#it had some interesting concepts but i dont like how they built upon it

[pointparadox]

My Issues With Blind (In No Particular Order)

Now I am not above admitting I was wrong so if these questions are answered in the drama and I just missed it then please do tell but so far here are all my qualms: 

1. How did Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon actually get Sung-Joon to believe he was Yoon-Jae? 

I understand the whole story about Yoon-Jae pushing Sung-Joon off of the playground set and everything, but `1) amnesia would definitely not happen from such a minor fall like that, especially when he did not fall headfirst and 2) How did they get Sung-Joon to remember the fact that he is Yoon-Jae from the Hope Center but not the fact that the information is coming from Sung-Joon? It just seemed like tacky plot armor. I literally rolled my eyes when Sung-Joon conveniently remembered that after Yoon-Jae pushed him down a flight of stairs (another thing that would not cause someone to regain memory). I know Yoon-Jae made some off-hand comment about “the shock therapy working” but there is no way in hell that LITTLE BOY got his hands on a torture device. 

2. Why did the parents adopt Sung-Hoon? 

I don’t understand what part of the story explained the reasoning for this. Sung-Hoon delivers the personal account of the atrocities of the Hope Center, Judge Ryu ignores them, and then somehow time skips to the judge adopting him? Like it would be one thing if they adopted him out of shame for what happened at the center but it seemed like he didn't care when he dismissed Sung-Hoon’s petition so what really changed? 

3. Why did Sung-Hoon admit he was an accomplice -- better yet, how did he even get sentenced? 

This one irks me the most because, unlike Yoon-Jae, all of the evidence against Sung-Hoon was circumstantial. Yes, Sung-Hoon saw him leave the wedding banquet but the cameras did not--even if Yoon-Jae testified against him there was not a single time in which it was implied that there was anything that connected him so why the hell did he confess? It makes me feel like there must have been some scenes that I was missing because one second he is fighting with Sung-Joon out in the rain and the other he is in jail; I don’t think we even saw anyone read him his rights. 

4. How were the police so inefficient? 

Now I understand that they were working under a corrupt chief but it is not like anyone listened to that dude--they were essentially working on their own. How does the police not have software that can show them what Yoon-Jae would realistically look like 20 years later--I know it’s a thing that exists also faces do not really change *that* much so upon seeing Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon the police chief and Crazy Dog should have realized it was them way sooner. 

5. What is the point of making Yoon-Jae and Crazy Dog fight to the death? 

I guess there's no technical issue with this It just seemed like such a big fuck you to victims of abuse that might have resonated with the character kind of. Like did he really have to lose his life just to avenge the other children? I am in no way saying Yoon-Jae is a saint (though I firmly believe he is also not a psychopath) but c'mon why couldn’t he get this one win against someone who was a lot worse than him

6. What is the random switch-up between Sung-Hoon, Sung-Joon, and Yoon-Jae? 

I saved my biggest issue for last but I feel like these characters all acted in such a contradictory way to how they have been written since the beginning of the drama. To start with Sung-Hoon; I think his switching up on Sung-Joon out of nowhere in the last few episodes and completely dropping the facade is so tacky. It’s not like Sung-Hoon was ever an emotional character, to begin with so I feel like they didn’t have to try and make him comically evil with the whole “Ooo guess what I'm going to do next Sung-Joon ooo I never liked you I just wanted to use you Sung-Joon oooo I don’t care about you at all Yoon-Jae” bullshit. I find it hard to believe he didn’t care about Yoon-Jae at all, and while I think it’s fair for him to say that maybe he never thought of Sung-Joon as a brother (since it’s probably hard to think of the man who raped your sister and his wife as parents) I don’t think it’s fair to say that he never cared about Sung-Joon. I wish they dug into that concept of Sung-Hoon maybe not feeling any brotherly connection to Sung-Joon but still looking out for him because he feels bad for him. We know Sung-Hoon can feel emotions towards people: he felt genuine hurt and rage when Yu-Na was killed so I find it hard to believe that he didn’t have any sort of connection to Sung-Joon (especially when he also told Yoon-Jae to spare Eun-Ki and made sure her only punishment would be finding out about who her father really was) since he is essentially the same as Eun-Ki in the sense of being born to people who did bad things. 

