#development and scouting that there are so few options

[georgia-stanway]

Fuck is going on with Cymru by the way seems an absolute mess. Of course we knew there was going to be a drop off post bale while the team re established itself but you'd have thought they'd at least have a plan? It's like Bale was the only thing holding them together ffs. Page seems to have completely given up, got four goalkeepers but no established no.1, called up morrell and Moore despite them being suspended for the qualifier match instead of trying out some new players no wonder they're struggling to sell tickets.

[quillsandblades]

What could be the reasons for Hange's death?

I’m not best at doing these analysis posts, but I’ve had this in my mind for a while now and it needs to get out.

As a sort-of writer, I know there’s always reasons to kill off a character, especially if they're well-developed and play a crucial part in the story. So what could’ve gone through Isayama’s mind when he decided to kill our precious Hange? Here’s what I think.

First of all, reading the manga I really felt like her death was forced, staged. It didn't seem right, didn't seem to fit. Now I don’t know if the rest of you felt this way but I sure did. And that's why I'm gonna talk about why I think Isayama killed her.

There are four points in this post and each explains a potential reason:

1. To make the readers cry

Many characters are killed just to give a truck load of emotional damage to the readers. And sometimes authors enjoy it — don’t get me wrong, we love the characters, it’s just what even is a good story if devastated readers aren’t sending you death threats for killing their fav fictional pookie? Such characters often possess some or all of these qualities: Lovable, witty, humorous, determined, has big goals/dreams, you get attached to them easily and if they have a love interest that you’re invested in, and they both got plans to *ahem* live peacefully once a certain war is out of the list of duties, it’s over for you (IFKK 😭).

And who do we know that holds nearly all these characteristics, and died?

Maybe Yams was in killer mood the day he wrote chapter 132. I wonder if he’s doing the evil laugh somewhere, thinking how we’re suffering every day.

2. It’s crucial to the plot

These kinds of deaths aren’t in the author’s hand, and they really hurt us sometimes. I have a few characters very close to my heart and I hope I never have to put them to death cuz I may not have the willpower to write ahead if I do. It happens when you get dead-ends (yes you can get dead-ends even in fiction as well, at least that’s what I think because the setting or world you create has to have some limits), when the rules you have set up to make that world start to cage you in. And sometimes there’s no option but to kill them. Their death is important, it’s a key point, or maybe it’s part of what their personality demands. It’s needed, and it hurts.

But coming to Hange, I can safely say that’s not the case. Her death could’ve been avoided. In the manga she barely managed to get much time. Yes the plane made it, but it’s Hange we’re talking about and she has a big brain. She could’ve made a less harmful plan to stop the Colossal titans right there, I don’t doubt her intelligence at all. Or someone could’ve helped. The part about titan shifters saving their strength was a flimsy excuse Isayama, cuz taking out a Colossal isn't such a back-breaking task for the Shifters - they’ve had worse and done better.

3. Some other character needs to take the spotlight

This happens when our character is in the way of someone else’s glory. They need to be taken off the stage so the next one comes up.

For Hange I’d say, that was Armin. I think Isayama might have wanted to give the stuttering blonde kid a glow-up, and I gotta say it worked well. I’ve seen countless posts where Armin back then and as commander is compared and people are like, ha! Y’all used to laugh at him cuz he was a timid, scared little thing but look at him now, Commander of the scouts and such.

I’ve seen him get a lot of hate for not being strong enough, not being confident and such things. So what does Isayama do? He takes that character and upgrades him to Commander. I think he’s wanted to do this for a long time, to show just how much potential the kid has, and take it as a character development. He was chosen over Erwin and then Hange. He couldn’t be Commander after Shiganshina cuz Hange was named successor. He got his chance in ch 132 and took it. The only way to make Armin Commander was to kill Hange and so we had to part with the crazy genius we loved. (I don't hate Armin though, it's Isayama's fault not Armin's)

But here’s the thing, she could’ve still come back. Battered and bruised, and Armin would still be Commander as the title was already handed over. Then why go all the way and kill her? Here’s why.

4. External reasons

This and the 3rd point, In my opinion, are the main reasons for Hange’s death.

The external factors here include her relationship with Levi. The man has a HUGE fanbase and he’s shipped (and shippable) with so many characters it’s concerning. And the most popular ships are Ereri (this one doesn’t even make sense) and Eruri. As a character that’s so popular among fans, I don’t think Isayama wanted to confirm anything related to his love life as that would only create rifts among fans or even drop his popularity. By keeping it vague he kept the fanbase up. But what has Hange living got to do with it?

Well, we all heard her ‘Let’s live here together’ confession. It’s probably the most romantic thing anybody said to Levi canonically and no one can deny it gives hints. Then comes Levi's double meaning statement of ‘Unrequited titan love’ and I’d say that pretty much sealed the deal. ‘Devote your heart’ was the cherry on top and now if Hange returned they both would be so canon.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say all of that meant nothing romantic. But if Hange’s still alive we all know she’d never leave Levi alone in his impaired state after the war. She’d be the one pushing his wheelchair around and since they’re already veterans and very close friends, Levi would only tolerate having her around him at all times. So if someone’s gonna say that all of those ‘confessions’ meant nothing, then these facts are proof enough that after the war Levihan had all the chance of being canon. So if Hange had lived these two would have been a sealed deal - but that isn’t possible in reality due to Levi’s popularity.

So, Hange dies and Isayama avoids a ton of mess for himself.

All of this is entirely my take on breaking down my fav character’s death, not saying it’s 100% legit. Just a harmless analysis.

[white-eagle-roleplay]

FO4 Memories #3

Happy Belated Fallout Friday, guys! Was feeling under the weather yesterday, so my post is delayed to today! Hancock's first affinity conversation with my sole survivor got interrupted by raiders, but his final one was as romanctic as you could get. Imagine this: you enter an abandoned church with Hancock late at night to escape the rain and catch some shuteye. Surrounded by candles, he nervously asks you if you have the time to talk, and gives you the option to romance him... So, being the writer that I am, I had to write a short drabble based off of a real affinity conversation that I had with Hancock during my last playthrough of FO4!

Pairings: Hancock x reader Words: about 1267

Hancock stumbled into the abandoned church after you, eager to get out of the cold, icy rain. By some miracle, it was completely void of raiders and super mutants—there wasn't even a single radroach. It was almost too good to be true, but after carefully scouting the premises, it became clear that the church was indeed empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, you lowered your gear onto a dusty pew while Hancock began lighting some candles on the tables behind you. It wasn’t much, and the roof was leaking in a few places, but it was better than nothing. If you pulled a few of those pews together and spread a sleeping bag under them, you could make a cozy bed… "Hey, uh… When you have a moment, I've got something I need you to hear." You almost dropped your bag in surprise at the sudden closeness of Hancock’s voice. The ghoul mayor had always been surprisingly quiet upon his feet, and tonight was no exception. You stopped what you were doing and glanced over your shoulder. “Of cour—” You froze, surprised at how nervous the ghoul appeared. This was very uncharacteristic of him, especially with his charismatic, flirtatious demeanor. Although now that you thought about it, he had been quieter and more pensive than usual as well… Concerned, you stood up and walked over to him. "Is everything alright? Hancock was quick to reply, his words rasping out before you had finished speaking. "Oh yeah, better than that. This is just… tricky." Hancock averted his gaze and rocked from one foot to the other before finally drawing in a deep breath and turning to face you. "It’s just… being out here with you… It’s made me realize that most of my life I’ve been running out on the good things I got.” His words were cautiously paced and carefully selected, as though he had been rehearsing this conversation in his head for quite some time. “I skipped out on my family, my life in Diamond City." Once the words started tumbling out, Hancock could not stop—so you just let him continue. “Took up with you just to get outta Goodneighbor.” He paused, his face contorting with regret. “Hell, running from myself is what made me into… into a damn ghoul…"

This caught you by surprise, because on the rare occasions that Hancock did talk about his past, he never referred to his ghoulishness so negatively. It made you realize that the mayor of Goodneighbor might be less secure about himself than he let on, and that all that confidence he exuded was just a facade. Your gaze softened, but you did not interrupt. He rarely talked about himself, let alone his past. If you said anything now, you might not get another chance to learn about the ghoul you had developed feelings for. “It’s just…” Hancock’s voice was soft, and his gaze even softer, “Being out here with you, it’s made me realize just how small time I’d been thinking, and that maybe all my running from my life, myself… maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.” The ghoul seemed less nervous than when he initiated the conversation, but something told you that there was still more to come. You had no idea what, but you could tell that what he needed right now was an open ear and support. Finally, you reached out and laid a hand upon Hancock’s arm, your fingers brushing against the crimson velvet of his coat. “You may have run,” you agreed gently, “But you always ran for a reason.” Hancock’s lips spread into a small smile. “Been trying to convince myself of that for a long time,” he said, “but hearing that coming from someone like you… I don’t know if you understand what that means to me.” There was something about the tone of his voice that gave you pause and made your heart beat just a little faster… Thinking back to how nervous he had been at the start of the conversation, a sudden realization began to dawn upon you. Could it be… “So, lemme get to the point,” Hancock continued, “Throwing in with you has been the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s like I found a part of myself I never realized was missing… which happens sometimes when you’re a Ghoul.” He gave a wry smile, a small inside joke between him and himself. “If I hadn’t taken up with you, I’d probably be in a gutter somewhere, getting gnawed on by radroaches. You have been one hell of a friend.” One hell of a friend. Your heart sank at those words, and your chest felt as though a cold fist had just pummeled through it. You swallowed the bitter taste upon your tongue. Could it be that you had misinterpreted him? He did have reputation for being… very affectionate… But then, there were times when you suspected that there may have been something more, especially with the way his voice softened and his gaze deepened… "Have… have you ever thought about us as maybe more than just friends?” As soon as those words left your mouth, you wanted to take them back. What if you had misinterpreted everything, and were just about to ruin— "Heh," Hancock breathed, a sad smile spreading across his ruined lips. "It that obvious?" His voice seemed to crack, and when you looked over at him, his face was tight, as though he was struggling to keep it passive. Before you could say anything, he plunged on, trying to cover himself. "But come on, you don’t want to wake up to this mug every morning. Never wish that on anyone I cared for…" This last part was spoken so quietly that it was barely audible against the increasing storm. "Hancock…" It was then that you realized that he was terrified of rejection, and that he really was far more insecure than he let on. And here you were worried that he only saw you as a friend, when in fact he had been harboring deep emotions for you for who knows how long. Gathering your courage, you reached out and tenderly touched his jaw, tilting his face towards yours. "Hey…" you said softly, "D-don't call yourself that. You're perfect the way you are and… nothing would make me happier than waking up to your handsome face every morning." You felt your cheeks grow warm as you tenderly caressed Hancock's scarred check. "Screw anyone who makes you feel ashamed…”

