#at least there's the extermination event I guess

[tocomplainfriend]

Some random complaining!

Hazbin Hotel totally got cut off- I mean Viv probably wanted at least 3-4 season or something, but they just gave her 2. Cause the Angels already starting the genocide is so early. Which what does that mean for season 2 if this is just season 1?

I really thought it all would've started after the events of the pilot. So we just got Alastor, Nifty, and Husk. And then getting Sir pentious in the hotel, and going through some time before the extermination.

I think we are going to get normal "get to know the characters" episodes, but then scaling to the extermination date. (which I thought it was held by the end of the year). No clue of what's after that... really.

The "we will show a heaven a fight" shows me that the idea of redemption of sinners is left behind really fast. Which I found interesting, so that sucks.

Oh, look is her!

Also, I really thought they would do a small thing about the swearing. Look... I swear a shit ton! But Viv can not write all her characters like that. She said, "I write the characters how I talk"- that is not good because all characters talk the same and all force of swearing in the series disappears. The fact that Alastor doesn't swear is good, cause it gives him more character. I really hope that Charlie doesn't swear half as much, it would fit her character more. The daughter of Lucifer, that's the one out because she is nicer. But has casual to little swearing is outstanding. (It would be more special if multiple of the sins in HB weren't sweethearts). Husk swearing a lot makes sense old man, alcoholic, gambling addict from the '70s. Hopefully Nifty doesn't, She is from the 1950s when swearing was less frequent, and used specific words too-which I hope the language of the year is they are from-in the same way they are with Alastor. In the idea of Nifty being a maid during her life, you would guess she would swear less than other characters.

Every person talks and swears differently individually. So I hope not all characters over swear.

Look at Nifty! (you can do small jokes like this without swearing or heavy sexual garbage all the time)

These guys here looked a bit weird.

Also, I supposed Vaggie is still from 2014 and El Salvador, right? Like she died went to heaven, became a fallen angel... right? Am I wrong about that? Genuine question!

Also, I wonder what they will do with Sir Pentious? Velvette is not anywhere on the trailer, I think. I'm sure Baxter doesn't exist lmao. I really wonder how they will balance things with personal things for each character-at the same time of the angel's attack.

Are they full front fight the angels? Where are this guy's machines?

Someone wanted a bunch of Broadway voices, and was so ready to throw old VA's out, damn.

Are they going to have time to explore how characters died, what let them be in hell even? Gonna do a post about that and heaven stuff later on!

[bloogers-boogers]

More Marriage au ~

Adam was dragged to a small office for more privacy. He was never the problem?, what was this bitch talking about??

Anyways he was being questioned in almost everything that happened, felt and did while freshly married to Lucifer, it got to the point where it went too deep, and thats when it hit to his first marriage.

"So in the Bible it states you were married two times, is that true?"

"No. It only states when I was married to my awesome smocking hot ex wife: Eve~ and us being created."

"So that's a lie?"

"Not entirely, they just covered up the small mistakes, glossing the story up a bit."

"Which was?"

"Lilith. That unfaithful bitch. They covered her entire existence. Everything related to Lucifer, his rebellion, they didn't even stated his real name in the bible, cause he wasn't "worthy" of being recognized as his angel self. I personally think it would've been a lot more harsher if they kept his old name instead of Lucifer but whatever I guess. Then somehow those nosy ass theorists from the afertmath of Noah's shit load started looking into it too much and found actually more dirt in the hole, that revealed more to our creation. And that's how we got many split versions of it in different scriptures."

"What's his real name?"

"We're not allowed to say it. It's an angel thing."

"Prehistoric heaven stuff huh. But you're no longer a angel, your highness.."

"Fuck you. I was originally a angel before I was murdered totally unjustified btw. How does any of this information does anything in fixing my marriage?!"

The counselor scoffed, but kept her own opinion on that matter (exterminations) to herself. She's a marriage counselor not a therapist, and she wasn't getting paid enough anyways, "you were human. Originally human. Not an angel."

Now it was Adam's turn to scoff offended, but said nothing. He hated to see that side of him after his death on earth. It only brought bad memories, linked to only negative feelings, sorrow and thoughts.

"Tell me more about your marriage with Lilith."

"Pssch what's there to say? Where do I even start? What exactly do you want to know. I can go all into detail about how shit she was as my wife."

"Go on. Tell me everything you want to share, I'm here until 8 and your paying so.."

"More like aPplE hUbBy is paying for everything but whatever, took his card and shit HAHAHAHA! HAAAA," Adam snicker for himself, wiping a tear; thinking he was being funny. But he wasn't. At least for anyone else in the room which was just Gladis (counselor's name) and the only response she did was write a note to that comment.

Note one:

'Apple hubby. A subconscious, possible meaningful name for his spouse. If it referring to events of the bible, may mean about the whole apple incident (weak spot?) or it could be related to King Morningstar's obsession with apples (concerning). Or both.'

"Firstly she cheated on me. Obviously. That's the whole tea, bitch. Secondly she didn't agreed on anything I did, suggest or thought. It's like she wanted to be against everything I believed in. Nothing I did to impress her sastified her. She made ME question my entire faith and existence!" The more Adam spoke the more his pupils shrank by the dark memories of his past.

Note two:

'First wife trauma.'

"Then Lucifer shows up and POOF! Now everything that twink ass looking angel did was 'amazing' and worth looking forward to. He only sang and dance with her, ONCE, and it was like, her whole world turned around.. facing away from me..."

"And did Lucifer have any connections with you at the time? Did he also approach you when he firstly approached Lilith? Did you two spend time together? Talk? Bond?"

"More like it was all a whole distraction for their affair to continue."

"So you two did have a relationship."

"It's complicated."

"Why was it complicated, Adam?"

Adam's face soften in sadness. The question taking him off guard. He wasn't entirely sure?

What went wrong. What did he do, to not deserve Lucifer and Lilith's loyalty? Friendship, honesty.

Why wasn't he ever worth something. Enough.

"I have no fucking idea, man. I was literally perfect, still am and yet they wanted more than what they could bite and CHOKE on it in the progress."

"You're including Lilith in this. Why's that?"

"Because those two bastards were a team. The damage was done by both, all planned out and ready for what was gonna come. Got both me AND Eve. It's plural. I wish I could say I was alone in all this but I wasn't which is why it makes things hard to forgive and forget."

Note three:

'Gayass.'

"So how did you two end up falling in love?"

"We didn't, we kinda just poofed into existence already married and stuff."

"I meant you and King Lucifer."

"Just call him Lucifer he doesn't deserve that sorts of respect, he's an ass. A snake full of cock that doomed humanity."

"How did you and Lucifer get together," she asserted much more frustrated seeing Adam was getting nowhere to the subject in hand.

Adam then realized immediately everyone actually thought they were truly an item. Well this went awkward all of a sudden. So he decided to keep up the lie.

"I died."

"And—— what else?"

"Wdym 'what else'? Bitch wanted to complete the full set y'know. First dick, father of humanity, the only one that refused to join him. I'm basically his forbidden apple."

"And you just let him?"

"Sure. Why not? What's there to lose y'know. That's my jam. I just go with the flow. If it works for me then let it be damn and fuck me hard, I'm fucking doing it."

"Adam, are you taking this session seriously?"

Adam in response digs his pinky finger inside his ear with indifference, "Look. I just want answers, babe. I don't want spiritual solutions or tips. Tell me how to fix this."

She sighed, "when was the last time you two were intimate?"

"WOW, wow. WOAH. Where going to that territory now? Little tea maker right here but whateves."

So Adam went on full detail on one of his sex escapes back in heaven, plastering Lucifer’s name on whatever freak he has fucked in the last centuries. He was not in any way gonna go on about sex with Lucifer (they did it only two times; one outta traditional terms, the second we don’t talk about the fucking second.) that shit was private and humiliating to say the least.

He blushed. Just the thought of Lucifer’s claws running down his skin and his fangs digging through his neck and wings. It sent shivers down his spine. Made his throat go all dry and his limbs all numb.

Previous >> Next

[junkieroster]

okay, hello again. I have a little silly thought here

Surely everyone knows about the theory that Adam could appear as a sinner in the season 2? Well, I have a few small facts that can at least somehow explain this theory.

Let me start with the fact that we have two characters played by Alex Brightman - Sir Pentious and Adam. Both of them were killed in the final episode, but as we found out later, Pentious went to heaven, right? I think it would be ironic to swap these two - the angel to hell and the demon to heaven. Yes, this is very far-fetched, but again, just my guesses. In addition, after the redemption of Pentius, one place was freed up among the main characters cast. He could have been occupied by Cherri Bomb, but damn, I would have laughed if the scriptwriters stuck Adam in a hotel due to the circumstances. A hotel he didn't believe in with all his heart. That would be damn hilarious. I just imagine how he would break into the hotel and, with stupidity and despair in his voice, somehow make a stupid joke like, “How is it, bitches? Didn’t expect to see me?”

The show's creators ruined such a potential character. Yes, if not Adam, the event of the Hazbin Hotel simply would not have happened. If it weren't for him and his idea of ​​extermination, Charlie wouldn't have all her friends, her girlfriend, and she wouldn't even have stabilized her relationship with her father. I just don't want to believe that we just lost a character like Adam by allowing a twisted maid to stab him to death, what the hell is this guys? It's comical, of course, but damn it's stupid and illogical!

