#but the fact is it's whoever the creator chose so either live with it or find fic or move on I'M LOOKING AT YOU TEEN WOLF FANS)

[autumnrory]

i do think sometimes need to remember when something is an issue in fanon and that canon is not necessarily Like That

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

CityBoy_Log: Blurring the Lines Between Fiction and Reality.

I was doing my daily scroll through YouTube one day when a thumbnail (this thumbnail) caught my eye:

Now, at first glance I'll admit there's nothing exceptional about it. In fact, it's so perfectly run of the mill that I actually thought it was a vlog from a new K-pop band that I hadn't heard of before at first. The name, the picture they chose, the title.... all of it checked out and I had no reason to be suspicious that it was anything other than it seemed.

Anyway, I was bored, it had been a while since YouTube had recommended me anything K-pop that wasn't a group I was already subscribed to and I was feeling nostalgic for a good K-pop vlog.

It was only 5 minutes

What harm could it possibly do?

So I clicked on it.

And then I feel down a rabbit hole.

CityBoy_Log: The Drama

So it turns out that "CityBoy_Log" is not, in fact, a K-pop group's travel vlog series, nor is it a vlog series at all...

Well, it is...

But not really.

It's actually an 11 episode BL drama.

Summary:

Idol Lee Jae Jun, model/actor Lee Ji Han, actor Seo Byuk Joon, and rookie model Ahn Hyo Sang start a vlog channel about their trip to Okinawa, Japan for a photoshoot. The four meet for the first time (aside from JaeJun and Byuk Joon, who are longtime friends) when they learn they will be sharing a home during the trip. Though Ji Han's introduction caused some tension within the circle, the group's feelings towards each other start to change and grow as they keep vlogging. The vlogs show how their individual friendships develop by the end of their stay and after coming back to Seoul, some even beyond just platonic. (Mydramalist)

On the face of things, "CityBoy_Log" is a pretty straight forward drama (some might even call it mundane). Four friends navigating their relationships with each other on a trip. There's a main couple and a side couple and plenty of pining and love squares to keep the audience and the characters on their toes. Really nothing standout in a world where Semantic Error, Love for Love's Sake, and Eighth Sense exist, right?

Except the format.... the format is something else.

Because when the summary says "the vlogs", it really means the vlogs.

"CityBoy_Log" is a BL drama told entirely in character.

Like your typical k-vlog, the majority of the content comes from hand-held cameras carried about by the characters, only occasionally interspersed with aesthetic shots from their "camera crew". The characters talk openly to the audience, updating them on what's going on and what they're thinking and feeling; transitions between scenes are choppy and periods of time are missed due to "unfilmable" moments that we either only catch glimpses of or are told about later (or in some cases, have to fill in the blanks ourselves); dialogue is choppy and sometimes even awkward (especially as they're still getting to know each other) and voice cracks, nonsensical lines, and awkward pauses are all over the place.

It is feels messy, lightly edited, unscripted, and, for the most part, very very real.

Blurring the Boundaries Between Fiction and Reality.

Seeing how far the creators of the show have gone to make this drama feel realistic is fascinating. All the episodes are posted as vlog episodes on the show's YouTube Channel, they post additional shorts that follow the latest trends, and even have celebratory lives where they talk to fans. And all of this is done in character.

They also have an Instagram page and on MDL there is very little information about the actors (who use their real names for their characters) and no information about the team behind the scenes (although I suspect they're linked to whoever made Semantic Error because that show gets name dropped a lot and they even "audition" for the upcoming drama made by it's creators) .

Given how much effort has gone into making "CityBoy_Log" pass as real it shouldn't be surprising that there are quite a few people who believed it was real for a time.

Now personally I am a huge fan of innovative storytelling techniques and "CityBoy_Log" has really hit it out of the part creatively (it reminds me a little of SKAM in that respect). I applaud the actors for just how realistic their characters feel (I actually can think of anything harder than having to pull off "act like you're not acting" and they do it flawlessly at least 90% of the time) and whoever came up with and executed the show really did something special too. It's an incredibly compelling watch (I binged it) and I immediately felt connected to all the characters in a way it normally takes a drama a few episodes to set up.

Do I have my doubts about how wise it is to blur the lines between fiction and reality so much? I won't lie, yes, especially as this show is rooted so heavily in 2 fandoms where those boundaries are already heavily blurred but for now I'll trust that they know what they're doing (perhaps more so than many other shows that draw heavily on fan service). It does seem like, at least for now, while everything feels real and in character, that it does exist in its own little bubble and that the actors involved are able to leave it behind when they get off work.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how it progresses, given that a second season has been confirmed and there was.... a very interesting reveal at the end of the last episode. I'm looking forward to how they continue to play with the format and getting to spend more time with Jae Jun, Ji Han, Byeok Jun, and Hyo Sang

🔗Here's a link to the channel if anyone wants to check it out:

https://youtube.com/@CITYBOY_LOG?si=CKqz8QdfzySCqRyL

CityBoy_Log: The Vlog

Team Hyo Sang all the way. All this puppy wants is for his hyung to notice him and he is adorable about it.

Tagging @lurkingshan @twig-tea @respectthepetty and @rocketturtle4 because I don't know if you guys have seen the show yet!

[therealvinelle]

I would 100 percent love a rundown of every vampire and how they would react to the option to be human again.

... every vampire..?

I guess we’re doing this.

Afton is more useless to the Volturi than ever. This changes nothing, in part because nobody notices. Afton dies of old age in a cry for attention.

Alec can have puberty?! Get tall? Have sex? Sign him the fuck up. Alec spends ten years as a human. Unfortunately it turns out he has the worst genes, so he stops at 5 feet and doesn’t grow an inch taller. He is Volterra’s short king. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the ladies still see him as a kid and would feel weird about sleeping with him, so no luck on that front either. (Somehow, Jane is both taller and gets all the hawt dewds)

Alice would not like this at all. Having a human is nice, that’s fun. Alice loves her Bella Barbie. Being a human? Oh god no.

Alistair’s whole thing is that he’s living as a hermit because he’s terrified of everyone and everything. If he became human again, he would still be a hermit, but lacking any of the survival skills or basic equipment that human hermits accrue he would quickly die out there in the wild.

Amun might just be the oldest vampire in the world, and he has been a god. Going back to being human would be too low, it would be the greatest humiliation imaginable. Hard no from Amun.

Anne was Victoria’s sister, the two girls were impoverished and Anne prostituted herself to feed them. Since she was executed by the Volturi within that same century, she would be returning to that same, horrible life. All the nopes, Anne gets her creator to turn her again.

Aro would be very practical about it, I think, and find someone to turn him back before the plague got him. Though I’m sure he’d be too curious not to try for himself the modern, global, human cuisine, so whoever was turning him has to sit by and wait while Aro drinks all the margaritas and eats all the sushi. And probably human flesh, gotta know what it tastes like from the other side

Athenodora has spent a very long time in that tower tripping on Corin’s gift. As she walks into the Volterra town square she has a full on Plato’s cave allegory epiphany, as she realizes that the tower was a fever dream and the real world is blurry and she doesn’t want to eat anybody. She comes to the conclusion that vampires aren’t real.

Bella would feel like Cinderella at the end of the ball, her beautiful gown turns back into rags and she’s an unworthy human again. Edward is overjoyed she smells delicious is fragile again and refuses to turn her back. Heartbreak ensues.

Benito invented newborn wars, he’s got a million enemies. He better become a vampire again immediately, or he’s dead.

Benjamin is the avatar, which is great. He lives in hiding because Amun has him convinced that Aro would enslave him, which is less great. Being human would not solve this.

Boris was living his best life being a fake Russian noble in the court of Versailles. Being a fake noble as a human is just not as fun, and he finds himself a vampire to get turned back.

Bree was miserable as a vampire, but her life wasn’t great to begin with. She was homeless and starving. I imagine she’d say no to humanity because she had nothing to return to, but this would be a survival move that had nothing to do with what she wanted in life.

Caius has no time for this nonsense, he turns back immediately.

Carlisle I’ve outlined in this post, but to repeat it here he is quite happy being a vampire, humanity has nothing to offer him. His ridiculously large network of friends would be put to good use once again as he tries to find someone who’ll turn him. (He has a surprisingly hard time, as no one wants to risk being the asshole who ate Carlisle Cullen. He eventually comes crawling back to a delighted Aro)

Carlisle’s creator is the lowest of the low, trash who lives in the slums, gets caught by humans, eats half a mob and then lets a newborn loose in the middle of London. This guy is a slob who does not have his life in order. Without vampirism, he starts shooting up under a bridge and dies within a few weeks. He does not get turned back into a vampire because nobody’s touching that.

Carmen would probably want a baby before turning back. The problem with trying to raise a human child as a vampire is that children bleed all the time. Eleazar Jr. scrubs his knee, Carmen goes full Cronus on her son, and Dostoyevsky is proud.

Charles... I don’t know if anybody agreed with my post on Renata, I for one think Luca is horrifying, and based on that Charles would turn back immediately because he’s not leaving Makenna on her own. Not to mention, Charles is one of the few vampires in Twilight who chose his fate.

Charlotte and Peter are living happily, thinking the Cullens are crazy for appreciating humans, so no changes there.

Chelsea might actually be a bit allured by humanity, since this way she can find out once and for all if she can form organic, normal relationships. However, she’s been a vampire for millennia, which makes it impossible for her to relate to humans. She makes no friends, and comes to believe that she is unlovable. She becomes a vampire again and, after an extended existential crisis, eventually becomes Marcus.

Corin would want to try all the human drugs. Gotta find out if weed is better than she is! Unfortunately half of Volterra is hooked on her, and she’s turned before she can find a good dealer.

Didyme would immediately suffer a brain aneurism, and die. Marcus becomes Marcus, but this is ultimately the better timeline since Aro can mourn his sister normally.

Diego’s life was pretty much over since gang members were out to get him, so he’s not returning to humanity anytime soon. Although vampirism means that now everyone he meets is a potential gang member out to get him (indeed, Victoria gets him), so maybe humanity would appear comparatively peaceful.

Demetri seems to be having a cool time being a vampire, so back into the ranks of the unholy he goes.

Edward, oh boy. I can’t imagine it, and I don’t want to.

Eleazar is a pretty self-righteous and sanctimonious fellow, I am sure he would not only choose to remain human, but talk about how noble it is that he’s staying human. He would not enjoy being human.

Emmet would be a miserable human, but to turn back would be to turn his back on Rosalie, and so he would dutifully remain, even as he grew to resent her for it. Once again I have a post.

Esme would not want humanity given the choice, but if she suddenly is human then provided Carlisle was as well, I imagine she would want to get a do-over. However, trouble is that if she wants to have a baby, then she’ll have to stick around with said baby as well. Sticking around means remaining human. Honestly, I’m not sure where that would go. Terrible places once Carlisle runs off to Italy, I’m sure.

Felix is another dude who seems pretty happy with vampirism. He sticks his hand into the first fanged mouth that he can find.

Fred is having a good time as well now that he has left Victoria’s army, no arguments here.

Garrett seems quite happy to be a vampire, although he enjoys new things enough that I think he’d want to spend a few years experiencing things from this human perspective. Alas, he’d have pictured the life human influencers and fictional humans were leading - it can’t be too far off, right? Well, real humans need jobs and housing and health insurance. One thing leads to another, and Carlisle finds himself bankrolling Garrett’s human adventures.

George is a seriously amazing guy who goes around pretending to be a demon called Astaroth and making fake demon deals with people. He’s an amazing conman, but his whole schtick depends on being a vampire, so it wouldn’t work if he were human. Vampirism it is.

Heidi apparently lived a terrible life as a human and was pity-turned into a vampire, so I don’t think she’d have any happy associations with humanity at all. She buys the first ticket back to damnation.

Hilda was a feminist bleeding heart who made suffering women invulnerable. Vampirism, to her, seems to have been salvation, with humanity a miserable state. Hard no from Hilda.

Huilen didn’t want anything to do with this supernatural horrorshow that killed her sister, and I imagine she’s one of the few who’d actually fare well as a human again, even though time has passed.

Irina drowns her Laurent-shaped sorrows in booze and men.

James would be furious with everything for letting this happen to him, and want to be turned back again.

Jane, like Alec, is overjoyed that she can have puberty again. This works out great for her. Like a middle school goth phase, she sort of pretends that whole 1200-year-stint as an actual twelve-year-old didn’t happen, going “oh, yeah... that” when it’s mentioned.

Jasper isn’t eating people anymore, praise Jesus. I think he’d actually fare quite well, he’d become a dusty professor in philosophy at some college and the violence would truly be behind him.

Joham is a monster and I imagine his children would eat him before he could get turned back. Good on them.

Kachiri is quite happy with Senna and Zafrina, she wouldn’t want that to change.

Kate loves Garrett very much, but there are all these human men she won’t have to worry about killing..?

Kebi was a slave who was chosen by Amun to be... well, his slave forever. As an unchanging vampire she’s stuck, but humanity could represent real hope for her, the only hope, really. Hard yes from Kebi.

Kristie is one of the two Victoria recruits who managed to turn the army into a high school, where you were either in the right clique or you were a square. Kristie is clearly an opportunist who’ll make the best of any situation, human or vampire.

Kumboh is a highly eccentric vampire who works in a mental hospital and gets attached to the humans there, to the point where he dies for one. This is not a man I can predict.

Laurent spent his existence in a pursuit of power without understanding what power is, and ended up stuck with the white trashiest vampires ever to white trash. Several logical leaps based on 18th century French Versailles logic later he endeavors to marry into the British royal family.

Liam is living quite happily with his wife and surrogate daughter, and even if he wasn’t then Siobhan is going to want her hubby back. And what Siobhan wants, Siobhan gets.

Luca is quite happy being the family patron who sometimes takes niece-brides (or family demon who keeps stealing their daughters), so he would want his fangs back. But, I’m sorry but I think he’d seize the opportunity to impregnate one of his descendants, because if this guy is all about preserving his family line then I can’t imagine he’d be able to resist a son.

Lucy, like Maria, would be in so much trouble. Honestly, I think Maria would eat her immediately. Easiest way to get rid of competition.

Maggie might want to grow a bit older and less emaciated before turning, but like Liam, Siobhan’s gift would see to it that the coven became whole again.

Makenna wanted vampirism once, I imagine she’d want it again. She seems quite happy with her life.

Marcus is finally able to kill himself. Happy days.

Maria would be in so much trouble. She is a human in newborn war territory, all the vampires around her have terrible control, and the ones with good enough control to turn her are enemy army leaders who want her dead. She is forced to make a phone call to Jasper and ask if he can put in a good word with Carlisle.

Mary (Carlisle’s friend), it’s been over a century and she’s still living alone. Sounds lonely, so maybe she’d be down for the change.

Mary (Hilda’s coven) is living that feminist liberation life with Hilda, and humanity would throw her right back into poverty and misery. Big nope.

Nettie would be eaten by Jasper, since Maria already ate Lucy.

Noela is a member of Hilda’s coven, meaning her life was awful. She would not want it back.

Peter is living happily ever after with Charlotte, it’s a good life. Peter does not want things to change.

Randall was turned in the 1960′s, so I’m sure he’d want some of that sweet weed again.

Raoul was a gangbanger and humanity is better off without him. So are vampires.

Renata had awful circumstances around her turning, and nothing to return to. Her human family either sold her out or were unable to protect her, my money’s on them thinking that her fate was a great honor, and either option makes them someone I imagine she has put behind her. As it is now, she has purpose with the Volturi, and no one is making her be anybody’s bride. She would not want things to change, nevermind becoming human.

Riley thinks he has found true love and glorious purpose, and would remain the way he is.

Rosalie would be delighted, but she has poured years of bitterness and crushed dreams into the dream of the perfect human life. Reality wouldn’t live up to her ideal and this time she can’t blame vampirism. I think she’d start drinking.

Santiago presumably has an alright time being a vampire, he has purpose and community with the Volturi. No changes here.

Sasha wanted a big ol’ family, turning first her niece and then women who resembled her niece enough to look like her sisters, so I imagine that, like all good Denali women, she’d seduce a sexy human male and give herself a few more daughters. Disaster would ensue if they were sons, or not blondes.

Senna is living happily with her girlfriends, let nothing disrupt that.

Siobhan’s life is great, with her gift her life will be as she wishes it to be, and she seems to truly enjoy being a vampire. It wouldn’t even be a question for her.

Stefan and Vladimir (no, they don’t get individual entries) are has-beens. Without vampirism, they would be greater has-beens than ever. This makes Aro’s century, and he makes it clear to the vampire world that no one is to turn these two back. Their lives suck and then they die.

Sulpicia is above pesky human sustenance, the mere thought is revolting. She accidentally starves herself to death.

Victoria would be at once more and less paranoid. Her gift isn’t going haywire telling her about all the danger, but she’s a human, so all is danger. I think she’d start drinking too.

Victoria’s NPC army recruits are newborns who love that sweet sweet blood, ain’t nobody turning their back on that.

Tanya would be so fucking happy, oh my god. She can bang all the dudes, and she won’t have to worry about killing them! She forgets that human women have to worry about STDs and pregnancies. Now she has chlamydia and a baby.

Tia’s big problem is that she’s stuck living with this ancient and bitchy loser who takes himself way too seriously. Vampirism on its own is great, she’s down for that.

Unnamed tracker formerly employed by the Volturi was relieved of his duties in the most “oops, you’re useless now” way possible. That hurts your self esteem. Becoming a powerless human would hurt it even more. Unnamed tracker formerly employed by the Volturi does not want this.

Vassilii would grow up, and have a host of issues because being a toddler with memories of bloodthirst and killing people is bad for child development.

Zafrina is having a great time with her girlfriends and her illusions. And it’s been a very long time since they were human, I don’t think anything remains of their culture. At least not anything they’d recognize.

Hope this answers your question, anon...

Edit: Added Carlisle’s Creator, Sasha, and Vassilii. If I’ve missed anybody else, let me know.

Edit 2: Added Bree, Diego, Frank, Kristen, Raoul, Riley, and Victoria’s NPC army recruits.

[thefanficmonster]

Real Friends

Valkyrae & Reader (Male)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: SMAU, Platonic fluff, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Following an accidental and not very consensual face reveal, Y/N’s dealing the sudden shift of the spotlight on him even more than it was before. Being the big deal he is on social media, the internet has every right to be freaking out. Luckily, he’s got a friend to help him cope with it all.

Requested by @iawaythrown Hii! Thank you so much for your request! I’m so sorry for how long it has taken me to complete your request and post it but here it finally is. I’ve never written a SMAU before so this isn’t the classic SMAU format but I still hope you’ll enjoy it! Love, Vy ❤

Imagine you end a toxic relationship of almost a year and go to bed feeling like a ton of bricks has been lifted off you, like you can finally breathe properly and like you’re finally getting a taste of freedom. The very freedom you chose to lose by getting in the toxic relationship in the first place. Of course, I didn’t know it was toxic at the time, probably cause it wasn’t, but it gradually turned into a nightmare.

A nightmare that keeps haunting me even after I thought I had put an end to it.

Apparently, that was wishful thinking cause I woke up this morning to find an unbelievable number of notifications and messages from friends, family and my manager and associates. Being in the music industry as a faceless creator, I keep my circle tight and it only consists of people I can trust so to see them all freaking out at me at once, even the most level-headed ones, freaked me out too. Quickly, I opened the first notification I reflexively tapped on and it opened a post in which someone had tagged me.

A picture taken of me while I was asleep, no doubt one taken by my ex. That being said, I think we can all have a guess at who posted it in the first place. I didn’t listen to my manager when he told me to not allow anyone I trust 1000% into my inner circle. I was foolish and at the peak of my career, feeling on top of the world and feeling invincible which was rare for me. I’ve always been insecure about many things in my life, growing up with a lot of judgy people made me be that way. Not to mention that I didn’t want to be the victim of the internet’s racism either. People turn a blind eye most of the time, but it’s still there, it still exists and looms over all social media platforms, disturbing people’s peace left and right.  You see, I didn’t want people to have an opinion of my art based on my appearance or associations with other creators. I’m pretty good friends with many content creators, especially in the gaming industry, but I’ve never wanted to be put in a box as one of the many friends of someone famous. I made a name for myself without anyone knowing who I am exactly.

And now they all know because of this photo that my ex sent to float down the rivers of hungry social media:

Damn am I gonna get an earful from my manager or what. It’s still rater early though and I’m really not about to deal with this drama on a caffeine-free brain so if there are any calls, emails or messages that need answering - and yes, there are PLENTY of them - they’ll all have to wait until I feel like dealing with them. I’m glad I don’t have to keep up this unbothered charade at home since I live alone cause I seriously don’t feel ok with this. I mean, I could probably report it, but what use would that be when my brand now has a face and a huge chunk of my privacy has already surfaced against my will.

