#also i thought this said fodder at first and i was thinking is this some slang term i don’t know 😭??

[shellxrls]

I have a whole folder of saved Coryo reels I am not well but anyways. the idea of him corrupting a mayor's daughter while he's out in the districts is swirling around in my head these days

mdni | 18+ content

he knows you’re not too impressed with pretty things bc your father spoils you, so he has to rely on his charm & wit to get you interested. taking you on tours of all the abandoned factories ‘round the districts, getting you alone so your guard is down and you’re more susceptible to his attempts at intimacy - even if it starts with him offering you his hand and gripping onto your palm a lil longer than he needs to, it eventually spirals into you being fucked against an empty produce crate. nails digging into the splintering wood as he takes you from behind, fingers hot and heavy on your hips & pulling you against him with every thrust, the lewd sounds of skin on skin reverberating ‘round the empty room.

“who knew the mayors daughter would be such a slut for peacekeeper cock?” he grins, drilling himself into you even deeper as he goes to thumb fast circles on your clit.

[destinysbounty]

Huh. I just dug up an old fan-theory i came up with back when i was like 15. And while its definitely way too weak to hold up against any real scrutiny, it at the very least makes for some mildly interesting fanfic fodder so i thought id share it with the greater fandom hivemind.

(Dont come at me about the holes in this theory btw, i was practically a baby when i came up with this and it was one of my first attempts at theory-crafting. Trust me, ive come a long way since then)

Anyway, the theory goes like this:

While in the lighthouse, Dr. Julien builds a replica of his son. But try as he might to get it to turn on, it never actually works. Whatever special spark brought the first Zane to life is inexplicably absent from this one. So he locks it away in his basement, and never gives it the light of day again. This is the reason Dr. Julien never told Zane about Echo, or brought him with them - because at the time, Echo wasnt even functional. Wouldnt even turn on. Was nothing more than a lifeless shell collecting rust in the basement.

So how, then, did Echo become sentient by season 6? Great question! But uhh heres where the theory kinda starts to go off the rails. So buckle up, folks.

Basically the theory goes that when Zane died at the end of s3, his soul still lingered in Ninjago. And his disembodied spirit eventually found itself drawn to a vessel that was similar to the one he'd lost - one his father had built yet long abandoned. But his new body lacked the memory storage contained within his old one, and his resurrection effectively gave him almost complete amnesia. All he could remember was his name and his purpose (to protect those who cannot protect themselves).

Meanwhile, when Titanium Zane says hes a replica, hes actually completely right about that. Some fragments of his code left behind from his visit to the Digiverse gained sentience and inherited Zane's elemental power, creating the Zane we know and love today.

But the original Zane, the one that died fighting the Overlord, actually ended up becoming Echo Zane. Which then would have explained why Zane had so many holes in his memories after being resurrected, and why his sixth sense became much less active as well - he was only made from fragments of the real Zane's code, after all.

Now, as the big smart grownup i am today, i can look back at this theory my baby self had crafted and poke about a million holes into it. But...idk, i always feel nostalgic about this theory in spite of all that. Not just bc it was one of my first fan theories ever, but also bc it would have such fascinating narrative implications if true.

Like, the idea of Mr. E being Echo? Well, if we apply that to the concept of Echo being the Original Zane, then his hatred for Current Zane takes on a whole new dimension. It also gives me a lot of emotions about the whole Ice Emperor situation, as well as Zane's apparent discomfort towards his own statue.

And what kind of position does that put the rest of the gang in? If they had to choose between saving one or the other - the Zane who died for you, or the Zane who lives for you - which one would they choose? Could they choose? How long do you have to love a replica before it starts to feel more authentic than the original? And in that case, who becomes the 'real' zane? The one you love, or the one you lost?

Again. This theory has more holes in it than the Titanic. Cut me some slack, i was an idiot child and also a novice at making theories. But giving credit where its due, i do think it at least raises some interesting concepts. And Ive always casually wondered what would happen if it turned out to be true.

Like i said. Fanfic fodder.

[class1akids]

Ok so I gave up on this manga long back before the war arc as the story inconsistencies were disappointing me but I kept up with the leaks just to see if it’d go interesting or if HK would fix the plotholes. After reading yesterday’s leaks I am super super pissed and disappointed. As a big bakugou fan, the boy got emotional development but it was made all about deku. He was given a total pointless death that didn’t achieve anything? Why do it? He didn’t save anyone except all might. No feelings shown towards anyone except deku n all might. My expectation was both him n deku trying to save shigaraki but the latter was killed in the most random manner. At first I thought maybe the leakers left something out but no, one punch and he is gone. No is mourning him, no regrets from Deku, he didn’t even speak with the villain. Ever since Deku unlocked Blackwhip, HK stopped showing his emotions, he lost his heart and it’s a pity all BKDK fans think that the manga achieved everything they asked for(PS: No it didn’t, it totally ruined your favourite characters and made them fodder feed, removed all the substance that made them lovable)

Iida wasn’t given much and sidelined (hello stain did you interact with this kid??), Shouto’s storyline went well but at least show him helping in the final fight rather than a single panel and uraraka’s cutest smile thing? Surely he could have written it so much better? Tokoyami, Kaminari, Mina, Kirishima and poor Momo, every kid was shown with lacklustre writing. Given a moment to shine and then faded to background.

And the way HK handled league of villains.. oh man, poor kurogiri, poor tenko, he managed to turn a complex characters into sacrifice.

This was a really sad ending and out of all the directions to go I have no clue why he chose to write this way. He clearly was trying to move the story in a good direction before so I had some hope but the execution of it butchered everything.

Yeah, I agree. I think Hori didn't do Deku or Bakugou justice, and generally what could have been a satisfying celebration of the great bonds of Class A, as well as the LoV, he barely allowed any meaningful interactions.

It's still bonkers to me that he made All Might fight AFO in an asspull mecha suit with the kids' quirks, while Class A got a single chapter of a combo and for many of the kids that's like their ONLY highlight.

As for the LoV , Tomura dying without even knowing if his friends are alive or being able to do anything for said friends right after he said he wanted to be the hero of the villains? That was just so weird.

I'm really not sure what happened in 424 - it felt like a narrative whiplash that Deku killed Tomura and Bakugou and Deku (presumably) killed Kurogiri all of a sudden. And not in a good twist way, but more like a "let's get this over with" way.

I think I tend to agree with hamliet who wrote a post about how Hori's greatest weakness is trying to please everyone and also the suspected editorial / WSJ meddling. I don't know what to think.

I mean you are correct to say that it's not the first time Hori dropped the ball - to me the decline starts way back at the Overhaul arc. But he still had good spots and there was a set up. All he had to do was put the roof on top of the bricks he built.