With a smile, Hancock reached up and covered your hand with his, holding it against his cheek. "Wasn't thinking about the folks doing the shaming," he murmured. He brushed his lips against your fingertips in a delicate kiss, then pulled you into a tight embrace, his face burying into the crook of your neck. You could have sworn that you felt a dampness against your skin… Tentatively, you wrapped your arms around him and gently rubbed his back. “Hancock? You… are you alright?” “Yeah…” Hancock’s voice no longer sounded nervous, but rather relieved. He went silent for a minute, then exhaled slowly. “Heh… You know… moments like this, I know all that karma stuff is bull, because no one like me should be this lucky…" For a long time, he stood there, holding your body firmly against his. Time seemed to slow to a standstill, and the world reduced to nothing but the dust, empty pews, and flickering candles around you. The storm outside had long since ended, or perhaps it was drowned out by the beating of your own heart…

[mahercbeaucoup]

TTRPG Design Lessons from Wildermyth

I've recently been spending a good deal of time thinking about solo RPGs and playing Rangers of Shadow Deep, a solo miniature game. My brain has been buzzing with ideas for solo game design, but I wanted to extend my research into video games, and so I found myself playing Wildermyth. This game has been on my radar for years, but I finally took the time to sit down with it. I enjoyed the game's first campaign, and I came away with some lessons for solo TTRPG design.

Procedural Stories

As your party of heroes wanders the world of Wildermyth, the player is treated to vignettes of the characters' encounters with their environment. These little stories build much of the player's connection to their band of heroes, especially the ones who join later and appear less often in the main plot.

Coming from the OSR world, a natural comparison arises to random encounters, especially during overland exploration. But whereas OSR encounters can follow any structure (and it is not uncommon for them to merely provide a moment of flavor), the Wildermyth vignettes always result in a meaningful change to the game state (as far as I can tell). A character may gain a new item, or change in some unexpected way, and the player will have a choice to make. Because a vignette always results in some sort of change, the game has a continuous feel of forward momentum.

In solo games, I struggle with developing side characters (or characterization at all, if the game is primarily skirmish-based). Looking at Wildermyth's approach, I can see the potential for a spark table to take one or two characters and create a little side-adventure for them, giving them a little color and differentiating them from the others.

Overworld Map

Wildermyth's map is broken down into regions, and each type of region contributes a different gameplay option. Some areas may have ruins you can reclaim, giving you increased resources or "Legacy Points" (a type of special currency), that you can use to grow and enhance your party. Some areas might allow you to build a bridge across a river, or tunnel through a mountain pass, into an adjacent territory. Villages provide recruitment opportunities, and new areas need to be scouted.

Crucially, every action requires time to complete, and the world is always moving on. Timers count down to the next bad event, armies march across the map and destroy settlements, and the deck of potential enemies is always growing stronger. Even when you acquire enough party members to split them up over multiple locations, it always feels like there is never enough time to get to everything you want to.

This system is simple, but it adds rich, opportunities for gameplay. I would love to experiment with this kind of campaign layer in an otherwise more traditional skirmish game. By adding simple concrete benefits to the control of a region, a huge amount of gameplay naturally emerges, even before diving deep into other sorts of quest hooks that will develop.

Enemy Behavior

When it comes to the tactical battles, the enemy AI seems to be very simplistic (as it is in most games of this type, and video games in general). But this isn't a knock against the battles, because the game's designers clearly understand that you can compensate for AI with varied enemies and scenario design.

I could very much picture running these enemies manually, each one operating by a different tactic that is simple enough to execute manually, while also appearing in enough unique combinations and situations to the player on their toes. One enemy might always charge to the farthest character it can reach, while another might draw characters toward it. These are just a few examples from Wildermyth, but they demonstrate how a few simple enemies can drastically change the tactical situation.

Interfusion

The mage class in Wildermyth has "Interfusion" as its primary ability. This lets the character manipulate the scatter terrain in the environment, with different types of terrain offering different tactical benefits.

I haven't seen this kind of approach to magic before, and I think it has good potential on the tabletop.

Putting it all together

After playing Wildermyth, I have a clearer picture of the game that is brewing in my mind: a cross between a skirmish game and an RPG (hardly a new idea), focused on a war band securing an area, and reacting to dynamic threats with varied enemies and approaches to AI. It's the smallest of seeds, but I have a vision for what it can grow into.

[final-girl96]

Broken World: Chapter Thirty-Three

Nebraska Continued

Daryl

Daryl was sitting outside his tent by the fire when Lori showed up. “Moving to the suburbs?” She asked, but he didn't say anything. “Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock. We need Hershel.” Daryl continued to whittle the stick he had in his hand. “Yeah. So what?” He said. “So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back.” Daryl wasn’t surprised she was up here telling him to go looking for them. “Daryl?”

“Your bitch went window-shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself. I got better things to do,” He sput at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, “What's the matter with you? Why would you be so selfish?” She asked. That really got under his skin and he stood up. Selfish? Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I was out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. Don't you tell me about me getting my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done looking for people!”

Lori shook her head in disbelief. What had she expected? He isn't he fucking dog. “Wrll, you should know it wasn't just Rick and Glenn. Yn went with them.” Lori turned around and started heading back towards the house.

YN

“Those your cars out front?” Dave asked. “Yeah. Why?” Glenn asked. I love Glenn but he's a little too friendly. “We're living in ours. Those look kind of empty, clean. Where's all your gear?” Dave asked. Rick narrowed his eyes at him and didnt say anything. “We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink,” Hesherl offers up.

“A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit. Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?” Dave asked. “It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here,” Glenn told him. “Walkers? That what you call them?”

“Yeah.”

“That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains,” Dave says, sitting back in the chair he was seated in. “More succinct,” Tony said. “Okay, Tony went to college,” Dave yells us. “Two years.”

“So what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development? Trailer park or something? A farm? Old McDonald had a farm.” Tony laughed at Dave's lame as fuck joke. “You got a farm? Is it safe? It's gotta be. You got food, water?” Dave asked. This motherfucker asks a lot of fucking questions. “You got cooze? Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks,” Tony days, looking at me and kicking his lips. “I will fucking cut your goddamn eyes and tongue out if you don't top looking at me.”

“Listen, pardon my friend. City kids, they got no tact. No disrespect. So listen, Glenn…” Rick cuts Dave off before he can ask Glenn anytjing more. “We've said enough.”

Dave stood up and went bwhind the counter. He set his gun down in the bar top. “Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?” He says. “Yeah, real sweet.”

“How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower.” Rick sniffs, narrowing his eyes at him. “Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option.”

“Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem.”

“I'm sorry. We can't. We can't take in any more in.”

Dave lets out a short laugh. “You guys are something else. I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for, too,” Dave said. “We don't know anything about you,” I told him. He points a finger at me. “No, that's true,” he says. “You don't know anything about us,” I say. “You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other.”

“That's not gonna happen.”

“Rick…” Fave starts but Tony cuts in. “This is bullshit!” He yells. “Calm down,” Rick tells him. Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you four assholes in the head and take your damn farm!” I raised an eyebrow at his outburst, my hand going to the hilt of my gun that rest on my hip.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick? We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work.” Dave holds up a bottle of whiskey. “You gotta understand, we can't stay out there. You know what it's like.”

“Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking.”

“Keep looking. Where do you suggest we do that?”

“I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice.”

Dave laughs, “Nebraska. This guy.” Then he's raising his gun. I pulled my and pulled the trigger shooting him in the head. Rick stood up and took out Tony before he could even react.

Shit really hit the fan when we tried to leave. Other members of their group came looking for them or at least were close by because they heard the shots. We ended up having a shootout with them.

Daryl

About an hour later Carol had come up to his camp. His been sitting thwre thinking about the last thing Lori had told him. That yn was out there too. He shouldnt care. He doesn't care. At least he tries to tell himself he doesn't care.

“We can't find Lori. And the others aren't back yet either,” Carol said to him. “That dumb bitch must've gone off Iooking for 'em,” Daryl told her. “What?” She asked, looking confused and shocked. “Yeah, she asked me to go. I toId her I was done being an errand boy.”