On the topic of brotherly connection, I also find it unrealistic that Sung-Joon can switch to hating his brother so quickly. I don’t expect him to condone Sung-Hoon’s action’s in any way, but the scene where Sung-Hoon tried to take his life and then Sung-Joon came and called him a coward and said that he hoped he would live in pain for the rest of his life or whatever was so random? I was expecting an emotional outburst, yes, but I feel like something that would be more in character for him would be the continuation of the whole “How could you do this to me when I did all this for you” thing they have going on (which is how the interaction did start but alas). I just thought it was weird. 

Finally, for Yoon-Jae, why did they make him so comically evil after the reveal? Every interrogation scene made me roll my eyes because they just made him act like the Joker in all of them and it was just so overdone. Sung-Joon calling him a “psycho who is obsessed with murder” was annoying too because it’s like--you’re missing the whole point he’s not doing this cause he enjoys killing people he’s doing this cause he was backed into a corner by his abusers. It’s one thing to not condone his actions but to completely ignore what got him to that point just seemed foolish (which is also what I have to say about Eun-Ki). 

I personally think that the show should have gone more into the brotherly relationship between Yoon-Jae and Sung-Hoon because it’s like yeah we see that Yoon-Jae feels betrayed by Sung-Hoon but why should he be? They did no development on that and honestly hindsight 20/20 the whole “Sung-Joon on the run” arc should have been a lot shorter to allow more time to develop this relationship. 

7. Why is everyone except Sung-Hoon allowed to be corrupt?

The whole basis of this show is how corrupt bad people can be (the police chief, the guy trying to bribe Sung-Hoon in episode 1, the producer, the taxi driver, Crazy Dog) so I don’t see why Sung-Hoon, Yoon-Jae, and Charles couldn’t have gotten off under the same basis of corruption. Like you cannot tell me this man is gonna work his ass off and become a judge, orchestrate a whole string of murders with literally nothing technically connecting him to them, and then go to jail because of his OWN CONFESSION when he could have just used his status as a well-known judge (and one that refuses to do anything that isn't by the books) to just deny (hell, he wouldn't even look guilty so he doesn't even need to do that) and then stack the jury so Yoon-Jae could get a not guilty charge. Call it tacky, but them doing that would make so much more sense than them just putting their hands in the air and going to jail/committing suicide. 

That’s all I got for now but if I think of anything I guess I’ll add it. The ending of this show just seems so drab and dull; I don’t really understand what the theme or point is supposed to be. Sung-Joon’s monologue about “oh if they had someone like Eun-Ki things would have probably been different...what a shame :/” like no shit sherlock if Eun-Ki was there they probably also wouldn’t be used for slave labor like...it was just so random. The acting was great, but the writing and plotting just took a nosedive I am afraid. 

Also. the bury your gays (or idk homosexual leaning) thing that happened with Charles and Yoon-Jae was so tacky I’m sorry. 

[dateamonster]

A weird thought that kind of hung out in my head for a while that is sort of relevant to this blog's theme, but also kind of isn't, but I'm honestly not sure, but I have no better place to dump it into, so whatever. Feel free to ignore this if you're not interested >>

Yautja. Predators. However you want to call them. They have a very particular, hunting and honor-centric cultural mindset. But. What would it be like for someone in their culture to just... not be into that? There are people who are basically entirely averse to romance, in spite of how central it is in our culture, so how would some who is, uh... akynig, not interested in hunting? And how would such a person, perhaps, adapt to another society, lacking this aspect of Yautja culture but carrying across many others?