As I sit in my kitchen, sipping my coffee, I finally gather the nerve to at least scroll through the notifications that I’ve received. Fans reaching out, relatives, friends, pissed off people that are there just to exist and try to disturb my peaceful existence but all they’re gonna get is a hard DELETE from me. I have offers on top of offers for modeling pending, waiting on my response. I’ve never considered it, being a faceless creator and all, but my manager will definitely want to milk some cash from this too. That thought makes me sigh in defeat. I have no one to blame but myself for trusting my ex. No one made me do it, no one made me let them in, but I still did, fucking myself over insanely. Just like they’ve now fucked me over.

Amongst the sea of notifications and yet to be opened messages, one in particular stands out and makes me do a double take. It’s a message from my friend Rae - Valkyrae, as she’s known online. She’s one of those gamer friends I mentioned earlier, probably the one I’m closest with. Her and I talk on the regular so seeing a message from her in my inbox is nothing unusual so I wonder why that was the one that stuck out to me. Regardless, that’s the only one I feel like opening and replying to at the moment.

V ~ Hey Y/N, you doing ok? This all must be really hard on you so don’t feel obligated to reply. Do so when you can or want to. I’m here if you wanna talk

Of course Rae would be the one to know how I truly feel in a situation like this. I can act and cover up all I want but she knows exactly what’s underneath the surface of my façade. That third eye friends have for each other, it’s incredible.

Me ~ Doing ok. Wasn’t expecting to wake up to this but now that millions of people know what I look like it feels oddly bittersweet, you know? Like I don’t have to go out of my way to hide anymore but I’m also gonna miss that privacy I had while I was a phantom

Me ~ On the upside: people want me to be a model now XD

My message goes to Seen almost write away, the Typing icon appearing shortly after the messages were read. I wait for Rae’s reply, sipping my slowly cooling coffee with little interest due to how invested I am in our conversation. If there’s a person who can make light of this situation, it’s Rae, no doubt about it.

V ~ I know what you mean. It’s not gonna be easy to adjust to but you will get used to it eventually. I’m sure you’ll even grow to like it. Promise you, it’s not that scary to be exposed, there’s literal millions of people who support you wholeheartedly :) 

V ~ Us, your friends, are here too! Never forget that, we’ve always got your back, Y/N!

V ~ Oh and you really should be a model! Whoever’s saying that has got the right idea. Maybe don’t fear this new change, but embrace it! Take this new turn in your life confidently. Sure, it was out of the blue, but do you really want the person who exposed you to feel the satisfaction of bringing you down? That doesn’t sound like you at all tbh

The epiphany strikes me as soon as Rae’s words sink in as I read them. She’s 100% right. The last thing I want is for my ex to think they’ve won. I refuse to give them the pleasure of tasting victory on the expense of my mental health and career progress. In fact, imma show them just how much they benefited me. But first...

Me ~ Thank you so much, Rae. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this eye-opener

Me ~ I owe you one <3

I sure as hell owe her one, but for now I have other battles to win.

Rifling through my gallery, I find one more recent picture and without a shred of doubt or hesitation, I go straight to Instagram to post it.

~ “Since y’all were curious...And since y’all wanna see me model, you’re welcome” ~

Within seconds likes and comments start flowing in like a riptide, taking over my phone that, despite being charged all night, is already at half of its battery life.

I refresh the page with the post to look at the new comments that have come through, all supportive and complimenting me, some are real thirsty and some are incredibly kind. And even in that sea, her comment still sticks out to me, making me grin like an idiot.

“That’s what I was talking about! Work it, Y/N!“

[mirrorgrets]

Teyvat, the twins, and the Archons: a theory

Hello today I will be explaining my genshin impact theory which is most likely right because I say so and I have an inflated ego

Note: I will be referring to the MC as traveler and the Leader of the Abyss Order as such or as the missing twin for neutrality’s sake. And also because I chose Lumine and I can’t bear to say Lumine is “evil”

Note after writing all of that: Actually, I’m wrong. Reading it made me realize how batshit off the rails it all sounds. But here it is anyways because it’s a funny theory.

Contains multiple spoilers for the entirety of the game (1.3 edition)

Part 1. Gnosticism, Archons, and Humanity

I think by now, most of us have heard of the Gnosticism theory. If you haven't heard of it, Gnosticism is the belief that humanity could be more than what we are at present because of the world we're in.

Gnosticism has many versions but the basic concept of it is that humans are stuck in a fake world where our full potential is locked away because of our belief in false gods. The true God is the creator of the true world and between us and him, are beings called Aeons. One Aeon who is called Sophia (meaning Wisdom) created a being who thought of himself as the One True God and created the physical world in his flawed image. Oh, and he gave seven beings rule over the world he created, who are called the Archons.

Under Gnosticism, humans are thought to be part physical, but also have a spiritual component in us that grants us divinity. But because the false god and archons actively work to make sure we never realize that there is divinity within us, we never reach our full potential.

Connecting this with genshin impact, the humans in Teyvat have access to visions that give them power, as well as a chance to attain godhood. However, they believe that it is a gift from Celestia instead of a thing any of them can attain themselves. In fact, they don't even know that if one "receives" a vision, they can become gods because it's a secret that only Archons are privy to. Venti says this himself at the end of the prologue section of the main storyline when we ask him about visions.

It seems like Celestia doesn’t want humans to ascend to godhood. If we pair this  with what we know from the Main Storyline trailer that Dainsleif narrates, it becomes clearer. He says that Celestia goads humans with their seven treasures, rewards for the worthy, the doorway to divinity. However, it seems like there is a warning for those who dare to try and ascend, as if they say that the throne in the sky is not for us even if we have the means to.

Doesn’t that seem to contradict the purpose of the vision? Yes, it is a means to help humans live in Teyvat, but why give out visions when the Archons know fully well that it could help them gain access to Celestia? Doesn't it then seem like visions are not gifts from the Archons but instead innate power that all humans possess?

Part 2. What are the twins + What is Dainsleif + What are they doing in Teyvat + the Genesis Pearl = A Loop

Most signs point to the idea that the twins are actually older than they look. It seems like Lumine and Aether landed in Teyvat at least 500 years ago during the cataclysmic event that wiped out Khaenri’ah.

Going back to the idea of Gnosticism, the true God sends out Messengers of Light to the false world to guide the humans to their full potential. And we see traveler helping their companions ascend further, reaching their fullest potentials when they “max out.”

Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like they’re human. During the 1.2 Dragonspine event, Albedo does tests on us, and though he doesn’t tell us his complete findings, he alludes that we are like him, created from a substance that is yet to be defined. This goes off from the theory that he’s a homunculus, created from chalk, purified soil, the building block of the world. Aside from that, after our fight with Childe, one of the dialogue options after he mentions the fact that traveler can use both anemo and geo, is that they’re slowly gaining back their true power.

And of course, when the twins first enter the world, they have actual wings which were stripped by the Unknown God. Doesn’t seem very human to me.

So, if the travelers are Messengers of Light, then why is that not their main goal? Based on the We Will Be Reunited trailer, when the Abyss Mage mentions the traveler to the missing twin, their face looks shocked, like they just remembered that they have a twin. There’s desperation in their steps when they rush to the cliff to see their twin again, like it’s been so long since they’ve seen their sibling who they literally forgot. I think that aside from stripping them of their power, the Unknown God also took away some of their memories.

So the missing twin might remember the actual purpose as to why they’re in Teyvat, but didn’t remember their sibling until recently, and traveler remembers their sibling but doesn’t remember the reason why they were in Teyvat in the first place (or they do but that isn’t their main concern since they’re putting their sibling first).

So how does Dainsleif relates to this particular segment? Well, in another version of Gnosticism, Aeons come in pairs. Sophia’s partner was Jesus. Now, in the Main Storyline trailer, Dainsleif alludes to a woman when at the very end of the video where he says “My memory has all but faded completely, but I will always remember, how she too loved these flowers.” The flowers are the flowers Lumine especially likes, the ones she adorns in her hair. A flimsy connection it may be, but a connection nonetheless.

Now, I’ve seen theories about Dainsleif being an older version of Aether, but that theory doesn’t hold water if you choose Lumine as your traveler or if you consider the fact that Dainsleif and Aether don’t share the same eye color. Yet, it’s not completely off. There are thirty Aeons in total, although this number can differ in other versions of Gnosticism.

Now, in Dainsleif’s quest, we immediately question this stranger as he is somehow omniscient, if we haven’t already questioned him with all his narration in the Collected Miscellany videos where he hints that he knows more than we do. I will say it now: I think that Dainsleif takes upon the role of Jesus.

I could be wrong. But I think I’m right. For now.

In another version of Gnosticism, Jesus goes to the false world and saves Sophia, as she forgets who she is, she forgets her divinity and is stuck there. If we follow the theory that Dainsleif is actually the second heir from the Gnostic Chorus teaser, and that he is searching for the Genesis Pearl. The Genesis Pearl symbolizes the beginning and purity that is incorruptible. This could be the essence of Sophia, the lost Aeon who incidentally created the false god.

Back to the Main Storyline trailer, Dainsleif says that the war has already begun, and that is just a continuation of past battles. We could take this in a sense that the conflict has reached its boiling point and that it was only because all these problems were left alone for too long. However, we could also consider the possibility that Dainsleif has lived through whatever the twins are going through right now because he is the first Messenger of Light to step foot in Teyvat.

We can also look into Dainsleif’s name, which is a Nordic name, actually written as Dáinsleif. This means Dain’s Legacy which is the sword of King Högni, which aided him in a never ending battle that went on until Ragnarok.

It seems like the twins are repeating a cycle that has already happened to Dainsleif and whoever the unknown woman who also likes the flowers the missing twin likes. All four of them are Aeons or Messengers of Light.

So who is that woman? I have no idea. It could the unknown god but that feels like a stretch. The unknown god might actually be the demiurge, the false god that created Teyvat and the seven Archons, and not Sophia herself. It could also be Paimon who might have some kind of relation to the unknown god, whether it be that she is the unknown god, or she is a being from Celestia. Either way, both feel like shaky theories.

But of course, Mihoyo is only taking inspiration from Gnosticism and several other sources which could lead them to take creative liberties when applying it to the game.

Part 3. The Abyss Order and Khaenri'ah: war crimes against humanity

Going back to my point about the twins’ original goal to why they went to Teyvat in the first place, let’s question why the missing twin joined forces with the Abyss Order and began to lead them to burn the throne of Celestia.

While we don't hear the missing twin mention Celestia in the We Will Be Reunited trailer, the only other time a throne is mentioned is in the Main Storyline trailer when Dainsleif mentions that Celestia does not want humans to ascend to take up a throne in the sky.

Back to the safety of the game's actual lore, we understand that Kaenri'ah is a godless nation that might have underwent a calamity that might have killed off most of its people since they were closer to understanding the truth, and were technologically advanced, compared to the other nations of Teyvat. An alchemist named Gold ultimately led to this cataclysm due to their greed for seeking erudition.

It is safe to assume that Celestia wiped out Khaenri'ah and all the technology they created. We could also assume that the people were all killed, yes, but it would be better to assume they were cursed instead. Into what though?

The hilichurls.

In the archive section of the game, under the books, there's quite a lot written about the hilichurls, thanks to Jacob Musk. The author describes the hilichurls to be drawn to old relics of the past, with even attempts to recreate it. Their way of lifestyle is even described, and it looks like they worship the element itself and not the Archons who represent it.

Doesn't it seem like the hilichurls have a connection with the ancient civilization of the past? Not to mention their strange connection to the elements in which shaman hilichurls (samachurls) can harness the elements without the use of a vision? If I am correct with my theory, then hilichurls were once citizens of the bygone Khaenri'ah who discovered they could harness the elements without an Archon's blessing that came in the form of a vision.

It doesn't feel too surprising considering that for monsters, hilichurls are quite smart. They even display human-like characteristics. In the game, we see them dancing, sleeping, just minding their own business in general. They have their own architecture and their own language. In the Hilichurl Cultural Customs book, we even discover that hilichurls are not as barbaric as they are made out to be as they have leaders who decide their policies and course of action. It's as if they have their own culture.

Ultimately, the hilichurls are part of the Abyss Order. The organization's main goal is to get undermine Celestia's rule, and at this point of this mess I call a theory, doesn't that make them stand in a position where nothing is painted as black and white as it seems. Yes, they do heinous things like steal, possibly murder, and set off a dragon on Mondstadt, but it looks like they're operating through a "the end justifies the means" kind of morality.

And the missing twin shares this sentiment. As they had seen what Celestia had done to Khaenriah 500 years ago before the beginning of the prologue, their desperation grows. Their war with destiny will not stop until Celestia falls because it is their ultimate mission. Traveler has taken up the safer side of this war, wherein they help the humans but the missing twin has taken up the side of fallen humans. This is why they're not evil per se; just going through questionable steps to achieve a righteous goal.

Part 4. Teyvat and its Archons

Based on all that, it seems like I’m painting the Archons to be the bad guys. I am. They wiped out an entire civilization on the basis that they might learn the truth of the world, and their uncanny closeness to Celestia.

But we like Venti and Zhongli, right? Of course we do! However, they were still complicit in the downfall of Khaenri'ah and the limitation of humanity in Teyvat.

To start, Venti had his gnosis was forcibly taken from him. He doesn't seem to mourn over that (although he could be hiding it) and it looks like he can still present himself in a godly manner as we see in Venti's quest when he revealed himself as Barbatos to Stanley. When we spend time with him under the tree of Vennessa, while he divulges the secrets of Celestia to us, he still seems to comply with them. This could be chalked up to the fact that ultimately, he is Mondstadt's Archon and also the weakest of the seven. We could also consider the fact that at the time of Khaneri’ah’s downfall, he was in Dragonspine with Dvalin, dealing with Durin.

With Zhongli, it becomes a bit more interesting. He gave away his gnosis under the agreement of a contract we do not know the details of. But why he did? Why not because of his regret as the geo Archon and of love? Zhongli once ruled over Guili Plains with another god named Guizhong, the god of dust. Guizhong loved their people but perished during the Archon War. He then moved their people to Liyue Harbor and in her place, began to love them. Although he is stilted with the way he deals with his people, we see that he cares. Over the years, he has grown soft and shed the persona of Morax, a god who dealt with war. He says this himself and it feels like his ability to care extends beyond that of Liyue. It's possible he gave up his gnosis because he understands what the Tsaritsa is doing and what she's fighting for.

The Tsaritsa is the cryo Archon and the god of love. However, according to Tartaglia, she had to harden herself to go through with her plan. But what is her plan but an act of love for humanity? Wiping out Khaenri'ah could've opened her eyes to the inherent cruelty of Celestia. The timeline makes sense because Venti said that 500 yers ago, he knew her well but now, not so much. It’s at that point she loses whatever loyalty she had for Celestia. She had to steel herself and begin her plans to overthrow Celestia, which involves taking the gnoses of the six other Archons to fight the false god and alleviate humans from the hell they are in. That is her way of showing her love to humanity.

Teyvat is only a false world. We have seen many instances of this being hinted at like when Katheryne of the Adventurer’s Guild says “rebooting” or “error” as if she is only a program, or when Scaramouche says that the sky and the stars are all fake. Even in the game, if you take a closer look at the stars, it feels fake, as if it is a dome that traps the humans in Teyvat. Even more unsettling, when going deeper within the Spiral Abyss, the more stars you see which could mean Teyvat is actually upside down and that go deeper within the Spiral Abyss, we are ascending closer to the true world.

What greater act of love could the Tsaritsa commit other than giving humanity the truth?

Part 5. In conclusion: none of this makes sense

To summarize my main points:

Genshin Impact takes a lot from the mythos of Gnosticism

Visions are not gifts from the Archons but an inherent power from humans that come from their own "divinity"

The twins and Dainsleif are related in some manner

The twins are repeating a cycle that Dainsleif has already been through

The twins are suffering some kind of memory loss

The twins are in Teyvat to help humans realize their power

Celestia is not heaven but more like hell

Teyvat is a false world

The Tsarita is actually good

The Abyss Order is a morally grey organization

Archons are bad

This could all be wrong as this is only a theory. But the connections I pointed out make a bit of sense. There’s still more lore to uncover as we’ve only unlocked two regions and the Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies only have one volume out so far (this book is important because an Abyss Mage says that there is a lie within it) so this could all be debunked when new regions are unlocked.

Still, it’s a pretty fun theory to believe in at the moment. Thank you for reading this mess I call a theory!

[senotsuri]

Way back when, I posted an image of an OC, who fairly recently got a full name (she only had a surname back then.) So, with Eliza’s name finally figured out, I realised I hadn’t actually given my overview of the game that spawned her; Champions of Vestroia.

Time to lose my mind, I guess.

Some fore-knowledge before we get into this.

I am, by all means, a legacy bakugan fan, not a reboot fan. I’ve only seen one double episode (the become-smaller-child episode, which was cute, and Outer Demons, which has a super good premise, but the execution is. something.) By all accounts, CoV is essentially my introduction to the world of the reboot, and I’ll come to this later.

I played both the first game (Bakugan Battle Brawlers, specifically the Wii edition), and the... third game (Defenders of the Core, shortened to DOTC, also for the Wii. The second game, for anyone curious, is Battle Trainer, a DS exclusive.) This will come up later, of course, but I want to point out these two as they’re basically my control group for the quality here (not for the battles though; different battle system and all.)

I am incredibly stay-at-home. A lot of people I know irl I don’t have contact with, and most of them don’t live in my city. This is only important when it comes to the protagonist and literally no one else in the game, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

So the game begins with the character creator. This is pretty standard stuff, honestly. My one issue with it is just-- this is probably my fashion sense speaking, but the fashion in the game is very... for lack of a better term, naff. There aren’t many options that look good, personally speaking. This is ignoring the issues where the protagonist loses their name, mid conversation, or is referred to as if I chose the male option instead of the female option. These issues are likely just oversights, by all accounts, but talk about jarring.

The first time you see your character is where 3. comes in. The protagonist, no matter what you chose (I have two save files, in case there was a difference. There isn’t), will always be a football/soccer player. Are you one of many, many people who isn’t sporty, who is trying to play as themselves? Sorry, your character is sporty, and you can’t do anything about it.

In the legacy games, this was never really a problem; your character was never seen doing anything other than brawling and interacting with other characters. Whether they played sports, or stayed indoors and wrote fanfic, the game let you decide on that for your character, by not having them do either of those things: your character only battled, or snuck around in DOTC’s case.

Once you stop playing football, you get to run to your best friends, and I guarantee you, you won’t immediately guess who they are unless you somehow already knew.

I mentioned BBB and DOTC being my control group on quality. Bringing the character creator back into this, the NPCs are laughable in quality. Any character who has the same model as you (older child. There are only two other model types: adult, and younger child) will look like a remixed version of your character. Had it not been for some characters having special eye shapes, you could practically cosplay any character in the game, because they were made the same way you made your character.

This includes your two best friends.

You could easily make the same character (minus clothes) as one of your best friend characters, without knowing it until you saw them.

While, yes, BBB and DOTC had the characters from the legacy anime in them, the fact that your best friends are nigh indistinguishable from any other character in the area, because you could easily make any of them in the character creator, isn’t... great.

Speaking of that. Characterisation is questionable, to say the least. Whatever bakugan you have in your first slot will answer to you the same as any other bakugan you have in your first slot. If you started off with Howlkor in the front of your party, and you replaced him with, say, Barbetra, Barbetra will act the exact same as Howlkor did, and it’s really something.

There’s only (?) Armoured Alliance bakugan in the game, other than Dragonoid, Pegatrix, Trox, Hydorous, Nillious, and the afforementioned Howlkor. That’s a small roster, by all accounts, so having varied dialogue depending on the bakugan would make sense.

The characterisation of the other characters is also a little funky in places. Your best friends don’t brawl, and I honestly forgot about them for a portion of the game. The tournament brawlers are practically as faceless as the villain minions, and the villains- oh the villains...

Preston. I don’t like Preston, at all. He’s a villain from the moment you see him, and the whole “try to find Preston” section in Helena Heights makes me want to punch someone. When you fight him in the Parasol HQ, his dad being the CEO, it’s fairly clear that Preston is little more than a tool for him. Sometime later, you fight Preston again, this time as the final tournament’s final battle, and he’s laughably weak compared to the other challengers. Remember, this kid fights you with Leonidas.

You’d think Leo would be good, but I’ll get into the butchering that happened to my death dragon later.