“And you didn't say anything?” Carol asked. “Don't do this. Please. l've already lost my girl,” She begged him. He turned and looked at her. “That wasn't my problem neither.”

Carol looked at him and he started to get uncomfortable. “What are you doing?” He hssed. “Keeping an eye on you,” she said. Daryl scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Ain't you a peach?” He said sarcastically. “I'm not gonna let you pull away. You've earned your place.” That set him off. He doesn't know why, but that was his last straw.

“If you spent half your time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive!” He yelled at her. Carol just stood there, back straight and her head held high. “Go ahead,” she told him. “Go ahead and what?” He asked confused at forat but then he realized what she meant.

“I mean just go! I don't want you here! You're a real piece of work, lady. What, are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that? Pfft! Man, you know Jack. You're afraid. You're afraid 'cause you're all alone. You got no husband, no daughter. You don't know what to do with yourself. You ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! All you had to do was keep an eye on her!” He screamed. He had so much hope that Sophia was out there waiting to be found. That she was alive. He was doing it because he knew what It felt like to have a piece of ahit for a father. But when she came out of that barn–something broke inside him.

[angelic-writer]

Whumpcember Day 11 - Infection

CW: Character death, Gore

Slow, deliberate footsteps echoed from the empty alleyway as Adam kept his gun close to him. There should be some food around here...

He moved some boxes around, trying to find some unopened cans. Hopefully, they haven't been spoiled by now. They have been without food for a while and the others were getting hungry and agitated. He volunteered to go alone despite Thatcher's objections.

He took slow, deep breaths as he approached a crate. Just as he was about to take a peek inside...

Something jumped out of the shadows, grabbing Adam's arm. He felt a jolt of pain before he pulled his gun out and shot it in the head. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a zombie. Wait a minute, that thing...

He looked at his arm. It was slowly dripping with blood. There was a noticeable bite mark on it, a telltale sign that he would be one of them soon. He hadn't realized he had started shaking, his chest tightening as he tried to breathe. He couldn't focus, his mouth moving to say the word "No." over and over again. He felt hot and cold. His heart pounded in his ears.

How was he gonna tell the others...?

How is he gonna tell Jonah? Cathy?

--------

There was a deathly silence at the table. Adam's sleeve was rolled down, showing his bite mark for all to see.

".......What do we do now?" Sarah asked.

Adam remained silent.

"Well... There are a few options... None of them is gonna end with Adam surviving..." Mark spoke.

"M-Maybe Adam won't turn into one of them. He's dealt with worse things before and he lived through it. He might make it through this one!" Cathy shakily said.

"I appreciate your optimism, Cathy, but you know what happens once you get bit. I'm sorry, but..." Thatcher sighed. "I'm afraid there's no saving him."

Jonah looked at Adam, not sure what to say to him. But he already knew what he was thinking. 'I'm so stupid! I should've gone with someone!'

Thatcher took out his gun and laid it on the table in front of Adam. He blankly stared at it. He hadn't said a word since the revelation.

"We're gonna be leaving soon, anyway. If you're gonna turn soon, we don't want anything to happen to us. This is the only way, unfortunately." Thatcher tried to keep his voice calm, but he couldn't ignore the aching pain in his heart. He had grown to care for these kids. They didn't deserve to be living this hell all alone. And now, Adam might become a walker or even worse... an Alternate.

I should've been the one to get bit. I should've been taking his place. But... What would Ruth think?

She wouldn't want him to become undead. She would want him to survive, to keep moving. So, this is what he has to do. And that includes leaving one of his own children behind to turn.

-------

As the days went by, Adam grew worse and worse. He had developed a high fever, he had started shivering and he was starting to cough up blood. He pulled the blanket closer to him in a futile effort to keep himself warm. The group had left hours ago, probably scouting out the area for another safehouse. He closed his eyes.

He hadn't touched the gun that Thatcher gave him. None of them wanted to put him out of his misery. Maybe they all had the same idea of false hope. That maybe Adam will be immune to this disease. Despite them losing the people they care about, they still stuck together. If it was any other group, they would've thrown him to the wolves. He could tell that they were hurting even when they tried to smile.

Jonah kept telling him stories about the high school shenanigans they would get into, Cathy kept giving him some of her favorite plushies... He tried to hold back the tears that were welling up.

He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to become one of them. The tough boy exterior that he had built up had finally crumbled, finally revealing just how scared and alone he truly was.

He never got the chance to apologize and make peace with Evelin. He will never be able to see Cathy curl up to him and act like a cat. He won't be able to hear Jonah's obnoxious voice again.

Mom... Dad... If you were here, you would tell me it'll be okay.

As his vision faded, he could see a life he could've lived. With his mother and father, living a peaceful life without any zombies to worry about.

Perhaps... In another life....

His heart slowed.

And slowed.

And slowed....

And became still.

-------

Thatcher's arm was shaking as he and the others stared the horde down. They didn't seem to show any sign of stopping. The group had run out of bullets and they were worn down from hunger. They had no idea a large group of them was waiting when they stopped to rest.

Cesar gripped the crowbar, covering his bleeding arm with one hand.

"Ces, let me take a lo-"

"I'm not bitten!! You saw what happened!!"

Fred and George shielded their sister as she sobbed, trying to make herself look small. Sarah's arm trembled as she stood in front of Evelin, trying to put on a brave front. Jonah kept pulling the trigger to blow the zombie's heads off even though the gun was empty.

Thatcher couldn't believe what was happening. In the span of ten minutes, they were surrounded. Sure, the group had dealt with the same thing before, but that was before they met Thatcher. Now, the same thing had happened again.

And Ruth wasn't there to help him this time.

I'm sorry, Weaver... I-I failed you... I failed all of them. I promised to protect them when you died. But there's just too many of them.

He wasn't brave like everyone was telling him. He was a coward. Always has and always will be. Nothing would change that.

Just as he was closing his eyes to embrace the end, he saw something in the horde. At first, it looked like any other zombie that was wearing a blank hoodie. Then, he caught the tuft of blonde hair and it immediately clicked.

Oh god.... Adam...

He broke down right then and there. He collapsed to his knees and began to sob. Someone was yelling at him to get up, but the words faded away. He should've put Adam out of his misery when he had the chance. He should've put a bullet between his eyes. He just couldn't stand everyone's hurt looks whenever they saw him so he left with them and never looked back.

Why am I always such a fucking failure?!

His thoughts were cut off by something grabbing at him. Snapping out of his trance, he tried to fight the zombie off, but it was too strong. There was screaming. The zombie was dangerously close to his neck.

It was pulled back. A pair of hands grabbed its jaw and pulled. Its head was pulled apart, spilling brain matter onto Thatcher. He stared at what just killed it.

Adam?

He only glanced at him for a moment before he turned to Cesar. He ran at him with frightening speed, causing him to scream and raise his crowbar. Mark tried to get in front of him, but Adam pushed him away, grabbed Cesar's wrist and snatched the crowbar out of his hand. He turned to the horde, let out an animalistic growl and ran.

The streets were filled with the angry screams of Adam Murray as he bashed their heads in. Despite turning into one of them, he still had his humanity. Despite his differences with them, he will not stand by and let his friends be killed.

Blood, bone and brains soared through the air as he swung at them with stunning accuracy and grace. He was like a samurai swinging his sword and slicing up his enemies. He danced in the blood flowing out like ribbons. One zombie grabbed him by the arm, but he threw it to the ground and smashed its head in like a pumpkin. He felt the rage and he welcomed it. Embraced it.

So this is what it is to be a zombie. They must be so confused right now. I'm one of them now so why am I turning on them when I should be focusing on their food?

Who am I kidding? They're dead. They don't have cognitive thoughts anymore! They don't care what they think!

As soon as it began, it was over. The horde that was so overwhelming before was now a big pile on the street. Adam Murray was the only one left. He stood over them, staring at the decayed bodies of what they once were. He turned to the other survivors who were too shocked to even move. Stepping over the bodies, he walked over to them.

Jonah jumped and tried to step back, but his back hit the barricade. His breathing quickened as the reanimated body of his friend slowly stepped toward him. He screwed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain of being bitten, but it never came.

He felt him stroke his face. He pried one of his eyes open to see what used to be Adam looking at him with... recognition? Curiosity?

And then, he spoke.

"Jonah....? I-Is that you...?"

Tears poured down Jonah's face as Adam held him close. Everyone else continued to stare, the shock never leaving their faces. He clearly looked like a zombie, but he still had the ability to speak, to fight, to recognize who Jonah is.

Is this another mutation of the virus? Did Adam become an alternate? All these questions still plagued their minds as Jonah started to cry and embrace him.

[passportclown]

I don't have the confidence to share my art yet, but I feel ready to share my ideas for my Transformers AU.

I only have concrete ideas for Starscream and Shockwave (My favorite characters, not a surprise.)

Warnings: Racism(?) , Deadly Scientific Mishaps , Morally disgusting acts of science , technical torture , neutrality to torture , That's honestly all I can think of. Lmk if there's anything else I should add.

-

Starscream -

Starscream was forged as a performance flier. Specifically made to light up the sky and perform during events. He was heralded as the fastest and most beautiful flier in Vos. He was constantly decked out in flashy colors, bright paints, etc. Some of the future seekers for the Decepticons were fliers like him.