The worldbuilding nut in me is always excited about those things but it is a very rare opportunity to discuss it in any manner >>

i dont rly know anything abt the predator film franchise so i cant rly add much but i do enjoy the idea of like. alien cultures and what that means for the individuals within that culture.

idk how comparable this is but i was just recently watching a video that was talking abt the ferengi from star trek and how upon their original introduction they were kinda this one note species because their sole characteristic was being a hyper capitalistic culture built around hoarding wealth, but in deep space 9 we start to actually see individual ferengi characters outside the context of this monolithic cultural concept and come to understand that their greed is not like some innate personal trait but the result of the values and demands of ferengi society.

theres def a larger discussion to be had abt the way a lot of popular scifi tends to narrow entire planets worth of people down to singular traits and how thats kind of a major weakness when it comes to like world building and imagining alternate societies, but when thats a thing the franchise is already doing it does open up an interesting avenue of like, how many ppl within this culture actually share this valued trait? how many are just going along with it bc its what you do? how many have so deeply internalized it that even if removed from this society and its rules they would unconsciously mirror it? is there a space for counter-culture in this world?

it seems like itd be harder to analyze stuff like that in the context of predator movies tho since, from my limited understanding, it seems like the yautja were at least originally designed simply according to what would make them serve best as a scary antagonist. i do think its cool tho that there seem to be a lot of fans who are trying to give their species more depth and complexity than the source material affords them. again tho im probably missing a lot of actual context lol.

[p3answer]

i take back what i said before about fe engages supports honestly. the characters are likable but most of the supports just sum up to nothing and they end up kind of melding together. its not even that theyre inherently bad its just . like i dont know. they feel so short that theres barely anything that can fit in there. for all the problems i had with three houses i genuinely loved most of the supports due to how they built upon the characters, and a lot of the time you got to learn things about the characters backgrounds gradually. with engage it feels like a lot of the meat of the supports were more of an afterthought than anything. and i dont think its bad for fe games to have sillier supports that focus more on the fun thing happening within them than just character building, tons of the games have done that well in the past, but when thats ALL the conversations are and no interpersonal relationships between characters really go anywhere it just starts to get boring and i dont really feel any drive to try to raise support points between characters like in previous games. also while i dont think the concept of alear as a generally religiously worshipped entity is inherently an uninteresting one (in fact i feel like you could make some extremely interesting dynamics surrounding that) it just falls into weird ego-stroking worship like most of the recent games with the main character. at least you cant date your literal students in engage so congrats on the game for fulfilling the bare minimum regarding that :/

[strititty]

Hello hope sorry I'm late for the fic writer ask I was busy this is Simon btw shhhh I'm secret now. I wanted to ask you all of them obviously but mostly numbers 37, 39, 41, and 42! if you remember obviously if not I am so sorry

hi friend :)

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

oh this is an interesting question... maybe pecking order? it might be because it's the third fic in the series, or because guardiancest shippers are few and far between these days, or maybe even the vomiting tag lmao but for some reason it does not have nearly as much traction as the previous two fics, which is a shame, because i love it dearly! david going kind of completely unhinged as he tries to deal with any new feelings he may or may not be having... bro dealing with that the best way he knows how (not backing down At All)...

alternatively each heart touched but that's just my plug for everyone to go try cultist simulator, actually, i fuckin love that game. it's confusing and weird but it's FLAVORFUL and honestly that's all i want.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

OH YES. i see you, you little scamp, because now i am morally obligated to concede that my characterization of MANY characters is informed by the great fanfic writers that came before. you, for instance!! and geometrician's dualshock desertbloom is very informative of my bro characterization.

i am not super sure some of the other blogs i draw inspo from would appreciate the shout out so i'll keep that to myself, but know this: if you have written strilonde fanfiction or we have ever spoken in depth about the characters, i have probably drawn some measure of inspiration from your fics or the things we talked about, because that's how the creative spirit works!

i think that a lot of fandom in general is also often built upon the backs of old concepts and fanon. some of that has gotten torn down over time, like... god, specifically all i can think of is dave rn. like common fanon used to be that he was literally too cool for school and now it's generally accepted that actually that was a massive front and How Did Anyone Buy Into That. i think that maybe some of us have flipped a little too hard in the opposite direction and made dave like. Soft Baby-fied? but i feel that's also a very fandom thing to have happen lmao. oh to woobify your faves for fun and profit. no harm in it but i do think it's very interesting!

