the remainder of the KamiAi romance and everything to do with the early stages of Ai's pregnancy. This is incredibly frustrating to me - they're parts of Ai's story I had been incredibly curious about and was excited to see her thoughts and feelings on, even filtered through fiction. In general, the way the Movie Arc has been increasingly dropping its focus on actually conveying Ai's story has been a real sore point for me. I fully acknowledge this rankles me more than perhaps it should because I am so deeply invested in Ai above any other character but… fuck, man! Once again, remember when this was supposed to be an arc about her? About her inner life, her pain and struggles and Aqua and Ruby working to a better understanding of her? I was excited for the Movie Arc specifically because I thought we were going to get peeks at parts of Ai's life we weren't privy to beforehand, but at this point it almost feels like Akasaka has just lost interest in following through.

Not only that but… uh, where's that KamiAi breakup scene, Akasaka? The one we were promised during the script reading? That huge I CAN'T LOVE YOU elephant that's been patiently sitting in the room? I can only assume that the 15YL version of this breakup happens after the twins are born or maybe even when Kamiki visited Ai at the hospital the night the kids were born but. What the fuck is even going on here anymore lol. The Oshi no Brainrot discord has been kicking around a joke theory that we were seeing the events of the Movie Arc out of their actual chronological order and it is becoming increasingly less of a joke in my brain because I can't make any sense of its progression otherwise.

oh my god i'm almost 1000 words in and i haven't started talking about the actual point of this chapter yet. god help me.

Anyway, MY SON IS HERE LET'S GO MELT!!!!!!

Ngl, I've always been a little disappointed that we didn't see much more of Melt in this arc, both just because I like him and because I think there's some really interesting potential in drawing on the parallels between Melt and Kamiki. I'm not the first to point out that Melt's experience with a dubiously consensual sexual encounter at the hands of an upperclassman - when he wasn't that much older than Hikaru was when Airi began abusing him - echoes at least in spirit Kamiki's experiences as a CSA victim; both were young boys, noted to be pretty and desirable, who were taken advantage of by older female figures. I think it would be extremely interesting and a great character moment for Melt to have some degree of engagement with that material and maybe to have some thoughts about it. It feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity to pass up on that, but I also acknowledge that Melt is ultimately not a huge mover and shaker in the overall story and I don't know how that would've fit into the Movie Arc as it stands, so I'll just have to make eyes at the AO3 tag and hope someone writes a fic about it.

Anyway as a lot of people predicted… here's Ruby being a jackass to Melt about his performance!!! Joking aside, I will admit it's a little jarring to see Ruby being so hostile to Melt over this…? Gorou is a sore spot for her, obviously and she would undoubtedly have high standards for his role in the movie. In addition, Ruby being snitty with people who rub her the wrong way definitely isn't new for her, but it still feels kind of odd both coming off her own struggles to connect with Ai through acting and her little "holy shit other people have feelings" breakthrough in the wake of the RBKN fight for her to be like this about it. I do think this is mostly just supposed to be just goofs and I'm overthinking it, it was just one of those things that kind of gave me pause as I was reading.

ruby's little little princess shirt is really good though, as is her referring to herself as a fan of the 'original work'. both of those got a solid sensible chuckle out of me.

Another thing that gave me pause for a very different reason was Melt and Ruby's exchange about his little merch pin. First and foremost, I think this is a really good Melt moment; while we saw him busting his ass to improve his acting in Tokyo Blade, that was very much when he had something to prove. Here, he really does seem to be going above and beyond for what is basically a bit part purely out of a desire to improve his craft and a passion for acting overall. It's nice to see the story double down in this being a lesson he did properly take away from Sweet Today and that he has committed to acting upon it (no pun intended) in the long term, not just when under outside pressure to do so.

The other thing that jumped out to me about this exchange is that… technically speaking, both Ruby and Melt are wrong, here? It's a very nice, flowery description of Gorou and it certainly lines up with his more positive traits but the idea of him not wearing his Ai merch in front of Ai herself is actually incorrect. Gorou is depicted (in the anime, anyway) as openly wearing the charm at what's implied to be all times, even in front of Ai herself. The manga also implies by way of where the charm is on his person when Ruby finds his body that this is also the case in that version of events, too. I don't think it's a retcon and may be an unimportant detail in the grand scheme of things but it did pique my interest.

There's a few ways to take this, I think; a more positive spin is that this is in line with what the story wants us to take away from 15 Year Lie as a production, where the literal granular facts of its events are sometimes less important than and can be bent in favour of supporting the emotional narrative it wants to convey. Melt may not literally be correct here, but he at least achieves the spirit of the right answer in his efforts. "Lies are love", after all.

However, given that Ruby enthusiastically endorses this interpretation - and is thus wrong alongside Melt - this could potentially be an indication of there being cracks in Ruby's rose-tinted view of Gorou. This strikes me as a fascinating idea and one I hope the series plays with; it would follow quite naturally from last chapter's framing of Gorou as Ruby's 'idol' that she's 'gachikoi' for. Oshi no Ko has pretty consistently portrayed the idol/fan relationship as inherently unequal, even when approached with the best of intentions and to truly know someone, you must let them off their pedestal first. She has sort of begun this process with Ai, just through empathizing with her during the 15YL production but we have yet to see anything similar happen with Gorou - if anything, we see the opposite here, where she asserts herself as the authority on Gorou's character as if she has the final say on who he was and what he felt and thought.