Starscream loved flying, he loved the attention, but he hated being reduced to a pair of (gorgeous) wings. He was more than his flight skills. He was intelligent, strong! But nobody else seemed to notice.

So, out of spite, he enrolled in the Academy of Science in Iacon. Having to bribe his way in.

He excelled in his classes, and met a fellow flier named Skyfire. Skyfire was a shuttle, existing specifically to haul and move cargo. But he had a genius mind. Starscream essentially forced Skyfire to be his friend, seeing many similarities between them. And Skyfire was too soft-spoken to refuse. They did develop a genuine bond, however.

Skyfire was finally recognized, and was assigned a planet to scout and study. Starscream insisted on coming with, and Skyfire agreed. They both marveled at the foreign place, studying the plants, the native species, the landmass, everything.

But there was a complication with their equipment. So while Skyfire was studying the ice, he vanished.

Starscream didn't know what truly happened at that point. But he flew all the way back to Cybertron to get help, because for once his pride didn't get in the way. He knew he wasn't enough to save Skyfire.

The officials launched an investigation and found that Starscream had set up the machines wrong, causing the heater designed to keep them from freezing to overheat. It melted the ice under Skyfire, and he was too heavy to fly out of the icy water.

Starscream insisted it was an accident, and Vos didn't want their best flier to be executed. So they vouched for him. After all, who else but Starscream could fly all the way from a foreign planet back to Cybertron in such a short amount of time?

Starscream was given two options.

He could go back to Vos and continue to perform, but never be allowed to touch science equipment again.

Or, he would go to jail for 500,000 years. He would have to study science pads daily until his release to ensure it never happened again.

He chose option 2.

His loyal side fliers got themselves arrested, not wanting him to be alone in an unfamiliar place. They already let him go to the science academy alone. And look how that turned out. They wouldn't let him be alone in prison.

He and his fliers formed a gang in the prison, and eventually.. met an arrested gladiator who had killed his own master.

Shockwave -

Senator Shockwave was a visionary. He saw no difference between different frame types. He was a scientist who worked to better Cybertron.

He came up with a reformatted caste system, one that would rank people based off of their skills and processors, rather than their frame types. But his revolutionary vision was rejected.

How could a manual laborer be given the chance to rise up to the rank of a scientist? It made no sense to the senate. They insisted there was a stark biological difference between frame types. A miner was physically inferior to a senator. There was no changing that.

Shockwave was livid. There was no proof to those alleged facts. In his mind, it was all conjecture.

So, he sought to prove them wrong.

He kidnapped 1 of every frame type he could. Insecticon, laborer, performer, senator, every single one. And he vivisected every single one of them. There were a few differences, like the Insecticons poison pouch. A nobles frailty compared to the strength of a laborer.

But nothing to suggest innate superiority or inferiority.

Obsessed with his research, and seeing nothing wrong with his actions, he brought his studies to the Prime.

The Prime was horrified, Shockwave was important, a genius, but his experiments were disgusting and immoral. Even a tyrant like The Prime could see it. He ordered Shockwave to cease his experiments and erase all of his research.

Shockwave refused.

Instead, he set up a live broadcast, unveiling his research. Crazed, he insisted that in order to truly prove his research was logical, he would even dissect The Prime himself.

There was no saving Shocksave at that point, he was arrested. But his genius mind, albeit now crazed, was a valuable resource. His body was changed against his will so none would know it was him, his emotions were smothered by new programs in his processor. Shockwave was no longer a senator. He was an experiment.

And so, The Prime acquired a new scientific assistant. One who happened to share a designation with the recently executed senator Shockwave. A sad coincidence. (This was only because Shockwave would only answer to his own designation. That was one thing they couldn't take from him.)

His new logical perspective helped him realize that his previous actions were crazy. But now, his emotions were too dulled for him to regret it all.

One evening, while conducting a dull experiment for The Prime, a spy drone fell out of his vent.

-

Thats all I have so far. I want every character to have complex backstories that explain how they are now. But its all a lot of effort.

[goombasa]

Unicorn Overlord and Tactical Minutiae

So, back in august, I got sick enough to be laid out for several days. Not covid, thankfully, but equally as debilitating, and when I'm sick, I tend to hyperfixate on video games, and my girlfriend and I had just gotten a great, big pile of new games for our birthdays (which fall around two weeks apart from one another). One of those games, the one that I played the most while in a haze of cough medicine and snot, was Unicorn Overlord, a brand new tactical RPG from developer Vanillaware.

I was already a big fan of this developer for their past hack and slash games like Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. So to hear that one of my favorite developers was making a game in one of my favorite genres, I was really looking forward to this. And lo and behold, it's really good, a very nice fusion of ideas and systems from series like Ogre Battle and Fire Emblem, both series that I really, really like.

At first, however, I was worried that the game was going to be a bit on the boring or more automated side; the overhead view of the battle sees you summoning your units to the field and then commanding them to move to a place to either capture strategic locations or engage enemy fighters. In combat, you have no control over how the battle plays out when it's happening, you're just watching your units and the enemies spend passive and active points to attack each other until both sides exhaust everything they can do, and whoever's left standing, or has the most percentage of HP left, wins. Repeat until victory.

Yes, you do have control over who is put into each unit, so I thought that the primary strategy was just going to be figuring out how best to build balanced, reliable units that could stand against most enemy combinations. Build cavalry units to take out basic infantry, focus on high accuracy units against flying or scout types, that sort of stuff. And for a few hours, that was as deep as it got, and it worked fine for those few hours, but I was worried that my interest was going to wane the longer the game went on.

But just as I was starting to have that worry, the game introduced a new mechanic now that I had enough characters to create a decently sized army: the tactical menu. Every character has a number of active and passive abilities in combat, and they learn more as they level up. These can be fitted with a bunch of stipulations on how and when they use certain skills. Like, when I say a bunch, I mean a BUNCH.

You can make it so they will prioritize using certain moves against or on specific unit types. You can make it so that they ONLY use that move on certain unit types. You can make it so they will only use an ability when an enemy or ally is above or below a certain HP threshold; when they have a certain amount of AP or PP; when other characters perform certain actions; Whether it's daytime or night time, it's ridiculous how much control they give you over how a unit will act in combat when you have no control over them. You can assign up to two stipulations per move and those stipulations can also override how the move generally works, i.e. only triggering at the end of combat, or when an ally is attacked, etc.

It's amazing how specific you can get with it, and yes, that does run the risk of making a unit a bit too specific to be generally useful, so I mostly kept to just using the broader, more basic stipulations, and I generally didn't even have to do that. After that point, the game started to auto-assign specific tactics based on a unit's class and what they were best at. The most I would have to do would be to tell my healers not to just start healing the moment that a unit dropped below 100% health because that wasted a lot of the healing potential. But the option to fine tune was always there, and I did do a lot of experimenting and fine tuning as the game went on.

The good news is, at least for the difficulty I played on (normal), the minutae of doling out various tactics to every single unit isn't entirely necessary. Your opponents, for the most part, won't use any tactics beyond the basic ‘hit whatever’s directly in front of me' strategy, so you have the advantage there, and while, yes, not using the tactics menu at all will put you at a disadvantage, the combination of the game automatically assigning certain things to new recruits, and a helpful ‘optimize’ option in the menu if you don't want to deal with it yourself, means that you can largely ignore the more intricate parts of the tactics system of this game if you really want to, or slowly push yourself into it more and more as the game goes on. It's not strictly optional, but you can downplay it if you don't want to get too deep in the weeds.

Really, what blows me away the most about it is just how many options it gives you to control your troops in battle without actually controlling them. None of the other systems in the game attempt to be this deep, not that they have to; the overworld pathfinding works fine, but I do wish I could make micro adjustments here and there without having to completely redirect my units, the rapport system is very easily exploited when you get access to taverns, and the deliveries and town rebuilding system is very simple and basic. That isn't to say that they're bad systems at all, they serve their function well and help to add upon what is a very nice, intricate battle system, but you compare all of that to what you can do with your unit's various behaviors, the synergies you can put together between specific attacks and buffs, and it all comes together amazingly well. 

While I don't plan on replaying the game too soon (it's a long game after all), I do want to see how higher difficulties push me to use the tactics in more in depth ways, but the fact that it isn't all encompassing on lower difficulties keeps the game accessible to even those who aren't very familiar with this genre of game. I hope to see more games that give you the option to tinker and fine tune how things work like this in the future, I think it's a really fun feature that a lot of strategy games could use to add some intereting depth and replay value to their tactics, especially if interacting directly with your character's actions is somewhat limited.

Nice work, Vanillaware, it's another hit!

[shrikeseams]

So, how defensible do we think Menegroth was, without Melian? Like, on a practical level?

Like on one hand, it's a cave system, and those do tend to be pretty defensible!

On the other hand, a city that's been safe and cozy for hundreds of years while war rages on outside... is unlikely to be up on the latest and greatest in defensive fortifications. And that goes double while their king is famously on the outs with the people who are making the latest and greatest defenses. They're on good terms with Finrod, but he's busy building is own fortifications. Galadriel could doubtless pull something together, but they had no reason to ask her. And in terms of millitary experience you have the same issue. The Iathrim are good, but they're probably pretty used to fighting on their own terms, with a nice, safe fall-back area behind them.

On top of that, they probably have a particularly large civilian population. They're the place for the sindar and avari to go if they don't want to fight in the forever war raging outside the Girdle! By no means do I think their population is useless, but Thingol and Melian's choices would likely not have led to a population interested in preparing for warfare.

