#and he hardcore backtracked

[yuesya]

silly crack idea: teenage Sato-Shiki dimension travel to 2018 canonverse via some experimentation between limitless + [REDACTED], but they think that it's time travel instead (they're half right). Bonus points if they end up exactly where and when they would cause the most chaos!

(2/2)

continuing the crack idea of teen Sato-Shiki inserted into canon: they fumble into 2018 canonverse BEFORE they'd ever revealed Shiki to anyone else! Absolutely nobody knows about Shiki and they don't expect anyone to.

Sato-Shiki when they return back to 2005ish twinsverse: Time-travel fix-it time!! We've gotta be more open to other people to avoid that shitty future (and save Suguru)!

.

Okay so I know the knee-jerk reaction is Twins-verse Satoru and Shiki landing smack dab in the middle of Shibuya, but. Hear me out.

What if they land in the middle of the Tokyo-Kyoto Goodwill event??

So at this point, Satoru and Shiki are first year students themselves. Maybe in the middle of their own Goodwill Event? They take one look at the new students that they don't recognize and are like. 'Oops. Suguru is going to kill us, isn't he.'

Anyways. Satoru squints at the Special Grade nature curse that the students are struggling against -wow someone hardcore must've revamped the school curriculum in the future if students are fighting Special Grades for a school event- and just. Waltzes over and obliterates the thing when it activates some weird technique and causes some sort of plant to grow from a student's body-

"... Gojo-sensei??"

Satoru glances around. Then, slowly points to himself. "Wait, you're talking to me? ... I thought that cursed spirit hit you in the stomach, not the head?"

Cue a lot of confusion going around, for all parties involved.

With Twins-verse Gojo(s) here, the barrier goes down a lot faster, and Mahito gets discovered. Satoru spends some time talking to his canon self, and is aghast at the way some things turned out. ("We killed Suguru?" "What do you mean, 'we'-" "Wait, stop, backtrack, you said Suguru became a curse user. When? Why?? How?")

Towards the end, people probably start making preparations to accommodate a second Gojo for however long he's trapped in their world, but Satoru just holds up a hand in a clear 'stop' gesture.

"Nah, we've got this," he says, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. Or rather, reluctant belief, given the undeniable proof presented in front of them. "What kind of sideways future is this...? ... Whatever. Shiki and I will make sure that this doesn't happen in our world."

There are several things to take note of in this moment. The absolute surety and confidence in Satoru's voice. Then, the way that [REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED] and he disappears, returning to his own world.

Also.

"Shiki?"

Canon cast swivels their heads to stare at Gojo: Who the hell is Shiki??

... Gojo doesn't know, either!

[chirpsythismorning]

I'm sorry but, I really don't know how anyone can still believe with full confidence that Mike is straight after the airport scene.

It's arguably the most blatant, yet overlooked scene between these three characters, specifically Mike's dynamic with El vs. Mike's dynamic with Will.

Although Mike shows up in sunglasses, I highly doubt he wore them the entire flight. This means Mike probably put on the sunglasses to go from the plane, through the Passenger Boarding Bridge, and directly to the gate entrance where they were waiting for him, all of which are indoors.

Yes, it's sunny in California, and that's what makes this such a good excuse (alibi) for Mike.

Now could this just be a coincidence? Yes, it definitely could!

Now, does Mike ever wear his sunglasses again? No..

Not even for sun purposes in sunny California? No.

(At least not technically until the end of s4... but that's a whole other blatant metaphor about 'eyes being windows into the souls' for another time.)

It's only after him and El have kissed and hugged that Mike finally takes off the sunglasses... How convenient.

But you want to know what Mike did in this scene right before this, that's just... there's really no excuse for it.?

If I was a hardcore milkvan fan at this point, THIS is what would've ended that era for me. Like, I just can't think of anything other than one obvious reason for why Mike did this...

Picture it.

You're Mike, reuniting with your girlfriend with whom you haven't seen in about six months. You were even kind enough to get her a gift, flowers, which you, *reads notes*, quickly put in between you and your girlfriend moments before she embraced you, with you almost instantly shouting CAREFUL, CAREFUL YOUR SQUISHING YOUR PRESENT, so that she had no choice but to separate...

How... sweet?

Nope. I'm sorry, but no. Nothing excuses this at all.

Dude literally risked ruining the present he got for her, by using it as a shield. He literally used the present he got for her as an excuse for why they had to separate sooner than later...

Like, this is repressed gay behavior of epic proportions, especially considering what follows.

Notice how when Mike approached El, he's decked out with hat/sunglasses, his hands full with the flowers and his duffel bag?

Well, notice how in contrast, when Mike approaches Will right afterwards, as he's going in for a hug, Mike switches his duffel bag from his right to his left hand (now empty after giving el the flowers) so that he can go in for a better hug with Will, with his dominant arm, only to immediately backtrack and settle for a shoulder bump...

We also get a shot of Mike looking Will up and down, no sunglasses to hide his reaction this time.

So.. basically, Mike's instinct here with El was to not make it so obvious he's not in love with her, while his instinct with Will was to not make it so obvious that he's in love with him (and boy did he fail)...

Mike addressing Will's painting, assuming it's indeed for some girl, only to never attempt to find out anything else whatsoever, for the rest of the season, about said girl his best friend is in love with?

Argyle calling Mike's shirt a knock-off, essentially calling Mike a knock-off?

Mike looking offended at Will's mention of Angela???

Like, this scene is just all around Mike being an absolute gay disaster, and the fact that 99% of audience doesn't realize this, is downright hilarious.

[athetos]

I loved this video about the game design of Metroid Dread, and I want to add my own thoughts. Essentially, he explains how Metroid Dread is more of a guided experience than most other Metroid games; most of the abilities you acquire have uses only a room or two over, the teleporter rooms are conveniently placed, the game uses “breadcrumbs” to lead you to the next upgrade, and often you will find yourself blocked off from other areas, preventing you from backtracking until you find the next ability. All together, these make it difficult for the player to get lost, making it very accessible for new fans of the genre, or people who prefer the atmosphere and combat of the games over the exploration element.

While I do love the atmosphere of Metroid games - something I’ve talked about quite a bit - my favorite part of the games is the exploration, and this railroading led to my only frustrations with the game. There were many times I wanted to backtrack, to either test my newly acquired skills to get a shiny missile expansion I saw, or just look for an alternate route to the next area, only to be told no. This isn’t a rarity in Metroid games - as the video mentions, this happened all the way back in Super Metroid - but never to the frequency that’s on display here. Still, this didn’t stop me from not exploring when I was given the chance - I would go out of my way to deliberately avoid progressing the plot to backtrack for a precious energy tank.

Personally, I think something more akin to the hint system in Metroid Prime would have been a better fit. It was completely optional, and it pointed you in the right direction but never told you exactly what to do. It would highlight a room and give a brief description of it - like “increased hive activity” or “gravity abnormalities” - which was enough to give you an idea of what you would find there. Plus, if it was a room you haven’t found yet on your map, it wouldn’t tell you how to get there. You had to figure out the route there yourself, so it gave you a ball park of which rooms to check every nook and cranny of for another entrance.

Regardless, Metroid Dread is still one of my favorite games, and I think the incredible gameplay really makes up for these issues. The EMMI sections are more tense than the SA-X scenes in Fusion, and honestly, I’d rank them as the crowning moments of fear in the series, right up there with fleeing the space pirates lab in Metroid Prime in total darkness upon finding the thermal visor. The boss fights shred, Samus’s animation is excellent, they did her character justice, and the map as a whole is a thrill to explore. I’m sure this decision was made to make the game more accessible to newer players, which isn’t a bad thing by any means, but it also alienated some of the more hardcore fans (of which Metroid has many).

[tomorrowusa]

Just as the Nazi Party in Germany was essentially the Hitler Party, the Republican Party has become the Trump Party. There may be a few odd holdouts, but the GOP has been overwhelmingly MAGAfied.

At the Republican National Committee, he is moving to replace longtime supporters with allies even more closely bound to him, including his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. In the House, Republicans are more compliant than ever. Most vividly, Speaker Mike Johnson — ostensibly the party’s top-ranking official — backtracked on an endorsement in a crucial Senate race because Mr. Trump disagreed. On Thursday, Mr. Johnson’s candidate ended his campaign less than one week after opening it. In the Senate, which has been less beholden to Mr. Trump, his influence over a failed border bill made one of the party’s most effective lawmakers, Mitch McConnell, look weak. The displays of obedience emerging in recent weeks remove any lingering doubt that the Republican Party is aligned to advance the interests of one man, signaling that a sweep of victories from Mr. Trump and his allies in November could also mean replacing checks and balances in Washington with his wishes and whims.

Through fear and intimidation, the GOP is now just a subsidiary of the Trump Organization. The GOP stands for nothing except more power for Trump.

Mr. Trump, who long accused Republican leaders of rigging the system for their self-gain, has come to mirror their methods. The swamp that he once declared in need of draining, he now sees as wetlands in need of protecting. Mr. Trump’s team argues that he is giving voice to popular opinions that had no champion in the party, and that the changes at the Republican National Committee are intended with a single goal in mind: electing him to a second White House term.

Being a nepo baby himself, Trump understands the value of having his relatives run the GOP.

Mr. Trump’s next chairman at the R.N.C. is likely to be Michael Whatley, a supporter of the former president’s false election claims. Mr. Trump also endorsed as party co-chair his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who has had various roles in his political operation.

When somebody now votes Republican at any level, they are essentially voting for Trump.

This forced merger of MAGA and the GOP establishment could bring catastrophe to the party if Trump unequivocally loses this year. Those who supported Trump halfheartedly and only out of fear would then openly blame MAGA for a Republican defeat while the hardcore Trump loyalists would claim that they lost because they weren't MAGA enough. A convincing Democratic presidential and congressional victory might cause the GOP to split and go the way of the Whigs.

[amimons]

Imagine if we still had the miraculous instagrams during season 5!!!