I really want him to come back, otherwise I will cry from the stupidity and the fact that we missed such a chance. I would have said something else, but I lost my train of thought, sorry. Although I more or less spoke out.

Let's cross our fingers for Adam to come back!

[sinner-sunflower]

P.2 HH Lucifer-centric AU 3/?

STORY 1, PART 1, PART 2, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 14.5, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 18, PART 19, PART 20, PART 21, PART 22, PART 23, PART 24, PART 25, PART 26

Oh my god?? Is that Michael from the Bible??

Again, please read Story 1 first before reading this. This is a sequel and you'll need the context of the first story to understand some aspects here!

-----------------------------------------------

Like how Charlie has the heart of an angel but the fierceness of a demon, or how Alastor can't turn off his bastardnesss but still conveys concern for someone, how Vaggie thinks no one can tell she beats herself up for missing Heaven, how Angel endured how-many-the-fuck years in that moth man's clutches, how Husk gives longing gazes towards Angel when he thinks the other is not looking (Angel definitely knows, he just likes to tease), how Cherri always taps Sir Pentious' portrait whenever she walks by it, how Nifty is... well Nifty.

Something he doesn't really think about is setting foot in Heaven again.

Hah.

With anyone knowing, that is.

He came out of the portal into a familiar room. There's a desk with a mountain of paperwork on one side and an unfinished cup of still-steaming coffee on the other. Even with the mess, the multiple picture frames that were always there were not removed- like unmovable pillars.

Lucifer can't see what's on them but he doesn't need to see to know; after all... this isn't his first time here.

Michael: Samael.

He swivels around to face the owner of the voice.

Lucifer: It's Lucifer. How many times do I have to tell you that, Michael?

Michael: At least once more, brother.

Lucifer: Cut the shit.

The King of Hell angrily stomps towards his brother, hands grabbing the other's collar and pinning him against the wall.

Lucifer: How fucking dare you?! Y̵̬̮̾͊̍̈́̆o̴̧̺̞͎͒̌̿̀ͅṷ̵͇̒͆̉̒ ̶̢̢̖͕̳̋ç̶̼̝̮̌̽͛́͊ͅo̸͉̘͛̏̀̑̂u̴̜̝̦̒l̴͈̾d̵̗̾'̴̤̘̬̩̓v̸̟͈̠̯͕́̅̕̕ê̶̡̨̗͖̖̂ ̷̡̖̫͇̗̂͛̑̇͋k̶̘̪̲͓̜̋́͐͆́i̶͕̽̇́͊͜l̶̯͖̿l̸̛͉̝͊̈́̏̀ȅ̴̞͘d̸̡̫̬͈̝̈́̊ ̴̛͍͕͘͝m̵̻̂͂͐y̵̠̠̑͋ ̵̣̭̭̰͉͗̽̑̚d̴͚̠̈́̈́ȃ̴͙̪̂͐̉ų̶̛͐̋̃g̶̮̭̟͓̺̔̆h̵̪͕̞̟͈̋̊̌̒t̷̨̍͑ͅe̴͖͎̒̐̚͝r̷̡̎́!̷̡͔͚̜͆͋̔̄̈́

His demon form is coming out and he's trying so hard to suppress his disguise while being so utterly pissed off.

Michael's face remains unchanged from his usual calm and oh boy it just makes Lucifer want to kill his brother more

Michael: Relax, Lucifer. I knew you would have blocked it. Sorry for the pentagram though. Besides, I just needed to get your attention and call you here.

Lucifer: What?? A note can't do anymore??

His brother scoffed at his face. Scoffed! The nerve! Why he oughtta-

Michael: The council has become restless after the events of the last extermination. Sera has been dealt with, by the way. You're welcome. Nonetheless, they've tightened up security so that means I can't reach you the usual way.

Lucifer: So you tried to destroy my Kingdom?! I swear to Father, Michael if you do that again, I will-

Michael: Yes yes I'll send an owl or something next time. But this is urgent and I do not have the time to guess if you'll come or not if I did send one.

Lucifer let go of his brother in realization of what the Archangel just said.

Lucifer: Wait. You said tighten security? For what?

Michael dusts himself off and purses his lips.

Michael: Follow me.

They navigate through baren hallways without talking. Lucifer wants to ask more but from the look Michael is sporting, it doesn't seem like it's something he wants to discuss in a place where someone might hear it.

The more they walk, the more familiar the pathway becomes. Are they heading where he thinks they're going?

Michael halts in front of a door that Lucifer is sure holds-

Lucifer: The Fates?

His brother nods as he opens the door, locking it behind him once they enter.

The Sin of Pride had never been inside this room before, he only knows it by the stories his siblings and Father told him. How one day, once his duty on Eden is finished, he is to assume the responsibility of safeguarding The Fates.

And then the Fall happened and-

Now he's here, as the King of Hell. Heaven's supposed greatest enemy is in the same room with the most delicate aspect of existence.

The Threads of Life.

He stares at the golden thread spread throughout the entire room and it's so breathtaking that he almost can't breathe in its presence.

Michael: Something is changing in Heaven. People are restless and fighting. Souls are going missing. Angels are leaving their duties. Just like how-

Lucifer: The Rebellion started… What? You think there's another one coming?

Michael: The council seems to think so but the others and I don't see it that way.

Lucifer: But-

He cuts himself off because Michael is looking at him with those eyes. Eyes that always seem to know too much.

Lucifer: You know what's happening, don't you?

Michael: Heaven is on the verge of a civil war.

Lucifer's breath hitches. A civil war?? Michael not calling it a rebellion means whoever is opposing is not after freedom.

They're after power. Heaven's power.

Lucifer: I'm sorry but I'm not part of Heaven. Not anymore. What does this have to do with me? What's so important that you need to blast a hole through Hell's skies and get me involved in a Heavenly dispute?

Michael reaches out to grab a thread oh so delicately. A thread that, unlike the others, is cut short.

Lucifer: Mika?

Michael: Heaven's foundation is collapsing. With a war like this, it is only a matter of time until the very essence of Heaven is erased.

Michael takes lets Lucifer hold the thread with him and the King of Hell could feel a sense of home in it- almost like he's looking at a mirror with no reflection.

The threads pulse with their every intake of air, almost as if it's breathing with them.

Michael: And I think you're going to die with it.

-----------------------

God, is it also hot in where you're from? I'm literally melting.

[wandringaesthetic]

OVERTHINKING 30 SECONDS OF ALUCARD CASTLEVANIA:

I deliberately spoiled myself for whether he would be showing up before I started watching because I didn't want to disappoint myself if he didn't. So I saw this screenshot out of context and was like "no, put him back." He looks a bit too smooth and cherubic. Doll-like and a bit too feminine.

In context it's not so bad, in profile the change isn't so drastic and I think it's more that they have him exceedingly pale and that flattens out all of his shading than that they changed his facial shape much. Some of this is also just the slight difference in art style. Lines are lighter and more sketchy here and we don't have as much dark dark shading.

I expected that he would probably have white/gray hair a la Symphony of the Night and he does. A lot of the Ayame Kojima artwork he looks more pale blond but I most people playing the game interpret that sprite as having gray or white hair.

Also like Symphony of the Night, he's got a cravat. All laced up to the chin versus loose, low necked shirt or walking shirtless scene in Series 1

I always guessed that they had his first appearance like this to confirm beyond a doubt that the long haired pretty person was male so foreign language markets wouldn't be tempted to change his gender. And also I guess let's show off that scar.

ANYWAY. I always interpreted Alucard's silvery SotN hair as an expression of age/weariness/grief. He's canonically been taking a dirt nap for a while, right? An expression of the fact (?) that he hasn't been feeding. Homeboy is anemic.

By the way, it's never really made clear in Castlevania the animation whether Alucard needs to drink blood. I always assumed that he did at least sometimes. In part, because of this:

He has a confidence here that says to me that this is not the first time he has lunged after someone's throat.

Also it looks like the coffin apparatus he rises out of when he's introduced is feeding him blood somehow.

[He also eats food obviously, from his foraging and cooking montages in S3. my fanon interpretation of this is that he needs some of both but not as much blood as a full vampire would need and not as much food as a full human would need. He can survive a long time (probably a very very long time) without either but he'd suffer for it]

Some Castlevania vampires have more inhuman features than others. I'm speculating on this being more true the more old/powerful the vampire. Drolta's black sclera, Dracula's ridiculous height, Olrox's glowing eyes, etc. So the white/silver hair (and the 'is he glowing or is he REALLY white' complexion) might be an expression of Alucard aging and coming into his powers. Because a lot of our Castlevastle vampires are paper white but not all.

Him being laced to the chin versus tits out implies a more closed personality. Maturity, perhaps. Less emotional and sexual availability.

(In the first season he just woke up so you can't blame him for not wearing a shirt. In season 4 the shirtlessness is a Choice.)

I would say "please, someone fuck this man" but we all know how that went.