[ecogirl2759]

~~~NEW UPDATE~~~

(I'M A DUMBASS WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TUMBLR WORKS SO IF YOU SAW THIS ALREADY NO YOU DIDN'T)

I'm glad people liked my 4コマ KINGS post so much lol. I love spreading the word about obscure lore :)

Under the cut I've responded to some of my favorite tags, given a little more backstory into the source of these pictures, as well as posted a few new ones :D

There's also a question at the very bottom that I'd love to hear opinions on, but no pressure if y'all don't feel comfortable answering ^w^

You're welcome >:D

Same, bro. I was basically thinking that the entire time I was reading these books lol

I feel like I should give a little context to these comics and where they come from lol. I wasn't very clear about the backstory in my original post. I do agree, when I found these, I thought they were super important, too, particularly because I don't think a lot of the fandom knows about these books lol.

The Danganronpa 4コマ KINGS anthology series was published in the early 2010's featuring a bunch of different artists. The series is 4 volumes long and published by Spike Chunsoft, meaning, while these aren't necessarily canon, they ARE official :)

There is another series of anthologies in relation to both the first and second games, but I don't have those.

The first two volumes of this series is relatively well documented. There are sites where English translations have already been added to all of the comics in them (I'm pretty sure), as well as some screenshots popping up on places like Pinterest.

The third and fourth installments, however, are really poorly archived. The third has some content from it floating around, but it's hard to come by. The fourth had almost no information on it no matter where I searched.

I say this because a while ago I found the ONLY pictures of the Mastermind!Taka comic on this really old Tumblr blog from 2014 and REALLY wanted to figure out what it was about. (Didn't help that I couldn't read some of the bubbles in those photos.) First I searched for an English translation (there wasn't (so I'm working on one hehe)), then I tried to find which book it was even from, and NOTHING!

These books, since they were in circulation around 2014-ish, have stopped being printed, so copies of them are very hard to come by. Luckily, I was able to get my copies from a kind stranger on Ebay :)

-NOW-

Here are a few more pictures that I thought were funny/interesting that I couldn't add in my first post because of the picture limit lol.

Sorry for the really long post, I just thought it'd be interesting to share :)

Here's the page of artists that contributed to this anthology! Please go check them out (or see if they have any socials since it's been so long). Some credits change per volume, hence how many photos there are. (And sorry for my hand, it's hard to hold these open lol.)

You've probably all seen the covers, but have you seen what's behind the covers? (Also including the opening illustrations. These have probably been posted online already as well, but they're worth including imo.) (Again, please excuse the fingers, I'm trying my best ;-;)

^ Sayaka came with a smudge :( she still pretty tho

So, uh, remember when I said Hifumi made ship fodder? ......Here it is. Eat your heart out lol

Also remember when I said that Mondo's hair was fluffy and bouncy? Here's the proof:

Sakura has been de-buff-ified twice LMAO

ALSO remember when I said Syo was a fan of BL? ...... :)

ALSO remember when I said Kyoko was kinda socially awkward?

(Context: Kyoko sees Kiyotaka and Mondo calling each other bro and, thinking it'll strengthen their bond as well, calls Makoto "Makoto-oniichan," or "big brother Makoto" lol. Also, second picture says "I have come to save you, Makoto")

Chihiro Shinji chair meme

I'm at my picture cap, but there's a lot I haven't brought up lol

-SO-

For a different thread, would people like me to find pictures of certain characters? (i.e. just photos of the characters looking cool/hot/stupid without a lot of the text.) Because I am totally willing to do that :)

I've already got a lot on Byakuya, Sakura, Aoi and Mondo for all you simps out there, and it's not hard to find even more lol.

So lmk :D

[storiesforallfandoms]

releasing the beast ~ eminem

word count: 1575

request?: yes!

“Can I request an eminem imagine of where another artist puts out a track that mentions his long time partner. Em fires right back, standing up for his girl letting everyone know she is off limits. Thanks!”

description: there are two people in his life that you don’t mess with: his daughter and his girlfriend, and this idiot just messed with both of them

pairing: eminem x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

I knew the asshole was done for within the first three lines of the song when he said Hailie’s name. Whether or not Marshall actually gave a shit about the diss track now meant nothing because his baby girl was called out, and everyone knew he didn’t take too kindly to anyone talking shit about Hailie.

But I was shocked when the same asshole decided to bury himself deeper in his own grave by saying my name in the second verse.

Now, to be clear, people saying shit about me never got to me. In all the years I had been dating Marshall, I had gotten used to getting hateful comments from people online. I had learned that you just have to let that stuff wash off your back like it was nothing. But, when it came to another rapper using me as fodder to diss Marshall, he had made it clear long ago that I was off limits. Anyone who dared to come after me was basically asking to have their career ruined.

I hadn’t heard anyone be so stupid in such a long time. I was almost amused when I heard my name in the song and the poor excuse of a diss that followed it.

I knew Marshall had heard as well because he stormed into the kitchen, where I had been making us dinner, from his office. His face was red with anger and, if this were a cartoon, I’d be seeing smoke coming from his ears.

“So,” I said, a slight grin on my face, “what did you think of the song?”

“I can’t believe that fucker,” he said. “Not only using Hailie, but saying shit about you too.”

“He has a death wish,” I said with a shrug. “Wants to kill his career and himself with one terrible song.”

“I’m so sick of this shit. These new fuckers keep telling me I’m too old to be calling them out in my music, but then they provoke me by saying shit about my daughter and my girlfriend. It’s like pick a fucking side; do you want the old me or not?”

“What are you gonna do?” I asked him.

“I’m gonna make sure that fucker never says your name ever again, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have, but hearing how passionate Marshall was about standing up for me made me feel a little happy. Also, thinking about hearing the diss track he was about to drop on this motherfucker had me extremely excited.

~~~~~~

A few weeks passed and Marshall hadn’t said anything else about the song. When it first dropped, he was in the middle of planning a tour and promoting his newest album. He had a lot scheduled in the following weeks, much to his annoyance since he was itching to get into the studio and record a response.

The longer it took, the more the other rapper’s fans took his silence to mean acceptance of defeat. While the song really did not go hard by any means, they were all convinced it was the best diss track to ever be released against Marshall. They thought he was running scared with his tail between his legs, as if Marshall didn’t get his start as a battle rapper.

The more time that passed, the more I was itching to hear the song he had been working on.

“I don’t want dad to respond,” Hailie told me one day while we were having a girls day with Alaina. “That’s what this guy wants so he can get more attention towards himself. Dad should just leave it be.”

“Under any other circumstances he would, but we both know the minute our names were brought up that your dad was going to respond in some way,” I told her. “You don’t fuck with Marshall’s girls.”

“But again, that’s exactly what this guy wants. He knew he’d touch a nerve by dissing us. If dad just ignored him it would get under his skin so much more.”

“We both know that’s not how your dad is wired. He’s very protective over the two of us. He doesn’t want anyone saying shit about us because we’re just the bystanders in this. Especially you. He doesn’t want his baby girl dragged into a beef that has nothing to do with her.”

“She’s got a point, Hails,” Alaina said. “Dad’s not about to let some nobody insult any of us. And maybe it’s not a bad thing for him to put this idiot in his place for thinking it’s okay to say the shit he did about you guys.”

Hailie sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

When I called Marshall later that night, I could tell he sounded worn down. “Please tell me you’re getting some rest and not spending all of your off time working on the song.”

“I don’t have time to work on it otherwise, and the longer I don’t put out a response the longer this fucker thinks he’s winning,” Marshall responded. “I can’t let that happen.”

“I know that, and we all know you’re going to destroy him with whatever you decide to release, but you can’t let yourself get too run down before the tour. You need to rest. He’s not worth letting yourself get run down or sick over. Promise me you’ll take at least tonight off to just rest.”

I heard him sigh. I knew it was a hard ask for Marshall to not work, especially on something as serious (to him anyways) as this diss track, but I meant what I said. I wasn’t going to let him get run down over a needless feud with someone who didn’t have any attention on him before he decided to drop the diss against Marshall.

“Okay, I promise,” he said finally.

“And I need proof of that promise.”

He chuckled. “Proof?”

“Yeah. Like...I don’t know, send me pictures of you resting in bed or something.”

“Oh, I’ll gladly send you pictures of me in bed.”

I playfully rolled my eyes even though I knew Marshall couldn’t see me. “Well, if that’s what it’ll take to make you rest then who am I to stop you?”

And then the day finally came: the song was released.

No announcement, no warnings, just like he had with his recent albums. It just dropped out of nowhere and the fans went crazy. I was almost convinced they were going to crash Spotify and YouTube when it went live first.

The song dropped the day before Marshall got home, so I listened to it so I could give him my reaction when I saw him. It was exactly how I expected it to go: pointing out the shitty disses, the difference in success between the two, and of course, calling him out for trying to diss myself and Hailie.

There wasn’t a lot surrounding that final part in the song, just a few lines saying to keep mine and Hailie’s name out of his mouth, but that’s all there needed to be. As excited as I was to hear the song, I agreed with Hailie that I didn’t want the two of us pulled into this beef too much. Just hearing the anger in his voice during those parts were enough to make me feel satisfied with the response.

When he came home the next day I met him at the door with hugs and kisses. He chuckled, putting down his luggage so he could properly hug and kiss me back.

“I missed you,” I told him.

“I missed you, too,” he responded. “I’m assuming you heard the song?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve listened to it at least five times now.”

“What do you think?” he asked. “About the part mentioning you, I mean.”

“I think it was good. I like that it’s just a brief mention and I don’t think you needed to go any further than that. Just a reminder that anyone who tries to fuck with your girls will be slaughtered.”

Marshall smiled and pulled me back into another hug. “I’m glad you liked it. I was partially worried when I released it that maybe it was a bad idea.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “Hailie told me she didn’t want me to make a response because she didn’t think it was needed. She thought I should just leave it. I didn’t think about it until after I had finished the song and said I just wanted to release it when it was finished that maybe I should’ve just left it be.”