41. Link a fic that made you think, "Wow, I want to write like that."

you know i think the most recent experience i had like that is with your words destroyed my planet, explicitly because i want to be able to plot out and execute longfic like this person can. it's a cool fic!

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

i've gotten a few comments that have stuck with me! the one you sent me on discord made me CRY (in a good way no worries) but if we're talking purely public on ao3...

there was one comment interrogating the like. NATURE of david in my demonstuck series and how i explained it in the fic that was honestly SO interested and gave me a lot to think about.

also someone told me one of my fics made them jizz instantly or something like that which was SO FUNNY to me as an ace person who does not really write or read smut to be horny about it most of the time. why do i? i dont know. it's Interesting, i guess??? like yes!!! CHARACTERS!! smushing our barbie dolls together!!! YES!!! i am EMOTIONALLY TITILLATED

[rosewinelonging]

no bc thats exactly it. shes acting in place of a human lusii so of course shes going to treat it like a troll lusii / charge relationship. not to mention raising not one, but TWO kids. its exhausting work so the compensation should be good.

thinking about the concept of lusii demanding sexual payment which btw is hot as fuck. its expected that while lusii raise their charge, once they reach a certain age they need to start providing as well. think like how some trolls are obligated to feed their lusii. so its at a point where theyre expected and encourage to pleasure their caregivers as a 'thank you'. its a mutually beneficial relationship that also solidifying in their heads the idea everything theyre given must be paid back in way possible. of course is this how every relationship turns out? no, it depends on the troll and the lusii this is just the propagandized expectation. and on top of that i think to lusii less 'payment' and more 'fufillment of pleasure'. like how you play with your pets. you dont need to do it but it makes them happier.

as for discipline, it brings up an interesting question in the idea of punishments in the empire. in my personal troll sex headcannon, sexual penetration is uncommon. its essentially the troll version of anal. the trolls were not built to breed but simply to provide slurry for the mothergrub. [though you could argue thats also just propaganda done control the troll population but after years of using this method, the ability to get pregnant became a rare trait anyway-] vanilla troll sex is just their bulges wrapping together until an orgasm is achieved. slurry is pumped through their bulge and leaks through 'vents' in the sides. their nook is where their bulge unsheathes and while you can put something inside from below where the bulge comes out, their body isnt intended for that purpose. does that stop trolls? absolutely not. because of these established ideas, once you propose their lusii disciplining their charge using sex i had two ideas.

1. how do lusii have sex. and how would this translate to having sex with trolls.

2. what would be the cultural impact of this.

for the first question, lusii are shown to be animals meaning unlike trolls they breed with eachother, penetration is common and expected. they mount and dominate another, and have at it until satisfied. lets say this lusii is a large cat. all it can do is pin its charge down and fuck them till they stop struggling. it would be a purely domination thing. all theyre saying is 'im in control and youre below me'. its not intentional, they dont do it out of cruelty. its simply an instinctual desire.

but then think about how trolls would feel about that. a cultural where penetration is socially looked down upon, where getting disciplined by your caregiver meant being held down and forcefully filled. its humiliating. and i can 100% see the empire using trolls as buckets for punishment. a sort of fear that you had as a child still being a very real threat as an adult.

basically what im saying is that the way trolls view lusii relationships, ESPECIALLY adult trolls whove lived through man generations, dont even the understand the lusii / troll care dynamic. its not payment and discipline, its engagement and domination. very similar but theres a slight nuance to it.

but none of that even matters in the context of this ask i just wanted to ramble about troll worldbuilding hehe

anyway condy definitely lives by these two expectations. she expects to be paid back for her care and maintains that any bad behavior will be thoroughly punished. and lucky for her, her two kids neatly embody these two principles.

