#better in time chapter 4

[semageon]

listen if I sneak into Mob with a big trenchcoat and stuff them all into my pockets I can give them all happier endings-

[rebouks]

Previous // Next

Courtney: I thought you’d quit again? Oscar: No one likes a quitter, Cookie. [Courtney hummed in faint disapproval] Oscar: I could take up some more nefarious things instead? Courtney: Yeah, no. … Oscar: What’s on your mind? Courtney: This n’ that. Oscar: Do I gotta tickle it out of you? ‘Cause I’m still due a little payback. Courtney: [sighs] I’ve been thinking about trying to find out who my parents were. Oscar: Seriously? Courtney: Maybe, yeah. Oscar: Wha-… Courtney: I don’t wanna talk about it. Oscar: Bu-… Courtney: Nope.

[archaospetryx]

Inspired by @noodlesfam16 ‘s sick Harley,,

i did my own in a rush bc I had to sketch it as soon as it came to my brain but this is in regards to the previous reblog where Arthur will literally just stand around 24/7/360 until Harley gets better,,

Like I said,

He’s a dedicated man for his beautiful but psychopathic boyfriend/husband👆👆

Bonus if Arthur’s presence scares ppl away to give Harley his space,,

[bookwormsid1015]

I like to imagine Dogday was co-leader alongside Doey after Poppy went missing, and Dogday was his first true friend and confidant aside from Poppy.

For Dogday to survive being bisected must mean that he was captured at most a month before the Player arrived in the factory. Maybe that’s why Doey looked so out of sorts when we found him; he went from having someone else to rely on for leadership to having to be the leader himself.

[the-rouxls-kaard-official]

[beachyserasims]

Geneva Island Legacy┃Chapter seven┃Wedding Day!

Today is finally the day that Autumn and Darion are getting married!! Even though it's kind of a last minute shotgun wedding, it's still held at one of the best estates in San Myshuno. Of course it had to be raining, but some people believe that's a sign of luck. Darion was busy settling his nerves with a bit of liquor while Autumn chilled with her bff Judi before putting on her dress. For a sim wedding, it went pretty well! Everyone stayed in their seats for the most part (except for Rowan who needed to sit campfire style in the aisle for the best view) and I got some great pictures of the ceremony. Afterwards, they took some family pictures, had their first dance, and her father made long drawn out toasts to family and tradition (sigh) and with the exception of her sister, who is just evil af, they enjoyed everyone's company. Of course Rowan brought along a little party favor as he likes to do every now and then. Overall, it was a success!

Beginning / Previous / Next

[reds-skull]

Bringer of Demise - Chapter 3

[PREV PART] [AO3]

Here we fucking go... This chapter might sound familiar, if you read the side stories. It is called "Sky Tomb (Reburied)"

“What?!” Soap growls, “who the fuck gave ye the right teh-!”

“Soap!” Price stops him before he can curse this cunt to high hell. The Captain turns to Novikov with a cold demand, “explain.”

Novikov nods, “I was requested to give my opinion on Lumity about two weeks ago by General Woods and Miss Laswell. As we don’t have protocols for this situation, I advised them to keep you, MacTavish and Ghost, separate as to not create new changes.”

“And why, exactly, would a change need to be prevented?” Ghost mutters, his back ramrod straight as he looms over the Doctor.

The posturing doesn’t make Novikov falter, “just as I would not allow an untested revenant with powers we have yet to record on field, I cannot allow you to possibly develop new ones. Today proved to me that, separately, you are stable. As we don’t have sufficient time to determine it… I have to recommend you to refrain from coming into contact while using your powers.”

Ghost scoffs, glaring at Laswell, “you signed on this bullshit?”

“Doctor Novikov is the best Spiritulogist we have, Ghost. He’s likely the closest to figuring out Lumity.”

“Ah can tell ye no one is feckin’ close to figuring out any Reaper, let alone Lumity.” Soap says bitterly, smug satisfaction spreading through him when he sees that the words make Novikov’s face sour.

He can also see Ghost’s eyes widen, before he turns them to Price and grunts, “order me, then, Captain.”

“Pardon?”

“Order me to stay away from Johnny on field, sir. Sign your bloody name on this.” Ghost challenges.

The Captain sighs, breaking eye contact for a moment, “you will not use Limbo around the Sergeant on field. That’s an order.”

“Understood, sir.” Ghost doesn’t seem surprised, “permission to be dismissed?”

Price’s expression makes Soap almost wince in sympathy. The feeling of regret spreads through the air as if someone doused the room with it, “granted. Don’t be late for the helo.”

Ghost doesn’t wait for Price to finish his sentence, before stepping heavily towards the door. He takes Soap’s shoulder and drags him along with a muttered, “on me, Sergeant.” Soap sends a confused look to the Captain, who simply waves him off.

He takes them outside, to the small space between buildings. Soap gets reminded of the conversation they had here, all those months ago.

“They think just because you died once, they can push and pull you like a puppet…”

“… Your strings are going to get tangled eventually.”

Soap doubted him then, even as his resolve crumbled every day Ghost didn’t talk to him.

He didn’t know just how true these words were.

They come to a stop there, Ghost breathing harshly, his grip on Soap’s shoulder shaky. Soap pushes him forward, until his back meets the wall.

Soap tries to think of something to say, anything to calm Simon. He wants to promise that they’ll be fine. He wants to tell him with no shadow of a doubt, that they will persevere, no matter what the future holds.

But he doesn’t want to lie to him.

So instead he asks, “are ye mad at the Captain?”

Simon shakes his head, “no. I know… know he had no choice. Brass has been on our case since Mexico.”

“Then why did ye leave?”

“The traitor.” Simon says, “thinking it might be that fucking Doctor…”

Soap thinks back to the interactions they had. If Novikov really is working with Fate… “Thought they had to be a revenant, not like Reapers talk teh humans.”

“He wouldn’t need to talk to a Reaper, would he? Its revenant will do just fine.”

Soap takes a step back, renewed determination coursing through him, “then we need to tell them! If Laswell looks into him, if Novikov really is the traitor, she will find something!”

He gets pulled before he can continue, “and reveal our cards? Don’t think so, Sergeant.” Simon wraps his arms around Soap’s shoulders, resting his chin on his head, “if we’re wrong, we just let Makarov know we know about the rat. If we are…”

“It could make Novikov run before we can catch him.” Soap sighs, hands coming up to grasp at Simon’s jacket, seeking cold, pale skin.

He feels hands tug at his laces, and his heart twists uncomfortably. “Are ye really gonna listen to Price’s order?”

“As long as you’re not in a life-threatening situation.” the arms around him tighten. Soap’s sneak under the jacket, running fingers up and down Simon’s spine, making him sag against him. “You better not explode yourself when I’m not around.”

Soap doesn’t answer, opting to nod. He doesn’t need to say the same goes for Simon; he’d burn anything that dares endanger him.

He will do his best to avoid injuries, he always does. But when it comes down to it, only one of them can bounce back from a headshot.

Soap can’t promise he won’t jump in front of a bullet for him.

They go back to base when the hour strikes 1500. Ghost separated from him, telling him he’ll talk to Price about the Doctor after Soap convinces him.

That leaves him to pack for the both of them. By now, Soap knows where Ghost stores all one billion of his knifes (seriously, how many knives does one man need? Bastard has steamin’ supernatural powers). He drops the rucksack in Ghost’s barrack, and gets to the tarmac.

At 1550, Gaz comes running by, his pack safely floating behind his shoulder. “Oi Soap! Price and Ghost are still in their ‘Super Secret Meeting’ or whatever, so we’re going to take the first helo together!”

“First helo?”

Gaz drops the rucksack beside him, already floating a few inches off the ground, “yeah, Laswell told us after you left, they’re planning on sending some supplies for the ULF to use.”