But the thing is, how well can Ruby really say that she knew him? They were only in each others' lives for a few months and in that time, she was only exposed to a very narrow slice of his life and his personality. Hell, you could even argue that Akane knows more about Gorou than Ruby does, given that we have no indication that Ruby or Sarina was ever privy to the details of his birth and his home life. Again, it's entirely possible that I'm reading too much into this, but now the idea is in my brain I'm simmering on it a bit. If nothing else, I hope the series takes the time to prod and poke at this angle, especially now it has made the fan/idol aspect of this dynamic explicit and textual.

Ruby and Melt's little senpai/kouhai dynamic has the potential to be really cute and I do hope the series actually spends some time on it. I've always thought a RBML friendship could be really fun to watch play out and seeing Melt gain some confidence in himself by teaching someone else could be really great. But with how unfocused the Movie Arc has been, it's really hard to get my hopes up that we'll be sticking with this even past this chapter lol

oh hey there crow girl we thought you were dead

Surprisingly, I don't have a lot to really say about her little lore drop here, since it's mostly mystery boxing and implications and, man. It's been 69 (nice) chapters since she first started showing up ominously muttering about supernatural things and while I don't mind her presence and I think she's evolved into a fun character, it's a little hard for me to get interested in these little supernatural tidbits until they resolve into something that feels meaningful for the characters.

This isn't helped by the fact that we don't really know what kami means in the context she uses it here. While 'god' and 'gods' are not strictly incorrect as translations, I think an English speaking viewer is primed to think of Abrahamic, capital G-Gods, which isn't necessarily correct. The term kami is a catchall that covers all manner of things from divinities to venerated earthbound humans, so kami can perhaps best be understood as being an umbrella term for something like 'an otherworldly being', which I think better lines up with Tsukuyomi's assertion that those who have memories of past lives are like kami in of themselves.

Ultimately though until we know what kami really means and amounts to in Oshi no Ko, it's hard to say what this means for the characters and I am ultimately only really interested in the characters. So until we know what this actually amounts to in-story, I'm just kind of nodding long with whatever Crow Girl says because sure. This might as well happen.

can we talk about how fucking funny her anime antagonist jump out of the tree was, by the way

break next week, or so i've heard... one of these days, we'll beat the allegations....

[spry-the-artist]

(Text ID: Daisy’s Flower Farm and Market)

This post serves as a more formal introduction to Daisy and her family! Meet Daisy (once again). Henry first meets her when her kids all become friends with Bendy. Henry is not the only parent (well, parent in the eyes of the toons) she knows, but Daisy sure is… obsessed with him. It almost makes him feel uncomfortable. While Henry is a short man, Daisy is huge! She has a surprisingly cheery and grandiose personality, considering her traditionalist beliefs on gender roles and being a toon sheep. She even heads her farm. All Henry knows about her husband is that he’s busy taking care of the baby, but even that’s odd considering the family’s vues.

She’s been pretty happy about his transformation. “You’re gonna fit in!” she keeps saying. But… something odd lies in her words. The way she looks at him. Henry sometimes feels like she’s… watching him. No, not just watching. Observing

And now: meet her kids:

They’ve been shrunk down to 6 rather than 7. There used to be a black sheep in the family, but her role was absorbed by Ambrose (who kept his general personality) since he had no role in the story prior. I wanted every kid to have some type of purpose (minus Tulip, since she’s a literal baby), but especially the eldest three.

Alder and Aster are twins. Besides Daisy, they take charge of the family (especially Alder). Alder, the elder twin, is your typical farm boy. Strong, helpful, extroverted, and a little bit of a daredevil. But he's fiercely loyal to the farm and his family.

Aster is the younger twin. She's soft and loves all things traditionally feminine. Cooking, sewing, cleaning... It's almost weird. She's almost like a stereotype, and not in the way toons typically are. It feels like a distraction. Both she and Alder know a lot more than they let on. Especially since they're the only ones who follow their mother to the cellar.

Ambrose is a shy guy who's around the same age as Bendy. Out of everyone, he's the closest to Henry, and he's the second closest to Bendy. Everyone else in the family is outgoing, but he'd prefer to stick to the shadows and draw after farm work is done. Ambrose always wears a hat. When asked why, he just says, "My mama said I have to." Sometimes, he wonders if his family is as perfect as they seem.

Dahlia is Bendy's best friend. She's a cheeky prankster who's almost always snickering. Dahlia may be a bit younger than her best friend, but they mesh the best.

Oak is a toddler. He hasn't had the chance to develop much yet, but he's a curious little guy! Always sticking his nose in things. Daisy says he resembles his father to a T. When he grows up, he'd probably end up looking more like Aster than Alder ever did.

Tulip was born the same day Henry arrived. He'd call it a coincidence, but pregnancy doesn't work that way. Still, Daisy is eager to point it out.

Here's the first drawing of the sheep to show how they've changed:

Tulip wasn't in this (baby), and the black sheep was excluded for story purposes. Sadly, she never got a design. Well, at least there was nothing to get attached to, haha!

You may be able to gather a couple of things from some of these changes. But, I won't say anything yet.

You can tell that I'm much better at doodling traditionally, lmao

[wandixx]

WIP Ask game

There was something like that going around few months ago (or a year, I'm not sure) and I thought it would be cool to do again.

If any other writer wants to join, go ahead, make a list of your works, just titles, no matter how "bad" they are, and let The PeopleTM ask about them. You can tag your friends too if you want. I always felt awkward doing that, so there is no such demand.