Adrien constantly commenting on Marinette’s post! Trying to see if she would catch a movie with him because he meant to do it after school but she flew out of the building before he had the chance. And just think about the things Adrien would comment when Marinette posts a simple selfie. He’d do anything to try to get an interaction with Marinette on instagram.

And Marinette!!! Feral Marinette going unhinged on Alya’s newest post that features a photo of Chat Noir and having to backtrack what she said so she doesn’t seem like she is hardcore fangirling. Alya blasting photos of Ladybug simping so hard for her partner while he is blissfully unaware! Marinette posting a photo of her workspace with a photo of Chat Noir with hearts on it peaking out in the background.

Literally just imagine the direction posts like these could go in based off of season 5, episodes 1-9

[nestaismommy]

I will take back almost everything bad I ever said about ACOTAR and SJM’s writing if it turns out at the end of the series we’re just reading from the perspective of the villains. (Especially since she once did say that Rhysand was supposed to be a villain in the original versions of ACOTAR2 and 3.)

But I also wouldn’t get my hopes up since 1) Rhys is a fantasy stand in for her husband, why would she want to make him look bad? 2) she’s literally in love with Rhys so much she even made Feyre a shell of her former self (which already wasn’t much but potential was there) just to prop him up and 3) it would mean she would have to backtrack on everything bad she’s ever said about certain characters and proving her hardcore readers are wrong and the antis were right and when would she ever do that?

Same, I think it would be pretty cool if they turned out to be the villains. But it would never be clear until we read from a different point of view. And if I get one more book with Feyre’s POV, I will lose my shit.

Personally, I wish we would get Tamlin and Lucian’s point of views.

To be honest, you’re right. There’s no way Sarah J Maas would ever make them out to be villains. She’d do anything to make them look like they are the heroes including changing the plot. I mean be for real, are you actually gonna tell me Rhysand is the good guy after what he did under the mountain. Are you actually gonna tell me the inner circle are good people after locking Nesta up. After Amren suggested they put Nesta in the dungeons in Hewn City and after they tried to make her train in Windhaven. After they stole from the summer court. After Feyre destroyed the spring court, which is a home to many innocent lives.

Sarah J Maas lives up the inner circle’s ass so I doubt she’d ever do something like this.

But I am waiting for those talented ass authors -who know how to write fan fics that are way better than the actual books- to write a fan fic like this.

[omaskit]

Octopath Hardcore mode log 1

So I'm doing pre-session and first session in one post bc first session was on a plane. These are just going to be somethings I was thinking about before trying the challenge.

If you don't know the rules/challenge I posted them here.

Pathing. I started out as Alfyn, not for any strategic advantage but because I like Alfion and want those two to be my main pair. I'll be parring of the party so I can Lv and manage easily. My goal is to do Tressa's and Cyrus in one go and then follow Cyrus's trail to noblecourt. This should knock out Cyrus's, H'anaat's, Primrose, and Therion's chapter 3s. Tressa leads to Olberic and Olberic matches with Therion. The only thing I'm worrried about is Ophilia and Alfyn circling eachother. it's probably something poetic with the healers but to me its annoying. This means we'll have to backtrack to Golden Shore or the river place (Can't remember name right now. Alfyn chap 3).

Provisions. Because Therion is my second main I chose the steal option, meaning I can't buy things from the shops. We're stealing everything that's not nailed down. Items are more scarce and chest will be our best friend.

Boss fights. Primrose's boss fight is supposed to be the hardest first chaps to do alone. Because of my desire to keep Alfyn and Therion together Primrose is the last character I'm grabbing, all of the chapter ones will be filled with dread.

That's all for pre-game. My first session was on a plane so unfortunantly these aren't live reactions but here are some thoughts I had.

Man is Octopath 2's writing is so much better than octo 1. Don't get me wrong I like octo 1 but the exposition doesn't flow as easily.

Alfyn's dungon is hard alone. These stupid snails are draining all my Sp.

items items items. I need items. Any piece of armor I can scrap

Didn't Alfyn's boss have adds? I was sure he had adds. Where did they go?

Side quest. Side quest are going to be hell. No guide, no mini map, no fast travel. I need to get them done asap. Meryl, we need to talk.

Nice! most borderland things die to axe!

Is the player character so insistant on helping Therion that he literally can't say no? Amazing, go Alfyn, go.

*Opens writing notes* Therion is a little bitch... Got it.

JOBS! Jobs are going to be hard. I can't teleport back so I have to be level for them. I'll probably get them all going into everyone's chapter 2s. No idea how octo 2 will work though. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

forgot to mention 1st chap dungeons in the first post, Gonna say Alfyn can't do anything in here.

Did Therion's fight always have adds?

DO THEY GET HARDER???

OH NOOO

Please be based off of people in party and not level or members collected.

I've robbed everyone in this town blind except this one STUPID CHILD that made me have to restore my reputetation! XP

I've spent 5 hours looking for this egg only to remember her fucking egg is in the riverlands. I'll get it when I circle back.

DON'T DIE DON'T DIE DON'T-

we made it.

[milkpumpkin96]

Sea of Stars Review

Sabotage Studio ambitiously pumped out a 90s-style RPG as a follow-up to their well-received title The Messenger.

I had not heard about this game until my father informed me that he majorly helped fun its Kickstarter . . . and then I became further intrigued after learning that Rainbowdragoneyes was one of the main soundtrack composers. It also turns out that Sea of Stars is inspired by some of my other favorite games, like Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger.

Knowing this information, how could I not give Sea of Stars a try?

[MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING]

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

In all honesty, I adore this game. It has just the right sprinkle of 16-bit nostalgia paired with gorgeous level design, an epic soundtrack, and a silly and fun cast of characters. The game itself is fairly easy and Sea of Stars is devoid of platitudinous high-fantasy elements, which may be alluring to game players that do not often like/are not used to hardcore RPGs.

As much as I love this game, it is indeed flawed in several ways. But overall, Sea of Stars is a fun romp and an interesting prequel to The Messenger, in which the latter is a 2D platformer more akin to Castlevania or Metroid. One could tell that Sea of Stars was definitely more of a passion project.

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GAMEPLAY: 8/10

Unlike The Messenger, Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG similar to other 90s titles like Chrono Trigger, Final fantasy, and Dragon Quest . . . but it also has the simplicity and playfulness that a game like Super Mario RPG provides. The creative director Thierry Boulanger himself stated that Sea of Stars was mainly inspired by some of the games listed above.

Sabotage Studio eloquently implements 16-bit graphics that appeal to nostalgic, old-school players yet are simultaneously pretty enough to grab the attention of anyone. There are a lot of neat mechanics to the game, ranging from cooking to puzzle-solving to combat to minigames, like Wheels.

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Like many RPGs, players have the ability to cook when camping beside campfires! I enjoyed this mechanic because the cooking itself was brisk, but it had cute graphics to showcase the process of making a dish, like cutting vegetables and stirring the pot.

Cooking is introduced once the Warrior Cook Garl joins the party. The process is very straightforward and one can find ingredients pretty much anywhere: if you see something sparkling on the landscape, pick it up and use it for a recipe! Dishes can aid players in various ways, such as the peach strudel (requiring peaches, diary, wheat, and eggs) which refreshes 12 MP in combat, and Papillote (requiring onions and potatoes) which revives party members from a K.O. state and restores 50% of their health.

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Sea of Stars also has some puzzles scattered throughout, albeit most are optional/extras rather than being a part of the main game. There are several little puzzles to solve in order to access certain treasure chests, and there are also bigger puzzles found in Solstice Shrines and Sunken Ruins. Some of these puzzles are surprisingly challenging, so they are certainly fun for audiences up to the test. In order to achieve the "True Ending" of the game, most of these side puzzles must be completed.

I appreciate the way Sabotage Studio implemented these puzzle-solving quests! They are optional, but challenging and fun for puzzle enjoyers or those willing to work for a better ending. Players have to use the minstrel bracelet and/or the manual ability to shift around the night to day cycle in order to solve these riddles for the most part . . . and a good sum of them cannot be solved until you progress a good amount through the game. I initially became worried that I could not solve the puzzles in the Moorlands when I first arrived there, only to find out I needed to be further in the game and I could easily backtrack there later.

So, do not fret--you can always return back to areas and solve the riddles there at any point in the game!

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Another highly enjoyable game mechanic is the ability to set sail. Early on in the game, after exploring the port town named Brisk for the first time, players meet a charming pirate crew consisting of Yolande, Keenathan, Valtraid, and Captain Klee'shaë (the alter ego of eventual party member Seraï). You will go on a quests with them to obtain a famous ghost ship called The Vespertine, which can then be used to travel the seas to reach all of the game's destinations.

This ship is primarily used to travel to each location in the game and will also take you across the Sea of Stars itself! The sailing mechanic is not only useful, but easy and fun to navigate. With the Salient Sails relic equipped, you can move around even faster.

Players can also enter the ship and walk around the deck and cabin. Oboard, players can talk to characters, save their game, cook recipes, play Wheels, access their game statistics, and listen to the pirate crew's band (which acts as the game's soundtrack library).

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When it comes to difficulty, players can acquire various relics that adjust how challenging the gameplay is. There is no actual difficulty setting.

For example, the Guardian Aura relic reduces all incoming damage by 30%. The Tomb of Knowledge relic increases XP by 20%. The Amulet of Storytelling fully heals every part member after each battle. There are others, but all of these relics make the game easier (which is good for speedrunning or if you want to simply enjoy the story of the game).

Then there are relics such as Dubious Dare, which increases enemy attack damage by 40%, and Artful Gambit, which reduces the party's HP by 95%, but successfully timed hits deal double bonus damage, and successfully timed blocks reduce damage to 1. These relics make the gameplay significantly harder.

On default settings, Sea of Stars is not difficult at all. Although, I am embarrassed to say that I died exactly 13 times!

The relics I had equipped did not affect the difficulty of my game too much, only equipping them for mechanical purposes. The Salient Sails relic increased my sailing speed by 20% and the Sequent Flare gave me a visual cue that I successfully timed my blocks and attacks.

