#and that's not even getting me started on the way that divinity has hard-coded a LOT of shit into the game

[racke7]

Huh. I think I just figured out a way to NOT build it around Agony, and instead use something else that's ALSO kind of powerful.

Actually... hmm... Considering that from what I'm seeing in the code, it's actually really easy to get a status to stack?

See, basically all statuses have a "stack id", and if you just... delete that? Then the game won't care if you stack multiples of that status on a character. (Yes, this is in fact how several skills work.)

The trouble with replicating Agony specifically is that it always triggers when it's applied. Meaning that the DoT would have to be re-triggered depending on how many stacks of Agony the character has, every time you hit them with a new Agony-stack on your own turn. And that requires coding.

Now, if I just want a "stackable DoT"? I can just recreate my own version of Bleeding and remove that stack-id, and on the enemy turn all of those bleeds will trigger at the same time.

I could even go so far as to just edit the main-status of Bleeding and make it so that every skill/item in the game that causes Bleeding would suddenly be able to multi-stack.

I kind of don't want to mess around with that can of worms, because it sounds like it could get a bit crazy.

But this does mean that I can create an "AP-dmg"-status. Something that can be blocked with Phys.Armor but that will otherwise cause the character to lose AP for their next turn (one for every time they've been hit by it).

It's not a true hard-CC, but it's potentially a hard-CC, which is very much in line with how some of the skills that I wanted to be using (Hail Strike, and Ice Fan) originally work. So that's neat.

Seeing as this would be a massive departure from the mod I've already created though, I might have to just... restart that whole mod if I wanted to actually create a full set of skills around this. And that would be really fucking tedious.

Entirely doable, but very boring. And also finicky. And also the modding-engine already managed to crash on me just as I was looking around in the code. And I wasn't even surprised.

It's hilarious how pathetically unstable their Divine Engine Tool is, even in comparison to fucking Skyrim's notoriously insane Creation Kit.

Like, the CK will crash if you do anything exciting (or forget to manually include the DLCs in its ini-files), and maybe if you're messing around with a lot of shit (like opening literally every single loot-table one by one).

The DE will crash if you keep it running for ten minutes.

[b1rds3ye]

Radio Silence

The mission required you to separate from the rest of Task Force 141 but when the operation is compromised, all he can do is listen to the panic through the comms until everything goes silent.

Pairings: Captain John Price x GN!Reader, Simon “Ghost” Riley x GN!Reader Reader Aliases: Breeze (Callsign), Bravo 1-5 (Squad-Member Code) Genre: Angst (open-ended), Drama Warning: Descriptions of violence/crashes, blasphemy/religious references, (probably) inaccurate military terms Word Count: 3k (~1.5k each)

Captain John Price

The captain was not a superstitious man, but when you’re on the battlefield, you take all the good fortune you can get. With age he’s picked up a range of small habits and lucky paraphernalia to get him through the mission; an aged penny in his left breast pocket, a four leaf clover stored in another, he finds himself reciting the lord’s prayer even though he’s not particularly religious (and if there is a god he’d like to personally go up and sock them across the face).

When you noticed his little rituals, you added on a good luck charm of your own - his favourite by far. A quick peck on the cheek followed by a teasing little “good luck, captain” in his ear. Price swears there’s something divine in your affection, it does wonders for his morale and efficiency. He thought nothing of it the first few times, but when he realised that this little gift of yours was here to stay, he started to reciprocate in kind when the others weren’t looking. His soul has become tainted over the years - if anything a kiss from him should be a bad omen - but your beaming smile in response convinces him that maybe he’s given you some luck your way.

And perhaps that’s why, after your ritual good luck kiss, he feels a little more than bothered when Laswell calls you away before he can reciprocate. You notice the slight furrow of his eyebrows and laugh, telling him not to worry and that you’ll see him on the other side. The hold you had on his arm disappears as you pull away, bidding him and the rest of the Task Force good luck as you join your own squadron. Price then returns to commandeering his own men, but the thought lingers in the back of his mind. Perhaps you need that extra little bit of luck today.

Price hates how good his intuition can be.

“Bravo 0-6, do you copy?”

With his squadron grounded and on the perimeter of the site, he stiffens at the tone of your voice. That’s not how you usually sound like over comms, that hint of uncertainty didn’t suit you.

“Loud and clear, in position of Site A.”

“Copy, we’re at the compound but… we’ve got company.”

“Al-Qatala?”

“No, looks like Al-Qatala is buddy-buddy with some mercs and- shit.”

“Breeze, what are you seeing?”

“How’d they get us surrounded…?” You mutter more to yourself than to Price but his blood runs cold regardless.

“Bravo 1-5 you are to fall back and wait for backup-”

He’s cut off by various layers of static but he’s learnt to decipher them. The deeper base of the rustle of fabric as you manoeuvre, the sharp trill of gunshots all overlaying the white noise of distant shouting.

“Price, our exits are blocked, they knew we’d be here, how’d they- Corporal! Fuck, stay with me! We’re dropping like flies here. Bravo-1, we’ve got no choice, we have to push through, full offensive!”

He hears the screams of nearby soldiers. While he’s grateful none of them are yours, he knows that the ride back to base will be a rough one regardless. He feels the eyes of his subordinates burn holes into him and the walkie talkie. Gaz, who was beside him, was the only one moving, animatedly talking to Laswell and filling her in on the situation.

“Bravo 1-5-”

There’s an audible sigh on your end that shuts him up.

Through the time it has taken for Price to become captain, he’s learned a lot the hard way. One of the most important things he’s learned is that earning Lady Luck’s favour is more crucial than any skill for the battlefield. Some of the best he’s ever seen has fallen because they pissed her off somehow, but he still never expected her to shun you.

“Just my luck…” your voice starts off quiet as you curse to yourself. A gulp breaks up your panting as you stabilise your breathing. Your next words are far too calm.

“I’m sorry, Price.”

“Sergeant.” Price’s voice was low, cautious. A warning. He knows how you fight, he knows you don’t do anything extreme unless the situation he calls for it, and once again he’s praying to the unknown that it hasn’t come to that.

“I said next time we hit the pub with the 141 that the first round will be on me but I don’t think I can make that.”

“Don’t talk to me like that, Breeze.”

“The merc company goes by Order of Ashes.”

Your words are becoming harder to hear as the explosions seem to be getting closer and closer. Gaz is becoming louder, literally screaming into his comms as he near begs for an evac for your squadron. The rest of his team is becoming restless. Price’s grip tightens impossibly tight on the walkie talkie, any tighter and he could probably crush the metal.

“Rain hell on them for me, yeah?”

Price starts calling for your name, only to be interrupted by a deafening static that has him reeling from his own technology. Inexperienced privates that surrounded him flinched at the sound while Gaz fell silent. Soon Price’s walkie talkie falls silent too.

He brings his hand up to activate communications again, a tentative check in.

“Bravo 1-5, do you copy?”

He waits for a moment.

“Fuck. Breeze? Do you copy?”

The next time he calls out to you is the first time he’s hesitant, to the untrained ear he sounded as strong as ever but to him he recognises how his own voice wavers. A gentle call of your actual name, the last resort.

Silence.

Price gives you a few more seconds to answer, each moment more damning than the last. Gaz sends a concerned look his way but words fail him. He’s a good sergeant but his inexperience is showing. He hasn’t fully mastered the poker face, not like Price has. 

Eventually he lets out a heavy exhale through his nose, counting each racing heartbeat it takes until it has marginally slowed.

Gaz instinctively straightened up, he didn’t need to see Price’s face to know his captain was transforming before his very eyes. Price adjusts his hat, looking at the rest of his team under the brim.

“Alright, we’ve got double the work and half the manpower. No time to lose, I want this site cleared within the hour, and then we're finding our other half."

With affirmatives all round, the soldiers get to work and so does Price. To the untrained eye, he’s calm, eerily so. As captain, Price can’t afford to lose his cool, it’ll bleed over and smother his team, blanket them in a tense atmosphere of panic and uncertainty. So he stays resolute, acting as the team’s anchor as he guides them towards the objective with precision.

The only emotion that breaks his facade is anger. Pure, unbridled rage that casts a frightening glaze over his eyes. His allies can see it as Price stomps towards the entrance of the site. Al-Qatala most certainly feel it as their lackeys are pummeled to the ground, bones cracking against stone and tiles. They’re not gifted the mercy of a quick bullet, but the pain of slowly bleeding out with broken bones, bruised bodies and limbs jutting out in all the ways they should not. Every bruising punch, every bullet delivered does little to quell the raging storm within him. It brings him closer to the mission objective but it doesn’t bring him closer to you, and that’s the only thing that matters right now. There’s no hostages, no chance of salvation for his enemies. Any form of good will in Price was taken away when you were taken away from him. He hopes whatever god that sees the carnage he’s inflicted knows that it is only a taste of what to come if he ever meets that poor sod.

When his side of the operation is done and the squadron is now leaving the site, Price returns to his comms. He needs to address the other half of the mission, you. Suddenly his tongue feels thick in his mouth as his throat tightens. His collar is suffocating.

“Bravo 0-6 to Watcher-1 do you copy?”

Laswell’s voice rings out.

“Affirmative. We’ve already dispatched birds to Bravo-1’s location, we’ll do what we can and sort out that compound.”

“Do me one more thing. Find me everything you can on the ‘Order of Ashes’. I want names, locations, families, the whole fucking mile.”

“Can do. … Is this for Breeze?”

“Breeze wanted me to rain hell on them…”

Price’s voice is low as he puts a cigar in his mouth. He lights it up, even when the cigar smokes he keeps the lighter on. His eyes narrow at the flickering flame, fixated on it for a moment longer. He’s never been a particularly superstitious man, but he’s asking for Lady Luck to be on his side once again. For the slim chance that you’re somewhere out there, breathing. He’s never been worthy of her favour, but you damn well are so surely she’ll put that into account. She’ll consider that you still have a lot to do, you still have a good luck kiss that Price needs to return. He puts his lighter away.

“... and I intend to deliver.”

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Ghost preferred his quieter missions. Others feel safer when in a team but more people mean more variables, and more variables mean more fuck ups, and heavens know he’s had enough of those. For Ghost, the less, the better. And yet, when it came to 141, and in particular to you, he’d pick company over going solo in a heartbeat.

Reconnaissance missions were a personal favourite, they were quiet, less violent if done right and often required only a few people. Of course his first person of choice is you, even if you’d always call these missions an “impromptu date” and then chastise him for not planning something more extravagant just to rile him up.

Even now, when you two were starting on opposite sides of the target site a good few kilometres apart, you were connected through communications. He’d listen as you ramble about anything and everything on your mind when the mission gets quiet. It was endearing, it was soothing. Ghost never thought he’d find someone like you with the power to give him a respite even when on duty - or if he ever deserved such a thing. And yet here he was, sitting against a wall, waiting for further instructions from Laswell as you started the purely hypothetical debate on who in the 141 would best survive the zombie apocalypse.

“Honestly, with a mask like yours you could probably blend in with the horde. 10 out of 10 you’d last your entire life like that.”

“Surrounded by brain dead morons? Already have that.”

He heard your laugh that you tried to mask as an exaggerated scoff.

“How long do you think I’d last?”

“One hour at most.”

“Oh come on Ghost, have a bit more faith in me.”

“All Bravo to Watcher-1, we’re awaiting further action, copy.”

As Laswell replies, Simon can already imagine your offended expression as he changes the topic.

“Bravo-1 this is Watcher-1, you are all clear to close in on the perimeter. Do not engage, just tell us what you see.”

“Watcher-1 this is Bravo 1-5, I’m already seeing hostiles.”

Ghost stills, his hand reaching back up to the comms. You’ve always managed to keep it cool but he heard how your sentence ended with a slight waver. It was too early for speculation, but the alarm bells were already going off in his head. The enemy should be clustered within the site, nowhere near where you currently are.

“I’m counting a dozen men, a couple of trucks and- that’s looking like some impressive cargo.”