Personally I finally got around sorting my fics in progress, and since exams are coming, I won't be able to work on them as much (or I'll work more, because procrastination is powerful like that, who knows). Anyway, I thought I'll throw them all out to the wild. If any title intrigues you, or is the story you're actually waiting for and I've been neglecting lately, ask away.

no, really, i want to talk about these things, even if writing them was kinda touch and go lately. maybe i'll even write more to have snippet to post, we'll see

Active(-ish) WIPs:

Seriously chaotic fashion misadventures

Count the freckles, connect them like the stars

Last Laugh (title to be changed, most likely)

Development halted until I figure something out:

GIW made a lot of mistakes and biggest one was going against Young Justice

Grave story

Backburner:

M'gann and the curious case of disappearing cities

"There is only so much you can do for the dead"

We loved, we left, we met again

Phantom, shepherd of the dead

Mr. J'onzz meet ghost and a half

Hopeful:

Dani on her way of gremlin and self discovery

Spearmint platonic trope twist

"Niepewność" songfic

Love square thingy

Phantom shock fic

Firsts and lasts

season 1 yj with Danny rewrite

Danny and Wally are chaos incarnate

5+1 "I love you"'s

"You shouldn't use Bioship for frivolous matters"

Danny, the clone of Flash, with tue seasoning

All categories other than "Need to figure it out" are pretty arbitrary and at least partially based on the vibes, but yeah, here is that. Hopeful means "I have an idea, but almost nothing written" while backburner actually has more than one sentence to it lol

[pitchblackespresso]

That post you just reblogged re: ToTK’s handling of Zonai tech replacing Sheikah stuff and unnecessary backstory for calamity ganon really put into words a lot of the feelings I have about ToTK that I’ve never been able to articulate. It does make me curious on your opinion on this, though: how would you have gone about writing ToTK differently?? What would you keep/change? Do you think the Zonai as a whole could be done away with and would that improve the story and the coherence to botw?

(This is the post Anon is referring to)

I will preface this to say that I'm not a writer and haven't got some superior version of the plot in mind that would fix every issue. I also want to say that I genuinely love TotK's story.

I have a weird relationship with the Zonai. I made a post a while ago detailing why I dislike the execution of the Zonai in TotK, especially the weird "everything was the Zonai all along" narrative they tried to push. I don't think they should be removed altogether, since they are so intrinsically tied to the plot (despite us knowing almost nothing about them...), but their influence on everything needs to be nerfed. The Sheikah tech doesn't need to be inspired by the Superior Zonai Tech. The Forgotten Temple and BotW's Hyrule Castle don't need to be Rauru's.

The Zonai devices, on the other hand, I absolutely despise. They look horrendous, clash with literally everything else, and aren't even tied into Zonai culture (what little there is) in any significant way. They're just ugly pre-made assets for people to mess around and for the developers to flex the physics engine with, without any justification for their existence lore-wise. I'd get rid of those in a heartbeat, and instead flesh out Rauru's arm magic. Making the Zonai purely magic-based, rather than "technology", would go a long way about fixing their aesthetic, as shallow as that sounds.

So yeah, it'd be nice if more of their culture was developed, especially their influence in the sky islands and depths, but also not shoehorn them into every plot thread and turn them into BotW's illogical and unnecessary backstory.

[pidgeon-queen]

Now that i have actually slept and didn't need to run errands anymore, I am finally watching season 2 of Arcane. For anyone who didn't see my last post on season 1, just a bit of inforalmation.

This is my thoughts and opinions on the characters, questions that seem unanswered, and looking at reasons behind characters actions, but not excusing them.

Season 2

Episode 1

It works well for the scene, but the static in the opening made me think my computer was busted. What a way to start off a season.

Point again on why I blame Jayce for everything. Victor knew he was dying, and explained they had to get rid of the hexcore because it was too dangerous. Victor always knew he was dying and Jayce decided to not grant him the mercy of death. I know this has consequences later on.

That little girl leaving the flowers is supposed to be Marcus's daughter, right? That is the only reason I could think or for her to have color why everything else is a charcoal sketch. The first 5 minutes has such beautiful art.

Salo seemed like the kind of person to be completely uninterested in anything but the perks of his job. Even with the death of the other council members, this argument doesn't sound like his words. I think Amvessa got in his head first

I am curious about Caitlyns father and why he acts as he does in both seasons. I feel like their could be more development as to who he is outside of her father and the husband of a former council member.

It took Vi all season to finally accept what others were saying. And even then, I think she is still wrong. It's not the Powder she remembers. Powder matured in a different environment than Vi and that is who she became. It just added a name change.

Who's this homeless enforcer? He sounds vaguely like Vander, and if i squint while exhausted, could almost look like Vander and Benzo combined.

Jayce put Victor in a chrysalis and it looks kind of creepy. Also, the fact that it reached out to Mel, i wonder if it would have eaten her like it did Sky. If things were different, I could see Jayce, Mel, and Victor working together in a different way that probably wouldn't have included Victor becoming part of the hexcore.

I'm glad Heimerdinger was kicked off the council because i am worried he wouldn't have survived.

Maddie Nolan is really suspicious. I wonder if Caitlyn actually said all of that. I am more interested in this fake drunkard than what Mel has to say. He has a story, and I worry I won't get to know what it is.

I've seen images of the counselors statue, but i thought it was only two of them.

There is a distinct lack of blood when it comes to more serious injuries. Someone got ripped by a chainsaw and there was nothing, but a bloody nose is fine.

They really left Jayce to die. He didn't even pick a good weapon, or go for the other nose tube. That had an affect Her.

The enforcers with Maddie, they didn't get an name, but definitely deserved one before this fighting. Same with Homeless.

Once again, Vi and Jayce working together to fuck up one shot.

I can see why Vi joined the enforcers, Caitlyn is losing it and doesn't know how to stop what is happening. Vi has been fighting her whole life and learned how to cope and plan. Fuck her for turning on her people the way she does, and what method she uses, but I understand the thought process of joining.