Anyhow, he fights you, assuming his dad will enjoy him defeating you. With the power of you’re the player character, you beat him, he hands all of his bakugan to you, and gives up on brawling for good. Kinda.

The next time you see him... hoo boy. In Old Town, on the way to defeat dear detestable dad, you come across Preston. He offers you help, and when player character is understandably suspicious, Preston complains that... one of his toys was taken away because you beat him, and now he wants Revenge On Dad.

I wish I was joking. His revenge, by helping you defeat his dad, isn’t because he’s obviously neglected by his dad (company taking priority over him, the CEO’s son), and then is used as a minion to try and get rid of you. It’s not out of bitter feelings because his dad doesn’t care about him, no, it’s because his dad took his ball away.

What’s worse is how player character reacts: “Oh! :) You’ve learned that bakugan aren’t just tools! :) Yes you can help me, despite the fact that you learning this sounds less than genuine and definitely not last minute! :)”

This is a level of stupidity I’ve only seen in DOTC Mira when Spectra tricks her into giving him Drago. He’s literally sulking and moping about over his ball, and then he sees the player character, immediately being manipulative so that player character can take down his dad for him. 

Leonidas also forgives him, and has the same reaction as the player character.

Speaking of Leonidas! I think everyone’s been excited for Leonidas in general - we all love a shark headed death dragon, and we wanted one in the reboot for ages.

I refuse to call reboot Leonidas Leonidas. This is like the Shun Kazami debacle, but one I’m substantially more angry about.

Leonidas, in BBB, was untrusting of everything, wanted to throw down with everything in sight, had no fear of anything because “I don’t fear weak [humans]”, and literally came from hell. He eventually grew to trust you and others, to calm down and enjoy himself at his own pace, and was willing to have help from others, showing anyone around him that his origins aren’t the be all and end all about him.

Leonidas, in CoV, is immediately trusting of the first human who showed a hint of kindness, has a weakness to all attacks in the game, comes from Vestroia (not the Doom Dimension), and forgives the human who threw him away when he didn’t win the battle against you for him.

Ignoring the fact that Leonidas just doesn’t look good in CoV, I’d say he got bastardised. That’s not Leonidas, it’s just a dragon with the same name.

The main villain is the CEO of Parasol, an energy company that, assumedly, used to use solar power. Upon finding out that bakugan battles give off incredible levels of power, they turned to using bakugan, forced to battle, to generate power. These guys literally dug into someone’s house to try and get Leonidas. They’re evil.

On the topic of the battling for power generation; this has a decay effect on Vestroia, as it happens, as battling energy would usually go back into Vestroia, which would be recycled and reused.

The CEO doesn’t bend the knee to you until you break him, which is undoubtedly nice for a villain; I was honestly expecting him to give up, but he doesn’t. You beat him into a corner.

But as my introduction to the world of BP, through CoV, is lackluster at best. Obviously the game is meant for those who have seen the reboot, and don’t mind being completely disconnected from the story, because CoV is self contained, and Dan only shows up to be the tutorial giver (as a jpg, no less).

From what the game tells me about the setting; bakugan are often exploited by adults, bakugan do not like adults because of this, but can’t tell when a human child is manipulating them, unless another child removes them from that situation (the lack of agency here is somehow worse than in the legacy series, who knew).

Despite bakugan being around for 18 years in the setting, no one seems to be aware that they’re living beings, other than the main charcter, as if BP humans are equivalent to Legacy’s Vestals. I was already aware of Vestroia and Earth sharing a location in space, but the fact that drilling deep enough causes bakugan to appear on Earth seems... really weird? Schrödinger’s Bakugan Summoning Pit, but they exist on every digging site possible. Bonus points to all bakugan being able to speak, and they do speak a lot, but only to the player and whoever is around the player in a cutscene.

I’m missing a lot of things, such as battle items being the worst sometimes, I’m aware, but at this point I’m tired of rambling, so let me end off in a comparison.

CoV has, in my opinion, the same replayability levels as Pokemon Shield; I couldn’t replay either game to the end, and I wouldn’t recommend either to anyone unless they were desperate for a new game to play, and had nothing else to chose.

[loissehilario]

A Glimpse of Nanay Corazon’s Life In A Pandemic

Nanay Corazon listening attentively while her son, Desi Dee, talks about celebrity gossips during the afternoon.

Being a woman in her 80’s does not stop Corazon G. Hilario on living her life to the fullest. She likes to travel, explore and try activities, and just live in the moment. But when the pandemic hit the Philippines, her life turned into a cycle, like there is a schedule that needs to be followed. This is a glimpse of Nanay Corazon’s day in the life. 

Nanay Corazon being injected by Apidra, a fast-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar by Cristina, her daughter-in-law at 8 in the morning.

Although her life does not sound interesting to some, I chose her as my subject for this photo essay. Nanay Corazon is my grandmother from my father’s side. My grandmother from my mother’s side died before I had the chance to meet her, so she is my one and only, literally. My siblings and I are very close to her, she is one of those people that really influenced me while growing up. Even though she does not have an interesting profession, an awesome life, or an influential person, I decided to pick her. I wanted to show people the view of being with my grandmother. I wanted to show a glimpse of what happens to an 81-year-old grandmother who has an 86-year-old husband, 5 kids, and 11 grandchildren. I wanted to tell her story.

Nanay Corazon readying to take Ketosteril, a medicine tablet that is commonly used as dietary supplements with kidney problems which is one out of her eleven medicines to take.

Nanay starts her day by getting pricked by a needle. Since she was hospitalized last year, our family took precautions on her health. Her food intake, medicines, blood sugar, and blood pressure are needed to be written down for her doctors to see every check-up. Every morning, Cristina, her daughter-in-law who is taking the role of her nurse, gets her blood sugar and blood pressure before breakfast. Today, her blood sugar was above normal, so she needed to be injected by Apidra, an insulin to control the blood sugar.

Crispy pandesal stuffed with coco jam held by Nanay Corazon for her breakfast.

After her morning check-up, Nanay proceeds on taking her breakfast. Since her food choices are limited, her breakfast is mainly pandesal with either coco jam or anchor as her palaman. Every morning, she needs to take 11 medicines. Most of the time, she eats breakfast in peace, just like today.

Every Tuesday and Friday, Nanay burns laurel, a bay leaf, that has her dreams and wishes written on it. Today, she performs this activity. Her dreams often have topics. Today, it is her dreams about her one and only daughter, Grace. Since the leaf is small, she needs 10-15 leaves. After writing, she burns all the leaves on a candle and compiles all the ashes. She puts all the ashes inside a tissue and lets someone discard it outside. For it to work, she says that it should be discarded while facing the sun. Sometimes, she is the one who throws it during her morning walk, but most of the time, she lets someone do it.

Nanay Corazon burning leaves of laurel, a bay leaf, which were written with her dreams, then compile the ashes inside a tissue, and throw them while facing the sun. She believes that this act will make her dreams come true.

To kill time before tanghalian, Nanay likes to watch Youtube. Her current favorite Youtuber is Mahal, a Filipino actress and entertainer. When I asked her why she likes her content, she said that it brings her joy. “Ayoko kasi ng mga nakakatakot, yung mga nakakagulat na palabas. Gusto ko yung masaya lang.” Her son, Desi Dee, likes to watch movies on Netflix which are mostly vampire and zombie movies. Since they live together, Nanay has no choice but to watch what her son watches even though most of the time, she hates this genre. Fun fact though, Nanay is a huge AlDub fan. When there is no new content from Mahal, she likes to watch clips or gossip about the love team, and everything related to Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza.

Just like her breakfast, her food during tanghalian is also limited. You often see her with the same meal every day. Today, her meal consists of daing na bangus paired with soup. During the afternoon, she needs to take three medicines and get her eye drops because she tends to have a red eye, just like Kaneki Ken from Tokyo Ghoul. She says it does not hurt though. Most of the time, she watches Eat Bulaga, a noontime show, while eating. Watching this show is a daily occurrence for her since she is a fan of Maine Mendoza. Her favorite segment is, “Bawal Judgmental”.

Nanay Corazon eating her meal for the afternoon which consists of: daing na bangus, one and a half cup of rice, soup, and three medicines.

Before going to bed for the afternoon, Nanay makes sure to do her business in the bathroom. Since she has trouble doing everything by herself, her son, Desi Dee, helps her when she goes into the bathroom. Today, she needed to wash her body to freshen up. She only washes her body 2-3 times a week. After that, she goes upstairs and kills time, again watching Mahal on her tablet.

Nanay always says she is not allowed to sleep during the afternoon. Whenever she sleeps, it affects the result of her blood sugar or blood pressure, so she tries not to sleep in the afternoon. Watching Youtube on the television keeps her awake till Cristina comes before the evening. Since Mahal is her favorite content creator now, she is indeed awake the whole afternoon.

After washing her body, Nanay Corazon goes to her room and watches her favorite vlogger, Mahal, in her tablet to kill time in the afternoon.

Cristina often goes every 5:30PM to conduct her “afternoon check-up” in Nanay. Just like what she did every morning, she gets the blood sugar and blood pressure of Nanay. They often talk to each other about everything, really. Their topics revolve on gossip, news, politics, and food. 

Killing time again before her evening meal, she watches Youtube. Sometimes, I do encourage her to watch other content. Nanay is also a fan of volleyball. Before discovering Mahal, she watched volleyball matches of different leagues from Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and UAAP. One time, I recommended to her a match between France and Brazil in Volleyball Nation’s League (VNL). She spent her whole afternoon watching matches in VNL and Olympics after that. Her favorite women volleyball player is Alyssa Valdez. She watches her live matches on television during her UAAP era, even when she graduated and played in other leagues.

Nanay Corazon getting her blood pressure and sugar by Cristina, her daughter-in-law, who will determine if she needs Apidra and her meal for the night.

For her evening meal, one food was added to the group. Chicharap, a food from Chowking, together with daing na bangus, and the same soup from the afternoon, was her meal for the night. Every night, she takes three medicines. She eats in her room every night since it takes too much of her strength to go downstairs. I observed that her meal consists of the same food throughout the day. I asked if she was getting tired on eating the same meal every day and she said, “Wala akong choice eh, kailangan ayan ang mga kainin ko. Marami kasi akong bawal kainin.” She spent the rest of the night watching Youtube till she felt sleepy.

Nanay Corazon sitting at her arinola, or chamber pots, while watching the television in the evening.

One of Nanay’s hobbies is gambling. She plays the card game which they call “kuwaho”. Before the pandemic, they gamble most of the time. When they are on a roll, it continues up to 2-3 days, none of them having any sleep. Nanay switches with whoever is available in the family though, since she is too old. Playing “kuwaho” is normal in the family, even us kids know it. They taught us how to play in case no one is available to play now, or someone has an emergency.

Nanay also likes to travel. She often goes to Tagaytay to buy and eat food with the family. Before eating though, we pray in the Pink Sisters Convent. Sometimes, I think the sisters know her already.

Nanay Corazon watching television while eating her meal that consists of: daing na bangus, one cup of rice, soup, chicharap, and 3 medicines for the evening.

These are the two hobbies entertaining her before the pandemic. When the COVID-19 started and she was hospitalized, things drastically changed. Everything is limited for her. She has this schedule that needs to be followed every day. She cannot do the things she loved before anymore.

Nanay Corazon is just one of the millions of lives that suddenly changed because of the pandemic. Although she has no choice but to stick to her daily routine and drink 17 tablets per day, she said that she is still thankful that she is alive and healthy at 81 years old. “Nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon dahil wala na akong nararamdaman na sakit. Kahit ang dami kong iniinom na malalaking gamot, maigi na ito dahil para din naman sa akin.” 

[l-sincline]

Cybernetics - Cyberpunk!Sonic AU

Amy Rose has been working tirelessly at her broken down booth for as long as she can imagine. Ever since Tails left their work to join forces with the revered hero of Mobius, 'The Blue Blur', she's grown lonely and desperate to make her life exciting. A strange customer comes in one day asking her to fix his cyborg arm, what she didn't know was that he would be the catalyst for a brand new life.

AO3 Tags:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog), Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Rouge the Bat, Whisper the Wolf, Cream the Rabbit, Knuckles the Echidna, Badnik (Sonic the Hedgehog), E-123 Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Angst, Slow Burn, Partners in Crime

AO3 Link

Next

Amy reached up and wiped the sweat off her brow harshly with her hand that held the wrench. At the beginning of the day, she may have worried about getting grease or even Thuluhide on her forehead, but it was getting late, and she already had dozens of grease smudges all over her, and a few splotches of Thuluhide on her cargo pants and crop top. Grease, of course, came with the job description. She was a mechanic, fixing robot parts and hover cars and other things of the sort caused her to get pretty messy. Thuluhide, however, was something she hadn’t been aware she’d have to deal with until after her friend Tails had taught her to fix even more advanced things, like cyborg parts and androids.The world they lived in was teeming with them, it only made sense that she learned how to fix them to make more money, she already charged low for her services as it was, she didn’t exactly live in a rich town, it felt like a crime to try and sell her time for more than the people she serviced could afford, so the more she could do, the more money she could make. 

Anyways, Thuluhide had proved itself hard to remove from clothing, as her pants had many other stains that had refused to come out other the years. Thuluhide was the blood of those advanced cybernetics, cyborgs had Thuluhide integrated into their own body along with their blood in order to properly control and maintain function in their robot parts, Androids were simply filled with Thuluhide. As she tightened the last screw on the oldish radio that sat in front of her, on her desk at the very front of her shop, she became aware of a presence standing just ahead of her, on the other side of her booth. Amy looked up, slightly startled that she hadn’t heard them. Even though the street filled with various booths and shops like hers she worked on was often bustling with noise, she usually hear someone at least a few moments before they arrived. 

“You service cyborgs?” They asked- sounded male. 

“Yes-“ she replied “is that what I can help you with today?” 

He wore a cloak that covered most of his body, even the hood cast too much of a shadow on his face for her to see much else other than the fact that he had some pretty sizable fangs for a Mobian that didn’t seem to be some sort of lizard or lion. He responded by tossing an arm up onto her table- it was unlike one she had ever seen before, she usually saw cyborg parts that were steel or black, and if they weren’t their pain job was usually pretty shabby. This arm, however, was sleek white with two red stripes, one running down the outer of the the arm, the other down the inner. The joints were covered in well serviced black rubber- the entire thing was well serviced save for sizable dents made to the forearm. 

“I couldn’t move it at the elbow anymore, fingers and wrist wasn’t working either.” He said, gently using his other hand to push aside the cloak ever so slightly, all she could really see was the matching port on his shoulder where the arm connected, even his other arm stayed hidden by the cloak. 

“Well, I would’ve preferred if you’d let me remove it myself...” she started, picking up the arm to get a closer look at it. The stripes she observed earlier now seemed to just be lights that weren’t turned on. She frowned. 

“You know, I’ve never seen any arm, any cyborg part at all for that matter, that looks like this.” She commented as she continued to turn it over in her hands. 

“It was custom made.” He responded simply. 

“Shouldn’t you bring it back to whoever made it then? They’d have less of a chance of messing up on it than I do.” Amy placed the arm back down on the table and looked up to where she thought she could see the smallest gleam of light off the mans eyes. 

“Can’t. We’re not on speaking terms anymore.” He responded shortly, making it clear that would be all she was getting on that subject. 

“Shame.” She responded simply, putting her hands up in defeat to reassure him she would press no further. “Well, I’ll see what I can do then. I estimate it’ll be done by-“

“Can I have it by tomorrow night?” He interrupted. Her disbelieving look must have made him realize he sounded like an asshole, because he quickly followed up with; “I’ll pay more for it to be done faster.” She let out the breath she had been holding and slumped tiredly. 

“Yes, that will be forty units added on to the down payment then.”

“How much is the down payment?” 

“Twenty units.”

It was his turn to look at her like she was crazy, or at least, it felt like he was looking at her like she was crazy.  “That cheap?”

“Yeah, well, if I just have to tighten a screw then you’ll get money back instead, it’s just easier this way, I don’t know how much servicing this arm will cost until I actually do it. I could give you an estimate if you want, but you’ll have to stick around for another ten minutes.” 

“I just thought it would cost more.” He defended his reaction. 

“Closer to the middle of the city, sure. But out here people don’t have much, and I don’t want to take what little they have away from them.” She responded with a shrug, leaning back on her stool and crossing her arms over her chest. He seemed like he wanted to keep arguing, but kept his mouth shut as he dug around under his cloak a bit before his other arm snaked out and dropped her units on the table. 

She tried her hardest to hide her surprise, but clearly it hadn’t worked well, because his arm shot back into the abyss of the cloak as soon as she had noticed his other arm was also robotic. It was pretty rare to find someone with more than five percent of their makeup being robotic. With one full arm he’d already slightly over come that, but with two full arms he had officially gone pretty wildly over. 

“I’ll be back this time tomorrow.” He said suddenly before turning and walking quickly into the crowd. Amy tried to follow where he was going, but just as suddenly as he had appeared, he disappeared. She swiped the units into her hand and dumped them into a jar that sat below the table before picking up the arm again. 

There was something about it that made her feel as if no one else should see it, as if it was specifically given to her to be in her hands only- maybe the mystery guy had known her mechanic partner had moved on to bigger things and she was the only one in the shop now- either way, she tucked the arm under her own pink arm, which was quite dusty this late in the day making her seem almost purple, and reached up to close the screen in front of her booth to signal she was closed to the market that was still teeming with mobians even after dark. 

Soon she was left in the dim light of her lanterns that hung from either side of the buildings that surrounded the booth. The roof had been constructed out of old tarps and dingy blankets nailed to the walls (with permission from the building owners) and some burlap hung down over the back entrance that lead to the back alleyway to create sort of a tent like entry way. Wires zig zagged across the floor, all leading to different tools and one leading to a lamp on her work desk that all converged at one very over worked extension cord. Amy set the arm down on her work desk and dragged the stool from the front of her booth over to it so she could sit, turning on the lamp once she had. 

She stared blankly at the arm in front of her- perhaps the thing that made it strangest was it’s resemblance to something most mobians lived in fear of; the evil robots sent from the mad doctor, Robotnik, who came from a planet they had strained relations with: Earth. 

Earth and Mobius had only become known to each other in more recent years, after Earth ravaged the land in a war that the Mobians just barely managed to finish off. That was half a millennium ago, so perhaps not as recent as one may think, but still recent enough to keep sour tensions. Both planets leaders were constantly back and forth, looking to negotiate a peace treaty, but nothing had come yet. Constant changes of power on both planets lead to constant changing of peace treaties, it was a turbulent activity. 

But that was besides the point, the arm that sat in front of her resembled some of the most evil robots known to mobians, killing machines set upon them by a man who had made it his goal to take over their planet. 

Trying not to dwell on its resemblance to the doctor’s robots too much, Amy finally chose a tool (a flat head screw driver) and dragged the arm closer to her. She gripped it tightly and popped off the outside panel of the forearm where the flurry of dents were. She held up the gleaming white panel in one hand, and in the light it appeared that the dents had come from kicks, very strong ones to be able to dent this kind of foreign metal. She placed it back down on the table- she’d push the dents up and repaint the panel later, for now she wanted to get an idea of what it looked like inside the arm. 

Inside the arm looked somewhat similar to typical Mobian cyborg limbs, the Thuluhide sat dormant in the tube structures that resembled veins, and sure enough the red stripes she’d spotted earlier were lights, but it seemed that somehow they were activated by the Thuluhide. All the mechanisms on the inside were black, making it rather hard to tell anything apart. Even the wires were black instead of their usual mess of primaries, and she began to wish she still had Tails in the shop to lend a hand. Amy bit her lip as she leaned closer to the arm. She could call him, but he also seemed to be infinitely busier than normal these days. Tails was lucky, extremely lucky. She would probably envy him for the rest of her days. 

With the appearance of the robots that this arm reminded her of many years ago now, had come a vigilante of sorts to save the people from untimely demise. Super fast thanks to his Cyborg legs, sickeningly badass, and supposedly pretty handsome, the Blue Blur had become a household name. He never asked for payment, he never left anyone behind, he just did what was right- absolutely admirable! Amy still remembered the feeling of shock when she had come to the booth one morning and Tails was jittering around excitedly with a smile that looked like it could’ve torn his face in half. Apparently the Blue Blur himself had come by early that morning for maintenance on his legs, and a few days later, had asked Tails to come on board as his official mechanic. 

Amy was so happy for him when he’d told her, but the twinge of jealousy always sat not too far behind. She missed the life Tails brought to the shop, she missed his stories and his expertise, but she supposed it was his expertise that got him such a spectacular opportunity. 

