#everyone hating on sol has to go through me.

[howler-moon]

HI EVERYONE AGAIN!!!! I'm scared of Tumblr and idk how it works but a lot of people seemed to like the previous post I made so!!thanks !! I honestly don't know how much content I'm going to make of it so I leave this morsel for now like a cat leaving a dead mouse on your doorstep as a present.

I've decided to call this the MoonSol Au because there's actually no possible way for the Erin's to do this so yeah. It was just one of the silly little brainstorms I like doing where I grab at the most vague of strings and try and tie some sort of au together, I've not really taken it too serious it's literally me that I can't take seriously please help me.

I've thought of some more little titbits if anyone's interested

-Tawnypelt and Leafstar have shared custody of Moonpaw Buddy Daddy style. It's not actually clear whether they're queercoded or they're just two random old women adopting a child together. Moonpaw keeps queerbaiting everyone with them because she wants people to know she's an ally.

-Moonpaw hates her parents, not because they are ginger but because they are cousins.

-the ideal Moonpaw personality in this Au is that she's stupid in an endearing way. She's reckless, impulsive and naive who genuinely means well but lacks the forward thinking skills to stick the landing. Maybe she's a bit of a hothead too.

-Moonpaw is the one poisoning the Moonpool on Sol's behalf. Like half way through the arc something happens that puts her in a bit of a funk and she embraces that she was Sol in a past life. She's angry hurt and confused. Angry tears Erin's we need angry tears!!! Tawny and Leaf are heartbroken to see what their happy little daughter has become.

-The new territory will be in Cleveland

-Moonpaw (like Hollypaw before her) mistakes Sol as being a lion and thinks that means she's special maybe??? Idk I heard Ivypool might be going to the zoo in her special edition so maybe I can tie it in there somehow. Moonpaw also has never heard of Sol before and Sol is building up a false narrative about himself to her obviously.

-Midnight the badger makes an appearance and she is in possession of a gun.

That's all for now!!!

[kazumist]

EPISODE 11 ♡ KUNI AND HIS 3 RULES

HOW YOU GET THE GIRL — A SCARAMOUCHE SMAU

masterlist / prev ep / next ep / timestamps don't matter

not too long after you sent kunikuzushi that message, you see a familiar car approaching you.

you see, kunikuzushi actually has three rules that everyone (even his parents) has to follow whenever they’re going to ride his car:

one, always shake off the dirt off of your shoes before stepping in. especially if it’s raining. he absolutely loathed the idea of getting his precious car dirtied. 

“just get in already. the rain might get stronger if you don’t hurry up," he says, awkwardly holding an umbrella over your head so that you won’t get wet as you get in the passenger seat. “but i thought you hated—”

“it’s fine. wiping off the raindrops is more annoying.”

two, never eat or drink anything in his car. the idea of doing so is already enough to make kunikuzushi shudder.

“here’s your drink. i didn’t actually get you coffee though, so that’s just hot chocolate.” the grande sized drink was offered. “huh? i didn’t actually expect you to actually do it, but i asked for coffee," you say, taking a sip. the hot temperature of the drink was enough to make you feel comfortable in the cold weather that the rain is causing.

“and let me guess, if i actually got you coffee, that’d be your third cup today, no?”

silence.

“thought so.”

and last but not least, three. always ask for permission if you want to play music in his car. although this one is simply common decency at this point, kunikuzushi started to get annoyed when your other friends would play music all of a sudden without notifying him first.

“here,” he says, his phone in his hand.

“what am i supposed to do with your phone?”

“play music, obviously. why else would i give it to you right now?”

oh.

“oh. okay, uhm.” it was awkward to say, at least.

this behavior or treatment from him isn’t new. but you didn’t expect to still receive it after... well, everything. scrolling through his list of liked songs on spotify, you decided to just hit shuffle. soon after, the little screen on his car says, “the way you look at me — christian bautista”.

with the calming piano tunes starting to play during the ride, the exhaustion from everything you did today started to sink in, and you eventually started to feel drowsy. choosing to close your eyes a bit, you unknowingly started to doze off.

what you weren’t aware of, though, is that the driver next to you would glance at you from time to time when the light was red. he would switch lanes as well, choosing lanes that would have just a bit of traffic just so he could admire the person next to him sleeping peacefully more.

kunikuzushi was content with this—to have you this close. the distance was enough for him to be sure that he could never love someone else after you.

meanwhile…

“huh? that’s weird. why did kuni turn right? he should’ve gone left since he was taking (name) home.” lyney says, looking at the life 360 of your friend group at the moment.

lynette just looks at his screen and proceeds to drink her tea. “leave them be, lyney. i’m sure kuni knows what he’s doing.”

extra notes.

omg heyyyy sorry for ghosting </3 i'll try to update more these days hehehe

taglist (open): @yinyinggie @blue-b3rries @ryuryuryuyurboat @your-local-reblogging-kazoo @lilikags @haliyamori @diorlumx @mamafly @zuunotsane @iloveosamuu @featuredtofu @kana-de @xiaoderrrr @f1orent1ne @alhaitie @yelleloww @brain-r0tt @jamieexistss @danfelions @e0nssadrift @lovemari @kunikissr @chluuvr @lazy-sanns @lxkeeeee @swivy123 @sketcheeee @quacking-simp @tiredslepz @vxcmx @kichiy0shi @yingofthemoon @feiherp @sicut-sol @mayuumine @xiaosoneandonly @xtobefreex @bananasquash @im-the-ruler-here @hiraethhv @yumiaur @oughhhhmamamia @beriiov @cindywasneverhere @klanxii @fangygf @draclula @aromaticism @shotosjupiter @lovelykrystal @lyzisbitchingagain @riraaya

[hongtiddiez]

my stand in final thoughts, feelings, etc.

what an absolute ride of a show. what a series of ups and downs and downs and downs and up.

i think what i find so charming about this show is that it really exemplifies what it means to be human. each character was flawed in their own way and each made mistakes that at the end of the day were just human mistakes. no one felt like a mustache twirling villain but rather a flawed human being that got caught up in something bigger than themselves, or caught up in their own ego, hubris, etc.

in a show that was clearly framed to be about second chances i really did not expect the wide array of examples of different second chances in life - the obvious being joe and ming, but then there was joe and new!joe's mother, ming and his mother, tong and may, joe and sol, etc. almost everyone experienced a second chance of some kind with one another. almost all second chances worked out towards a positive outcome but i respect that some were neutral outcomes at best; a total reset. a second chance doesn't always mean total forgiveness and absolution but rather a new slate to try again and i really appreciate that MSI made it a point to showcase that.

i am also once again grateful that the show did not fall into the evil mother trope. i was gritting my teeth waiting to see what became of ming's mom and in the end both she and joe's mom were parents doing their best, wanting the best for their children, and stumbling along the way - another perfect example of humanity.

i couldn't even come to fully hate tong by the end. the industry inflated his ego, he felt indestructible, he was able to get anything he wanted with his connections, and he allowed that confidence to turn to hubris and got involved in something far bigger than himself. a scared, cornered beast will almost always lash out and at the end of the day tong was lashing out for any chance of survival. he needed a wake up call of catastrophic proportions to get his head on straight but throughout the show they did show us reminders of how much he loved may, little glimmers of who he was behind all of that, and by the end when he was able to find peace those traits shone through again.

and with ming i appreciated that he still felt like the same person. he was still an asshole, still rough around the edges, still who he was at the beginning of the show but his efforts were channeled elsewhere, his priorities changed, and he learned what he truly values out of life. joe didn't magically change ming, but he did alter his perspective and give him so much to consider.

i still cannot fathom the pain joe has to go through every day looking in the mirror and knowing he will never see his face looking back at him. the show teased little peeks of the affect this would have on his mental health and i wish it had maybe delved into that more but mental health is always a slippery slope.

for the grit and darkness of the show the ending felt a little too fairy tale for me but i was also kind of hoping joe didn't come back. i know, horrible of me, but if i was him? i don't think i would've come back. he had to be so, so tired and he'd been through so much, that part of me wanted to see that happen as a final nail in the coffin, a message that sometimes death comes for us no matter how hard we try to run from it, and sometimes death is a kindness at the end of a long and painful journey.

idk i'm also a slut for angst so ignore me.

i wasn't mad at the ending by any means, i enjoyed the little nods to potential side couples, i loved seeing things come full circle, loved joe's realization that while HE always saw himself as a stand in or someone overlooked everyone else remembers his past self fondly and he made an impression on them. in the end, so much of joe's self worth issues were his own insecurities exacerbated by ming's emotional abuse.

that being said, don't forget to tell people in your life how much they mean to you. it can mean a lot more to them than you can imagine.

definitely think MSI is my fav bl of 2024 so far, it was something unique and a little darker, more mature, all things i've been craving for a while.