Caitlyn really chose to break the genevia convention laws using her mother's creation that was meant to save children of the undercity from the same fate as Victor.

What is with the special task force and their weapon choices. I get the sniper as Caitlyn is good with it, but Maddie has what looks like a toy gun from the arcade in season 1, and Homeless has a shield. Give him a brass knuckle as least so he has some way to fight back. It doesn't even need to be hextech. This specialized force has 2 unnamed characters still.

Why did Singed need to gas wolves? I know there is a reveal later on, but seriously, what did they ever do to you? The scars came from the explosion that killed Milo and Calgger. Animals did nothing to you.

Episode 2

This beginning is a reminder of the shape of water ending. This is another scene where they are leaning away from a father-daughter relationship and towards something else. I am pretty sure that's not what they wanted. Is it weird to hope the monsters in the bottom of the water ate Silco?

Good on Isha biting hard enough to cut through skin. I love her design. She also took Jinx up on the offer of a family and I never saw someone talk about that. Please other people talk about it.

The gray is so interesting. I can't wait to learn more.

Sevika is the middle ground between Vander and Silco. She just doesn't have the same kind of charisma they did. She also didn't have to be so terrible with the screwdriver. Angle your hand and body a little more and it would have been fine. She might have needed more help if the bolt was in too tight, but she chose not to hold it at a better angle.

Jinx comment about the eye shot is definitely from her perspective of Silco having her help, but i do still wonder if he wouldn't do it alone because he added shimmer to it and caused a physical reaction compared to before in season one when he had no problem in the room with Singed.

The sign of a bad leader is seeing everything collapse immediately after you disappear or die. Things could have continued if Vander left and Benzo took over, but Silco took charge and left an unstable legacy to collapse in his absence.

Victor hearing Sky's voice just proves to me the hexcore ate her. Jayce really couldn't let go, and it broke Victor. He doesn't look human anymore, and i can see the resemblance people make to him being Jesus. Jayce hasn't been given time to process and he is going to regret what he's done. Shame he can't see it sooner.

Ekko should have only been worried about capacity issues, then someone came and fucked with the tree. He needs a break.

I love Heimerdinger. He is 300 flyers old, but he is acting like a teen sneaking through his place. I needed this laugh after the previous episode. Where is Heimerdinger's pet? I miss him.

The offensive Ekko takes to tea.

This is the first time Vi has probably thought about Claggor in years. I wished we heard her or saw her facial reaction to it. I mentioned in my last post, but Vi is a shitty person when I comes to comforting others and how she reacts to loss without someone to comfort her.

I love Sevika's new arm and how it so clearly was made by Jinx, proving they will still work together, and how it is just an trade toy as well. That is some insane violence for someone who has never fought with the arm before. Why is Isha poking him? Leave the rat alone.

I'm starting to suspect Victor going to the undercity is what cause the arcane to affect Ekko's tree. That is definitely not Victor anymore. Why would he think to do something like that. How could he have know to heal others when Sky was killed by the same thing. The symbolism is a little on the nose.

Episode 3

Destroying you mother's legacy is not how you cope with loss Caitlyn. You ruined her memory like this and I know she is disappointed in you. This task force definitely had those hung and mutilated dolls coming. Who sacrifices the city just to maybe catch one person. It's the opposite affect you guys wanted.

The idea the gray gives him allergies.

The black rose has some interesting powers. The hissing, second voice is something I live for in storytelling. It's a shame I don't know how to write it in a way people pick up on.

Again, everyone doesn't seem to believe 2 identities can exist in one person. Vi also begged Caitlyn to not change when she herself changed. Whay a hypocrite.

Of course Salo is using shimmer.

Mel using her influence and is slowly losing it because Ambessa suddenly showed up. If Ambessa wasn't here, she might have more control over the situation in piltover.

I theorized that the arcane was living, by my comments of it eating Sky, I hope you understood that, but to see the story going in that direction kind of makes me smile. I suck at theories, but I guessed something right.

I love Jinx loving art but not being a protege.

Again, Jayce is at fault for deciding to not care about the undercity. Kiramman's sponsored Jayce and I would be surprised of Caitlyn's mother didn't warn him if she was the one to insisted the undercity deserved to breathe. I wonder if he either didn't listen to her, or she didn't get an say in how it was constructed. Either way, Jayce indirectly chose to sacrifice the undercity because he didn't care to think.

Heimerdinger, why would you risk touching that spot on the ground. Just tell everyone what you found first.

Vi chose this moment to not blame herself for the one thing she is definitely to blame. Caitlyn had to tell her they were using the Gray and Vi said yes, gas my people. Let me become what I hated and justify it by blaming Jinx.

Jayce really messed up with not understanding the arcane before trying to control it. And he is fucking up a fight. He felt it do something to his hammer, and still touches it.

Caitlyn doesn't seem to notice her gun breaking the laws of reality outside of being electrocuted. That is interesting.

Jinx is laying on the alter table about to be sacrificed in front of the undercities goddess. The goddess eyes look like they are glowing. I think that is why Caitlyn, who is known to be a great shot, couldn't shoot shit in that moment.

Piltover did need a makeover, and outside of it possibly releasing the gray into Piltover, I aprove of the method.it looks fun.

Vi still cares about the young people of the undercity, and it is proven in that scene where she stopped Caitlyn and let Jinx go to protect the child. The one thing I don't understand is how Caitlyn could be so willing to shoot a child when the only thing she successfully shot off was Jinx's finger. That is a big difference between her and Jayce. Isha would have just been collateral, while the boy Jayce killed was a complete accident. It does bring up, however, that Vi was fine with the kids in the shimmer factory ending up in the crossfire, but not Isha. Isha knew what she was doing jumping in the middle of the fight just like the kid who pulled the alarm. But Vi had a different reaction.