Right. Karim’s people probably need all the support they can get, after they lost Graves’ shadows. As much as he hated the bastard, he can admit his powers were convenient to have in battle.

The helo touches down, and Soap elbows Gaz, “och, we don’t need the old bastards anyway, do we?”

Kyle laughs as they board, “don’t let Price hear you call him old, he’s gonna make you run laps in Urzikstan.”

“Ye can’t hide shite from him, I bet he’s scrapin’ through our brains as we speak.” Soap cackles.

They pause for a moment, half expecting Price’s voice to boom in their heads, but it seems the Captain is too busy to listen in on their inane conversation.

Soap and Gaz share a look, before exploding with laughter. It feels good, to pretend everything’s fine for a few minutes. Their giggling dies down when the helo takes off, and Soap watches as the base get smaller and smaller.

He wonders how Ghost is doing.

Soap is used to long flight times, after several years in the SAS where he was often sent to opposite sides of the world on a moment’s notice. The almost seven-hour flight to Urzikstan is mostly spend chatting with Gaz, sleeping, or observing how the clouds gather above Asia as a storm brews.

He wakes Gaz up when the pilot announces over comms that they’re landing in 20. Gaz hates being asleep for that.

“How far behind do you think Price an’ Ghost are?” Kyle asks between yawns.

“Can’t be more than an hour, why?”

“I need a bloody shower before debrief,” Gaz sniffs, “and I don’t think I’m the only one.”

Soap gasps, “piss off!” he reaches over to shove at Gaz, before freezing.

Chk… chk… chk…

That sound… Soap smells at the air, and there…

It bursts under his tongue, as the clicks gain speed, an acrid taste he’s grown to know more than anyone. Gaz is calling out something, words lost on his ears, but the tone reads confused.

He looks down. In the row in front of them, several duffle bags have been shoved under the empty seats. Soap turns his senses to the one closest to the pilot. Moths are clinging to the rough fabric, embers glinting off the metal hull of the helo.

Chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-

He places the signs; HMX, Highly Melting Explosive, burns hot enough to eat straight through steel-

Soap jumps from his seat, burning the harness that kept him tied, and slams into Gaz. Kyle opens his mouth to ask what the fuck is going on, but he doesn’t get the chance.

The explosive goes off. The cabin is engulfed with flames, so bright his eyes burn, the following shockwave knocking both of them into the helo’s wall, Soap feels his body burning, his forehead hitting the hull-

And he loses consciousness.

The howling wind greets Soap when he wakes up. Breath stolen from his lungs, his eyes snap open, taking in the falling sky, mangled pieces of metal burning above him.

The full moon illuminates the dark clouds below him, when he looks down. It all feels so familiar, the plunge, charred hands grasping at air, the world reduced to a swirl of colors. He watches burning moths trail behind him, chasing the lingering heat of the explosion they so crave.

The moths lead him to Gaz. Unconscious, he too is falling.

Gaz is falling. Gaz is falling.

There’s a mangled part of the helo between them. Soap tucks his arms close to his chest, screaming as his burnt skin shifts with the movement. His plan works, however, and he manages to reach the half-molten steel.

It makes his palm bubble and sear, but Soap clenches his jaw, and with a flick of the wrist, explodes the metal.

It gives him just enough momentum to catch Gaz, their bodies spinning in the air.

The explosion was the cause of their fall, meaning Soap will survive, and even if it wasn’t, he would’ve just exploded himself on impact.

Soap will survive this. But Gaz isn’t made to fucking survive.

They fall through the sheet of clouds, water droplets caressing his overheated back, steaming and turning back into water. The world beneath them is dark, the only meager light comes from whatever hell is raining on them, and the ever-flaming moths.

He manages to grasp at Gaz’s tacvest, shaking him as much as he can.

“Kyle!!!” Soap yells, his words almost inaudible over the wind, “Gaz! Ye have teh wake up!!!”

The ground approaches them fast, desperation clawing at Soap’s guts. He feels tears run up his face, as he cries, “I won’t watch ye die, Garrick!!!”

This can’t be it. This can’t be the way Kyle goes.

“C’mon… Don’t do this teh me… DON’T DO THIS TEH ME!!!!!”

Soap pulls Kyle closer, tucking his slacken face beside his. He knows it won’t save him, but he turns as best as he can, so when they crash to the earth, Soap would hit it first.

“Please…” he whispers, the moths the only witness to his despair.

It can’t be more than a minute until they land, and in that minute Soap curses himself more than any enemy he ever felled.

Always strong enough to survive, never strong enough to save anyone.

It is then he hears a scream echo in his mind, so powerful he wants to cover his ears.

“SERGEANT. WAKE UP.”

Price.

Gravity switches on them, Soap’s stomach lurching painfully, his breath caught, shoulders creaking like they’re two seconds from dislocating.

Kyle’s hazel-brown eyes stare at him, wide with fear. 

Gaz drops them both, Soap rolling to the side to vomit on the ground. He heaves, eyes watering once again as nothing but bile comes out.

Two hands grab at his shoulders, turning him around and making him yelp with pain.

It doesn’t seem like Gaz registers it, or his twisted expression, not when he’s near hyperventilating, the hands on him shaking.

“You’re- you’re not dead, Soap- y-you’re not dead, please, you can’t be dead-”

Soap swallows down the scream that claws up his throat, when Kyle’s hands tighten over his burnt shoulders. He’s sure he looks dead, he feels the burns go to the bone in some places. At least his face is fine, this time.

“Ah’m not dead, Gaz. Yer okay… we’re okay.”

Kyle stops his muttering, eyes brimming with tears. Soap wants to pull him into a hug, but not only that will probably make him pass out, he doesn’t want Gaz to see just how damaged his palms are.

“We’re on our way, Gaz, Soap, don’t move from your position.” Price relays to them.

Soap shakes away the black spots creeping into his vision. Fuck, he might pass out even without that hug, “copy, Captain.” he answers all the same.

Gaz jumps when he slumps forward. Fucking adrenaline crash.

“S-Soap-?!”

“Ah’m fine, jus’ gimme a mo’ teh heal…” Soap grunts. He digs his fingers into his palms, feels the muscles twitching with stabbing pain, and straightens.

Kyle seems lost in thought, he assumes Price is calming him. Soap looks up, moths still making their way down with what’s left of the helo.

It doesn’t take long for Price and Ghost to arrive.

Ghost is wearing his full getup, skull mask and all, but even like this Soap can tell he’s livid. He jumps out of the helo before it lands, running towards them.

His body started stitching itself together by now, muscles failing him a few times as they reconnect. It made Kyle startle every time, thinking Soap was finally kicking it. His palms don’t get the chance to heal, not with Soap using the pain to stay awake. He couldn’t leave Gaz like this.

Ghost crouches down between them, casting a hesitant look at him, and catching Gaz’s shoulder to give him a shake. Kyle has shut down on him, absolutely lost in his mind, reacting to nothing besides Soap’s bouts of weakness.

Price joins them, waving Ghost off, “I got him. Go.”

Soap meets Ghost’s dark eyes, barely visible in the Urzik night.

“Johnny…” Simon reaches for him, and he instinctively flinches when a gloved hand hovers over his back, “where does it hurt?”

Soap gives him a half-laugh, “everywhere, LT…”

Simon scans him, noting his gruesome state, and nods, reaching around to pull something from his pack. Soap raises an eyebrow when he sees it’s a syringe. “Wha’s that?”

“Morphine.”

Morphine? He doesn’t need that-

Price cuts him off, “Christ, kid, I don’t know how you’re bloody upright with the amount of pain you’re in. Give him the fuckin’ shot, Lieutenant.”