IIRC, in games canon he went immediately to sleep after Castlevania III and then didn't wake up until Symphony of the Night. This implies some self hatred and maybe depression. Feeling like you're something that shouldn't exist but being unable to easily self terminate and/or sticking around just in case you need to fight a monster worse than you.

Animated Alucard doesn't seem to have that level of self hatred. In series 1, he seems to identify more as a vampire than as a human (his comment about being less than excited about the Belmont hold because it's a museum dedicated to the extermination of his people) and doesn't seem to think that existing as a vampire is wrong in and of itself. In fact he seems to have some pride in vampires as preservers of knowledge even after the events of season 2. ALSO, his relationship with his father seems more positive in the animation than in the games. In the animation, he loves and respects his father up until the point he decides to exterminate all humans. In the games it seems like that father son relationship was more fraught and possibly more distant.

HOWEVER. If his kill count really is in the thousands, that makes me believe that not only has he been awake most of the last 300 years, he's spent most of that time killing vampires and that he may have started killing vampires generally rather than just those making problems. Even if he hasn't come to the conclusion of "all vampires must die and then when I have finished my grim work I shall die too" if he has been hunting and killing vampires for SO LONG he has to have started seeing them, and the parts of himself that are like them, as the problem.

I don't love that kind of moral absolutism, but. In Castlevania we have (correct me if I'm wrong) two morally ambiguous vampires (Dracula and Olrox) and the rest are evil. Castlevania the animation seems to not come down on the side that vampires are soulless monsters, but the overwhelming majority are evil. I think it would go against the series core to argue that vampires aren't people or can't be good people, or that you get one choice and that determines your whole life and impact on the world going forward (how Christian of you--also, a lot of them didn't get a choice!) But the fact remains that vampires have a strong incentive to view human beings as not really being people.

Alucard MIGHT be choosing to abstain from blood and that MIGHT be why he's so pale he glows. Drink your juice, Alucard. Take care of yourself.

I don't love the idea of Alucard being so self hating because I love him and I want what's best for him, but I have to admit that this kind of self hatred is what makes Symphony of the Night Alucard and most notable dhampir characters compelling. A monster fighting worse monsters. A cursed, bastard existence that nonetheless gives you great power. Choosing to do good even though you yourself are damned. Being constantly on the verge of a fall, of awful temptation, of becoming the thing you hunt. Fighting for a world that has no place for you in it.

LASTLY. As a Trephacard shipper. In animation canon he probably AT LEAST stayed awake for more or less a human lifetime. With Sypha and Trevor, in whatever capacity. Undeniably, he loved them. But there are ways that might contribute to the self hatred. It would have distanced him from the vampire part of his identity. I keep thinking of the fact that Trevor corrects Alucard ONCE when he refers to Dracula as "my father" and Alucard refers to him as "Dracula" for the rest of the series. I keep thinking about him staring at the cabinet of vampire skulls in the Belmont hold and Trevor and Sypha both seeming to not really notice. It would be tempting to minimize or fight against that part of his identity. He might feel like he has no place with them if he doesn't.

(AND THAT'S NOT EVEN GETTING INTO THE FACT THAT DRAC IS ALIVE NOW. I have no idea how they're going to choose to deal with that, but I have trouble imagining Alucard and Dracula having a positive relationship going forward. That might even contribute to Alucard feeling like he had to choose.)

[coldgoldlazarus]

I know the metroid timeline is purposely pretty vague, but do you have a headcanon for how long it's been since metroid 1? I figure it has to be at least a few years, even in the games themselves don't take place over a long period of time each

I think my initial off-the-cuff guesstimate would be somewhere in the vicinity of eight to ten years, with Samus in Zero Mission being in her mid twenties, and in her early-mid thirties as of Dread. Wanna double-check what little canon info there is later to make sure there aren't any glaring contradictions, and it's hard to say how Prime 4 may alter things or not, but here's my rough guesses about the timeskips between games.

Zero Mission to Prime - A couple years, enough time for the escaped frigate Orpheon to set up shop on Tallon IV before Samus comes calling. For simplicity, let's round to an even number; my instinct would be to say two years, but apparently one source says it is actually three. I'll split the difference and say 2 Years, 6 Months.

Prime to Hunters - A couple months at most, mainly because I'm pretty sure it was said explicitly somewhere that Prime and Echoes were six months apart. 2 Years, 8 Months

Hunters to Echoes - A few months, probably a slightly bigger space on this end of Hunters, but still not too long, in keeping with the aformentioned six-month gap. 3 Years.

Echoes to Corruption - Approximately a year, give or take, allowing for Urtraghus's near-complete seed conversion (unimpeded compared to Tallon IV) and creation of Urtraghan Pirate Phazon Cult, along with the other logistics groundwork laid for their massive attacks seen in the game. 4 Years.

Corruption to Federation Force - Merely a few months, as Samus would still have to have been recovering from her phazon corruption for the pirates to have feasibly captured her, and for the Federation to switch gears from their now-useless PED technology to Project Golem. (Meanwhile, I hold the headcanon that the Pirates are quite vast and decentralized compared to what the games claim/imply, thus the Urtraghan Phazon Cult was not representative of the entirety of the Pirates, and the Doomseye crew were a completely different branch who had been setting up seperately from the Urtraghans during the same time period, and were unaffected by their fall.) For rounding purposes, let's say that's four months, putting us at 4 Years, 4 Months.

Federation Force to Samus Returns - This space is the big unknown variable, especially given this is most likely where Prime 4 will fall, and we don't yet know whether it will ultimately be a one-off or start a brand new trilogy or what. But for now, assuming only Prime 4 goes in this space, I'll give it something like a round two years, with P4 happening closer to the back end of that, to lead fairly directly into Samus Returns with only a few months between them, with whatever incident occurs there finally spurring the Federation to order the Metroid extermination. But if they do wedge in even more games after Prime 4, I would stretch this section out to three or more years. But for now, 6 Years, 4 Months.

Samus Returns to Super - I detailed in another post that while I originally agreed with the general consensus that Super follows extremely closely off of SR, I have since changed my mind. Even though I have my issues with the forced inclusion of Proteus Ridley and the general tonal mishandling of Metroid II's ending, if we are to aknowledge that that event occurred, I feel like Super must make far more sense with some temporal distance between it and SR. Ergo, I posit that rather than them being a week apart at most as popular consenus goes, there must be a minimum of four months between them. Enough time for Ridley's attack to be written off as a fluke, and somewhere in that time Samus and the hatchling Metroid embarked on an adventure that convinced her it was unsafe at her side - either in too much danger, or too much of a danger to others, or both, thus prompting her to bring it to Ceres Station, kicking off the events of Super. So going with that conservative estimate of four months, that puts us at 6 Years, 8 Months.

Super to Fusion - (I am of course just not aknowledging Other M in this timeline. Fed Force is overhated IMO, but I don't have enough patience for OM.) Given that enough time must have passed between Samus Returns and Fusion for the Biologic Space Laboratories asteroid space station to have been set up around SR388 and brought into operation for the habitats to be filled, but the X parasite propogation on said planet only reached the station shortly before Fusion begins, I would guess about a year or so passed, with the bulk of that time being spent simply building the station before operations proper began only a month or two out from Fusion's opening. But that's relative to Samus Returns; relative to Super I would estimate that gap to be somewhere around eight months, bringing our total up to 7 Years, 4 Months.

Fusion to Dread - This is another kind of weird one given how Dread just has Samus working with the Federation again, even if presumably on rockier terms than before. There must have been at least a solid couple-month stretch of initially dealing with the fallout of Fusion, then things settle back into an uneasy status quo, before the transmission comes that sets off this newest adventure. At the same time, not too much of a long stretch, given Samus still has the Federation-loaned purple Gunship and her new/old AI friend. So another eight-month stretch there puts us at 8 Years.

If I say Samus is like, 24 in Zero Mission, (given it seems she was in her early 20s when she was with the Federation, and had already been a bounty hunter of good repute for a couple years as of ZM) then that puts her at roughly 32 (or 33 or 34 if I do stretch out the period between FF and SR) in Dread, which just feels right to me. These are of course all rounded to exact numbers, I imagine the actual stretches of time to be a bit more uneven, but still amounting to this overall length.

[originemesis]

@realmofsoulsandshells xxx

". . ."

Raptor did not appreciate having his hand slapped. However, he's already gotten in trouble for butting heads with other celestials before. He takes a moment to keep himself composed before responding. "Apologies; I did not mean to touch a nerve. Fatherhood is difficult and not something just any man can do well in. You're always welcome to talk to Abel, Cain, and Seth. Though, with Cain? Perhaps best not since you would need to visit the frozen layer of Hell. But that's me getting side tracked. If you ever want to know where to find your children with Eve, all you have to do is ask. But back to this miraculous event; I hope I have a plus one for the event." Raptor kept a close eye on Adam's responses and.. facial(?) expressions. At the end of the day, Adam was still human born. And humans are emotional creatures; a fact Death knew all too personally.

It's an automatic snap of his wrist, really- gone before he can consider the ramifications. One would think he actually swallowed the mouthful of apple and had roots in his system like the rest of humanity, but not even weeds want a place in him it would seem. Not that they could survive the heat from that sliver of sun that made up his core. He gives the stern swing of a gaze a dainty wriggle of fingers to let the other know he meant nothing ill of it, though he doubts something like death really cares about the process of defiance. Inevitable fates and all that annoying powerscaling shit.