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I am so happy with how this week’s episode went down.

I’ve been so worried that the point of the show was just going to end up being: Sometimes the Jedi are the Bad Guys and maybe the villains have a point! or The witches were Evil and Deserved to be killed!!

Because those would be such boring stories to tell.

We all know the jedi have flaws and that they make mistakes. We don’t need a show to use that as some dramatic reveal. I wouldn’t enjoy star wars as a franchise if the jedi were perfect.

The idea of their innate goodness being exploited and manipulated and used against them has always been really interesting to me. I’ve always believed the jedi as a whole are good and that the problems come from individuals.

That could mean individual jedi who struggle with what being a jedi requires. (Anakin and Sol with their clear struggles with attachment) Jedi who have experienced certain trauma that inevitably affects their decisions. (Anakin, Barriss, Reva, and so many more) Or those who shouldn’t’ve been jedi in the first place (pong krell🤬)

It also means basically anyone else who believes and/or has gone through similar things. (the martez sisters blaming the jedi for their parent’s death, the people of the republic who believed the jedi were responsible for the war etc.)

And of course there are the actual villains who intentionally cause problems.

These things are all unavoidable and thats what makes star wars so compelling to me. The fall of the jedi was the result of Palpatine amplifying these factors to bring forth something that was always going to happen and that nobody could stop.

On the other side, I am so relieved that the witches weren’t revealed as the true villains or something because that would’ve also been so boring, and also kinda dumb.

Introducing this beautiful group of women with their own unique history, culture, and way of using the force…only to turn around and be like

Ha ha nope! The jedi are the only good guys and everyone else is evil!

Yeah I would’ve hated that.

I feel like this episode did a really good job at showing that what happened was a combination of everyone’s fears, biases, and hubris clashing in the worst way imaginable.

Neither the Jedi as a whole, nor the witches were 100% responsible.

The council told the jedi to leave the witches alone but they didn’t listen. The order cannot be blamed only those who were apart of that mission.

You can blame either side for their choices but both sides had their reasons and both sides were neither right nor wrong.

Sol was wrong to prioritize attachment to osha over following orders. But he was right to want what was best for her.

Torbin was wrong to run back and infiltrate their home. But he was made to believe it would mean completing his mission.

Mae was wrong to lock the place down and start a fire. But she just wanted her sister to stay.

Koril was wrong to go straight to violence. But she wanted to keep her children, and her past has led her not to trust.

I could go on and on but I’m getting too lazy to type more.

Basically what I’m saying is I am happy that the show didn’t chose to be fully anti jedi.

And I am happy that the show didn’t introduce a badass GORGEOUS black lesbian witch as the ruler of this coven only to make her a villain for loving her children

[lovely-peace]

Burning moon 1.

Summary: The reader is devastated at Remus nothing saying answer and thinks of it like an rejection. To overcome this they try to forget their love for him but is failing miserably. But Remus doesn't react to their coldness like they expected...

Warnings: self hatred, unrequited love?, angst, Sirius( jk I love him), over thinking, bad communication

~If you see this and haven't read Part 1 I advise you to read it before reading this so you understand what is happening. This part is simply a sequel to part 1 and isn't bound to the song like the first part

masterlist part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

I was glad the year was almost over after... I confessed. I could go on with my life and go out of his way. Lily was trying to make me go out with the others, but I had plenty of reasons I could tell her why I couldn't go.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Lily, my stomach hurts pretty bad and I don't think I should go. "

Of course after one week of excuses she would grew suspicioun, but the year was over.

I could go home. I would have some time alone.

It was like I had some luck in my misery.

I really tried to ignore my feelings. I really did, but it was like a really persistent bug that wouldn't fly away. Whenever I heard Remus' name my heart would beat faster. My cheeks went red, and my thoughts circled around him constantly.

It was disgusting. I was disgusting.

I didn't look at him. I didn't sit next to him at lunch like I always did. I didn't acknowledge his existence.

And still. He was still everywhere I went.

At the last day of school we were going to the train station like always. Of course with Remus. Their whole friend group said bye to each other including myself and Remus. It was awkward, really.

I had always hugged everybody and cried when I had to say goodbye.

Not this year.

The most I could do was to say goodbye to everyone.

"Is our little princess not sad she has to leave us behind, this year??" Sirius said with a grin, but he had this look in his face I couldn't read.

"What can I say? You are pretty annoying Sirius and I have to return to my kingdom!" I joked and tried to smile and laugh.

It was the fakest laugh I ever heard.

"Don't forget to write! It always gets so boring without you." Alice said. She was a really good friend and even tho she wasn't good friends with the marauders, she still came to them from time to time.

"Of course Alice! I can't ever forget to write you." I exclaimed and smiled at her. The train was about to start. I always sit with Lily and Mary in one cabin so we always said goodbye to each other before the train started.

Then Remus looked at me. His eyes seemed to bore through my soul and I felt like he saw everything that was going on inside of me.

And I hated him for that.

I hated his pretty eyes and how they made me flush. I hated that I couldn't think straight in his presence after everything I did to overcome him.

I hated that he still had control over me.

"I hope you have a great Sommer. Don't overwork yourself, alright? You can always write me too, if you want to talk." he said. He smiled at me and seemed so sincere.

And I just said :" Yeah, bye." and got on board of the train.

I know that was unfair. He was so nice to me and I just ignored his presence. I didn't even look him in the eyes when I said that.

But I was hurt. No scratch that.

But I was angry. Angry at him that he pretended everything was normal. But more importantly I was angry at myself. At my weakness for him. At my constant thoughts about him. At my love for him.

Lily and Mary followed me after they said goodbye themselves. I sat down inside of an empty Cain and waited for them.

I felt tears in my eyes. It was burning. But I swallowed them before the others came in. I just looked out of the windows while they put down their things.

There was a tense silence.

Mary broke the silence first.

"What was that?" she said.

I didn't look away from the window. I just replied :"What was what?". Even though I knew what she was talking about.

"Come on you know. That between you and Remus!"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Now Lily stepped in. "We are not dumb, Y/n. We know you are ignoring him. And that out on the train station? That was just cold." she said.

I remained quiet.

"Look whatever you are mad at, talk to Remus about it! He is really worried about you." Mary exclaimed.

They didn't know. Anger boiled up inside of me. It seemed like they made Remus the victim of this situation. They didn't know. They knew nothing about my pain in the last months.

The months I hoped he would answer me. The months I hoped for his love.

I wanted to Scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to tell them. NOW.

I smiled at them instead.

"It is really nothing. I just didn't want to miss the train."

Lily raised her eyebrow. " Yeah sure."

The tense silence was back and filled the room.

This time Lily broke it.

"Why... Why aren't you talking to us? Are you mad at us too?"

That caught me off guard. Was I mad at them? I realized that I was. Yeah, I was furious, because they didn't know anything. That they didn't look for me when we were at hogsmead. And I know that's stupid, life doesn't revolve around me, but we were friends.

Friends cared and looked after each other.

Like Remus did,because I am his friend nothing more.