“Copy.” Ghost picks up his left hand, turning the palm up. He freezes. “Fuckin’ hell, Johnny…”

Soap looks away, hating the way Simon sounds disappointed. He fuckin’ promised him not a day ago he’d do his best to not injure himself, and here he is, stinking of burnt flesh.

Simon cleans the inner side of his elbow, and lines up the needle, “have you taken Morphine before?”

“... No.”

“Might make you sick.” Simon presses on the plunger, a cool feeling instantly spreading through Soap’s arm.

He shudders. Feels fuckin’ weird is what it is, “good thing Ah puked mah lunch earlier.” the joking tone falls flat when another round of pulling muscles makes him twitch, and in turn jostles his thin skin until it rips.

Simon circles him, and Soap hears the breath he intakes when he finally sees the wounds up close. His hand hasn’t left his, and it tightens minutely. Soap didn’t see them, doesn’t want to make anyone describe them either, but he’d be surprised if his ribs aren’t exposed.

“What happened?” Simon asks, voice strained.

Soap sighs, “someone planted a bomb in one o’ the duffle bags. Enough teh take down the helo with no survivors. Only reason Ah knew it was there was ‘cause of the timed mechanism.”

He turns his head to look at Simon, after he gets no answer. He finds him staring at Price.

“Someone knew we were gonna be there, LT.” Soap continues.

“Not you.” Price says slowly, “I was originally going to fly with Gaz, before Ghost asked to speak with me.”

…fuck. Soap looks down, at his shaking hands, flames weak as they burst from his fingertips.

If it was Price on that flight with Gaz instead of him… Neither of them would’ve survived.

[scribefindegil]

it still needs a few tweaks but with Nate's help I FINALLY cracked the scene I was stuck on so. new Time Is Out Of Joint chapter tomorrow!

[ikamigami]

All I hope for Poppy Playtime is for the Doctor to be alive~~🎶🎶🎶

[sealbee101]

quizmas…a little treat…gift to everyone and me……

dividers r by @/animatedglittergraphics-n-more!!! theyre so cool!!!!!

merry christmas!!! i hope your extra holly and jolly!!!! and I hope the big red guy gives you awesome presents!!

[taradactyls]

Progress Update: Trying to Tread Water

TLDR: Hopefully an update tomorrow night.

I was so certain I was going to get SOMETHING out tonight, but the toddlers decided tonight was the first time in weeks that they would not go to sleep. It's 10pm. We just got one to sleep. The other remains awake.

IMMEDIATELY after writing that the awake boy climbed over the bed head and tried to do a somersault on top of his sleeping brother. Sleepy boy somehow slept through it, and fingers crossed the awake boy will allow himself to fall asleep this time. He's SO tired every time we go back in to resettle him but he just isn't having it tonight.

Which is about how the last few hours have gone. I haven't even been able to do one full proof read without having to stop a child trying to climb the blinds, pull their mattress off the bed, or escape their room.

So, basically, keep an eye out for something (not as much as I had hoped) tomorrow night.

[hidey-writes]

six sentence sunday

Under Gu Yiran’s hands, the chicken van bumps along the uneven road like a living thing, and he tightens his grip against it. Beside him in the passenger seat, Zheng Bei stares out the side window in silence. Gu Yiran had made Zhao Xiaoguang show him the map, during one of the endless waiting afternoons in the hospital when Zheng Bei wasn’t there. He’d reached out to trace the circled spots, all three, the sleeve of his hospital shirt catching against the edge of the paper as Zhao Xiaoguang said, Ge wanted us to check all of them, even though he was pretty sure you could only be here, pointing. A cluster of rectangles marking the abandoned crematory buildings north of Halan. Zhao Xiaoguang had left a fingerprint smear of grease along the entry road, right where it ran along the train tracks.

another snippet from the start of ch5! it feels so weird to be back to down drafting now that ch1-4 have shifted the story so far from the original final chapter outline that literally none of the draft material is appropriate anymore lol but it's really enjoyable to just sit and type the most medium sentences in the world without having to do any higher-level thinking about pacing or subtext or anything :) brain off drafting my beloved :)

[youuuimeanmee]

ILY Reread Time!

*Episode 3-4*

Holy moly I underestimate how much I forget about the details in early ILY.

⚠️Spoilers. I've read ILY until the latest episode. If you are completely new to I Love Yoo or if you haven't caught up yet, please keep walking. But if you're the same as me, welcome!

Btw here's my reaction to previous episodes: 1 /

Episode 3

Never realize Maya's house is the exact same house I've seen in much further episode 🤣 The consistency impressed me.

Lmao, Maya's incest manga. I forgot it's from this ep. I really need to read Maya's character analysis in one of these days while my memory is still fresh...

I tried analyzing Maya's stuff on her display, but no luck. There's some kind of doll house(?) that reminds me of a court house(??) There's also a pegasus figure (???) And is that a trophy? In a shape of what, a bird? A person in gymnastic?? (did Maya ever got into a competition or smth? or myb its minhyuk's somehow) I have no idea what this all means. Maybe I'll look into it once it comes up again in later episodes. Or I'll just try scour fans' analysis on this.

One of my pet peeve: why didn't Maya & Rika give Shinae a full explanation/disclosure about the party they're going into before they ordered the masks and dressed up. I think the disclosure would do wonders for Shinae to prepare herself before entering this party. With the last-minute informations, it kinda seems like both of them are throwing Shinae into the sharks, esp if Shinae is unfamiliar with upper-class kind of party. It's kinda careless of them if you ask me. Maybe because they're so used to this party, they didn't consider to put themselves into Shinae's shoes?

Okay, so it's called Hirahara Convention Center. Never payed attention to that until now.

"We promise you're going to have so much fun, Shinae!" Oh. yeah. Fun. Famous last words.

The strangers who stare at Shinae, one of them has similar hairstyle as the new Nol, lol. For a second I thought it's Nol, but I remember his suit at that time was grey, not black... but fr tho, are they just random npc or should i keep an eyes on them?? or myb the detailed character design is just there to emphasize how sharp their gaze is at her...

See, my pet peeve. If you guys had warned Shinae about the party much earlier, maybe she could've prepared a better mask. Or maybe you could've helped her making a cuter one, idk. But ngl, Shinae's mask here IS iconic.

Is Rika's father Jayce?? Or not??

Oh yeah, the girls were focusing on what they want, not what she needs... even though they're the one who pushed her to join this party...

(I just read an analysis that the girls consider Shinae as a pigsty bc she eats a lot, but never consider why she eats a lot and stays thin in the first place... bc eating is such a priviledge for Shinae bc she's struggling with money... and now I'm broken T_T)

Kinda wonder if in the future Shinae will warm up to join parties because of her new forced lifestyle...

"This stupid mask though, making my face get all sweaty..." Is it a a foreshadowing that Shinae will still be uncomfortable wearing a "mask" even after 4 years learning to follow Yui's footstep? Or is it just a sign that Shinae will progress, from unable to keep her mask to being able to keep it on for so long?

Now that I'm older, I just realize those guys are straight up harassing Shinae 😪

Why is Nol & Soushi in the dance area, though. Nol doesn't seem like the type who enjoy that. Maybe Soushi wants to dance? Doesn't seem like him (or myb I barely know him). Bc if anything, Soushi would've loved the free buffet even more. Maybe Soushi wants to meet some girls on the dance floor (either for himself or for Dieter)?

Wait, is Nol nearby because he sees a woman (Shinae) in trouble? Does he already suspect it's the girl he met at the burger place based on her overall stature and her...unique mask??

Fuxk I forgot Nol has a great memory. With how memorable their first meeting on ep 2, ofc he's gonna recognize her from first glance in ep 3. Question is, is he nearby because he already recognize her from far away & he tries to approach her, or is he nearby simply because he happened to accompany Soushi to the dance floor?