"Well, that was actually my shoulder. But good effort!" He scoffs, giving the wrist a little twirl to loosen up that tense joint like it'll help with the friction between them as easily. It doesn't, of course- but that's playing mind chess with a trueborn for you. Always skirting the edges of one-ups because they could afford the reverberations of a celestial clash. "Everyone's a critic. Easy to take the first trial and think you can do better even though you weren't designed for it. But I guess some people want to just chase down glory for none of the hard work." Of course he means Lucifer...that ass. Playing daddy in his palace without the back breaking efforts of actually building a roof over heads and keeping them fed on frost frozen produce- whatever wasn't pilfered away by worms and rats, of course. Trustafarian fatherhood.

His interest masked beneath his usual obsidian, he shoots the other a side long look. "Yeah, but why would you tell me anything? Heaven's not exactly writing me up any visitation plans, now are they?" Though he had heard some rumors of late about a certain someone from the main line residing quietly in heaven. Of course, if that were true- wouldn't he have been in contact with him by now? Best not to entertain the thought. Heaven had a way of getting one's hopes up just to watch them fall. The divinely ordained had to have some entertainment- he got that at least. It was why extermination was so cathartic in the end.

"And yeahyeah, bring whoever. What old bitch are you playing house with these days anyway?"

[himehikoshrine]

might delete this later because im at two hours of sleep levels of inarticulate but now i'm thinking about The Seagull and Neji and the Constantine - Trigorin tension of it all.

But like I am also thinking about what would happen if Neji gave Chui that script from the beginning I think that script from the beginning could work as a bizarre modern dance/butoh amber performance actually, and in the summer novel and in rehearsals (though rudely, not in the performance) we get snippets of how Neji uses abstraction in dance (in Mary Jane, the "Lonely Darkness" and in Extermination in the Arata Forest the dancers play all of nature, including specifically, the wind). I wonder if that's the Amber in him, because Amber seems to be using dance in ways far beyond character dance numbers. Like it's even set on a lake! With the moon! I wanna see it.

Inarticulate and spoilery thoughts with Agendas for both Neji route and also The Seagull, I guess.

But like, compared to what we see Neji do in Amber, he's shifted pretty substantially with Quartz - he's the "Entertainer" (like Tsuki) to Chui (and Fumi)'s artist, but he's coming from (going by his own recreation of it) some serious Angura vibes, and his first two plays are very different than any of the ones we see him do for Quartz. But even the plays he writes for Quartz have varying levels experimentation to them, by vibe (shoves weekend lesson off the table and pretends its not there, messing with the patterns) even if nothing quite like his Amber days.

It's like he says to Chui - working with imperfect people means he can't just create whatever is in his head - things like what we see in puppet - and has to pull things down to a different register. It's... the same thing Neji tells Fumi, actually -- the game uses the idea of someone ripping their wings off to be able to stand on stage with others for both of them, actually.

Constantine, writing lofty "experimental" plays (what Neji is accused of and takes as a compliment in Puppet) vs Trigorin and his notebook and inability to stop writing or pulling inspiration from other people. Both of them kind of miserable, one more dramatically than the other. Both kind of assholes. Both, lets be honest, terrible to women in their own ways.

Interestingly, both of their interactions with Nina reflect far more the realization he has later in his route rather than his starting assumptions. I doubt he just misses this. But I think Neji is running from things he already knows, trying to hold up flimsy stories to himself about himself that he doesn't really believe. Neji, reading the Seagull: I see, I see if I simply do not interact with women, I can be both and neither. I've solved it. This is a joke.

At least the way I read the Seagull - Love (and the play cuts it across gendered lines in the ensemble) isn't the cause or solution, its just the justification. It certainly doesn't create or fix the issues the two writers in the play deal with, and I don't think Neji could even lie to himself that it does, even if its easier - and its certainly easier than looking at both of the characters and their actual faults and ways they reflect himself.

Mr. takes you to suicide beach on his third event and literally cannot stop thinking about the next story or let go of his notebook for a minute, so frantically that other people notice it. In the fic I will probably never finish -- Kisa is many things, but she is also a mirror, as both Neji and Chui call her -- one Neji is finally transfixed enough with to look into long enough to see himself. And look where that leads him.

[thekaijudude]

Okay so, getting a little philosophical here I think but, the actions Ultra’s take to save people, would you consider that justice? I mean, don’t get me wrong but does every confrontation with Kaiju or Aliens have to end in the deaths of said Kaiju and Aliens? I mean, wouldn’t their be a better way to handle them or something? Or am I getting too serious about this?

Ah yes, I can tell you've finished Season 3 of the anime too lmao

But of course not every battle ends with the kaiju/alien's death but I think every ultra fan knows this

I guess it sort of depends on how the Ultra race defines justice tbh, and they're just simply enacting their own code of justice at the end of the day

Afaik, based on the modus operandi of Ultras (at least based on the M78's, taken from various series such Max, Mebius, Z etc), the Ultras will only intervene when the threat is extraterrestrial in nature

But of course for the sake of producing a series, we also see Ultras exterminating Earthian kaiju

So while there is obviously an inconsistency in logic here, as said before, this is basically a kid's show, but at least we got the official stance of the LoL here

You'll probably want to pay attention to the other areas such as the Shinverse, Manga/Anime and Marvel comics to gain some insight.

The Shinverse is going down the same route as the original series, tho seemingly with more stringent rules (since Ripia seems to be dead for good in contrast to the original series)

The Anime sort of answers this in a roundabout way since Bemular blamed himself till the end for his interference but Shinjiro embraced his identity as the new Ultraman. But not as the Ultraman of old, but as his own, unique brand of Ultraman and Justice. So it's sort of a roundabout way of answering the question. One can definitely argue that it didn't even answer the question at all actually since one can totally see both Shinjiro and Ultraman as having totally seperate ideologies that point

The Manga hasn't gotten that far yet since there's far deeper implications about the Space Contraction event that hasn't been sorted out. At least Edo won't be lumping Ultraman and Shinjiro together like in the Anime. But idk if the Zetton Core/Edo's older brother would (but I digress)

The Marvel Comics counterparts are the most proactive bunch with Ultras sent to various planets to actively prepare civilisations to combat extraterrestrial (and kaiju related iirc) threats iirc, so essentially tying in with the Manga/Anime's logic of actually enforcing their own sense of justice onto other planets (tho tbh one can arguably say that this is just simply arming planets to protect themselves against extraterrestrial threats in this context since we need to recall that the context of both the Marvel Comics and the Anime/Manga are very different)

So with 3 different viewpoints (actually more if u don't just consider the M78 Ultras), it still falls back on who defines justice, and in what context, like justice to whom exactly?

Imo, I'd rather receive help to arm myself against potential threats that may come to harm me or people that I care about. But of course this is not a flawless viewpoint, simply take the example if both of us see each other as threats. To reconcile this, we need to consider that there's actually still a far more fundamental principle at play here, but that's going very deep into philosophy alr and it's long af, if you're interested, we can continue this in the dms, I'm personally also into philosophy on the side lol

Thanks for the question!

[adultswim2021]

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: “The Death of Harvey” | July 22, 2007 - 11:45PM | S04E07

Well, I’ve made my way through all of Harvey Birdman. At one time it seemed like essential viewing, even though I found it to be my least favorite of the OG Adult Swim line-up. I turned on it by the time season one ended, and watched most of the series for the first time through this blog. And I’m gonna level with you: I don’t even really wanna talk about this episode all that much. 

The final episode actually follows the events of the previous episode; Birdman has to try all of his cases again, so he does in a very short amount of time. It’s just an excuse to call back nearly every episode of the show’s run. This show was already lousy with callbacks, imagine an episode where that’s the main thing? Anyway, turns out one of the villains he tried before the series began has also been set free; he’s a big giant monster guy who begins destroying the city. Birdman must return to his superhero roots and fight him with brute force. 

Meanwhile, Phil is revealed to be alive, and is taking a speeding cross-country trip in a bus, driving it entirely in reverse. He refers to his own situation as “final episode stunt casting”. Phil’s story literally collides with Birdman’s when his bus finally shows up moments after Birdman's moment of triumph; striking Birdman and killing him in the process. There’s also a subplot about X the Eliminator or Exterminator (I don’t feel like looking it up) finally maybe getting Birdman’s crest. 

Look, were I a fan of the show, I could imagine this being really pleasing. It’s a fangasm of the highest order. The only way it could possibly be better is if all the characters on here were portrayed as funko pops. I can at least appreciate the animation, which I’ve lightly praised in the past. The show does look pretty good, and the comic action is executed well. But nothing in this made me laugh, really. The show mostly trades in unmotivated silliness and flighty characters behaving foolishly and characters talking at each other but not really having real conversations. It all feels so meaningless.