I looked up at him and cupped his face in my hands. “I think you made the right choice, and it’s up to you where things go from here. You’re the one being called out directly, you’re the one who decides how to handle that.”

“You’re right. I just hate it when anyone tries to mess with you. No one says shit about my girls and gets away with it.”

“We all know that. Some people are just stupid enough to test that theory.” I took his hand in mine and pulled him into the house more. “Come on, no more worrying about it. You’re home, you have time off, let’s just spend time together until you go on tour.”

He smiled and followed me into the house, which eventually (and inevitably) turned into me leading him up to our bedroom so I could welcome him home the proper way.

*sorry this sucks i started writing it when i actually had inspiration but then lost the inspiration but i wanted to finish it and post it :(*

[nalyra-dreaming]

"don't be afraid, just start the tape" is what Louis tells Daniel after telling him he is a vampire in the book, I don't remember all the book quotes but I remember that one, it's right before the actual interview starts

My theory is this is going to be the second to last episode of the season and that I'll be mostly a flashback to the original interview in the 70's (meaning we'll see some of that first version of events Louis told Daniel, aka the "admitted performance" which paints lestat in a worse light) and I think we'll see Daniel remembering the devil's minion and that he actually knows both Louis and Armand so much better than he thought (I believe the show version of the devils minion had some Louis/Armand/Daniel poly action since Louis and Armand are still together on this version) so we have a finale in which all the cards are (seemingly) on the table and Daniel starts to ask the real questions now that he remembers and begins to push Louis for the hard truths he is hiding from himself

I'm also hoping that if I'm right about Louis being involved in the devil's minion arc present day Daniel might say something about them using him as "a band aid for their shitty marriage" as he told Louis about Claudia, it would give more weight to Armand's "don't look down on Claudia, look in the mirror"

Ha, yeah, I also think that Louis was/is more involved with the Devil's Minion arc! You already called several things, but there is also Louis' "our boy" in episode 1, and then of course Armand calls Daniel "a gift from Louis" in the books, which I'm sure the show will hook into 😈

I am not so sure if the relationship is "still" or "again". I think Jacob spilled the beans there in one of the recent interviews, when he said "why Louis would choose that relationship again", which would align with the books, and also give a lot of fodder to play with, show-wise. (As I do believe some of the events may have happened already).

I do think though that in the finale all the cards are already on the table. Or, better, the table has been set - somehow we will have to segue into s3, and for that Lestat has to show up in some kind of manner in Dubai. How they'll spin it? I have a few ideas, but ultimately I think Daniel will start to tear it all apart much sooner. I actually think that it will be the second episode of the season he will remember all that - because Jacob called Dubai "explosive" and can you just imagine the changed dynamics with a Daniel who remembers being imprisoned, remembers being chased, remembers falling in love, with ARMAND.

I for one would definitely call that explosive :)))

[blazinghotfoggynights]

I hope the 9-1-1 TPTB bring the drama.

There. I said it. I want to see angst, struggling, emotional turmoil, crying, maybe a few holes punched in the wall, again, screaming, arguing. Everything.

They have been freed from the conservative prison that is the you know what network. Why not go big or go home?

Now, some people will say read this and say I'm messy.

Okay. If you think that bothers me, good for you. (It doesn't. IRL, I am the most drama-free, non-confrontational person ever, but I like my entertainment to be a runaway rollercoaster. Don't keep it mentally stable and happy. So boring.)

I've been pretty open about wanting Buddie endgame. But we don't have to take the romantic, sweet, easy route. We can go offroad, turn on the 4x4, and hit the bumps full speed.

So, if Minear and crew (or Oliver and Ryan *waves*) see this, let me throw some messy ideas your way. You want mayhem and chaos? Let's look for some!

Everything below can be supported by canon up to ep 7x5.

1- Have Eddie question why his romantic interactions with women are always forced, initiated or encouraged by someone else, and unfulfilling. Shannon pursued him. Ana was there and familiar. Marisol was there and familiar. Eddie never pursues women due to good old basic attraction. He falls into relationships with those who send him signals they like him and are kind of shameless and thirsty.

We have NEVER seen Eddie actually genuinely excited to go on a date or spend time with a woman. There was always some ulterior reason. He was trying to give Christopher the stable home he thought his son deserved, or Bobby gave some cryptic advice, or Buck said Natalia is the only person who sees him. Ahem.

But Eddie was was all smiles to go hang out with Tommy. The man was bouncing. Bouncing! And every time he has hung out with Buck, he's relaxed and happy. Ijs.

2- I want to remind you that you created the character of Tommy Kinard, so his canonical history is not fandom's ideas. *points to show writers* They did it!

Tommy is canonically a racist, misogynist dbag. (See Hen Begins.) Sure, you can say he did it to fit in, but that also makes him a hypocrite now. He was always the first to follow in the former captain's footsteps when harassing Hen. Tommy wasn't a kid. He knew what he was doing was totally wrong and chose to be racist, misogynist, and possibly homophobic. I mean, I see that you have Hen and Chim forgiving him, which is fodder for a whole different post on retconning, backtracking, the forgiveness from minorities trope etc, but I digress.

I have always lived by the rule that when people show me who they are, I believe them. If you wanted to refer back to past Tommy Kinard, you could make him a total dbag.

It was obvious in 7x3 Tommy was not into Buck. At all. He didn't acknowledge Buck at all until Buck grabbed him. He barely spared Buck a glance when Buck grabbed his arm, pushing Buck's hand away, then looking back toward the direction Eddie exit the scene. That man was blinded by Eddie, who, see number 1, didn't give him the time of day. You could build on that and bring massive amounts of drama and pain.

3- If you really want to blow minds, have fandom go into a collective meltdown, be edgy, and create a storyline that would open the doors to all the main characters being involved, new bonds being cemented between characters who rarely interact, and serious emotional wreckage... just hear me out..

Give us an infidelity arc.

There are multiple options for this one. Some are pretty straightforward and relatively tame, such as Eddie and Buck realizing they are completely in love with each other and kissing, and some are just this side of being banished to Skinimax and HBHo, such as uncovering hidden facts that are scandalous, lying, and intentionally misleading others for your own purposes.

Those ideas could lead to enough material for seasons 8, 9, AND 10 if done properly. 😂 Certain watchdog groups and politicians will condemn you, but smart people don't like them anyway.

Fandom, what say you?

If you have an idea not up there, don't be shy about posting it in a response.

P.S.- I will not apologize for loving messiness. If others didn't enjoy watching messy situations, reality TV would not exist. So, I am not alone.

[aotopmha]

At lvl 87 Endwalker quests.

The Venat duty absolutely destroyed me.

I was planning to get Elpis done this weekend, but I struggled almost an hour and an half (maybe even twoish hours, didn't precisely track it) on this duty until I, for probably first time while playing this game, turned down the difficulty of a solo duty, and I'm pretty exhausted, so the rest of Elpis is left for another day.

It's a fantastic encounter because it sells you just how powerful Venat truly is really well, but it's another bit of gameplay proof to me that the difficult content of the game probably isn't something that is for me (and makes me incredibly grateful for the lower difficulty options for solo duties).

(At the very least I know progging some of the Savage content and especially Ultimates would probably drive me up the wall.

Extremes, I do want to give a try because they generally seem less time-intensive and lenient. I won't *completely* exclude tougher stuff, but at the very least I know that kind of content would get unfun fairly quick for me because of what it is by nature.)

It's the orbs that got me with every class I tried; just couldn't get enough of them in time, but as said, I'm pretty grateful for the 'easy' button.

With this out of the way, I think there is actually a good amount to say about all of the lvl 86 and 87 content up to the solo duty.

It can be actually summed up pretty easily: it's all just a lot of characterization, but it is characterization for a bunch of different characters and essentially an entire culture. More than any other zone, I think it is the motivations and perspectives of the characters that matter the most.

You've got the friendship between Emet and Hythlodeus, the father-daughter relationship between Hermes and Meteion and as I see it a student-mentor (maybe?) relationship between the WoL and Venat.

Between these are less focused dynamics like Venat teasing Emet or the cute budding friendship between the WoL and Meteion.

Then we have the individual characterization for all of them, too.

But before I fully go into them, there is a pretty big general thought I have about Elpis:

It is fanservice.

It is such unquestionably, blatantly, unflinchingly obvious fanservice that it should bother me so much more than it does.