There’s some extra static as Ghost finds his pace increasing. He won’t be able to reach you soon, but it doesn’t stop his legs from moving towards the site.

“They’re moving quickly, they’ve got an agenda.”

“Stay frosty, Breeze.”

“Got it, Simon.”

Your voice is more of a whisper now, almost blending in with the static. Was the enemy that close to you already?  Usually, he loved when you used his actual name. Everyone calls him ‘Ghost’ even off-duty, but you were proper enough to at least always call him by his callsign in battle. You were getting spooked and he was too far away to even try and comfort you.

It was a strain to unclench his balled fists. He wasn’t going to have a mission go wrong, at least not one that involved you. He’d be damned if something took you out before him, because he refused to return to a life where you weren’t yapping his ear off.

“Breeze, head back to exfil.”

“Fuck, they’re heading this way.”

If you found a good place to hide, Ghost could reach you before any enemy did. He had to.

“I’m heading towards your position. E.T.A 20 minutes.”

“Ghost, my spot is now crawling with hostiles. I know you’re a one man army but I think you’re pushing it this time.”

Your laugh was different this time. It wasn’t as hearty as the one he heard before, it was a weak wheeze. Half-hearted, the sound of a bitter and quiet defeat. He could hear your rugged breathing against the end of the mic. If he was actually with you, he’d stand beside you in moments like this, letting you put your body weight on him discreetly as he anchored you to the world. His gloved hand instinctively curls as he imagines himself holding onto your arm.

“Breeze, stay with me. Focus on the objective.”

“You owe me a proper date after this, Ghost.”

“Then make sure you get back in one piece-”

The comms are disrupted with a voice that Ghost can’t recognise, with you returning an indistinguishable shout and a curse. He can’t help calling your name into the comms, only to hear the static of indescribable commotion, bodies shuffling and the harrowing crack of broken bones and limbs. It escalates into a deafening crescendo spanning only a few seconds before the grand finale of a thump of a fallen body. The transmission ends with a damning click. He stops in his tracks before he returns to the comms.

“Breeze? How copy?”

The line has gone dead. Ghost slams his fist into the nearest wall, but it does little to quell the pain from within.

“Bravo this is Watcher-1, what’s your status?”

Ghost pauses at Laswell’s request, he wants you to be the one who replies on his behalf, you usually do. Never did a moment feel so heavy, outweighing his military gear and weapons, almost bringing the hulking man to his knees. His hand reluctantly comes up to activate his walkie talkie. He takes his sweet time, giving you the chance to interrupt. When he finally speaks, his voice is slow as he draws out every syllable, every pause a desperate invitation for you to speak up.

“Bravo 1-5 is M.I.A.”

Laswell is silent on the other side. Ghost lets his head tilt back until it rests on the wall beside him, the guilt made his skull too heavy. With that sentence alone he felt like your executioner, as if he just brought the possibility of you being gone into reality. The only thing he can hear now is the slight rustle of grass against the wind, a backdrop to the rhythmic bass of his pounding heartbeat. This was a typical ambience for solo missions, and Ghost was used to being alone.

But lonely? He had forgotten how it felt ever since you barged into his life. And now that the feeling has returned, he forgot just how utter shit it feels.

“We’re sending immediate backup to their position. We’ll meet you there.”

But by the time he and the squadron make it to your position, there are only the remnants of a battle left in your wake. A few unrecognised bodies are slumped against the walls, furniture is overturned, and dried blood paints the floor as a macabre dye. Most - if not all - of this must have been your handiwork, and if it was any other circumstance Ghost would feel proud, but you’re not beside him for him to praise you. That being said, there is no sign of you, and that leaves him optimistic, but the other soldiers seemed to think differently.

“You know, they say Al-Qatala never takes prisoners,” one jittery private said to another.

“What’re you trying to say? I've seen the Sergeant. Breeze is tough.”

“I’m just saying, even if we can’t find their body they’re probably d-”

“That’s enough,” Ghost snaps his head to them, eyes alight with a rage usually reserved only for his worst enemies. His voice is near unrecognisable, more akin to a growl than any human sound. He will not tolerate anyone speaking ill of you or doubting your capabilities as a soldier. He tells himself he does it for your honour, nothing more, nothing less. He disregards the selfish need for you to return to him as it wittles him down to the bone and contorts his face to a scowl concealed under his mask.

The soldiers hurriedly salute before exiting the room, leaving the lieutenant alone, shoulders and chest heaving before he moves to continue the search.

The team returns empty handed, but that means nothing to Ghost. Even as he’s issued new missions he does not falter. He fights with the same brutality, killing his enemy before they can kill him because he needs to return home. Return home so he can organise a covert mission of his own - retrieving you. No matter the rank or squadron that separates you, no matter if you’re shipped out to the other side of this godforsaken earth, you two are a team. Combat has hardened Ghost into a brutally honest man, many would call him a pessimist, but a stubborn voice in the back of his mind refuses to believe that you’re gone. You’ve always been a tough nut to crack, if you weren’t you wouldn’t be dating him. He’s seen you stare death in the eyes only for you to stand back up beside him. And so he faces forward and doesn’t look back. Because until he has to rip off the freezing metal of a dog tag from your neck, he swears on his stone cold heart that you’re still out there. Maybe a little tattered, perhaps even broken, but living.

Call of Duty Masterlist

[simpingforcys]

we need more turbo being an absolutely feral lover tbh. like he is UNHINGED as a partner i can feel it...

ABSOLUTELY, YOU, YOU GET ME (SPICE AND SPICY BELOW.... obviously)

Aggressive Lover!Turbo x Reader (NSFT)

When he's not boasting to his partner, he's showing THEY are his biggest trophy. He'll show you off as his 'worthy partner', the only one that could come close to his level (ignoring how everyone else is rolling their eyes at him).

Always has an arm around you. Pulling you in closer to him either by wrapping an arm around your shoulders or pulling you in by the waist, shamelessly pressing your coded body against his.

Truthfully, he wants everyone to know you are his.

He loves feeling your figure against his hand, his fingers rubbing subtly against your hip or teasingly intertwining his fingers with yours. He just can't get enough of you.

May or may not be the ego he gives himself at actually having someone who wants him around.

While your type of flirting or affection can range from sweet to tease, he will return it in full, if you allow it.

This man bites, nibbles, grips at you, and holds you down against him by keeping you on his lap facing him, just to look at your face as his hands grip your hips.

You're his partner, and he wants to be reminded of that constantly.

His kisses are rough, even as you cup his cheeks. He's not exactly the best kisser. Quite messy, actually. You figured it was his inexperience. But that doesn't stop him. He loves feeling your lips against his. It's a high for him, almost equal to the high he gets winning every single (good) race, and you know how much he enjoys that. If you can provide that same furor for him, he'll be chasing it, over and over from you.

His hands grip and squeeze at you, your hips, thighs, waist, desperately grabbing at you as if to reassure himself you're actually there, still there with him and wanting him as much as he wants you.

He doesn't want to just have and taste your lips, but all of you. A long shiver goes up your spine once you realize he wasn't just kissing your neck, but licking it as well, panting heavy and hotly against your coded skin as he holds you against him, his tongue sliding and pressed on that specific spot on your neck.

You almost start to think when was the last time he ever even had someone.

Did I mention he bites?

Hearing your moan and jolted gasp as he bites on your shoulder fuels him like nothing else in your foreplay.

Before you know it, he is desperately tugging at your clothes.

You would think he considers himself as nothing less than a top, but the truth was, as long as he's able to look at your blushing, dazed, pleasured face and is able to hear your beautiful moans, he doesn't mind having you on top.

He likes to have his partner work for it, even as he too bucks himself up at you.

If you're on top, he's making sure you're on top. His hands clasp onto your hips, fervently chasing that high that was your body like you were the most divine thing bestowed upon him. If you were going to do it, you would do it right.

What kind of a racer would he be if his own partner couldn't ride as well as he?

Whether he's under you or on top of you, he wants you to know exactly what you do to him.

His body moves against yours, rough and hard almost lifting you up from the bed as he grabs onto his hips. Despite his short body, he did have some strength in him. At least, only when it came to this.

He thrusts hard and desperately against you, like you were a hole for him to bury and empty himself into. He loves seeing how you take all of him, disappearing throughly into your body. The only one worthy enough of him.

He grunts and growls as he pounds into you, like a feral animal in heat chasing that high that was your tight body. His raspy voice mutters sounds of praises and swears under his breath.

You can barely register his fingers digging into your coded skin before he growls his way into climax, keeping your hips firmly in place to make sure nothing comes out. He doesn't want you to waste any part of him. He was your partner, and you would take all of him.

Despite his fervent drive from earlier, he doesn't let you go for quite a while. His yellow eyes look up at you with a satisfied drive, that familiar victorious wide smile creeping up his lips, the smile marks around his face proudly showing themselves as he does.

"You... my prized babe... were just Turbotastic~"

He gives an eyebrow raise when you start to laugh at that. But before he can protest or say anything about it, you hold his cheeks and bring him up to you for a deep kiss.

[shenlis-spear]

A Moment But Forever: Not Your Typical Xanxia (REALLY LONG REVIEW coz I have a lot to say but by no means comprehensive)

STARRING: TANG YAN AND LIU XUEYI

Disclaimer: NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

A xanxia drama meets cyberpunk sci-fi and then you have A Moment but Forever. Our female lead, Ji Tanyin, is basically a really smart engineer who created innovative machines and technology when she was a human. The heavens were moved and she ascended into the divine realm. Our male lead, Yuanzhong, high priest of the Youhu clan (fox race) who is known for having a bad reputation.

Ji Tanyin continued her innovative ways in the divine realm and created a strong artifact, the Divine Left Hand that was used by Taihe, the primordial god in a war against the War Demons. These War Demons were originally from the divine realm and for some reason was banished to the human realm (for reasons that the drama did not elaborate). In the chaos of the war, the Divine Left Hand fell into the human realm and into the hands of the Youhu clan cult. So many things messed up about but let's sum it up with they're not a good group of people.

The Divine Left Hand combined with Yuanzhong and he used the power he gained from the artifact to defeat the War Demons in a war. After the demons were defeated, the Youhu clan, scared that Yuanzhong will discover the things they had done to his family, manipulated him to wear a gold necklace that would seal his power and convinced him to isolate for 40 years, during which he was driven to madness.

Enter our female lead who was given the task to retrieve the artifact that she made. And to take it back, she has to kill him.

So we now have, jaded and genocidal, philosophical male lead meets the straight-forward and sincere engineer female lead. If that doesn't spell chaos to you, I don't know what does.

But first let me start with the not so good things about this drama:

The visuals, color grading, cinematography are all getting failing grade from me. I can't believe this is even uglier than dramas made in the last 5 years. No color coordination, color theory WHO? Nothing. I love pastel but they just gotta pick the most boring pastel shades and run with it. When I tell you, the casts visuals were hard carrying the aesthetic of the drama, I am not exaggerating. I'm not really a visual viewer and visual aesthetic is not at the top of my list of reasons in enjoying a drama but in this drama it's just tragic.

The styling, atrocious. If you manage to make two beautiful people like Tang Yan and Liu Xueyi look boring, then congratulations. Very plain, plain styling and again, THE COLORS! Who said, bright orange and pastel blue with yellow lights go together? Apparently the team who made this drama!

THE ENDING! I already ranted about this so I will not elaborate any further. I did not hate that it's an open ending but I hated that it was lazy and I know could've been done better.

So all those things aside, what sets this drama apart?

Surprisingly refreshing take on the xanxia genre. Three lives, three worlds who? This drama just gave one lifetime of chance for Yuanzhong and Ji Tanyin to create their story. Stakes are high and the chances are low. Like really low~

The sci-fi elements of the drama is also fun to watch and it's not just there as background but woven into the plot and the characters especially to our female lead, Ji Tanyin. And she is one heck of a character. Straightforward and kind with no malicious bone in her body which is the complete opposite of our male lead who is cynical and completely jaded. I say, the perfect match!