That said, I guess this one is one of the better episodes. This one has a funny Cheers reference at the end. I’d call this one above average I guess. Okay, that’ll do. I’m done thinking about this show! BYE BYE BIRDMAN BITCH

Oh, yeah, I forgot I sometimes like to present my top ten episodes of each show whenever it ends. This might be revised when I get to the special years from now. Oh yeah, there was a special. Anyway: This is my top ten, in chronomalogical order (not ranked): 

S01E02: Very Personal Injury

S01E04: Death By Chocolate

S01E06: The Dabba Don

S02E06: Back to the Present

S02E08: Peanut Puberty

S03E03: X Gets the Crest

S03E04: Bird Girl of Guantanamole

S03E11: Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation

S03E12: Identity Theft

S04E07: The Death of Harvey

EPHEMERA CORNER:

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law: Volume Three DVD (July 24, 2007)

Holy crow, now THAT’S turnaround time, baby! Season three of Harvey Birdman came out the following Tuesday. Imagine how thrilling it would have been to work at a video store and have your shipment from Ingram show up on Thursday. Why, you’d have access to the finale in stunningly crisp DVD quality an entire day before the show debuted on the Friday Night Fix, and three days before it’s television debut. Maybe there’s commentary! 

…There’s no commentary. Oh well. There are extras, though. One of the more memorable extras is a montage of various running jokes on the show, presented in chronological order. This show sure loved its running jokes. Somebody had to.

MAIL BAG

is it too late to make a better call saul joke about saul of the mole men? you know, better call saul? it's bob!! bob is saul!!

It is too late and I’m pissed off about it! Knock it off!

[freddyjumpi2nd]

Amphibia x NB!READER:

Chapter 3-Trip to the Library.

—

A/N: This chapter also contains Abuse

You woke up, you didn't remember what exactly dreamt of, but if you had to guess it was your brain trying to process the events of yesterday.

It still stung, you always knew that he hated you, but him blaming you for your Mothers death and him punching you so hard that your Nose started to bleed was new.

You decided to take your phone that was laying on the drawer right next to you.

Some Time on the Internet surely will help you forget it.

Opening your phone you saw that it was Saturday 11AM, meaning that today was no school.

So you could spend the entire day in your room and maybe chat with Anne, to get to know her better.

You first decided to go to your favourite toxic mess of a platform, „Tweeter". Toxic as shit, but you still liked it.

There you found the occasional tweet debating wether doing something that's completely harmless is actually racist,

Or the typical tweet of a Conservative politican who thinks that LGBTQ+ people should be exterminated, classic Tweeter.

After scrolling through some meaningless Tweets, you stop at a of someone with the @GoodWitchLuzura.

Posted just 10 Minutes ago.

"I still can't get over how awesome

the "The Good Witch Azura" Books are.

Probably the best Fantasy Book with Witches in it!

I don't wanna spoil anything, so please go read it!"

Hmm, maybe reading a book could be nice for once. You could probably find this book at the local Library and read it there and not borrow it. Because why waste Money on borrowing it when it can be read there for free?

With all these thoughts, you were convinced to do it.

You stood up from your Bed and went to the door of your room, unlocking it.

Not bothering with showering and putting on different clothes.

Unlocking the Door, you decided to head to the Kitchen first, in order to eat something.

On your way to the Kitchen you saw the Bottle of your favourite Soda that you took from the fridge from yesterday. That You dropped when your father punched your nose.

You picked it up, deciding to put it into the fridge again, since it isn't cold anymore, like how you usually like it.

Once at the fridge, you open it putting the Soda back in.

You were about to take a food of your choice but hesitated.

You all of a sudden lost your appetite for eating something.

As if you were hungry but couldn't eat.

You decided to close the fridge, you could always eat something later.

Now that you were done with that, you could head out to the Library.

Well almost, surely your Father probably would get mad again if you left.

Maybe leaving a Note could be a good idea?

Its worth a try at least. Quickly you went to a Drawer in the Kitchen and opened it, there you saw many things, none of which where important enough to mention.

You just took a pen and a small paper that could stick to a wall.

You quickly wrote down on the pen.

„Iam gonna be out of the house, mostly at the Library."

-(Y/N)

Once done, you put the paper on the fridge and now went to the door to leave the house.

Quickly putting on shoes, you were now ready to go find that book!

One Walk to the Library later…

Now you were at the Library. Looking around for the, "The Good Witch Azura" book.

Walking for a bit you arrive at the Fantasy Section.

Now to look for where the Book can be found.

The Books here are sorted Alphabetically sorted. So it should be with the other Books that start with "T" unless this Library is ignoring the "T" and put it with the Books that start with a "G".

Only one way to find out. You decided first to check out if it was with the Books that start with a G.

Hmmm, after looking for a while you could not find it. Seems like this Library did indeed put it with the "T" Books.

Which makes you wonder, why did your Brain even come with the Idea that it could be with the „G"?

Eh, better to just go look for Book instead of questioning your own Brain.

After a Short walk, you reached the section of Books that start with „T".

„The Good Witch Azura, The Good Witch Azura The Good Witch Azura"

You mumbled to yourself, trying to find it. 

After a while of looking you found it!

Well, you found Volume 2-5. but weirdly enough... Volume 1 was missing.

Looks like someone already borrowed it.

Fuck.

You couldn't really just go back home, well you could. But you didn't wanna.

You decided to just find a place where you could sit down and chill for a bit.

Where you could look at some random Videos on Toob or something.

You walked for about 7 Seconds until you found a place to sit down. It was a BeanBag Chair, well two to be exact, one was already taken by someone.

The Sight of the BeanBag Chair made you happy.

They were always really comfortable and gave you the feeling that you had a partner who was holding you in their arms. Something you always craved but never got.

You sat down on it. About to open your phone to do whatever, maybe read a x reader fanfic of your fictional crush, so you could pretend for this relationship to be somewhat real even if you know it's impossible for it to actually be real.

However, before you did that, your eyes noticed that the person besides you was the person reading the Good With Azura Book you wanted to read.

Asking for it probably wouldn't help, she would probably wanna read it for herself.

The Person looked like a girl, she had short shiny Black Hair with a Green Hair Clip on it.

She also has Black Eyes, but everyone has those in this universe.

As for clothes:

She was wearing a Saint James Middle School Jacket with a green skirt.

She also wore grey socks with brown Shoes.

Pretty she was, in your eyes.

Your staring however did not go unnoticed.

The Girl looked right back at you. She had a confused expression on her face.

"Umm, can I help you?"

She asked, not knowing how to handle the fact that you were staring at her.

You snapped back to reality.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. It's just that the Book you are reading right now is the Book I wanted to read so I looked at you because you were the one who had it."

You replied awkwardly with a hand on your neck.

She looked down at the Book.

"Oh that? I've read that one multiple times I could give it to you right now."

She replied casually, stretching her hand with the open Book out to you.

Well that was easy.

"Thanks!"

You replied cheerfully.

"No problem. I liked Volume 2 more anyways."

She says with a smile.

You stretched out your free hand to her.

"I'm (Y/N) (L/N), nice to meet you."

You greeted cheerfully.

She took your hand.

"I'm Marcy Wu, nice to meet you as well."

She replied cheerfully, shaking your hand.

"So uh, what exactly is this book about? I've only seen someone recommended it online."

You asked awkwardly.

Marcy widened her eyes, looking shocked.

"WHAT? YOU NEVER READ THE GOOD WITCH AZURA BOOKS?!?"She yelled as she put both of her hands on your shoulder and shook your body.

You put your hands on her shoulders

to stop her from doing that.

"Marcy Stop!"

You also quickly let out.

She indeed did stop when you did that and told her to stop.

Now the two of you just looked at each other dead quietly. Hands still on the shoulder of the other.

A Blush came across Both on your and Marcy's face.

You two quickly let go of the other and looked the other way.

"S-Sorry, I just really love these Books, soI'm always shocked whenever someone didn't read those."

You turned back to face her, you looked at her sympathetically.

"Hey it's fine, just don't do I again when I encounter a new franchise that you know of but I don't ."

You joked.

Marcy let out a laugh.

"No worries won't happen again."

She replied.

Marcy then stood up from the BeanBag Chair, going somewhere.

Just As you were about to go read the book.

"Where are you going?"

You asked her, looking up from the Book to her face.

"I'll just go quickly grab Volume 2. Don't worry it won't take long.

You smiled and gave her a nod.  The Good Witch Azura Books were close to here, so close in fact that you actually could see Marcy when she took volume 2 out of the shelf.

You could also hear Marcy return quickly, she sat down on the Beanbag chair next to you.

She opened the book in her hand to read it.

You did the same with the book in your hand.

Time to finally read that Book and see if it really is as good as these two say it is.

Time skip has been brought to you by:

Marcy being your Romantic Interest for  this Fanfic! :D

You just finished reading the Good Witch Azura book. You needed about 2 Hours and 30 minute, and wow.

You were impressed by how amazing it was.

You closed the Book and turned to Marcy. She already moved on from Volume 2 and was now reading Volume 3.

You put a hand on her shoulder.

Your eyes widened and you smiled.

Marcy turned to look at you, because  you put your hand on her shoulder.

"This Book was..."

"AWESOME!"You yelled.

Causing people in the Library to do the

"Shhh" thing.

Weird that no one cared when Marcy yelled.

Marcy had a smile on her face.

"Really?"

She asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, really! I'm gonna start with Volume 2 right now!"

You said with excitement, taking the book, which was laying next to the BeanBag Chair she was sitting on.