out of the two of them john was the better behaved by a landslide. he would engage in pranks, silly and incosequential. annoying at times [and she would never admit it. it was quite endearing] but that was the extent of it. he listened and he listened well. anything she asked of him he would do to the best of his abilities. seemingly unaffected and happy with his life, though shes seen how his hands shake when she punishes his sister. if it was anger or fear, he hid it well. not that it mattered as she had him on his knees, throat bulging as she fucked his mouth. he was easy and couldnt say no just took whatever she did with him with a smile on his face.  

he was obedient and eager, the ideal child. she liked him, she really did. to the point of letting their relationship develop farther, moving past the required payment of him satisfying her in any way she desired to her being conscious of him. letting john make requests, asking to touch him in certain ways, a mutual pleasure that would always end up with john thanking her through slurred words and tear-stained cheeks. it was good, something closer to his relationship with his sister. [the cameras in their room have very good night vision.]  and it was moments like those, john below her, naked and willing, staring up with wet eyes as he begged her to touch him, that she felt like a mother. which is why jade was really beginning to piss her off.

for as much as john listened it seemed like jade did her hardest ignore everything she asked. constantly shirking her classes or swearing up a storm at anyone who so much looks at her. every encounter with her was a battle and no matter how many times shes disciplined the girl she never gets it through her. no matter how many beatings shes recieved, leaving permanant scars that made her grin. or how often shed pin the girl down by her throat using her much smaller human body as her personal bucket. forcing her bulge in deep, far past herlimits, making her scream. no matter what jade wouldnt break, wouldnt back down to learn to her place.

because that was the problem. jade wouldnt accept her place beneath her. she always fight back still she no longer could, spitting insults and generally making everything more difficult than it needs to be. killing her was out of the question because however annoying, she was still needed [unless she could get her hands on another heiress]. so as time goes on her attempts turn. desperate. systematic torture, brutally raping her in front of an audience, tying her up as a free-use bucket for her servants and dogs, keeping her chained and muzzled at her feet for hours at an end. shes gine ahead and punished john in her place a few time, this seemed to be the best way to calm her down for a few days other than the times her injuries were so bad she couldnt get out of bed. mind control was a quick but unreliable solution. it could make her obidient for a few minutes to a few hours but her powers were fickle in humans.

the idea of discipline and payment are GREAT for condy to run her house. there would b absolutely no taboo around fucking her kids bc to her thats just how lusii do things. and on top of that the two of them would not be able to keep their hands to themselves. though its questionable if its caused by condy normalizing sex between family at a young age, the need for comfort in their situation, or just an inherit connection. either way it doesnt matter, here are some other thoughts i had:

-when jade is being punished and condy is not there [free-use either in public or private w her dogs] john would sneak to find her and give her some relief either with a break or touching her by her own accord

-when younger john was witness to ALL of jades punishments, mostly to instill fear and keep him in line

-when she was younger jade tried many times to run away but have failed bc she tried to get john in on it. then she switched to trying to kill condy which didnt work then eventually ran on her own without telling john

-the mind control only has brief success bc jade fights back so much [and john would try his best to snap her out of it]

-john would start ‘paying’ condy back at a MUCH younger age than jade bc she was focusing on her studies to be heiress. but its only after jade starts rebelling does she actually become fond of him

-everytime she used him shed make him thank her for allowing him to pay her back. directly translates to when hes older he defaults to thanking during or after sex. jade has tried hard to break this habit when theyre together

-jade was usually being disciplined so there wasnt much time for her to ever pay condy back. it happened mostly when she was younger when periods of not actively rebelling where more common. there was often a very real threat of violence, not to her but to john seeing as this was back before she liked him.

-both kids have collars. jade was collared at a young age as punishment. it shocks her as well as having a loop to be leashed. john was collared later on as a show of his submission, its more for design then anything.