The dynamic of the leads! I am completely obsessed! Ji Tanyin is so STEM-coded who just runs numbers in her head and very genuine. Yuanzhong, on the other hand, very HUMSS-coded who can talk about time and existence all day long. Haven't had anyone who treated him with sincerity as much as Ji Tanyin has and so he's confused and suspicious. The misunderstanding that ensues is hilarious.

Surprisingly, no love-crazed character?! This is a personal preference but love-crazed characters especially if it's female, is a major pet peeve of mine. Cause they're the characters who tend to ruin perfect plans, relationships, etc in the name of love and I just - HATE.IT! Thankfully, everyone in this drama seem to have their heads on their shoulders.

Really interesting and diverse female characters. Ji Tanyin as the female lead is very fascinating. Zhi Dai and Yun Niang even though secondary characters had their chance to shine even with limited screen time. Even A Xue was able to stand out and felt like a real person.

This drama is so FUNNY! And not in the slapstick comedy kind. It's genuinely hilarious! The dynamics between the characters feels genuine and the flow of the dialogues - just perfect! The comedic timings are also perfect! It's like the scriptwriter sat down and said okay what jokes would work (one me) and then just wrote the script to A Moment but Forever. And so I laughed more than I cried.

The drama is very unpredictable (at least in the first 2/3 part) in a fun way! We have two leads whose brain operates very differently so I was taken to a roller coaster ride of adventure and very interesting conversations between them.

The philosophical discussions are deep DEEP. Like it is serious in this drama! However, it was written in a simple and fun way that as a viewer I was able to understand and engage in the conversation. Very comprehensive too! And definitely makes you think, does time really exist? What does it even mean to exist? What is good? What does it meant to be evil?

Yuanzhong's redemption arc! Can I just say it was so perfect?! I love LOVE that at the end, it was him who decided to save himself. Had Tanyin come and be the main reason he changed his plans, it would've been less impactful of a scene. But no, he decided HIMSELF that maybe the world is worth living after all. Maybe, he'd go on that adventure that Tanyin was talking about. The flashbacks with all the people and friends he met along the way and then when he said, "Never mind", made me cry not gonna lie.

The music scoring! The OSTs are really really good! And it's added perfectly to the scenes and it doesn't drag on forever! 10/10!

This drama is by no means perfect. But a really strong script really does great wonders in my enjoyment of the drama and the things that I'd allow them to get away with. And as I have already said before, this is MY 2025 drama. Even with the cheap looking set and boring styling, it's really hard to beat the fun that I had while watching this drama.

Rating: 9.5/10 (could've seriously been a 10/10 if not for the ending) Rewatch Value: 10/10 (will definitely rewatch this on my break) Acting: 10/10 Category: MASTERPIECE

[zoniteillusion-pyritedreams]

Im curious is ni-ki possessive person as a partner?? Im curious it has different views from other readers some says no some says yes so? Thankyou♡

🖤✨ “What’s Niki of Enhypen Like As a Romantic Partner?”

aka: Possessive Boyfriend or Chill Bae? Let Aphrodite + Nyx Spill the Divine Tea 🍵

Okay Dreamweavers, gather ‘round.

I lit the candles, put on some sultry background music, and asked Aphrodite to give us the full 411 on Niki's love game while Nyx sat in the shadows making sure the truth got through. 😌💋

And oh ho ho girl... the cards gave us a novella.

We’re talking drama, depth, devotion, and just a touch of chaos. Let’s break it down so even your emotionally unavailable ex can understand. 💅

💌 Niki as a Lover: The Light Side

(The green flags, the soft-core romance anime vibes)

Dedicated as hell. When Niki falls, he falls hard and he’ll work to make it last. He's not the type to do half-hearted love; he puts in the effort, learns your love language, and shows up consistently. Expect thoughtful gestures, late-night talks, and surprise “I was thinking of you” texts.

🧠 Deep and introspective. There’s a very “I think about everything before I say anything” vibe. He’ll analyze how he feels, what you feel, and what the future holds. Low-key might write poems about you and never show you. 😭

💗 Emotionally intense but loyal. His love isn’t light and fluffy it’s soul-deep. He's all about emotional fusion, but only with someone who truly gets him. Once you’re “his person,” YOU’RE IT. Full-on ride-or-die.

🧸 He gives safe space energy. You’ll feel like you can be your messy, soft, and chaotic self without judgment (He likes a little mess & also Loki gives off that he likes a partner that might be a little jealous). He wants to nurture and be nurtured.

🌒 Niki in Love: The Shadow Side

(The drama, the angst, the inner monologue that sounds like a 3AM Tumblr post)

😮‍💨 Overthinker with a PhD in spiraling. He will absolutely create 15 different scenarios in his head about why you didn’t text back, all within 4 minutes. One missed emoji and he’s questioning the relationship like it’s a final exam.

🖤 Possessive? Yes emotionally.

Not in a creepy “don’t talk to anyone” way, but in a “I want to be your favorite person, why am I not your favorite person, tell me I’m your favorite person” way. (He's competitive for attention + emotionally moody if he feels neglected.)

🧨 Can bottle things up until they explode. He’s not always great at expressing when something hurts or upsets him... but you Will feel the energy shift when he’s mad. Silent stares. Minimal words. Vibes. 😬

💤 Loses steam if he feels taken for granted. He wants passion and connection (Low key Edward Cullen X Bella Swan vibes. I literally just thought of that one line from the movie where he was like. You're like my own personal brand of heroin or this is the skin of a killer Bella and then how they just mutily stare at each other for like 20 minutes in silence that kind of intensity vibes) so if the spark fades or feels one-sided, he pulls back/either to fix it or protect his heart.

💔 Big heartbreak scars. He’s been hurt (I don't know this man is just very Twilight coded cuz again I thought about that scene where Bella's just sitting in her room and it's like 7 months pass by and she's just sitting there staring out the window. It's definitely what his little heartbreak felt like. And I say little heartbreak just because like it's definitely giving me like Middle School romance I don't know why. I'm pretty sure this boy didn't go to high school and I mean that in like typical Idol fashion where they just start working so damn much that they don't have time to go to school. And I'm also pretty sure I've heard people talk about that so I definitely don't think it was like a teenage romance it feels like it was a preteen romance that might have happened before like the fame and everything came along but it really shook how he felt about love and shit like that. I also feel like he's definitely had a few like situationships as a Idol not a lot but enough of them that makes him feel like okay if I'm not getting passion and attention from my partner then like fucking Tinkerbell I will die bitch I will end the relationship before they do because I feel like that's how all his situations ended like the other person started drawing back and then he noticed and then by the time he was going to do or say something it was too late so now he's like I will beat you to the punchline.) and those old wounds still echo. So if you ever trigger abandonment or rejection feelings, even by accident, he might emotionally withdraw or lash out before you get the chance to hurt him.

🔥 Is Niki Possessive or Low-Key?

Answer: Possessive but not in the “you’re mine” way.

More like... “You’re my comfort person and I want to mean as much to you as you do to me, and I’ll quietly melt if I feel otherwise.”

He won’t cage you, but he’ll crave reassurance, emotional validation, and proof that he matters. A little clingy when he’s in love, but it’s the cute kind. 💞

🌕 Niki’s Love Vibes

Deep, emotional, & intense.

Will work HARD for the relationship.

Loyal to a fault, but gets in his head often.

Needs someone soft but grounded—who reassures him but also gives him emotional freedom.

Can go from chill to emotional hurricane if ignored or misunderstood.

Wants something real, not surface-level love. This boy is here for the soul connection.

✨ Disclaimer: This is a tarot-based interpretation meant for entertainment and insight. I do not know Niki personally, and this reading is all about vibes, not verified facts. Sending love 💖

( also in case any of you guys are wondering why I keep getting disclaimers at the end it's because I had one too many ask before of people sitting there and telling me that other people did not sit there and read certain people the same way. And accusing me of not knowing what the hell I'm doing and that shit's annoying like this is a divination tool people change all of the damn time. I literally do readings on myself like once a month and even the way that like my life is going changes constantly nothing is set in stone people change all the time. Also people pick up on different energies all the time so if I have to do a disclaimer so people will stop sitting there and thinking that I'm like purposely giving out information that doesn't make sense as far as they're concerned or they don't understand it that's not on me it's on you.)

[ozaitheestallion]

You said you immediately saw Ozai as being played as a drag queen?? PLEASE elaborate I'm so interested in the way ur mind works 🙏

Okay so maybe I’m just incredibly fucked up and deep down the queer horror rabbit hole (I’ve been watching a lot of Dragula, American Horror Story and classic horrors lately), but the second you start looking at Ozai through a drag, camp, “classic Disney villain” lens, it’s hard to see him any other way.

Like I watched this show as a kid when I originally aired and like basically everyone, I was absolutely terrified and sickened by Ozai, the shitty dad and ultimate big bad villain who is also not even really the main villain, right? Like that’s Azula or Zhao or whoever. That’s how basically all of us original viewers saw him and how a lot of new viewers still do. Fair enough. Not inaccurate.

However, I didn’t do rewatches of the show again, not until the revival in interest over COVID. I hadn’t rewatched it even once since it originally aired and so therefore I expected my viewpoint to change…but nowhere near as drastically as my view of Ozai did.

I’m not saying Ozai is written to be viewed as a drag character, because of course he isn’t, but as I said, once you start looking at him through that specific lens, you won’t be able to see him any other way.

He’s kept in the shadows unless we need a dramatic scary reveal. He’s constantly making dramatic, prose-filled speeches for the benefit of…like…no one lmao like most his scenes are one on one confrontations. He has a very dramatic design, being a conventionally attractive man yet has that fuck ass goatee, the best eyeliner in the country and more detail put into his hair than any other character gets.

He does his whole reveal as the Phoenix King that goes off without a hitch, perfectly rehearsed. This was a surprise to no one but Azula. He got every damn person in the palace in on this stupid reveal. They already know he’s going to become a new ruler with a new title. They already know. This isn’t for their benefit. He did an entire reveal just for the benefit of his kid. If there’s one thing a queen loves, it’s a dramatic unnecessary reveal.

As he fights Aang, he just keeps making these speeches that a child will either not be interested in or too far away to even hear or appreciate, yet he keeps going anyway.

Right up until the end and then going into the comics, he’s dramatic, bitter and playing everyone against each other even though he has absolutely nothing to gain anymore. He puts Zuko and Azula against each other and antagonises Ursa even though it will gain him nothing and do nothing except kill time. Insults for the sake of insults and mess for the sake of mess. The fact insults of far greater power can be thrown back at him in his position is something he doesn’t even consider. Just messy for the sake of being messy and evil for the sake of being evil.

Ozai would fit nicely alongside classic queer-coded Disney villains like Ursula, Scar, Hades, Maleficent and Captain Hook.

He’s so dramatic and so over the top with his cruelty, his crimes and his villainous actions, yet is completely and utterly committed to the bit he’s doing. There’s no self aware clever jabs like Azula or obvious moment of “look at how ridiculous he is” like with Zhao. Ozai and his writing are completely committed to what he’s doing and burning down the entire world literally by hand, and at no point is it questioned. It’s like watching Divine in a John Waters film. This is simply what the character I doing and you’re the ridiculous one for questing them.

Ozai takes himself so seriously and so literally and is so very offended and genuinely surprised when he’s questioned and called out, (like why on earth would he think burning his son’s face is a valid teaching moment or burning the entire earth kingdom will in any way be a good start to his new empire), that it becomes camp.

This is…extremely long and meandering and tbh I don’t think there’s any way for me to really clearly define why I view Ozai as an example of a classic queer/drag coded villain. If you don’t agree and do take his portrayal as an abusive father and an imperialist tyrant seriously and that’s how you prefer to view the story, then by all means do that. I’m not trying to change your mind.

I’m just saying that sometimes our views of things can change dramatically as we ourselves change as people, and sometimes those changes are extremely entertaining, nonsensical and fun to explore.

Like the IT remakes, some unspeakable horrors can also be viewed and enjoyed as queer adjacent comedies if you look sideways and saying. And sometimes the unspeakable horrors are better that way.