More evidence that Vi and Caitlyn are a very unhealthy and toxic relationship. Vi is in a similar position to Powder, and this time, nobody tried to come back for her. While not death, she again has nk comfort and is slowly breaking.

The artistic way the black rose is used is wonderful. I hate we only had a couple of minutes at best of that scene with Mel.

Please stop showing me Homeless and give me his name and backstory.

Ambessa chose Caitlyn because itbis the best way for the people to trust Noxian soldiers, and i think the people needed trust in someone who wasn't part of the council. Why does Maddie join in so quickly? Who is she really? And Homeless knows something. I want his lore in Arcane. I should mention I don't play league of legends, so there is a good chance a lot of lore and Easter eggs go over my head.

Singed will die long before Warwick is given enough blood.

Episode 4

Caitlyn sucks at her job. All of these people joined a cause Junx unintentionally created and she doesn't really hide herself. I basic cloth that sometimes doesn't cover her braids, making noise in the old arcade and fighting with extreme violence and enforcers keep arresting the wrong people.

Time has definitely passed based on the opening so this isn't like the next day, but I'm suspicious of Caitlyn and Maddie's relationship. Part of me thinks Maddie is a little obsessed with Vi and how she looked up to her, or it is Caitlyn she looked up to, and managed to get into a relationship with her in a moment of vulnerability, or caitlyn was looking for a rebound from a toxic relationship and Maddie was the girl who was there. Calling out Ambessa's words from Caitlyn is interesting. There is a certain look in her eyes that makes me wonder what Maddie is thinking.

I like how Isha is non verbal. Jinx knows how to communicate with her and shows Jinx is in her right mind.

If Jinx believes her name is dead, then what is her new name? You need to have something.

Ambessa doesn't know what Jayce did, and i think it is his fault nothing is working anymore.

Scar being there. That's it. Him seeing and being there.

"Why is peace always there justification for violence?" That's a good quote. We need more leaders to thank and answer this question.

How much time has passed? Ekko, Jayce, Mel, and Heimerdinger are all missing and time has passed enough for Mel be considered dead by some.

How did Sevika get in contact with the Firelights? Scar seems supportive of Jinx as he called for the people to fight at the checkpoint, but how did it come to that? Ekko is on the wall, but the firelights survived, so it is a sign he was a good leader. I wonder if he ever told Scar he still cared about Powder and if she ever gave him the chance, he would still save her.

Isha's fist do nothing, but she did her best and I am proud of her. Question, does Isha not get a name until 23 minutes into episode 4? I know her name from spoilers, but i think that's the first time she is given a name in the show.

Singed knowing they won't stay long but i doubt he knows how safe the Zaunites really are when Warwick arrives.

I love Sivika and Jinx being more buddy buddy this season. She's really really pissed that someone hated her pants. Then some creepy actually hitting on her.

She barely interacted and went into hiding, but they all somehow knew not to call out cheers or speak, just acknowledge her as a thanks. And the Woman who flirted with Claggor added Her aunt status to Jinx as well.

Do you see Jinx as an older sister to Isha, or a mom? I thought older sister based on some spoilers, but i can see a mom figure as well.

Going back to the chainsaw with no blood. Why was Warwick able to cause so much damage and spray blood like that?

Did Isha say Mama?

Warwick still has Vanders facial structure. And it proves to me Homeless looks like Vander.

Episode 5

Look, I was just thinking about Homeless.this guy still hasn't learned how to take a punch or at least protect his jaw as it's the weakest part on him.

Vi, how do you fuck up bad enough Homeless gives up on you?

Look at Jinx following her sister's footsteps. Fake tattoos and name written under her eye.

Ambessa survived, but i wouldn't be surprised if she faked her death so Warwick would leave her alone.

Caitlyn is still making the same mistakes as before. Going places she really shouldn't alone.

I don't know what to say about Signed so we are skipping over it.

Poor Mel seeing someone she cared for killed by the black rose. Imprisonment Socks. I wonder if she might change the way the prisons are run if she gets the chance. I do not believe she couldn't see him before he stepped i to the light. If that was supposed to be true, then the lighting should have been different.

Why would Jinx eat something you have to claim to get glowing

Vi really doesn't know what is going on. "Bitch mitten" are something I love. As well as that slap. Vi really hurt the kid she protected from Caitlyn.

Caitlyn can't even make a dungeon to hold people. She doesn't know what she is doing.

Mel's brother has a couple of close up to his eyes, and for a moment to, it looked like there was something in the pupil. Arcane doesn't show reflections in others eyes often.

"No mention of his crime." Caitlyn, can you guess based on his lab? Or do you really need an answer?

Isn't it implied that Singed removed his daughters heart for one reason or another?

Rose Mel's eyes looked so beautiful. Does Mel possess magic and that is subconsciously what drew her to Jayce and his research.

The memory of Vander with Silco and The girls mother. the casual replacement of alcohol with juice. Good Job Vander. Also, why did she suddenly decide Vander and Silco would raise her kid. She has a husband. Make him raise Vi first.

Both deserve the chance to heal. Isha and Vander are a part of that.

Salo, stop being creepy and dead. Bodies don't get to keep moving after you stop breathing. He sounds like Victor even before his mind took over Salo's body.

Jayce finally learner. And Heimerdinger was right. I wish we got to see a different angle your Salo's death. It looked pretty cool.