So my baseline assumption is that Doriath's woodlands are only moderately defensible, and even then only because they know it so well. Menegroth is moderately defensible, but by Long Siege standards? It's not much. Doriath sat out the Noldor vs Morgoth arms race, and I can't buy that it doesn't show.

And this is all important, because even if you think Dior & Co don't consider the feanorians a threat (which I don't), they're living in a post-Siege Beleriand with Morgoth making gains every damn day. And Morgoth has plenty of reasons to say "Fuck these elves and their king in particular."

So one way or another, for whatever reason, Doriath must prepare for war, on a scale that they haven't considered since Melian threw up the Girdle, on a playing field with two potential opponents who have been in an active and acrimonious arms race for the exact same length of time Doriath has been deliberately sitting this one out.

They are so screwed. They're in a terrible position, and I can spin a case where Menegroth and it's cultural baggage is more liability than asset. Off the top of my head, there are a few directions I could take it in:

Dior is proud, and young, and thinks he has his mother's plot armor. He's unwilling to give up his family's legacy (either the silmaril or menegroth), and thinks they'll keep him safe. Those in leadership who think otherwise (likely Galadriel and Celeborn, among others) leave and cross the mountains. With the more confident and less wise in charge, Doriath fails to adequately develop better defences.

Dior is proud, and young, and his 'advisors' mostly see the latter. They love him, but he isn't Thingol, and they're willing to push back against him. He finds that he has far less practical authority than Thingol ever did. This goes double if he's suggesting blasphemy like 'leaving Menegroth', which has kept them safe for so long. Dior can see the writing on the wall, and sends scouting groups across the mountains to look for safer options. He doesn't muster enough political clout to make a move before the Feanorians arrive.

Everyone recognizes that they need to leave! They're heartbroken, but the political will is there! They send scouting parties across the mountains... but the Feanorians catch wind of it, and start patrolling the routes. There is no path to safety, only a last-minute scramble to fortify the home they meant to abandon.

There are more possibilities, I'm sure. But I can't think of any where Doriath "shouldn't" be braced for an attack from at least one direction, or any where they're not screwed from the get-go.

[natsuki208]

This was inspired by my good friend @sonofthesaiyans

———

Alive!Marco AU - During the battle for Shiganshina

Marco was working alongside Jean, Connie and Sasha during the battle. Eren already succeeded in blocking one of the entrances with his new titan hardening ability, it seemed to easy so the others had to stay alert. They were proven right when Reiner nearly ambushed the Scouts.

Eren fought back against Reiner as the Attack and Armoured titans, the former had the upper hand until the rest of the group counterattacked with the newly developed thunder spears. They had him where they need, until a single, small moment of physical contact between Eren and Marco happened. No one but Marco knew what occurred in the matter of seconds.

A bundle of lost memories came flooding back to him - of how he almost died back at Trost. He overheard Reiner and Bertholdt talking about they were responsible for the wall breaking, and out of nowhere they held him down, planning to kill him. Annie got involved too; taking away his ODM gear so he couldn’t leave. A saddened, defenceless Marco was left to be eaten alive by a nearby titan if it weren’t for Jean who flew in at the right time.

The others all stared at the shocked Marco, honestly worried for him, they asked if he was okay until Bertholdt came flying into the city (thanks to the Beast titan). While they were distracted, Marco zoomed away towards where Bertholdt landed, he shouted his name in the most horrendous, angry tone.

“BERTHOLDT! IS IT TRUE?! THAT YOU AND REINER LEFT ME FOR DEATH?!”

(Before that point, Marco still held slight hope for them both and they could come around one day)

Everyone was shocked at this, including Bertholdt, but after a few words shared he made it clear that he’ll go through with killing his old comrades/friends for reasons unknown. This was the last straw for Marco - his yells of frustration were not to be ignored.

Out of the blue he attempted a strike, with Bertholdt managing to fight back even after Marco cut off his ear. The two continued until Marco made a immediate blow to his chest, he had him pinned with one blade and was about to finish it with another… at least he would’ve if Armin and Mikasa didn’t interfered and held Marco back.

Bertholdt released himself from the blade and got away. The others were too busy to aid Marco to go after him (also he could’ve possibly transformed if they did) the freckled boy was in too much of a rage to listen to his friends begging him to calm down, so much that his closest friend, Jean, couldn’t think of a better option but to knock him out cold.

Jean getting up behind and knocking his dear friend unconscious was one of the worst things he ever did to him, but there were bigger threats occurring so it was the only solution he could think of. Marco remained that way until the end of the battle.

[munchbell45]

yahiko and yamato for the character ask game :D !!

I'm not good at the song association thing, so I will skip that one. Sorry. IDK, I tend to listen to instrumental stuff, and I don't always think "OMG, this is so Skleeby from Splungo's Adventure" when I listen to music.

I will say that i sometimes picture (in my mind) angsty AMVs or animations of Nagato and Konan (post-Yahiko's death) set to Anemoia by Oliver Buckland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0guReRtGWI&pp=ygUHYW5lbW9pYQ%3D%3D

Though that may be because the song was used in a really cool video game trailer.

Yahiko

Favourite thing about them?

I love his sincere desire to change the world for the better, as well as his love of others and hope for a better future. Of course, it's not just hope but also a DRIVE to make the world better. He just seems like such a sweet, hardworking dude, and if he was real I would love to know him.

Least favourite thing about them?

The fact that we don't get to see more of him. TBF, he died well before the start of Naruto, so we only see him through memories (and that one weird Infinite Tsukuyomi filler story, but I digress.) I want to see how he'd interact with MORE canon characters, I want to see MORE of the original Akatsuki, and I want to know MORE about the Hidden Rain Village.

I'd love a spin-off miniseries about the Hidden Rain Village.

Favourite line?

I'm not always the best at memorizing lines, but I'll go with this one, where he sets out to go on a mission to scout out an area.

"This land is crying, as usual. It continues to endure much pain. In the past, I hated this land that was crying all the time. But now... I want to save it... I truly feel that way. It's too much like the crybaby I used to be for me to leave it alone."

brOTP?

Obviously he is besties with Konan and Yahiko, they have a truly inseparable bond. I also imagine that he was close with each and every member of the original Akatsuki.

Sadly, there are only a few characters we see him interact with in canon, and many of them are minor.

In a happier timeline where nothing bad happened and the Hidden Leaf was magically not corrupt at all, I could see him being friends with Naruto.

OTP?

Nagato/Yahiko/Konan. They have a deep bond, forged through their collective efforts to endure many hardships. To me, it's as if they are destined to be together and to always develop a deep, intimate care and affection for each other. Even if they were to reincarnate, they'd find each other once more.

nOTP?

Yahiko/Obito, Jiraiya/Yahiko (IDK if anyone ships that, LOL,) Zetsu/Yahiko, Madara/Yahiko (Is that a thing?)

Random headcanon?

He learned how to do a lot of basic repairs, so that if the shack got beaten up, he could fix it. I could also see him loving children.

Unpopular opinion?

My man's underrated. I feel like most people tend to either forget about him or just think of him as the guy that became the Deva Path. I mean... I get why, but I wish he was more popular. How can you not love him?

Favourite picture of them?

Two options. I hope these load in.

A: This panel (I am typing this on my computer and GIMP is being a bitch, so no crop.)

B: (My PFP as of 2/5/2024)

Yamato

I am very neutral on him, so my apologies for some lame-ass answers. Also, i felt like I spent a lot of time writing my opinions on Yahiko.

Favourite thing about them?

His abilities were neat, as one of the few who could use Wood Style. i also respect how he tried his best to keep Team 7 in check and (later on) help rebuild the Hidden Leaf after Pain destroyed it.

Least favourite thing about them?

The fact that he was sidelined for most of the War Arc, serving little use outside of buffing up Zetsus. IDK, that was kind of disappointing.

Oh, I also feel weird about the fact that he's supposed to watch Orochimaru in Boruto. Like, if we treat the anime backstory as canon, dude should be traumatized by Orochimaru.

Favourite line?

That one where he threatens to use "draconic measures" on Team 7 when they keep arguing and fighting each other, I guess.

brOTP?

Kakashi once they are both adults. Sai after he is free from Dan's control, since they could relate to each other a lot (especially if you treat his anime backstory as canon.)

I could see maybe see him befriending Anko as well.

OTP?

KakaYama?

Maybe Yamato/Shizune. Yamato/Anko would either be cool or would suck.

nOTP?

Yamato/Orochimaru, Yamato/Kabuto

Random headcanon?

After the War Arc, he hangs out with Asuka, Kurenai, Guy, and Kakashi. They all reminisce about being teachers and vent to each other about weird crap that happens on the job.

Unpopular opinion?

Um... I thought the ANBU Kakashi filler arc (and Yamato's role in it) was overrated.

Dude needs more development, but that's probably the opposite of an unpopular opinion.

Favourite picture of them?

I hope this one loads in. I've been taking way too long writing this.

[slacktivist]

New Zealand Fucking Sucks and Why I'm Leaving

Even though the entire political spectrum is trash, I'm at least glad for my UKers that Rishi Sunak and the UK conservatives won't spend another term in govt. I still find it weird that our news in NZ spent a considerable amount of time blaming Nigel and the far-right for the conservative loss. Clearly even with the conservative votes split, the UK labour party was still a clear majority. I can't say the same for my own country though.