She didn't put it back in the shelf when she finished reading it.

Probably in hopes that you would read it in case you liked the first one.

Which you did.

Let's see how the rest of the Books hold up compared to the first one.

Time skip brought you by:

Marcy deserving to be treated so much better by Sasha and Anne.

It was now late, 7pm to be exact, 10 minutes before 8pm. You have read all the Good Witch Azura Books.

They were awesome and emotionally damaging.

You and Marcy were geeking out about these books. Managing to develop strong friendship.

Stronger the the one you formed with Sasha, and you couldn't even call Anne a friend, you barley interacted with each other.

But Marcy? Yeah, you could call her your Best Friend already even if you only knew her for a few hours.

However, all things must come to an end.

Because the Library will close when it's 8pm.

You looked Marcy in the eyes, all of a sudden getting more nervous.

You wanted to exchange phone numbers with her, but why did you get so nervous all of a sudden?

You weren't like this when you exchanged numbers with Sasha or Anne.

"So, uh... Marcy."

You spoke, Marcy looked at you.

"Yeees?"

She replied, innocently with a smile.

You closed your right eye.

"Umm.. do you maybe wanna, uh.. exchange Phone numbers?"

The last three words were spoken in a higher tone than the other ones.

Marcy smiled.

"Sure! I would absolutely love to!

We could read even more books next time!

I even know exactly what!"

She replied energetically.

You smiled as well.

"Great! I'll show you my phone number then."

You replied, pulling your phone out of your pocket. Opening it and opening your contacts, to show your phone numbers.

You then turned your phone around for Marcy to see.

She pulled out her phone and typed in your phone number. Really fast in fact.

Once done, Marcy turned around her phone for you to save her phone number.

You quickly did that. Not as fast as Marcy but still relatively fast.

You then stood up from the BeanBag Chair.

"I'll be going Home now. It was nice to meet you, can't wait to meet again."

You said, stretching your legs because you were sitting a bit too long in the same position.

„Oh, Umm. Okay. See ya!"

She replied cheerfully.

„Bye!"