The tears came back and I began to tremble. What was wrong with me?

" What is wrong? You know you can tell us." Mary said and her kind and gentle voice brought me back to reality.

She was right. I could tell them.

But should I?

They were also friends with Remus. I know we were good friends, but in the end they maybe would tell him why I was ignoring him. And I didn't want him to know.

I felt ashamed of myself. Of my weakness.

But in this brief moment I didn't listen to my thoughts. I just said :"I am angry at you, because you didn't look after me. In hogsmead."

When i saw Lily's wide eyes I immediately regretted what I said. I didn't want to guilt trip them. I was stupid, stupid, stup-

"I'm sorry."

What?

"Remus told us you weren't feeling well and that you went to the toilet. He told us he will stay behind and look after you."

Stop talking about him! Stop saying nice stuff about him!

"I didn't know you were having a tough time... But I should have at least asked after you. I'm deeply sorry." Lily said.

In this moment I couldn't stop the tears. I cried like someone died. And maybe someone did. I didn't even recognize myself.

They stopped asking questions about remus. I wasn't in the right state to tell them, but I would tell them eventually.

When the train arrived, I took my things and ran off the train. I could not see him again today. Not after this conversation. I ran away into the holidays. Away from my problems just somewhere else.

And the sun didn't see the burning look in the moons eyes as he saw his sun ran away.

Taglist:

@juleshadalittlelamb @fluffybunnyu

[wileys-russo]

FRESA is BACK!

I live for Alba-Fresa moments, the way Fres always tries to be difficult around her is so so real and Alba winding up Fresa and Ale is forever super entertaining but the BTV 2.0 moments between are genuinely so sweet… which is why I happily nodded along to the magic bracelet reference. I am glad that its now part of her routine (Every time someone requests Fresa angst i make 2 woven bracelets in my head, one for her one for me because I cannot handle the anxiety).

Fresa’s speech for Ale is just so stinking cute, I’m glad Alexia played a pivotal role in teaching important things such as how to blow bubbles in milk, how to tie shoelaces and riding a bike, even some of the Arsenal girlies have trouble with 2/3 things. Tbh its amazing how Alexia didn’t cry during that moment, couldn’t have been me.

"do you know messi?" 😯 "do you know how to juggle?" 🤔 "have you met messi?" 😯 "whats your favourite food?" 🤨 "WHY ARE YOUR HANDS SO BIG?" 🤭 "do footballers have to be tall" 🤔

Can I just say that Fresa deserves every bone-crushing hug coming her way.

Question: is Fresa's a common nickname used by everyone including her teachers? i thought she was called Fresa by her family/close friends and the internet!

I love this series so much, thank you for writing it, it has become such a comforting read and I look forward to each part eagerly. i/we? Appreciate you and all the work that goes into all your fics.

----

as always, I hope you are well and have a good day OH and belated happy birthday to you, hope it was a good one!

FRESA IS BACK (& filling the void part 8 is incoming soon!)

the dynamic of alba and fresa is so fun to write because its really your classic middle child/youngest child relationship with the love hate. very much a 'i can bully them but don't you dare try to or i'll kill you' sort of vibe, and through all of the teasing and arguing and fresa/alexia teaming up there really is something very sweet and endearing about writing their softer bonding moments.

honestly if you don't know how to properly blow bubbles in milk, wheres the fun in eating cereal??? fresa was one of the first in her class to go from velcro to laces on her shoes and she even used the same little song ale used to teach her to tie some of her friends shoes for them, which earned her a kindness award in school which she gave to alexia and alexia has in her fresa box.

the way little kids brains works is so funny and you know they were focused on anything but alexias actual footballing ability in their questions.

fresita gets all the hugs!

look honestly i detest writing and reading 'y/n' and i avoid it at any and all costs so we're just gonna say her universal (nick)name is fresa!! especially since she eventually dates sol, and technically sol is also a 'y/n' so it just makes it easier to call them their nicknames as their actual names!

i appreciate you! thank you nonny 💛

[miquella-everywhere]

Promised Consort Radahn makes literally no sense as far as lore and sucks as far as gameplay. Miquella's whole thing is to divest himself of his lineage and right Marika's wrongs. And then he marries someone in his lineage and ascends to godhood using the same mechanism as Marika? Not only does he marry someone of his lineage, he picks the ultimate Godfrey / Radagon fanboy? Whose whole thing in the base game is wanting things to stay the same? Who's a war guy?

I get he wants a gentle world, but Marika presumably did too at some point, given the shaman / jar lore. All the kindness of gold, none of the order? Did Miquella just miss shaman village in his travels cause 😭

And as for the whole tragedy of the cycle repeating itself, that doesn't make sense to me either. Repetition of cycle was never really a theme in the base game, and no other character seems to be beholden to it? Fate is kind of a wonky concept in the game anyway. Like, his Great Rune states he's abandoned his fate, but did he? What was his fate supposed to be if not becoming a god as an empyrean?

I've heard people talk about the lily on Radahn's cape in the base game as being evidence this was planned out, do you have any opinions on that?

Also, since people are talking about it, what're your thoughts on the tortured albinaurics in Castle Sol? Do we even have evidence that he was physically at Castle Sol or did the albinaurics there just worship him like the other albinaurics do?

The Miq plot is just straight up awful anon 😭 Everything involved with Miquella in the DLC is just full of contradictions and plot holes and gaps in logic that genuinely make me wonder wtf Miyazaki was smoking when he came up with this shit. If he had just stuck to the Base Game plot of Miquella wishing to revive/or grant Godwyn a true death we would NOT be in this predicament 😭 But no. We're here because Radahn is Miyazakis ultra-favorite Gary Sue and he mutilated Miquella and Godwyns story just to jam him into the DLC.

I will die mad.

But moving on...

If you wanna go off of Radahns cape embroidery being proof that he promised himself to Miquella then by that logic Rykard was also Miquella's promised consort with the Lily's on his Takers Cameo

It's an incredibly loose and fickle connection that I personally would not put any stock into.

As for the Albinaurics at Castle Sol; from a mechanical and gameplay perspective the Castle is riddled with spectral guards and the Albinaurics there serve the purpose of screaming when you get too close to them to alert the spectral guards and for them to swarm you. To my knowledge there is no other enemy in the game that serves as an "alerting" function so that's probably the main reason why they were put their, just to make your life hell making it through the Castle lol

But from a lore perspective, I would never consider this as definitive proof that Miquella was a horrible person all along like certain people are trying to spin it. I do no like that approach whatsoever. Also Miquella has been MIA for a couple hundred/thousand years by now so I don't think he has any input on what's going down at the Castle at this point.

Also, Castle Sol as it's own thing is interesting. There is very little proof that Miquella visited the place personally; the only Lily to be found there is a St. Trina's Lily and even then, it is found around the back of the Castle. The ghost at the top of the Castle does reference Miquella and was given the Haligtree Medallion half, but I think it's important to consider that Castle Sol is evidently a penal colony as its main enemies are all Exiled Knights and Banished Knights, where they are all dishonored and prisoners of the place.

So either these Albinaurics here could be prisoners, and there is voiced dialogue of Albinaurics cursing all life so maybe these ones are the bad bad ones and that's why they are here, or maybe Commander Niall is a just a bigoted jerk and hates Albinaurics like everyone else in the Lands Between. But who's to say 🤷

But yeah, while Castle Sol may be affiliated with Miquella, it's also sort of its own thing and under independent management lol

Also Miquella's gifting of the Haligtree Half could have been him essentially being like, "Hey, invoke my Eclipse and I shall forgive your crimes and grant you a place at my sanctuary." Which imo is a pretty decent promise for reform.