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My biggest criticism is that I wish the boss fights were more challenging. I found the bosses to be significantly easier than fights against multiple tougher enemies . . .

The bosses had loads of HP, so it may have taken a while to defeat them, but I rarely experienced any K.O.s and total deaths during these fights. I view this as a negative thing because I adore challenges and want to feel intimidated and frustrated by big bosses. I think that Elysan'Darëlle (whom you fight in the normal ending) was the biggest disappointment, in that I defeated her in measly minutes without issue. I was around level 21 when beating the game.

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Despite the lack of challenge, the aesthetics and combat moves the bosses of Sea of Stars provide are absolutely stunning.

The setup, the atmosphere, the anticipation, the twitching, the shapeshifting, the magic . . . all of the elements in every boss fight were unique, fun, and alluring. I personally enjoyed fighting the Dwellers (even though the plotline forces you to lose to the Dweller of Strife), and several of the endgame bosses the most (such as the Gun Goddess who resisted most magic-based attacks and shot the ever-loving hell out of my party).

The enemies became increasingly more difficult as you progress through the game. Surviving a group of three or more tough monsters can be quite the challenge. I suffered some of the greatest struggles in Brisk's battle coliseum, dying four to five times against the "Basic Basement Batch."

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The BEST fight in the entire game was against the final boss of the True Ending: Aephorul.

I find it rather unfortunate that players do not get to fight this coward at all during the normal playthrough of the game. Of course, Aephorul (A.K.A. The Fleshmancer) is essentially a God, and it is near impossible for even Solstice Warriors to actual kill someone of this caliber. Even in the fight in the True Ending, you do not actually kill him, but rather put him in his place . . . taking The Fleshmancer down a few pegs, destroying his ego and understanding of the nature of reality.

This was a long, gruesome boss fight. Aephorul has a lot of HP, and I was locked in battle for at least an hour. He has several stages to his boss battle, and at some point the fight transcends into a retro-style arcade game (like Galactica) where you fly into the air and shoot frantically.

I was not as big of a fan of this shift in gameplay. This happens in the Aephorul fight as well as the final takedown against the World Eater. Sure, it does spice things up and prevent the turn-based RPG style from getting dull, but it was not really my cup of tea.

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MUSIC: 10/10

Absolute kudos to Eric Brown, A.K.A Rainbowdragoneyes, as well as Yasunori Mitsuda, famous composer for Chrono Trigger.

The soundtrack is perfect, complimenting every character and setting quite well. To me, while sometimes the music becomes repetitive, it is never annoyingly so. Sea of Stars makes sure to avoid too much repetition by adding reprises to earlier beats, such as changing the main Battle On! track upon entering different areas (or by not even activating that battle music at all sometimes).

Of course, many tracks are reminiscent of classic Chrono Trigger music, and one may also recognize some callbacks/motifs to The Messenger. These callbacks can be noticed in certain area themes like Glacial Peak.

The music just feels motivating, encouraging players to continue trekking and fight on!

I am always a fan of battle music. Some of my favorite tracks include:

The Storm Calls for You!

Songshroom's Wonders

Doccari Village

Battle On (Day)!

Encounter Elite! (this song always gave me the chills)

The Frozen Peak (Night)

Garl's Theme--Dance of 1,000 Suns

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STORY 6.5/10

I have seen others say this before . . . the story just keeps going, and going, and going . . .

Overall, Sea of Stars harbors a classic tale of good triumphing over evil. The two player protagonists, Valere and Zale, are special heroes called Solstice Warriors whose objective is to wipe out Dwellers and protect the world from further harm. The warriors ultimately must save their world, traverse the Sea of Stars and save Seraï's planet, and then take down The Fleshmancer. Valere and Zale travel around with fun, quirky side characters

The story appears to be straightforward, but it is rather . . . all over the place. Every time you think you are near the end of the game, think again! Sea of Stars features several in-game climaxes, which is kind of nice because I did not want it to end in some degree, but also kind of confusing.

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This is the best summation of the plot I can provide:

Every once in a while, children may be born on either the winter or summer solstice. These children are called "Solstice Warriors" as they harbor a special kind of powerful magic, intended on being used to protect the world from evil. Solstice Warrior babies are dropped off to a village called Mooncradle, where they are raised and trained at Zenith Academy.

The story follows Zale and Valere, a summer and winter solstice child respectively, who train at Zenith Academy for years before heading out into the world. Zale harnesses sun-based abilities and Valere harnesses moon-based powers, and they learn how to utilize their powerful magic from other Solstice Warriors named Headmaster Moraine, Erlina, and Brugraves.

A great, ancient evil known as The Fleshmancer has created Dwellers of Woe and Strife across worlds and timelines, who harbor insane amounts of power that can only be squandered by solstice magic during solar and lunar eclipses. Solstice Warriors are trained to fight these beings during eclipse events.

Valere and Zale travel with their childhood best friend, the warrior cook Garl, in order to defeat the remaining Dwellers before they can transform into the even more powerful World Eaters in due time. Along the way, the heroes encounter a surplus of unique characters such as Teaks, who is a historian that informs players on lore, the pirate crew of Brisk, and Seraï, a mysterious fighter who eventually joins your party.

However, as Valere and Zale are heroically questing, the lives of solstice warriors Erlina and Brugraves take a turn for the worse. During the fight against the Dweller of Woe, Erlina and Brugraves betray their friends and their duties and reveal themselves to be worshippers of The Fleshmancer. They join the other Fleshmancer acolytes and halt the progress of the heroes from defeating the Dweller. This causes absolute chaos and the destruction of Brisk, preventing the Dweller of Woe from extinction and reviving the formerly defeated Dweller of Strife.

Eventually, the party discovers The Archivist hiding himself within the Archives . . . who turns out to be Resh'an, The Fleshmancer's former friend/co-alchemist. Resh'an agrees to fight alongside the heroes, but he strictly states that he cannot engage in battle with Dwellers.

When the party engages with the Dweller of Strife, it appears that they are horribly losing. In a desperate attempt, Seraï takes one of Resh'an's flasks and throws it at the Dweller, breaking the agreement between Resh'an and The Fleshmancer, and summoning the latter. The Fleshmancer, named Aephorul, then recruits Erlina as his lieutenant and sends Brugraves away, proceeding to mortally wound Garl. Resh'an uses his abilities to temporarily extend Garl's lifespan on "borrowed time" so that the warrior cook can finish helping Valere and Zale follow through with Garl's mission given to him by the Elder Mist.

After Garl dies, the party is permitted by the sky giants to cross between worlds over the Sea of Stars in order to reach the Fleshmancer's lair. The crew travels to another planet that is technologically advanced, and Seraï reveals herself to be a cyborg from this planet. She was on a mission to find solstice warriors to help free her people from the chokehold The Fleshmancer has upon them. Seraï's world is deprived from light and the moon has been sunken into the bottom of the ocean.

On this quest to save Seraï's planet and stop Aephorul once and for all, the party encounters some lost, trapped souls, including B'st, whom Resh'an makes a glass body for so that they can fight alongside your party. Valere, Zale, and crew eventually reach The Fleshmancer's lair after gaining the ability to fly and then have to fight Elysan'Darëlle, formerly known as Erlina.

Once defeating her, Resh'an convinces Aephorul to accept defeat and understand that his twisted life approach is inferior. Both alchemists then depart, and Zale and Valere begin to sense that a World Eater is forming. The two heroes give their heartfelt goodbyes to their friends, ascend to the status of Guardian Gods, and defeat the World Eater. Valere and Zale now permanently circle the universe as Gods to protect the world from further developments of Dwellers.

If players complete all the necessary side quests required for the True Ending, before beating the game, the party finds a device in the Moorlands that Resh'an built called the Chronophage. This can be used to travel back in time and prevent Garl's death. B'st takes Garl's place and takes the fatal hit from The Fleshmancer, but his glass body (and will to live) prevents him from the same fate of death. This replacement prevents a time paradox, allowing all party members to live.

In the True Ending, players fight Aephorul himself as the final boss after Garl provokes him. Elysan'Darëlle appears in this other world alongside a transformed Brugraves, and it is ambiguous of their fate. Zale and Valere still transcend into Guardian Gods and only come back down once a year on Garl's birthday.

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Hopefully, that summary made any sense. The plot is simple at its core, but events just keep happening and "twists" are thrown around, so it is really hard to verbalize a gist.

Some story elements are left ambiguous, however. The relationship between Resh'an and Aephorul s never fully explained. Players get to see brief flashbacks of the two alchemists before they became immortals, which leads to a potential understanding that they were certainly more than just "business partners." It is also not fully known where the two run off to after the final fight, and when it cuts to the corrupted Erlina and Brugraves, they are roaming an unknown place/planet. I am also not exactly certain how Seraï traversed the Sea of Stars originally and became part of a pirate crew. Nonetheless, the ambiguity is kind of fun and up to interpretation, perhaps leading into The Messenger.

Even though the plot length was overly long, I cannot complain too much. I really did not want the game to end!

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Though to be frank, completing Sea of Stars with the normal ending is . . . kind of a disappointment.

The Elysan'Darëlle boss fight was a bit too easy, and her attack patterns were rather predictable and boring. When I defeated her, I thought, that's it? It then became a shame that Valere and Zale would not engage with Aephorul at all--of course, the game recognizes that it would be weird if mortals could kill a God so easily (which occurs in other video games), but defeating his Lieutenant did not seem like it would destroy the entire mindset that The Fleshmancer had been harboring for centuries. Was that all he had? Of course, we do not know of the dialogue that Resh'an had with him following the brawl.

After the boss fight . . . that is it. I felt a bit conflicted about this. This was the only time where I was perplexed that there was no more story elaboration following afterward. The game essentially ends. Valere and Zale sense a World Eater, and you must fight it (but this battle is simple and quick). Then, the end.

Zale and Valere revolve around the world as Guardian Gods; they left their friends and ended the conflict with Aephorul so abruptly. "Abrupt" is the best term for the normal ending. It was not bad in any sense, as it is a simple good versus evil story in the end, but something felt missing.