You quickly added, now on your way back home.

~~~

Back at home, you put your shoes off.

Hoping that your note convinced your father to not punch you again.

You  were about to head to the Kitchen, since haven't eaten anything or drank anything for the entire day.

But you stopped when you saw your father there.

He was holding a Bottle of... Beer?

Was he drunk?

You were now a bit scared. If he was willing to punch you when he was sober for not telling you where you were, was he gonna be any different drunk even though you left a note?

That answer was gonna come now.

Because he was approaching you.

You were shaking. You are your best to remain calm. But it was hard.

„H-Hey dad!"

You greeted nervously.

He responded immediately.

„Don't Even fucking try to and act nice with me!"

He yelled. His voice sounded venomous.

„You may have left a Note saying that you were out in the Library. BUT I ALSO NEED TO KNOW FOR HOW LONG YOU WILL BE THERE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!“

You were  shaking, tears threatening to shed. You were about to respond but got interrupted.

Not by him yelling.

By him smashing the Beer Bottle over your face.

He then immediately just left, as if nothing happened.

You dropped to your knees and screamed.

You were in Pain. There were several scratch marks on the right side and of your face.

Blood coming out from the bigger ones.

Why? Why did he all of a sudden become so violent? Sure he hated you, you knew that.

But where did this Violence come from? Was he bottling it up? Was it because he was drunk?

Did he loose his job?

So many questions and no answers.

All you could do was cry and walk to your room. Slowly.

It took a while but you were finally in your room.

You immediately went to your Bed, not bothering to lock the Door this time.

Was this how things will be from now on?

Violence everytime you return home from doing something?

Your thoughts got interrupted by the sound of a Notification from your phone which was in your pocket.

You pulled it out, to see it was a message  from a unknown number.

You tapped on the Notification to open your messaging op to read the full message.

202-555-181: Hey there (Y/N), it's me Anne! You know,  the girl you briefly met when you and Sasha were at Thai Go.

I decided to message you since you didn't message me!

Oh, it's just Anne, you didn't even properly save her number on your phone, just took a photo.

You quickly corrected that, now her actual name would be shown.

But what did she want? You weren't currently in the best mood. So you didn't really wanna talk. But on the other hand you don't wanna be rude to her just because your father decided to become a violent asshole.

Eh, I'll just try to make this convo as short as possible.

(Y/N): Hey Anne. Nice that you messaged me. Any specific reason why?

She replied pretty fast.

Anne: I in fact do. (Except for the fact that I just wanted to) Me and Sasha came up with the Idea of hanging out with all three of us and another friend of ours.

Anne: Her name is Marcy. Idk if you know her.

Huh, what a coincidence that she is mentioning the person I just met today.

(Y/N): Funny that you mention that, I just met her just today, lol.

(Y/N): Ignore the second "just".

(Y/N): But yeah sure. I would like to. When and where and how long exactly?

Anne: Tomorrow at around 3pm at the playground. Maybe for 2-4 hours? Idk.

Okay, would be better to have a exact time frame but better than nothing I guess.

You thought.

(Y/N): okay. I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Goodnight.

You were about to close your phone to sleep but got another notification.

Anne: Goodnight? Dude, don't tell me you actually are already going to sleep!😂

"Oh fuck off. I get to sleep when I want."

You quietly let out.

(Y/N): Yes iam, goodnight!

You then closed your phone, ignoring the incoming messages coming your phone. From Anne trying to keep you awake.

At least this night wasn't completely gonna be full of you thinking about the violence you to received tonight.

You at least hoped so.

[oaxleaf]

mag 55 - pest control

another corruption statement! i'm actually slowly growing more and more fond of it as i pay more attention to the details and approach things (slightly) more analytically

corruption avatars just seem to have the worst time with fire lmao. john amherst first getting his buisness burnt down and then getting set on fire by jordan kennedy. poor guy. not to mention both jordan himself and jane's interaction with arthur nolan. i don't think there's anything deeper to it, but it's just a funny little reocuring event

also, jordan encountering the corruption three times over seems very strange, especially considering that it didn't even turn him into an avatar. when jon found him in the eyepocalypse he was still just a normal guy. it's surprising. sure, with his profession it makes sense that the corruption was the one he interacted with, but don't try and tell me every exterminator has stumbled upon it, and definitely don't try and tell me it's not exceptionally unlucky of him to have to deal with it three times over

the wasps are surprisingly weak. another case of really bad really evil problems having easy solutions, i guess, like the flesh pit or the unknowing. jane prentiss should've just bought some bug spray

this seems to be the first time jon properly acknowledges his mental state and that it's bad. it was a bit of a surprise to hear, and obviously he keeps on with his paranoia, but it's good to know he at least realizes that's what it is, i guess?

[wormsslime]

cw politics, current events, no shame if u scroll past bc this isnt where u wanna engage with that, etc.

but fuck. i dont know - and i dont get to ever know - if any of my direct ancestors died in the warsaw ghetto uprising. but given what i do know its not unlikely, and im pretty sure there were at least some pretty close relatives.

and im just not willing to give all those people - relatives or not - the fucking shame of watching me turn around and moralize and scold oppressed people packed into a tiny cordoned off area for their behavior being "violent" or "politically unwise" or whatever the fuck else people are saying. can you honestly tell me you would take me to whatever memorial stands in for the grave my zaydes zayde never got to have and try to defend that shit to him?

like sure, i guess theres a chance that one of my ancestors straight up orphaned a little polish kid who didnt by any means have it coming or deserve it! and i can feel sympathy for that theoretical kid without laying any blame at people who saw themselves being exterminated and chose to at the very least not take it lying down.

im so tired. its incredibly obvious to me as a jew where my solidarity should be and im honestly really sick and upset at the number of people who are claiming its even a little bit unclear

[promisedbloodbrainrot]

already tired of these anime units tbh.

[verycharismaticdragon]

I started reading faraway wanderers after watching the show and I got really confused by chapter 16 when wkx talks about monsters and meat and then zzs says something and wkx laughs his ass off - what did I miss? why is it so funny to him? I read that part more than 5 times but I'm still clueless :(

The thing about this exchange is that it’s one of those moments in the novel where Wen Kexing’s behaviour is meant to be hard to understand on the first read, as some of the relevant information will only be dropped much later. (Having finished the show is not necessarily helpful either, as some of the lines and events got changed, but I will reference things that you’ve already seen from the show.) Don’t worry though, it’s not just you who is confused – Zhou Zishu is also not entirely certain what Wen Kexing’s reaction is about:

Zhou Zishu [...] looked like he wanted to search deep inside Wen Kexing’s soul. (sparklingwatertranslations)

...But, of course, he at least was able to put his own two cents into the conversation, so clearly he has some idea what Wen Kexing is on about. Which means we should be able to figure it out too, even without reaching for finale spоilers.

1. So, the conversation starts with:

“Forgive me, but I feel like… Brother Wen’s motives behind going to Dongting are quite puzzling.” (sparklingwatertranslations)

Zhou Zishu is asking about the “Heroes Conference” that is going to take place in Dongting. Said Conference is assembled by Gao Chong, against the Ghost Valley, because of the Zhang family’s extermination. Thing is, Zhou Zishu at this point is pretty confident that, a) people who chased Zhang Chengling that day were not the Ghosts; b) Wen Kexing is the Ghost Valley Master. So he really can’t know for sure what Wen Kexing is trying to do: maybe quietly try to find out who framed the Ghosts, or maybe barge in and pick a fight with the whole jianghu. Which is why he fishes for info with this line!

2. Wen Kexing’s response is a lot of pretty words about doing good deeds and exterminating evildoers, which is a stated purpose of the Conference. This could fool someone like Cao Weining, but to Zhou Zishu, this sounds like Wen Kexing blоwing him off (or at the very least deflecting the question) – and he will react based on that.

(cont. under cut)

However, there is a grain of truth in Wen Kexing’s words – or two, to be exact. First is contained within the line “This is the mоrtal world, and in the mоrtal world, monsters shouldn’t exist.” This will pair neatly with a certain line much later in the novel, but you can probably guess the meaning with a knowledge of the show's canon too: just who does Wen Kexing consider to be a monster that doesn’t deserve to exist in the human world? Who is the evil Wen Kexing is planning to extinguish?

Second is in his, “What do you think, A-Xu?”: same as Zhou Zishu with him, Wen Kexing is trying to sound out Zhou Zishu’s motives. Will Zhou Zishu agree with this righteousness-filled drivel?.. Of course, he lays it on so thick that Zhou Zishu almost takes it as an insult to his intelligence—

3. —and calls bullshit:

After a long while, Zhou Zishu laughed softly. “Brother Wen speaks as if you are a true gentleman.” (sparklingwatertranslations)

(I think it comes through, but just in case, the tone of the line is absolutely sarcastic)

4. Now, if this was earlier in the novel, Wen Kexing would probably keep spouting pure nonsense; but, just a couple chapters prior, he found out that Zhou Zishu has no interest in Lapis Armor. Which is like, the first brick in the foundation of him trusting Zhou Zishu. So he, albeit still very cautiously, offers a bit of an insight into his thoughts with his next line.

But before getting into the inner workings of Wen Kexing’s mind, let’s puzzle out the most generalized meaning of his metaphor. (I’m going to use еdited mtl so as to easier separate the sentence into comprehensible pieces.)

“There are three types of people in the world: those who like meat, those who don’t care either way, and those who don’t like it; all are born this way,” can be understood as, there are people with varied natural inclinations;

“But at times, a person who loves meat will be born into a poor family,” meaning, someone with a certain inclination ends up in a situation where they can’t indulge it;

“while a person who doesn’t will grow up surrounded by delicacies,” meaning, someone with no natural inclination towards something ends up having an overabundance of it. “Isn’t it ridiculous?”

So, in a sentence, Wen Kexing is speaking about a person whose natural inclinations do not fit with their circumstances. Since this is a response to Zhou Zishu calling him out on pretending to be someone he isn’t, Wen Kexing is at least partially talking about himself; but I believe that is not all.

The context for this metaphor is the previous conversation, the clash between "virtuous people” and "evildoers". With this in mind, Wen Kexing’s first sentence can be understood as: there are three types of people in the world, those who are evil, those who aren’t either, and the good ones; this is the natural order of things. (There are several reasons to assume “meat lovers” stands for bad guys; I’ll elaborate later.) Then, the second sentence becomes, but at times, a wicked person will be in a position where their wickedness is not apparent, while a person who doesn’t want to do bad things will end up surrounded by cаrnage. Put like this, it is fairly obvious what Wen Kexing is talking about, right? Of course, Zhou Zishu doesn’t necessarily parse the full meaning, but he gets the gist of it.

5. Zhou Zishu’s response is an idiomatic expression, which is why there’s a bit of variation among tls. What he says is: “橘生淮南则为橘，生于淮北则为枳。” – “Oranges born in Huainan are called jú (橘), while those born in Huaibei are called zhǐ (枳)”.

This comes from a story (I’ll put a l1nk in rеply if you want to try and translate the full thing for yourself), and the direct continuation of the line above is: “The leaves [of those orange trees] look alike, but the fruit tastes different. Why? The water and the soil are different.” This can be taken to mean, one’s behaviour depends on their circumstances. Or, as sparklingwater’s tl puts it: “One won’t stay unchanged once thrust into a different situation.”

6. Of course, Zhou Zishu’s response is (obviously intentionally) vague, and it’s hard to say exactly how much of Wen Kexing’s metaphor did he really unpаck – there’s no clear indication in text, so you can just choose to believe whatever seems plausible to you. But Wen Kexing clearly considers it a good, comprehensive response to his line – as his reaction is, in order: be stunned for a moment; laugh himself to tears; say that Zhou Zishu is a person who “in [his] entire lifetime suits [his] taste the most”; make another pass at him; compliment him in his thoughts; then keep muttering the potential continuations of their conversation under his breath. So, what does Wen Kexing hear in Zhou Zishu’s line?

I would suggest that it’s something like, ‘the difference between the evil and the righteous is nothing more than a matter of circumstances”. There is no innate difference between two types of oranges – and two types of people. If they ‘grow’ in the Ghost Valley, they are called Ghosts, if they ‘grow’ in the jianghu, they are called heroes.

And isn’t that an answer Wen Kexing wanted, deep inside, yet never would’ve expected to receive? If Ghosts and humans are cut from the same cloth, if the difference is circumstantial, then doesn’t that mean that even the Ghost Valley Master is just a person? Doesn’t that mean that Wen Kexing can walk back to the human world, and change once again? Doesn’t that mean that Zhou Zishu would not see him as a monster even if he knows the truth?

7. So, what was behind Wen Kexing’s reactions?

Shock, and then joy, that he was understood at all are definitely part of it; an even larger part, I think, is something akin to relief – because the things Wen Kexing was veiledly referencing (what it means to be a human, what it means to be a Ghost, and what he himself is, when those two things seem impossible to reconcile), that tangled and complicated knot in his mind, were cut through just like that. The person changes with their circumstances – which means that Wen Kexing’s humanity is not lost, that there was never any transformation to make him what he is, that despite it all he is human, too.