[stormbreaker101]

Humans are hard to draw so I made the Color Gang + Purple from AvM in Wizard101 instead.

No actual gender headcanons for any of them, I just wanted to mess with the different models. Making them all the same gender in-game would be boring to me. plus, I havent messed around with the masc models as much, since all the characters I play on are girls.

I did put thought into their schools, names, and outfits though :3 All under the cut

Second's ability to make living drawings instantly led me to either Life or Myth for them. I chose Life for them because they have a rather chill disposition and is often the one cleaning up or otherwise dealing with the shenanigans that their more energetic friends get into. Also their supersaiyan powers in are consistently green, and green is the main color of the Life school. Lastly, Second is the first one to use music as a way to communicate with others (in the Warden EP), and Life magic is closely tied to the concepts of music, as it was canonically derived from the Song of Creation that made the Spiral. "Seth" as a name is really close to Second while also being a regular name, and "Museborn" is a reference to the fact that they were hand-drawn as c!Alan's character, AND that they were made in the image of another muse of his, Chosen.

Red strikes me as someone who was originally a conjurer (Myth), but later their magic shifted to necromancy (Death). Red's primary interest is in animals and creatures, often spawning them in with spawn eggs. This ties very closely to one of Myth magic's primary mechanics, summoning minions. Their magic became Death after being possessed by Herobrine multiple times, because I for one love when a person's magic changes thanks to the trauma they endure. Both the schools of Myth and Death are rather tanky but hard-hitting schools that can opt for an all-offensive playstyle rather easily, which fits Red's combat. "Beastwhisper" is a reference to their aptitude for working with mobs, and I just picked "Aidan" as a firstname because it sounded cool. The yellow band on their hat is for the headband they got in the Monster School episode, and the blue trim on their robe is to represent Herobrine, and the continued influence he has on them even when not in Minecraft.

Yellow reads peak Balance wizard to me. Balance is in-canon considered to be one of the more advanced schools of magic, and was intended by the developers to be one of the best support schools, able to buff any of their teammates. The "technical difficulty" aspect of Balance fits Yellow's expertise in tech, coding, & command blocks, and I've noticed that while Yellow certainly is a competent fighter on their own, they tend to use their command block staff to support others and not just themself. "Amber" as their firstname for the color, and "Copperweave" for their surname as a reference to actual computers being made with copper wires. The red on their robe is for redstone, I imagine their clothes are often stained with it.

Green is quintessential Diviner (Storm wizard). Like, they're not just a Stormie, but a Wolf Stormblade at that. Storm is THE glass cannon of Wizard101: strong and bright and flashy and the center of attention, but also fragile and flighty and prone to be blindsided. Additionally, Storm is seen as the magic of creativity, which perfectly fits with Green's skill in buildbattles and their musical interest. Their surname "Goldensong" represents this musicality, but also their constant struggle for perfection. "Jaden" as their first name because it sounds close to the color jade. (There really aren't any good masc firstnames in Wiz that start with G, sorry guys). Their robe is green and yellow because that was a preset outfit, but also it fits their name well.

Blue reads as a pyromancer (Fire wizard) to me primarily because of how Fire magic works in-game. Fire's primary mechanic is dealing gradual damage over time, which is the best way I can translate Blue's tendency to fight at a distance into Wizard101 logic. Additionally there is a Fire school spell that features a magical archer, a Fire Elf in particular. Fire magic also has the connotations of crafting and cooking, which fits Blue's expertise as the potionsmaster and chef of the group. I chose "Chelsea" as their firstname because the sea is blue (I first made these sticks while farming a boss over and over, slowly falling asleep and losing my mind :p), and "Glassarrow" to represent the two main ways they fight (potions in glass bottles & archery). Also, I enjoy playing around with connotations and expectations. Glass is fragile, but its shards are sharp and dangerous. Blue is definitely the most sensitive and emotional of the Color Gang, but they can certainly whoop ass. Don't underestimate them.

Purple is a character who is above all else resilient and a survivor by any means necessary, which I read as being very Ice. Ice is meant to be the tankiest school, able to withstand everything that's thrown its way, but it struggles with dishing damage back. This makes many people who play Wizard101 consider it a "weak" school and turn a blind eye to its best attributes. This fits Purple's arc to a T to me: someone who could never fulfil Navy's standards of being 'strong', but survives regardless and finds a new group of friends who can begin to appreciate them for them (yknow, once they start to be honest). Plus, in old Wizard101 lore, Ice magic was made by the Giants who ruled the skies, and Purple is an incredibly skilled flier. I picked the firstname "Patrick" because it was the best P name out there, and "Steelwing" for their steel-gray elytra and because steel carries the connotation of strength and resilience. They're primarily in the lighter shade of purple available in Wizard101 to represent their closeness to Rose/Orchid/Pink, and the dark orange band on their hat represents their closeness to Mango Tango.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Jim and Pete both know a thing or two about the power of creation. It was something they'd bonded over, in coded language and shared looks and the discovery of binders and razors and dirty jokes and ways to settle into their own skin. Even though their interactions had been gruff, sharp at the edges, they'd sunk into a strange sort of not-quite-friendship, an understanding that sometimes kept Jim going.

Jim isn't Lucius. They're not in love with Pete. They have Olu, and Archie, and Jim and Lucius are both open but their types are wildly different. Lucius once made eyes at Izzy while Jim has kissed Archie.

But there was some part of Jim that tried to cling to that feeling. Not of love, but of understanding. Of a faith in their power to create, not destroy. It's been so hard to remember over their past few months trapped in the hell that has been the Revenge, forced to kill, to watch Lucius waste away, taking what little happiness could be sought in Archie's blood-stained kisses. Jim has not created. Jim has barely survived.

But as Stede Bonnet's dinghy docks against the side of the Revenge, Jim remembers what creation felt like. 

Jim is more familiar with holes, with destruction, than creation.

They have wanted to believe that somewhere out there, Olu is alive and searching for the Revenge. That months and months of living in hell were worth it, because the sun would break through at the end.

They have doubted. They have faltered. But they have clung, in a way they never did to the religion of the nuns, to this impossible, necessary faith.

God will be struck down. The sun will arrive.

In a literal sense, it's true. The crew all emerged onto the deck after the storm to find the sun beating down on the deck after days of storms.

But more importantly, Jim's sun has returned. Their Oluwande is back, climbing up the ropes to the deck of the ship along with the rest of the crew, Pete included. 

In between the dinghy and the crew, Blackboard groans on the deck.

Alright, then.

So, God lives.

Jesus rises from the dead on the third day. Miraculous. Divine taken human form. The sinners clamber to his side and all that-

Fuck that.

They're sinners, they all know that. Killers and thieves and pirates, down to their bones.

But killing God was no sin. It was no act of pride. It was an act of survival. Now that the sea god has been incapacitated, stripped of his wrath, of his deadly touch, they can all breathe. They can all live.

Jim steps right over the half-dead corpse of the sea god and leaps for Olu. Their teeth bash together, their kiss awkward and harsh and desperate, but Jim's love is here, warming their chest, soft and hot and welcoming against the sharp blade that has become their very existence.

"I didn't think I'd see you again," Jim confesses their sin, their doubt, "I thought you were dead."

But Olu, their sweet Oluwande, doesn't falter, his smile brighter than the sun, the greatest blessing that Jim has had in months, in their whole life, probably. "Glad I could prove you wrong."

"I am never leaving you again, you hear me?" Jim's promise is a vicious, honest one. "They can bash my head in again and I'll crawl after you, killing any and every man I have to get back to you."

Despite the venom in Jim's words, the absolutely raw honesty in their voice, Olu doesn't falter. Doesn't even blink. "And I'll find you, across everything," Olu promises in return, just as honest, just as tender as Jim's blades.

Across from Jim, Lucius is still wobbly. They trimmed his beard last night and let him bathe in the captain's quarters, fed him dried ginseng and crushed clover, mint and horseradish, all in a warm broth with pieces of softened jerky that was supposed to start clearing out his lungs and filling his stomach, but one night of proper care and food does not clear out months' worth of illness and starvation. Lucius is going to need actual medical care on land, just as much as Izzy, to make a full recovery from the drowning and the trunk.

But right now, he is blinking into the sky for the first time in months. The sun's rays on the water are harsh enough to blind him after months kept in the dark, but he drinks them in anyway, seeking that paradise that was denied him, because there , sunlight glinting off of his shined skull, comes Black Pete, who makes the journey straight to Lucius himself.

Blackboard was a vengeful God, a demanding kraken, a figure of myth and monsters.

The man in front of Lucius is a dream, but is no myth. He is blessedly, physically human, fragile and tough and prone to giggling during sex and so hot and so blessedly alive.

Lucius is trembling. He is not recovered enough to run across the deck, no matter how much he might want to. He is nauseous and light-headed and-

And he cannot look away. He cannot bear to break eye contact with the man in front of him, the thought-made-flesh that kept him going for so long trapped beneath the deck.

"Babe!" Black Pete shouts and crashes into Lucius. They slam to the deck together, and Lucius' back is going to ache so badly later but he can't bring himself to care about future pain when past and current pain have become such an integral part of his life and this pain, at least, means Pete is alive, Lucius' own miracle, and for that, Lucius will bear any agony.

"I'm sorry," Lucius says, mouth almost pressed to Pete's. He can smell the dirt and sweat and sea water on Pete, and once would have found that a turn-off, but he's gotten so used to associating it with his crewmates, his saviors, over the past few months that all he can feel is deep, aching relief. "I lost my finger."

"I can whittle you a new one, love," Pete swears, and Lucius kisses him again, pulls him in tight, clutches on with everything he has. He knows the nails on his good hand and his wooden finger are digging into Pete's back, but if he lets go he's going to fall and he can't bear to drown ever again.

Pete doesn't grimace. He doesn't even flinch. He just pulls Lucius in even tighter, as if he, too, cannot bear to let Lucius leave him, can barely believe that he is holding his living lover, and Lucius was a ghost for so long, but he can never feel dead when he is being held so painfully tight.

The clouds parted on the fortieth day. The ship sailed on, at peace-

And then Saint Izzy Hands raises his pistol to Stede Bonnet, crouching over the body of the kraken. Izzy is leaning against Frenchie's side , the crew not having had a chance to whittle him a new leg just yet. He is a mess, sacrifices carved from his physical body, and yet he stands taller than Blackbeard or Stede Bonnet ever could.

"You can bring him back, if you dare," Izzy says, the avenging angel, "But you can't save him."

"I don't need to save him," Stede says, and there's something angelic in that, too, the faith in god even after god has wrong every human he has touched. "I just need to be there for him."

Izzy gestures to the brig with his pistol and spits over the railing into the ocean. "Take him down there. Do whatever you want. Try to bring him back from the dead. Keep him this side of the afterlife. Blackbeard will never be a god again."

"God?" the Swede asks, brow furrowing, and maybe no one who did not live on this ship, this hell on earth, will not understand what happened here, this cult to the kraken that was created, but as long as Olu and Pete don't question it too harshly, things will work out.

Blackbeard is not a god, anymore. If he survives, he is a man. Edward Teach will emerge, or nothing will survive at all, because if Blackbeard tries to return, someone on this crew- whether it be Jim, or Izzy, or Archie, or Frenchie, or Fang, or even Lucius- will make sure that this time around, the death takes.

Now that they have risen out of purgatory, out of the circles of hell, out of the storm, they can begin to recover. They can become people. They can find some way to turn this ship from hell into a home.

[itsmyfandomandilikeit]

An episode of Star Trek Prodigy that I have to assume won't exist

So I've been thinking about how the story could "end". My understanding from official announcements is that season 2 will be the end of this part of the story, and that if the series continues after that, a new arc will start.