The true ending is definitely worth anyone's time. It does not make the end of the story magnificent or anything, but it feels better. I believe Garl was a missing key element in the normal ending and his presence makes dialogues, battles, and story elements more fruitful. His persistence triggers an actual fight with Aephorul, who is much more difficult and interesting to battle.

The Chronophage may be a cheap trick, an overdone time-traveling cliche, but it was overtly an homage to Chrono Trigger and it brought the best character in the game back to life! With Garl's resurrection, you also unlock a quest to retrieve an invitation to dine at the Golden Pelican. Having this moment at the dinner, in which all of Zale and Valere's friends and traveling buddies are invited, makes players feel more connected with these characters and more saddened at the prospect of having to near-permanently leave them endgame.

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The characters in Sea of Stars are mostly enjoyable, equipped with their own nuances and humorous dialogue.

Zale and Valere are the player characters, and you can choose to have either one of them as the lead of your party. Overall, the two are not much different from each other, and out of any characters in the game, lack the most distinguishable personality. It is kind of strange that they do have a considerable amount of dialogue, but they are lacking in individuation. They are supposed to be the embodiments of the Gods Luana and Solen but these particular namesakes/ideas are not fully fleshed out.

Zale is sweet, friendly, and easily humored. He seems to use laughter to cope with all sorts of emotions, laughing when he feels grief and sadness as well. He was foretold by the Elder Mist to "stare at the night inside of him," meaning to come to terms with his more negative, pessimistic emotions. When Garl died, he became whelmed with grief and unlocked the ability to fly in a passionate emotional outburst. He continued to struggle with this grief by not being able to get Garl out of his head, but Zale is overall a fairly headstrong person.

Valere is also helpful and friendly, but a bit more emotionally cool. After Garl's death, she begins to meditate a lot, which is also what she does to conduct her ultimate attack. Valere is headstrong like Zale but also seems to be more inclined to leadership, being the more effective communicator.

I have to say though, I highly appreciate the way Sea of Stars portrays Valere and Zale's grief. They process these emotions differently, and it takes time, and never quite goes away.

Then we have Seraï, who is interesting. She is kind of the cliche mysterious character with a double identity, but it is played straight by having her alias as Captain Klee'shaë . . . and the fact that Garl, Zale, and Valere knew she was leading two lives near the very beginning. Seraï is kind, a bit quiet, but also hot-headed. She warms up to the main cast eventually but always harbors suspicion and impatience with Resh'an. During the fight against the Dweller of Strife, she gets very fed up with Resh'an's limitations and steals one of his bottles to throw at the Dweller. Overall, Seraï means well and her goal is to save her home planet from the utter doom and misery it is facing. Later, there was the big reveal that she is a CYBORG! I kind of saw it coming based on her combat abilities, but still. This created quite a weird shift from fantasy to sci-fi. Most of Seraï's backstory occurs in the the final third of the game, which helps to keep the story interesting.

B'st, who you acquire later in the game kind of as Garl's replacement, is an absolute cutey. He's an unexpected alley and quite the tank. He is optimistic, strong-willed, childlike, and intelligent. He is a soul who was ripped away from his mortal body, left roaming the world alongside other lost souls, but after the initial encounter with him, Resh'an developed B'st a glass body. The body functions as long as B'st maintains a purpose and will to live. I think that he is a fine character . . . he is no Garl, but still cute. I also enjoy B'st's relationship with the little pet crab the party acquires after finishing the coliseum.

Now Garl . . . if anything, Garl is the main character. He gets shit done.

Garl is kind-hearted, funny, and brimming with optimism. While Zale and Valere lack strong personalities, Garl, their collective best friend, acts perfectly as the character with a voice, and conduit for players to actually experience the world-building. He is well-liked by nearly all of the cast, being fully allowed by Moraine and the Elder Mist to accompany the solstice warriors despite him being a magic-less mortal. Garl deems himself a "warrior cook" and cooks dishes for the party, as well as bakes a giant bread to awaken The Sleeper which was the task that then granted the main party permission by the Sky Giants to traverse the Sea of Stars. Garl was liked so much that after Brisk was destroyed by the acolytes, and some of the peoples had to be migrated to a new island, the migrants asked Garl himself to christen their village. He named it "Mirth."

When Garl was killed, it was almost have if the entire game was deprived. This character really brought some substance and relatability to the playthrough. After he was offed, I felt as if the story began billowing too quickly and all the characters felt more disconnected from each other. As stated, Garl was the ultimate conduit bringing everyone together, so rather than "friends" the cast was just simply a battling party.

B'st was an okay replacement, but then it got really weird and jumbled when Resh'an abruptly exited the party. If you choose to complete the True Ending, Garl's resurrection really feels like luster was reinstalled into the game and I started to care again. His presence utterly changed the endgame for the better and it made Valere and Zale's ascension to Guardian Gods more bittersweet.

Now Resh'an . . . oh man. I am unsure if I like Resh'an or not!

He is an alchemist, and former partner of Aephorul; an old, decrepit body that had sought to create the Elixir of Life millennia ago. This attempt was successful, and both he and Aephoral were granted godlike immortality at the price of their living flesh. Resh'an is reserved and respectful, but also arrogant and a bit of a stickler. He has come to terms with his immortality and chooses to respect all existing life, as opposed to Aephorul, who grew bitter of his fate and envious of living things.

Resh'an is also known as the Great Eagle, as he flies around in his eagle form to watch the world and drop off baby solstice warriors to Mooncradle. He is also referred to as The Archivist, because he spent centuries isolated in The Archives, creating, watching, and cataloging multiple timelines/parallel universes to see when, if, and how The Fleshmancer could be stopped.

Overall, this character seems mysterious and cool, and I enjoy using him in combat with his double-hit offensive moves and petrichor healing. Although, you cannot use him against Dwellers, according to his own rules. Resh'an's backstory is definitely the most allusive . . . but players do get to witness a flashback and a bit of an explanation of the Tale of Two Alchemists from the historian Teaks.

You would always wonder why in the ever loving hell Resh'an kept letting Aephorul slide: this man conjured millions of realities and just kind of waited around . . . even though Resh'an has the full power to end Aephorul's life, which no one else does. Instead, Resh'an chooses to rely on solstice warriors. You get the inkling that the two alchemists were more than just coworkers or friends. Because sure, two completely platonic dudes want to achieve immortality together. Also, Resh'an is kind of a clueless bitch and has this weird mental "uh-oh" moment towards the end of the game, and just leaves your party.

Aephorul himself, in the same light, is quite mysterious but also charming. Yet, he is also a clueless bitch and seems to be passively manipulated rather easily (such as by Caël and the other clockwork kids). He steps down from interfering in Zale and Valere's timeline in the end of the game because his poor little ego was brutally wounded.

Aephorul regrets the achievement of immortality, so he disparages all of life and seeks flesh (flesh-mancing, developing flesh castles and all), which is likely to fill this emptiness he harbors. You wonder if he had always been more on the evil side even before developing the elixr of life, as he gifts Resh'an his eagle form via dubious means.

There are a plethora of other characters, such as Teaks, Caël, Yolande, Malkomud, and Moraine, but discussing them would take quite a while. In all, the cast is diverse, silly, and enjoyable to interact with, but most characters only have surface-level personalities.

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SETTING: 10/10

Sea of Star's 16-bit graphics are visually stunning and pleasingly colorful, the settings in particular. I enjoyed traveling anywhere and everywhere: the jolliness of Brisk, the purple grasses of Mooncradle and its gorgeous Celestial tree, the quaint snowiness of Mirth, the variety of Mesa Island, the whimsy of Songshroom, the eeriness of Wraith Island, and so much more.

There are so many added visual details, including things that lurk under the sea, which players can witness as they sail around. There is a refreshing sense of freedom that you can return to any location at anytime, which is made even easier at the very end of the game after unlocking the flying ability.

I did not think that the locations in Seraï's world were as visually strong, but it had this relevant downtrodden aura and steampunk look. Players can feel the melancholy and isolation roaming through these techy, junkyard-looking levels.

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The most impressive, shocking visuals came from literally sailing across planets, through the Sea of Stars itself. Holy cow. The twinkling of the seas, the galactic skies, and the ominous wormhole(?) encroaching. . . players are in for quite the creative surprise. As you approach Seraï's planet, there is a sudden shift from 2D to 3D at it works so well. The moment felt magical and spectacular and easily earned the title of the most beautiful backdrop of the game.

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COMBAT: 7/10

The combat operates like any turn-based RPG with a level-up system, but with its own quirks. Players have an HP bar and an MP bar for magic-based attacks. There is also a combo gage that fills as enemies and players land attacks. And, there is an ultimate attack gage that fills as players use combos and complete magic-based attacks.

"Turns" in the game are per individual character, not by party and enemy groups. After Valere herself (for example) attacks, one turn has been passed. Enemies will have a little countdown above them signaling how many turns it will take for them to begin attacking. This usually ranges between 1-4 turns.

When a character's HP falls to 0, they do not "die." Instead, they get knocked out and will be able to get back up after a certain amount of turns. These little K.O. stars revolve around the fallen member's head, and depending upon how many stars there are, it equals how many turns it will take for a party member to get back up. They can be revived sooner with certain recipes, B'st's warble ability, or Resh'an's ultimate attack. For the most part, players are revived with 50% HP.

Having members being able to revive themselves after a certain amount of turns may make the game easier at times, but it is kind of a cool mechanic. It does not really make the gameplay much easier when versing a multitude of enemies at one time. Players can also equip relics to make the game more difficult anyways.

In combat, there are timed blocks and attacks. You press a button in order to perfectly block an enemy's attack and to deal more damage/strike more than once. Doing these timed attacks released mana, which can then be harnessed by characters so that when you select a basic physical attack, it also includes magic damage as well.

I am personally a big fan of RPGs that have timed hits. It makes me feel more involved, and more like I am actually playing a game, rather than just watching characters fight.