-as for genetal / gender situation. personally i think jade has a cock and john has a cunt MOSTLY because its really fun to think abt condy designating gender by smth stupid like john and his father both having blue eyes. gender in trolls is very interesting to think abt bc its assigned by a more caste / role type of things. so all fuschias are designated female, jade bloods who work in the cavern are female but those who dont are seen as male. interesting conversation on troll transgenderism outside of just being like. this ones a girl cause she has boobs. while also noting the biological simililarites

=====

ok thats it im done that was a lot longer than i planned [1.7k <- jesus]. i got side-tracked by troll world building stuff LOL but this was really fun to think about and also im 100% adding this to my ‘troll canon’. i should really think abt them more. so if anyone wants to talk abt some troll / lusii action….

but honestly so i realized halfway through that i said she would operate on the propaganda version of a lusii / charge relationship. but in reality it ended up being closer to the 'real' version than i had intended. what with john simply doing it as 'payment' and bc she demanded it to him willingly submitting to pleasure her out of desire. then with jade, the discipline element is strong throughout. shes doing it bc she has to punish her for acting out. but really shes just struggling for power. jade is actively rebelling and thus questioning her dominate status and she is acting accordingly to put her in her place. the only thing she wants to 'teach' her is to submit through domination and humiliation.

[lomoeko]

Watch strangeland movie

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Information about the torrent Strangeland (1998) DVDRip XviD. Howdy goes nuts again and in revenge starts everything all over, only worse. But upon his release, the townspeople dont accept the new, peaceful former Captain Howdy, and attack him. Eventually they catch up with him and send him to a mental hospital. A detective starts pursuing him after he captures his daughter. I am choosing not to continue to watch this series.Strangeland (1. Maybe if they could’ve squeezed a little more exposition in the dialogue between all the F-bombs they might have had something more interesting.

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Don’t peg me as a prude, I am ex-Navy and swear like the sailor I am, but there is a point where it just seems unnatural and too much and I feel this series crossed that line. In addition, there was an overuse of profanity that just seemed out of place. Even though there were some very interesting themes looking to be explored and in addition to a high production value, the characters did not connect with me. I am sure that The Man Who Fell to Earth will gather a fan base and I am happy for the show. This means we need to pick and choose those shows that interest us, that speak to us. In this golden age of genre media, there are so many wonderful series out there, that no one person can watch them all. The concept of showing us an end result and then flashing back to the beginning and showing how said result was accomplished is a cliched and an overused device which especially does not work for this show. He is recounting before a crowd at a product launch how he learned humanity. The series tries to offset this, by first showing us the future nice-guy Faraday who is the leader of a high-tech firm, like his predecessor, and basically worshipped by fans. In today’s era the facial expressions and character reactions not only felt cartoonish and forced but made the leading character a bit unlikeable. I found Chiwetel’s performance a bit over the top, a bit too “strange”, I am sure it is equal to Bowie’s performance (which I either cannot remember or didn’t see), but that was in a different era performed by a star known for the outlandish. Unfortunately, the series does not handle this theme as well as it should have.

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Little has changed in the premise from film to series, it is built on the tried-and-true story telling of a stranger in a strange land that must learn how to be more human to survive, usually by befriending a human who teaches him the true heart of humanity. With the help of a fallen scientist, Justin Falls (Naomie Harris), the two must work together to not only save Anthea, but reverse the damage we humans have done to our own planet. Forty-six years later and the story of alien, Thomas Jerome Newton (Bill Nighy takes over the David Bowie role) continues as a new Anthean who calls himself Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor) comes to Earth to find a solution to save their drought ridden planet. The film has developed a cult following for the use of its surreal imagery and is considered an important work of science fiction cinema.

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The Man Who Fell to Earth was a 1976 film based off a 1963 book by Walter Tevis and was the first movie to star the late David Bowie.

[isamijoo]

The Curse Slayer [HD Fan Fair 2021 Fic Claim]

Thank you so much to @elyonblackstar for drawing this beautiful art of Harry for me. It's been a pleasure working with you. <3

Thank you Z for being an awesome alpha reader and friend throughout this entire process.

Thank you Sophie for reading the first draft and giving really nice feedback. We miss you.