Anyways, I'm moving to the UK in a few weeks from NZ and I'm excited even though I'm giving up my very small amount of life savings to do it. It's going to be a pretty big and busy world for a tiny island gyal like me. But New Zealand is honestly really affecting me negatively and I need to know what the fuck is going on in the western world. I have questions like 'what the hell did we get colonised with?' and 'what inspires count binface to do his job?'

My boyfriend also lives in the UK and I miss him so much. Long distance sucks really badly and I'm definitely not in a healthy, confident mindset to emotionally support the relationship long distance AND long term. I know that other-side-equals-greener-grass mentality is flawed and unrealistic. But take it from me as a second generation immigrator, the grass is greener where you feed it.

Take this from me also: NEW ZEALAND INFRASTRUCTURE SUCKS AND WE SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A DEVELOPED COUNTRY.

The least we can have are working busses, maybe even a train? No. We don't have them. 2024 NZ fucking sucks and I'm ashamed of my country as a nationalised concept. Im proud of tino rangatiratanga, I'm proud of pan-pacific and poly-pacific identity, I'm proud of my generation & the ones before that grew up in the hard neighbourhoods, us working class families, we got nothing in return for generations. So fuck you New Zealand government and middle+middle upper classes. Ya'll were truly the lazy, untalented & uninteresting ones who let the rest of us down 👍👍👍 I'll be back anyways and hopefully you sorted yourselves out when you're done mountain biking/freedom camping/soul searching. My extended family needs another scout, so they know that this place is merely an option when it's leaders overlook them.

[evilou]

So I recently listened to a No Stupid Questions podcast episode about closure. It's gotten me thinking about Amber, Melisande, and other folks in the Hive who did not go through optimization.

So getting closure about an event is supposedly important because when you understand or know what happened, your mind can move on from it, to drastically simplify things. An example given in the episode was buying a lottery ticket. You spend the next few days happy and imagining all the things you would do with the winnings, even if you know that the odds are next to impossible. Once the lottery numbers are revealed and yours are not a match, life goes back to normal. You might be disappointed, but at least you got that closure of knowing what happened.

So, how does that relate to the people in the Hive who did not go through the Lottery optimization process? Aka, the people with a talent or skill so rare and precious that the Hive could not afford to let them do any other job? Well, I'm thinking about how Amber spends a few books questioning what her other life may have been, if she wasn't a telepath. She did not discover any special skills or talents on Teen Level. She was good at swimming, sure, but not exceptional. So, what profession Lottery would have allocated if she wasn't a telepath is an open question.

Meanwhile, Melisande was probably pretty sure that she was going to come out of Lottery as a Composer or whatever, so there wouldn't be this big question hanging over her about what her other life would have been. And, realistically, candidates for Gold Commander have to be extremely loyal and dedicated, so any dissatisfaction would probably have faded away pretty quickly. Her inner sense of duty would have overridden it as she thought about the fact that her Hive needs her to do this specific job.

Whereas for Amber, she doesn't have any idea of the kind of job she would have had if she wasn't a telepath. And realistically, most folks won't, going into Lottery. We know there are people who have a pretty good idea; Linette probably fully expected to get some kind of work with animals, we know that Gregas will probably become a scout, and that Lucas expected Juniper to come out of Lottery as a Sea Farm Admiral. Even those aren't/weren't guarantees. However, despite that, most people do eventually find out.

But Amber? She has no idea, and she's never going to know. Realistically, nobody is going to allow her to do another, altered run of Lottery to find out what she would have become, and it would probably leave her dissatisfied anyway. (I also think that if she went through Lottery now, the results would be quite different than if she hadn't ended up as a telepath the first time, because a lot of her teen years were affected by her fixation on Forge. Though this can also be used as a criticism of Lottery in general, because people change during their lives and the person you are at 18 is not necessarily the person you're going to be at 28 or beyond. For example, Fran developed a hatred of telepaths - but she never would have been imprinted for a Telepath unit position if she had had those beliefs before.)

We know she's basically gotten over that now, but maybe the lack of closure meant that it took her much longer than, say, Melisande.

So, going back to the lottery ticket (which is not a perfect analogy by any means): Melisande got a pretty clear answer: her numbers were not a match. But for Amber, she didn't get either of those answers. Her numbers didn't match, but they also didn't *not* match. She ended up with some random third option, a totally unexpected curveball. I guess, in lottery terms, this would be like if you bought a lottery ticket but the draw was cancelled. You never find out whether you had the winning ticket or not.

It's an interesting question to ponder. It makes me wonder about the other folks who end up in that position. For example, Alvin. His scientific ability is so rare and valuable that the Hive wasn't going to imprint him for anything else. However, his personality meant that he wasn't really suited to the lifestyle he was given, so he started causing problems. Also, Keith - realistically, if he hadn't been a telepath, I'd imagine he would have ended up near the bottom of the Hive, similar to Reece.

[sanchoyo]

ok!! entire post about it! I wanted to talk about my headcanons for the tokyo mew mew alien's world! (with some of these being grounded in canon somewhat and some just being 'I think this would be neat' with no basis sjdfhk)

I would LOVE to hear other tmm fan's random alien headcanons/thoughts on any of this (or just anything in general, feel free to rb/reply and add stuff!)

LONG POST under the cut :D

-the aliens were on earth like...200-300 million years ago according to the manga (see @ribbonstrawberrysurprise's great post about that, here!) or if we go off new, gondwana was 600 million..ish. (I think the 300 mil is more reasonable personally)

-according to a quick search, at the moment, nasa thinks the closest planet that might be livable is roughly 14 light-years away. (and okay, the planet the alien's landed on isn't exactly...ideal for living on, but it has an atmosphere they can breathe, and land, even if there are harsh sandstorms. like. it's BAD conditions, but it's ~livable~ technically.) the fastest (manned) spacecraft we've had went 24,791 mph (39,897 kph). which is SUPER FAST but it would still take 378,449 years to travel 14 light years at that speed (unless the website I used to convert this is wrong?)

-and sure, the aliens have repeatedly been said to have been WAY more advanced than humans, so it could've been faster than that! but considering a few points that were brought up in canon... (going off the 2002 anime here!)

-the aliens were in some kind of cryogenic pods for a large portion of their journey, even if it WAS shorter than roughly 378,449 years (and that. is a lot of time) but it specifically says 'long sleep' and yeah man. that IS a long sleep if its even close to that. even half of that would be a lot! But again, the planet isn't IDEAL. and going to another is 'beyond their means'.

so...why is that? for such a long, hard journey, why not keep searching? did they run out of fuel? had they seen worse planets before this one? (colonies of the same alien species on previous worlds left to evolve separately from the main one would be a FUN fanfic concept) did the sandstorms tear up their ships? (in the screenshot of them tunneling, the character shown is using a pickaxe. and hey? a PICKAXE? NOT MUCH MORE ADVANCED THAN EARTH, BUDDY, ARE WE SURE THEYRE THAT FAR AHEAD OF US?! or... did a lot of their tech break?) was this even the intended planet? what if they had scouted one even further out at first but couldn't reach it and had to settle for this one? (this is all me just spitballing, but again, fun fanfic concepts)

-I'm sure even the most advanced cryogenic pods would need some kind of maintenance for such a LONG period of time, not to mention..did the ship have some kind of tech to keep it from hitting stuff, running on course, etc?

-So. I'm headcanoning that a small group of people...did not sleep the entire journey. they were selected to be engineers, pilots, do maintenance, etc for the sake of the entire species. and would have to have kids to take up the mantle, for literally thousands and thousands of years. space-fairing aliens! of course, it would be WEIRD, because they would almost certainly evolve and develop a language, culture, etc separate from their ancestors. who are still alive, waiting to be woken up. I wonder if that's where the flying and teleporting come from, or if that's tech?

-alternative to this is that people took shifts. like, a small group does the tech for as long as they can, then wakes up group 2 and gets put back to sleep, etc. this would be a lot of work and rotating ppl for 300,000+ years would be bonkers. (also would still require training new people regardless doing this so I do like option 1 better)

and here's the Other Thing:

even assuming the journey to the New Planet took 300,000 to 400,000 years? there is still a HUGE gap between that and present day in canon! A gap that is either ~199 million or ~599 million years long. MILLIONS. These were fully sentient, evolved people!

SO THEN.

THIS?? IS CRAZY. the fact that earth was in the people's memories for MILLIONS OF YEARS? How good could their records possibly have BEEN for that to happen??? Was it entirely orally passed down since they specify 'talked about'? And if so, how exaggerated did the stories of it become? (all of these screenshots are from episode 17) My assumption is that this screenshot is, like the others, the aliens ancestors and not the modern aliens, because, assuredly, with MILLIONS OF YEARS you'd think conditions would improve. If not outside of the caves, then within them, right?

what's also crazy: in new, the FASHION HASN'T CHANGED IN A FEW MILLION YEARS? even if you brought the same plants/animals you're getting your material for clothing from (which, sure, reasonable to assume the people weren't the only thing on the ships if they were going to be in space THAT long... and someone might also have to take care of plants/animals on the ship. possibly dinosaurs still exist, on the new planet. lol) fashion is something that generally should change. esp depending on the environment. the fashion in the 2000s anime had them dressed greco-roman...ish in the ancient flashbacks then totally different in present day, but in new the ancient aliens fashion? VERY much resembles the current trio's fashion (actually, the ancient fashion had MORE frills and colors. see Madeline's fit) and in new they have the same cloak things from the ancient alien flashbacks, with the newer clothes under

so. fashion being the same (or if anything, getting more boring compared to the ancients? depressing lol. this is what happens when you're too survival focused to worry about anything beyond function, but even then, the shoulder puffs have GOT to be for fashion-only. right. objectively funny that that seems to be the fashion-ish thing we got. unless everyone's clothes look so similar because it's some kind of uniform? (I have made a longer post speculating abt clothes+ genetics with aliens)

-anyway based solely on the fact I think this is a weird choice, and the fact they still even REMEMBER EARTH AT ALL AFTER MILLIONS OF YEARS, I'm choosing to believe they were in space for MUCH longer than 300-400,000 years. maybe even a few million. after all, why would they choose that one? even our current tech (behind theirs!) can scope out potentially nice, livable planets that are much more ideal than the one they ended up on! I think they were shooting for one much, much further away and had to land on one out of some kind of emergency (hence not scouting for another one or just packing up and leaving like they did with earth!)