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You can use two or three party members in combat, out of the six you eventually gather. I never really favored any particular character, but perhaps most often my party included Valere, Zale, and Resh'an.

Garl is good for healing and has good physical defense, Resh'an was able to execute both arcane and poison damage (as well as group heal), Seraï has stealthy attacks, B'st is a tank and can revive party members, Zale deals solar and blunt damage, and Valere is a strong magic user that can deal lunar damage.

Although, Objectively, Resh'an is the most powerful party member by far, even when he leaves you only the puppet version of himself. His ultimate ability alone heals and revives all party members, as well as deals a significant amount of arcane damage.

Valere and Zale have to be used against Dwellers, as no other party member hardly does any damage against them. Resh'an cannot be used against a Dweller at all.

There are certain instances where a specific character is useful, and players are able to swap around party members in the midst of battle (unless they are K.O.d). Enemies may have these "locks" building up to a powerful attack. Players can break these locks with certain kinds of abilities, which will vanquish that enemy's next attack. For example, an enemy may have 1 lunar magic lock and two sword damage locks. To break them, use Valere's moonerang or crescent arc attack (lunar), and use Seraï's or Zale's physical attacks (sword).

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I enjoyed the combo and the ultimate attack mechanic. To unlock these moves, players must find scrolls hidden in treasure chests all over the map. Utilizing these moves really spices the gameplay up and creates all sorts of combinations.

The combo moves require two or three party members. The first one you get is called "solstice strike," involving Valere and Zale, which is basically just a physical attack but both members strike at the same time.

My favorites include soonrang, which is a buffed-up version of Valere's moonerang but includes Zale as well. This attack strikes all enemies indefinitely until you miss timing the hit, and deals both solar and lunar damage. I also enjoyed Seraï and Zale's "X-strike," which attacked all enemies with sword and solar damage, as well as Valere and Resh'an's "arcane moons" which is available at a low cp cost and hurts all enemies with arcane and lunar magic.

Every individual character has their ultimate attack, which would trigger a brief cutscene and unleash hefty, all-encompassing damage. They are fun to witness and rewarding to use once the gage is filled (although unfortunately it hardly helped at all during the battle against The Fleshmancer). Resh'an's ultimate, in which he ascends to the skies as the great eagle, is frankly kind of broken, because not only does it deal significant damage, but it also heals and revives the entire party!

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ENJOYMENT: 9/10

Though I have mixed feelings about the abruptness and ambiguity of the ending, I overall thoroughly enjoyed playing Sea of Stars.

The game offered even more content than seemed promised, and you can tell the amount of passion and love the game developers put into this title. It is certainly a leg up from the also well-received game, The Messenger.

The best parts about Sea of Stars are definitely its graphics and aesthetics, the soundtrack, and the variety of game mechanics. Although the combat kind of gets repetitive after a while and the story is all over the place, it was still a fun adventure nonetheless.

As a side note, there is a minigame within Sea of Stars called "Wheels," which is like a strategy slots game. It was invented by The Watchmaker and there are several champions throughout the game that you can challenge, and when you win, you collect more figurines/classes to play as and go from copper all the way to the platinum wheels level. I have to say . . . it may look complicated, but Wheels is highly addictive.

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 50 hours

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

PLATFORM USED: Nintendo Switch

DATE OF COMPLETION: March 2024

[angelsdean]

i think people often forget how many bibro go to these cons, i mean they're sending death threats to his wife, to him, to misha when they're saying something they don't like. i don't blame him for wanting to please everyone as best he can, i just wish he shouldn't have to.

yea these cons and esp the j*2 panels are just full of the worst fans and unfortunately he's stuck in the middle between destiel fans who want him to validate the confession and /those fans/ who want him to condemn anything related to destiel. And people can say what they want abt him but i really do not think he's anti destiel, def not in recent yrs, (i know there were comments made ages ago) but like looking at recent yrs, esp post-confession and how involved he was with the scene, suggesting the bloody handprint !!!, being excited abt fan reactions and sharing reactions vids with misha, and just being obviously close friends with misha who views the scene as a romantic declaration of love and having conversations with him about the scene, there's just no way IMO that he genuinely Hates destiel.

But he's in a horrible position where anything he says one way or the other will get ripped to shreds by either side, so he tries to straddle the line and stay neutral and fucks up and fumbles his answers and gives these half-ways amazing destiel answers and the backtracks. And i get that's frustrating, i do !! As a hardcore destiel fan i would love for him to just openly talk abt the confession and validate dean's feelings for cas but when i step back and look at the whole picture and just how vile those other fans can be, i also do get why he plays it like he does. I'm someone who hates conflict too and if i were him speaking in a room mostly full of j*2 fans who have a history of getting nasty and personal when they're upset then yeah i'd probs try and say something "safe" to not ignite their wrath.

And people are allowed to feel how they feel of course! People are allowed to be upset by his response. I do think it was bold as hell to even say dean would say 'i love you too' and hug cas in a room full of those fans. Like that alone must've pissed off hardcore j*2 fans. And honestly i am latching onto that 'i love you too' because it's just !!! Dean was literally upset he couldn't say anything back to cas and if given the chance he would've literally said 'i love you too' and anyone watching that would've immediately read it as romantic! So yea if he had to cushion that statement with a 'it was like losing a brother' whatever. It's not the end of the world for me. And truly, it doesn't even matter what actors say at the end of the day. Destiel literally is canon and they belong to us now anyway<3 ***also not saying he shouldn't be criticized either like yes, be critical of people when they mess up ! but also, crucially, people are people, meaning they will mess up. i am very much a fan of 'actors are just some guys'! which means, like some guys, they will say stupid shit and not have the perfect responses to everything and fumble and probably not say what they meant or put their foot in their mouth about it. ok, enough abt all this now lmao back to what matters: destiel in gay love.

[chatxkilluaxnoir]

Dippy Fresh's Return

Fic Summary:

Dipper is trying to win a dare. During doing this, Dipper runs into someone he didn't think it was possible to meet again. Or maybe it was that he just never wanted to meet this person again. Or it could be both. Either way. Dipper runs into someone he could have gone his whole (now VERY long) life without ever meeting again.

Beginning Author's Note (with some changes) that I posted in the AO3 version of this fic too:

Summary might change too. If I or someone else can think of something better. Like titles, I feel like I suck at summaries too. But don't we all? Or at least, it is probably a decently common issue. Probably. For now though at least; this is the summary.

Please let me know if I should keep the AO3 version of this fic tagged as "General Audiences". Or if I should change it to "Teen And Up Audiences".

Dipper wasn’t having a good day.

  And why he wasn’t having a good day involved one.  Particular.  SOUL.  He had just run into while at the skatepark.

  Let’s backtrack a bit…

  So, a Wendy reincarnation had dared him to try to do some hardcore 10 skateboarding stunts.  Without any demon tricks; as much that was possible for a demon like himself, that is.  Within 2 and half hours.  And he couldn’t mess up more than 15 times.  Or she would win.  Hmmphh.  With or without much to any of his powers, that was nothing to him.  Who did Wendy think he was?!   They had even made this dare into a deal.  If they won, they got a request for anything they wanted.  …Within limits.  A dare being won or not.  Them being Wendy or not.  He was still a demon after all.  And deals had their rules.  And if Dipper won, they would give them the rest of their ice cream in the freezer (which; Dipper knew was actually quite a bit).  And they would hang out with him for a week, without much, if any of their other friends.  Just them.  Because Dipper needed them, and these friends were taking up too much of Wendy’s time.  

They had accepted the deal; though, somewhat, hesitantly.  After they heard the 2nd clause of the deal.  They almost looked…worried?  Even scared.  And possibly even; angry??  But why would they be feeling any of those things?  Dipper must have just imagined it.  It had come and gone so quickly after all.  And they did end up accepting their deal.  So they can’t really be all that scared and worried.  Right?  

  They couldn’t come though to see him attempt this dare.  They had made plans last week [from what they told Dipper] to stay at…a friend’s place for the weekend.  Why do those friends of theirs keep taking up their time…FROM HIM?  So they said I should record my stunts for them; for this dare.  Though, Dipper knew they probably mainly wanted just it so they could have blackmail material on him and something to crack up at.  Or maybe it was because they couldn’t completely trust Dipper’s word.  And wanted some more hard proof on it.  Beyond his word, and even the deal they had just made.  Honestly; it was probably both.  Knowing Wendy.

Anyways, Dipper accepted recording himself, despite knowing all this.  Because Wendy wouldn’t take no for an answer.  Wendy; even though they were very chill; could also be so stubborn.  And so Dipper recording himself, showing it to Wendy, and giving Wendy copies (in some form) of the videos, also became apart of the deal.  Dipper mentions copies specifically, because he refused to let them have the originals. And even more so refused letting them be the only ones to have the videos (Wendy had attempted something like these as part of the deal.  Attempted being the key word).  Dipper was willing to accept a lot of kinds of deals from Wendy; even ones not the most adventurous to him.  However, he was still a demon, and there was only so much he was willing to offer or accept as part of his deals.  Even for someone like Wendy.  Though, maybe if they were Miza—...No, don’t think about Mizar.  Don’t think about them.  It won’t do you any good.  

  Now that we have backtracked some and got some background information; let’s move forward a bit, once again.

With Dipper at the skatepark, because of this bet (and deal) with Wendy.  Setting up a special (special, because he was able to record so much, and so well, for so long.  Even to the extent that was nigh impossible to maybe even impossible currently.  And because if anyone or anything were to try to steal or break it, they wouldn’t be able to.  Unless it was him or someone he wants near the camera or touching it.  They will just get deflected away from it.  Dipper really wanted to make sure no one stole, and esp. broke it, considering he was at a skatepark with a bunch of like adrenaline junkies and a lot of young people.  So, he might as well bring out his Magitek camera that does all that.  And more!) Magitek camera that he kept in storage in his hat.

  While he was doing this, he sensed something.  Or well, someone, vaguely…familiar.  He wasn’t sure what or who he was sensing at first.  It felt so familiar, but at the same time, he couldn’t pinpoint it.  And it just felt…strange.  Impossible.  Hateable even, for some reason.