Istg the reason why Nol is nearby and bumped into Shinae in this episode will determine whether their second meeting is intentional or coincidence. Whether he approaches her because he's really interested in her or because he happen to notice she's in trouble and will need Yeong-Gi's help. Whether he's approaching her as Nolan or as Yeong-Gi.

I AM STILL SALTY SHE DIDNT GET TO EAT THOSE FOODS.

WHat the Fuck, Kousuke. I know you're cranky because of Meg (iirc), but do you have to trip Shinae like that? Is that a gentleman attitude? Humiliating a poor woman who's just trying to enjoy her food? You could've just asked nicely, yknow. (Not that Shinae will give up her tiramisu easily, but at least it's much better than tripping her up?) Kou is behaving like such a child here. Is it because Yui didn't give him his usual dose or smth? 😭

Episode 4

I love Shinae's unhingedness.

Oh. My. GOD I can't believe I used to ship Shinsuke when he's being this ass??? Why did I ever consider this scene romantic 😭 (myb in my head i thought this is the start of enemies-to-lovers, but this is nastyy 🤣😭 shinae is over it prob, but now that kou's crumbling down, kinda curious how's he gonna react if he remember how they first met...)

Is Kousuke just asking for a fight??? Why is he being this classist & crankyy helpp 🤣🤣🤣 (Beside Meg, I don't remember Nol causing problem to Kou tho, so what gives?? kinda remember vaguely nol was ignoring kou, but was their problem prior to this really that serious?)

Like, Kou, I get it. You're stressed out, you need a reliever, and she happens to take away your precious sweet. Her dress looks cheap. She's not wearing any make-up or accessories to make herself prettier. She eats a lot. Sure those might irritate you because she's not up to your standard guest. But that's not an excuse to trip her and call her names. She's just minding her own business! She's innocent?? Ig in your defense, if only she dressed better or watched her manner gracefully you would've treat–

Wait. Is he lowkey jealous because she looks poor, yet, she doesn't need to keep up appereances to be happy??? He feels tired & miserable throughout the night and he still has to keep up apperances, so seeing someone poor but completely content without a care in the world pisses him off? (That does tie up with his jealousy for Nol, doesn't it... now i wonder if he sees young!nol in this moment and becomes irritated...)

I know that Kou is in the wrong here, but it bad that I actually find his attitude refreshing compared to the usual Kou who's all proper & perfect to please his father? Like, it fits his mental age (of 12) lmaoo . Still, that doesn't make me want him to treat people poorly.

omg omg omg. I know someone said NolShin's interaction at the very beginning is a premonition(?) of their future dynamic, that Shinae will be able to calm down Nol's chaotic energy. What if Shinsuke's first interaction here is also a premonition of their future dynamic: that Kou will be able to show his disheveled self—free from Yui's influence—in front of Shinae, while she will be able to keep him in check? im prob reaching here.

YEAHH GET EM SHINAE.

Kousuke, honey, I don't think $10,000 worth that much when your "brother's" alma jacket costs the same, so... myb you can get a much better & expensive suit later? Lol.

I forgot to mention it but I have a 'what-if' that this party will be a parallel of NolShin's reunion 4 years in the future. Like, Shinae will attend Hirahara party again but this time she has become Yui's "pawn," she's no longer an outsider, she will handle the party much better, she will get used to Kou's antics by now, and then a "mysterious person" aka Nol (who just got back from England) approach her and ask her to be his partner... maybe they'll even have a hot dance for a moment gyahhh. Quim no matter what tragic fate awaits them at least please grant us this moment 🙏

I cheer for Shinae to get back at Kou, but yeah, maybe throwing a steak at a random rich person is not the smartest idea...

Now that I put myself in Shinae's shoes.... myeaa idk about that, Nol, what you did IS creepy... Nana is right, Nol needs to seriously work on his first impression on strangers... But if he do this again on his reunion with Shinae 4 years later, maybr this will be hot?? idk idk im a mess lolol

Wait, Nol. Why did you follow her in the first place. Didn't you want to return her mask, or you simply want to meet her? You should've just said you want to 'return her mask because she dropped it after she bumped into you.' That'd be a much better (read: less creepy) first impression, wouldn't it?

Does he forget about her mask because he's just too hyped to see her? Is he just focusing on how to help her in some way until he forget about her mask? Or does he have no intention of returning it in the first place?? highly unlikely, but still.

(Maybe it's a foreshadowing that in their future reunion, Shinae will drop her metaphorical mask out of shock, he won't let her retreat to wear one, and yet, he's still keeping his on. Lol jk)

now my delusional stalkyoo mind is saying he doesn't return her mask because he wants to see her face for as long as possible, because she intrigues him he's curious to see the real her without any cover-up. i need help.

I wonder why Nol takes off his suit after Shinae run away. I don't think he's all hot & huffing after a little run, physique-wise he's fit as heck... Is this his attempt to appear less intimidating in front of her? So she won't run away again?

I think he hears the way her friends badmouth & ditch her, before he announces his presence.

Nol's motive for helping Shinae is... definitely interesting. I thought "oh yeah, this is his cover-up story to hide the fact that he wants to help her for his own absolution." But then I thought "waiit, he wanna help because he's bored? His eyes are open, he's not lying. Didn't he say in ep 2 he can't wait to meet Shinae because the party is getting boring? What he said to himself and what he said to her, they match. So he's being genuine here? He's not telling a cover-up story to hide his true objective??"

I know Nol said (in ep 179) he approached people with ulterior motives: because he wants to make amends for the past, to gain control over his life, for his absolution, etc. He makes it sound like he's approaching people purely to make him feel less guilty about himself, and to torture/punish himself at the same time by forcing himself to live/move even though he doesn't want to. But I don't think it applies to Shinae here. Regardless if she run into problems in the party or not, from the start, he already put an interest in her because she's interesting. If it's true that he approached Shinae in ep 3 because he recognized her and wanted to meet her, then maybe, his intention here is not entirely "selfless" afterall. He approaches her not because he anticipate her to be this damsel-in-distress who need saving, he approaches her because he likes her. Platonically ofc.

Wtf Quimchee, why do you give us a mental gymnastic like this. So the layer of Nol's intention is like this: Layer 1: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her. Layer 2: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and he's using her distress for his own absolution. Layer 3: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her. ??? It's like we're back to square one, but not really 🤣🤣🤣 (i guess in ep 179 he was too clouded with depression to see the original reason why he asked her out. Nol's pov screwed me overrr)

Or maybe I'm screwing myself. Just because what he said to himself (this party's getting boring) and what he said to her (I'm just bored) match, that doesn't mean his intention for absolution is any less real. Perhaps he was excited to meet her, but the moment he saw her troubled with the harassment and her girl friends, his gear shifted. It's no longer "she's so cool & chaotic I want to know more about her!", it shifts to "she needs help above all else. This is Yeong-Gi's time to shine." So maybe he IS telling a cover-up story to hide his true intention.

Istg Quimchee what the hell did u do to my brain.

oh OH. When he said he's bored in this ep, myb he meant he's depressed. He's numbed by the endless repetitive hell he faced. When he said he can't wait to meet Shinae at the party, it's bc she sparked his will to live. He wanted to create a little chaos against iniustice to feel alive again. The world turned against his back in the past because he was fighting alone. But this time, with someone who shares similar value with him, maybe he has a chance to win against the world this time. Because he's not alone anymore. but idk if nol realize all of this or not. or myb my line of thinking is too romanticized.

.

.

.

Anyway.

Shinae's rejection line. Her statement that she will treat everyone the same regardless of occupation might've made him even more impressed. Then, her comment that human (he) suck stings. Maybe he figures out she's putting up a wall as a defensive mechanism to fend for herself, which, he also relates with her. Maybe he's smiling because he empathized with her. Like "yeah, I get that, I feel like that too."