She stared blankly at the ProjScreen she had taken out of her pocket, finger hovering over the call button before finally giving in and tapping it, setting down the screen so the hologram could pop up. 

It rang a few times, and then just as she was sure that Tails’ smiling face would pop up, it was instead the typical camera icon followed by the robotic woman’s voice telling her: “Miles Prower is not available at this moment, please leave a message at the sound of recording, thank you.” Amy managed a quick sigh before straightening back up when the beep sounded and slapping a strained smile on her face. 

“Hi Tails... I was hoping you wouldn’t be busy but... I guess you do have a lot more going on these days.” She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “I have something pretty interesting here that I thought you might want to take a stab at, but it’s due tomorrow night so I guess I’ll just try to figure it out on my own... have a good night- miss you!” She tried to end enthusiastically as she grabbed the ProjScreen to get it to stop recording. Amy threw the screen down on the table and grumbled as she leaned foreword and thumped her forehead down on the table. 

“I guess I’m just gonna have to sleep on it.” She spoke aloud to herself, voice muffled by the dirty pink fur of her arms. 

She would have to work on the arm all day tomorrow trying to figure it out, so that meant she’d have to keep the booth closed for the majority of the day, or at least only keep it open to simple fixes, but hopefully this client would pay good. After all, they’d been willing to spend extra money to get it custom originally and pay her extra to get it done fast- so they wouldn’t haggle... hopefully. 

Amy stood from the desk and popped the front panel back on to the arm before placing it gently in her satchel and slinging the bag around her shoulder. After turning off all her lights, she slid through the burlap curtains and headed out into the back ally, ready to go home and take a cold shower. 

[lover-of-midnight]

Long live the King

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Merlin (TV)

Relationships:

Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Kilgharrah & Merlin (Merlin)

Aredian & Uther Pendragon (Merlin)

Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Characters:

Merlin (Merlin)

Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Kilgharrah (Merlin)

Aredian (Merlin)

Uther (Merlin)

Additional Tags:

Hurt/Comfort

Angst

Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Uther Pendragon's A+ Parenting (Merlin)

Uther Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin)

Magical Arthur Pendragon

Protective Merlin (Merlin)

toture

Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin)

Boys In Love

r/darkfic prompts

Thank you for agreeing to help. My son is in a difficult position

Language:English

Collections: r/Darkfics Monthly Prompt Challenge

Summary: Arthur never realised he had magic. Until a faithful day when he needed to protect Merlin and couldn't do it the normal way.

Extraction: Arthur groaned when he woke up. His head was pounding and it took him a few seconds to realise he was in the dungeons.

R/darkfic prompts: "Thank you for agreeing to help. My son is in a difficult position."

Arthur groaned when he woke up. His head was pounding and it took him a few seconds to realise he was in the dungeons.

A shiver ran down his back when he felt cold penetration, his skin from every side. Arthur forced himself to take a deep breath.

He swallowed and focus, trying to remember what had happened. His eyes flutter close.

Flashes of light. Merlin pushed him to the ground. A gutted scream, a man running to them. Merlin shielding him.

The panic of losing Merlin. The shield.

Arthur’s eyes open with a start. He had performed magic. He pressed himself closer to the wall, knowing what was to come.

Uther had seen him use magic to protect a servant. Something he had no control over and did without conscious thought.

Arthur bit the inside of his lip. One of two things was going to happen and he hopes it would be one. Death would be preferred to the inhuman experiments his father had done on sorcerers.

There was a slight scratching sound to his left. When Arthur looked up was he surprised to see Merlin looking at him.

“Are you alright?” Merlin kept his voice low. The guards were distracted by the fact that Arthur was tossed in the dungeon where the sorcerers where normally kept and they were busy to discuss it.

Arthur nodded, all things considered, he wasn’t dead yet and he only had a headache, this could be worse and he knows it.

Merlin quickly looked around before he crouched down again. “Uther had sent for a witchfinder. From what Gaius had said, it sounds like they want to forcibly remove your magic.” Merlin’s voice trailed off.

He had seen the damaged the torture can do to people. He would need to find a way out before Arthur was seriously hurt.

Arthur paled when he heard it. He sagged against the wall.

“Arthur, you need to not give in, no matter what. We are working on getting you out. I promise you. Just don’t give up.” Merlin cast a last looked at Arthur.

He could hear footsteps coming closer, he would need to be away before whoever is coming can see him.

“I will be back. I promise.” Merlin gave Arthur a worried look before he hurried off.

Arthur froze up slightly when the door to his cell was opened. Aredian walked into the cramped space just looking at the prince.

There was a coldness to his eyes that filled Arthur’s heart with dread. If he walked out of this cell alive he had a strong feeling that he would be nothing more than a shell of who he was.

Aredian’s reputation preseeded him. He had no problem with torture and killing someone who had magic. Hell, he had no problem to do that to someone who he thought had magic.

Uther was standing slightly behind the witchfinder, his eyes were filled with disgusted as he looked at his son, but at the same time, a small part of him felt guilt for what he was going to put his son through.

“Do you think you would be able to get the magic out of him?” Uther’s voice was neutral.

Aredian was silent for a few seconds before he answered. “Of course Sire, I know how important it is that the crown prince has no magic left in his body.” He bowed to the king.

Hiding his wicked smile.

“Thank you for agreeing to help. As you can see my son is in a difficult position.” Uther turned around before the man could say anything else.

Leaving them alone.

Arthur could feel his heart racing but he forced himself to put on a mask of indifference. He wouldn’t allow the man to see how scared he truly felt.

Aredian was slow as he took out vials of potions and some other equipment. Arthur grew paler and paler with each weapon that was taken out.

He strained against the shackles holding him in place and pressed himself closer to the wall. For a moment he thought about praying but he never was a religious man.

Merlin almost slid as he ran down to the dragon’s cave. He slid into the cave.

“Kilgharrar, I need that sword now.” Merlin’s voice was firm as he waited for the dragon to get down from the cave ceiling.

There was a rush of wind as the dragon settled down. His golden eyes almost look like it was glowering at Merlin.

“And why do you need a sword forge in dragon’s fire?” The dragon almost sounded lazy.

“Arthur has magic, Uther had seen him cast a shield. He is planning on trying to forcibly remove the magic.” Merlin looked at the dragon, there was something in his eyes that moved Kilgharrar.

With a swoop, he dove back up where the ordinary blade was lying in wait in a small clearing in the wall. With ease, he took it into his mouth.

He dropped the sword onto the floor by Merlin’s feet. “Today your destiny would change for good, make sure your friend is saved.” The last word was barely spoken when Merlin ran to the dungeon. He gathered his magic.

Today he almost wanted to say fuck you destiny. Let the whole world know he had magic. He would use it to protect his king no matter what.

Arthur bit on his lip to keep himself from screaming in pain. It felt like he was being boiled alive. He writ against the stone wall.

When Aredian walked closer with another vial, Arthur almost begged him to leave him just alone. Instead, he closed his lips as tightly as he could.

Turning his face away when he was grabbed. The fingers dug into his jaw, prying them open. Pain shot up into Arthur’s head like a red rot was pressed against his skin.

The last push and his mouth were open enough for him to force him to drink. Arthur tried to force as much as he could out of his mouth, but some still went down his throat.

A slapped echo suddenly through the room when Arthur managed to spit the rest onto Aredian’s face.

Arthur forced himself to take a deep breath even when it felt like he was being stabbed in his lungs with each breath.

When Aredian grabbed his knife, Arthur closed his eyes waiting for death and hoping it would come soon. He wasn’t sure how much of this he would be able to take.

The blade was cool against his overheated skin and when it started to draw blood, Arthur just slumped down. Knowing no matter how much of a struggle he put up, there isn’t really a way out of this.

“We will remove this tainted blood of yours, make sure you will have fresh blood,” Aredian whispered into Arthur’s ear.

When it felt like it was never going to end, was Arthur cover from his shoulders to his pelvis in small cuts.

Somewhere deep and others were swallow. A whimper left his throat when Aredian started to put salt against the wounds.

A scream left Arthur’s lips when the first salt touched a rather deep cut.

Merlin felt his heart beating in his ears when he heard the scream. His magic flared up. The guards looked at him wearily.

“Either open up or get out.” Merlin’s voice was deadly. Someone was going to pay for what Arthur is being put through.

One guard could feel some respect forming for the servant. He had to see how loyal he was to Arthur, and here he was again. He would do anything to make sure that the prince was saved.

The other soldier rather ran to tell the king what was going on.

A deep-dived lay between the people. Some believed that Arthur would be a wonderful king and others said he would be just like his father if not worse.

Arthur pressed himself closer to the wall when the door burst open. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open and for a moment he feared that he had died when he saw Merlin in the doorway, sword in hand and golden eyes.

Aredian turned to the warlock. A nasty smile on his face. “So there is more of you.” He grabbed a pair of cold steel cuffs but with a burst of gold were they gone.

Merlin didn’t utter a word as he lifted the witchfinder tilting him upside down.

The man screamed in the background demanding to be put down. Merlin crouched down in front of Arthur.

His eyes scanned the cell for the keys and with a quick poke outside the guard handed him the keys to the cold steel shackles.

Arthur slumped forward when Merlin removed it. He was cold and boiling hot at the same time, with burning skin.

For a moment he closed his eyes wishing he was anyplace else. Merlin’s hands were warm and sting slightly his skin but at the same time was it comforting to know that this was over.

The thought barely made it’s way through his mind when he could hear footsteps. Arthur clumsily grabbed the sword that was with Merlin.

It took help from Merlin before he was able to stand again. The sword was heavy in his hand and Arthur knew that if he was in the normal shape that the sword would have been perfect.

Uther stopped dead when he saw his son, Merin was standing protectively in front of Arthur. For a moment coldness swept through Uther.

He had seen enough men with that look on there face. They would do anything to get revenge no matter what the cost.

“What have you done to Arthur?” Uther’s normal cold cascaded was nowhere to be seen, now it was just pure fury.

“Nothing. I wasn’t the one who locked him in a cell for having magic. I wasn’t the one who had him torture because it is something he had no control over.” Merlin could feel his magic swirling seeking a way out, wanting to punish.

“And it is the last time you will hurt someone with magic.” There was a flash of gold and Uther fell unconscious.

Arthur sagged forward slightly. His mind was reeling.

Warm hands around his shoulder’s kept him upright. Blue eyes met blue eyes. And Arthur could see the devotion in Merlin’s eyes.

The sword fell from his limp hand as he crashed against Merlin. The younger man easily kept Arthur upright, before he helped Arthur to sit down.

Still keeping him close to him. The smell of blood was thick in the air and there was a hint of saltiness.

Merlin could feel his tunic slowly turning wet as Arthur cried into his shoulder. He didn’t shush him or told him everything would be alright. He just held him.

Giving him time to work through his emotions and pain. For the next day that will come Arthur would need to decide the fate of his father.

When the tremors stop and Arthur pulled back slightly, Merlin gave him an encouraging smile.

“What are you going to do about your father and the witchfinder?” Merlin kept his voice low.

Arthur was silent for a few seconds. “It is time for a new reign. For now, they can keep each other company in the dungeon.”

Arthur forced himself upright almost falling when his knees bucked under his weight. He turned to the guards.

“Lock them up, I will deal with them tomorrow. They are not to be realised no matter what they scream or threaten you with.” Arthur's voice was firm even when it broke slightly at the end.

“Yes, Sire.” A core of voice.

With Merlin’s help, Arthur managed to get to the physician’s chambers.

It was almost night when Arthur opened his eyes again. The room was dimly lit with candles. He could feel a warm hand around his.

A groan left his lips when he pushed himself upright.

“Rest Arthur, tomorrow is going to be a long day. You are going to need all your strength.” Merlin’s voice was soft as he gently ran his free hand through Arthur’s blond hair.

Feeling him going limp again. “I love you, my king.” A mere whisper into the night. Unknowing that the prince had heard.

[bluestarsaber]

My Thoughts on Seven Deadly Sins Ending

Warning the text below is my opinion and nothing more on the ending of the Manga known as The Seven Deadly Sins and what has lead up to it, if you disagree with what I have to say that’s fine, but please do not do personally attacks. That said Seven Deadly Sins has ended after releasing its final Chapter on Tuesday after 8 years of publication. On to my thoughts well… honestly, I didn’t feel anything. No satisfaction, no anger or Sadness. I just felt nothing. I had been reading this manga for 4 years and with each passing year my interest in the series just waned down, till finally I stopped caring.

I still remember how I got into the series by watching the anime on Netflix which got me hooked on the series with Elizabeth, Meliodas and the talking pig Hawk trying to gather the seven deadly sins in order fight the corrupted order of holy knights, then went to the manga for more content because there was only 1 season in which I saw the seven deadly sisn face the demon clans strongest warriors the ten commandments. I got into the manga just when the Great Fight Festival arc was closing and Meliodas was killed. In some sense probably after that is were I felt the series started to decline as the Defensive Battle for Liones arc which started right after ended up bringing Meliodas back rather quickly (though timewise in manga it was a gap of few months) about half the ten Commandments appeared to have been defeated rather quickly despite over 70+ chapters of build-up.

Granted there was still great moments in it, Escanor vs Estarossa & Escanorr vs Meliodas are probably my favourite one on one battles, the growing darkness in Meliodas was promising at least and I’d enjoyed seeing the 4 archangels vs the ten commandments in the Memories of the Holy War arc. But afterwards it was becoming clear that a few of the standard problems with a weekly shonen battle manga tend to have was starting to happen with the Series such as: ever increasing power levels leading side character and even some main character like Ban being left behind, redemption arcs for half the bad guys (This happening to Drole, Gloxinia and Derieri) turning good only to be killed by more powerful enemies an arc later even they barley had time to be portrayed as villains and complicated lore which repeatedly got retconned to fit the current direction the plot was going was.

I’d say during the New Holy War arc was these problems were hard to ignore. Now granted the set was good at least, you had had the seven deadly sins lead by Elizabeth in the absence of Meliodas & the Holy Knights teaming up with the revived archangels into a group called Stigma against the Demon Clan lead by Melodias’s brother Zeldris and their mentors Chandler & Cusack. With the aim to destroy the Demon Clan and rescue Meliodas before he becomes the next Demon King by gathering all the ten commandments powers. Meanwhile you have Estarossa Searching for the Ten Commandments for his own purpose and well as mysterious past with Elizabeth and the final Archangel Mael.

Now the first problem was due to the fact at this point the other 8 Commandments who weren’t Zeledris and Estarossa were either beaten or no longer villains, meant you had no known named bad guys to fight against the sins, holy knights & archangels so you had pretty much the first wave was Stigma against demon clans henchmen. So that ended rather quickly showing off the powers of the sins & archangels, with a few holy knights standing out particularly the ones powered up by the Goddess clan as there were really no threating enemies. Granted this changed when Estarossa came in chasing Derieri after killing her partner Monspeet taking his commandment and began fighting against the archangels Sariel & Tarmiel with the power of three commandments (Galand’s being the third after he killed him, which I thought was a waste as I’d hoped he have a rematch with Ban).

Everything with Estarossa I’d say was great, the battle against the Archangels, the revelation that he was actually the archangel Meal who once possessed Escanor’s powers but had his memories manipulated by the original Gowther was executed perfectly. The and the final fight against him in which you had the seven deadly sins, the archangels Sariel & Tarmiel and Derieri fight and try to save him as he gets consumed by the power of commandments he has in his possession, from his grief for what he had done as Estarossa and anger at feels at Gowther for what his creator had done to him. Resulting in the deaths of Sariel, Tarmiel and Derieri stealing her commandment, to then being defeated by a newly powered up King after Olso gave his live to protect him. Then being brought back into the light after Mael learnt from Gwother that the reason why the original Gowther chose him to be Estarossa was because Mael had killed his lover. In many ways I felt the Estarossa/Mael plotline was bettet handle than the Obito plotline in Naruto.

Other things just I’d enjoyed in the war arc was Meliodas’s Emtions/goodside and Ban’s time with Hawk’s Brother Wild as well as Escanor, Merlin Ludociel, Hendrickson & Gilthunder vs Zeldris, Chandler & Cusack (granted Hendrickson and Gilthunder were more background characters really). However after that the arc goes downhill and gets messy as it’s revealed that whoever gets the power of all ten commandments doesn’t become the new demon king but gets possessed by him, as the final battle in the arc becomes the seven deadly sins, the two remain archangels and Zeledris vs The Demon King, most of it being inside Meliodas’s mind. The Battle feels very anticlimactic but ends on a bittersweet note with Ludociel dying afterwards and becoming clear that Meliodas can’t stay much longer now that he has the powers of the Demon King.

I think the series would have been fine ending after that, but Nakaba Suzuki the mangaka ends up being a troll by having Elizabeth still cursed as the demon King Survived after taking over Zeldris and now the Sins have the save him with the help of his Vampire lover Gelda. The battle is overdrawn out but ends once again on a bittersweet note as Escanor dies after overexposure to the ability sunshine. But even then, the series is not over and now you have Arthur a character who was killed a few arcs back is revived by Merlin so he can becomes the new lord of chaos but he chased by a monster cat called Cath who wants to eat him so he can have the power. By that point I just stopped caring as it was dealt with so quickly like an afterthought.

So, we ended up with an ending that while nice that the sins have all gotten together with their respective couples, everything else feels like it was either resolved off screen or forgotten about. I’m wondering what has happened to Merlin as she isn’t in the final chapters for some reason, neither when the sins depart or reunite for Meliodas and Elizabeth’s son’s birthday.

In many ways Seven Deadly Sins is the third manga that’s ended on a disappointing note for me, but unlike Naruto where is has gotten me really angry about how it ended or Bleach really sad with how it ended, I feel nothing for how Seven Deadly Sins ended. Which is a shame as for while this manga while it was coming out on the same day as Fairy Tail’s chapters I’d often used as something to enjoy when Fairy Tail had one of it’s more infamous moments (though I will admit I did like the final chapter and the Squeal series 100 Year Quest is really good), but now in some ways it ended being more disappointing than Fairy Tail.

It had some great characters such as Ban & Escanor with some memorable battles like the ones I mentioned above and a pretty good anime (at least first 2 seasons as I hear the 3rd budget is really poor), but it got too ridiculous in it’s plots past the first saga maybe even the second , couldn’t figure out which bad guy to end on and perhaps focused too much on the shipping side. Granted I know it will be getting a Spin off/sequel series called Four Knights of the Apocalypse and I will check it out. I just hope it can recapture the enthusiasm I had for the world of the Seven Deadly Sins.

[wdentollaston-blog]

best reptile resources online1

You see, we must teach our children that God's Word is the FINAL authority for everything, We must train them to believe and understand that it requires a childlike faith in the One Who loves them, and saved them from an eternity in hell. These Scriptures helped me...

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. - Luke 18:17 (NKJV)

We need to trust and believe. It is as simple as that. Yes, the world will try to sway us and yes, they will mock us. However, God IS, WAS and ALWAYS shall be, and one day every knee will bow before Him. Until then, we must choose to take Him at His Word and be light in this world.

Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. May God's grace be with you all. - 1 Timothy 6:20-21 (NLT)

Getting into long winded discussions over the topics should also be avoided. They are VERY dangerous! Either we believe God's Word is Truth, or we do not. We cannot pick and choose the portions we want to believe and discard the rest.

Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up best reptile resources online  against the true knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:5 (amp)

3. Adaptation over Evolved. God did not make a reptile that decided to "evolve" into a bird one day. And, whales did not decide they did not want to live in the ocean anymore, and "evolve" into cows. I do not care how many millions and billions of years need to be believed for this to even be considered. It is simply hog wash! He made reptiles reptiles and birds birds. Any changes are not into completely new species, there are only adaptations to their environment-not evolution and complete 180′s! It is VERY clear in the Word of God:

And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. And God made the [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and domestic animals according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it. - Genesis 1:24-25 (amp)

4. Have the Right Resources. If you want your kids to understand Creation and be well educated in the facts, the right resources will be required. There are tons of Creation Science resources for parents. A couple that I use are; The Creation Interpretation by Catie Frates. She is an educated and respected Creation scientist and this book is written in a very easy to understand format. I love it and use it often. She also has another resource that I got when my oldest daughter took a homeschool science class with her. It is a workbook made just for kids called; Creation Science for Kids. It is very hands on and fun for kids.

Do your own search. Just type in Creation Science resources for homeschoolers, parents, kids, etc. You can probably find a ton of free resources that way as well.

5. Make it a Lifestyle. You really need to pay attention. If you are watching a nature show, train your children to find the lies. This will help them recognize truth over false statements. Any time my kids watch something and/or hear billions of billions of years or evolution, they quickly say, "That's a lie!" God Created the universe in SIX days!" or, "Nope, the earth is only a few thousand years old! Not billions!" or, "Nope, GOD made them that way, they did not evolve!" They get it and they catch it, even when I miss it! Sometimes it is quite subtle!