  He could just ignore it (he really should).  Dipper had a dare to finish, that he just finished setting up his camera for.  …Though, since he hadn’t started recording himself yet doing stunts, the time limit technically hasn’t started yet (his camera would also be what showed the time.  His camera was even tamperproof too!  So he couldn’t - probably - mess with that time or the recording(s) of the camera.  Or etc.  Though not because of this deal, but because at some point in the past he just wanted to make camera that couldn’t be messed with.  For some reason.  It was also basically tamperproof, because the magic of his hat made it so, well, even if he hadn’t tried to make it tamperproof.  He would still be cautious about messing with stuff like this camera, that has been in his hat for awhile) until he does that.  So maybe, he could just check out whatever that presence is.  Just.  Real quick.  It probably wouldn’t even take that long!  But, it might actually take longer than expected, and he needed to complete this dare though.  If he doesn't complete it soon, and Wendy calls him or something, and I tell them I haven’t.  They might think it is because I am being a chicken about the dare.  And he couldn’t have that!

  After going back and forth with himself about this for awhile.  Dipper finally caved in to his curiosity.  He got up and walked away from his camera (it is not like anyone could actually steal it or even touch it anyways.  No need to undo his hard setting it up; to take it with him) to find whatever thing he is sensing.

  So following his senses, he kept walking and getting closer and closer to whatever he was sensing.  The closer he got, the more and more irritated Dipper was getting.

  Why am I getting so annoyed here?

  As he got closer and closer to the presence (he knew now, it was a familiar soul.  Not too familiar.  He probably had only met this soul once or twice.  But it was enough to leave a mark on him) that irritation only grew more and more.

  He was finally close enough to the somewhat familiar, annoyance-causing soul, to see the person from behind.  And to hear them talking.  Yelling about someone else, maybe their friend pulling off some stunts.  Honestly, they weren’t even that good, so he doesn’t know why that soul is making such a fuss about it.

  Dipper was now right now behind this soul,  Standing pretty menacingly and glaring - with some gold shining through the hazel-colored irises of his human disguise.  Which, honestly, just himself basically; if he had been able to grow to his twenties as a human.  What can Dipper say, he is sentimental - down at the person while doing so.  And now Dipper was almost certain who this reincarnation was.  But, no, that couldn’t be possible.  It can’t be him.  It just can’t be.  Dipper won’t believe it until he saw his face.  Actually talk to him.

  So Dipper grabbed at his (he thought it was a guy.  Though that could have just been Dipper seeing this reincarnation as him.) shoulder, turning him around suddenly (and roughly.  Though not too rough to actually hurt him too bad.  Though, Dipper was very tempted to.  Still was tempted to), and asking with a cold, harsh tone:

  “What and how are you here, Dippy Fresh?!?!”

  Dippy Fresh (and his friend? too, who had stopped doing skateboarding tricks was coming towards them) just gawked at him.  Eyes (they weren’t hazel, like Dipper’s own eyes.  They looked black) wide eyed, staring at him.  Mouth gawking open; like an idiot.  Not saying anything.

  Dippy Fresh.  He was just going to call him Fresh (or maybe Dippy Fresh) in his head for now.  Because Dippy was too close to his own name, and that could just get confusing (and also, it rubbed Dipper the wrong way that Dippy was so close to his own name; just in general.  On principle).

  Anyways, Fresh stood there so long just staring up at him (Fresh was quite short, hah), that Dipper had time to more take in Fresh.

  The first thing he noticed besides Fresh’s eyes, was while there were still some similarities between how he and Dippy Fresh looked.  They still looked very differently.  Like for one, Dippy had black, shoulder-length and greasy-looking hair.  It kind of reminded Dipper of how Robbie would sometimes style his hair.  Though Dippy’s hair was a lot straighter, and even greasier-looking to Dipper’s eyes.  Not that Dippy Fresh completely looked like Dipper in the first place, despite being a Bill-made “clone” of him.  He was still just a distorted mirror of Dipper after all.  He had always been wrong since the day he was created.  But despite knowing all that, the differences in appearance between this reincarnation and Dippy Fresh were throwing Dipper off.  Though not too much.  Just a tiny bit.  To Dipper, this WAS Dippy Fresh anyways.  And that was all there was to it.

  Dipper was about to say something, because the silence was getting awkward, when Fresh’s friend? came up to them and touched Fresh’s other shoulder to get his attention.

  That finally snapped Fresh out of his stupor.

  “Dude, are you going to keep grabbing onto my shoulder and glaring at me?  Also, why do you feel kind of familiar?  And do your eyes look all weird???”  Dippy Fresh yammered out.  Grating on Dipper’s ears.

  His friend had stopped grabbing Fresh’s shoulder, before realizing he was not talking to him.  He looked sheepish about his mistake.  Dipper just crushed his hand (that seemed almost like a claw at that point) around Fresh’s shoulder even more.

  “Ummm, dude?”  Dippy Fresh kept questioning.

  Dippy Fresh’s friend who had just been standing there, decided he was going to intervene for his friend once he realized that Dipper wasn’t backing off.

  Walking up to Dipper, he yelled, “Hey, what do you think you are doing?  Who even are you??  Daryl says you are familiar to him, but I have never seen or heard of you before.  And even if I did know you, you shouldn’t be acting like this with Daryl!”

  Dipper was still holding unto Dippy Fresh (or Daryl he was called?  Who cares; this was still just Dippy Fresh to him); glaring at him.  Gold kept shining and spreading through his irises as he did so.  At Fresh’s friend’s words; Dipper finally perked up and looked somewhere else.  The gold in his irises receding as he did so, but didn’t completely disappear.  Dipper, still though, didn’t let go of Fresh’s shoulder.  If anything, he somehow clamped down even harder.

  “Dude, ow!  Just please let–”.  Fresh shouted.

  “And who are are you?”  Was all Dipper said.  As he interrupted Fresh.

  “I’m Daryl’s brother, Nathan.  Now are you to answer my questions and actually let go of my brother!?”  Fresh’s brother; Nathan, he supposes, retorted.

  Dipper, who was now still looking at Nathan, when he heard Nathan say he was Fresh’s brother, Dipper’s grip loosened and eyes softened.  He didn’t completely let go of Fresh yet though.  But Dipper did start to look (and feel) more bad about what he was doing.

  His voice, still, cold, though, the coldness felt less effective and intimidating, with his stammering, Dipper replied, “Oh well, I am…Hank”, due to Dipper’s brain short-circuiting and not wanting to give the name Dipper to Dippy Fresh and his…brother, supplied that name to Dipper.  And so that is why Dipper gave that name - of all names - to them.  Why that name,  Dipper!  Dipper shouted at himself in his mind.  Like, sure, it wasn’t his Dipper or Mason.  But why did he have to give the name Hank?  He could have just gone with the name Tyrone again.  Or something!  Damn it!!

  “And well, Fresh here-”

  “That isn’t my name?”  Fresh said confused.

  “That isn’t his name!”  Nathan shouted.

  “Oh yeah, whoops.  Sorry about that”, Dipper really wasn’t all that sorry, because Dippy Fresh was still Dippy Fresh to him, so he wasn’t wrong in calling him Fresh.  But, he did feel bad that he was upsetting Fresh’s…brother, Nathan so much.  Nathan being so protective of his brother is sweet.  And well, Nathan really has nothing to do with his vendetta against Dippy Fresh.  So he did feel somewhat bad.  

  “Your brother, Nathan, just really reminds me of someone I knew in the past.  …Someone, I hated.  And that hatred may have clouded my judgement here.  So I ended up mistaking…–Daryl”  Dipper forced out, “here for that person.  And took things out on him.  I am.  Truly sorry.”  Dipper finished.  Words silted.

  ……

  ….

  “I see, man.  Mistakes happen.  And as long as you are sorry; we are chill now.  Though, maybe let go of my shoulder, yeah?”  D

  Dipper did let go of Fresh’s shoulder when asked this time.  Though, it was begrudgingly.

  Why does Dippy Fresh have to be so forgiving?  It is making it harder to keep on hating him.  Dipper thought with frustration.  Eyes narrowing.  He still hates him though of course.  But, he is making it somewhat harder.

  “Thank you, dude!”  Dippy Fresh beamed.

  Dipper just rolled his eyes at that, and hmmpphed in response.

  “I will forgive you too, since Daryl is.  However, I still think you are acting like an ass.  And are a weirdo.”

  Dipper chuckled, “Yeah, that is fair.”

  “Well, I am happy you get that.”  Nathan replied.  And then wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulder.  A bit of a protective glare in his eyes directed towards Dipper, and softening when he turned back around to look at Dippy Fresh.

  “Anyways, Daryl, it is getting dark, we should probably head back to home.  Mom and Dad will probably get worried about us soon.”  Nathan whispered to Daryl.  He said it quietly enough, and was giving quick glances to Dipper over his shoulder while doing so, that Dipper thought that Nathan didn’t want him to hear.  And that besides what he said; Dipper felt like he might have been the main reason, or at least, a reason why they were actually leaving.

  Dipper can understand that.  He hadn’t acted..--the best today.  So Dipper understands why Nathan wants to leave.

  Though, Nathan has to be better about his giveaways.  He wasn’t too bad.  But he saw the looks over his shoulder and heard what Nathan was saying (though, to be fair, he might have only heard that, because he was a demon.  He might not have heard, if it wasn’t for that).  So there could be some improvements made there.

  (Dipper thought this, while he had also, not been the greatest at hiding giveaways and at subterfuge today (and other days too))

  ……..

  ……

  Nathan and Dippy Fresh; kind of reminded Dipper, of him and Mabel.

  Dipper shook his head in disgust at even thinking that.

  Because Dippy Fresh was apart of that equation.

  While Dipper was lost in thought, Dippy Fresh had been trying to get his attention.

  Nathan was trying to pull him away, but Dippy Fresh waved him off, mumbling, “Just give me a second.”