OH. This smile. I had such a hard time deciphering this smile. Maybe this is more than just him empathizing with her sentiment.

Maybe this is the smile of "Ahh gotcha. Another person similar with me who needs help. Once I help her, we can be friends, she's happy, another progress to absolve my sins. I hit a jackpot with this one."

If this is true, then it makes sense why Nol feel so guilty in ep 179. Because he treated helping Shinae as a way to fill his "good-boy stamp card" to make up for his past(?).

Ohh wait we don't know how his life went prior to this night! If my memory is correct that Nol was avoiding Kousuke prior to this, it means they had a problem, Nol was feeling shitty, he felt like the world is going against him, and he sees helping Shinae as an opportunity to gain control over his life!

If this is NOT true, then maybe the reason why he helped Shinae is simply because he likes her, he relates with her, and he wants to hang out with her more, but he doesn't realize any of this in ep 179 (even in the newest ep). Though I find this hypothesis to be more unlikely now, I won't toss it yet. Just to give it a fighting chance, lol.

"When I said I wanted to help, I meant it, so here I am!" Eyes closed. He's not lying, but he's hiding his true intention. Whether he's hiding his true intention of wanting to feel better about himself or he's hiding the fact that he likes her is still not clear to me.

Yeah, this guy is Yeong-Gi alright. The Yeong-Gi who tries to appear as harmless as possible. The bubbly guy who wants to help anyone he empathized with.

A normal person would simply help her by calling a cab, paying for it if they feel generous, and calling it a day. I think that's what Yeong-Gi would do, because as long as he can help her get home safely, it's more than enough for him. But no, I think this guy is Nolan, whether he realizes it or not. Or maybe there's a part of Nolan that's seeping through his Yeong-Gi mask. Yeong-Gi would go extra miles to help, but I think only Nolan would suggest to help her set up a prank for revenge. It's not just for her sake, I think it's also for his sake. Potential multiple reasons: 1) he's genuinely pissed at her girl friends, because they—who're supposed to be her close friends that she defended to such extent—abandoned her (just like how Kousuke abandoned him; Nol's projecting his anger at that time to her situation now). 2) Because he wants to get on her good side. 3) Because he's depressed with Hirahara's control that he wants to have fun (read: create a little chaos) with her. 4) It's a mix of all things.

Augh, I forgot he's so good at reading people. So, another possible reason why he suggested a prank: 5) Because he can sense Shinae is a natural daredevil (like him) based on how reckless she was to defend her friends, so there's a high chance she won't reject this offer.

My God, someone said the first time Shinae meet Nolan is at Minhyuk's party, and I agree, but what if the reason why Nol & Shinae hit it off so well in the beginning, is because Nol is being Nol without realizing it, and Shinae has already met Nolan since the beginning. Am I straying off or am I on the right track??

Huh, I completely forgot about Nol's intention of hooking up Shinae with Dieter. Like I said previously, is he deadass believing (in ep 231) he's approaching her because he wants to play cupid, and not because he himself is interested in her??

Or maybe i messed up; myb nol was only reminded to be dieter's cupid after he saw him again (ep 11 or smth). let's see in the next few eps

TLDR; So now, after ep 237 & rereading ep 4, Nol's intention's layer is like this. Layer 1: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her spiciness. Layer 2: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help, and he wants to get on her good side because he wants to hook her up with Dieter. Layer 3: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and he's using her distress for his own absolution. Layer 4: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help, and he's using her distress to get on her good side so he can hook her up with Dieter because making his friend happy is his mission for absolution, to gain control over his shitty life. Layer 5: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes how she sparked his will to live & he wants to create a little chaos to fight against injustice with her, esp against close friend/relative who ignore their cry for help (Layer 4 & 5 is interchangeable/can be merged)

Maybe layer 4 is what he believed, and layer 5 is what actually happened? Lmao.

Am I crazy or is Nol in ep 237 truly that dense/in denial. Not that I'm saying he already harbored a romantic feeling from the very beginning—I don't think so, but I found it hard to believe he would think he likes her because he latches on to the first person who treat him nicely, and she can be replaced by anyone as long as they're a decent human being. (wait, with his condition it's not that hard to believe, ig...). Nol, please define "a decent person" in your book.

Nol, you... you're just too focused on how you feel for her on your birthday. You need sleep. And a lot of time to reminisce and contemplate (which I hope you can do in your jail time). Not neccesarily romantic, but your attraction towards Shinae clearly has started long before your birthday, your separation, or even the Kim party's accident, and it only got worse over time.

Myb i shouldn't have trusted his words so much, he has no idea what he's saying sometimes...

Nol always chooses his friends based on how much he relates to them, not just because they're someone who needs help. Soushi was facing injustice and was unable to fight back against his bullies. Dieter was a lonely foreigner who had a hard time adjusting to a new, unfamiliar country, which worsened his loneliness. Alyssa was a lonely person who was facing trauma and heavy guilt. Nol sees himself in them and decides to help them out as Yeong-Gi because, not just to alleviate his guilt, but also (most probably, whether he realizes it or not) because he wished they could have a "hero" he didn't have in the past. But Shinae is different. From the start, she's already a "hero." She chose to step up for other people's sake. She has this blazing fire to seek justice. She's probably a figure he wished he had in his past. She left a great impression on their first meeting. And eventually he learned that she wears a facade to appear strong to fend for herself and she's also abandoned by people close to her; just like him. Just from their first meeting, he can't just replace her with any decent person. He gravitates toward her because he immediately senses a kind of comradeship. She's already special in that way.

I'm just losing my mind. It's 5 AM already. I need to sleep.

*Edit: God, in Nol's case, it's kiinda like "love at first sight" (but not really) but he's too dense and/or in huge denial to see that. Aksjhxjskdkfhkdkdk

Edit2: The crux of my confusion with Nol as a character, is how much he acts as Yeong-Gi and how much he acts as Nolan in this party. Because. While Yeong-Gi being pushy with his help is so typical of him, the fact that he put an interest in Shinae in ep 2 and the way he suggested a rather devious plan for revenge screams Nolan to me. Is there any compiled analysis out there about Nolan vs Yeong-Gi?? I need to read more.

[vargaslovinghours]

EleVeN!11!!1! (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10½)

Fuzzy Edgar forever. I don’t remember the context now, maybe there wasn’t any to begin with haha, he’s just so cute with slightly longer hair! And upset :)

Some Diaryfic snuggles ♥ Scriabin can be so sweet to him at the worst time ah, I love Edgar’s hard on his arm and Scriabin’s pulling his hair out of his injured eye 💕

While I was very inspired by the Red Flags meme going around (we’ll get there), I was just as inspired by Mixed Messages - this exchange is so silly and them to me. He’s just trying to flirt back, you don’t have to make it harder! That’s just what Scriabin does haha

🥐 🖕 D:’

What else did you expect Scriabin to do with texting capabilities?? I’m still very enamoured with the thought of Scriabin using emojis and Edgar using emoticons - they are sort of different generations!

Here’s the Red Flags! So gd catchy, damn lol. I was specifically inspired by the X is on a date with themself edits, it was so tempting to consider a Ladyverse version as well haha. Edgar’s uncomfortable smiles were so incredibly fun hehe ♪

Y’see because with that many eyes- you get it

Edgar’s little “Or do I??” makes me laugh haha, anything to get out of this situation!

Waiter Jake ❤️💕💖💞💗 Rescue him!