-the wild thing is, in tmmnew, the ships IMMEDIATELY START UP AND START HOVERING WHEN DEEP BLUE OPENS THE PORTAL TO EARTH. they were READY TO GO. meaning they're functional, at least in new! maybe fuel is the issue so they did require the portal in new? (there was no portal in og anime or the manga as far as I can remember. kind of a shame the ancient aliens didn't have deep blue and had to take a 'long sleep' on their ships instead of just portalling to New Planet. when...did he come around, exactly? he...isn't actually only as old as masaya is, is he? thoughts for another post, lol)

-it kind of does beg the question: how did the pastry trio and Gateau get to Earth so fast? did the aliens devolve light-speed travel? I guess they must've been doing something in those caves for that long 🤷‍♂️ and I do think this is the case (again, the long sleep, to me, implies they didn't have this travel when going to the planet!) but the fact the aliens do visit the mews after healing their world with mew aqua also implies it's very fast-travel now, at least.

(HOWEVER. I think a fun fanfic au concept would be that they put the pastry trio into cryosleep for the long journey there and back. like, that would mean they were technically born a few thousands of years ago assuming they don't have lightspeed travel...and that by the time they reach their planet to fix it with the mew aqua, thousands upon thousands of years would pass again. that would be some GOOD angst potential. again, disproved by canon bc the aliens reunite with the mews, but fun as an AU!)

(I guess we aren't going to ask WHY they sent three young kids/teens to Earth? I actually hope they might have been intended to be scouts rather than the adults telling three kids to go Get Earth Back and maybe just decided to take it themselves, because their plans always came across as childish and short-sighted. Like...you're going to further pollute the earth...and poison the air ...where you want to LIVE? GREAT PLAN! could also have been deep blue being a jerk, since they seem to answer to him. like he hates humans so much he'll kill everything. no one gets earth in that case tho. so it's still very weird. (new does somewhat retcon this, he at least seems to care SOMEWHAT in new, more than the original, but...Still, Dude, his tmmn continent plan would also cause mass chaos and make the earth UNLIVABLE it is unbelievably bad as a plan and makes him look a bit. erm. well. maybe he could use magic to fix it. who knows. someone write an 'aliens win' au explaining how his plan does NOT cause mass destruction/extinction events. lol) very weird and food for thought on why that could be!

Anyway. That's my thoughts about the weird ship to planet and back time. Headcanons about the alien's new world and architecture incoming.

As much as I love the og anime, the architecture of new's ancient aliens is SO cute. (and the dinos casually everywhere <3)

I think it would be fun if this type of architecture was brought back to the alien's world post-canon when they can leave the caves more! or even...incorporate it INTO the cave faces! We at least know there ARE mountains (going off new!)

This is pretty close to what I think the alien's world looks like, we seem it as a red ball in New, so red soil maybe? And...not huge oceans like Earth, but some bodies of water. The rain shadow from the mountains where the caves are would cause deserts to form around the area, and the sandstorms. (I imagine the aliens would want to get a home around a body of water the same way any living thing needs to, but also the most insulated they could be, so that area where a river snakes up but there's a semi-circle of mountains shielding them from the worst of the sandstorms from the north would be a real sweetspot. + caves are usually nice and warm and damp, so good for growing stuff+ underwater reserves of freshwater! :D) we do see them (in og anime) digging into the SIDE of an area for a hole, so I think it would be fun if the cities were built RIGHT into the mountains.

I LOVE looking at real examples of this, btw. It's happened plenty of times and still IS a thing

Cappadocia, Turkey

Ajanta and Ellora Caves, India, and Ronda, Spain

Azenhas Do Mar, Portugal, and Santorini, Greece (the look of Santorini is really reminiscent of the alien's town in tmmn's flashback, isn't it? the shape of the buildings, and colors, at least!)

-In the flashback we also see a lot of greenery growing RIGHT ON HOMES/BUILDINGS. which is SO cool and reminds me of solarpunk type illustrations/vibes. It's obvious they as a society highly value nature, so being as much as a part of it as possible and incorporating it into their homes? very cute. It would be fun if post mew aqua fixing/stabilizing the sandstorms (I don't think it would actually entirely stop them, but make them predictable, and make the ground more fertile? maybe?) the houses were built into the mountains/caves still but had greenery ALLL over them + big bubble windows/domes like the screenshots from new. but still very much a Part of the world and still utilizing the caves

-on the note of utilizing the caves? CAVE ANIMALS. if they WERE ON THIS PLANET FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS, AND DID BRING THE DINOS WITH THEM? THE DINOS WOULD EVOLVE IN CAVES WITH THE ALIENS, RIGHT??? you know how WEIRD cave animals can get? you're turning dinosaurs into troglobites!! (okay, maybe not true troglobites, maybe they took the dinos out of the caves, too. I assume the aliens also had to leave the caves when they were able, because most things Need Some Vitamin D. I know theyre all sooooo vitamin deficient those first few years of adjusting to cave dwelling tho...not even touching on the psychological effects that would have.

- on that note, the aliens themselves probably should've had some weird evolution over the time period of MILLIONS OF YEARS IN CAVES but I'll save that for artists who like to Redesign Things

📢 no, really. the noble olm would like a word with you all now. tmm artists who do redesigns, make the aliens way weirder! (joke, draw them however u want ofc, but also, I WOULD like to see this lol.

...do we think them having slit eyes is recent evolution as a result of being in the caves, actually? ancient aliens:

HAD ROUNDED PUPILS, AT LEAST IN NEW.

and then the other aliens in new:

Not ALWAYS drawn as slits actually, but mostly always more slender/drawn wildly different from the mews' eyes or the ancient alien's eyes. even the bg characters!

-but in the og anime, it's a bit harder to tell. in 90% of the shots we get of the ancient aliens, they have such dark eyes its hard to tell if their pupils are slit or not!

I know if I'm being realistic this is just saving the animators time, but everyone having brown eyes is like. right. okay. sure.

but there is this one singular child who is the only one we get a good look at having blue eyes and rounded pupils. so. rounded in ancient times in the og anime too!

(and yes I KNOW some people speculate this is baby masaya, which I don't agree with, because 1. this seemed to be a part of the ancient alien flashbacks. 2. he's been said to be an artificial HUMAN so the alien ears would make..not a lot of sense (did they CROP HIS EARS LIKE A DOG IN THAT CASE??!) 3. only has blue eyes in the manga/as deep blue, and a totally different shade at that. this is..dark blue eyes. maybe closer to the blue knight's shade, but even then, these almost still look Too Dark. UNLESS we think maybe they packed him up on a spaceship and sent him to earth as a baby and it took a really really really really really long time for him to get there and he changed his hair part which usually does not happen in anime. lol?? nothing against that headcanon but do not agree with it in general)

(also on the subject of it, the blue knight sometimes has slit eyes and sometimes doesnt in both anime, more often does NOT. I will say I think this is probably just because masaya also has regular rounded pupils like a human would. deep blue has slit eyes in the og anime, but is animated as having slit OR rounded pupils even when masaya's NOT in control in tmmn which is. an Interesting Choice possibly unintentional..?...in the original anime, iirc he mostly only had the slit eyes!)

-so yeah, it would be a reasonable assumption to say maybe the alien's pupils in both og anime and new used to be rounded in ancient times but got Slit to deal with Cave Stuff. Long winded way to say they did probably do SOME evolving. not to mention the fact NONE of the aliens in the flashbacks in new or og anime could fly or teleport...whether you want to think that's tech or some new built in ability, or if the trio is genetically altered like the mews are...up to headcanons! just like all of this. :D

There are only 30 pics allowed in one post, and I had More thoughts, but I'm splitting this into two posts. Expect one More...Directly after this one (SORRY I PROMISE AFTER THAT I WON'T SPAM THE TAG AHKSDFJ)

thank u for reading it you made it this far!

[thessalian]

Thess vs Stalker Hunting

I've done my little bits of Horizon Forbidden West the last couple of days. There are issues about spoons, because work's a mess right now, but sometimes you just need to fuck up a bandit camp or two. Maybe dig up some greenshine. OR ... stalk the Stalkers. Literally.

Bandit camp. Poonk. Poonk. POONK. Nobody saw me. Nobody engaged. And again, one guy kept talking about how "she must have gone to lick her wounds" when a) nobody even fired a shot at me and b) EVERYONE ELSE WAS DEAD. Eh well. POONK.

So much climbing. So many near misses, close calls, and running around. But several outright slabs of greenshine so it's entirely worth it.