So of course I've been trying to figure out how "this part of the story" ends, and I keep getting stuck because the way time travel works in Star Trek is really inconsistent, so it's hard to nail down what's possible. So here's a possible season 2 finale that would get chucked in the writer's room garbage and replaced with something more thematically coherent:

So since I finished season 1 I've been paranoid about what happens to Gwyn if she actually does save Solum from itself. In the 2009 movies, Spock is able to live freely in the Kelvin timeline despite being from somewhere else, but in ENT S3 "E Squared", for example, the main characters meet their grandkids who got thrown back in time to save them, and after the rescue mission is complete, the descendant ship disappears and everyone forgets this happened. It's my understanding that the second type of time travel is more common in TNG than the former.

This concerns me because it could happen to Gwyn.

I mean, she's literally going back in time to stop the thing that caused her to be born. There's two timeline branches, and in one of them, nearly everyone is dead or about to be rescued from it. As far as I can tell, they could evacuate the other timeline and if it collapses on the way out, literally the only casualty would be Gwyn. (other than Ascencia, whom I assume will not be around by the end of the story for other reasons.)

So let's say she does it. She goes to Solum and makes first contact on behalf of the Federation and influences them to make the right choices and there's no civil war!! Good job!! Solum joins the Federation, everyone is happy, and the morning after the papers are signed Dal wakes up in the hammock under the engine of Nandi's ship like nothing ever happened.

He's older than he was the last time he was here, but Nandi doesn't seem to think he ever left. Apparently he's been doing bigger and bigger jobs and has amassed an impressive pile of crap in his corner made of things he took from people some way or another. Behind a panel somewhere he even finds a hidden pile of money, presumably so he could eventually buy his own ship.

He starts to wonder if he dreamed the whole thing, but eventually is able to get to the edge of the quadrant and pick up news from the Federation. Around this time, the Protostar has returned home from its first excursion and Chakotay is about to go right back out. He says he's had all sorts of adventures, including a mention of going through a wormhole and having to find his way back, having met a Federation society from some point in the future.

So, Dal realizes that this is the world in which Solum never goes back in time to save itself because it doesn't need saving. Chakotay is fine, Nandi didn't sell Dal as an "unwanted", Dal became a better con artist and thief. With some heavy research, he's able to find the show where Rok-Tahk used to perform, and ask where she was sold if not to the Diviner. Another mining colony. He doesn't really have enough information to find anybody else, but has to assume they were sold elsewhere, slaves on other colonies throughout the Delta quadrant.

So he goes to Janeway. Explains to her that he's from a timeline where some things were different. Everyone else has forgotten, but because his brain is DNA soup, he's immune to some complicated temporal effects. He has to give Chakotay's command codes to prove he is who he says he is.

The thing is, at this point in the story, Dal knows where Solum is. Season 2 has already happened, Chakotay has been found and rescued, but the Federation hasn't made first contact with them. Dal has a choice.

He isn't trusted, but he could regain the trust he once had. Janeway believes him. He knows an awful lot about her and he's familiar with all the Starfleet regulations a cadet would have had to memorize. He knows the advice she tends to give. Dal could make contact with Solum on behalf of the Federation. He knows where it is. He's the only one.

But how he does it determines how well it goes. He could ensure everything goes over perfectly, and proceed with his life as planned - fighting to get into Starfleet Academy so he can be the captain of a starship, armed with the knowledge of a failed alternate timeline other cadets can't learn from. He might even be able to bring Rok-Tahk with him. Maybe she doesn't like science in this timeline but he can make sure she's okay.

Or, he could screw it up. On purpose. Tell them that the Federation wants them for their superior technology, and that they have to change their ways to fit in. Stoke the fires of civil war, and leave. If he does this, everything goes back to the way it was. Maybe even enter a stable time loop where Gwyn fixes things and Dal screws them up over and over.

I think this is a fun concept to think about but I am 95% sure I'm off the mark about this having anything to do with where the story is going.

See, if Gwyn gets erased from the timeline, she's basically died for her abusive slave-owning father's sins, and while I don't think it's impossible to make that work narratively, I think it would be really difficult. I think what would be most empowering as a story is if she takes up the mantle of saving Solum in a peaceful way and gets to move on with her own life.

Which is why I came across the question of how to save her. I think if given the choice she'd sacrifice herself for Solum. Needs of the many, etc. The show demonstrates that the reason she likes Dal is that he puts her first when no one else does. So it's... workable that Dal would have a hand in figuring out how to keep her from being lost conceptually to the timeline. At the same time, Dal is supposed to be getting better, not worse. Siccing him with the choice of saving his love interest's life / saving his teammates from slavery against upholding Starfleet values is, again, not impossible to make work but really hard without breaking the bounds of moral grayness Dal himself tends to be subjected to.

Finally there's the complicated case of writing about slavery overall. In this story, you would have to do some onscreen math about whether the Delta quadrant is better or worse without the influence of the Diviner. Realistically, everyone would have been sold to a different slaver, but a decrease in the number of penal operations has to mathematically be a good thing. Dal choosing between the two timelines ultimately chooses whether to give the Diviner a pass for his many, many crimes, which is, again, probably out of the scope of this series.

Still, I'm enjoying parts of it as an AU. What would an older Dal look like if he'd eventually become more successful as a protege of Nandi? What would Janeway and Chakotay do in the absence of his capture? How can the story avoid the problem of erasing Gwyn?

Ultimately I think they're going to have to go with the explanation of Spock from the 2009 movies. She exists here, she just does, matter can't be created or destroyed and her matter is standing on the bridge with us.

Still, I'm not sure.

[thekingwhereitallends]

Boruto: Tenchijin Chapter Two; Set one's heart ablaze.

Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Action

Summary: Boruto, Kawaki, Sumire and Sarada are here along with other fan favorites.

Date:Jan.20th 2042

"It's useless. I can't sneak into any of those dimensions." Boruto says, absorbing the space-time portal with his karma mark.

Boruto Uzumaki, one hundred sixty eight centimeters tall, having his hair cut short now, wearing cape and fingerless gloves similar to his mentor Sasuke, Boruto no longer wears the same bright smie he had on his face as a child.

"Isshiki did create so many space-time continuums. Perhaps the reason Kawaki has not found Code yet is that Isshiki didn't use his Dharmagan to create those dimensions." Koji states, opening his eyes, sitting in meditation state.

"Don't you think that Code has casted barrier techniques to protect Isshiki's dimensions from intruders?" Boruto turns around to ask Koji this question.

"That theory of yours doesn't sound far-fetched. Isshiki was innovative enough to develop superior techniques as he analyzed our ninjutsu. He might have known some ancient secret techniques of his clan." Koji responds.

"Turned to ashes and dust and the footprint he left on earth is as irritating as he was when he was alive." Boruto utters. "Did you get to peek into future?"

"No. Code and Kawaki seem to be protected by a transcendent entity. It would take eons and hundreds of chaka fruits for one to ascend to such high spiritual state and gain the ability to see the fate of those who have been blessed by gods. I'm merely a mortal sage." Koji replies.

"I have to learn how to activate my Jougan willingly. Even though i'm not sure if it would allow me to bypass that damn restriction or not." Boruto says.

"Code will eventually send his army and you will be there when that happens. It's been two years since you started training with me and i saw your rapid growth. The next time you and Code meet, you might have get the upper hand on him. That technique will guarantee your victory." Koji states, raising on his feet.

"I have to fix everything." Boruto murmurs, shutting his eyes.

"Find some trustworthy and capable allies. You can't take care of this all by yourself." Koji says, putting his hand on Boruto's shoulder.

"I bet there will be some who are eager to assist me." Boruto turns around to look at the sky. "I just have to ensure their safety. I don't seek their doom afterall."

"You are being too hard on yourself. We will save him soon enough." Koji reassures Boruto, patting the young lord on back.

"Yeah..." Boruto whispers.

'Sasuke-san...it took ages...but i promise i'll find a way to get you out. Forgive me for not meeting your expectations...' Boruto thinks.

Sasuke's unconscious body trapped in a small divine tree, transported to another dimension in which one second is equal to seventy years on planet earth, to prevent Sasuke from running out of life force. Why did Code not kill Sasuke when he had the opportunity to terminate one of those who were hands in glove in Isshiki's demise? Boruto isn't sure.

Does he seek an answer?

No.

Code is far too dangerous to be life alive. And Boruto will do whatever it takes to finish Code off.

.

.

.

Isshiki's timeless dimension that is linked to his Dharmagan. It's tremendously vast compared to ordinary universes. The bearer of Dharmagan may be the only person who can freely move in this realm, and they can use the dojutsu to manipulate the stored objects in it.

Kawaki enters this dimension, staring at the seventh hokage, who has lost his consciousness. Standing at one hundred eighty three centimeters tall, Kawaki's let his grow long to reach his neck, wearing a white cape.

How many times has Kawaki came to see his father? He's lost count of it for all that matters to him is to eradicate Otsutsuki clan and bring back Naruto to a world that is not threatened by the parasitic species.

Does Kawaki even care about Hinata? He has aaked this question time and again. Hinata was kind to him, and while she did stood up for Boruto and slapped Kawaki in the face, he doesn't hold a grudge against her for doing what a sane person expects from a caring mother. Kawaki did pity her for she failed to see just how dangerous of a threat Boruto is.

"Once i'm done, you can have your revenge. And if you hesitate, i will kill myself in one way or another. My sole purpose is to wipe the Otsutsuki from existence. I'm nothing but trash." Kawaki says, closing his eyes.

Kawaki disappears from his personal domain, lands on top of Naruto's hokage rock, watching over the village.

"I'll protect your people." Kawaki mutters.

"Guys, why Kawaki seems to be addicted to going to that pocket dimension again?" Chocho says with her full mouth, eating strawberry sandwich in restaurant with her seat near the window that allows her to see hokage rock and stare at Kawaki.

Chocho Akimichi, one hundred sixty seven centimeters tall, her long wavy hair in a twin tail style, she is wearing an orange and black crop top and an orange knee-length sports skirt along with a pink butterfly-shaped pendant and the traditional earring that is passed from one generation of InoShikaCho to the next one. She is a bite more chubby than she was as a genin.

"Having people like you chasing him and getting on his nerves babbling nonsense, bragging about how you have every single handsome boy in the world wrapped around your little finger, that's not surprising at all." Inojin says, resting his chin on palm of his right hand.

Inojin Yamanaka, one hundred seventy centimeters tall, with long yellow hair tired into ponytail, he is wearing black and purple t-shirt with black pants, along with InoShikaCho earring.

"You are jealous that i have all eyes on me." Chocho claims, giggling.

"Have you ever considered the possiblity of someone eyeing you because you are morbidly obese?" Inojin asks Chocho, sighing.

"Now now, are you body shaming me?" Chocho frowns at Inojin.

"I'm stating obvious facts. Besides, if you are as attractive as you claim, why have i never heard of you speaking about dating anyone?" Inojin queries, handing over the tray board with empty drink bottles to waitress. "Thanks for your patience, miss."

"I'm getting paid for this. So it's fine." The waitress responds with a gentle tone, grinning at Inojin who feels bad for her, giving her a nervous smile.

'Don't tell me that this woman is Inojin's type?' Chocho begins to wonder, scanning the waitress. 'Green hair, peach skin tone, sky blue eyes, quite curvy with that peach and mommy milkers...gosh, that's so cliche!' Chocho thinks, her face turns red.

"Amado-san said that Kawaki recovers faster in timeless dimension, and can gather up chakra there. He's been busy finishing S-rank missions on daily basis. Since it's silent there, i don't blame him at all." Shikadai presumes, eating his lightning burger.

Shikadai Nara, one hundred seventy four centimeters tall, wearing dark green and black jacket with black pants along with the traditional InoShikaCho earring.

"You three have been assigned to tens of S-rank missions yourselves. You will be promoted to jonin rank soon. I am proud of you kids. I really do mean it." Moegi confesses, throwing an arm around Inojin's neck.

"Mitsuki, Sarada, Sumire and Houki are all ahead of us. Houki is an anbu chief and the rest are tokubetsu jonins. We are nothing extraordinaire compared to them." Inojin admits.