Very inspired by this one specifically, he’s totally innocent! Not offputting at all! ♥

Alright well good luck with that bye. I love Edgar being menaced into continuing this date hehe ♫

Scriabin just keeping on the pressure for this date to keep going! Slight neg in “Couldn’t you have dressed up a little nicer though? ✨” pft

Brief aside with Scriabin!Edgar out drinking with my OC Mint who has very openly had a crush on the Vargases for a while now, thanks Mint

Honestly it was all just an excuse to turn him down and have Scriabin call Edgar his “landlord” haha; I was feeling nostalgic and went back to reread some old YuGiOh fics and had been so long away that I forgot that was a term used in the fandom to refer to the bodies of people the various Yamis would take over hehe ♪ It felt very fitting!

I can call him that but don’t you call him that >:(

Angy Scriabin!Edgar, the usual

Handplates re/reading doodles!! Hghgh!!! The theses of these stories of codependent relationships cut me to my very core I’ll have you know 💕 I managed to avoid falling down the rabbit hole of Handplates!Vargas but I was this close, lemme tell you. The subtle shift in phrasing changes so much ;; I love them dearly

A kind-of leftover WOY style Scriabin, since I made his hair all pointy in my first doodles - the WOY style is quite soft and round! He looks very silly hehe

Another song that is, yes, unironically in my Vargas playlist. This is a Nny song to me and you can pry it from my cold dead correct hands. That beautiful facial hair ♪

More Handplates/Vargas, this time obviously inspired by my holiday request 💕💖💞 I honestly rather like how calm Gaster seems whenever he’s in Edgar’s vicinity, he is a fairly unassuming human haha. Is it because he doesn’t laugh very often? Oh no that’s sad actually haha

I’m not done with Blank Slate Ch. 4 just yet - hopefully soon! - but this lineup stands out to me especially since I made it while rereading Handplates. Specifically after Gaster is pulled out of the Void - Gaster having to face the people he loves who have no memory of him really spoke to me in a Blank Slate way - the scenario of being able to completely start over and have never done anything to hurt your loved ones, at the expense of never having done anything to them, as far as they’re concerned, ah! It hurts so beautifully!! That’s one of the central themes I’m chasing so it was so cool to see in that context! Very inspiring ♥

So remember how in my Sims post, one Vargas family ended up with two Todds? Well what if that but actually

Twin Todd AU, just try and stop me

The saddest little twins y’ever did see ahh 💔 Having to share Shmee because there’s just the one of him! Who has a greater need :’0

I actually went and skimmed the SQUEE! comics to get a better grasp on the Casils, I’d forgotten basically everything haha. It seemed in keeping that if they could barely keep track of the one Todd, they wouldn’t bother even differentiating between two :’) Taking Todd shifts to better share the load

At least they have each other! More helpful than a stuffed bear who eats trauma? On par at least?

I also happened to catch this screenshot of the Todds gossiping about their shadow-dad, though I’m not sure who had seen him :0 By now I have found an adoption memory-loss prevention mod - thank goodness :D - but it wasn’t installed at the time! :0 Blue Todd is the Todd who’d already been the Vargases’ kid, Red Todd is newly-adopted Todd :)

Greetings in order! One of the Todds came by to scout out this strange new person

It’s a name to go by, if nothing else

Reporting back from the field, he has served his big narrative influence hehe ♥

Uh, yeah, about that- While I don’t doubt you were seeing double at times, uhm-

Surprise! Double the sons!

Only so much space in this apartment! They’re probably used to sharing a space to sleep weh, the implications of this AU are sad! I have no one to blame but myself haha

I have never been able to give up this twisted love I have for Edgar getting flustered about incredibly silly things and Scriabin chiding him with just his name haha ♥ Real twins do not delegitimize whatever the hell you two are to each other 💕

Who me? An affinity for how names shape identity and what it means to be a whole separate person? In love with this story in particular? You must be mistaken. But really, what would their name(s) be? I also love the subtle differences even just here - one Todd speaks up for the other! Dynamics ✨

1994, 2004, basically the same year innit. Scriabin is so much more on the up-and-up about the latest technology than Edgar, that old man

In which the offscreen is me lol, I was so blown away by how much more advanced the Sims 2 was from the Sims 1 ♥ Scriabin doesn’t need a box with a program in it, he has the absolute funnest toy in the world already!

And isn’t that the most important part ♪

Scriabin immediately makes himself and hooks up with every Sim he can, Edgar uncomfortable and totally not watching a~ny of the animations hehe ♪ Honestly though, the thought of Scriabin being genuinely excited to virtually get it on with any-and-every delights me haha

Look. Look, okay, look- If I could choose what to be inspired by, I would but sometimes

Obviously Scriabin would be a long Furby lol, this exchange can be summarized to “Scriabin no D:” “Scriabin yes >:D”

He’s complaining that Edgar ignoring him sleeping is boring haha

I did briefly lose my mind over how the Furbish word for “I/me/my/mine” is all the same - linguistically it makes sense, self-possessive, but in this, in their context ♥

Based on that one Wojak format - looks into the camera like “Yes. I am in your head. Insanity tracks” pfft

And it’s @jaspravex with the steel chair!! I hadn’t drawn any of them in like a month and then all of a sudden- I was 1000% not expecting to be hit with such a huge wave of inspiration but gosh and dang did this line of thought light me up. The implication! The jealousy! Wow that’s a lot all at once I wasn’t expecting ♥ Somehow these two never ended up on my shipping chart, dynamics I swear haha ✨

There’s September through February for the fourth go ‘round! Wild when I put it like that :0 Like clockwork, these lads ♪

[organizechaoss]

guess what besties?!?! I finally finished my final read through of the overlord fic hehehehehe I CAN MOVE ON NOW!!!

but idk if i can just yet, kinda in a rough spot mentally and idk what my next project will be. i had an idea for what my next project would be, but now... i think i'm just gonna take another indefinite writing break

[seraphirism]

Hello! I hope you’re having a good day and just wanted to let you know that your explanation of chapter 4 was amazing!! If you don’t mind me asking though, who exactly is Falin? Or rather what’s her big schtick? Cause I liked her in the chapter but couldn’t really understand why she is who she is.

hii and thank you so much for liking it (*≧∀≦*)💞!! I go on a tangent when I’m speaking/writing so everything ends up all over the place?

also, I don’t mind at all, in fact, thank you for asking about Falin \(//∇//)\!! I wanted to talk about her so bad (and I decided I was going to make long post about her pretty soon! seeing your ask made me so happy, cause now I have a reason to talk about her!)

[also, anon, I kinda had one thing in my head and it turned into another so I feel like I deviated from what you wanted and turned it into something else? I apologise in advance if this was not what you meant. please let me know if this is what you meant or something else :D!]

spoilers for main story chapter 4, part 4 and 5 are below and trigger warning for breeding, captivity and human trafficking (technically not human but it still applies i guess?)

now, for people who have not read the story or don’t remember it clearly, I’ll briefly go over what happened in the main story revolving asking her, before jumping to what we know about her character and some of my own theories + things I’ve noted about her. unfortunately, we do not have information for why she turned into such a twisted character but I think that might be revealed in the coming chapter since the case of Seiran family has not been wrapped up yet; the investigation is still going on since the Master of the Seiran family is still alive.

her actions, leading up to her death:

this is meant for those who have not read or do not remember the events revolving her; I’ll wrap it up quickly! in case you have not read my previous explanation about chapter 4 (part 3-5) and are confused, please give it a read!

it begins when the butlers (+muu!) were taking shifts at night in various places inside the Seiran’s palace (doing their guarding duties) when they hear the maids calling out to each other that “she went into labour” or “the child is about to be born, grab [insert necessity]!”

[note: for child, the word used in Japanese by the maids is 子/ko which does not only mean the child of a person but could be the child of an animal too. that was one of the assumptions of the butlers; that the child was a cat/dog’s baby OR that the child could be of another possible (hidden) mistress of the head of the Seiran family.]

but it becomes strange when this happens again, and then again. now, the butlers were suspicious, especially when Falin reacted in an unusual manner, saying she had not heard the maids act like that before heading back quickly, avoiding the subject.

now everything comes to light when:

[this is after the Master of the Seiran family had been kidnapped by mr elf, and Fennesz and Haures were away searching for the Master of the Seiran family.].