For crying out loud, the entire portion of the story starts with Emet filling you with his aether. They're fully indulging the Emet simps.

But it is also substantial and thoughtful every step of the way, and I think really well told, so I really like it.

So, I'll get into exploring all of the characters in their basics. You could probably an entire massive post about every single one of them, but I just want to go into them in the most concise, simple way for now.

I'll start with Emet-Selch. I think my favorite part about Emet in Elpis is how he reacts when he learns about his actions in the future.

He cannot comprehend how he could be so disrespectful towards the sacrifice of his brethren, while all across the questing during the zone, his actions especially show just how much he cares about the well-being of the Star and his brethren, and that is the exact reason why he ends up doing what he does.

The reason why everything happens is because of who he is as a character. It is fantastic character-based plot writing, which is kind of a trend across all of Elpis (and happens to be probably my favorite type of writing, I love it when things happen because of who the characters are).

It is delicious Greek tragedy fodder.

Next, I've talked a bunch about how I no longer think character arcs are the be all and end all of good character writing and I think Hythlodeus is probably the best example in FF14.

He is just a super fun and likeable good (tease-y) friend. And he doesn't need to be more as a character.

(And everyone loves him!)

Obviously he has much less time on screen than everyone else, and he would probably get old after a while if we had him for a bunch of expansions, but I think he is proof that all you need for a great character is a likeable base personality.

His teasing dynamic with Emet is super fun and his presence only emphasizes why what Emet does and believes in the future makes sense.

Next are Hermes and Meteion.

The more I think on it, the more I feel like they're the thematic core of the story. And both are also carrying another type of narrative I love: stories about feelings.

Technically you can argue all stories are to some extent about feelings because stories are kind of there to make you feel.

But to me Endwalker is specifically about mental illness, more specifically perhaps about depression and despair and overcoming it.

It's fascinating, every time I even type about these ideas, I feel an unease, as if it shouldn't be a big deal, as if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill but also as if I was judging people for it. I feel there is still an unspoken stigma to it.

But it is a very serious issue. I myself have struggled with these thoughts, and though I luckily have found my answer and have gotten better, I still see and feel that judgment and disapproval directed at anyone who is suffering.

"Just stop being sad!"

"It's not that big of a deal!"

And in that sense, I feel Hermes is probably the most real of all of the characters in Elpis.

Is he the anomaly for essentially experiencing depression? Is he the anomaly for not agreeing with the norm of just discarding animals, thus other lives on a whim? For not seeing death as "beautiful" as his culture does?

As someone who has been there, dismissing or simplifying Hermes' struggle rings false to me. This is what mental illness does, what depression does. Mental illness makes everything bigger, creates tunnel vision, so Hermes can't see the good around him and so turns to look for purpose elsewhere.

I remember seeing a video title along the lines of "Hermes should suffer more" or again talking points about him "just being sad" and while it might have been for clickbait purposes, I think I've seen sentiments along those lines a bunch of times and I feel like many people just miss the point of his character and maybe even have this opinion towards him because of how they view emotional struggles like this.

Obviously stuff like this is super personal and hits different for everyone, but fictional characters are also not real people; they serve a narrative purpose and in this case Hermes represents someone going through this kind of struggle.

Among other things, he is a general thematic symbol, an idea within the story.

Even if he had the most awful ambitions imaginable, what message would further torturing a character going through this kind of emotional struggle ultimately send?

The idea of fantasy as a filter exists for a reason; were it real life all of these characters, even the more heroic ones, would be morally abhorrent.

But fiction allows us to explore some of these heavy ideas within its safe framework. And you're not obligated to like art like this, either. I just think that's the brand of fantasy FF14 is going for and I fully read most stories within this framework and really enjoy them.

I don't need characters to be morally good for a story to be good, but I actually do also think Hermes is a pretty good example of a narrative distinguishing between the sympathetic and antagonistic parts of a character's actions.

You're not empathizing with him wanting to destroy the world. The entire point is to just understand where his perspective came from. That is the framing I see.

But again, a text can have many reads. In the end I just disagree with a bunch reads on Hermes.

But to move on from Hermes, I think if Hermes is the most "real", Meteion is probably the most tragic.

She is by nature essentially an empath. If Hermes is the adult suffering from mental illness, Meteion is the child feeling the consequences with no say on the matter.

Meteion feels what Hermes feels and those are often negative feelings; and when he sees Meteion suffer from it, he in turn feels guilty. And Meteion suffers from that in turn.

Hermes very clearly cares for Meteion, but he also ends up using her for his own ends just like the other ancients do creations. His entire reason for creating Meteion was for his wish to see other civilizations to be fulfilled. It's selfish. Hermes is not immune from his culture's principles.

And while it hurts him to hurt her, he still does it. It's a crazy good complicated relationship.

As I said, I think there is so much more to say, but I think I'll move on to the final pair.

Truth is, I'm not 100% sure what to label the Venat/Azem/WoL relationship because while teacher-student is a strong sense I get, I also get a very strong "simple friendship with a fellow traveler" feeling out of it.

I can see why the Emet/Hythlo or Emet/Azem/WoL ships are so strong, but I never got that sense out of Venat.

And I don't see the parent/child parallel that strongly either despite all of the mommy jokes.

I need to think on that more.

But what I do love, is characters that *love* the world.

Who unconditionally, fiercely love it.

Life is a miracle to her and so she aims to protect it with all of her being.

And she didn't use to think that way. It is the pursuit of knowledge that lead her to that conclusion.

And to me, that makes her a fantastic meta parallel to me as a player because that is how I grew to see FF14 as I saw more of its story and then got to eventually play it.

Because at first I wasn't interested in doing any of the side content, only the main story, but as I went on I became interested to the point of wanting to do the blue quests, then yellow quests, then tribe quests, and any of the side content.

My plan for Dawntrail is to really take my time and really take in literally all of it, down to eventually the least significant yellow quests.

It'll take time, but that is my eventual aim with the entire game currently.

I grew to love this story, this world and all of the characters in it.

I'm not sure if this is the meta intention with Venat, but that is how it worked out for me as a player.

"Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwile?"

She asks and while my most immediate thought is "gotta get that audience survey in there", a split second later, all can I think of is "yes".

At this point I have about 700+ hours in the game and the only bit of content I've disliked is traversing the ARR, HW and a bunch of the SB zones.

But going back to Venat, I like that despite being so graceful in image, she has fun and joy in her.

Her being the previous Azem is very fitting in that sense and is another aspect of her character that makes me view her as a adventuring friend.

My overall thoughts about Elpis so far are really that I love how well-defined the characters and the relationships between them are; it is a feast for someone like me who loves character-centric stories.

I look forward to what is coming next; really nearing the final stretch here and I look forward to covering it as I go through it.

[toasteaa]

😅 and 🫂 PLEASE !

Pining stage asks💙

😅 did anyone ever mistake you two for a couple? how did you both react?

Who HASN'T mistaken Eclair and Neuvillette for a couple, let's be real. The gestionnaires (most of them), the Melusines; hell, their Archon has mistaken them for being a couple before. But it's subtle. Indirect. A little cloud of gossip about them when they're not around. It's not THE talk of the nation, just a bit of afternoon gossip fodder for the gestionnaires since they're the ones that see Eclair and Neuvillette the most.

But being mistaken for a couple directly? Having someone, perhaps a sweet mannered old woman, call them a lovely couple while on post work evening stroll?

Eclair is shocked, to say the least. Schools her expression in almost immediately and tries to think of a response. Everyone in Fontaine knows Neuvillette. Everyone knows Neuvillette does not get into relationships. He doesn't even say he has friends. But...she's silently flattered that they were mistaken for a couple. It flutters around quietly in her chest and slowly brings some color to her cheeks. A feeling that she's also silently stamping back into place because she is not in a relationship with Neuvillette. Even though the thought is extremely nice.

Even if she tries to deny it, she's not able to get it out once the old woman takes Eclair’s hands in hers; showering her with those same sweet comments little old ladies she's helped before always seem to give her. Only now it's peppered in-between stories of never having seen the Iudex as much as she has these past few years and how much happier and more relaxed he seems now.

"Th-thank you, mémé;" stammering? The detective that can stare a gun down its barrel without flinching is stammering at the thought of being mistaken for Neuvillette's partner? "But the Chief Justice and I simply work together. We aren't a couple."