It is also good to talk about how creative God is and what a beautiful world HE Created. Always bring it back to the Lord.

6. God not Mother Nature. In recent years, I hear a lot about "mother nature" and how she is responsible for things in the natural world. Um, no. That is another lie. GOD Created all things in nature, not anyone or anything else.

When a natural disaster happens it is not "mother nature" OR God punishing everyone (although I am sure there are some cases of judgement). It is the weather system that is in place that was Created by God and sometimes storms come. Sometimes they cause a lot of sadness and turmoil. However, it is part of life in a sinful world. Man CHOSE to sin and with it came death, sadness, chaos and pain. The good news is that Jesus overcame sin at the Cross and we can spend eternity in Heaven with the Creator of all things.

7. Make it Fun. Kids learn better when it's fun. There are many ways you can come up against the lie of evolution in a fun way. A few ideas...

Big Bang Theory Lie. Take a bucket of blocks and have your child dump them out on the floor, then place them all back in the bucket and repeat about 3-5 times. Ask them if they think a perfect castle will just happen if they dump the bucket enough. They are sure to laugh at the sheer silliness of the idea.

Billions of Years Theory Lie. If the earth was as old as evolutionists believe, it would have frozen long ago. Earth is in a giant freezer (space). The core is hot, but billions of years passing, makes me think it would not be so hot anymore. Thousands...yes. Billions...um no. A great experiment is to boil a couple eggs and put one in the freezer and one at room temperature until cool. Then, peel both and cut in half. Touch the yolks and determine if they cooled at the same rate or not. Earth is very hot inside and is spinning through ice cold space. What would you determine? Thousands or billions of years? (This idea came from the Creation Science for Kids workbook by Catie Frates.

[antiadvil]

We’re Getting Married!

PG13, 2.8k

video title: We’re Getting Married! uploaded: December 8, 2019 by AmazingPhil Description: We talk about our relationship with each other, our audience, and appropriate creator/audience boundaries. Sorry we couldn’t find a wedding venue that would fit three million people!

read more or read on ao3

A/N: *** indicates a jump cut. this is filmed in Phil’s bedroom bc in an imagined universe with joint content I can fulfill all my nostalgic fantasies oh also warning for discussion of the vday video if you're not into that

“Hey guys! Today I’m here with a very special surprise guest-”

Dan’s voice interrupted Phil from off camera. "Are you not going to put me in the thumbnail?"

Phil laughed. "I mean, probably."

"So I'm not much of a surprise."

"I guess not. Anyway, we have a special announcement-"

"Phil. They read the title. Why do your video intros always assume no one reads your titles?"

"Hey! I haven't decided what I’m going to title it yet."

Dan came into frame and flopped onto the bed with him. "Sure you haven't. You know exactly what will get this video the maximum number of clicks, you goddamn-"

Phil threw his hand over Dan’s mouth. “Stop.”

He yanked it back almost immediately. “Did you just lick me?”

Dan smiled. “Maybe.”

“You’re disgusting. I’m going to go wash my hands with bleach,” Phil said, climbing off of his bed.

“Can you bring me a glass of water?” Dan called after him. “I’m thirsty.”

Phil called something back. It was entirely bleeped out.

***

“Count of three,” Phil said. “One, two, three-”

“We’re getting married!” Dan’s normally large hand gestures were carefully constrained by the glass of water in his right hand.

“Some of you are probably confused-” Phil said.

“Some of you are probably hyperventilating,” Dan interrupted, “And I’d like to say that while you’re valid, get a life that is not vicariously lived through our relationship. Please.”

“So let’s do a bit of background first,” Phil finished. “So I think most of you who follow us know that Dan and I met on the internet in 2009 and then we met up later the same year, which is when we filmed the first Phil is not on fire.”

“What you probably know if you watched my coming out video is that the whole time, we were super gay for each other,” Dan added. “What I didn’t really get into is that we’re still super gay for each other.”

“Wait, we are?”

Dan shrugged, setting his water on Phil’s nightstand. “I mean, I’m still super gay for you.”

Phil frowned. “I don’t know if I’d describe it that way.”

“Well, this is awkward,” Dan muttered.

“Anyway, we’ve been dating ever since then, and we thought we’d give a quick little recap of our relationship for those of you who just got here. So, I already mentioned that we met in 2009-”

“Obligatory disclaimer, we don’t endorse travelling a hundred and fifty miles to meet a guy who’s four years older than you that you met on the internet, even if you were the one who stalked him first.”

“Hey!” Phil laughed.

“But anyway,” Dan continued, “Phil and I met in a public place before going to his house and it turned out he wasn’t an axe murderer, so everything was fine.”

“What would you have done if I was?” Phil asked.

“You know, that’s a really great question. I maybe should have thought a little bit more about that.”

“So, we’re not even five minutes into the video and the biggest takeaway is that you should never have come to meet me?”

Dan nodded. “Our entire relationship was a mistake. I’m sorry, everyone, time to go home.”

“So poor life choices aside, we met in 2009, filmed Phil is not on fire, and just generally hung out a lot.”

“Hung out is one word for what we spent most of our time doing, but since this is Phil’s channel, let’s leave it at that.” Dan winked.

“Hey!”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Look me in the eye and tell me that is not what we spent most of our time together doing.”

“That is not what we spent most of our time doing.”

“Okay then, if you say so-”

“I do-” Phil insisted.

“Then we’ll leave it at that. We visited a lot, but, full disclosure, long distance sucks, which was a big factor in my decision to attend uni in Manchester. You probably already know how that went down.” Dan rolled his eyes.

“Apart from the uni part, though, it was really nice being so close by, so we moved in together in 2011.”

“And then there was what you will probably know as the Valentine’s day video,” Dan said with a grimace.

“Dan and I don’t really feel comfortable discussing the details of that whole thing because that video was very personal to us.”

Dan smiled in Phil’s direction. “I still have a copy.”

“But seriously, if you’re not me or Dan, I’d really appreciate it if you’d remove any copies you’ve posted on the internet and delete any copies you may have saved, out of respect for our privacy.”

“Believe me, I know nothing I can say will make that video disappear. My entire life is just proof that anything you put on the internet is permanent. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it now, but I want people to understand that all the speculation about my sexuality that came up when that video resurfaced really hurt me. Don’t do that. Seriously. If you think a celebrity or a YouTuber or whoever is hiding their sexuality, just let them. You don’t know what’s happening in their lives, and honestly, you’re not entitled to, either.”

Phil nodded. “Also, that was a really hard time for us as a couple as well as personally. I don’t think a lot of people realize the pressure being constantly under a microscope has on a relationship, which is one of the reasons we chose not to share our relationship and why we still don’t feel comfortable sharing everything about it.”

“Which is fine! Neither of us are ashamed of our relationship. We’re not hiding anything. We just aren’t really looking forward to reading newspaper headlines about our relationship, which really doesn’t seem like it should be news. Like, it’s our relationship, not the entire world’s relationship,” Dan explained.

“Really, it seems so weird to us that people even care about it. Like, it’s flattering and all, don’t get me wrong, but it was also a bit scary at first when we weren’t out.”

“It’s like, remember in my coming out video how I mentioned that when that guy said I gave off a bi vibe it really scared me? Having strangers on the internet tell me that my relationship with Phil was obvious was scary when even my parents didn’t know. The shipping was fine. It was mostly the speculation that was scary.”

“But we made it.” Phil put his hand on Dan’s leg and smiled.

Dan smiled back, almost forgetting the camera in the room. “God, there were some days I thought we wouldn’t. But we did. And I love you.”

Phil smiled even wider and swiped at his eyes.

Dan’s smile grew to a smirk. “Are you crying? Oh my god, you are such a dork.”

“Your mum’s a dork,” Phil muttered.

Dan reached for his phone. “I’m telling her you said that.”

“No!” Phil threw his shoulder into Dan’s chest, sending him sprawling against Phil’s bed.

Dan laughed. “Ow. Hey, Siri, call Mu-”

Phil put his hand over Dan’s mouth. “Stop.”

Dan’s phone chirped from the other side of the bed. “Okay. Calling Mum.”

Dan scrambled to reach it. “Oh shit, oh fuck, should I hang up?”

“Dan! You can’t call your mum and then hang up on her.”

“Shut up, rat, this is your fau- Oh, hey, Mum!”

“Hi!” Phil said.

“Oh, hello, Dan! And Phil. Is everything alright?”

“You need to call your mum more often, Dan, if every time she picks up she asks if something’s wrong,” Phil said.

Dan’s mum laughed. 

“Shut up, Phil. No, Mum, nothing’s wrong, just wanted to catch up.”

***

“So, I’m never jokingly asking Siri to call anyone ever again,” Dan said.

“Why? Was calling your mum that horrible?” Phil laughed.

“Shut up, Phil. That was your fault.” 

“Does your mum watch your videos?” Phil asked.

“Not really.”

“I’m sending her a link to this one.”

“I hate you,” Dan said quietly.

“You too.”

***

"Now, Phil, we've been dating for a pretty long time." 

Phil shrugged. "Only like ten years.”

"So, Phil, why did we wait so long for this?"

Phil nodded. "Well, first of all, it wasn't legal for a pretty long time."

"Right. Civil partnerships were a thing in 2004, but I'm lame and traditional, and same sex marriage was only legalized in 2014. That's half of our relationship, for some perspective."

"And, fun fact," Phil added, "Same sex marriage is still illegal in Northern Ireland."

Dan frowned. "That was not a fun fact. That was a very sad fact."

"But it's a true fact," Phil protested.

"Moving on, again!" Dan said. "I also wanted my family to be there, and, well, I'm a mess who didn't even come out to them until like six months ago."

Phil patted Dan's shoulder comfortingly. "You're not a mess."

Dan stared at the camera. "I'm a mess."

"Okay, fine. You're a little bit of a mess."

Dan turned to Phil in mock outrage. “You think I’m a mess?”

“No! I-”

Dan turned back to the camera. “You heard it here, folks. Phil is judging me because I took my time coming out. Phil hates closeted people.”

Phil glared at him. “I’m never agreeing with you ever again.”

“This relationship is off to a great start!”

***

“So back to the original question! Why now, Dan?”

“Well, Phil, now that I’m out to my family we can have a proper wedding, and now that we’re out to our viewers we don’t have to worry about one of our own personal stalkers finding our marriage records.” 

“Also, marriage does come with a lot of cool perks,” Phil added.

“Gotta get those sweet, sweet tax benefits.”

“And that sweet, sweet, societal recognition of our relationship.”

“Also, it makes buying a house and general joint property ownership way simpler, which will make it a lot easier to take all of Phil’s subscribers in the inevitable divorce.”

Phil laughed. “What?”

Dan blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t say anything. Did you hear something?”

“Well, I thought I heard you say you were going to divorce me and take my subscribers.”

Dan shook his head, his expression deeply offended. “Why would I say that? Who would do such a thing?”

Phil stared solemnly at the camera. “Gaslighting is a form of abuse.”

“Thank you for the PSA, Phil.”

“Just documenting the abuse I’m currently suffering under so that I can take all your subscribers in the divorce,” Phil said.

Dan frowned. “Okay, I wasn’t going to say anything, but you sounded really serious just then so I now feel the need to clarify that I am not abusing Phil and also, domestic violence is not funny.”

Phil laughed. “No actual abuse.”

Dan sighed. “We’re terrible people, aren’t we?”

“I mean, we’re not terrible people.”

Dan laughed. “We’re just bad people, with terrible senses of humor. That’s so much better.”

“We can edit it out if-” Phil started.

“I mean, it’s your channel-” Dan said.

They stared at each other for a moment before shrugging in unison. “Whatever,” they said, still in unison.

***

“So, Phil, what’s changing for our viewers?” Dan asked.

“Literally nothing. We’ll be taking a short break from uploading-”

“Which I do all the time! So I doubt you’ll even notice.”

“But we’re not going to change the types of videos we upload. This isn’t a relationship channel.”

Dan winked. “As much as you might want it to be.” 

“Seriously, though. We’re not even changing our names. Nothing’s changing,” Phil assured the camera.

“But in case it wasn’t clear, here are some FAQs.”

Phil pulled out a stack of notecards and put on his best announcer voice. “Are we invited?”

Dan smiled. “No.”

Phil flipped to the next card. “Kiss!”

“That’s not a question, but somehow, the answer is still no.”

Phil laughed. “I think a photo of us kissing would actually break the internet.”

Dan shrugged. “Really, we’re just being kind to your internet providers.”

“Lester-Howell or Howell-Lester?”

“We already answered that, Phil. You really need to screen these questions better, especially since you wrote them.”

“Answer it anyway,” Phil pleaded.

Dan sighed heavily. “Neither. I would never saddle my child with two last names.”

“Child?” Phil turned to the camera with an exaggerated gasp.

Dan smiled. “That’s all you’re getting. Let the fanfiction writing begin.”

Phil paused. “Wait, so whose last name-”

“Honestly, I was just joking because neither of us are changing our names, but if you want to have a Dan versus Phil to see who gets to name our child-”

“I’m good.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Phil turned to the next card. “Wedding photos?”

“Is that a question or a demand? Please don’t hack my hard drive.”

“Top or bottom?”

“There is no way anyone actually thinks we’ll answer that.”

“Probably not.” Phil flipped again. “And last, but definitely not least, why are we telling our viewers?”

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that we’re telling a lot more people than our viewers. But I never had any healthy models for queer relationships when I was a kid, and if I can provide that, I don’t see why not.” Dan’s voice was surprisingly serious.

“Think of us like your parents,” Phil added. “We’re here to show you how healthy relationships work, but we’re not here to show you everything. Partly because we need some privacy and partly because that would be gross.”

Dan was wincing as soon as he heard the word “parents.” “Phil, Phil, please stop. Do not encourage our audience to think of us as their parents. Did you learn nothing from our tumblr tag? Please never say those words again.”

“Fine, I’ll edit them out.”

Dan shook his head. “You said it, Phil. You can’t escape it.”

“Okay, well, at least give another response so I can decide if I want to keep it in,” Phil persuaded, in the soft, natural, voice he normally saved for off camera.

Dan gave an exaggerated sigh. “Honestly, hiding a relationship is just so much work. Especially a marriage. And you guys are total stalkers. Like seriously. Get a life. Please.”

“That’s better! And much more fitting with who our audience is.”

“Phil, I’m the one who gets to insult our fans. You’re the one who says we love them and appreciate them.”

“We do!” Phil insisted.

“Do we?” Dan asked skeptically.

“Yes.” Phil laughed, staring at Dan in disbelief.

“Kidding,” Dan muttered, flashing a smile at the camera. “Please buy my merch.”

Phil sighed. “Danielhowellshop.com?”

Dan smiled. “Also, while you’re at it, check out my good friend Phil’s merch at amazingphilshop.com!”

Phil stared straight at the camera. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“You know what, we’re such close friends that we also have a joint merch shop, danandphilshop.com. You could begin there, Phil.”

“Is it too early for a divorce?” Phil asked.

“Yes. You’re stuck with me.”

“Am I really?”

“Just think about the tax benefits. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and remember how much money you’re going to save by marrying me.”

Phil shook his head. “It’s not worth it.”

Dan pouted.

***

“For more videos like this-”

“Phil. We’re never making another video like this again.”

“For more videos not like this, click on my face to subscribe to my channel, click on Dan’s face to subscribe to his channel-”

“I have plans to actually upload a video this year-”

“And for our joint channel, click here.” Phil raised their joined hands.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to edit this video, upload it, and disconnect my internet for at least a month.”

Dan turned to Phil. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. I’m not sure I want to open tumblr for the next six years.”

Phil cringed. “Me neither. Guys, please try not to go too crazy. I lost friends over the protip incident of 2016.”

Dan shuddered. “So many people refuse to talk to us now. I’m not even joking.”

“We appreciate the support!” Phil insisted.

“Just like, maybe on our videos instead of completely random ones,” Dan suggested.

Phil nodded. “Anyway, if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up, or leave a comment. Like I said, Dan and I will be taking a short break from YouTube and social media for the wedding and honeymoon, but we’ll be back soon with plenty of content.”

“I don’t want to see any of your conspiracy theories about how we’re leaving YouTube out there, I promise it’ll only be like a month.”

“And that’s the normal amount of time between two Dan videos,” Phil interjected, “So-”

“Hey! I said I would upload this year.”

Phil smiled. “Never said you wouldn’t.”

***

“Count of three again?” Dan asked.

Phil nodded. “Three, two, one-”

“Goodbye!”

[edthedeadandburied]

Comrades, in the report of the Central Committee of the party at the 20th Congress, in a number of

speeches by delegates to the Congress, as also formerly during the plenary CC/CPSU sessions,

quite a lot has been said about the cult of the individual and about its harmful consequences...

Allow me first of all to remind you how severely the classics of Marxism-Leninism denounced every

manifestation of the cult of the individual. In a letter to the German political worker, Wilhelm Bloss,

Marx stated: "From my antipathy to any cult of the individual, I never made public during the

existence of the International the numerous addresses from various countries which recognized my

merits and which annoyed me. I did not even reply to them, except sometimes to rebuke their

authors. Engels and I first joined the secret society of Communists on the condition that everything

making for superstitious worship of authority would be deleted from its statute...

The great modesty of the genius of the revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, is known. Lenin had always

stressed the role of the people as the creator of history, the directing and organizational role of the

party as a living and creative organism, and also the role of the central committee.

Marxism does not negate the role of the leaders of the workers' class in directing the revolutionary

liberation movement.

While ascribing great importance to the role of the leaders and organizers of the masses, Lenin at

the same time mercilessly stigmatized every manifestation of the cult of the individual, inexorably

combated the foreign-to-Marxism views about a "hero" and a "crowd" and countered all efforts to

oppose a "hero" to the masses and to the people.

Lenin taught that the party's strength depends on its indissoluble unity with the masses, on the fact

that behind the party follow the people - workers, peasants and intelligentsia. "Only lie will win and

retain the power," said Lenin, "who believes in the people, who submerges himself in the fountain

of the living creativeness of the people.". . .

During Lenin's life the central committee of the party- was a real expression of collective leadership

of the party and of the Nation. Being a militant Marxist-revolutionist, always unyielding in matters of

principle, Lenin never imposed by force his views upon his coworkers. He tried to convince; he

patiently explained his opinions to others. Lenin always diligently observed that the norms of party

life were realized, that the party statute was enforced, that the party congresses and the plenary

sessions of the central committee took place at the proper intervals.

In addition to the great accomplishments of V. I. Lenin for the victory of the working class and of the

working peasants, for the victory of our party and for the application of the ideas of scientific

communism to life, his acute mind expressed itself also in this that lie detected in Stalin in time

those negative characteristics which resulted later in grave consequences. Fearing the future fate

of the party and of the Soviet nation, V.I. Lenin made a completely correct characterization of

Stalin, pointing out that it was necessary to consider the question of transferring Stalin from the

position of Secretary General because of the fact that Stalin is excessively rude, that he does not

have a proper attitude toward his comrades, that lie is capricious, and abuses his power...

Vladimir Ilyich said: "Stalin is excessively rude, and this defect, which can be freely tolerated in our

midst and in contacts among us Communists, becomes a defect which cannot be tolerated in one

holding the position of the Secretary General. Because of this, I propose that the comrades

consider the method by which Stalin would be removed from this position and by which another

man would be selected for it, a man, who above all, would differ from Stalin in only one quality,

namely, greater tolerance, greater loyalty, greater kindness, and more considerate attitude toward the comrades, a less capricious temper, etc.".

As later events have proven, Lenin's anxiety was justified; in the first period after Lenin's death

Stalin still paid attention to his (i.e., Lenin's) advice, but, later he began to disregard the serious

admonitions of Vladimir Ilyich.

When we analyze the practice of Stalin in regard to the direction of the party and of the country,

when we pause to consider everything which Stalin perpetrated, we must be convinced that Lenin's

fears were justified. The negative characteristics of Stalin, which, in Lenin's time, were on1v

incipient, transformed themselves during the last years into a grave abuse o f power by Stalin,

which caused untold harm to our party...

Stalin acted not through persuasion, explanation, and patient cooperation with people, but by

imposing his concepts and demanding absolute submission to his opinion. Whoever opposed this

concept or tried to prove his viewpoint, and the correctness of his position was doomed to removal

from the leading collective and to subsequent moral and physical annihilation. This was especially

true during the period following the 17th party congress, when many prominent party leaders and

rank-and-file party workers, honest and dedicated to the cause of communism, fell victim to Stalin's

despotism...