  “...hey.  Hey!  Hey!!  HEYYYY!!!!...”, Dippy Fresh was shouting in Dipper’s ear.  Holding Dipper’s shoulder just like Dipper had been to Dippy (though, he was holding his shoulder A LOT lighter than Dipper had been).

  Dipper, blinked.  Ears earring.  Irritated once again, yelled back, “What?  WHAT do YOU want?!  Why are you shouting in my ear like that.”

  “I just wanted to say.  You mentioned how you mistook me for someone else.  And, it is kind of weird, but like I said earlier.  …And now that I think about, it is like you just ignored me saying that.  But ah, whatever, maybe you just didn’t hear it or something like that!  So I will just say this again.  But it is weird that you say that, when I also feel like you are familiar for some reason.  And I just wanted to ask why is that?  And who was that person you hated that Iremindedyouof?!”  Dippy Fresh was getting more and more incoherent and excited throughout this whole diatribe, with the last words being esp. incoherent.

  Dipper ears were once again ringing.  And instead of being mad (though he still kind of was); he once again jus felt nostalgia.  Dippy Fresh kept reminding him of Mabel…  But no!  He was nothing like her, nothing…  But he kind of was though.

  It is kind of fitting though, Dipper guessed.  While, Dippy Fresh was a distorted wrong mirror of him.  He was also kind of the same thig for Mabel too.  Because while Dippy Fresh looked more like him, he acted more like Mabel.  Distorted and so wrong for her too though, like it was him.  A cheap knock-off of the both of them.

  But still, it is fitting that Dippy Fresh—a reincarnation of Dippy Fresh, would act like her.  Remind him of her.

  He still doesn’t really like that though.

  He really, really doesn’t.

  “First of all, can you please, stop destroying my eardrums.”  Dipper growled.

  “Oh yeah, sorry about that.  You just weren’t responding.  You were really out of it.”  Dippy Fresh apogolized.

  “Second of all.  I don’t know why we both found each other familiar.”  Dipper lied.  “You are obviously not the person I hated”, this was both a truth and a lie to Dipper, so it is probably just a coincidence honestly.”  Dipper continued to lie through his teeth.  Though, maybe their meeting was a bit of a coincidence.  Though, Dipper had a knack for running into souls he already knew.  So he wasn’t even sure this meeting was a coincidence.

  Dippy Fresh looked disappointed and not very believing of that reply.

  Before Fresh could say anything more.  Dipper continued.

  “AND THIRD OF ALL.  I am not telling you who that person was.  It is not really your business, kid.”  Dipper grunted out.  Sounding a lot like Grunkle Stan.

  “Why you calling me a kid, I am 15!  Not even that young.  And you can’t even be that much older than me.  What, are you like, 17 or 18!”

  “What?!  No, I am 27!  How could you be a decade off?!”  Dipper was flabbergasted.  Though, Wendy had said something similar when Dipper had met her again in this life.  But still, Dipper had his pride.

  “Well, it is not my fault you look super young.  You have, like no facial hair whatsoever!  And even if you are 27.  While, that is kind of old–”

  “Hey!”  Dipper interrupted.

  “It isn’t that old or that much older than me to be calling me a kid!”  Dippy Fresh continued.

  “Hmmphhh, you are a kid to me.”  Was all Dipper said.

  “Uuuggggghhh”, Dippy Fresh really drew out, “You are so awful sometimes.”

  “Like I care what a KID says.”  Dipper rubbed in further.

  “You are obviously just tying to make me mad.  Also, wait, no, besides you just trying to get under my skin”, Dipper rolled his eyes at that, “I shouldn’t be focusing on this in the first place!”

  “And what should you be focusing on?  I answered your questions.  And Nathan thinks you guys should leave.  Your parents are probably getting SO worried about you.”  Dipper deflected.  Somehow both well and poorly.

  “THAT!  It’s THAT!!  Your answers either sucked or you didn’t really give me an answer.  Just said I should buzz off, basically.  Or it was kind of both!  Come on, man!!  Can you please give me better answers.”

  ……….

  “I answered your questions.  You guys should get home.  It is dark now.”  Was all Dipper said.  Basically saying nothing really.  Dipper then turned around to head for his camera (Damn it.  He wasted so much more time doing this than he thought he would.  *Sigh*.  He guesses he just needs to do it tomorrow, Sunday, then.  Before Wendy comes back on Monday.) to retrieve it, before he left.

  Before he could really start walking away though, Dippy Fresh grabbed his wrist.

  “Fine then, if you aren’t going to answer now, how about we exchange numbers!  And we can like, talk and meet up or something, more later.  I can’t just forget about this and move on.  I need…to know more.  I can’t just let this all go.  Please.”  Dippy Fresh pleaded.

  Nathan then yelled out, “What, no, we aren’t doing that!”

  Dippy Fresh just gave him the puppy dog eyes and a pout.

  Nathan kept on refusing for awhile.

  Before finally caving in.

  “Fine, we can do this, but if you guys ever meet up, I will be there too.  Or me and others too.  Not just Daryl.  If you guys chat in anyway.  It will be in a sort of group chat.  Got it!”

  Happily, Dippy Fresh shouted, “Yes, deal!”, Dipper jumped a bit at that, but only a bit, and it wasn’t noticeable to anyone else, “Thank you, Bro!”  Hearing that hurt Dipper so much.  With how much Dippy Fresh truly reminded him of Mabel.

  He despised that.

  He missed her so much.

  “What makes you think I will ever tell you anything.  If I had anything more to tell.  Even if we did this?”

  “I will wear you down!  I know it!!”  Was Fresh’s optimistic answer.

  Dipper said nothing for awhile.  “You truly are an idiot.”

  “Hey!”

  “Hey!!”

  Both Nathan and Dippy Fresh shouted.

  “But fine, we can exchange information.  But I can’t promise you will ever get the answers you actually want,...Daryl.”  Dipper conceded.

  Daryl, with a huge grin, yelled, “That is good enough for me!  Even more so, since like I said, I will wear you down!!  I just know it!!!

  Both Nathan and Dipper rolled their eyes at what Daryl was saying.  But there was slight smile on both their faces and slight fondness to both their eyes (though, Nathan’s smile was bigger and eyes, way more fond, than Dipper).

  Maybe today turned out better than I thought it was, Dipper thought.

  Maybe.

  He still kind of hated Dippy Fresh though.

  But, maybe that hatred, was…less than it was before.

Ending Author's Note that I posted in the AO3 version of this fic too:

This was my fic for the 9th Annual TAUathon!

I did my fic based on this prompt: Alcor meets a reincarnation of Dippy Fresh. Which was submitted by the awesome StarlightSystem. I got the prompt from this Spreadsheet:

2023 TAUathon Spreadsheet

Linking it here in case anyone wants to check out all the prompts on it, or check out the fics posted/linked on it (though, you can also check out Tumblr. Esp. the TAU blog for those fics too. Or the Transcendence AU tag on here. I.e.; AO3).

This fic is being posted about half a day and/or a day late. But hey, that isn't too late (which is good for me for various, understandable - to me, at least, lol - reasons. That I have already talked about other places. Like my Tumblr, and I won't get too much into again. Because I don't really need to), and I did really try to post this on the 5th. But that didn't work out. But hey, I am still posting this fic now!

I am super excited to share this fic with y'all! And I am really super duper excited to see everyone's work!!

Which, I haven't really checked out yet. Because I wanted to wait a bit, and really give people time to start posting stuff. Also, because I wanted to focus on finishing, editing, and posting my fic. Before I checked out everyone else's works.

Which, I am very ecstatic to start checking out other people's works soon (now)!

Anyways.

Happy 9th Annual TAUathon!

And happy 9th Anniversary to the amazing TAU Tumblr Blog!!: https://transcendence-au.tumblr.com/ @transcendence-au

[kiwicam]

whats the drama 👀👀

Long rant srry, (this isnt even all of it just what got me )

ok so its mainly this commentary youtuber 'dalas review' dude is very much known as an annoying prick who doesnt stop pumping out videos 'exposing people' (hes name trends like every week on twt atp)

He mainly talks about Coscu (the main event fighter in la velada) Now hes a known sexual harasser. The main thing he did to get this was when he posted a pic of a topless passed out girl w/o consent.

Now Dalas has been trying to get ibai to kick him out of the main event and calls out streamers who side with coscu/ are neutral/ dont speak on it. Hes a hardcore "if you dont speak against him you side with him"

tbh I can admit that dalas does do some good, but he isnt a fucking saint in any way. He exposed Cristinini (one of the anouncers) as a fucking pedo. She was apparently had a 16-17yr bf while she was late 20s-30 (dont remember which) (Also turns out dalas was also with a fucking minor 16 and he was 19, such a fucking hypocrite)

What recently irked me was his last video, there was a segment about a smaller streamer called Caprimint. She shared a story about how a streamer (Coscu) in an event b4 the pandemic started touching her thigh despite the fact that she didnt know him and he was sitting next to his gf at the time. Now she told this story to dalas in priv to show that he isnt crazy about Coscu being a predator but she deleted the msg in fear it would leak. Dalas saw this and pushed her to come out with the story she said she wouldn't in fear of not being believed, shunned, or excluded. Dalas called bs and took it upon himself to expose the story, slamming Capri for not coming out about saying shes helping out an abuser.

Capri responded and basically backtracking saying it did happen but its okay (her vod almost made me cry) Its clear shes just keeping her mouth shut in fear and asked people to just forget about it

Dalas shaming victims for not wanting to come out and causing them to backtrack in more fear is so disgusting as a man claiming hes helping.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

Currently laughing my ass off because SO many Jkkrs were running wild with their conspiracy theories like “OBVIOUSLY Jikook won’t be seen interacting on social media or in each other’s presence now, they have to be careful because of enlistment etc. etc. closeted couple yadda yadda” ONLY for Jikook to have… a very cute wholesome conversation in the comments during JK’s live. 😭😭😭😭😭

Can’t wait to see how the Jkkrs pushing that theory are going to backtrack. So are they loud because they’re in a glass closet or are they purposefully not interacting so as not to draw suspicion. Which is it. (Sidenote but Jimin is such a sweetie 😭😭😭😭 If anything the way Jimin’s been interacting w JK lately reminds me of the way Hobi interacts with maknae line — like “my baby”, fussing over him, calling him cute, etc. I was never a hardcore shipper but there’s really not much about their behaviour that sets them apart from other relationships within BTS these days, even though it’s lovely that they’re obviously close. I thought your last ask about how Jkkrs are emulating Tkkrs more and more by the day hit the nail on the head.)