Of course Wen Kexing is stunned first, and then bursts out laughing – unexpectedly, someone had such a simple response to all his troubles.

His next line, “I’d discovered you are the person most fitting my tastes in my entire lifetime” – while it does sound like business as usual, at this time, he is actually starting to mean his flirting. He doesn’t yet know how well-matched the two of them truly are, but he sees a sign of it here. The fact that he then switches to a more ridiculous flirting actually cements the sincerity of the previous line – he realized that he’d shown just a bit too much of his true feelings, and so pivots into nonsense for cover. But in his thoughts, he returns to their first meeting, to that moment of implicit understanding. And note how he describes the feeling he got about Zhou Zishu back then, “more leisurely than anyone else, calmer than anyone else,” – this is connected to how he understood Zhou Zishu’s line. Perhaps, this person will be just as unruffled when facing the difference between humans and Ghosts.

8. And lastly, Wen Kexing adds a couple questions that continue from their conversation:

“Again, that orange tree doesn't have legs; how would it know for itself whether it’s going to become jú or zhǐ? Besides, whether someone is a meat lover or not, if one day they aren't careful and fall into an uninhabited place, day after day eating raw meat for a living, can't it also be very painful?” (edited mtl again)

I want to start with the second sentence here, and give a promised explanation of why I think meat lovers stand for evildoers: this line is one of* the main reasons. Wen Kexing is, of course, talking about his own experience in the dog-eats-dog environment of the Ghost Valley, day after day having to kill and maim to survive. He acknowledges that he himself is not sure whether he is a bad person or not by nature, but even if he is, can't having no opportunity to choose otherwise also be very painful? The first line, too, is about not having a choice, just using Zhou Zishu’s metaphor: the orange tree, after all, is unable to influence its surroundings and choose for itself what’s it gonna be.

* There are two other reasons, but one is a spoiler, and the other is a bit thin: not eating meat, ie being a vegetarian, can be considered as detaching oneself from worldly matters (like a buddhist monk), which in turn is associated with virtuousness and nonviolence.

So, this is all the deciphering I’ve got for this conversation! Is any of it accurate? Who knows! Are Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing terribly intelligent bastards playing 5-dimensional chess while I’m sitting here with a checkers rulebook? Absolutely!..

[yostresswritinggirl]

It is time. This took a while but I figured I should give you guys the closure you've wanted, even tho uh it's not really a closure lmaooo. Here's the first part for the new readers!

Xiao's Personal "Chef" Travel Edition

Xiao with a Reader who is not only his Personal Chef but assistant, adventuring together

General/Preparation

A visionless chef with an adeptus by their side, going in a routeless journey together to savor the world that had once been pulled away from their grasps.

It must be the cause of the recent ressurection and defeat of the Lord of Vortex, immobilizing him once more for thousands of years. And in the window time, there would be less worries for the Qixing and Liyue Adepti to worry about. Think of it as a day-off for the Adepti, and a vacation for you.

While you carry with you no traces of elemental blessings and an enthusiasm for swordplay, the blessed Sigil of Permission given to you by your adeptus (whom claimed it was created by Rex Lapis himself before his untimely death) grants you a special connection with Xiao.

Sadly a vacation from Liyue does not mean a break from the constant voices of demons within Xiao's mind. And you've prepared him the medicine necessary to soothe his mind even if temporary, three bottles to be exact, all of which can last him several months.

He looks at you with confusion and silent question, of which you waved away because you had prepared this batch in your room in the Inn to make sure he doesn't run out of stock.

He doesn't tell you this but lately the voices had been not intrusive while he gets distracted by your presence. Like a soothing balm, to numb the effects of the pain. It's still there but not as annoying.

Your adventure or journey usually lingers around Liyue for the first parts of it, looking around the nation to enjoy the sceneries without thinking about errands or protecting the villages from impending doom.

Xiao already uh announced his indefinite leave to the other adepti beforehand, but well, when you wanted to visit their domains, which you countered was PERFECTLY safe (almighty Sigil of Permission has lots of perks) it was a very awkward time for him upon meeting them again. It was inevitable because of the energy the sensed from Xiao and your Sigil.

"Hello again, Guardian Yaksha, were you not on leave?" "Y-Yeah... we're just... passing through"

Field trip with the Adepti!!!! Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper brought you around their domains as if to test you, like Ganyu's trials, while also flexing their achievements and who has the best domain. Humans are rare, but you are a mortal who carries the last blessed Sigil and you're tamed in the ways of the adepti because of your exposure to Xiao.

Cloud Retainer not only teaches you the glory of gliding, but she also has cute and embarrassing stories of Xiao from way back! Xiao is in the background trying not to scream or rage at the ensemble in front of him-

"He really likes collecting Qingxin flowers, always bringing one whenever he comes back from his exterminations. He even offers one to Morax everytime." "Yes, yes, such flowers grow common before, right?" "Wha- (Y/N), what do you think you're writing down in that book?!"

"The devoted that carries the last essence of Morax's powers. We've heard much about you from your adeptus, it is relieving to finally put a face to your name. Tell us, child, what is it that you seek in our domain?"

They pretty much just outted that Xiao talks about you to the others, and he- he's just so done. He's either going to hide, leave the area or pull you out of the conversation before someone *coughCloudRetainercough* starts embarrassing him in front of you.

Once you've gotten the supplies you wanted to collect from Liyue's wild lands, like flowers or ores, your little party will start going further away from the familiar nation.

Comfort on the Streets

Being the chef in the party, a lot of the time, resource collection stops you short from travelling despite the many prepped ingredients you had carried with you. There's a lot of things laying around and you just couldn't let such opportunities go. Your adoptive mother Verr had taught you to indulge in your curiousities, as a mother, as a traveler, and as a cook.

Xiao takes the brute force, the frontline of being the tank and general fighter of your band. He indulges himself with unhinged strength so long as he was sure that you were perfectly safe from his own barrage of offense. You think in the back of your mind that he's enjoying the exterminations but in his mind he indulges himself with your cheers and praises after fending off some pesky slimes that strayed too close to your temporary camp.

Xiao does not need rest and barely breaks a sweat but you're quite fragile of a human being, you still need rest and consumables, things that you had the luxury of despite working in the Inn. Here you were alone to carry your own weight and care for yourself. You look up from the boiling pot that was settled over the bright campfire to see Xiao's figure coming into view, a freshly killed boar in hand as some kind of offering for your sacred stomach.

You guess now the caring isn't one-sided.

When taking things into careful detail that requires precision and undivided attention, it seems the voices of the demons and revelled gods in the depths of his mind disappears, more so under the presence of you.

So it was the perfect opportunity now that no other errands hold you back, to teach Xiao how to make the infamous Almond Tofu.

When you teach him survival he takes into consideration everything despite the bored/blank face he dons.

Oh but he still prefers your way of cooking, he can never get the same soft texture of the jelly that you easily make.

Xiao doesn't really need to eat but he's glad to be your taste-tester for the new dishes you cook from the random, probably edible, ingredients you find here and then.

The stew continued to boil with bubbles popping despite the fire under it extinguished for a while now. It was an unnamed soup you concocted from the various seafood you've gotten from the ocean paired with the meat the adeptus hunted.

It was delicious. Despite being a palette he was not used to, it was something he can stomach. And despite the different meat mixed in, the flavours didn't clash like he thought it would but instead blended the tastes quite well. Xiao hums as he sips the soup politely, tilting the bowl as he gulps down.

"It is manageable, despite your first try, I can see this being sold in one of the restaurants in Liyue Harbour-" he turns to you as he proceeds to hold out his bowl for seconds when he stopped in his tracks, eyes slightly widening a crack at the sight of tears free falling off your chin.

The spoon on your hand was slack, eyes distant yet dilated as you silently cried. When you felt the glove of his hand cup your cheek, tilting your head to make you face him, your expression cracked to that of grief melded with forced laughter. "It's... it's just like what mum used to make." You sob, and his hand wavered from its touch.

Travelling reopened old wounds. For you and for him.

Xiao doesn't NEED sleep nor does he WANT it, despite the many times you had caught him dozing off in the middle of the day during your work at the Inn. Such occasions usually meant that there was an event that needed his aid the night prior.

Your guardian yaksha usually stays up to keep watch and when you wake up, you would find him spaced out or in the brink of passing out, desperately holding himself together

But there are other times when he feels more restless and not content with just standing guard to make sure you are protected—

Those moments are when you are held in his arms, him resting against a tree and you resting against his lean chest, travel blanket laid over the both of you. When the terrain allows it, the sleeping bag would be under your bottom and legs for extra comfort.

When you can't rest, he whips out his flute to play you a soft tune hoping to lull you to sleep. If he sinks into the comfort of the mood, he'll continue playing much softer to prevent waking you up so early

But the guardian yaksha can buckle at the temptation of comfort, a humanistic desire fuelled by the assurance that in his arms you are absolutely safe-

And you two lay under the stars in peaceful slumber. Good night~

Combat-side of Travelling

Kicking the bottom shaft of the jade spear, Xiao swiftly catches it with his other hand, a small smile aimed for himself at the expert action before he raises his eyes back at you where you lay splayed on the floor. Drenched in your own sweat and desperately breathing. A long, wooden stick discarded by your side.

You pried your eyes open when the rays of the sun suddenly stopped invading through your thin eyelids, the shadow of the Yaksha looming over your form with a rare triumphant smirk. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say-"

"I told you so."

"Oh hush you!"

His soft laugh was melodic and it made you break a smile despite the exhaustion.

We've already established beforehand that Xiao is your main dps here and you're just support/utility. But you've expressed your desire to AT LEAST pick up some weight, asking the man to help you hone your weapon proficiency, even if you knew he'd decli-

He accepts. Oh. But it's not about swords sadly, it's for polearms. Since it's the weapon he uses, it's the only thing he can teach you.

Will be CONSIDERABLY gentle in training you compared to his massacres, and will be ever so patient so long as progress is made. Surprisingly, Xiao is actually a really good teacher, and you'd find his points to be precise and on the spot.

He'll be there on the side as you try to fight off a hydro slime for the first time, with the aid of your cheap spear you both from the nearest town over. If you get cornered, he'll be there to instantly swoop in. Fortunately you managed, and he gave an approving nod.

Despite his acceptance to teach he's not gonna let you fight actual threats because he doesn't wish to risk your safety. And you're still gonna be a hundred feet away as he does his job

If he ever managed to hurt you himself, it's... it's not gonna be good, not good at all for the both of you... luckily that hasn't happened! Uh, yet lol

Just admire him from afar, he looks pretty anyways, although the black particles that seem to surround him before the end of the fight

But he'll always come back to you, with a slight limp you always notice despite his attempts to hide, and you'll be there to heal him up

Like a knight to his princess? Or healer, more so

And the process rinses and repeats at your generally peaceful trip

"Oh, oh, I see it! Uuup there!"

His honey amber eyes follow where your fingers point, high and up against the cliff until he sees the glimpse of the swaying violetgrass. No orders needed to tell him what the objective is, but as you place your hand on his elbow when he was about to leap, you had different plans.

"Woohoo!" Please be careful, he shouts in his head as you rode the tides of his Anemo currents, gliding over to where the violetgrass awaits for your plucking hands. When the glider retracts as you grip the cliff face, you broke the stem of the flora. A eureka in your voice as you held it up like a treasure before pushing yourself off the cliffside.

The wind on your back was not harsh, carefully constructed and maneuvered as you seemingly float down into the arms of the awaiting Yaksha, as per routine of your retrieval, "Thank you!"

"Is it in good condition?" It didn't bother you that he has yet to put you down, nodding with a grin as you gently waved the perfectly grown violetgrass in your hand. Satisfied, he turns around to go back to your route when

golden, brown and white silhouettes entered your peripherals among the turn.

"Eh?"

"Ah?"

"Traveler, Paimon and Zhongli?"

"Well, it is the most intriguing that we meet again this far out and in such a circumstance, Xiao and (Y/N)."

Party gained 2 ½ members!

I noticed upon writing that after you started travelling with Xiao, the formality in your tone of speaking started to dissipate. Easing into the comforts of your relationship with him, Xiao is relieved.

@kookieyachi @moaa @dandelion-dreams @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @snackgod @rxsalinee @cala-ran @wind-wheel @witchsungie