But.... the Eclipse was a plotline that was tossed out the fucking window in the DLC so who knows what's the truth or not anymore 😔

[joanyio]

one thing i don’t like about lovely runner so far is how hyunju’s character is being treated. she deserves so much better than ending up with geum as her husband whos a stupid annoying fuck making bad financial decisions to the point she screamed about getting divorced — only for her to go on a tangent of how she wouldn’t change a thing about her fate even if she had the chance to because of her kids. it feels so preaching for the sake of stereotypical family values, at the expense of her own individual agency. what about the strong independent successful career woman we saw in episode 1 who can even afford to change cars to support her disabled bestfriend’s fangirling. this whole narrative just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, normally i don’t care for side characters because they usually serve as unnecessary fillers in romcom but the main story is written so well that this show makes me care for everyone.

edit: maybe im just projecting, because i won’t lie that what she said makes sense given the fact that in the present she has to live by the decisions she had made so far in her life, that she has to deal with her current situation and in her reality there’s no going back to the past. regretting and wishing to change the past when you know you can’t just won’t do any good for her mindset. and i guess the purpose of the dialogue was to foreshadow that maybe in the end no matter how sol tries to change her and sunjae’s fate, there are consequences to the happiness she’s chasing for. but still, i don’t believe a second that when given the chance hyunju wouldn’t choose a “better” present just because of the future’s uncertainty. sigh, since sol has one chance left i do have some wishful thoughts about hyunju’s story although i see the possibility being extremely slim. also i was curious so i looked through kfans’ posts about this (because i cant find any think piece about hyunju from ifans, everyone’s just raving about soljae lmao understandable), and they all seem to hate geum and rooting for career woman hyunju too — as expected. (some are shipping her with inhyuk and i kinda dig that potential meal? but then again chance:slim). i guess one post i saw was suggesting hyunju not to marry geum right away after graduating so she can get a job first and secure a more financially stable life, that she should not be a full time housewife and let dumb geum be the sole breadwinner of the family??? well, anyway, that’s it for today’s rant! open for other thoughts on this, if there are even hyunju-geum pairing supporters out there...

[stone-stars]

Transcript:

Kenna (Murph): I've heard you bringing up like, family and stuff a lot? And… I don't-- I don't totally know how to say this, but do you think that I could show you something through like your spores thing? Do you think it works like that? Sol (Caldwell): I mean, we can certainly try, I'm not really sure what all it's capable of, but… yeah! Let's give it a go! Murph: You hop off the treadmill, you see Kenna walks up, puts her hands on your head, um, and then rests her head against them. And you feel a sudden [whoosh, snaps] jolt as you are pulled into one of Kenna's memories. [The Gunslinger's Girl plays softly in the background] Murph: And you see Jaina Bronzebeard, looking over some kind of city plans in her study in like the Irondeep Castle, she's looking all stressed out. And then you see… Kenna enters the room. You see Kenna is wearing like, civilian clothes, just like a regular tunic and no plate mail. And Jaina goes-- Jaina (Murph): Shouldn't you be out in the yard sparring? Murph: And Kenna looks down. Kenna: I'm.. I'm leaving Irondeep. My… My father's been sending me money, and I-- I bribed one of the couriers and they… they told me where I could find him. So I'm-- I'm gonna go to Ezry. And I'm gonna look for him. Murph: Jaina puts down her work and nods, and sort of crosses her arms and thinks and goes-- Jaina: Well has, um, has he reached out to you at all? Or… or are you the one that is doing all the work? Murph: And Kenna looks down again, kind of not wanting to answer. And Jaina gets up from her desk, walks around, and kneels next to the young squire. And goes-- Jaina: I will not tell you what to do. If you choose to go to Ezry to look for him, I will charter the airship myself. But I-- I wanna tell you something. I have had two little sisters in my life. One shared a family name with me, and the other did not. One liked jewels in her beard and music and dancing, and the other liked hammers and plate mail and sparring. Murph: And she sort of pats on Kenna. Jaina: And she wanted very much to be a knight. I would hate to see her throw that dream away. And I would hate to lose another sister. Murph: Kenna just breaks down crying and buries her face in Jaina's chest, and Jaina brings her in, kind of holds her for a moment, and then Jaina pulls back and makes eye contact with her, and goes-- Jaina: The gods do not decide who is and isn't family. Murph: And you [whoosh, music ends] come out of the trance, and see Kenna standing there, kind of awkwardly and teary eyed. Kenna: So, yeah, that's… just, I thought maybe… Sol: No, yeah, no, that's-- Kenna: Yeah. Sol: I know that you call yourself a squire but… I can see it, everyone can see it, you've got a knight's heart beating proudly under that iron. Kenna: Thank you for saying that, Mr. Bufo! And-- Sol: Just call me Sol. Kenna: (laughs) That's gonna be a hard habit to break Mr B-- Sol. Sol. [Caldwell laughs] Murph: And you see she goes over to her like, pack, and she goes-- Kenna: Anyway, I-- I found some old books in the equipment bags. Murph: And you see she pulls out a copy of The Boy Wizard and his Frog Pal. And she hands it to you. Sol: Oh! Oh gosh, this old thing. Kenna: Hey man, I know the monsters weren't real at Launchpad, but I thought the main characters were very believable as brothers. Sol: You're right. Thank you for reminding me, you know, no matter how much we loose, we gotta hold on to what we have and we gotta… double down on those connections. I'm really glad that we got to meet you. I'm really glad you're here. Kenna: Thanks big bro! Murph: Um, gives you a big hug.

[filmofhybe]

Gingerbread Martini

🗯️ pairing : park jeongseong x oc 💌 Genre : fluff 1089 wc

warning : reader just gone through a break up , drinking

; AUTHORS NOTES : day 3 of “24 days of Christmas with filmofhybe” !! I have nothing to say but I hate school and want Christmas to come faster. I still haven’t got my friends any gifts and is making me go insane. But anyways enjoy!!

Y/n had always been a firm believer in the power of love. She had invested her heart and soul into a three-year relationship with her ex, hoping that it would last a lifetime. However, fate had different plans, and on the first of December, their love story came to an abrupt end. She struggled to cope with the fact she has just lost someone who she trielt thought would be the right person. Finding out he has been talking to multiple girls behind her back, felt like a knife stabbed into her heart. Not only did she felt bad for the girls but the way he had the audacity to blame it on her, because apparently she’s “too boring” for his liking.

Heartbroken and lost, Y/n found herself struggling to move on. Each day felt like an eternity, weighed down by the memories and the void left by her ex's departure. Desperate to numb her pain, she sought solace in the dimly lit corners of a local bar called IVORY BAR.

Unbeknownst to Y/n, Jay, the bar's manager, had been silently observing her from afar since the day she first walked through the door. Jay was a perceptive man; he could see the raw emotions of others at the bar, he could tell everyone’s current situation just by the glimpse of their face. I guess that’s what being a bar manager for a long time does to you - a therapist without actually getting a license. Jay etched on y/n’s beautiful face. the heaviness in her eyes, and the way she clung to her glass as if it were her only lifeline. Chucking down glass after glass of Ocean View, Margaritas, you name it since she stepped inside the humid yet calm bar.

It was on the 25th of December, a night when the world was immersed in the joyous spirit of Christmas, that Jay decided to take a leap of faith. He couldn't bear to see Y/n drown her sorrows any longer. With a mix of nervousness and determination, he took over the current bartender’s spot, making y/n a special Christmas drink.

As Y/n sat alone at the bar, nursing her drink, Jay approached her cautiously. "Excuse me," he said softly, sliding the Gingerbread Martini across the counter. "I thought you might enjoy this. It's on the house."

Y/n glanced up, surprised by the unexpected gesture. Her eyes met Jay's, and in that moment, something inexplicable passed between them. There was a warmth in Jay's gaze, a genuine concern that touched Y/n's wounded heart.

"Thank you," she replied, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "That's very kind of you." Jay lingered by her side, striking up a conversation that effortlessly flowed between them. “It’s nothing, I’ve been observing you since you came in every night. I can read your face clearly. Break up, can’t move on.” He said as he continues to wipe the delicate glass. Shocking y/n, was she that noticeable?