The Instagram era was such a headache. Constant headache. And it keeps repeating.

"They have to be careful, they can't act like friends on social media".

"They don't have to comment for each other. Their relationship is PRIVET"

*Jimin posts a photo with JK*

"This is proof of their undying love and homoerotic relationship and all the gay sex they have every night, there is no other explanation."

I haven't forgotten either that they said jikook don't talk on social media because they're together all the time so they can talk in person 🙄 now what?

Since it was friday night maybe the military service officials were off duty from monitoring gay activities of idols on weverse and jikook could run rampant on the internet. He even invited him to his house on live in front of millions? How will now jikook now overcome the political consequences of that outrageously gay behavior.

Anyways. Everybody say thank you Jimin. You always, always come through, and yet you're still the only one people hate on for doing the most normal things. Thank you Jimin.

Full disclosure, while reading the comments I kept thinking he's so gay 😭 not because of anything particularly romantic or flirty, but just. Gay. Like all sweet and charming and doting. I know JK is his dongsaeng and all, but I've watched the way some Korean gays talk with their friends and that's all I could think about. Beyond that he's so lovely and definitely loves the people he loves in outlandish, galactic, cosmic levels. Because how I don't even speak Korean and I can always tell in his lives, and today his comments too, that he's so delicate and there's so much care in his words. You can just tell, beyond the language barrier.

But then again, he's always known that!

Or maybe it's just me being in my mimi minie minah mochi puppykitty baby sweet potato in fear of being sold feelings because of how adorable he was in the behinds of vibe live recording. I think I'll go and watch that again.

I see the similarities with Hoseok that you mention too, yes for sure.

[cattyanon]

The dream based bois! Note: They are actually black and not gray, I just didn’t feel like going through all the effort.

They might look pretty weak but I highly recommend NOT pissing them off...

Cause they WILL fuck you up.

Now onto the story stuff!

So using some aspects of the dream to make an actual plot, Sonic and Tails are investigating some castle ruins that Amy went to explore but then never came back.

They begin to look around while staying within close range of each other when strange things start to happen. As of writing this I’m not sure what, but I do know that Sonic and Tails get separated.

Upon getting separated, Tails actually manages to find Amy! But something is off about her. She’s acting strange. Giggling can be heard from her direction and upon getting close enough she attacks Tails.

Tails manages to escape but he doesn’t get away unscathed. He’s really beat up, exhausted, and scared. He tries his best not to pass out but eventually he passes out from exhaustion and an unknown corruption that lays within the ruins begin to engulf him.

Meanwhile, Sonic has been frantically looking for Tails. The place is obviously dangerous and his brotherly instincts are kicking in hardcore.

But no matter how hard he looks he just can’t find Tails and it’s slowly driving him crazy! And then despite the fact he hasn’t been backtracking, Sonic begins to swear that he’s been looking into the same rooms over and over. What is happening...?

Eventually he slows down a bit to make sure he’s not imagining it and yup, he’s been going in some weird infinite loop. 

He tries everything he can think of to get it to stop, including spin dashing into the wall, but no luck. It seems likes he really is trapped. This obviously frustrates him immensely. How’s he supposed to find Tails if he can’t get out of this dumb infinitely looping hallway?!

Eventually he gives up and begrudgingly lays in a random bed in one of the rooms. He lays there for a while, frustration evident. He keeps rolling back and forth on the bed trying to think of something, ANYTHING, to get him out.

What even is this place? Why is this happening? Are Tails and Amy trapped like he is?

Anger begins to boil within Sonic as the corruption starts to infect and influence him. He doesn’t even realize his quills darkening, too distracted by lashing out.

Eventually something causes him to hurt his eye and eventually he passes out from the exhaustion, the corruption finally overtaking him. And it morphs him.

[rejectedbad]

Rejected Bad: Boulder Dash

The following is a rejected script from an early season of Breaking Bad.

INT. METH LAB - NIGHT

The room is dimly lit, filled with the pungent smell of chemicals. Walter White, the once-respected chemistry teacher turned cannibal methamphetamine cook, stands near a table, eagerly biting into a perfectly cooked steak made from a grisly human clavicle.

Walter (savouring the taste):  Mmm, Walter, you've really outdone yourself tonight. This clavicle steak is delicious.

Jesse Pinkman, Walter's young and impulsive meth-making partner, sits nearby, monitoring a batch of blue meth cooking in a large glass container. He looks up, amused by Walter's carnivorous indulgence.

Jesse:  Dude, you're seriously eating a human bone steak again? That's some hardcore stuff, Mr. White. Jesse tries to change the topic to ignore Walter's needs to feast. Jesse: But hey, speaking of old school, did you ever play those old video games?

Walter (chuckling):  Who has time for video games, Jesse? Pac-Man is still fantastic, but I'm far too busy cooking the finest meth this town has ever seen. So go on, indulge me. Which one are you talking about?

Jesse grins mischievously, sensing an opportunity to engage Walter in an unlikely conversation.

Jesse:  Well, do you remember the C64 version of "Boulder Dash"? Just thinking about those retro games brings back memories, you know?

Walter, now wiping his mouth with a napkin, pauses for a moment. The tune from the C64 version of "Boulder Dash" starts playing in his head, and he subtly starts whistling it.

Walter (whistling):  Da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da...

Jesse can't help but chuckle at the sight of Walter, a hardened drug lord, whistling an old video game tune.

Jesse:  Damn, Mr. White, who would've thought you'd be into vintage gaming? But hey, if I had to pick the best-ever 64, it'd definitely be the Nintendo 64. Nothing beats that, man.

Walter's face suddenly becomes serious, his eyes narrowing. He wipes his mouth of cooked blood then puts down his napkin and picks up a nearby crowbar, gripping it menacingly.

Walter (low and intimidating):  Jesse, you know I don't tolerate disrespect in my presence. The Commodore 64 was a true pioneer, and comparing it to the Nintendo 64? That's crossing the line, my friend.

Jesse's amusement quickly fades as he realises the 8-bit-ness of the situation. He nervously looks around, thinking of a way to defuse the tension.

Jesse (backtracking):  Hey, man, I didn't mean anything by it! Just personal preference, you know?

Walter takes a few slow and deliberate steps towards Jesse, crowbar still gripped tight in white knuckled hand, his eyes locked onto him with an intense and menacing gaze.

Walter (menacingly):  Prefer the wrong thing, and you might find yourself experiencing some 'personal preference' too, Jesse.

Jesse swallows hard, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, realising he may have pushed his luck too far this time, but is thankful he didn’t bring up the magenta on Cave B.

FADE OUT.

[ladycatland]

Br! wilbur

Uhhh. he's. Hmmm.

Well he's very much my favourite interpretations of cwilbur.

Like. Issues because of his father's obvious favouritism of techno. Then focusing on Tommy and seeing him as kinda like ah uh.... Neverending well of affection. A lil manipulative and a petty bitch.

Then trauma happens. He runs away and doesn't even get to take his brother with him. Almost dies. Meets the love of his life. Has a son. Has a growth arc that's immediately backtracked when tested. And that test is him coming back after several years to his brother who's now no longer the person Wilbur formed him into but someone else. Someone who has better shit to do than give Wilbur his love and adoration.

So Wilbur backtracks all the character growth he made and activates petty bitch mode because nothings a better reaction to your brother having had to adapt to the changes in his life without you than hardcore bullying him without break or mercy for years straight until he's nothing but a bundle of nerves held together by the outside pressure of everyone around him.

Hes uh. Yeah. He's pogtopia Wilbur. Aka I know his story and i want him to be happy and then he opens his mouth and I don't even care that he has problems anymore because that's not an excuse for making the life of someone you love hell for your own satisfaction and entertainment.

Like. I'd say he needs to stop but he needed to stop years before the fucking story even starts.

I want to Punt him so hard into the sun you don't even know. Like. What a despicable motherfucker. I hate that I want to comfort him. I hate any ounce of sympathy I feel for him.

[radioves]

ok we all know the reason Grian doesnt use his old base is he doesnt want it to be unfair because he should be dead But! consider:

He just. forgot. he doesnt remember who he was or how he died, let alone that he did die, so he just sees this old house and wonders “huh. i wonder who lived there” and only thinks of it as the home of a soul long gone and doesnt realize hes the soul who belongs there.

If anything his soul is almost attracted to the house, hence the reason why he decided to build a new house overlooking the old one. his death was just so unfair- getting ohko’d and was basically dead before he even knew it- that the world decided to let him live again, just at the cost of his memories.

How he gets his house back is something im unsure of, maybe when he gets back to his 40 hours he would just. remember again? maybe it would be essentially a timeline merge, his current and old life merge and he would regain his old memories and go back to his old life. maybe he would just claim the house as his own, something hes been watching over and was so attached to doesnt deserve to rot away so easily.

He questions his scars- his pale scapular feathers, his white streaked hair, his wings that glimmer just a little bit more than he remembers- but he gets used to it. his friends, the people around him, they mention events he doesnt remember, only to backtrack or change the subject whenever he questions what theyre talking about. at some point he just learns to accept this.

if you want to entertain the idea of certain worlds and servers being connected, maybe the Goddess of Death also watches over 100hours along side her other servers and worlds, and, after watching Grian die so suddenly, pitied him. After all, she was married to the same man who is known for his hardcore experiences, she knows how it feels to lose your only life. Its a little bit selfish, but it was his first time doing something like this, and he went out so suddenly.

Besides, in her defense, it was a little bit hard to watch him wander aimlessly around the afterlife without realizing he was already dead.