Another point to why this is all Jayce's fault. He chose to keep Vicgor alive, and look what that has done. You now have to physically kill Victor. Should have listened the first time. Should have never brought magic to piltover.

Episode 6

How does Victor say it's not Jayce and there is something else when He isn't even himself and keeps talking to the disembodied voice of Sky, who was eaten by the hexcore.

Vi really left hextech on the ground for anyone to take. Place of peace or not, I could sell that stuff

Grandpa Vander. I love him so.

Warwick knows there is something wrong with Victor. But he is trying to his kids.

I love Jinx and her comments and throwing shade.

Another beautiful artstyle showing their past. Jinx did deserve to have more time with her mom.

Vi talks about staying in Victor's place, but completely ignored that Ekko had the firelights trying to do the same thing. The difference, however, is Victor removes their desire and individual agency, creating more of a hive mind. Ekko has more freedom and the people don't see him has a Harold, but equal to each other.

There are 2 groups trying to fuck over Vander and his chances at a family again. Jayce unknowing because he is trying to fix his mistake, finally, and Ambessa who just wants war.

Caitlyn really wiped that spit into her mouth. Madam, you are in a relationship with Maddie. Stop that.

It took not being with Jayce for Vi to not fuck up. Let's see if not being around Vi helps Jayce, or still fucks everything up.

So far, he didn't kill a child. So maybe that's good.

Yes Vander! Protect your daughter.

Jayce didn't either. Vi and Jayce just need to not work together if they want to do anything in life.

This is what happens when you kill the leader of the hive mind. And unfortunately, Jayce is the reason Vander lost all humanity he had left. He's crying and suffering.

Victor didn't need to speak such truth.

Isha, sweetheart. No.

In a more serious note, I heard somewhere the reason tour life flashes before you life before you die is because your brain is looking for a memory to help deal with the event and save you, but since it has never experienced death, there is no immediate memory to help. I will sob silently for Isha, but every happy memory she had was with Jinx, do I believe, are the only memories she has. Trauma pushed away the bad ones so all her brain can do is show her the happy ones before her death.

Episode 7

Starting off with the record. It's not Vi and Jinx.

Ekko without face paint is a shock. But him actually seeing Benzo again. This might be the first time he thinks about what happened that day. Oh it hurts. I still see Homeless in Benzo's face, but i think it's more the sideburns.

This does explain why Jayce is the only one to escape in act 2. And proves Jayce did NOT eat Ekko and Heimerdinger like some people theorized.

I actually yelled seing Milo. I wasn't ready to see him with a posh accent and a mustache. I didn't yelled, but wtf! Heimerdinger with a guitar? Ekko is losing it.

So the answer to the time they were missing was 3 years. I thought it was weeks or a few months.

Jayce left his hammer in a place he doesn't know to chace a stranger who could hurt him. And he finds the remainds of a destroyed Piltover.

See! It's all Jayce's fault. Granted, Vi died, but she isn't that great of a person anyways.

Is this Heimerdinger singing at 13 minutes? That would be pretty funny. Watching...... it is!

So hextech almost existed, but Vi died in the explosion and Jayce lost everything because nothing got stolen. Still doesn't change the fact it was his fault for bringing the crystals to Piltover. It's a good thing that is where Ekko and Heimerdinger landed or we really wouldn't see them again.

Where did Jayce end up? How did he hang on with those things

I really don't think i could have done it. They look terrifying.

Ekko has his time skill! I do think the time in this reality is what gives Ekko the chance later on to try again with Jinx. His chances to tell Benzo the truth and actually say goodbye.

Seconds later, Ekko forgets this isn't his universe and makes the same mistakes as asking Powder if it's her fault this Vi was killed.

There is a screenshot worthy point around the 30 minute mark of Milo and Clagger. I hope someone has do that. It needs to be memorialized.

Powders dress reminds me of the moonflower for some reason when she spins.

Finally, Timebomb fans! Be fed!

If Heimerdinger dies....

Powder better get her Ekko back...

She does! Now what happened to Heimerdinger

Oh an episode almost solely for Ekko, finally making up for lost time.

Episode 8

We return to Mel and her magic i forgot about with everything else that was going in. She was controlling the other counselors throught their corruption. I guessed that right. Yay.

What is Mel going to do now?

It is interesting how they bury the people.

Vander needs to be left alone. He's been through enough.

I knew it was a hive mind.

Homeless is Back! When was his name Lois? I was close at least. (I'm not watching with subtitles so unless the speak the names, I have no idea who people are).

"We can't erase our mistakes." Yeah, like you gassing the innocent?

Jinx has lost everything, her family has been lost 4 different times. She finally gave up after losing Vander again, and losing Isha.

Mel and Jayce meeting again after their separate imprisonments. Mel finally being called out on her control. And being blamed for something she could t control.

Where did Victor's new body come from. This fight scene reminds me of the I, Robot based on Victor's movements.

It is nice to see an actual conversation between Silco and Jinx without it pushing her towards his goal of Zaun.

Break the cycle with broken knuckles. Nice on Vi.

This creature. The fact Jayce still sees it as living. Should have been labeled thing.

Heimerdinger's pet! I missed it.

Caitlyn. What about Maddie? ..... vie doesn't care, but that doesn't make Caitlyn a shitty person for cheating.

Even with the arcane, Victor never love Sky the way she did. How dare he take everything from Vander. He has died enough, why take the memories away too?

Episode 9

Oh boy, here we go.

Jinx has beautiful hair. Long and short.

Ekko is back and he is trying. I am so proud of him.bittersweet(X) as long as their alive in the end, I think i can accept the ending of the series. But I just got through the intro so good so we will see.