But it's like she's said nothing at all. The old woman just smiles warmly. Knowingly. You can't lie to grandma, don't you know?

Neuvillette's reaction on the other hand, could be considered a non-reaction to most. But that's because he goes to his mind first. Wonders what they see that could warrant such a reaction. From what he knows, humans only say these kind of things after seeing a romantic interaction between two people. In that case, have his advances been noticeable? Has Eclair accepted them in some way that he's missing? He would like to be sure before making any assumptions, but finding time to ask Eclair in between the times where they're both busy and inundated with work is...difficult.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but any relationship I have with Detective Dumont is professional and entirely work related. She is my coworker, first and foremost, and a...colleague." It's not a lie, but it's not necessarily the entire truth. But...well, if there's anything he's learned, it's that sometimes withholding parts of the truth is necessary. For others and for himself.

🫂 what's one significant moment of physical contact you had during the pining stage?

Oh...there's something to be said about Neuvillette and, well, anything physical. He seems untouchable because he is untouchable. As the Chief Justice, there is an image of unobtainability about him. As a being that has persisted for 500 years, he holds a certain unknowability in his hands. No one can get close to Neuvillette because no one really knows Neuvillette. Whether that's because they haven't really tried to get to know him or because he is the Iudex. And they see him exclusively as the Iudex. Of course, he has put up boundaries between himself and others as well; justifying it as being a necessary and needed barrier in order for him to remain a stalwart servant to the will of his Nation.

That, however, has not made his existence any less...lonely.

Nevertheless, Neuvillette has a station to maintain and cannot allow idle thoughts of melancholy to seep in whilst he's in the middle of his work. A trial will not be held at bay while he wrangles in his rarely expressed emotions, struggles frustratingly to find the correct files that were misplaced days ago, and -

And Eclair is there. Her hand careful and grounding against his. He hadn't heard her come in, far too busy rushing to have his attention split. And the file...it's there, in her other hand. He hadn't misplaced the file; there were extra reports that she was finishing. He knew this. She says as much, but he isn't listening. He only...feels. Feels the reassurance of her tone, the lilt of it bringing a kind of...peace to him. Her hand has moved away from his, but he can still feel the weight of it. The warmth of it. She's still speaking, but her touch has moved - adjusting his robes lightly where they've creased, straightening his jabot and making sure it's pinned neatly, before smoothing down the panels of his mantle against his chest. It's an...odd feeling. An action he's observed being done, but never had it done to himself. Never imagined it would be done to him. No one gets this close to him. He doesn't let anyone get this close to him. And yet...this touch is not unwelcomed. No, it's...it's calming. Soothing. Grounding.

Is this what the touch of another person feels like?

She's looking at him, he realizes, with that critical eye. Searching for something like she always is. He wonders, vaguely, what she sees. Notices the gleam of something...softer in her gaze. He wishes he knew what it was. He wishes he could understand why her hand against his chest has done this to him. Made the flow of Hydro swirl beneath his skin. Made his senses a little sharper. Yet the only thing he can do is thank her for her assistance. Feel something within him stir again at her smile. And want to -

The hour's chime breaks the bubble of reverie; he will be late if he does not leave immediately. The Iudex is never late to a trial. Another brief (yet appreciative) thanks before he's excusing himself and striding out of his office. The station of the Iudex is one that must be meticulously maintained. And yet...

He cannot help but feel the lingering weight of Eclair's touch and distantly wonder if he would ever allow himself to feel it so intimately again.

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 15/5

@manorinthewoods submitted: I believe I got confused about the omnipotence thing because I'd talked about it in some Discord server or other. My interpretation of the confusing usage of 'omnipotent' is that it specifically refers to any individual with the ability to exert unlimited power upon at least one individual. This allows for a system where one omnipotent can be more powerful than another, such as a Horrorterror being stronger than a First Guardian. [...] That's all I wanted to say.

The problem is that I don't really understand what it means to exert 'unlimited power' over someone.

Does it mean that you have full control over that person's actions? Or perhaps, the ability to change their nature in any way imaginable? Neither of these traits apply to First Guardians - their powers are centered around controlling space, not people.

Doc Scratch exerts power over Vriska, but his influence isn't absolute. If it was, she wouldn't have been able to use the cueball behind his back. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you mean by unlimited power.

Probably! There are already a lot of human/troll interactions going on, so their relationships will inevitably evolve.

I recommended a few webcomics last year. They're all decent theory-fodder, particularly Paranatural.

That said, none of them are as good as Homestuck at doing what Homestuck does. This is a very unique story, and I'm also not sure what, if anything, I'll liveblog after this is done. I'm certainly enjoying liveblogging, so there probably will be a next project - and I remain open to suggestions.

Dang it. Well, I'm still showing up in search, so at least I'm not shadowbanned this time. Maybe a glitch on your end?

I don't think you're wrong, exactly - but to be honest, there seems to be a bigger issue here than unreliable narration. I still have trouble understanding how any kismesissitude can be healthy.

The prophecy is true!

It's kind of cool that the kids' entire fortune is likely seeded from John's original stockpile. All that Grist we picked up in Act 2 actually went somewhere!

Oh, nice! I feel like there'd be too many combinations to effectively crowdsource, though, unless the pool of alchemy ingredients was extremely small. If you really wanted to implement alchemy in a game, it'd probably have to be at least partially procedural.

To be fair, I have to give credit to John on this one. Some of his funniest moments are when he's not trying to be a jokester.

I know! I probably wasn't clear enough about my question.

My question is whether the phrase 'the numerals of the blind prophets' is a reference all on its own. The phrase is a little out of left field, and the comic itself hasn't explained it.

Pretty sure John's has already been explained - he needs to wake his Denizen and save his fireflies!

As for Jade's, it's indeed hard to say. I thought they'd all be about terraforming, but Dave's seems to break this pattern. Maybe his Quest isn't what it seems - or maybe I was just wrong, and a Quest can be just about anything.

I don't think I'll be able to guess Jade's, since it'll involve the features of a Land we haven't yet seen. All I can say for sure is that it'll have something to do with Space.

Hell yes! This blog's hidden objective - to plug The Locked Tomb - is finally bearing fruit.

It's easy for Aradia to do what she does, because she ''knows'' that she could never have done anything else. 'Understanding' this lets her be reckless.

Once you can convince someone their choices don't matter, you can convince them to do whatever you want.

I prefer Prospit's aesthetics, but Derse's vibes. The Horrorterrors are a better suspicious patron than Skaia - at least they'll help me break the game.

That said, the official quiz assigned me Prospit. Maybe I misunderstand the moons - but from where I'm currently sitting, Derse is the better choice.

The question isn't whether Sburb would screw them over - it's how it would.

I like the idea that Sburb started with only Sprites, and slowly assimilated its victors into its later iterations.

Each Sburb species represents a video game trope, so I could see an aggressive species like the trolls as a border patrol. They're angry, aggressive NPCs who fly their warships around the Veil, making sure Players don't leave the session's boundaries. You're meant to avoid them, not fight them, and they're the bane of any Player who tries to get creative with the Furthest Ring.

Now, what kind of NPC would the humans be?

I'm not a fan of jumpscare horror, but psychological horror can be very interesting indeed.

I didn't expect the comedy meme man to be that good at instilling a sense of dread - but I shouldn't have been surprised. Horror and comedy tread a very fine line.

Thank you!!

This frame in particular is pretty unsettling. Jack never usually shows this much emotion, and you have to wonder if the Ring has gone to his head a little.

Anyway, if we're talking about aesthetics, my favorite area so far is the Battlefield. It's like a chessboard mixed with a Windows XP background, and it's gorgeous in Rise Up.

Neither have been used in the comic, so I'm just going with lusi for convenience's sake!

[edwinspaynes]

okay ill give you two options so you can pick.

jordelia with cordelia doing a dance like in the books and james just simping

or

thomastair having a date in the snow with sledding :)

I did a bunch of Jordelia ones yesterday and also still have a Jordelia one in my inbox, so I'm opting for the Thomastair one :) Will definitely keep the Jordelia in mind for future potential fic fodder, though.

-

"Angel," Alastair said, looking out the window of the bedroom he shared with Thomas Lightwood. "It's as though the heavens decided to unleash some cosmic punishment against all of London's residents."

Thomas wrapped his arms around his middle, and Alastair relaxed into the touch. "Cosmic punishment?" His voice was soft. "For what?"