“A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be treated like that. Especially being out in the cold during Christmas.” He didn’t want to be rude, yet he didn’t want to not talk to her. This is probably his only chance.

“is honestly nothing I’m just needed a drink, or someone to talk to” Embarrassment creeping up to her cheeks that’s currently red from the amount of drinks she drank. Still sober enough to chuck a few more down.

“No you don’t have to be embarrassed by it. Don’t worry about them. Maybe you should take your mind off from him. Talk to me. Talk about your life to me.” Jay finally made his move, on the girl he has been secretly falling for since she stepped in.

As the night wore on, and the bar gradually emptied, Y/n made a decision that surprised even herself. She couldn't bear the thought of losing this newfound connection with Jay. She longed for the solace he brought, the genuine care that emanated from him. And so, with a mixture of trepidation and hope, she expressed her desire to return to the bar every night, just to see Jay. “You know I’ll probably just come in every night to see you, Jay.” His heart melted at the way she said his name. Feeling butterflies in his stomach after months or maybe even years.

“That would be the best Christmas gift I have ever received.”

“Me? Visiting every night?”

“Yeah, everyone would be happy to see their favorite girl visiting them during their work hours.”

“What a way to keep me coming…”

“Always lovely.”

From that night forward, Y/n became a familiar face at IVORY BAR. Each evening, she would step through the door, her eyes searching for Jay's reassuring presence. And there he would be, behind the bar, ready to listen, to offer a sympathetic ear, and to remind her that she was not alone in her journey of healing. Making her night a little lighter with worries dropped off from her shoulders.

© filmofhybe on tumblr — do not copy , translate or share.

[up-sideand-down]

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I love the hidden sort of coming of age stories in the storyline. Three characters are essentially children through a large chunk of the game and you get to see them grow up and inspire the adults around them. That felt super powerful to me as a kid.

The most obvious is Yuffie. Yuffie is a teenager. She feels shame at what she sees is her father's weak surrender to Wutai. She wanted to keep fighting and naively believed if she got powerful enough materia, she could do it and free her country. She hates ShinRa and criticizes Barret even as he expresses his shame in ever trusting ShinRa. All of these are things teens do. They think they're adults, they know everything, they lack the ability to empathize and see things from someone else's point of view. Yuffie just sees Barret's decision to get a mako reactor as a dumb decision, not a decision that, at the time, seemed like it would help people. She just wants to act!

But she grows, and it hurts. She robs her friends and allies. She betrays them because she must free Wutai. No matter the cost. They would see it in the end.

But she fails. Miserably. She gets rescued by people who are very much her enemy. She has to beg for forgiveness from her friends who should hate her. And somehow...they do forgive her. They let her back in. They even support her as she confronts her father, both physically and philosophically. And they come to an understanding. Her father gave up, yes, but he was trying to save lives. And it worked. But maybe now, if she does it right this time, they can work towards restoring their honor again. It gets buried under the annoyance of losing all your materia, but I really like this growth with Yuffie. Sure she sill tries to get all that Materia, but she grows. She doesn't just fight, she saves lives. She even saves Rufus ShinRa's life. She could have let him die, she probably really wanted to. But maybe...she was grown up enough to admit beating ShinRa was a moot point. It was time to start building. She started there. That's a tough feat as a teen, seeing when to admit you are wrong, and which fight actually matters.

A little less obvious is Nanaki. He hides his age so very well. He speaks eloquently (and in a deep voice in the remakes). He has knowledge of the planet the other's do not and he shares it. He very much acts like sage old man. But that mask slips. He makes snarky, biting remarks. He plays around in Costa Del Sol. The immaturity slips out.

Finally the mask fully falls away in Comso Canyon. Because he's safe. He no longer has to hide as Red XIII. He can be Nanaki again because Cosmo will always love, protect, and accept Nanaki. We can see the "old sage" facade was really him imitating Bugenhagen, his grandfather figure. He has a similar tale of shame to Yuffie. He repeats the tale about Seto and declares he's not a father at all. Bugenhagen has to lead him all the way to the truth for Nanaki to admit...he didn't know the truth at all. Then Nanaki sees Bugenhagen admit...he can't really tell if the planet will die. Bugenhagen doesn't know everything. And that makes it easy for Nanaki to agree to leave his safe haven again. He doesn't know the future, and he doesn't have to. He has to just trust in the people he has chosen to surround himself with. Most of all he has to trust himself. That's part of growing up. You have to trust yourself, that you can choose to do right and go with it.

The last is Cloud. Cloud is 21, but deep inside...he's still 16. I doubt 5 years in a secret lab did anything to mature his mind. Cloud spends almost the entire game pretending to be an adult. A lot of adulthood for Cloud is ignoring things that make him uncomfortable. Another good chunk is violence. He reacts violently to a lot of people, choosing fight over any kind of conversation. Maybe due to Sephiroth's influence, or maybe..because the conversation will hurt a lot more. Him finally facing his past is a very painful venture, but he does it and we finally see the real Cloud. We can finally put together what parts of the game were actually him and what was him playing pretend (or being puppeted).

By the end of the game Cloud is still wildly immature, but he is finally getting to grow. He has a lot of unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms to undo, but he finally faces the reason why: that chance to grow was forcibly taken from him due to no fault of his own. That is a very good reason, but it is still up to Cloud to finish growing up. He struggles and stumbles a lot. But he also faces flaws and forgives them. It's another very powerful lesson kids learn. You can't be perfect. You are going to make awful mistakes. You have to own up to it. You have to grow.

I don't know if this gets actually ignored, but these arcs in particular are what kept me in FF7. The kids.

[almostwisegalaxy]

The glory

Ha Do Young x reader

Part 2

Part1:

Following this meeting with Ha Do Young, I purposely bumped into him two or three times. During our discussions, I slipped in the information that the clinic in which I worked specializes in genetic research and analysis. Chatting with this man is entertaining every time, but in order to follow through on Dong Eun's revenge and mine as well, I must pursue our plan.

______________

Today, I was called to school or teacher Dong Eun to check if the children had not been contaminated by rubella, which unfortunately caught one of the little ones.

So I went to the school infirmary to examine the children one by one. During this, I was able to meet little Ye-sol. A cute little girl, but when you know who her mother is, you start to be suspicious. Appearances are very often deceiving and I know that better than anyone.

I had to reassure them about the disease they are all afraid of getting and she was no exception.

"Ma'am, you're sure we're not ill, are you?"

“After the results, I will know more about everyone's condition and what drugs to prescribe okay”

"But my mum says getting sick is ugly and only for the weak. If I'm sick does that mean I'm weak then? And my mum won't love me like she used to?"

Park yeon jin what is this sordid mentality you instill in such a young child

"Getting sick isn't a good thing in itself, but that doesn't mean you're weak or ugly. It happens to everyone at some point. And it's to avoid that that you owe a lot eat fruits and vegetables

What a lie. Even I hate vegetables, but at the time I didn't know what else to say

" Okay "

So I leave it to continue my work and once finished, I transfer the samples to the lab. I should have the results in two to three hours no more.

__________

Ha Do Young pov

I came to pick up my daughter following a call from her school regarding the health of the children. I pace the corridors and live in his class and I knock. Once twice, still no answer, so I decide to enter.

"You have nothing to fear. The children are all in good health"

I did not expect to see these two people together.

"Miss Yu?" I said interrupting them.

"Mr. Ha, what are you doing here?"

"I can return the question to you. I came to pick up my daughter"

" Okay"

"With that, Miss Moon, I'm leaving you. I'm going to the hospital," she said to Miss Moon. She then slips away, leaving us alone

"Ye-sol isn't here. She's in the canteen with her classmates-"

"How do you know Miss Yu?"

"She came at the request of the director to make sure that the children had not been infected with chicken pox like one of their classmates. But you must already know that"

"Yes, I meant personally"

"Why do you think I would know her outside of work?"

"Perhaps because you are trying to destroy my wife?"