Stalin originated the concept enemy of the people. This term automatically rendered it unnecessary

that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven; this term made

possible the usage of the most cruel repression, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against

anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile

intent, against those who had bad reputations. This concept, enemy of the people, actually

eliminated the possibility of any kind of ideological fight or the making of one's views known on this

or that issue, even those of a practical character. In the main, and in actuality, the only proof of guilt

used, against all norms of current legal science, was the confession of the accused himself, and,

as subsequent probing proved, confessions were acquired through physical pressures against the

accused...

Lenin used severe methods only in the most necessary cases, when the exploiting classes were

still in existence and were vigorously opposing the revolution, when the struggle for survival was

decidedly assuming the sharpest forms, even including a civil war.

Stalin, on the other hand, used extreme methods and mass repressions at a time when the

revolution was already victorious, when the Soviet state was strengthened, when the exploiting

classes were already liquidated, and Socialist relations were rooted solidly in all phases of national

economy, when our party was politically consolidated and had strengthened itself both numerically

and ideologically. It is clear that here Stalin showed in a whole series of cases his intolerance, his

brutality, and his abuse of power. Instead of proving his political correctness and mobilizing the

masses, he often chose the path of repression and physical annihilation, not only against actual

enemies, but also against individuals who had not committed any crimes against the party and the

Soviet Government. Here we see no wisdom but only a demonstration of the brutal force which had

once so alarmed V.I Lenin...

Considering the question of the cult of an individual we must first of all show everyone what harm

this caused to the interests of our party...

In practice Stalin ignored the norms of party life and trampled on the Leninist principle of collective

party leadership.

Stalin's willfulness vis-a-vis the party and its central committee became fully evident after the 17th

party congress, which took place in 1934...

It was determined that of the 139 members and candidates of the party's Central Committee who were elected at the 17th congress, 98 persons, that is, 70 percent, were arrested and shot (mostly

in 1937-38). [Indignation in the hall.] . . .

The same fate met not only the central committee members but also the majority of the delegates

to the 17th party congress. Of 1,966 delegates with either voting or advisory rights, 1,108 persons

were arrested on charges of anti-revolutionary crimes, i.e., decidedly more than a majority. This

very fact shows how absurd, wild, and contrary to commonsense were the charges of counter-

revolutionary crimes made out, as we now see, against a majority of participants at the 17th party

congress. [Indignation in the hall.] . . .

What is the reason that mass repressions against activists increased more and more after the 17th

party congress? It was because at that time Stalin had so elevated himself above the party and

above the nation that he ceased to consider either the central committee or the party. While he still

reckoned with the opinion of the collective before the 17th congress, after the complete political

liquidation of the Trotskyites, Zinovievites and Bukharinites, when as a result of that fight and

Socialist victories the party achieved unity, Stalin ceased to an ever greater degree to consider the

members of the party's central committee and even the members of the Political Bureau. Stalin

thought that now lie could decide all things alone and all he needed were statisticians; he treated

all others in such a way that they could only listen to and praise him.

After the criminal murder of S. M. Kirov, mass repressions and brutal acts of violation of Socialist

legality began. On the evening of December 1, 1934, on Stalin's initiative (without the approval of

the Political Bureau - which was passed 2 days later, casually) the Secretary of the Presidium of

the Central Executive Committee, Yenukidze, signed the following directive:

I. Investigative agencies are directed to speed up the cases of those accused of the preparation or

execution of acts of terror.

II. Judicial organs are directed not to hold up the execution of death sentences pertaining to crimes

of this category in order to consider the possibility of pardon, because the Presidium of the Central

Executive Committee, U.S.S.R, does not consider as possible the receiving of petitions of this sort.

III. The organs of the Commissariat of Internal Affairs are directed to execute the death sentences

against criminals of the above-mentioned category immediately after the passage of sentences.

This directive became the basis for mass acts of abuse against Socialist legality. During many of

the fabricated court cases the accused were charged with "the preparation" of terroristic acts; this

deprived them of any, possibility that their cases might be reexamined, even when they stated

before the court that their confessions were secured by force, and when, in a convincing manner,

they disproved the accusations against them...

Mass repressions grew tremendously from the end of 1936 after a telegram from Stalin and

Zhdanov, dated from Sochi on September 25, 1936, was addressed to Kaganovich, Molotov, and

other members of the Political Bureau. The content of the telegram was as follows: "We deem it

absolutely necessary and urgent that Comrade Yezhov be nominated to the post of People's

Commissar for Internal Affairs. Yagoda has definitely proved himself to be incapable of unmasking

the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc. The OGPU is 4 years behind in this matter. This is noted by all party

workers and by the majority of the representatives of the NKVD." Strictly speaking we should stress

that Stalin did not meet with and therefore could not know the opinion of party workers...

The mass repressions at this time were made under the slogan of a fight against the Trotskyites.

Did the Trotskyites at this time actually constitute such a danger to our party and to the Soviet

state? We should recall that in 1927, on the eve of the 15th party congress, only some 4,000 votes

were cast for the Trotskyite-Zinovievite opposition, while there were 724,000 for the party line.

During the 10 years which passed between the 15th party congress and the February-March

central committee plenum, Trotskyism was completely disarmed; many former Trotskyites had changed their former views and worked in the various sectors building socialism. It is clear that in

the situation of Socialist victory there was no basis for mass terror in the country ...

The majority of the Central Committee members and candidates elected at the 17th congress and

arrested in 1937-38 were expelled from the party illegally through the brutal abuse of the party

statute, because the question of their expulsion was never studied at the Central Committee

plenum.

Now when the cases of some of these so-called spies and saboteurs were examined it was found

that all their cases were fabricated. Confessions of guilt of many- arrested and charged with enemy

activity were gained with the help of cruel and inhuman tortures...

An example of vile provocation of odious falsification and of criminal violation of revolutionary

legality is the case of the former candidate for the central committee political bureau, one of the

most eminent workers of the party and of the Soviet Government, Comrade Eikhe, who was a party

member since 1905. [Commotion in the hall.]

Comrade Eikhe was arrested on April 29, 1938, on the basis of slanderous materials, without the

sanction of the prosecutor of the USSR, which was finally received 15 months after the arrest.

Investigation of Eikhe's case was made in a manner which most brutally violated Soviet legality and

was accompanied by willfulness and falsification.

Eikhe was forced under torture to sign ahead of time a protocol of his confession prepared by the

investigative judges, in which he and several other eminent party workers were accused of anti-

Soviet activity.

On October 1, 1939, Eikhe sent his declaration to Stalin in which he categorically denied his guilt

and asked for an examination of his case. In the declaration he wrote:

"There is no more bitter misery than to sit In the jail of a government for which I have always

fought.". . .

On February 2, 1940, Eikhe was brought before the court. Here he did not confess any guilt and

said as follows:

"In all the so-called confessions of mine there is not one letter written by me with the exception of

my signatures under the protocols which were forced from me. I have made my confession under

pressure from the investigative judge who from the time of my arrest tormented me. After that I

began to write all this nonsense. The most important thing for me is to tell the court, the party and

Stalin that I am not guilty. I have never been guilty of any conspiracy. I will die believing in the truth

of party policy as I have believed in it during my whole life."

On February 4 Eikhe was shot. [Indignation in the hall.] It has been definitely established now that

Eikhe's case was fabricated; he has been posthumously rehabilitated...

The way in which the former NKVD workers manufactured various fictitious "anti- Soviet centers"

and "blocs" with the help of provocatory methods is seen from the confession of Comrade

Rozenblum, party member since 1906, who was arrested in 1937 by the Leningrad NKVD.

During the examination in 1955 of the Kornarov case Rozenblum revealed the following fact: when

Rozenblum was arrested in 1937 he was subjected to terrible torture during which he was ordered

to confess false information concerning himself and other persons. He was then brought to the

office of Zakovsky, who offered him freedom on condition that he make before the court a false

confession fabricated in 1937 by the NKVD concerning "sabotage, espionage and diversion in a

terroristic center in Leningrad." [Movement in the hall.] . . . "You, yourself," said Zakovskv, "will not need to invent anything. The NKVD will prepare for you a

ready outline for every branch of the center; you will have to study it carefully and to remember well

all questions and answers which the court might ask. Pus case will be ready in 4-5 months, or

perhaps a half year. During all this time you will be preparing yourself so that you will not

compromise the investigation and yourself. Your future will depend on how the trial goes and on its

results. If you begin to lie and to testify falsely, blame yourself. If you manage to endure it, you will

save your head and we will feed and clothe you at the government's cost until your death."

This is the kind of vile things which were then practiced. [Movement in the hall.] . .

When we look at many of our novels, films, and historical scientific studies, the role of Stalin in the

patriotic war appears to be entirely improbable. Stalin had foreseen everything. The Soviet Army,

on the basis of a strategic plan prepared by Stalin long before, used the tactics of so-called active

defense, i.e., tactics which, as we know, allowed the Germans to come up to Moscow and

Stalingrad. Using such tactics, the Soviet Army, supposedly, thanks only to Stalin's genius, turned

to the offensive and subdued the enemy. The epic victory gained through the armed might of the

land of the Soviets, through our heroic people, is ascribed in this type of novel, film, and scientific

study as being completely due to the strategic genius of Stalin.

We have to analyze this matter carefully because it has a tremendous significance, not only from

the historical but especially from the political, educational, and practical point of view...

During the war and after the war, Stalin put forward the thesis that the tragedy which our nation

experienced in the first part of the war was the result of the unexpected attack of the Germans

against the Soviet Union. But, comrades, this is completely untrue. As soon as Hitler came to

power in Germany he assigned to himself the task of liquidating communism. The Fascists were

saying this openly; they did not hide their plans. In order to attain this aggressive end, all sorts of

pacts and blocs were created, such as the famous Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis. Many facts from the

prewar period clearly showed that Hitler was going all out to begin a war against the Soviet state

and that lie had concentrated large armed units, together with armored units, near the Soviet

borders...

We must assert that information of this sort concerning the threat of German armed invasion of

Soviet territory was coming in also from our own military and diplomatic sources; however, because

the leadership was conditioned against such information, such data was dispatched with fear and

assessed with reservation...

Despite these particularly grave warnings, the necessary steps were not taken to prepare the

country properly for defense and to prevent it from being caught unaware.

Did we have time and the capabilities for such preparations? Yes; we had the time and capabilities.

Our industry was already so developed that it was capable of supplying fully the Soviet Army with

everything that it needed...

Had our industry been mobilized properly and in time to supply the army with the necessary

materiel, our wartime losses would have been decidedly smaller. Such mobilization had not been,

however, started in time. And already in the first days of the war it became evident that our Army

was badly armed, that we did not have enough artillery, tanks, and planes to throw the enemy

back...

Very grievous consequences, especially in reference to the beginning of the war, followed Stalin's

annihilation of many military commanders and political workers during 1937-41 because of his

suspiciousness and through slanderous accusations. During these years repressions were

instituted against certain parts of military cadres beginning literally at the company and battalion

commander level and extending to the higher military centers; during this time the cadre of leaders

who had gained military experience in Spain and In the Far East was almost completely liquidated...

After the conclusion of the patriotic war the Soviet nation stressed with pride the magnificent

victories gained through great sacrifices and tremendous efforts. The country experienced a period

of political enthusiasm. The party came out of the war even more united; in the fire of the war party

cadres were tempered and hardened. Under such conditions nobody could have even thought of

the possibility of some plot in the party.

And it was precisely at this time that the so-called Leningrad affair was born. As we have now

proven, this case was fabricated. Those who innocently lost their lives included Comrades

Voznesensky, Kuznetsov, Rodionov, Popkov, and others...

Facts prove that the Leningrad affair is also the result of willfulness which Stalin exercised against

party cadres...

We must state that after the war the situation became even more complicated. Stalin became even

more capricious, irritable, and brutal; in particular his suspicion grew. His persecution mania

reached unbelievable dimensions. Many workers were becoming enemies before his very eyes.

After the war Stalin separated himself from the collective even more. Everything was decided by

him alone without any consideration for anyone or anything.

This unbelievable suspicion was cleverly taken advantage of by the abject provocateur and vile

enemy, Beriya, who had murdered thousands of Communists and loyal Soviet people. The

elevation of Voznesensky and Kuznetsov alarmed Beriya. As we have now proven, it had been

precisely Beriya who had suggested to Stalin the fabrication by him and by his confidants of

materials in the form of declarations and anonymous letters, and in the form of various rumors and

talks... The question arises: Why is it that we see the truth of this affair only now, and why did we

not do something earlier, during Stalin's life, in order to prevent the loss of innocent lives? It was

because Stalin personally supervised the Leningrad affair, and the majority of the Political Bureau

members did not, at that time, know all of the circumstances in these matters, and could not

therefore intervene...

The willfulness of Stalin showed itself not only in decisions concerning the internal life of the

country but also in the international relations of the Soviet Union.

The July plenum of the Central Committee studied in detail the reasons for the development of

[isthemedia]

>>....<<....

I know I posted this a while back and you can find it through the Kenmac tag....but frick it. 

Here’s a repost (cause I did some editing too) of my KenMac fic based off of Ermac’s tower ending in MKX-along with hints to other tower endings and some mirror-match intro dialogues.  (Title Still Pending) 

Pt1.

They felt...betrayed. They felt used. Anguish swirled in his mind. Rage was starting to swell...how dare he. How dare he...

They struggled to get to their feet. They felt so weak...why didn't he finish them off? Did he want to see them suffer?

What were they to do now? They lost so much of their power to the sorcerer that they wouldn’t be able to defend against him if he found them.  

--

It almost sounded like wailing. A groaning, and heart-wrenching sound. A constant plea to; "save them....save all of them". He was use to the myriad of voices from the souls housed within the ancient sword; but never did he hear them so frantic before. He wondered what could have caused them to act as such. Something must be amiss. Something he was unable to sense. Then the souls, in an almost harsh whisper, said;

"You saved them before..."

Whatever was going on with the possessed sword he wouldn't dare to ponder it any further.

--

They should have never followed that voice, calling out to them. Struggling to escape the labyrinth of the former Outworld ruler...to escape any chance that the sorcerer would return to drain the fleeting hundred souls the still had...

It was then they heard heavy footsteps echoing through the halls. They could hear the remaining souls wailing in terror at the thought of being torn from them. The voices were much louder then before...no that wasn't it; the fact with now only a mere hundred souls the could hear each everyone of them, so clearly now.

One voice, one soul; so certain, so confident told them not to fret. There will be help along the way. That they helped them before, and will again.

Who helped them before? There was no before...

--

It almost felt as if Sento was pulling him along. It yearned to be free of its sheath. He didn't question as to why. Pulling the blade free from the confines, it urged the swordsman head forth. The souls saying he must go to Outworld...they needed his help.

Whoever they were, he couldn't figure it out. There really weren't any allies in Outworld. At least none that he was certain he assisted before.

His lips curled up into a disgusted sneer...he knew this place. He could never forget this feeling...Shao Kahn's fortress. He felt his blood boil more when he was able to sense an energy deep within. How could he be alive? What power did that sorcerer have at his disposal?

Then his anger was quelled when he sensed another force from within the walls. Frantic...confused...he knew he sensed the presence before. He just could not figure where. Sento gave another melodious groan for him to go...and save them.

He moved quickly and stealthy. Highly cautious round each corner. Mind focused and sharp. Waiting...and hoping that the sorcerer's presence would leave. Not out of fear, but for the small fact that his own personal ire with him would distract him from why he was brought here. All the while Sento still repeating; 

"Save them...save them..."

They couldn't spare the energy to allow them to hover about as they once had. They had to be cautious as to how much of their power they could use. It was then they heard it again. Those heavy footsteps, coming closer.

He took his stance...then that soul spoke up once again. Loudly and over the other ninety-nine. They were not to fear. Help has arrived...help has come to set him free.

Around the corner...he stopped. He knew this energy. He did. But...it felt different. Weaker...no not weaker. It felt, incomplete.

“The blind swordsman?” They asked themselves aloud.

Kenshi was nearly besides himself...Ermac was the one he saved before? When had he? There was no way. Sento assured and urged him to help him flee away from Shang Tsung, before the remaining souls would be taken from the sentinel once again.

Kenshi recalled Johnny mentioning that Raiden had brought up receiving visions from the future. Was it possible...Sento knew of what occurred in that alternate timeline?

“Save them...set them free...” was all the ancient sword would respond with.

Pt.2 

It was a few hours of awkward silence that lingered between the two of them. Kenshi didn't expect Ermac to go along as willingly as they did. He shouldn’t question it...but something back in his mind was nagging at him. It wanted him to ask; why exactly Ermac came back here? What purpose was there for them?

“...we were called.”

Kenshi turned his attention to the other, walking alongside him. Not floating as he normally would have,something Kenshi tell just by hearing the other’s footsteps as they trudged through the sand. He was able to hear a tone of...disgust and a bit of reprimanding in the sentinel's voice.

“You were called?” Kenshi asked, giving Ermac the go ahead to explain further.

“It was a voice...it was calling to us many times. We never thought much about it. We could not ignore it though...as much as we wished we had now...”

“...what exactly happened in there Ermac? I can sense a...change I suppose would be the best term for it, with you.”

It was the moment of silence that had the hair on the back of the swordsman's neck stand. That was hesitation. Ermac was hesitating.

“....our creator walks among the living once again.”  

His..creato—a flash of rage flooded Kenshi as the words sunk in. “Tell me...by your creator, you mean-”

“Shang Tsung?” There was a pause. “Yes, we do.”

Kenshi felt the anger boil more. He felt his blood run hot. That sorcerer was alive?! He escaped death once again! That bastard!

“How?” he all but growled.

Again another moment of lingering silence.

“....we are now...a mere one hundred.”

Something ice cold sliced through the heated rage within Kenshi's body. 'Only a mere one hundred....' that bastard Shang Tsung....

--

Kenshi found himself still in awe at how compliant Ermac was being. Allowing themself to be cuffed by several of the Special Forces agents. How they didn't argue when Sonya ordered them to take them to a confinement cell until they knew what to do with them.

He wanted to protest...he didn't know why. But whatever he wanted to say, to keep Ermac besides him just for a few moments longer, were lost before he could open his mouth.

“Why did you bring him here?” Sonya asked Kenshi, he could feel her tension. Her apprehension...and a bubbling sense of anger.

“They needed help Son--”

“They don't need help from us. You do know what they did to Jax?”

Kenshi flinched as images assaulted him from Sonya. How Ermac destroyed Jax's arms.

“I understand, but listen to me.”

“I'll give you once chance to explain, and explain thoroughly.”

Kenshi frowned some as he took his time to explain to Sonya how Sento urged him to go to Outworld. How he came across Ermac....that now, Shang Tsung was once again among the living.

“He used them Sonya. He treated them as nothing more than a back-up plan if things didn't go is way.”

“It still doesn't change his allegiance Kenshi.”

“Do you think Kotal Kahn will just accept that he was used like that? We know he would twist this encounter as some sort of plan to overthrow him.”

Sonya's eye narrowed. “...if I didn't know any better. I would say that you're trying to protect him.”

Kenshi reeled back slightly. Was he? Sonya had a point. He was trying to convince her to keep Ermac in their watch. To make sure that they would be safe from any more harm. And e couldn't figure out why.

Then he heard Sento give a small whisper; “He can help them.....”

“Sonya...how much do you and Johnny know about this...previous time line that Raiden tried to prevent?”

“And what brings this change of subject up?”

Kenshi let the silence linger for a bit, trying his best to chose his words carefully. “Sento seems to be...aware of it.”

--

They sat in silence. Eyes closed in a deep meditation. It was eerie almost; being able to hear the voices so clearly now. It was something that filled them with such dread at first....but soon found some kind of comfort within it. That one soul in particular. The one that seemed so certain and confident. Who said that this was a blessing...that it would make them stronger.

How it would, they couldn't be sure. Their powers felt so drained now. Needing to conserve their energy. Needing to use it sparingly.

“He will help you...he will teach you...as you had taught him once before...”

Ermac couldn't help but feel calmed by the wise soul. Though that didn't stop the feeling of confusion within them as they did not, out of place being here in Earthrealm.

Pt.3

“Hand him over ta Raiden.”

“Jax,” Sonya said with exasperation.

“Or ta the Lin Kuai.”

“Jax,” she said a bit more firmly.

“Better yet, given him ta Hanzo, I'm sure he'd find some use fer him.”

“Jax,” Sonya said with a higher volume.

“Yer not goin' ta buy into this are you? You remember what that guy can do?” Jax stated as his eyes narrowed.