"Realistically speaking, Tsubasa-san was the one who mentored them. At age of eleven, he was assisting Sasuke-san on missions, no one in our generation operates on such a high level. The legends revolving around him make him sound more like a mythical godlike deity of sorts than anything. I remember the late lord seventh saying that Tsubasa-san's almost as talented as Itachi Uchiha, the single most gifted prodigy in history of konoha." Shikadai states.

'This guy again? Why would one compare me with him? These kids make me feel insecure. Why would you mention Tsubasa-kun?' Moegi thinks, wearing a fake smile. Shikadai and Inojin both can tell that she's not happy with their statements, and regret saying what they said.

"Don't you dare hit on that bulbasaur." Chocho bends over to threaten Inojin.

"You were scanning her for a while, we have been coming here since graduating from the academy, and i should be the one to tell you that She's married?" Inojin murmurs, holding his temple.

"Huh? But...i mean...what?" Chocho says, confused.

"The ring." Inojin points at the waitress who is behind him, Chocho spots her and sees the gold wedding ring that she is wearing.

"But who wears wedding rings in konoha?" Chocho asks Inojin, dumbfounded.

"That's a good point. To answer your question, She is an immigrant from land of iron. Her name is Akua and before y-" Shikadai gets interrupted.

"HOW DO YOU ALL KNOW ABOUT ALL THIS?" Chocho shouts.

"I told you all she never listens. Dummy." Inojin nods.

"Communication, Chocho. You were busy daydreaming about your romance life when Akua introduced herself three years ago." Shikadai replies.

"Oh...eh....sorry..." Chocho growls, embarassed.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You just need to get out of your fantasy world more often." Moegi says, watching Chocho as she covers her face with her hands.

.

.

.

"I told you i'm all good!" Might guy shouts at the doctors. "All this joy and passion...i have reclaimed the power of youth after eighteen long years! I will get to compete with my eternal rival and taste a series much-needed satisfying victories!" Guy clenches his fists with his teary eyes, then lets out a deafening scream but Amado, Katasuke, Akita and Sumire covered their ears before that catasthropic sound that leaves cracks on walls of the hospital.

"It appears that Katasuke's extensive research on Mitsuki's and Kawaki's regenerative cells now bear a fruit. Using the stem cells in your own body and carefully modifying them with my inorganic technology, neurons have regenerated and limbs in your right leg have been reformed." Amado states, opening a pack of cigars.

"However, i advice you not to use your eight gates technique. You have to achive an ideal shape through cultivating yang energy, that way you will be allowed to go past fourth gate. Or all this effort will be meaningless." Katasuke asserts.

"I understand your concerns." Guy says, bowing to Katasuke and Amado. "Thank you very much."

"Come for check-up once every two weeks. Don't forget about your medicine." Akita reminds Guy.

"You don't need to worry about anything! I'll be extra careful in my journey to beat Kakashi!" Guy cries, gives a thumbs up, then starts to run away beaming. "I'M COMING KAKASHI!"

"No one in this room would take you seriously." Sumire whispers.

Sumire Kakei, one hundred seventy four centimeters tall, wearing a halterneck shirt and black pants underneath her lab coat, she has let her hair lose and grow long to reach her hips.

"Well done, Sumire. If you weren't here, it would have taken us a few more years to make this dream a reality. Your hard work paid off. Both you and Akita did an excellent job." Amado admits. "Keep it up. You have all the potential in the world."

"You're flattering me, Amado-san." Sumire responds, smiling.

"I think you are making a big deal out of it." Akita replies to Amado, her face turns red.

"Amado-san is right. The future is in the palms of your hands. You just have to not lose focus. Dedicate yourselves to this. I believe you will be the greatest minds in field of science." Katasuke claims.

"Yes, sir." Akita and Sumire utter at the same time.

"You may leave now. Go and have fun for you deserve it." Katasuke says.

"Thank you so much." Akita bows, Sumire follows her and then they start to leave. As they reach the end of hall they do high-fave as they grin, happy to see their progress and growth, and how they helped someone go ecstatic.

.

.

.

There is pocket dimensions with different laws of physics. Ashina Uzumaki invented formulas that allowed him to gain access to those space-time contiuum to go through rigorous training sessions, and after foundation of konoha, he taught academy students how to perform those seal and create special sealing tags.

In one of countless dimensions with a gravity that is equal to that of an average black hole, a girl is holding a mountain that weighs trillions of times more than that of star in her timeline, Sarada's physical strength impresses her legendary mother Sakura Uchiha and the copy ninja Kakashi Hatake.

Sarada Uchiha, standing at one hundred sixty three centimeters tall, she is wearing a black and red jacket with black shorts and mid-calf black sandal boots, Sarada's hair is almost straight but with spikes on back of her head and shorter than it used to be when she was a kid. She is wearing an earring with shape of uchiha clan symbol and has attached forehead protector to right side of her jacket.

Sarada, Mitsuki and Sumire were all promoted to jonin rank in last year's april along with Houki who earned rank of Anbu Chief. They were Tsubasa Emiya's pupils and were trained by him for two years, mastering so many jutsus and each inventing their own unique techniques. Mitsuki, Sumire and Sarada had some of highest scores in history of jonin exams, with Mitsuki falling behind his mentor.

"It's been two days and you haven't even broken a sweat? I'm afraid you might be the single physically strongest kunoichi of all time at age of fifteen." Kakashi admits. "That's enough, Sarada."

Sarada carefully puts the vast frame of rock down and wipes the dirt and dust off her clothes. "Never enough."

"You didn't even need to activate your byakugou seal, Sarada-chan. That is an astonishing showcase of strength even compared to likes of Tsunade-san and me." Sakura confesses.

"And yet, my power is inferior to Boruto's and Kawaki's, let alone Code." Sarada states, frowning.

"If you want to protect the village so badly, you have to see the limits to your capacity. Or you will die failing to achive your goal. Is that what you truly wish?" Kakashi asks Sarada with a straight look on his face, Sarada glares at him.

"All that awaits you in this path is darkness. You know that, right?" Sakura asks Sarada, putting her hand on Sarada's back.

"Yeah..." Sarada mutters, starts to walk away from her mother and mentor. Sinking in a sea of emotions and thoughts.

'Father...lord seventh...Hinata-san...Boruto...' Sarada thinks, shutting her eyes. 'If i have to, i will fight destiny itself to make everything right!' The thought of her beloved ones sets her heart ablaze

Sarada drops her head and stands in middle of the space-time formula that is carved on the silky red sands, fearing that even with her friends assistance she may not be able to protect the village, doubting in her potential and unsure if she truly deserves to become hokage or not.

[avatarofwar]

i saw you talk about wolf a few times from sekiro and was wondering if you'd want to share more of your thoughts on him or sekiro as a whole, the game really interests me compared to other dark souls games so i wanted to ask

sorry for the late reply but oh boy do I have thoughts abt wolf. trying not to spoil the game, so I'm gonna refrain from talking about the story. might go into just restating known things about the game, but I'd much rather play it safe and not spoil the story

before going to that. the game is very much different from dark souls (setting wise, while taking place in a fictional country it is in a historical setting. I cannot comment on the setting properly bc I don't know much about the time period, however), most notably in the combat (primarily shifting from a dodge-centric playstyle to a parry-centric playstyle (significantly easier than dark souls/elden ring parrying, however), with dodges having significantly shorter i-frames and being very unreliable for dodging attacks). it's very different but something I really enjoy, even if I'm not as good as I am at typical soulsborne combat. it's really fun when you get the hang of it, and while I might not be The Best at it (which is mostly bc of how different it is from soulsborne games, so ofc I'm not as good at is as I am at the other fromsoft games I've played), it's something I can still enjoy

a huge thing about sekiro is the difference in how the story is told. in soulsborne games the story is something you have to figure out; progressing through the main path doesn't give you enough to piece everything together if you don't read any lore. with sekiro, however, the story is significantly more obvious, on account of the playable character having unique ties to the world and its characters, rather than going the soulsborne route of being one of many people (wording hard, but the chosen undead for example is no one special, just one of many undead trying to link the flame). it's a very different method of storytelling, but is still something really good. for as much as I adore having to actively hunt down lore and story in soulsborne games, it's also great experiencing story through natural game progression

wolf is also canonically disabled (loses his left arm at the start of the game) and has a really fucking cool prosthetic that is a whole part of the combat system (even though I personally keep forgetting to use it). so good for him. he deserves a prosthetic that can have deadly weaponry attached to it. like a mini-flamethrower. he deserves a mini-flamethrower, as a treat.

putting the wolf thoughts beneath a read more because this is getting long and I might spoil some stuff (mostly relationship with another character, I'll try to refrain from story spoilers. also spoilers in general, but there might be some), and he has definitely become a blorbo (additionally, content warning for abuse)

first of all. wolf makes me want to throw myself off a cliff and I mean this in the most positive way ever. he is great and I love him but man he needs so much fucking therapy and he doesn't even realise it (therapy probably doesn't exist in that time period, but besides the point). he is very much traumatised and has been heavily shaped by it and doesn't even know it.

prior to the events of the game (I forgot how long ago it was) he was orphaned by war and got taken in by owl, a shinobi and also a piece of fucking garbage. owl raises wolf to be a shinobi under the iron code, with the number one rule being loyalty to his father (owl), with his master (kuro, the divine heir) a close second (and also to give his life for his master if necessary. which is also a whole other thing to get into).

owl is very explicitly abusive. he raises wolf as a tool rather than a person, and that upbringing severely affects wolf as a character - he is an incredibly capable shinobi, but lacks any skills other than that; he does not know how to be a proper person, he is a loyal wolf, but he does not know how to be anything other than that. hell, without spoiling too much about the context, there is a cutscene in which owl actively attempts to guilt trip wolf, going as far as using fake tears (saying anything specific is very spoilery. this isn't even the only horrid thing he's done, but I'm trying to refrain from too many spoilers).

wolf canonically does not value himself without anyone to serve (we see this at the beginning of the game, as events prior to the start of the game not yet known about leads him to believe he has no one to serve, and thus no purpose, so he isolates himself from the world in a well for 3 years). while he does have compassion for others (most notable example being concern over victims of dragonrot), he starts off the game driven primarily by duty. he is loyal to a fault, willing to do anything for kuro, but also valuing his service to kuro more than himself (cannot remember the exact wording, but when kuro expresses concern for how many times wolf has died for him, wolf states that it does not matter as it was in service to him).

there's also the fact that wolf canonically eats uncooked rice and genuinely doesn't know - as a fully grown adult - you are supposed to cook it, which is... genuinely something awful if you truly think about it and what more it implies about his upbringing especially considering it's one of the most basic things you could learn how to make (just... says a lot about owl if you seriously think about it).

he is a loyal wolf, but he doesn't know how to be more than that. he doesn't know how to just... exist for himself, to be his own person separate of his duty and he doesn't even recognise just how fucked up it is, because how could he, when he was shaped into this as a child, when his own father wanted him to be nothing more than a tool to use.

I could say a lot more about his relationships with other characters (that are actually good people) and how it just. makes me lose my mind, but this post is almost 1k words. so, simply put, kuro genuinely caring about him makes me so fucking emotional, especially bc of owl; his father might be horrible and an abuser, he might not know how to be more than he was raised, but at the very least he can serve someone who actively cares about him and his wellbeing.

[tobiasdrake]

This is it. The final story of Rain Code: Chapter Yakou.

AND IT'S POST-GAME OKAY LET'S GO. We're not here to tell a story about Yakou. We're here to tell a story about Feral Yakou.

Hold up, is Yakou's wife here?

When was she murdered? Was it before or after the Blank Week? Huesca and Yomi were doing their espionage for five years, and the Blank Week was three years ago. So it could go either way.

Oh man. I hope she's here. Yakou and his wife can form a hunting duo and spend the rest of their feral days (eternity or however long until a cure can be devised) hunting Huesca and murdering him together over and over again.

We get to control his shambling. This is great. Wonder if we'll get to hang out with any of the other ferals?

Yakou's being psychologically attacked by Yuma's recent visit. What is going through his head? Something is happening to him physiologically; You can tell because his body started smoking from this memory.