Ooh, hey, new form of Burrower. Hi, Burrower! ...Bye, Burrower. POONK

The Gouge is still kicking my ass. I got most of it, including the cluster, but the one remaining fucking fragment of greenshine is not worth Outlast-meets-Subnautica with fucking Burrowers. I get why you can't shoot them with an arrow underwater. But why, why can you not just stab them?

Look. Bellowbacks. Even if I am blowing you up, there should be some of your sac webbing intact enough for me to use to upgrade my weapons and armour! But no! Every time I kerboom you with a sac rupture, you deny me Bellowback Sac Webbing AND I AM FED UP WITH IT.

Time to take out my frustrations on another rebel camp. But lemme get some surrounding campfires first.

Yes, thank you, map, for finding me a route to the bandit camp by the paths. I would prefer not stroll through the front gate, thank you. So I will climb this mountain.

Ah. Here we are. Sharpshot booooooooooow ... GO.

I'm sorry. Three people just dropped dead in front of you, and you're now saying it was a false alarm?!? BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! ...Also POONK.

Okay, no one's alerted and I haven't seen anyone but they're still playing the tense music. Maybe because of people inside that bunker?

Definitely people inside that bunker. Oh, this is going to get stupid - shield and melee stupid. Time to improvise.

YOU ARE IN TIME OUT; GO STAND IN THE CORNER. Good! Perfect! Facing the corner like something out of Blair Witch! *WHACKSTABSTABSTAB*

And the other two did not come to your rescue. They will regret that. Shorter range Hunter bow. Poonk-poonk.

(Yeah, my draw speed on that's a little insane too.)

Huh. I guess these are where some of the weapons like the one that destroyed Verbena's forcefield were being developed. ...SYLENS. YOU. LIVING. SHIT.

I mean, I probably could take some of these schematics, but if Boomer ever got hold of them... Yeah, no. I will instead make a boom that she would be PROUD OF.

Okay, and it's still telling me that there's someone in this camp. BUT I SEE NO ONE. Stealthing stealthing stealthing...

...Oh. Right. The front door I avoided like the plague getting here. There is a lone sentry scouting the area, who apparently was not alerted because I cleared the place out so quickly and quietly. Ah well. Charger first, then HEADSHOT.

Okay, I'mma head out and get a few more-- Ooh, that says "unknown settlement", and it's in territory I'm going to need.

Thank you for the news about the rebel camps. At least one in your vicinity will not be a problem anymore, sir. (Kind of wish you had the option to tell them that.)

Right. Lemme do some trading and then see what I can upgrade.

...Not much. Not enough. Guess I'm going to have to go hunting Stalkers again.

Oop. BELLOWBACK CONVOY. DETOUR.

Right. Now lemme see if killing them without hitting the big sac in the back will get me what I need. ...ohthisisgonnahurt...

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK--

(I did get way better at dodge-rolls, though. Just ... not quite better enough. Hence...)

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

Right. Okay. That's enough for now. Surprisingly, Stalkers are going to be easier. So long as I'm careful about how I hit their stealth generators, since that's the part I'm after.

Approaching from a different angle and ... yeah. They really do climb now, the little fucks. Okay, that one I can see and... GONE. Tree-climbing little shit.

Huh. There's generally at least three in these areas. But the other two aren't coming out. Time to do the usual. Hide in bush ... then shoot proximity flare-mine.

Theeeeeeere you are. My vision is mostly shit but I can see your shimmer surprisingly well. POONK.

Right. Third one. Another proximity mine aaaaaaaaaand...

AW FUCK!

No, I mean, I got the Stalker, but ... there was a duck. I NEED DUCK BITS.

Heeeeeeeeeere ducky ducky ducky...

...fuck.

Well, I can at least upgrade and shop some-- Wait. Is that purple-grade Utaru infiltrator-type gear? GIMME!

Right. To upgrade it, I'm gonna neeeeeeed... Fuck.

Heeeeeeeeere, Stalker Stalker Stalker...

DUCK! Sorry; Duck first, then more Stalkers.

Okay. I can get this a little more upgraded now. For more, I'm going to neeeeeeed... Stalkers. AGAIN. Also ... oh fuck we get Scorchers back?!? AND I HAVE TO HUNT ONE?!? Fuuuuuck.

...However, I do see a Scorcher site not too far from here... And in the same vicinity as some greenshine and a rebel camp--

And I will think about that tomorrow or something.

Look. I know. I know. There is a main quest and I should be getting on with it. However, my play time is limited and my spoons more so. Also I can't decide on whether I want to go for AETHER or DEMETER first. I'm at level ... 49 now, I think? Not 50 but close, anyway. So level isn't an issue.

(See, you might ask how? But ... like ... I hunt constantly when on the move. And when you add up the various XP extras for stealth kills, head shots, weak point shots, etc? I get a lot of XP very quickly.)

Anyway, level's not an issue but what I get out of it is. On the one hand, I figure that DEMETER is probably the quest that will let me deal with those damn metal flowers. On the other hand, @true0neutral informs me that one's reward for dealing with AETHER involves a really spiffy Sharpshot bow? That can also shoot Tear arrows? Aaaaaaand I am conflicted. Heeeeeeelp.

[oxtofmydcpth]

Quality is the best business plan.

[andrew koji] THE ENTREPRENEUR. Please welcome EIJI "E" YAMADA (he/him) to Huntsville, WV. They are an 38-year-old VISITOR who lives in TOWN. You may see them around working as a CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

~ While his family may have been wealthy, Eiji never saw a penny of that wealth until he had been considered to have earned it. Lessons in the value of money his father had called it. Success = financial reward.

~ Money and its link to success became a staple part of Eiji's life, moulded the way he viewed life knowing that any and everything could be bought to some capacity: material object, people and their loyalty, the world if you had enough.

~ Eiji’s father offered him a small loan upon the completion of his education, a congratulatory payment to help him take his first step into the world. Meticulous was the word that could best describe how Eiji handled his businesses and the use of his fathers money, every tiny detailed planned and accounted for. It was a small venue, a bar adorned in a 1920’s art nouveau aesthetic intertwined with his Japanese culture offering something unique, elevated by his taste for the expensive and the luxurious. It became an instant hit spot for the elite, those with wealth and influence, free from the lower classes. Even his father began to frequent it, an unexpected bonus. Within a couple of months, Eiji had enough to pay his father back.

~ The next logical step was expansion, buying the buildings on either side and converting them into new room, extra bars and VIP rooms. When expansion was no longer an option, franchising became the next step, many of the same style clubs appearing across different cities in different states. Yet with all the success in the world, Eiji found himself growing bored. Too much of the same thing was dull and he needed a new and exciting project to work on.

~ Janine came along at the right time, and the whirlwind romance began, making a move to Hollywood so that she could pursue her acting career and Eiji could scope out his next venture. A man of his reputation and with the funds behind him, it didn’t take long for him to settle in, setting up his next club, somewhere the Hollywood elites and the up-and-coming stars would find difficult to avoid. A marriage to Janine followed swiftly and unexpectedly, but they were madly in love so why not right?

~ Again things developed beyond just a club, becoming something of an entertainment hub, with Eiji, now going by E, acting as a talent scout/manager for his employees, delegating them to events and other venues he owned where he saw fit. The network was his, a spider web of sorts with him in the centre.

~ Sydney was different. Something about the young man ignited such excitement in Eiji that he couldn’t help how transfixed he became whenever they performed. He became the quickest hire and the easiest management decision he had ever made. Sydney was set to be a star, and Eiji was adamant to help them get there.

~ He couldn't tell you when it was exactly they hooked up, all he remembered was Janine had been away filming for a movie, and Sydney had been there. A mistake, they both agreed, and yet it happened again. And again. Every time Janine was away it happened again. Professionalism was no longer on the table for these two. An ultimatum was given by Sydney eventually, the two arguing viciously about it, but Eiji couldn't help himself, and even while the divorce was being finalised, the two were drawn to each other. When the divorce finally came through, Eiji and Sydney became official. Janine wasn’t heard from again.

~ It didn't take long for the two to become one of LA's most prominent power couples, with the highest of highs, the envy of all around them, until they argued, when things became explosive, more often than not as public as their good moments. On and off every few weeks, an endless cycle.

~ It was during a break that Eiji’s parents passed, in quick succession to one another, and after the mourning period was over, and the inheritance money had cleared, Eiji dived back into work with his next project: Sydney’s, LA’s newest most prolific bar and entertainment venue, named of course after his former lover, decorated exactly how he envisioned Sydney’s dream bar would look like. It worked, Syd came back to him, and the place was a roaring success with Eiji pulling the strings in the background while Syd promoted the hell out of the place as if it was his own.

~ Eiji proposed to Sydney soon after, a final commitment to the man, to prove that all the bad from the past didn’t matter anymore. And yet, no matter the promises and the gifts and the excitement as the wedding was planned, arguments persisted, more frequent and more explosive than ever. Eiji's home was trashed, belongings either going missing or destroyed and the media loved the drama that followed. The whirlwind relationship that had lasted for years at this point, finally seemed to be over. Officially. ~ Rumours began to swirl when Syd went off grid that the final outburst had been the last straw, that Eiji had snapped, killing his fiancé. No one had heard from Sydney for a while now, someone so often in the public eye going radio silent was suspicious. No one had heard from Janine in a while either since the divorce. So that eventually brought Eiji to Huntsville, in search of his ex to prove to the public he wasn’t dead. But with both now missing, what rumours could swirl in the LA circles in their absence?