"Oh, please. Your wife is the navel of the world"

"From your world here" I say as I leave the room

Y/n pov

After returning to the clinic, I made my report and took my bag to my son Chin-eunji's hospital. My Sunshine . My only support other than Dong Eun. I hurry to walk because his exit time has passed by 10 minutes, he must be wondering where I am.

When I finally arrive, it starts to rain. Fortunately, I always have an umbrella and its raincoat on me. I have to work harder to be able to buy us a car. I see him standing in front of his class

"Chin!"

"Mom" he said running towards me

"How was school today, baby?"

"Yes, it was nice"

"Okay, put on your sweater and raincoat so we can wait for the bus in front of the school"

" Yes mom"

While waiting for the bus, the small downpour began to turn into a storm. Park yeon jin even to predict the weather is not good at you. Anyway, I hope this bus arrives soon. At this time a car parks right at our feet and the driver lowers the window on the passenger side.

"Can I drop you off somewhere?"

" It's nice of you Mr Ha, but my son and I are waiting for the bus"

“Given the storm that is coming, it is not likely to happen”

No, my plans for him must in no way include chin

"I wouldn't want to bother you and make your daughter uncomfortable"

"You don't bother me at all" interrupted Ye-sol.

His father then leaves me a look of contentment. I look at my son who is clinging to my leg and shivering with cold.

"Okay" I get chin up in the back to the side of ye-sol and I get up in the front

" Where are we going ? "

I tell him the address and he starts the car. For a good 10 minutes, the only voices that resonate are those of the children. Ye-sol tries to make conversation with Chin who answers him as best he can. Not that he is snobby, on the contrary, it is very difficult to find his words in front of people he does not know. But I see he's making an effort not to look rude. My little chick.

"It's raining heavily...... Do you like the rain more or the good weather?"

"Wouldn't that be a failed attempt to strike up a conversation?"

"Might be fine. I didn't want to let the kids be the only ones talking."

"Hmm, you just.....I prefer dark, cloudy weather"

"Can I ask you why?"

Because my burn itches less

"It's always good for a little nap"

"I see, and uh, how long have you been, doctor?"

"For three years now"

"And you seem to like it a lot"

"You can't imagine how much. Being able to know what is going on in the human body is fascinating. How the blood circulates, how illness is set up and the healing process, doing the calculations necessary to know what dose the doctor should give for this specific patient and the-oh sorry, I went too far"

"No, don't worry. It's good to see that some people can still be happy talking about a job they've been doing for years."

"I find that your wife is just as much. Every day, she does her job with mice"

" Yes of course......."

"I didn't mean to talk about your married life. Excuse me"

"It's okay, you didn't do it on purpose"

"Yeah, do I sometimes do that when I'm nervous?

"Because you're nervous? Will you make me feel uncomfortable?"

"Oh no, it's quite the opposite. I even think that you have a gift for putting people in trust because since we've been together there's been no awkwardness."

"Glad to hear that," he said, giving me a half-mouse-accompanied look. Y/n think revenge plan not q plan. Let's get out of here. Fast

"Uh, we've arrived, you can stop in front of the building"

Once out of the vehicle with my Son, I lower myself to the height of the car

"Thanks again for your help" I said giving her a smile.

"You're welcome. See you next time Miss Yu" and he left

"Mom, can we go home?"

"Yeah of course honey"

Part3:

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

who rang the doorbell not being shown is so suspicious to me so as much as i hate it i believe kim tae-sung killed sun-jae.

in the OG timeline sun-jae was pushed off from the balcony. the balcony and the door were on opposite sides of the room. would sun-jae let the guy who kidnapped sol and then attacked them both later inside his room? i don't think he would forget that face or even if he did forget he still wouldn't just let any stranger into his room being an idol dealing with sasaengs everyday. his death was easily ruled as a suicide because there mustn't have been any signs of struggle. sun-jae was a former athlete and an idol and an actor (he must be trained in some fighting technique at least) no way it would be so easy to push him off. UNLESS it was someone he knew they cross the room to the balcony while talking and then out of nowhere he's pushed from the balcony.

when sol was forced back to the present the first time it happened when kim tae-sung asked her to be his girlfriend and then in 2023 sun-jae was still dead. what exactly was the trigger there that she leaped back to the present??? it did seem out of nowhere. as much as sun-jae liked her i don't think the butterfly effect of his crush being asked out by just some guy leads to his death once again especially knowing that he didn't even kill himself. i mean sun-jae would still try to save sol whether she's somebody else's girlfriend or not but why exactly did sun-jae seeing tae-sung ask sol to be his girlfriend brought her back to 2023? unless it had to do with tae-sung himself.

when the second time sol went back to 2023 it was after getting saved from the taxi driver. sun-jae and the detective both prevented the taxi driver from hitting her which changed the present where she could walk and sun-jae did not live in any guilt. this was a huge change it makes sense why she ended up in the present right after that. now comparing this to tae-sung asking her out in front of sun-jae later falls short of being a trigger enough to send her back to 2023.

sun-jae used to wear that watch everyday and was ofc wearing it during the original kidnapping. sol bought it later as a fan so emotionally they're both tied to it. the watch has been a witness to it all. when tae-sung asked sol to be his gf there was a focus on the watch and she was back in '23 but not after the accident prevention scene. tho she still went back. why did she go back ending the first jump bothers me a lot. the watch knows something we don't...

in the current timeline sun-jae was stabbed in the hotel by the taxi driver there was struggle and he's not dead yet. it was very easy for everyone to guess the taxi driver killed sun-jae originally too then why not show who rang the doorbell? there is a significance to that doorbell from the original time that even IF this time it was rung by the taxi driver it wasn't shown.

the drama is only halfway through it just can't be so easy that the only mystery left is not knowing what exactly happened during "the incident" 14 years ago. sun-jae is in surgery after getting stabbed and isn't dead yet. streets have been saying since last 2-3 weeks that sun-jae will jump to the past too this time to their uni days. sun-jae wouldn't remember the past that sol changed so he wouldn't know who killed him originally. he himself would think of the taxi driver as the real danger. there was mystery to sol's accident because she forgot about getting kidnapped. for sun-jae (and sol too) it should be not knowing who is the real killer.

tae-sung's motive: he was outside sol's building only because he's tracking the taxi driver (who has enough motive to want to kill sol and sun-jae) that's what i want to believe but brain once again says it can't be so easy. it's a 16-episoder after all!

i don't believe tae-sung is just in the story to only be the second lead love interest and a jealousy device (also not forgetting the trend lately is of the second lead guys being killers). in episode 1 sol asks her friend what happened to "him" and she tells sol he left school (bc of some incident i forgot what exactly she said). idk why but his mention in episode 1 seemed of importance. next episode he's introduced and he's a fun guy who's lonely his detective father is too busy to even remember his birthday. he's also a member of the band with baek in-hyuk and eventually this is the band sun-jae becomes a part of. he originally didn't have feelings for sol she and him did not date. but however it happened sun-jae becoming a part of eclipse remains the same throughout the timelines as of now. did something happen between them for tae-sung to hate sun-jae or did he just leave the school for personal reasons only? in the changed past he started having feelings for sol but she actually likes sun-jae (trying to kill someone because of your crush 15 years later is quite petty and not a good enough reason for a cool guy like tae-sung)

for something that hasn't been revealed yet i am way too sure that his detective father dies but going along this thought process... in both the timelines tae-sung's father must have been murdered trying to catch the creepy taxi driver. in both the timelines sun-jae was with sol (saved her from him near the reservoir and on the road where tae-sung's father's car intervened) and during 'the incident' (which as of ep8 hasn't been revealed yet) there too sun-jae was with her. sol, sun-jae, taxi driver and the detective all are important to why sun-jae was murdered in 2023.

as much as we love to call it a romcom it never really was just a romcom with time travel. sol being in the wheelchair because of the accident was never just an accident and sun-jae's 15 years of guilt towards her were all tied to the taxi driver which is tied to the detective possibly investigating him and by extension to his son as it does affect tae-sung if his father dies making him as important as these four in all of this.

ik i am giving too much importance to tae-sung's father but he seemed important to the story even with the 3 scenes he appeared in and i am so sure he dies (gonna be so funny when it's revealed he didn't die) BUT if this happens then some eclipse related matter, sun-jae having all the fame & money (which to anyone would look like he's living da life), his father's death (add sol to the equation now because of the changes) there's enough for tae-sung to hold a deadly grudge against sun-jae...