After careful consideration, Alastair shrugged. "The ridiculous quantity of eggs that the denizens of this city use in a single day? The terrible trend of wearing decorative plumes in one's headwear? Who is to day?" He sighed and ran the hand that was not cupping Thomas's through his hair. "I am not looking forward to shoveling this behemoth of a snowfall. Is there any chance that you might do it all?"

Thomas kissed Alastair's ear. "No, we agreed to split such things, and even your wonderful nature cannot tempt me to take all of it upon myself. But as a sort of consolation prize, I will warm you up afterward."

Alastair chuckled. "Alright, I agree to your terms."

"But," Thomas continued, and Alastair could see his eyes shining in their reflection in the window. "I do wish to do something fun before we go down and begin toiling away at our much-dreaded task."

Alastair raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He tried to continue, but Thomas grabbed his hand and pulled him through the front door.

-

"I do not have very many kind things to say right now," Alastair sniped. "The only thing that will not make you chide me for my rudeness is that your thought process is unique. I don't know that I have ever ridden in a sled before outside of horrific events that I spent praying to the Angel would end."

"I didn't get to go sledding much as a child, either," Thomas said. "In case it would upset my fragile constitution. My parents preferred to keep me indoors during the cold weather; one year, Uncle Will took me to the market, and I caught a chill that convinced Mother that it was the end. It was not worth the anxiety it caused them, after that."

"Oh," was all Alastair could say. "Well, I suppose that I ought to indulge you, then. Attempt to keep an open mind as we embark on this new adventure together."

"Alright," Thomas said. "I think the first thing to do is sit in the sled." He paused. "You might wish to go first so I can settle in behind you; you are smaller, moosh-am, and I would not wish to take up so much space that you cannot squish in."

"Do not call me a little mouse again," Alastair said, settling into the sled. "I do not wish to become cross with you, Tom."

Thomas stuck out his tongue. "Well, I'm sorry about this, then."

"What are you apologizing for?" Alastair asked, before realizing belatedly that he had settled into a sled on the top of their hilly yard. His weight pressed the sled down the slope, and he was sent down to the bottom of the incline, cursing in Persian.

Thomas rolled down the hill after him, laughing. "I think that was quite a good lark," he said. "Though I will have you know that I am taking the next slide with you thoroughly nestled between my thighs."

"I am still not over this," Alastair said. "I may hold a grudge forever. I still may get you back for this."

"Alright," Thomas agreed. "I-"

But his response was too late. A lightly-thrown, soft snowball hit him in the face. He sputtered, but Alastair was already laughing.

[nefariousrat]

chainsaw man chapter 122 thoughts

when i first read through the chapter i noted it was odd that fami ordered so much food until i scrolled through tumblr and saw that @possiblylando (sorry for the random ping/notification if this causes one, im still getting used to tumblr and i didnt want to take credit for an observation i didnt make) made the big brain observation that it's probably to do with fami being famine. akdjjwkxnd good catch. that makes me wonder if fami eats irregularly due to her nature or if she's always hungry?

we saw earlier that yoru's goal is to make chainsaw man return nuclear weapons, presumably because that will lead to more fear of impending warfare, which will, in turn, give her power boost. we don't know her motivations for this right now. rivalry with the 3 other horseman devils maybe? or something more?

this probably goes without saying but yoshida's comment about the 7/30 convicts dying this week and what we've seen so far makes me think that the convicts are just going to be fodder in some grander scheme, possibly on a city-wide scale, along with a whole lot of others.

it wasnt exactly made clear but since the devil's body was made using the body parts of the people living in the apartment building, were they killed solely for that or can they be reanimated in some way and used in battle like the dolls from part 1?

im kind of forming a loose theory here, and it'll probably be way off, but i wonder if the ability of this primal fear devil is scent based? at the time nayuta says she smells "the nastiest devil scent... i've ever smelled!" (chapter 121) denji is forlorn and hopeless like we see with the couple who jump off the balcony in 122.

i also want to point out the menacing shot of denji's building. maybe fujimoto is trying to say something here?

but like with the failed spinal cord sword, denji shrugs it off.

since nayuta isnt affected and denji also isnt really affected, maybe it has to do with pochita's influence on his physiology?

in that vein, we see asa on the street probably not too far away also extremely down on herself. so much so that yoru even feels compelled to say something.

keep in mind, this isn't the first time asa beats herself up, but it IS the first time yoru says something about it.

and what's happening right at the same time?

rip.

now, onto the next topic.

nostradamus's prophecy of the 1999 apocalypse. im not going to post the poem since it's already floating around but I'll share some thoughts i had on it.

like others are theorizing, i think its fujimoto's way of laying out exactly what will happen from here on out. blatant foreshadowing.

war wants to find and kill chainsaw man to take back the ultimate weapon; nuclear weapons. the primal fears, plural, will set the stage for the arrival of the final boss, nostradamus's king of terror, aka death, who is also one of the 4 horsemen.

that said, im gonna jump around to the couple's conversation:

the man started off excited about what's essentially a mundane achievement. his wife? girlfriend? is happy for him until he asks about a car. right here is where we see the change from calm to...not sad but apathetic and acceptingly hopeless. at the slightest negative statement that he would not be allowed to get a car, and it's implied that they've had this conversation before and that it isn't the first time he asked, his negativity overwhelms him, transfers to her through whatever is causing this mental shift, and they go to the balcony to jump.

there he eyes a car that looks...

well.

it looks like kobeni's car.

that's either a red herring because fujimoto is a troll or maybe that's where the actual primal fear devil is? it could also be a nod towards what denji was capable of doing; getting up and keeping going towards the same goal. for denji, love. for this guy, a nice car.

as for which primal fear this devil represents, my guess is despair. in war you must have ambition, especially as a leader, and resolve as a soldier. without resolve, you die. what power does war and emotion have when the opponent is empty and untouchable?

but then i remembered what the four horsemen of the APOCALYPSE aka the four horsemen of death were, and i doubt im going to be right about that. we know this primal fear devil isnt control, because that's nayuta, or famine, or yoru, and most likely, as in most probably definitely, not death.

so i did a light google search and saw that control/conquest is sometimes alternatively called pestilence/plague. maybe fujimoto is making 5 horsemen of the apocalypse? if it actually is pestilence, it could explain the smell. disease has a noticeable stench.

i think that more or less sums up my thoughts on chapter 122.

im interested in hearing your thoughts and starting a dialogue in the comments!

thanks for reading.

[star-going-supernova]

Tumblr generated prompt number 5 was for a sequel to Plausible Deniability! Yep, I threw the sequel suggestions into the list for this round, and this wasn’t the only one that got chosen, hehe. There’s no real prompt for these, just me continuing a ficlet. Anyway, now y’all get to find out why I decided to make Gregory fifteen! 

This is a long one, at about 1,400 words. I’m not making it an ao3 one-shot, though. Also. I’m not going to lie. Jason Todd influenced how I wrote Gregory in this AU. Sooo… warnings for a teenager casually talking about murder and committing it (offscreen). 

(title’s a play on “Murder, She Wrote”)

Murder, He Chose

Look. There was no beating around the bush. Gregory had killed before. Like, actual real people. It was a conscious decision he made—twice, going on three times now. He’d only been fourteen the first time, when it was kill or be killed in that dead-end alleyway. Kill or be killed or let the lost little six-year-old be killed. Or worse.

It was kinda a no-brainer. 

Even before that, though, Gregory had developed a bit of a reputation. For violence, that is. He’d been on the streets since he was twelve, when he decided nothing could be worse than staying at home. In some ways, he’d been right. 

But the point was that Gregory had a territory, and he had his people, and even though he was a teenager, he protected both. And they trusted him to protect him. His chosen city blocks had the most young runaways and family units. They knew they’d be safe from the real monsters so long as him and his lead pipe were around.

Vanessa and her sneaky generosity were a huge help for the community, so to say he’d been pissed when he got word that two homeless kids had been killed one night? Understatement. And it happened the next two nights, even though his people got the message to stay away for the time being. 

He liked to consider Vanessa a friend, or at least an ally. Knowing she might have turned on them? It hurt. It wouldn’t stop him from stopping her, but he would’ve been sad about it. 

But it wasn’t her. The reports of a strong, energetic bunny-costumed murderer did not match up with the Vanessa he found in her bed, looking like death warmed over. 