Maddie has to be working with Ambessa.

Maddie put the nail in, didn't she? Maybe she deserved to be cheated on. I didn't think she really loved Caitlyn in the beginning. I was just wrong about it being obsessive... death works too.

Jinx and Ekko working on the same side as it should be. Welcome Zaunites to the party. Thanks for bringing it.

Victor looks so gross.

Not Sevika! She grew on me.

Do you think Vi finally understood it wasn't just her and Jinx left? Do you think she will finally remember Ekko and continue to care about him in the future?

Mel's story so so much more complex than season 2 had time to delve into. I do. Ot understand the black rose as much i they probably wanted us to.

They still leave Ekko alone and assumed dead. Even after he did so much to save them both.

Ekko is the only one. Jayce is gone too. How will he try?

Yes ekko!!!!!! Some risks must be made.

That is an interesting callback to what Jayce saw in the alternate universe and explains what he meant.

I may have to ammend my statement a bit. Not by much though. Victor is the instigator for the use of hextech. But I thought that's where it started. Is it more accurate to blame this on Victor?

We once again see Vi not coping with dead and lacking a comfort. Her failure to listen and move resulted in Jinx having to jump down. It is a shame Vi couldn't learn better ways of coping outside of self destruction and lashing out immediately.

I hate we don't see Ekko actually go back to the firelights or see him step as a leader for Zaun we all know he easily could have been.

Now that everything is over, I will go back to my question 3 paragraphs above. Should Victor now be the blame for all of this? As he gave the rune to Jayce knowing he was the only one who could show something good from emotion and resistance. This goes against my firm belief that, as adults, you are responsible for your actions, and your actions alone. Your actions have an affect on others as seen in life and Arcane. Victor planted the seed of thought and useless chip in Jayce as a young boy. Jayce, however chose illegal research and storing dangerous and illegal contraband in his room unsecured.

This answer can only be found by looking into another question. How important were Jayce and his mother's lives? His mother would have died without arcane magic, and as he was a child, Jayce may have too. Allowing him to die young would have meant Jayce could bring the crystals to Piltover, and his house wouldn't have been robbed. Nothing in Arcane would have gone the same way. Say young Jayce would have survived and made it to Piltover, he still wouldn't have interacted with magic and see it can be harnessed by someone without being born with it, and his research probably wouldn't have been different. Who knows if he would have gone to the undercity then, but it grunted his house wouldn't have exploded because of the crystals. If all characters must be alive and Victor's past self needed to save Jayce, then it is my same argument. Jayce shouldn't have brought contraband to Piltover and not secure it and hide it.

There is a note to add that if Victor didn't give the chip to Jayce after saving his mother, then maybe Jayce wouldn't have found the crystals, but I disagree. He would have been searching still. I don't doubt he wouldn't have found them on his own without a shards with an engraved rune as a reference piece.

Thanks everyone who actually read this far. I can now continue my doom scrolling here without worry of spoiling anything now.

[woodchoc-magnum]

I've been reading all your stories over the past year, including the latest ones. (Both were amazing!)

I am curious about a trend I noticed across your fics. In your earlier stories, I noticed Buck was often the bottom while in later stories Buck was the top in his and Eddie's relationship.

I have my theories on why you made this change, including the fact that you always strive to depict their relationships differently in each story, but from your perspective, what was the reason behind the evolution in who does what in bed? Was it related to just understanding the characters and their histories better?

To be honest, in the beginning seasons, I could see Eddie as the top, but now I see him mostly as a bottom or switch. And your stories play a role in that perception.

This is actually something I noticed about myself too and was trying to pinpoint why my feelings have changed since I started writing buddie fic in 2020.

I'm going to put my answer under the cut because I don't know how lengthy it's going to be!

Obvious disclaimer - this is all headcanons and nothing is actually canon, and also everyone has different headcanons and that's cool.

So when I first started writing, I remember being influenced by a lot of the fics that I was reading at that time. In the lead-up to me writing my first fic, I read a ton of fanfic. Pretty much all the fanfic at the time had Eddie as the dominant one in bed, and I think at the time that kind of made sense? With what we knew about Eddie.

Now though, four years down the track, my headcanons have changed a lot and I don't think that Eddie would be super dominant in bed. I think Buck is way more experienced (and possibly more confident) than Eddie is, sexually, and I think that it's more likely that he would take charge and that Eddie would be more willing for him to take the lead.

(Sidenote - Eddie loves clipboard!Buck. It stands to reason he would love being bossed around in bed as well!)

I also think in terms of sex and the issue of consent in the show - I feel like Eddie sort of "forces himself" to be what his partners need? The whole thing with Marisol, and even him sleeping with Shannon in season 2 - none of it seems to be him having sex for his own enjoyment. It's almost like it's an obligation - especially with Shannon like, let's force intimacy by having sex and not dealing with any of our problems!

So that kind of makes me think like, he's doing this for the benefit of other people, so what would him having sex for himself look like? What would he want? And maybe that is him "giving up" control to Buck; letting Buck take care of him, etc.

Anyway, I don't know if this makes sense, but essentially everything that's happened on the show between seasons 3 and 8 to develop Eddie's character have changed my mind about what role he would take in the bedroom.

My personal headcanon is that they would be versatile, but Eddie would mainly bottom - and that's how I tend to write them.