“I haven't, nor am I behind this either; but I trust Kenshi,” she heaved a sigh. “I'm not in favor of this one bit. But he's adamant. Not to mention, we could possible use him to get to Shang Tsung. I doubt he'd leave a job like that unfinished.”

“So yer gonna risk our hides because of something Kenshi said? Listen, I know the guy is smart, and he's a damn good operative too. But this? Come on Sonya...wait where the hell is Kenshi?”

“...he's talking with him right now.”

--

“Shang Tsung will be ready to try and cause a disturbance in Outworld,” Ermac stated, as they and Kenshi sat side by side. Both were meditating, trying to form a connection that Sento and the souls within Ermac insisted was there.

“You sound certain.”

“Shang Tsung, craves power...control....he will not do it alone.”

“Who does he have as is disposal? Unless he takes the side of the resistance, I can't think of any that would aid him.”

“If what Reptile said was true about Mileena...then he wouldn't need any....he'd make his allies.”

“Make them?”

“Within his flesh pits...”

Kenshi sneered slightly. Of course he'd have a back up like that. The sorcerer was around for countless centuries. He'd be prepared for anything.

“...tell us swordsman; why do you try and provide our safety?”

“Because I've been betrayed by Shang Tsung's deception as well,” he answered. It was true...most of it. There was another part to it though. One he could not yet place.

Both turned to the sound of footsteps approaching the containment cell.

--

 “Jax--”

“Listen, I don't care what that fancy sword of yer's is tellin' ya; but there is now way in hell I'm gonna let this freak stay here like we're protectin' him.”

Kenshi felt himself stiffen some. A small bubble of rage starting to form at the tone Jax was using.

“Jax,” he began firmly. “I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm not asking you to protect him. To be honest, I haven't asked you to do anything. You don't need to. I, however, will. There is a new threat to Earthrelam and right now anyone against it I will consider an ally.”

Jax didn't falter at the swordsman's lecture, his glare only intensified. “Alright then, it'll be yer ass on the line if anything happens. Got it?”

“Understood.”

--

Ermac did their best to let the two be. They were not part of their conversation, so there was no need for them to listen in. Even if they were a few steps away. They still couldn't quite understand as to  why Kenshi was trying to help them. But for some reason it just felt right.

When Jax left the two alone once again, they stayed silent for a few moments.

“Sorry you had to see that,” Kenshi began.

“We cannot blame him for his distrust,” Ermac stated, still sensing some anger within the other. “Do not let it distract you.”

Kenshi sighed some; Ermac did indeed have a point, but he felt that the tone that Jax had taken was just a bit too harsh for his liking.

“...we can take you to Shang Tsung's flesh pits. He will surely return there.”

“I'm counting on you Ermac. Do not make me regret it.”

“We will make sure that your trust in us does not go unfounded.”

Kenshi turned to face him, and couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at his lips.  

Pt.4

As grateful as Kenshi was that he and Ermac were not the only ones infiltrating the abandoned fortress; he would have preferred if Jax wasn't one of them who joined. The Major refused to let the sentinel out of his sight for more than a few moments at a time. It concerned him that the sentinel wasn't floating like usual.

Ermac simply stated that it would use energy that they couldn't waste. Sadly, that only had Jax convinced even more that Ermac couldn't be trusted. Why would they need to conserve energy?

“Because Shang Tsung stole all but one hundred of his souls Jax,” Kenshi stated as he passed by.

“Hey! What did I tell you about readin' my mind like that?”

Kenshi didn't respond. He knew it was in bad taste to read others minds without permission, but he felt somewhat justified this time.

“Easy, easy you two,” Johnny said as he held up his hands in a defensive manner, trying to play mediator. “Right now we're against a common threat, let's focus on that first. Alright? And besides; if he does try to pull something it'll be three against one.”

“Somethin' tells me it might be a two on two,” Jax stated as he eyed Kenshi.

“This way,” Ermac called as they lead the way. Taking the route that he had taken when he first heard that voice call to him.

--

“Yeah, alright this will be my nightmare fuel for awhile,” Johnny stated in a nonchalant manner.

Lined up along the walls were rows and rows of Mileena-clones. All in a suspended state.

“This is what you meant by him making his allies?” Kenshi asked Ermac.

“We were unaware as to what was here.”

“You're certain that he will come here?” Kenshi asked Ermac.

“We are very certain.”

--

Johnny let the two talk as he ventured a bit deeper into the flesh pits.

“Don't go touchin' anything!” He heard Jax call after when the Major noticed him walking away.

He just gave a wave acknowledging the warning. Come on, like he was one who needed to be told that.

As he ventured deeper, he couldn't shake the feeling that he were being watched. He knew better than to think it was just paranoia on his end; in a place like this, especially in Outworld, it was never out of the realm of possibility that something was indeed watching you.

Something caught his attention, a slight movement he saw out of the corner of his eye. He swore he saw one of the clones just open their eyes. As soon as he looked over, the eyes were closed.

Alright if he ever needed a sign that it was time to head back, that was it.

Just as he was approaching the other three, he heard it. He stopped in place and tried to focus on it; the somewhat muted whirl.

Of a laser powering up.

--

It happened so fast. He barely dodged it. The unmistakable heat of an all too familiar red laser.

“Well well well, look wot we 'ave here.”

That voice, he knew that voice! The heavy footfalls just helped confirm the suspicion.

“Shang Tsung won't be too pleased if he finds the lot o' ya snoopin' 'round here. But I guess he just won't need to find out now, would he?”

He was sure Sonya captured him. He was locked up in a tiny cell with no light. So how the hell was Kano here?

The sound of crashing glass echoed, and the growling hiss made his skin crawled.

“Look at all the new playma--” the taunt was cut off by a screech as a sword flew past, cleaning slicing off the Mileena-clone left arm.

“You weren't lying when you said he'd make an army,” Kenshi noted as Sento returned to him.

“ 'ey now, ain't fair that it's four on just the two of us,” Kano smirked.

“Alright, really do not like that tone,” Johnny sighed as he made it to his feet.

More glass shattered and the whirring sound...two more this time.

The only thing on the movie star's mind was one simple word.

Fuck.

--

Two more Kano-clones emerged from the darker parts of room. They had to be clones! That was the only explanation! And with them being surrounded by the multiple Mileena duplicates it shouldn’t have been such a shock.

Jax swore as two Mileena's pounced just as one of the Kano's delivered an upper-cut.

Kenshi wasn't faring any better; too many enemies at once. He couldn't let go a Sento for long, his telekinesis only going so far before another would jump him.

Ermac found themselves pinned beneath a bloodthirsty Mileena-clone. Their scuffle having them knock over a table, sending the contents that rested atop clattering to the floor. The clone's nails swiping and clawing at them. They struggled, trying to conjure something to knock the abomination away.

“Pretty little sentinel, you have no purpose here,” the clone hissed and mocked.

One of their hands reached, grasping for anything that could be used to help fend off their attacker. Whatever may have been knocked off the table.

Their hand came into contact with something. A sudden jolt of familiarity rushed through them. That soul yelling to them to grab and swing with all their might.

With hesitation the sentinel did. Cleaving the clone in half with the large axe.

It felt...so right in their hands.

It felt so, familiar.

“It is your weapon.”

Pt.5

They found themselves still somewhat stunned. Hands still gripping onto the large axe. When have they ever used a weapon such as this? Why had it felt so right to use?

They didn’t have time to question it further before another Mileena-clone pounced. They rolled out of the way and tried to right themselves. She lashed out and they blocked with the large handle. Adjusting their grip they swung again, catching and tearing through one of the Mileena-clone hands.

“Wretch!” She shrieked and was about to leap but halted with a sharp gasp.

It took a few moments before Ermac was able to catch sight of the blade, glowing a blue hue and protruding through the clone’s chest. Just as suddenly as it must have appeared, it was pulled out and returned to the waiting hands of its owner.

“Are you alright?” Kenshi asked as he made his way over. He could sense a wave of unease and...confusion?  

“Kenshi, come on let’s get movin’!” Johnny called, as he stepped over one of the downed Kano-clones. “Before something ELSE happens here.”

Kenshi nodded and offered his hand to the still stunned Ermac. There was a moment of hesitation, before they took it.

“Trust him...he will help free you.”

--

The debriefing with Sonya could have gone a bit better, but hey what else could he do? Ermac’s idea of Shang Tsung ‘making his allies’ seemed to be pretty damn possible. Sonya agreed that maybe keeping Ermac on the base might be a good thing after all...maybe.

Speaking of the sentinel, “He's been quiet since we got back here,” Johnny mentioned as he looked over to Kenshi.

“It seems that they confused.”

“Confused? 'bout what?”

Kenshi sighed and turned to face Johnny; a habit Johnny learned that Kenshi did when he needed to have a person’s full attention. “Johnny, I asked Sonya this--”

“That never is a good start.”

“What do you know about the previous timeline, the one Raiden tried to prevent.”

Johnny looked to him; he could feel the sudden tension fill the other. Was it that bad? Would revealing anything cause damage to this one?

The former movie star licked his lips some as he tried to think of the best way to say it. It should have been simple enough to say. We all died.

That's all he needed to say. Though admitting that and stating it aloud proved to be harder than he first thought.

“I understand,” Kenshi stated after the long stretch silence. If Johnny couldn't tell him, then it simply meant he was not to know from him.

“Wait, Kenshi,” the blonde began as he watched the other walk away.

Kenshi didn't reply, didn’t stop, didn’t wait for Johnny to continue. He didn't need to make Johnny at all guilty for not answering. Knowledge like that…

Perhaps it was best not knowing what was in that timeline. Even IF it could answer this, odd familiarity with Ermac.

He sat besides the still slightly stunned sentinel.

“You're quiet...something, bothering you?”

“...we are told, this is our weapon.”

“Your weapon?” Kenshi asked, and Ermac, without hesitation handed him the axe. The weight of it shocked Kenshi, but he let his hand wander over it, trying to picture exactly what it was. “Sorry, but I do not recall you even using an axe, or a weapon in general.”

“We do not recall either. However--” the sentinel trailed off.

“However?” It felt natural...this conversation. Almost too natural.

“It felt right to use it.”

“Well...then maybe you should keep using it?” Kenshi offered as he gave it back to Ermac. “Allow me to help in anyway…”

“We…we accept your offer, swordsman.”

“Kenshi.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Kenshi,” Ermac echoed.

There was just, something about how they said it. It rang in Kenshi’s mind, as if he heard it many times before. As for Ermac…

It felt almost as right to say, as the axe was right to use.

--

Kenshi was amazed to sense the shift in the sentinel's body. He assumed their body was nothing more than something to house the souls within. And while, yes that part was true, he was just shocked as to how their body developed like any other real body.

Ermac's frame was losing that, all too sickly skinniness. He was concerned at first, that he would have seriously hurt the other if he sparred as erratically as he would with Johnny-and he wasn’t even going to consider how he’d spar with Hanzo.

As they worked together, Kenshi could feel those muscles were starting to build. It was indeed a much needed change to help Ermac fight and defend, since their usually means of fighting was now greatly restricted. The sentinel was quick to learn though. And as they continued, Ermac was proving to be a better sparring partner than Johnny.

He too felt some familiarity whenever Ermac would wield the large blade, or would trade blows with him. Almost as if he knew that Ermac was suppose to be skilled with it...skilled in hand-to-hand...

He stopped questioning and trying to get some answers about the former timeline. If he and Ermac were to know about their lives previously, then they shall within time.

It wasn’t the only thing he was noticing.

Johnny seemed to have warmed up to Ermac the easiest. Allowing the sentinel to walk and explore the Special Forces base without his supervision-despite Sonya and Jax’s reprimanding whenever Ermac was caught alone.

The former movie star would take it, but shrug it off as soon as they weren’t watching him. When Kenshi asked him his reasons for doing so. Johnny simply stated that if Ermac wanted to do something, like kill them all, he was pretty sure he would have. The fact he hasn’t, cemented the claim of all but 100 souls being drained from them was enough to convince Johnny.

“Not ta mention,” he continued and looked over to Kenshi. “You’re a pretty good judge of character.”

Kenshi shook his head with a soft chuckle. Indeed very grateful that Johnny was one of the only ones who would take his word. He just hoped that Johnny could help when the others showed up.

He knew Takeda and Jacqui would more than likely side with Jax in this...refusing to accept Ermac. Watch him. Question everything he’d do.

“You are distracted?”

Kenshi snapped from his thoughts, before he turned to the voice, taking a stance. “Forgive me...are you ready to try again?”

“We are still many,” Ermac replied, Kenshi felt his lips quirk up into a half smile.

[zenonaa]

“Hey, look!” Aoi says, nudging Makoto. “Your face is on that one!” He follows her finger. His face hasn’t been carved off and wrapped around a sign, but his image is on one. On several. Many with hearts around them. Kyouko folds her arms over her chest. “You seem to have some admirers,” says Byakuya, smirking. Yasuhiro grins and points into the crowd. “So do you, Togami-chi.”

Fandom: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya, Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto Characters: Naegi Makoto, Kirigiri Kyouko, Fukawa Touko, Togami Byakuya, Hagakure Yasuhiro, Asahina Aoi Additional Tags: Post Game Summary: The Survivors do a Q&A with the general public. Comments: Done for a request! ‘Naegiri... a kiss out of envy or jealousy’. I got carried away lol.

***

The only person who thinks this is a good idea is Yasuhiro.

“We don’t even have to do anything other than smile and wave,” says Yasuhiro, with his arm slung across Makoto’s shoulders. Even the smallest movement brushes their legs together.

Despite no longer being students or captives with a limited wardrobe, the six of them are still wearing their old school uniforms. Touko pulls a face, sitting opposite them in the cramped space, and next to her, Byakuya rests his cheek in his hand and stares out of the window at the early morning sky that their plane soars through, seemingly lost in thought.

She took until the end of the first hour of being beside him to calm down. There are only six seats. Between Yasuhiro and Aoi is a slim aisle.

“This is ridiculous. We’re not high school students,” grumbles Touko with her fists clenched into tight balls on her lap.

Yasuhiro keeps his arm around Makoto but turns his head slightly toward Touko. “We have to wear them! The outfit is, like, one of the most recognisable aspects of our character design, ‘right?”

“Stop saying things like that. We’re not video game characters,” says Aoi, frowning across the aisle at them. Touko huffs. “Don’t worry, Fukawa-chan, once Futuristic Foundings marks our tests, we’ll all get brand new uniforms.”

“It’s Future Foundation,” says Touko through her teeth.

Byakuya wrinkles his nose. Out of all of them, his clothing - a suit - is the most professional, so he can’t complain about his attire. He doesn’t.

“It’ll be a miracle if you pass,” Byakuya instead informs Aoi, who pouts. Ignoring her, he pushes up his glasses, and though he turns away from the window, he doesn’t concentrate on anyone. Solemnity clouds his eyes and overcasts his features. “We mustn’t lower our guard, even for a moment. While there are people who will surely rejoice when they see us, there are those who could use this as an opportunity to attack the world’s symbol of hope.”

Silence hangs over them, bar a constant gentle hum. Makoto studies his hands, then lifts his gaze. Byakuya’s eyes have cleared and are fixed on him. Looking around, Makoto realises that everyone else has trained their eyes on him too, including Kyouko, seated between Aoi and a window, one leg crossed over the other. Until now, whenever his eyes had strayed to Kyouko, she had been focused on the world outside of the plane.

He scratches the nape of his neck and hunches his shoulders. “It’s not just me who’s the world’s hope. We all are. I mean, you all had to find hope within you when we faced off against Enoshima. I just helped bring it out of you guys...”

Most of them quirk their brows, mouths either pursed or slanted at one end.

“Naegi-kun’s right,” says Kyouko with a smile. Makoto gives her one back, and the flight continues.

The plane lands in a private airfield. They stretch out their arms and legs without having to worry about whacking someone in the face or kicking them in the shins, but the air outside is barely cooler than that in the aircraft. Yasuhiro’s back pops. However, the respite doesn’t last long, and guards that all look the same soon escort them to a small coach bus, which drives them to a domed building, and then the guards accompany them through several drab hallways.

In a large, open room, everyone passes through metal gates the shape and size of a normal door, and after they’re intensively screened and patted down, they’re given hooded cloaks and they finally embark another coach bus and head to the city square. Makoto doesn’t know what to expect as he stares out at the dreary industrial city. Accelerated decay and destruction have eaten chunks out of buildings, and the only cars they spot along the way are abandoned on cracked sidewalks or partially buried in debris and sludge-coloured moss. When he breathes in deeply enough, he inhales a musty odour.

Despite the lack of traffic, their coach bus crawls along for ten minutes until it parks down an alley. As soon as they step out, guards surround them from all sides and guide them forward. Outside stinks of soot, sweat and oil. Elbows and shoulders bump. They can hear humans chatter and shout beyond their bubble, but they can’t see anyone past the guards. All they can see is a red sky and the backs of guards dressed in business suits, wearing either sunglasses with ear guards or helmets with tinted visors, as well as concrete slabs underfoot.

Rough hands push Makoto and the others up a short flight of steps, and then they find themselves on a raised platform. A stage. The guards part like the Sun shining through the clouds like it hasn’t done in years, and the six survivors are confronted by an ocean of people, who erupt into applause and screams at the sight of them.

Aoi peels off her hood and the others follow suit, causing the screams to increase in volume.

“That’s a lot of people,” Aoi murmurs.

“With a lot of signs,” adds Yasuhiro as he mops his brow with a torn handkerchief.

Makoto surveys the crowd. Indeed there are. Signs are scattered across the crowd with different designs and messages.

“Hey, look!” Aoi says, nudging Makoto. “Your face is on that one!”

He follows her finger. His face hasn’t been carved off and wrapped around a sign, but his image is on one. On several.

Many with hearts around them.

Kyouko folds her arms over her chest.

“You seem to have some admirers,” says Byakuya, smirking.

Yasuhiro grins and points into the crowd. “So do you, Togami-chi.”

In fact, they all seem to. Byakuya, Makoto and Kyouko occupy the most signs, followed by Aoi, then Touko, and then Yasuhiro, even if one were to exclude the images of Touko with angry font and a black cross over her face. Those signs are at the heaviest density in one spot in the crowd, and though they only make up a small percentage, they catch the eye quickly. Touko shrinks back a bit. Yasuhiro squints.

“Those guys really don’t like Fukawa-chi,” he remarks with a small, ingenuine smile already sagging, trying to keep the mood light. It fools no one.

“I think it’s more that they don’t like her alter,” says Kyouko, looking over as well.

Guards stand in a line in front of the stage and behind Makoto and the others too. Regardless, Aoi narrows her eyes at the signs and slightly positions herself in front of Touko.

“It seems she has some fans anyway,” Byakuya tells them, peering at another group of people holding up signs with Touko’s face on them, lacking crosses and bearing words of solidarity.

His eyes travel across the excited, writhing crowd, and stop on a particular sign. It has a photograph of him and Makoto on it.

“What is a naegamSOITDOESN’TAPPEARINTHESEARCHi?” asks Byakuya, reading the text on it.

Yasuhiro cups Byakuya’s ear and whispers something to him. Byakuya stiffens, glances at Makoto and then shuffles away a bit. Makoto pretends not to notice, though he doesn’t really mind, understanding.

Romance, even the allusion to it, isn’t something that Makoto has ever seen Byakuya appreciate receiving, or appreciate in general. Indeed, Makoto has only witnessed him react negatively to it and the idea of it from anyone else, treating it like a weakness, something to be exploited, looked down upon, and especially being in a place like this, with an audience, Byakuya probably wants to distance himself from that sort of thing as much as he can. A thing that goes against how he was raised, in a cold, business environment, and so disgusts him.

Also, Byakuya has often talked about how he dislikes ‘commoners’. So that too.

“He’s not my type,” says Byakuya nonchalantly, and Yasuhiro gives him a curious look.

“You have a type?” he asks, but he doesn’t receive an answer.

“Silence, please,” a female voice booms from speakers attached to quad truss pillars on both ends of the stage. The audience continues babbling, but whoever is talking doesn’t wait for silence and speaks over them. “We won’t be accepting questions until there is silence. Then, you may click your remote, and we will give you the chance to ask any of the survivors a question of your choice.”

Makoto, Kyouko, Byakuya, Touko and Aoi all slowly turn toward Yasuhiro, who yelps and throws up his hands in surrender.

“I didn’t know there’d be questions!” says Yasuhiro as guards approach them with headsets.

“Now what?” asks Touko, holding her fist close to her mouth, on the verge of popping her thumb between her lips either to chew or scrape her teeth on it.