Gregory went to the pizzaplex that next night with one goal: stop the killer. And yeah, considering he didn’t really trust the justice system, and especially not when the victims were a bunch of homeless people, that meant a permanent, “taking matters into his own hands” sort of stopping. 

• • •

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Gregory called, dragging his lead pipe along the tiles. “I thought you wanted to play!” 

A STAFF bot swerved toward him, and he gave it a gentle tap to its fragile neck. Okay, less gentle tap, more hitting a home run. 

The commotion drew the attention of the nearest animatronic, Roxy. She prowled into the large hall, expression vacant—the sort of thing you’d expect from a robot, if Gregory hadn’t known better. 

Roxy circled him at a distance. One of her arms had a pretty significant dent in it. Looked like old dogs could learn new tricks. All the bots had been learning things tonight. None of them attacked him mindlessly anymore, not now that they knew better. 

“Think if I hit you hard enough, whatever’s wrong in your head will get shaken loose?” he mused. 

Her head twitched, but she didn’t respond to the taunt. He felt a little bad about the damage he’d caused to the animatronics, since it seemed to him that they were just someone else’s cannon fodder. 

He genuinely hoped they were able to repair Moon. Gregory had been swinging for the heavy-duty ones, not thinking to account for how stick-thin the DAs were. The same hits that only slowed the band down had snapped something in Moon. Something that meant he hadn’t gotten back up.

“Do you and your friends a favor, Roxy,” Gregory said. He kept walking, inexorable in his quest to find the big bad bunny, but that didn’t mean he let the big bad wolf out of sight. He was confident, not stupid. “Tell me where the killer is, and you won’t all be laid up in maintenance for a month.” 

She twitched again, and the glow of her eyes flickered. Roxy stopped skulking around him. Her voice box glitched. 

He was watching an internal battle take place, he realized. She was fighting whatever was making them accomplices to the bunny’s bloody crusade. 

There wasn’t much he could do to help, but he figured a little encouragement never hurt anyone. “C’mon, Roxy, you can do it,” Gregory said. “I know you can win this.” 

Her tail perked up the slightest bit, and it seemed to be the push she needed. “Head on over to the stage, kiddo! The show’s going to start soon!” 

It was similar to Chica’s falsely peppy lines about his parents looking for him, but maybe that scripted stuff was all she was able to slip past her programming. “Message received,” he muttered to himself with a slow grin. He took off in the direction of the enormous atrium. 

Roxy didn’t chase him. 

• • • 

The bunny definitely hadn’t been prepared for one of their victims to fight back. They were on the uppermost mezzanine, fiddling with something in the control booth. They drew a knife as soon as they noticed him, but the costume did nothing to hide the way their hand trembled faintly. 

“We doing this the easy way or the hard way?” Gregory asked, settling into a solid grip on his pipe. 

A hysterical, glitchy giggle burst out of the bunny. “You’re a lively one, yes. You’ll surely feed my master well.” 

They lunged at him before he could even try to find a good response for that. Gregory jabbed forward, forcing them to maintain distance, and then he started swinging wildly, never fully pulling back to wind up. He’d found that this crazy, unpredictable waving of his pipe made for a difficult attack to block or evade. These types of hits didn’t pack a punch the way a good over-the-shoulder swing did, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt at all. 

The bunny grunted every time it smacked into them, all the while forcing them back. That knife was looking pretty useless. Gregory snickered to himself. 

Either their impatience or their anger got the better of them because they suddenly tried to shove past his defenses. To their credit, it worked. Less to their credit, they seemed to have forgotten that a pipe was not Gregory’s only defense. 

He skittered backwards at an angle, leaned his weight on his back foot, and sent the outer edge of his other boot straight out into their left kneecap. They stumbled with a shriek, allowing Gregory to readjust his balance and do it again, harder. A sickly snap-crack sent the bunny collapsing. 

And what’d’ya know? Slumping over like that put the bunny’s head right at optimal swinging height. 

• • • 

Officially, the morning crew found clear signs of a break-in and phoned the police, who then found clear signs that someone had been luring homeless folks into the basement to butcher them. They also found the culprit, with a viciously shattered kneecap, bruised ribs, and fractured skull. But it was blood-loss that did them in. Stabbed three times by their own knife; the killer didn’t stand a chance.

Officially, the killer’s last attempted victim, presumably another member of the homeless community, fought back and escaped. There wasn’t enough evidence to find the individual, not with the virus the killer introduced into the pizzaplex, messing with the cameras and animatronics. No one spoke up or came forward; none of the local hospitals or clinics received a patient that night with the speculated injuries of a murder attempt.

Officially, the night guard was quickly declared innocent on account of being off work with the flu. Her apartment building’s security cameras confirmed she hadn’t left on any of the three nights, or at all for that full week. She shrugged over why homeless people might have been in the pizzaplex to begin with, suggesting that they’d realized the night guard wasn’t there and had taken advantage. Good thing she was back on the job.

Unofficially, Gregory didn’t lose any sleep over his actions that night. Vanessa never mentioned his visit to her apartment, and he wasn’t sure if that was because she was holding on to her plausible deniability or because she genuinely didn’t remember it. 

Unofficially, the next time Gregory stopped by the pizzaplex, the animatronics all thanked him, either in words or with food or warm clothes. Even Moon, who hadn’t been damaged beyond repair, thank goodness, and who held no hard feelings. 

Unofficially, Gregory’s kill count was up to three. And he didn’t regret a single one. 

[highfantasy-soul]

NATLA - Episode 2: Warriors (1/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

<previous/next>

Starting off with one of Zuko's tantrums was such a good choice. In the first couple episodes of the animated show, Zuko's frustrations at having lost the Avatar blow up all the time and it was great to see that represented - with the additional depth of him explaining exactly why he was so upset: the greatest warrior of all time was a 'coward' and ran. It gives the audience a great view of what Zuko values and how his expectations have been rocked, and therefore his world view being shifted. Iroh comes in to ease his discomfort and reassure him that it was Zuko's positive qualities that helped him find the Avatar and there is hope that he'll find him again. Hope is such an important theme in the whole series and I'm glad the live-action is focusing on it just as much for the 'villains' as they are for the 'heroes'.

For anyone still complaining about 'expositional dialogue', go back and watch S1E3 of the animated show, specifically (though really just rewatch the entire thing) and come back and tell me that wasn't waaayyy more egregious expositional dialogue than the live-action. Like I said in another post: expositional dialogue is NOT BAD, especially at the beginning of a fantasy story. We have to figure out the basics of the characters somehow and 'showing' isn't always possible or the best choice. Scrub the idea that 'telling instead of showing is bad writing' out of your mind, because it's almost guaranteed you're thinking of that advice so incredibly incorrectly that it's ruining your ability to consume media like a normal human being.

I like how Sokka and Katara are taking whether or not to leave their village for good seriously - especially Sokka, he was put in charge - it makes sense that he'd have to be convinced that abandoning his people is the best thing to do. In the first episode of the animated series, when Katara first discovers Aang is an airbender, she's ecstatic that she's finally found a teacher - and even makes to abandon her village in her desire to go find herself a master so she can learn more waterbending - we see that desire here at the beginning of the live-action episode 2 where she tells Sokka she can't just abandon this journey she's started - yes she wants to save the world, but she also wants to see where her waterbending journey can take her.

Also love the change that Gran Gran gave Katara the waterbending scroll - one that had been passed down in their tribe for generations before having to hide it from the fire nation. This hearkens to real-life examples of invaders trying to destroy the cultures of the indigenous population and them having to hide ancestral artefacts so they wouldn't get destroyed. While the pirates are a fun little side-quest and there's some excellent Zutara fodder there, I think it's a lot more impactful to have Katara learning waterbending from a cultural artefact right from her own family rather than a scroll stolen from who-knows-where. The pirates really only come back up to 'kill' Zuko at the end of the season, so that was easily folded into someone else having the blasting jelly.

Aang giving Gyatzo as good of a burial as he can was also a wonderful touch. This is all fresh for him - giving the Air Nomads he grew up with a respectful send off was the least he could do. It shows that Aang thinks about the little things, the small acts he can do to show respect and care for the world - just like the peaceful, nature loving monk we know from the animated series.