(lag gaya to teer, nahi to tukka)

[joculine]

DIE Issue #2 Reread (Gillen & Hans)

I was pretty hooked on DIE from the concept alone, but this issue is what showed me the story itself would be something special. Sir Lane, the knight of kisses wraps up everything special about this comic to me into one, horrible little story. I love it. Let's dig in.

Art

Eyes are a big deal through the series, but they're an especially big deal in this issue. Hans is really killer at showing emotion through them here, the guilt Ash feels, the anger Sol & Matt feel, and of course the hate from Sir Lane.

I especially love her fight scenes. They move in broad strokes, not focused on any specific sequence of action, but the specific moments of victory and defeat that occur through the fight.

That's important when you're dealing with a cast as large and unique as the party. Everyone has these super powerful attacks with over the top video-game flairs, so she has to make sure to draw your eye with color and shapes.

I especially like how red is used in this scene, a strong color associated with violent magic from just about everyone. Historically, I've associated the red licks of fire with Ash and her dictator powers, but I think that applies to all members of the party here. Perhaps we are meant to see red as the color of violent magic? Or perhaps just the party's magic?

Isabelle's talks with her gods are another standout for me. These panels are always so interesting, I love to see how each one speaks, how they treat Izzy, and how little she seems to care about them. She keeps her back to them, refuses to meet their eye, but is still shadowed in most interactions. It also looks like a persona summoning scene, which is fun to me.

A special shout out to the cartoonish look of Ash's memory of Sir Lane. So idealized & flat, the perfect way to do this childhood flashback. Everything was so much simpler then... NOT. We'll get into it further on.

Actually, why wait?

This is up there for my favorite moments in the comic. Like I said, this is where I realized what DIE was doing—this is a story about careless people ruining their lives and the lives of others for the sake of "fantasy." And it's a story about the logical conclusions of those fantasies crawling back to you and covering you with awful worms.

What's incredible is the conciseness here. In just 8 panels over 2 pages, we see the entire tragedy. Sir Lane, the Angrian knight of kisses, was a fling for young Ash back in the 90s. Maybe even her first fling as herself:

It's an exciting thing for her, to be kissed as a woman. To be wanted as a woman. But Ash barely remembers this guy. She does recall their last meeting—he joked he wouldn't rest until he saw her again, asked her to use her power to make it true. She did. He died. He never rested. His eyes rotted. A lover's joke became a never-ending curse.

We see here how careless Ash has been with a very serious power. As the Dictator class, she can speak things & feelings into being. If she isn't careful, this power will rewrite reality to make her words true. Sir Lane is only the first casualty of this we see. What other horrors are waiting for them in this world, still reeling from the fickle whims of teenage demigods?

House Rules & The Fallen

Isabelle tells us the party takes this world seriously. They can't know how "real" Die is, so they have to treat it like it is real.

I don't think anyone in this party is actually playing this way though. The proceeding bit with Sir Lane is strong evidence against it, but even just moments before this interaction, we have the party going all out on the Fallen and this nice little explanation from Ash:

You know, some people would call me a trap with legs, but I hope there'd still be moral question to killing me. Anyway.

I was really mad the first time I read this, back in 2018. Orc discourse wouldn't hit its stride for a few more years, but even then I found it frustrating. If we're supposed to believe that these characters are treating Die as real, why are the Fallen different? Are "orcs" not people? Are they not conscious? Perhaps are used as unquestionable fodder in early D&D and LOTR, major influences on DIE, but I feel like we're past that now. The easy answer for the moment is that they are more like zombies than orcs, but that's still not satisfying for me. This whole scene appears to be a weirdly out of place statement for the comic.

Let's hold onto that feeling of dissonance—it feels bad for a reason. Without spoiling too much, Ash & the party's knowledge of the Fallen is pretty sparse at this point. They know them as hungry, diseased automatons. There's a lot more to them. A lot more. As we'll find later, this statement is just wrong.

This is a really important theme for the comic: The party is often wrong in what they think and what they do. Their attitude as 90s gamers will keep butting heads against more modern TTRPG ideas. This past thoughts/present thoughts conflict will continue not just with the Fallen, but in pretty much every aspect of the story.

So What's Up With Sol?

You've gotta love this guy—the dramatics, the get up, the ambush, it's all classic GM shit. Look, he's even having to stop himself from spoiling things here, he's just so excited to see his friends again!

Okay, maybe there's something a little worse than that going on here. Sol is (obviously) a really bad friend here. He's stating that he wants to bring the party back for another game—the war is over, now we're here for fun.

Ash reads this differently. She sees him as furious, furious beyond the point of sanity.

The other players have their own ideas. Isabelle, it seems, might be taking Sol at his word, but she's trying to talk him down. Matt is, pretty rightfully, furious. He's been brought out of his normal life into the worst place in the world. Angela bargains. Maybe she thinks Sol is crazy enough to fall for it.

So what's really going on here? Why did Sol bring them back, why now? We don't get an exact answer here, but I don't think it's anything put forth in this scene. Or maybe a bit of all of it. We'll learn more the next time we see Sol.

Other Thoughts

Well, here we go. We've got our quest, we've got a combat in, even some roleplay. A pretty good first session! I do like how these early bits are all structured like standard D&D sessions.

I already gushed a bit about the art in this issue's action scene, but I also want to call out the way Ash's narration works there too. Everyone's role in the party and their powers are very clear. It's a good set piece to show what everyone can do and why they're cool.

If you're considering reading DIE, I'd try to get through at least these two issues. If you like the tone and the characters, keep going! It just gets better from here.

In fact... next issue introduces one of my favorite bits of world-building in the series... but we'll save that for later.

[creepyfruit]

Favorite Exocolonist characters? And maybe least favorites if you have any?

I'll give you my character tier list (I decided to include only the kids idk maybe I'll make a separate one for adults)

Answer under the cut ↓

My least fav is obviously Vace. I don't think I need to elaborate but to make it clear l, I haven't ever tried to befriend him so I don't know much about him other than his obsession with killing things, being abusive and a bully.

Next I'll have to put Nomi Nomi not because I don't like them but simply because I've never went out of my way to befriend them so I don't really have an opinion.

Cal was my best friend in my first play through so it hurts me to put him so low but he deserves it. Listen mate I love animals as much as the average gal but you're doing too much. The victim blaming as well?? I'm sorry that I was born on a spaceship set to colonize an alien planet, what did you want me to do? Swim through space and go back to earth? Also your girlfriend's dad died a horrid death and that's still all you have to say? Pacifism isn't a good look on an environment like this one.

Rex is a great dude, there's nothing I dislike about him, he's just simply not as interesting as the others.

Tammy is also kind of on the same boat. I did have a lot of hearts with her on my second play through and helping her be more confident was a very enjoyable journey, she is obviously very kind and empathetic and that makes her incredibly likable. I wish she had some flaws to make a bit more realistic.

This is where things get tough because all the next characters are kinda close but Nem will have to take this one. I romanced her in my most recent play through and she really is just the cutest... until Kom dies and she adopts the whole Helio package. She did become slightly annoying even though I understand her trauma. It's good that you can help her grow out of it, that gives her bonus points. A fun character with some nice character development.