The show obviously will never confirm this one way or another, if/when they do go canon. It's one of those things that I'll probably always believe unless the show says otherwise, like Eddie and Buck being the same age (took a while to wrap my head around that one) and also Eddie owning a Chevelle which honestly, I still don't believe and have disregarded as canon. (where is this car? where would he put it? why has it never been mentioned before? etc. Canon disregarded)

So I hope this like... explains my thinking when it comes to writing them in fics? I think even in the Songs fics I had Eddie topping first and then it gradually changed over time. 😅

[chimcess]

Comments for chapter 7. I'm not liking the ending 🥲 please tell me it's a character building. I need reassurance 🥲 Starfire crew will make it right? They're just updating their family back home about the delay on going back right? They'll survive right? 🥲 I need to prepare myself if they don't.

Also, I'm understanding that it was Creed who sent the plan from Kelly's message, but how? Did he hack her message?

And is Helion's rescue ship actually on the way to M6 or not? I don't like how Yoongi (or the others) keep mentioning it in the background, but like there's no status of that ship; I'm doubting that they actually planned to rescue her.

I'm also curious if Y/N will have any physical trauma or disease. I don't know how well she patched her wound from the last bioraptor attack, but she would've gotten some skin disease from a continuous sun exposure.

(I played the image in my head if Y/N dies and Jimin came to rescue only to find her corpse inside her suit, sitting at her spot. Then I realised like: LOL it's a Jungkook fic, but he's gone to the background 😅)

Last question, how/when exactly did Starfire crew meet their family back home? I thought they've been in space this whole time, but Jimin has a son coming, but his daughter never met him? I almost thought he sent his sperm to Uma from space 🤭

Hi!

Lots of questions.

So, for reassurance, everyone will live. No one is dying! Yay!

The rescue ship is in development but it will take longer than Y/N could survive now that her main food supply has been essentially killed. They do have plans but lots of talks. The slingshot was a last minute thing that everyone is on edge about because it’s not been tested and they don’t want to extend the astronaut’s time out there. They’re also working with a foreign government that has all of the equipment. That’s why they’re not talking about that specifically. They want to get her but lots of back and forth on what’s feasible.

Creed sent the message to the crew by getting access into her account. He used her account she uses that NOSA owned and encrypted for her video calls. Pretty easy to get that info when you’re a top guy like Creed.

Jimin has met his daughter, he’s only been on this deployment for a few months. He’s been in space for a while and it’s hinted that they used IVF in order to have children. So, Uma got pregnant while he was in space from that. She’s had fertility issues for a long time and they’ve struggled to grow their family. Jimin was there for Hana’s birth, but he’ll miss Riker’s since he’s going to get Y/N.

Jimin and Uma have known one another since they were teenagers but didn’t get together until later in life because her parents didn’t approve of him since they have very different backgrounds. Armin and Kelly met through family when he visited his mother on Earth and they had a love at first sight moment and got married three months after meeting. They have 3 kids. Koah met Quinn through work. They didn’t get together until a company work party when he offered to take her home. Got a seat at a restaurant that was open late and talked for hours. Been together ever since. Hoseok and Val have liked each other for a while but Val was with someone else for a while so they never explored anything. Hoseok wants to change that.

Y/N will definitely have some health concerns and massive amounts of mental trauma from this experience, but nothing extremely serious. No cancer or anything. At least, not that she knows of. It will be mostly her mental health that’s impacted and she will have some pretty intense medical needs for a while she gets home.

Hope this was helpful!

[littlehungrywarriorcats]

Part 3 of challenging myself to redesign old sims 3 warrior cats ocs. I'm gonna do both girls in one, even though there's probably more to write about Dapplemist and Whiteear than their parents combined. But I, personally, didn't like how I was only doing one cat at a time.

Let's start with Dapplemist, the one who was inspired to drag her sister into the woods to start their own clan of wild cats. She's a chocolate ticked torbie tux with these little white speckles all over her pelt that, to me, are in the shape of spotted tabby markings.

I ended up taking a paint brush in MSPaint to add her white speckles that gave her her name.

Is the little white speckles possible with white spotting? I know vitiligo gives cats those little white patches over time, but I know nothing about how that inherits.

Next is Dapplemist's sister Whiteear. She is Grottoclan's(the clan these girls started) first medicine cat, and was the only medicine cat for awhile until her son showed interest in learning to heal. She is also the mother of the litter that is a nightmare to attempt to map genes for, since bother her sons are torties white her daughter is just black and white.

Just like her sister, I did alter the picrew image in mspaint to give her the white marking she has that is her namesake.

Is it possible for a cat to be mostly colored except for a single patch around the ears? I've seen the reverse in cats, but not this. So I'm genuinely curious if Whiteear can keep the new design, or I'd need to alter her white spotting.

Hope you enjoy my ramblings, and are able to answer the few questions I had. It's alright if you have no idea either, I struggled a bit while making these girls have their namesakes without completely changing part if their designs (I was originally debating giving Dapplemist spotted tabby markings instead of ticked, which would have forced Fawnpond to be heterozygous ticked to have a 'ta' to give her.)

Oh my god I remember playing warriors in the sims 3...

Cute!!

I know some folks who have cats whose only white is a few white hairs, but in a realism setting, I doubt speckles like that would be entirely possible..? I've never seen anything like it myself, at least.

Searching thru images of cats, i found this guy, but with no info on them at all, I have no way of knowing if this is ws/w or vit:

As for how vit inherits, it's a polygenetic autoimmune disease that causes progressive pigment loss over time. So cats would start out fullcolor, become speckly, and over their lives, turn all or almost-all white :3

It's very unlikely for white to cover the ears like that due to the way that piebald forms during development; I'd call it impossible or near-impossible. Pigment tends to get pushed to extremities. I'd be more inclined to believe it possible if she had other white on her elsewhere too, like if she was high-white. Cats tend to only have white ears when there's no pigment left to drift there at all lol!

very pretty designs <333