I hope he's healing. If Yakou can recover from being feral then that will mean there's hope for the others. Most importantly the Theater Girls + Aiko.

A memory from before he went feral! He still has his memories! Which. I suppose. Was obvious from the way he had enough presence of mind to hand that disc off to Yuma. But still!

Also, LOL Desuhiko. You died first.

I mean, you didn't. Nobody died. It was fake. But Makoto ran the numbers with his genius super-brain and the order he came up with for how things would have gone was, "Desuhiko lasts five seconds. Because obviously." And he was right.

Are all of these glimpses from the side stories? Because Fubuki never interacted with Yakou during hers, so she might get snubbed here. We should probably--

--watch where we're going instead of musing about Halara and Fubuki. Look, stairs are hard when you're barely even conscious.

Deeper into Umbrella Labs we go. Now that I think about it, Yakou's wife might not be a homunculus. She could just as easily be a ghost. If she did die before the Blank Week, she would have died in this lab, not the decoy Restricted Area that Makoto tried to pass off as this place.

Of course, if she was a ghost, you'd think she'd seek out the company of the human Yakou's ghost, rather than his homunculus. I dunno.

Aww, there's Bestie. This was from his final moments.

Oh wow, check out that detail on her choker. It's a set of VCR buttons. That's amazing. I never noticed that before.

Yakou. Yakou. You need to return to full sentience. Your best pal needs you. Yakou!

There she is! The woman from the photo! I don't remember if we know her name or not but it's her! The second-most important relationship Yakou has, after Vivia!

...to me, I mean. Important to me. I am invested in exactly two relationships in Yakou's life, and this is one of them.

So what's the verdict, lady? Ghost, homunculus, or feral hallucination?

Not an answer! In what form are you waiting? I want to know!

Man, I don't even know what this chapter is going to be like. How do you wring an entire chapter of story out of this? Is she here to provide Yakou solace in his feral time? To heal him? What is plot?

OH APPARENTLY THAT'S HOW. We're in for a full-on examination of Yakou and his wife's history, I guess.

Oh wow, Yakou does not look good in broad daylight. Bright light brings out the dazed bewilderment in his resting expression.

Is the WDO not writing their checks? This is two years before Kanai Ward became an isolated city-state.

The sad thing is, people actually believe stuff like that. There's this weird trust that some people have for corporations like Disney or Walmart. It's a product of hierarchical ways of thinking.

There is an idea that's been around for the whole of human history, that some people are simply better than us and that a society led by its superior humans will surely prosper. This idea of naturally gifted ubermensch is responsible for the Divine Right of Kings. It's responsible for a lot of gross ethnic philosophies. It thrives in our media through Chosen One narratives and the romanticization of monarchy, both of which date back thousands of years.

It's specifically what the climax of Rain Code centers on, with Makoto insisting that if he, the Greatest Intelligence, can't solve this problem then no one can. And Yuma coming in with, "Maybe you should stop being so infatuated with the idea of being the Savior Ubermensch and realize that other people's opinions and beliefs have value too."

And it emerges in the relationship that some people have with capitalism. There is an idea that the capitalists should rule because their ability to amass wealth is evidence of a superior intelligence. They hustled harder and smarter than us all because they are the Superior Man, and if we simply surrender control to them, they will use their supreme intelligence to lead us into a prosperous future.

What it amounts to in practice is clinging to the surcoat of a billionaire hoping to catch a coin that falls from his overstuffed pockets.

Man, it is wild to see Yakou as the one being talked down to for trying to do detective shit.

I wonder what ever happened to Colleague Detective. Do you think he's the Peacekeeper that Halara drowned in front of the office-sub? I'm gonna imagine he is.

Dammit, Yakou. When you're being shaken down by the mob, don't vocalize things that sound like "I'm physically vulnerable so now would be a good time!"

HEY! Not cool!

Yakou might be a heteronormative tool but he's our heteronormative tool. I was going to make a joke that I hope you were one of the guys Fubuki drowned but actually, no. I hope you used your mob connections to dodge Amaterasu's blood "tests".

The nerve on this man, to politely request a payment extension from a mob boss that is actively beating the shit out of him. Yakou has no self-preservation instinct at all.

This is the face of a man bold enough to put out a hit on himself so no one would know that he poisoned himself to death. The bruised and bloody face of such a man.

[godraet]

lmao first post absolutely has to cover some important parts of this blog because i control the lore now.

we're going to start this off with the entire "the gerudo are persian coded" and even if people disagree with me, i have reason to see it that way and also this opens up avenues to look into more of their culture with something to base it off of- anyway with this, gan is in fact padishah, mighty king. i do not care what other titles the games have given him, that is the ONLY one that actually matters in my heart. i don't vibe with "lmao he's just demise being an ass for no real good reason" and while we do get a background sorta in windwaker i continue to expand on things because this is my city now.

gan is in fact a great king to his people. he has issues with hyrule, but for real not every nation gets along, and hyrule has plenty of its own flaws and prejudices. it sorta goes both ways there- sure, the complex nature of the mix of divine memories, past lives, and the present moment make it hard for him to actually figure out what he's feeling, but more often than not, he's bitter about hyrule and he can pick at least one valid reason across every lifetime he's lived- usually he'll list like 10 because he's bitter.

on the note of gan's kingship, this term no longer has gender because gan's gender is "power" and it doesn't matter if he was born male, he doesn't really notice any difference between himself and the women he's always been around aside from primary sex characteristics and in his mind that DOESN'T mean he has to be a man. he uses he/him pronouns, but that also doesn't necessarily indicate masculinity. as he was raised, it was femininity that was a mark of strength- he was taught to be proud of the form he was given by the goddesses, to be proud of his power, what i'm saying is for all he cares, he's also one of the women and he's the strongest one in the room at any given moment.

something something the inherent lgbtq nature of the gerudo in general??? so when i say gender doesn't actually matter, i truly mean that none of them give a shit, it's that the greater majority of them have more "feminine" looks- i know the lore says every 100 years a male is born, but actually i don't vibe with that so it's more of the "every 100 years, a series of criteria are met and the child born gets the title of padishah regardless of assigned gender at birth" because do you think demise cares about gender? demise cares about power, and the gerudo have proven to be strong as a whole. it just so happens that this time around, the person in question was dmab.

yes, gan is an incarnation of the god demise, just like zelda is an incarnation of the goddess hylia. yes, it makes literally everything in his life more complicated, but that's just the nature of divinity slapped in a "mortal" container.

gan likes women and femme leaning individuals. putting this here because reasons.

[eimearkuopio]

😂😂😂😂😂

Okay so when I was 20 they finally diagnosed me with "Asperger's syndrome" because it was a long time ago. These days I go with autism. I can tell you it definitely came from my dad's side of the family.

When I was maybe 24 or 25 I participated in a research project that involved using fMRI on autistic individuals. They did make several loud and pointed comments about ADHD and my parents and I both did explain that I could focus on things very easily for a very long time, so I couldn't possibly have ADHD.

I have all nine inattentive-type ADHD traits but only two of the hyperactive-impulsive types. That for sure came from mum's side of the family. I was 33 when I finally got that diagnosis. Finally got medicated in October 2019.

As I get the impression some people may have noticed, my mental health is...iffy. But also, nobody is actually sure if "divine mania" is genuinely supernatural or not. I am also not sure! But based on how fucking weird my life has been this summer, I can only conclude that someone somewhere knows what the fuck is going on, and that things are going to get better.

I know we're in a story. That's not the question. I don't even think I'm the sole protagonist, which is a relief because... No thank you. I think we're in a video game and the Pauli Exclusion Principle is a way of storing two related pieces of information necessary for the simulation to arbitrary precision using finite memory somewhere, if anyone is curious. I also think we're going to get to run for as long as we keep from absolutely wiping ourselves out, and we are currently closer than we have ever been on that front but I think my player just completed a pacifist run (aside from unskippable cut scenes) and while that's not a sufficient condition to guarantee the "best" outcome, it IS a necessary one and the rest is up to the other PCs. I know enough about agent-based simulations and AI to think it's possible we can still pull this off. There are scripted events and everything in between is a best-fit approximation, probably using some kind of spline system.

I do think life is better when I have my own copy of the lid of the jigsaw. Some people tried to share theirs but they needed it too and they were working really hard to get their pieces in order. I have a lot of weird pieces that didn't seem to fit together at first, and I'm not going to claim the picture I seem to have constructed is the objective correct one, but I'm still proud enough of whatever I have figured out to be willing to share it. I don't know if it's a case of carcinogenesis resulting in convergent evolution of a new species of crab, or recessive genes reappearing unexpectedly, or the spirit of our century expressing itself as a kind of collective doomsayer weirdness, but I choose careful optimism every time. I might be wrong, but that's true anyway.

I have definitely had a rough summer of it. But basically, I'm autistic, and I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, and I am just about functional enough to be able to overrule that in favour of a clear written code of conduct; but after a lifetime of being told I had to follow other people's rules that went against my instincts, but also, they didn't and I just had to forgive them, I may have snapped and just let the ADHD heal whatever the autism was going through.

It definitely feels like I have become a lowercase-g god. I know a lot of people my age and younger who have similar issues to me. I think it's time we start a union and begin negotiating with the elders who keep telling us we're the problem. Even if that may result in becoming a new and different problem, that's the next generation's issue (and I truly hope it won't). We have enough to deal with. If they were waiting for a sign from God, I genuinely can't tell if this is an attempt to convince me to claim I'm God (I am not God), but apparently there's a nova and a comet and a second fucking moon? So. Y'all can figure it out. I need a nap. And a few more members for the union.

Side note: in Irish the term for disabled person is "duine le Dia". We usually translate this as "one whom God is with", but technically speaking, it would more accurately be translated as "a person who has a god".

I saw the reblog string about EGS and.

What is EGS and would you reccomend it?

El Goonish Shive is a webcomic that started back when webcomics were allowed to be fun little personal projects and not movie-quality art pieces made by already-successful professional artists. It's a fun lighthearted story of a bunch of teenagers having wacky magical adventures and solving mysteries. Like a lot of webcomics from its day, there's a lot of silly humour and genderbending shenanigans, and like a lot of webcomics from its day, it becomes significantly more complex and better made as the artist learns his craft.

The reason I'm pointing all of this out is because it's a really fun little time and I do recommend it, but I need to warn you that it starts like this:

because this is now teenagers learning their craft on the internet in 2002 wrote webcomics. I'm mentioning this because to younger readers who weren't there, I know this can be off-putting.

That out of the way, it's a fun adventure with a lot of magical transformation, young queer teens finding themselves and gaining the courage to be who they are, and alien/interdimensional politics. Watching the artist grow both politically and as an artist as he grows up is great. So if that's your bag, you'll have a lot of fun with egs. If it's not your bag, you won't.

The early years, being drawn by a teenager with internet access, also have a fair bit of not-very-disguised fetish material, so also be warned about that. (This was also the norm in this era of webcomic.)

[dargacode]

"TUTORIAL HELL" is Both Harmful and Imaginary

Day 2862

Every time I go on a programming subreddit or other public forum, I see so many distraught learners in anguish that they can't start "A Real Project", and are "stuck" on tutorials, as state which has now come to be referred to as "Tutorial Hell."

It honestly makes me extremely mad that people have made Tutorial Hell into such a meme that new programmers are now scared of it. It's unnecessary gate-keeping around what counts as A Real Project, and it's harming programming students who could otherwise be happily progressing on their way to mastery if they hadn't been poisoned by this idea.

There are zero useful aspects to the concept, and it only prevents students from learning rather than helping them learn. Every programmer in the world, from you to the creators of Google, has to get their ideas based on SOMETHING:

A problem they want to solve for themselves (or a friend, or a customer).

Some knowledge they already had, applied in a new way

A new skill they've just picked up from another project or lesson

A new feature that was just introduced into some technology they use

There's literally no way to get an idea except to have had some experience that leads you to it.

So starting from a completely empty file, and divining a new project based purely on inspiration is of course a very intimidating task, but luckily we don't ever actually have to do that.