The real plot of the whole show isn't revealed in the animated version until we meet Bumi in episode 5 - I think it makes sense that, starting at the end of episode 1 of the live-action, we already get what the show is going to be about. It isn't until episode 7 of the animated series - when Aang sees the burned forest - that the idea of 'figuring out how to be the avatar' is mentioned and even after that, it's not until episode 8 where the comet time line is established and Aang even begins to think about learning to waterbend. But still, the goal of 'master the Avatar state and learn the four elements' is pretty vague and there are a lot of ways to accomplish that. Introducing the timely need to get to the Northern Water Tribe to help them with the fire nation attack gives the plot direction and purpose while still allowing for many events to happen along the way. The meandering quality of the first half of the animated season 1 is one of the most criticized parts of the OG series and the writers didn't even know what the story was going to be when they wrote those, so it makes sense that with the hindsight of the whole series in mind, the live-action would give it a bit more direction. Putting one time-sensitive task in front of Aang at a time also helps with the story structure, so I get why they first made the goal 'Northern Water Tribe', and only after they complete that timed goal will they introduce the comet.

It's great to see Iroh's love of food and interacting with the average people in every place they travel to is still a big part of his character. And Zuko sulking behind him telling him they don't have time for all this is just ripped right from the animated series. Dallas Liu and Paul Sun--Hyung Lee brought those aspects of the characters to life beautifully. Something I've seen is people upset that Zuko isn't as 'cool and calculating' as he is in the animated version and while I agree Zuko did have many of those moments, he was also rash and bullheaded too. I think the live-action really wanted to stay truer to the reality that these are kids - they're going to act more like kids than the animated counterparts did. Animated Zuko (and Azula for that matter) many times don't read as 14 and 16, respectively. They read as full-on 20-something year olds. The live-action is giving Zuko a bit farther to grow where it's Iroh being the strategist at the moment while Zuko is the driven child desperate to regain his honor. Also, just love all the complaints that the live action is so focused on telling not showing then complain that Zuko didn't say 'honor' once when…every single word out of Zuko's mouth and action he took SHOWED that he was fighting to regain honor. People need to pick a complaint and be serious about it.

[rarepears]

So… I can’t send images in Anon!

But here’s a vague outline of what happens before the reset!

There are a few minor background changes that don’t impact the plot.

Himbo finally gets to be a nanny that gets to go on cool missions!

He also gets a few demons trying to bridenap him but he thinks their trying to steal his kids. ( They’re actually his clients kids but he loves them like his own)

Our Himbo tries out cottagecore the first year he ends up in PIDW. He makes a bro out of a carnivorous plant spirit with weak acids but great sucking power. Really good sucking power.

And our Fratbro gives a LOT of nutrients. So Fratbro gets to live safely in the forest now! He lives here after the reset as well.

He doesn’t know it but cultivation with spirits, this spirit in particular help with people who start cultivating late in life.

After our Himbo fully sets up something horrible happens! People are chasing down a cosplaying child!

So our Himbo with the help of his bro! (Who’s gotten gains these past months!) save the kid!

And the people chasing the kid down disappear? He doesn’t know what happened but he forgot about them after plant bro said he wanted to ‘share the bounty’ and ‘celebrate their engagement’ and that ‘he’d be a good consort’

He still doesn’t known this language but those sounded like good things!

Can’t forget that most Isekai nowadays tend to be harems! It’s just that those systems thought he was going to have a harem of girls.

The child is a demon, male, who originally is cannon fodder but under the tutelage of our Himbo’s protagonist Halo gets many enlightenments and breakthroughs leading him to be a commander under LBH who eventually goes and meets the family.

He near immediately marries the Wife Himbo adopted but is stopped by Himbo(who now understands Chinese) who insists they need to get to know each other first.

Himbo believe the word for Father in Chinese means Uncle and by the time he realized it means Father he just goes along with it.

Himbo mentally adopts LBH and has already started planning the wedding.

“Kiddos! What’s a ‘dowry’?”

“It’s what you give the grooms family when they marry your daughter”

“Why? Don’t we like, give the two wedding gifts? Why give stuff to the fam?”

“To ensure they treat the daughter well and to show she has a powerful background so the other wives and family members won’t bully her”

“THeY’lL bULLy mY DAUghTher!?! OthER WIveS?!?”

And Himbo assumes LBH other wives are just family and the kissing is some cultural thing.

Even after the world resets and he knows the culture and like of ancient China he still does his own thing because

“We have to respect each other’s culture man. I dunno about you but I can be respectful.

After the reset our Himbo immediately tries to adopt LBH when he’s born.

Because LBH is part of the world he doesn’t get his memories back until the Abyss while Himbo just isn’t affected and is where he was standing with his full cultivation.

Himbo starts an overpowered family with dozens of children because he has come into peak dadness as a result.

Also. He tries to marry Tianlang Jung. He wants to be his baby’s dad! So they have to get married! He did it once with someone else so he can do it again right!?

A REVEAL! HALLO AUTHOR! 👋

Fratbro treating the kidnapping attempts like they are "capture the flag" games! Or American football; that works too.

And our Fratbro gives a LOT of nutrients. So Fratbro gets to live safely in the forest now!

LMAO what you are saying is that he pisses a lot on the trees. (Diluted) urine is great fertilizer. Golden shower play, anyone? With his first consort too LOL.

I love Fratbro's inane logic here; yes, please do chase down Tianlang Jun, trying to convince the man that they should get married so he can officially be Luo Binghe's dad! With Tianlang Jun continually saying no, Fratbro decides that he's just going to kidnap Tianlang Jun and force a marriage regardless.

Anyways, that's how he participates in another demonic custom without realizing it; yes he went and successfully pulled off a bridenapping.

[More in #a himbo fratboy in svsss au]

[teaspoonnebula]

The Final Problem Part 1 - Thoughts

Whoof. Here we go.

Of these the first and second were extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.

Precisely what perversions of the facts James Moriarty wrote in his letters is such delightful fanfic fodder. I suppose I also need to mention that this point that yes, Professor James Moriarty's brother is called Colonel James Moriarty. Did they just have weird parents? Is Jame-Moriarty a compound surname? You decide.

He still came to me from time to time when he desired a companion in his investigation, but these occasions grew more and more seldom, until I find that in the year 1890 there were only three cases of which I retain any record.

This is so heartbreaking. Another one where as a reader you have to fill in the gaps. Is it a classic case of Watson finding himself prioritizing his romantic relationship with a clear obligation over his more nebulous platonic one? Is Holmes just increasingly unsure whether Watson wants him around and doesn't feel able to just make social calls? Was Holmes ramping up the drug use in a way that was driving them apart? Did he know he was interacting with increasingly dangerous people and was trying to keep Watson safe?

"Is Mrs Watson in?" "She is away upon a visit." "Indeed! You are alone?" "Quite." "Then it makes it the easier for me to propose that you should come away with me for a week to the Continent."

Mrs Watson is NEVER in, is she? :D

I know lots of folks like to imagine she either doesn't exist, or this is a sign that their marriage has broken down. I kind of like to think she's just really independent. If John gets to swan off on adventures for great stretches of time, so does she.

He saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his finger-tips together and his elbows upon his knees,

Gotta engage in some Weird Detective Sitting, naturally.

Between ourselves, the recent cases in which I have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and to the French republic, have left me in such a position that I could continue to live in the quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches.

I'd completely forgotten these lines. It's so interesting that Holmes is contemplating retiring at this point - he's still so young, but apparently he's not so starved for stimulation as he used to be. A quiet life is starting to appeal.

On the strength of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearance, a most brilliant career before him.

Ah, the days when you could write a treatise age 21, immediately get given a chair in Mathematics, and basically stay in the job for life while also running your giant criminal empire.

Truly the golden age of academia.

"'You have less frontal development that I should have expected,' said he, at last.

SICK PHRENOLOGY BURN, PROF

"'You crossed my path on the 4th of January,' said he. 'On the 23d you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one.'

That's right - Holmes and Moriarty haven't knowingly been enemies for years. It's been a four month whirlwind nemesis-ship. I'm saying it as a joke but I think there's something so tragic when you juxtapose it with the distancing with Watson.

Although also consider that it's Watson who he turns to - when his knuckles are bleeding and multiple attempts are made on his life and he needs to get away, Watson is who he wants and needs and hopes for.

I took a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day.

UGGGHHH I want to know more about what happened here and what Mycroft had to say about the whole situation. We get a few clues later about it.

Welp. Until tomorrow, then...