Ammon, Boschi, Aruji with Falin at their side are confronted by the sight of elf guy interrogating the Master of the Seiran family.

[note: elf guy’s people (their kind as a whole) are from the West (specifically from the valley regions.). they are governed by Elboa, the green headed elf looking guy with a hood.].

there it’s revealed that the Seiran family had kidnapped the people of elf guy (people of the valley.). Boschi assumed it was for experimentation, like the Sardis family did. In response, when Boschi, in a repulsed manner, makes this remark out loud, Falin says this, gazing at elf guy with fascination:

“Oh my, how rude! I have no interest in such trivialities. Look…(gesturing to elf guy)….at that crystalline skin…those blue eyes…those elegantly shaped ears.”

“I want to keep beautiful things close to me…increase them in number…and share them with others…isn’t that human nature?”

she was the main culprit behind the kidnapping and unlike what the butlers were assuming, it was not for experimentation purposes (like the Sardis) but her desire to possess beautiful “things” and share them with others. not only does she keep the people of mr elf (locked up for her viewing) BUT she wanted to increase their number. now, what was the best way to do that?

breeding. she forced the really beautiful male and female captives to have children together, to produce even more beautiful children for they would be “more desired by clients”. now it’s kinda ambiguous whether she sold only the children or the adults too; but she did have the elf’s people sold to nobles for high prices. that’s the reason for the children being born mysteriously each night but never being seen or heard of.

(we don’t have information about who the nobles were but it could very well be to nobles anywhere. I don’t think their clients were majorly from the East since that would be risky for them. anyhow, i feel like information about who the nobles were will be revealed soon since investigation is still going on into the business.).

that’s how the Seiran family became so rich and influential in the first place (by human trafficking) so much so that even during the (current) wars that plagued the Eastern lands, the people governed by the Seiran family were always doing well, financially, were not impacted by the unsettlement in the East and were extremely fond of the Seiran family and grateful for their rule.

[the scene where Falin is waving and greeting the grateful civilians in carriage with Aruji and Muu becomes kind of unsettling when you think about it; the reason why the civilians could relish in security (financial + food + otherwise) was due to the money the Seiran family earned from trafficking. ]

[note: Seiran family’s “human trafficking” likely started when Falin married into the family (though we don’t know for sure from the main story.). I’m not negating Seiran family’s wealth in any way since they were nobility even 300 years ago, but their sudden wealth in the current years has been likely due to this business.]

after being exposed, the elf guy demands them to hand over his people but Falin says she had all of the “products” burnt on the orders of her husband.

[earlier, Falin’s husband told her in private that he wanted to discontinue this “business” of theirs now because now they had established their power and their kingdom was rich. so he wanted all evidence of their business destroyed. he was especially afraid now, after the Sardis family was exposed, stripped of their titles and now regarded as criminals.]

Aruji confirms that there had been no fire (they would have smelled the scent of such a huge fire or seen evidence of it), proving to elf guy that Falin was lying. She admits after giggling that she would never have her “products” harmed; she merely sent the products with her maids to her parent’s home.

[long story short; elf guy then threatens Falin in an attempt to make her show him where his people were, the huge bell rings (the one signaling angels arrival) and Falin leaves in the heat of the moment. elf guy runs after her, hot on her tail.]

she runs back to her castle, where she sees Seraphim and Cherubim. she is instantly entranced by their appearance, especially after they kill some of her men with their “light powers”.

she asks them to kill her; her ephemeral life was going to come to end someday, hence she’d rather it come to end with her last sight and the manner of her death both being beautiful. [her words, roughly.]

[note: she wanted to die by their light powers.]

Seraphim (after being weirded out 😭) agrees with a smirk. then he proceeds to stab her fatally (because he deemed her impertinent and arrogant for talking this way to an angel 😭). she slowly bleeds out as Seraphim and Cherubim leave with the cage full of elf guy’s people with them.

[elf’s people were seen being taken by the maids of Falin (by Cherubim and Seraphim above). after they saw the cage being transported, they killed her maids and men, and took the captives (the elf’s people) who offered no resistance since all the time in captivity had made them apathetic and out-of-it. Cherubim will likely use the captives for experimentation :(]

there, elf guy arrives; he had been waiting behind in the shadows, unable to step out because he knew the intelligent angels were stronger than the average angels and he wasn’t sure he could win in a fight against them. there, he sees Falin, lying in a pool of her blood, her face pointing to a mirror in the room, gazing at herself (covered in blood.).

elf guy (almost pitying her because he planned on killing her in a quick manner, not in the torturous way she was currently dying) asks her to look into his eyes. she looks at him before he kills her with one quick attack of his sword.

[he also almost pitied her for the fact her last sight was herself covered in blood and not something beautiful; beautiful things were something she had dedicated herself to, all her life. that’s why he asked her to look at him so her last sight could be him (someone she called extremely beautiful and showed a desire to possess), fulfilling her last wish.].

that’s how she dies, her last sight being “something” beautiful, right as she desired all this time.

now, with this out of the way, I’ll only be focusing on her.

Falin; her character and all the known information about her.

so Falin or ファリン was the Mistess of the Seiran family: the wife of the Master of the Seiran family. she was originally a noble woman from a small aristocratic family located in a mountainous region in the East; her family did not have much influence and it’s not known how she ended up marrying the Head of the Seiran family.

the first thing we learn about Falin, comes when Boschi notices her and remarks, in complete horror that she looks exactly like his mother. he goes further to add that even her voice was exactly like his mother’s; only her personality differed as his mother was timid by personality.

[you can just imagine the extent of how similar they looked for Boschi to feel so uncomfortable in her presence; unfortunately we have no description of how Boschi’s mother looked like to pin down Falin’s appearance. all we know is that Boschi’s mother’s hair had a beautiful lustre to it and was likely long. Boschi’s hair colour is something he inherited from his father so Falin’s hair colour isn’t blue. we can also guess since Boschi’s mother had a frail physique, Falin also had a similar one; she was also likely not too tall either and had a slim/skinny build.]

she married into the Seiran family. she is a descendant of a relative of Boschi’s mother; (Boschi said so himself). while his mother did die in the fire, she had relatives remaining in her village. Falin is a descendant of one such relative — this would explain her eerie similarity to his mother.

she was initially fascinated by Boschi’s appearance because “he is beautiful like Fubuki” — both are cold, strong and have one eye. [this made me crack up 😭 I’m sorry.]. we later learn from Finley that there were rumours that she had actually proposed to Fubuki a long time ago (to marry him) but was rejected by him.

there comes my next point! i think most fans got the impression that she was really young (like I did), being around the age of 25–30 but I believe this is wrong. we know from her interaction with Aruji and Muu (where she was amused when Muu called her young) that she is a bit older (not calling her old 😭) but her age may be (from the way she recalls her past experiences as the time she was “young”) around 30-45. I want to push it further from 30 but with the current canon content, I want to be careful just in case i end up wrong.

[also Boschi saw his mother for the first time when she was around her 40’s; I doubt someone in their 20’s could look so startling alike to someone in their 40’s. Boschi would have then added then that Falin looked like a more younger version of his mother: but he didn’t.

he said that their face, builds and voices were exactly the same; he could have added the age part too.]

A bit of background about East:

now i want to focus on East a bit and the standing women have/had:

women of the noble families in the East are regarded with little to no importance. they’re merely seen important for their ability to bear a potential male heir. Boschi further explained that they have no power or influence, live in seclusion, make no public appearance and have no political power (despite being mistresses of powerful noble families.).

an example of this is Bosci’s own mother. she was the third wife of his father, had no political power or influence and till her death lived in complete seclusion. because she hid the fact that she had a son, so a child-less wife was not important.