The process of developing projects is actually very natural (even inevitable???) if you transfer your code more gradually from "100% Tutorial" to "100% Project":

Start off by doing the tutorials as written. Make sure that you're actually coding along and checking in your code to a github repo.

Every time you finish a tutorial, think of some tiny change you can make to the code to "make it your own." This can start out as small as just changing some text on the screen, or the colors it's using.

Over time you'll naturally get some more ambitious ideas for how to make the project into something even cooler, and you'll start adding larger things like a new feature with its own functions.

Eventually you'll get enough practice expanding projects and applying ideas that the project is mostly your "custom" code instead of code the tutorial told you to write.

Now maybe you have an idea to make a clone of this project but make it even better.

Now you're making A Real Project, From Scratch, but it doesn't rely on you having some eureeka moment of inspiration.

Here's what those steps could look like in a more specific example, from a common tutorial:

Complete a tutorial on how to fetch data from a weather API.

Think, "how could I do some additional fetching to practice more?"

Decide to fetch some data from a movie API instead.

Think, again, "how could I do some additional fetching to practice more?"

Realize that you could use the skills you've learned to fetch two different movies, and iterate through the casts to see which actors they have in common.

Think, again, "how could I do some additional fetching to practice more?

Realize that you could do something similar by fetching two actors, and see what movies they have in common.

Remember that the meme "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" is related to actors being in the same movies together.

Realize that you could make an app that tracks Kevin Bacon degrees by putting together your movie overlap code and your actor overlap code.

Take the code you've written to modify the tutorial and paste it into a new project, where start turning it into its own app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/six-degrees-movie-trivia/id328926385 (not my app)

Coding learners, you're going to be ok - you can take it gradually! Try to just focus on programming a lot, and what kinds of things you program will evolve naturally over time. If you want to consciously lead things in the direction of building your own projects from scratch that's great!

But trying so hard to make this transition that it discourages you from coding is hurting you for no good reason. If you stay curious enough and excited enough about programming, over enough time you'll reach this goal without even trying to.

[marciabrady]

did you see that jodi benson is applauding the lyric and story changes to the remake? does that make you feel like the energy is of the film is the same as the original?

I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't been a fan of any of the live action remakes and that, while I do admire Jodi, I can be objective about what's going on.

Before I state my opinion, let me start with just listing some facts: Jodi is currently a Disney employee and relies primarily on her Disney salary for her income and livelihood. Jodi has become very deferential to Disney and has contradicted herself and changed her opinion many times in the past, vacillating between what was arguably her authentic opinion and a PR answer (for instance, she was pretty vocal about having a lot of difficulties with the creative team of the third movie and disliking it, before changing her tune entirely and giving seemingly rehearsed soundbites; she also did this when asked about the character of Ariel. Anytime she would give her take on how strong Ariel was or if the character was a good role model before 2019, she would always defend Ariel, but after 2019...well, we'll get into that later). Jodi has been vocal about getting in trouble with Disney in the past and having to adjust accordingly. Jodi is doing everything she can to maintain her relationship with the company and is trying to have her daughter hired into the company and possibly her son. Now, take all of those things into consideration, alongside the fact that anyone who's said anything against the live action remake has been essentially labeled as a bigot or problematic, etc, so it's impossible to really have any discourse about the film in a way that's earnest or isn't overly flowery and complimentary, which is what Jodi is doing.

I think art ceases to be art and becomes completely commercial the minute every person has the exact same take on the film, and this has been the case with this project since before even a single frame of it was shot. And, honestly, that kind of encapsulates why I don't think this film will be anything like the original? Well, it won't retain its energy, at least. Obviously they're ripping off the songs and the characters for their own gain.

It's hard to overstate how dire the conditions were that the original creative team was working under and how much was riding on this project- how inventive it was, how fresh a concept, how much it married a traditional reverence to the classic Disney films while marking a stamp all of its own to it. Time and time again, the success and novelty of this film has been accredited to one man- Howard Ashman. Howard Ashman did so much for the original production- he wrote some dialogue, he wrote the music, he performed key numbers for the talent to the point where they just copied whatever he did- he even invested his own money into the film. The fact that this was the first time an openly gay man had so much creative control over a project at Disney is something that, sadly to this day, is an outlier that has never happened again. This, married with some of the other gay talent working on the film- like Andreas Deja- infused a necessary element of queerness into the energy of production. Even the fact that Ursula was based on drag queen Divine, or the animator working on the scene where Ariel's grotto was destructed drew parallels of his father kicking him out when he came out...this is the definitive queer-coded fairytale for the gay community, going back to the original author and his artistic intent, and that's why I'm so happy that so many LGBTQIA+ people were able to contribute to the film in the 80s. When you mix that with how down animation was at the time and how animation would've ceased to exist at Disney, had this film not been successful, how the animators were pushed off the lot to working in trailers for the first time in the company's history...I think all of that contributed to lending an authentic energy of repression and being underground, etc, all things super necessary to illustrating the gay experience and having all of that ring through on screen. All of the people involved had something of being an outsider in society, too, which I think is perfect for the story of Ariel. Did you know about Jodi Benson before The Little Mermaid? No, of course you didn't, because she had virtually no fame and had auditioned for Ariel as a pity gift from Howard after the show she had been performing in had flopped, according to Jodi. Whenever she told her family and friends about the project, they laughed at her and told her the only people that do animation are ones whose careers are downhill and were so discouraging, until she finally stopped saying anything to them about it at all until the premiere where the success shocked everyone. Even Pat Carroll was a third choice- they wanted a different actress, and once they didn't get her and hired another one, she didn't work out either which is why they finally called Pat in. This film was solely riding on the creative energy and passion and love the creative team had for it and so many bets and stakes were on its back. The success of it came as a surprise to everyone, and it arguably reinvented animation and brought forth the animation period known as the Disney Renaissance.

Compare that to the 2023 film...literally nothing about it is inventive or edgy. It's the 100th live action film that is anything but the reimagining it's remarked as- it literally tries to be the same film as the animated which has already found success, down to naming the mermaid Ariel, giving her red hair, a green fin, a fish friend named Flounder and a crab named Sebastian, and other inventions that were created specifically for the 1989 film as opposed to going back to the original story and trying to be its own thing (every single live action Disney film does this which I think is so stupid honestly; like people being surprised that Sebastian and Flounder look like that...of course they do, because they were created for the medium of animation, not whatever this movie is try to be; how much better would Emma Watson's performance have seemed if she didn't have to live up to the animated Belle's songs or the iconic gold dress?). It rips off the same songs, which have since become Americana and already proven to be successful. In the age where so many critiques have come up regarding the original film, this movie softens both the characters of Ariel and Ursula to appeal to as wide a demographic as possible further illustrating that while the emphasis on the first film was to bring forth a reality to the characters of Ariel and King Triton, this movie just wants to be liked by everyone and has nothing to say.

While many people have stated that Halle's casting was progressive, every other principle character is portrayed by a white actor- Ursula, Eric, Ariel's Father, Vanessa, etc. The man that has taken over Howard Ashman's seat is painfully straight (sorry Lin Manuel, but I can't get on board) and has already written songs for huge Disney productions in the past (ever heard of Moana?) and is currently very popular (ever heard of Hamilton?). Besides, a Disney Princess being racebent isn't a new concept- as we saw with Brandi's Cinderella in the 1990s- and it isn't even new to this property, as we saw the voice actress of Moana playing Ariel in a live action version back in 2019. Remember when I mentioned how the original cast hadn't been super well known prior to the film's release? Halle was literally recognized by Beyonce and had already been in an established singing group with her sister and news of her casting was announced four years prior to the release of the film and super publicized- which, by the way, the marketing budget for this film is nearly double than the production budget for the original, so just think about that...Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem literally admitted to texting the director begging for a part, which they got since they were already bigshots in Hollywood. Speaking of Melissa, if Disney really wanted to be progressive or inclusive or be any of the things they're touting to be, I feel they should've hired a drag queen to portray Ursula. Instead, they gave us a white straight married woman from Illinois who's never sang a note in her life. I'm sorry but there's no way she was the best possible choice for the role. Also, outside of not hiring any substantial amount of queer talent or talent of color in front of or behind the camera, Disney has intentionally tried to distance themselves from the community and the subtext of the original movie's queerness. I already mentioned how Ursula was based on a drag queen, and it was Howard's invention that she had a fling with Triton in the past, which you can hear Pat confirming in this interview. This 2023 film makes them siblings...also, I'm sorry, I'll never get over the fact that the original author of the fairytale was part of the community, Howard was, and then they give us...Lin Manuel? There's so many things about the production of this film that make me so uncomfortable and it's all rooted back to the erasure. Which reminds me- Disney announced that they were taking a documentary based on Howard Ashman, his creative achievements and his struggle with AIDs, off of the Disney+ platform the same day they were going to release TLM 2023, before they later repented due to complaints. Aside from the erasure, it's also unsettling to me, as I mentioned before, that there's such a lack of diversity in the cast and it's nearly all white principals when this movie LITERALLY has advertised how "diverse" it is above all else.

In 2019 they announced they were going to set the film in the Caribbean, which I thought was new to this retelling and I was excited to see what it would've looked like and what the new music would've been etc...but this was back when they were planning on casting Harry Styles, a white British man, as Eric. I think having a white British man as the ruler of the Caribbeans is horrible optics, and when he backed out, they hired another white British man...it honestly doesn't sit well with me, especially when other young actors of color were auditioning and were allegedly encountering racism (just saying allegedly because I'm not trying to get sued lol). Also take into account that women of color that have actual talent when it comes to singing were auditioning to be Ursula, even women with pull and influence in the industry, before it was given to director friend Melissa McCarthy who begged for the role via text. Unfortunately, none of these topics are being addressed because Disney very smartly tied audience approval to this film on whether or not they agree with Halle's casting so people are treating it as above reproach and don't really want to speak out or discuss these really problematic elements of production for fear that they might come across as not being in support of Halle having gotten the role and, by extension, making it appear as though they don't support any leads of color.

Finally, where the original was a labor of love with barely any money going into it, fueled purely by a spirit of creativity and love and art, such is not the case with the remake. The remake doesn't offer anything new in the endless strings of live actions, which are doing the same thing with each film- down to how they're marketing the female talent (a strong woman who don't need no man!!). The director has even shown that he doesn't understand the character of Ariel multiple times and fed right into criticism that the talent from the original, like Jodi, used to speak out about before she was ironically silenced. Because she doesn't anymore...because Disney won't let her, allegedly. Jodi allegedly works with a speechwriter and you can kind of tell. I've met her and I've seen almost every panel she's been a part of, and when you ask her about an experience or a memory or her opinion, her stories change a lot. There are still the same truths to them, but she'll reveal different details in each, just the way you would when you're telling the same story to different people because anything that's natural isn't something that will be duplicated too much and there are going to be changes and shifts depending on when you tell it, who you tell it to, etc. Starting in 2019, Jodi stopped defending Ariel and began reciting a speech which she's repeated ad nauseam over how Ariel was appropriate for when she was made but, by virtue of how much "stronger" female characters are now, she'll pale in comparison to someone like Merida or Mulan. She claims you can't hold a 1989 portrayal up against a 2019 or 2023 one, because of course it would have aged...which is the opposite of what she used to say. I've heard her parrot this speech time and time again- and even in person. And that goes back to your original question...I wouldn't place my bets on the remake offering anything authentic or new if Jodi's saying it. Even aside from this, the BATB original cast have all said disparaging things about the remake, aside from Paige O'hara, who's continuously sung its and Emma Watson's praises (and what a coincidence that she's been invited to the premiere and gets more attention from Disney)...until you catch her on an off day or at a convention and she starts complaining about the darker tone, or the gun inclusion, or how Emma couldn't really sing but it was fine because she could act, or how she didn't approve of elements of the costuming...at the end of the day, these people are celebrities in their own right and have to do and say things that are canned tbh just to keep their likability up and remain palatable to the masses and hirable to Disney and Jodi's unfortunately sold out, in my opinion, in that way.