And here comes everyone's fav boy Dys. It took a lot of trying to befriend him, he made it very hard for me and I liked that. I liked how they made him weird and antisocial, he wasn't the misunderstood boy that no one likes but rather it's actually the opposite. His relationship with Tang is so beautifully complex I love every part of it although I still haven't gotten them to reconcile (that damn bar will be the death of me). I would have put him much lower if it wasn't for the exploration buddies relationship that he had with Sol because the most unlikable thing about him (that I honestly never understood) is his obsession with the gardeners. Maybe it's my lack of understanding or the fact that I never really went down that road (making him a gardener/befriending Sym) because it creeps me out but I just don't like his views on the subject. And also I hate his relationship with Sym, nothing cute about a 100+ yo alien praying on a 16 yo boy.

Marz is a character that I thought I was going to hate straight from my first play through. She seemed like the typical mean girl character, who's very pretty has a lot of money is obsessed with clothes and stuff and also bullies every one just because but she's not exactly like that. Sure she has kudos and status and loves her fashion but she has genuinely kind intentions behind her "bullying". She doesn't understand how words can hurt because due to her augument they can't hurt her, she thinks she's helping Dys fit in with her comments and she doesn't want him to be lonely. She's naturally a very commanding person and a true leader but she isn't looking for mindless sheep, she wants you to have self respect and a backbone and I love her for that. Also bonus points to our girl for helping us overthrow the government. I have to say though, all the above doesn't excuse the fact that she can be seriously mean sometimes, but we love her regardless.

My favourite girl, my sweet baby Tangent, who's gone through so much but no matter what you do she doesn't really get a happy ending. I had my eye on her the moment I saw her (her child sprite reminded me of Ino from Naruto that's why) and she was my first romance. Obviously that didn't end well cause my first ending turned out to be tangent's cure (I thought I was just helping my gf bro) and now I'm scared to even talk to her thinking I'll trigger it again but I love her non the less. She's such a complex character I could talk about her for days (special thanks to the person with the multiple tangent discussion posts) her relationship with Dys, the obviously toxic and abusive relationship with Instance, her importance to a whole colony at such a young age, the fact that she's held to adult standards which results in self harming habits and her loneliness, her struggle with mental illness and the death of her mother. I'm writing everything down in a synopsis pretty much because if I start I won't stop. I also love how this abusive relationship was handled compared to Nem and Vace. No matter what you say she won't see how bad Instance is for her and the product of all this abuse is ultimately horrible for her. It adds a realism that hurts to death but is necessary. I also adore her character because it gives us a reminder that not everyone gets a happy ending in life, sometimes the things people go through never really leave them, although admittedly I would kill to see my baby happy, she deserves it.

[c3stlav1e]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ LA VIE DOES... Trauma Candy Salad !

this is me btw. has posted a TikTok!

insp by @bluwavez !

tw: this trend is based on trauma dumping on the internet!! the following mentions topics such as abandonment, drugs, grooming, csa, homophobia, stalking, death threats, eating disorders, and domestic violence. please proceed with caution!!

The video begins with a woman leaning back in her chair, looking off-camera for a cue to start. When she looks back towards the camera, she smiles. "Hi, I'm Sol, the leader of La Vie, and when I was 4-"

"Say what candy!" another voice hisses off-screen and Sol's eyebrows widen in realization.

"Oh, right!" She seems to compose herself with a slow blink and then looks back to the camera with the same smile. "Hi there, I’m Sol and I brought gummy worms," the leader holds up a bag of sour gummy worms to show them off to the camera with a relaxed smile. "And when I was 4, my mom dropped me off at my grandparents’ house and never came back for me because she was addicted to drugs," she says this with a shrug before turning the bag of candy over the bowl. A stifled giggle can be heard in the background as the gummies hit the bowl with a thud.

˚₊·

"Hiii, I’m Anya," the girl gives a wave to the camera, a bright and professional smile painted on her lips. "I brought Maltesers," she holds up the red box as if pictured in an advertisement. "And I don't have any trauma, because my life is perfect," her grin is wide and dazzling.

"Booo!" someone jeers from off camera and she lets out a laugh.

"Ok fine, when some stalkers posted pictures of me and that EXO boy, I got death threats for months even though we only sort of dated for like 2 weeks. Someone even sent me a cute little letter with a razor in it!" her tone is cheery and commercial as she says this, earning a few giggles from off-camera. She pours the chocolate into the bowl with a clatter.

˚₊·

"Hi, I’m Tomiko, I brought these strawberry gummies," the bag of candy waves through the air as she talks with her hands. "When I was 15, I was in this really co-dependent relationship with a guy a little bit older than me, like, I thought he was my soulmate, and then he randomly moved to another country one day without telling me." Her tone is deadpan as she stares down the camera. "And then I moved back to the same country and accidentally became his coworker," she opens her mouth, looking like she wants to say more but then she glances off camera and shuts it again with a plastered smile, dumping the fruit-shaped candies into the bowl.

˚₊·

"Hi, it’s Seolah again," the ginger holds up another bag of sour gummy worms. "When I was in school, my choir director groomed me and it made everyone else in the choir hate me because I was getting," she holds up her fingers in air quotes, "favorite treatment." She still seems rather nonchalant as she says this, the candies joining the others in the bowl.

˚₊·

“I’m Sohee,” the next girl giggled, her cheeks already tinged pink. “And when I was 9– oh wait!” she held up a bag of candy with both hands. “I’m Sohee and I brought peach rings!” she quickly corrected, giggling again. “And, um, when I was 9 I joined this company and I was the youngest one there and one of the dance teachers who was this old middle-aged guy started making advances on me and made me have like weird private dance lessons with him and… other stuff, but when my parents found out the company threatened to sue us because of something in my contract and I had to stay there for 5 years until one day I went to go to practice and everything was gone, like the whole company disappeared,” she rambled, almost breathless by the end of her story. “Yeah,” she finished with a big gulp of air and a smile before dumping the gummies into the bowl.

˚₊·

“Hey, this is Star,” the bleach blonde waves a bag of cola gummies at the camera. “I brought cola bottles! And YG entertainment gave me an eating disorder at 13 and a stress fracture in my spine at 15 and then dropped me a few months before I was supposed to debut,” she holds up a finger gun. “Shoutout YG,” she adds playfully before dumping the candy into the bowl.

˚₊·

The eldest giggles as she appears on camera again, holding up a third bag of sour gummy worms. 

“There’s going to be way too many gummy worms in here,” someone whines off camera and a chorus of laughs follow. 

“Not her fault she’s so traumatized!” another voice argues, causing the girl on screen to let out a laugh of her own.

“These are my favorite,” Sol defends her choice, holding the bag closer to the camera. “Anyway! When I was 14, my closest friend in choir who was also being groomed by the director found out he was also abusing me, she got so jealous she started a rumor that I kissed her. I got basically blacklisted from the church and my grandparents made me go to confessional every single week even though I convinced them it was a lie. They still don’t know I actually do like girls,” she tells the story rather matter-of-factly, punctuating the end with the thud of the candy falling into the bowl.

˚₊·

The blushing girl returns on screen, still a bit pink, the ghost of a laugh still on her cheeks. "I'm Sohee, and I also brought lychee jellies!" she holds up the bag of candy proudly. "And a couple years ago, I was dating this guy who was older than me, and when I found out he had a wife and didn't tell me, he pushed me down a flight of stairs, hoping I would hit my head and forget about it," the corners of her lips turned down now. "It almost worked," she looked a little distant for a moment before snapping back to reality and pouring her candy into the bowl.

˚₊·

“I’m Tomi,” she holds up a bag of nerd clusters next to her face with a smirk. “I brought these things. And my best friend, well,” she pauses with a roll of her dark eyes. “Former. Decided she was more important than the career we built as a team and, again! Moved to a different country without fucking telling me.” Her voice holds a venomous bite as the candy rains into the bowl. The room is silent now, none of the snickering or chit chat can be heard in the background. Tomi opens her mouth again, “Fuck you, Ma-”

“OKAY!” a voice cuts her off before the video ends abruptly.