[the first wife killed the third wife and her son, after news of her son being born came out. the reason why the first wife had so much power to begin either is because she had a son earlier than the other wives and wasn’t willing for the other wives to have a chance for their son/s to be potential heirs.]

so for power, the women in noble families could and would sink pretty low.

now, with this in mind, let’s proceed!

Falin’s role and how she stood out:

Falin breaks many of the stereotypes that we have of the Eastern noble women in akuneko.

first of all, she’s the first and only wife of the master of the Seiran family (from what we know).

that’s extremely strange, especially considering the noble men from the east so far have been depicted to have more than one wife. [polygamy was common; Boschi says so himself. monogamy, on the other hand, was uncommon.]

what’s also strange is that she has no known children. she’s been married to the head of the Seiran family for quite a while yet from their interaction, the topic of children never came up. [keep in mind, this is set in a land and time where women are only regarded important for bearing a potential male heir. wars are still rampant and there are new noble families attempting to rise to power. if she couldn’t have children, her husband would have another wife already. but there’s a split chance her husband cannot have children, but that fact could have been used to oust him from power by a relative of his, from the Seiran family already.].

[so it’s unknown why they don’t have children or aren’t seeking to have them in a war struck region where male heirs are absolutely necessary for power.]

secondly, she had more authority/power (not on first glance) than her husband, the actual head of the family.

we know she (very likely) started the business of human trafficking; from how attached she was to it and how reluctant she was of letting go of it. she likely posed the business to her husband as a means of securing more influence and power in the Eastern lands (which is plagued by wars for power) but in actuality it was for her own twisted desire for “beautiful things”.

her husband acquiesced to her whims very easily. this can be seen by when brought up the subject of ending the business and destroying the “evidence”, she quickly managed to dissuade him with a little assuaging.

she even admitted in front of Aruji, Boschi, Ammon, her husband and elf guy that she manipulated her husband to follow her whims in this business.]

one other incident, which proves this is, when the butlers were told not to guard the master and mistress of the Seiran family (new guards of their own were assigned), she immediately went up to her husband and subtly hinted that she was “afraid” the new guards would not be able to protect her husband as well as the devil butlers (who have quite a reputation for their strength).

in actuality, she was not concerned about his safety (or even her own, to be honest.). she wanted the butlers by her side so she can gaze at their “beautiful faces “ while she went about her day. she did end up accomplishing that as her husband had the devil butlers reassigned only for her protection.

her influence over her husband can also be seen in when she manages to rope him into allowing her to dine with Aruji [instead of dining with him], in hopes of seeing the butlers from close enough (as they would be guarding Aruji right in their room) since she wasn’t getting enough opportunities to see them from close enough.

[it’s also interesting that her husband said that the devil butlers were invited to the Seiran’s residence because he was concerned for her safety, not his. he says this as a reminder to Falin, in one instance, (I guess trying to keep her in check because he was a bit suspicious of her and her intentions.).

so did she possibly manipulate her husband into inviting the butlers? it’s canon (in aknk’s story), that the devil butlers (while they are detested by people all around the world) are well known for both their beauty and strength. since we know she wasn’t concerned for her own life, could it be she invited them after hearing talks of their looks?]

moreover, unlike the noble women of her time, she was extremely confident and sly (in all matters, with all people, even strangers.).

ignoring her husband now and focusing on her interaction with the other characters:

when she saw Boschi for the first time, she approached him confidently, even inquiring about how he received the injury on his arm and eye. his attempts to reject her questions (rudely too) only brought her satisfaction and made her even more curious and him.

in the incident where she dined with Aruji, she had managed to convince Haures too, into allowing her to go inside Aruji’s room without informing them prior. and Haures genuinely seemed unable to deal with Falin and her persistent personality.

she switches her approach too, depending on who she’s dealing with: with her husband, it’s gentle, concerned and complacent; with the butlers, it’s persistent and clever.

even when she was revealed to be carrying out that business, she was calm and amused by Ammon and Boschi regarding her with hatred. even after that, she made one last further request to Aruji to capture elf guy in return for anything Aruji wanted (which they rejected.).

Extra:

I want to talk about one more incident where I loved the writer’s subtlety in showing Falin’s character:

it was when she wanted to have breakfast with Aruji instead of her husband; the reason she states for this was: that being surrounded by fully armed, “faceless men” (the guards) would make her not enjoy her breakfast. and that’s when she remembered the “faces of the butlers” (with whom she would be able to enjoy her food, since she liked their faces).

she could have said she wanted the company of Aruji or the butlers over the guards, or remembered them because she likes spending time with them or that they’re more amusing; any excuse could have passed. but she said she remembered the faces of the butlers and thought she would enjoy her food better with them in her presence.

[by the way, this was after the head of the guards was changed because the original one was injured; the temporary head of the guards made it a rule to wear armour that covered their faces as well i think?].

Lastly, it’s interesting how Falin, a mere mistress of the Seiran family has a name (despite the eastern noble women being put down in terms of power and influence) yet her husband was only “Master of the Seiran Family” throughout the story — all in all, to show how irrelevant he was and how he had no power or a role in the story, besides his title.

my own thoughts:

I mentioned in my previous post that I would like it if the writers could give more focus to the Seiran family, in particular, Falin.

how did a woman from a small aristocratic family end up marrying the master of a (relatively) bigger noble family and rope the master into following her desires? (if she did start the business of human trafficking) how did she convince the master of Seiran family?

also, what started her obsession with beauty? considering how rooted it is in her, did it start from her childhood? did her parents engrain it in her? [I can come up with loose reasons for almost every question in my mind but my mind goes blank for why Falin could have been so obsessed with beautiful people. she didn’t show much regard for riches either so why beauty of all subjects?]

(another thought that’s been on my mind) is that the killing of Boschi’s family was something well known in the aknk world; Berrien affirms this as well. so it’s unlikely that Falin’s ancestor (the one related to Boschi’s mother) did not know of the killing of Boschi’s mother.

how were Falin’s family okay with her marrying into the Seiran family when they were responsible for killing her family just 300 years ago? it’s unlikely they have forgotten it because (call me delusional) but I think they do keep records of everything (since the Eastern lands in aknk are loosely based off feudal japan.)

Or wait ✨! what if they (Falin’s parents) made her marry the Master of Seiran family because they believed it would be a good proposal for her (Seiran family being rich) and they could benefit from Seiran family’s riches too if Falin marries into them (their past bad blood be damned)?

and Falin knew of what the Seiran family did to hers years ago, which is why she doesn’t love or show any regard for the Master of the Seiran family ✨?

[I’ll shut up; these were mostly my own thoughts from what canon content I could scavenge. but I think even if this isn’t the truth (what I’ve proposed), it’s pretty close the truth. so I’ll settle with that.]

anyway, that’s it! i’ll pipe down now but that’s what I could piece together. please let me know if i got a fact wrong (as the length of the story does make it easy to confuse parts of it.)

i hope we learn more about Falin, her childhood and what led to her character becoming the way it is! if they don’t, I’m coming for studio wasabi ✨! have a wonderful day, anon (*^▽^*)!! i hope this was a good read!

and if there’s something you all want to add into what I’ve said, propose an alternative idea to what I’ve said, or correct me in something I said, please comment below or send me an ask. i don’t wish for incorrect information to be passed around, especially from my own mouth.

have a good day everyone! I love discussing the story content of aknk so feel free to send me asks anytime (*^▽^*)! please pray for me, (if you’re someone that prays) because my exam result is coming out tomorrow morning 😭)