“... Maybe we should answer their questions,” says Kyouko. She puts her headset on. “It would let people get to know us better, and we can clear up any misconceptions people have. If we want their support, we should be open with them.”

They cast their eyes toward the crowd, and Makoto lingers on the signs with Touko’s face smeared with black paint. Byakuya clicks his tongue. With a nod, Makoto places his headset over his ears, and then the others, including Byakuya, slip theirs on as well.

Eventually, the crowd quietens, and then an alrighty growl thrums overhead. Makoto tenses. They tilt their heads back with a jerk. The noise comes from a drone that flies out from behind the stage and hovers above the audience. For a couple of seconds, it stays suspended in that exact spot before descending into the crowd. As it seems to close in on its target, Makoto can just make out a red dot flashing on a girl’s remote. Everyone in the audience has their own standardised remote. Each one has two buttons and a small diode that can emit light.

The drone floats in front of the girl’s head. Those who are nearby shuffle to give it more space.

“My question is for Naegi-san,” the girl says into her remote, which acts as a microphone too. Makoto wonders if the drone is recording them. She can’t be older than ten. “What was the scariest thing to happen to you during the killing thing?”

For a situation like this, that sort of question isn’t unusual, but none of them knew they would be asked anything, and even if Makoto had been prepared, he doubts he wouldn’t have flinched, or that his heart wouldn’t have skipped or his stomach wouldn’t have felt like it was coated in thick sludge. The girl’s expression remains unmoved. Fixated. Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes prick Makoto’s skin, including those of his former classmates.

And the eyes of his dead classmates.

He breathes shallowly.

“The beginning was really scary,” Aoi pipes up, with an index finger raised.

“Y-Yeah. A lot of it was pretty scary,” he says slowly, his headset amplifying his voice. Makoto winces. His head feels light. Unreal. “Seeing people die... that would scare most people.”

That young girl’s gaze probes him, pawing at the inside of his head. He gulps and with a deep breath, fortifies himself, and speaks through the ringing between his ears.

“For me, the scariest parts... were the first trial, because I didn’t know what to expect, and later when I thought I was about to be executed toward the end,” Makoto says. Silence. Bated breath from all. Makoto laughs a little due to nerves, and his voice cracks. “I didn’t know I would be saved, but the idea of spending the rest of our lives in there... that filled me with dread. But I got through it. That’s... That’s something, isn’t it?”

Right after the girl finished asking her question initially, the light on her remote had switched off. The drone whirrs off and arrives at another person, a young boy, whose remote had started flashing.

“What about the others?” he asks them. “What scared you the most?”

At least that gives Makoto a chance to compose himself. They rattle off their answers. Yasuhiro gives Junko as his answer and grimaces when Aoi reminds him of Alter Ego’s first appearance, then Aoi recalls that and the double murders. Kyouko says she’d rather not answer and Touko agrees quickly, while Byakuya claims that he never felt fear.

“Not even when Enoshima dropped that bomb on you about your family?” asks Yasuhiro.

“... Yes,” says Byakuya. Then, without missing a beat, and with his arms folded over his chest, Byakuya pats his hand against his upper arm and adds, “Next question. We have a lot of people to get through.”

A teenage girl is next.

“Do you ship tofu, Togami-san?” she asks.

One of the things that Future Foundation supposedly do is provide foods, so Byakuya says, “Yes, we do.”

The effects of his words ripple through the crowd, a tide that’s half-roar, half twitter. Makoto and the others exchange mystified looks. Indifferent to the clamour, the drone finds its next participant.

“So tofu is real?” asks another girl, wide-eyed and shaking slightly.

“Yes, obviously it is,” snaps Byakuya, to the same effect.

Noise surges through the crowd. There are a lot of beaming faces. Some are even crying. A few glower and sulk, here and there, but they’re drowned out by the majority, who hoot and hug and weep and wave their arms.

Byakuya blinks and though he tries to keep his expression blank, a bit of bewilderment seeps through, wrinkling his forehead.

“I guess people are really passionate about bean curd,” says Aoi with a bemused smile.

He pushes up his glasses and doesn’t comment. Once the crowd eventually quietens to a low rumble, the drone takes flight and searches for the next person.

It selects a middle-aged man with dull black hair.

“I have a question for Kirigiri,” he says, sort of raspily. “What did you and Naegi really get up to in the locker rooms?”

“Huh?” goes Makoto, puzzled. Kyouko stares at the man, eyes fully open but her mouth shut tight.

“When you guys were in the locker rooms,” explains the man, wringing his remote, and Makoto remembers that there were no cameras in the locker rooms at Hope’s Peak so nothing that transpired in there would have been broadcasted. The man lets out a wheeze. “We saw Togami and Fukawa get down and dirty in the dorm, but were you guys really just talking to the laptop in there?”

The other four turn to Touko and Byakuya. Touko shows a lot of teeth but she isn’t smiling as she peeks up at Byakuya, who stands very, very still.

This explained why Byakuya had been so shocked at finding out they were being broadcasted to the whole of Japan. Someone who knew that certain families controlled the world from the shadows wouldn’t have been surprised at a revelation like that.

“Togami?” says Aoi. She covers her mouth with one hand. “Fukawa-chan?”

“S-So what if we did?” hisses Touko. No one speaks. Touko sneers, sticking up her nose. “W-We both consented! We both could consent. We both... wanted it...!”

Her lips contort as she dithers between smirking and biting on them, but when she glances at Byakuya, her lips slump and she stares down at her feet meekly. For the first time, ever perhaps, Byakuya looks prepared to die.

“I...” Makoto turns back to the audience. His face is stiff and he thinks he’s wearing too many layers. He shakes his head. “No. No, we just talked to Alter Ego in there... That’s all.”

No one is paying much attention to Makoto. Yasuhiro tears his eyes away from Byakuya and Touko.

“Hey, if you guys want juicy details like that, you’ll have to pay upfront after the show,” he tells the audience. “Who has another question?”

While all this had been going on, the drone had been waiting beside a woman who, on appearance, seems to be in her mid-twenties.

“Naegi-kun, do you forgive Maizono-san for her actions prior to her death?” she asks, as formal as her business suit.

Makoto hesitates, and takes a few moments to figure out his answer. Everyone watches him relentlessly. He tries to talk, but nothing comes out at first, and he swallows hard.

“Yes. I do,” he states.

“But she tried to frame you!” shouts a different woman, and the audience fizzes, threatening to explode like a shaken bottle of fizzy drink.

His heart beats fast. Makoto shows his palms.

“Maizono-san wasn’t thinking clearly, and she couldn’t have known that she’d have been sending us all to our deaths if she left,” says Makoto, but his words do little to soothe the crowd. Or do anything, really, apart from attract more questions aimed at him.

“So you think that if she had known, she wouldn’t have done the same thing?” asks a man wearing a jeans jacket. The drone hovers by him.

“I...” Makoto falters, remembering her wide eyes, her trembling hands and her tear stained cheeks. His stomach coils. He rakes his fingers through his hair. “I can’t say... what she’d have done... but Maizono-san was afraid, and her plan failed because her heart wasn’t fully into it. I’m sure she wasn’t thinking straight.”

More chattering.

“She means a lot to me, and in my heart... I know she wasn’t a bad person. I can’t hate her,” says Makoto as firmly as he can.

“But - ”

“Next topic, please,” says Kyouko, interrupting the man, and the drone obediently heads over to someone.

“Do you miss your family, Togami?” asks a man in casual clothes. T-shirt and jeans.

Byakuya turns his head a fraction, cheeks slightly flushed from before.

“The Togami Conglomerate cannot be destroyed as long as I am standing. I am more than capable of returning it to its former glory,” says Byakuya calmly. He nudges up his glasses. “No. It will be superior.”

“Not that, I mean... like your mother and father. Your siblings,” explains the man. “Do you miss them?”

“I lost contact with my siblings a long time ago. They are strangers to me,” says Byakuya plainly, no longer looking at anyone. “As for my parents, I can’t reverse whatever happened. What’s done is done.”

“So you don’t know?” asks a girl, clutching her remote.

A chill scuttles down Makoto. Byakuya’s lips press together.

“Know what?” says Byakuya, eyeing her. The girl is unperturbed.

“Enoshima broadcasted your father’s death to the whole world,” explains the girl. “He was on his knees, begging your Impostor for mercy... At the time, we all thought it was you who killed your dad.”

She says it like she’s reciting a bit of history during a study session. Byakuya’s head jerks back. He gapes at her but hastily throws up an aggressive front.

“That didn’t happen,” he snaps, but the grumbles in the audience suggest otherwise.

No matter how much or how long he glares, no one cracks. His lips quiver before squeezing together, and trembling faintly, he brings his hand to his chin, somewhat holding it, somewhat covering his mouth, and he doesn’t look at anyone, seemingly examining the gradient in the stage flooring with a cold and unreadable face that Makoto thinks could crumble if Byakuya opened his mouth again.

Touko stamps her foot and leans toward the crowd, gritting her teeth. “How dare you upset Byakuya-sama! Have some respect, you preppy, untuned accordion!”

“I just said what happened!” the girl calls out, but her remote no longer functions as a microphone so her voice barely carries over.

“Uh... anyone else got a question?” asks Yasuhiro, forcing a grin.

They watch the drone flit over to the next person.

“What did Oogami mean to you, Asahina?” asks a teenage girl with chin length, turquoise dyed hair.

Makoto glances at Aoi. His heart twinges at the sight of her face. Aoi shifts a foot back, and averts her eyes before she hugs herself.

“Sakura-chan means a lot to me. She was my bestest friend. She comforted me, gives me strength... and I’m going to do the same that she did,” says Aoi, voice shaking, and she rubs the heel of her palm against her eyes. Then she lifts her head, glowing with determination, eyes bright. Tears twinkle in her eyes but they aren’t a sign of weakness. They show her strength. Resilience. “I’m going to become as strong as her. That way, she hasn’t really gone.”

The crowd outnumbers Aoi greatly, but the power of her words, her existence, wash through them all, and they stand in front of her enthralled. Even those on the stage with Aoi are riveted. Aoi puts her hands onto her hips, teary face on proud display. Her smile carves into her cheeks, and she and her companions only faintly register the drone as it flies over the quiet audience to its next destination.

“How can Future Foundation let a disgusting monster walk free?” someone barks.

They whip their heads around. The drone arrived at the group holding signs with Touko’s face crossed out on them.

Touko tenses a second before everyone else on the stage does.

A woman with wiry grey hair grabs the drone to stop it from flying off and though she doesn’t need to, she raises her voice, spraying spit. “Why can that monster go home at the end of the day, but my son can’t? A mother shouldn’t have to outlive her son!”

The drone wiggles but she keeps her grip tight on it. Touko’s elbows draw into her sides and she drags a foot back. She tries to answer but just breathes with a rasp, and her next attempt results in a weak whine.

“Leave Fukawa-chan alone!” Aoi throws an arm in front of Touko, forming a barrier. “She didn’t do those things!”

More shouting, throughout the crowd. Touko cowers more.

“Genocider isn’t going to kill anyone again,” says Makoto, brow furrowed. “She... Genocider... promised me.”

“That’s all you have? Her word? That won’t bring our brothers, our fathers and our children back!” the woman with wild grey hair shouts.

The members of her group bellow their agreement, baring the teeth, contorting their faces. Makoto can’t say they don’t have the right to be hurt, to be angry. He doesn’t have a response. All he can think right now is that Future Foundation didn’t think this through. None of this is beneficial for anyone, not for Genocider’s victims and not for Touko either.

“They’re the same person!” someone else in the group screeches, pointing at Touko. “DID doesn’t work like that. She got the sneeze thing from an anime, and she didn’t faint when she saw that Kuwata boy’s bloody corpse!”

“Hey, the lighting in there was poor, ‘right?” explains Yasuhiro, but the audience doesn’t seem to be listening.

It’s one, large, thrashing entity attacking itself, flaking shouts, boiling with hot emotion and snarls. Touko looks about to vomit. She slaps a hand over her mouth and her legs slowly start to give way as she sinks to the floor. Her eyes don’t blink - her face twitches, but she doesn’t blink.

“We need to get Fukawa-san out of here,” says Kyouko. “Togami-kun, Asahina-san, take her from here.”

Aoi gingerly wraps her arm around Touko, tucking a hand under her armpit, and helps Touko up. Normally, Touko would probably shake Aoi off or argue, but Touko sags against Aoi instead, whimpering. Byakuya frowns at Kyouko.

“Why me as well?” asks Byakuya.

“You will be able to calm her down, and Asahina-san can make sure you’re not too rough,” explains Kyouko. She smirks humorlessly and adds, “And Asahina-san can keep an eye on you two, in case of mischief.”

Byakuya nearly chokes. Only a glimpse of his face can be caught before he turns away sharply, quick to march off. Aoi leads Touko off the stage with Byakuya following close behind. Guards prevent anyone from invading the stage, no matter much certain audience members flail their arms and charge. The crowd shows no signs of calming and in the end, more Future Foundation guards trickle out from around the stage, and after their orders for peace are ignored, they remove the group protesting against Genocider from the area.

This prompts the audience to recede and slowly quieten in fear that they will suffer the same fate.

“We will proceed, but if something like that happens again, question time is over,” warns a woman’s voice through the speakers.

Silence reigns. Someone could sneeze, and everyone would hear. The drone selects its next person. Three of the survivors remain on the stage, and they can’t see their friends anymore. Hopefully, they’re fine. No. They are. Makoto is sure of it. His fists clench.

He doesn’t know how long they’ll be gone but several questions later, and they still haven’t returned.

“Why exactly was Hagakure held back three grades?”

“Can we see Kirigiri’s scars?”

“What sort of girl is Naegi-kun into?”

“Was Hagakure high the whole time?”

“It’s due to a series of misunderstandings. I plan to sell the movie rights, so that’s all I’m saying for now.”

“No.”

“Um... Someone... kind...? With a cute smile... and a good heart? Sorry, I haven’t been thinking about this sort of thing lately.”

“I wasn’t on drugs at any point,” says Yasuhiro with a pucker in the middle of the v-shape that his eyebrows create. He jabs the air furiously. “If any of you guys suggest that again, I’m suing.”

The drone descends to the next participant, to a girl who looks a bit younger than them.

“Naegi-kun, who do you prefer: Kirigiri or Togami?” she asks, jiggling the bangles on her wrists as she shakes her fists excitedly.

“What?” blurts Makoto. Kyouko stiffens. Yasuhiro’s eyebrows rise.

“I mean, Kirigiri’s always cold toward you, and she totally threw you under the bus toward the end,” explains the girl. The crowd mumbles.

Makoto’s smile is tight. “I wouldn’t describe Togami-kun as a warm guy. He can be quite cold too, at times.”

“Yeah, but that’s how he shows affection, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t make you his errand boy.”

Maybe it’s for the best that Byakuya is absent. Yasuhiro positions his hands onto his hips.

“I think Togami-chi just knows that he can boss Naegi-chi around and not say weird things to him like Fukawa-chi does... or worry that Naegi-chi’s alter will come out and kill him. And I mean, the dude also made Naegi-chi open a door we thought was rigged with a bomb,” Yasuhiro points out.

The crowd mumbles louder. At the edge of his vision, Makoto can discern Kyouko studying him with a small frown. He fidgets with his collar.

“They’re both my friends,” says Makoto, letting go of his collar and lowering his hand. More firmly, he says, “I’m not going to choose between them. Also, Kirigiri-san can be cold sometimes, but I know that she has a good heart. Though she tries to mask some of her emotions sometimes, she’s definitely not emotionless. When she lets us see her true feelings... it’s... nice.”

Okay, he might have fumbled at the end there.

Kyouko touches her heart while Yasuhiro holds in a snort that manifests as a gleam in his eyes. Makoto’s face grows hot and he tries to ignore them. He hears some grumbling from the crowd, but he stands by what he said. The light on the girl’s remote disappears and the drone takes flight. It soon swoops down and hovers in front of the next speaker.

“My question is for Naegi,” says a girl about Makoto’s age. “Who was the cutest?”

He flinches. Kyouko and Yasuhiro jerk their heads back.

“Cutest...?” Makoto repeats, not completely processing the question initially even though on the surface, it’s a simple question.

His brow creases and he scratches lightly at his cheek. The audience hushes, and the tension presses against Makoto, glues his jaw shut.

Not that he has an answer anyway.

“Who...?” he manages, at a loss for words.

“Maizono!” someone yells.

“Oogami!”

“Fujisaki-chan!”

“No, Togami! He thinks Togami’s the cutest, duh!”

People begin shouting different names, and though the girl says something, even with her remote projecting her voice, she can’t be heard over everyone else.

The drone zooms around to various people.

“Obviously, he finds Kirigiri-san the cutest!” crows a teenage boy, and the drone flies off in one direction.

“No way!” says a man with rimless glasses. “Kirigiri doesn’t feel that way about him! It’s one-sided.”

It goes in the other direction.

“Naegi’s the one that doesn’t reciprocate her feelings!” says someone else, a woman with a bob cut.

The bickering continues. Makoto haplessly looks one way and another, again and again. This would have continued for longer, most likely, had after a few more head tosses, his head not veered into someone’s palm. He starts to turn more, to see who has grabbed hold of his cheek, but colours blur as a pair of lips crash into his. His body seizes up. Surroundings bleed through, all violets and pale skin, and the texture of the gloves that cradle his cheek give the person away.

Kyouko. It’s Kyouko. Kissing him. Makoto. She sets a hand onto his hip and adjusts her angle. He’s frozen, even as her warmth leaks into him, even as his heart works itself into a frenzy.

For a few moments, the audience is transfixed in silence, or perhaps time has stopped completely. All he knows, all he can think about, is her.

Then, there’s cheering. Some people might be moaning or huffing, but those sounds are trodden on in the stampede of elation. Kyouko dips him, keeping her mouth on his, her heat entangled with his, their hearts connected, and the noise grows almost deafening.

Makoto slowly relaxes, and he stays as he is.

Finally, Kyouko straightens, holding Makoto, who goes limp in her arms.

“Any more questions?” she asks.

Not a single one.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Elementary, My Dear

Whoever thought it would be a good idea to put a preschool on Elsewhere’s campus clearly didn’t know about the… special circumstances that would make the jobs of the teachers-in-training a living hell. They also chose to have it back right up to the woods. And, unfortunately, salt lines and small children don’t really mix.

Artists and musicians have a greater risk of being Taken, but they don’t have to deal with everything the Gentry can throw at them without so much as batting an eye.

It’s the Education majors that have it the worst, especially those who are working with the elementary-age students, the Gentry’s love of children far surpassing the fascination they have with artists. Those brave enough to work in the on-campus preschool/daycare, whether part of their curriculum or not, have to fight off all kinds of threatening entities (preferably before naptime), without betraying the fact that something is dangerously wrong (The fact that children See more than adults doesn’t help matters.).

The young ‘teachers’ quickly learn that it is very, very hard to tell some of Them apart from imaginary friends.

At recess, the crows perch on top of the chain-link fence, which is webbed with iron wire, and stand watch. They chatter at the children, sometimes flying to the top of the jungle gym and chucking indulgently as the tiny humans try to catch them. They never do, and the crows keep coming back.

When the crows are silent, something is very wrong. That is the signal to herd the kids inside and set them to making shiny little sculptures out of tinfoil and cocktail toothpicks, or sequins, air-dry clay, and an absolutely unholy amount of glitter. These are left outside the next day, and the crows flap down from the fence and pick them up- hopping within inches of their small, loud creators, who are sitting still and quiet, anticipation and wonder painted on their faces, and gazing back at them with jewel-bright eyes.

Salt dough ornaments are another popular craft project among the teachers (who, depending on how cautious they are, etch strange shapes and symbols into the back of each one); as are the saltwater paintings that glitter and shed flakes like snow, falling softly to the ground below where they hang on a clothesline in front of the windows. The crows, however, are not fond of salt dough, so the ornaments hang along the fence until they crack into pieces, or travel home with either the children or the students- and are fastened to refrigerators, slipped into memory boxes, or strung on lengths of string that hang along dorm room curtain rods.

When the students break out the beads, they string long strands of plastic beads right alongside their tiny charges- and hang the finished necklaces on a tree branch that hangs out over the iron-fortified fence. They never say why, though.

The stories they tell are almost all cautionary tales- Little Red, Goldilocks, Hansel and Gretel, and other children who trusted too easily or disrespect creatures that aren’t quite human- tales that warn of talking to strangers, and tell of the dangers of the woods. The dangers that are all too real not far outside of the relatively safe bubble of the daycare, where bells hang on the doors, where salt and shimmering glitter are ground into every possible (and impossible) surface; where outside the window, the crows stand watch.

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