Thank you @orange-peony for helping me with the Latin spells!

Thank you @curlyy-hair-dont-care for being an excellent beta!

I could not have done this without them <3

Title: The Curse Slayer Creator: Isami (isamijoo) Prompt: #197 Career Theme: Draco - Healer | Harry - Curse Breaker Rating: Mature Warnings/Content Notes: Minor (Off-screen) Character Death, Mild Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Description of Unpleasant Odours Summary: Harry Potter is the first and only Curse Breaker in the world capable of killing Curse Demons, which are condensed forms of Dark Magic that manifest as monsters. Because of this, he is called the Curse Slayer. On his first night back in England after eight months away, Harry finds himself reunited with Draco Malfoy, who is now trapped in Malfoy Manor as a result of an ancient curse placed on the last heir of the family. Word Count: 36,800

READ ON AO3

Keep reading for behind-the-scenes trivia talk about the fic, if you're interested to know where I drew inspiration from while writing. SPOILERS for the fic.

This took a while to write because I have A LOT to say about this fic. At the time of this writing, The Curse Slayer is my longest and most-plot heavy Drarry/HP fanfiction. It was a big undertaking. I wrote the entire fic over the span of one month with the help of many friends, other fans, and cheerleaders along the way.

I’m writing BTS to give credit where credit is due. I cannot claim ownership of all the ideas present in the fic.

The Curse Slayer was inspired by a couple of very popular shounen (boy) manga/anime. Obviously, the main inspiration is from Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) – you can probably guess from the title of the fic. But there are also other animes/manga or bits of culture and folklore that I drew inspiration from.

The Malfoy Curse

The concept of the Malfoy Curse itself originates from the prompt by momatu which goes like this:

Draco has been slowly becoming ill for some time, but no one has been able to diagnose why. The cause is discovered to be not medical but magical--an obscure and long-forgotten spell placed on the manor to ensure the current head of the Malfoy family either fathers or names an appropriate, pure-blood heir by his X birthday. The spell has lain dormant for several generations because in the past, in the event the current head of the family did not father an heir by his X birthday, there had always been a male of the Malfoy bloodline to satisfy the terms of the spell, namely an heir presumptive, and it was eventually forgotten over the generations. Draco has no children and is the last of his line, so there are no other males in the proper bloodline, and the spell has become active. Essentially, without an heir, the manor is dying, and it is taking the current head with it for not fulfilling his obligation to his bloodline. As a renowned expert on breaking dark magic, Harry is called upon to break the spell.

The prompt itself is detailed enough that it basically already encompasses a lot of what the fic ended up being. It could have been the summary of the fic, and it’d still fit perfectly.

I built upon what was already described in the prompt. Many commenters left ideas on how to appease or break the curse, and I find it flattering that people gave some thought about this curse. I’ve put a lot of thought into when planning this fic, so it’s nice to read other people’s ideas.

To make it clear, the curse was already activated as soon as Lucius died, and once the curse was activated, there was no way of breaking it. Whatever measures to fulfil the curse’s requirements should have been done before Lucius’s death.

Inspiration for Harry, his job and his “powers”.

Demon Slayer has my favourite protagonist of all time, Kamado Tanjiro. He is the only hero-archetype protagonist I love more than Harry Potter (and I do love my Harry). This fic is just an excuse for me to mash up my two favourite boy heroes. Harry using a sword, Harry battling the demons, Harry’s sun-themed superpower moves, Harry being able to smell the Curse Demons – all these were adapted from Tanjiro’s story/abilities.

The Gift from Death is inspired by another shounen anime, Fullmetal Alchemist. Magically Powerful Harry Potter is one of my favourite tropes in HP fandom. In Fullmetal Alchemist, the protagonists Edward and Alphonse Elric, performed a forbidden ritual. To make a long story short, Edward meets “god” in this Other realm and sees what the story calls “the Truth”. And characters who had seen this “Truth” gained the ability to perform alchemy (magical superpowers!) without a transmutation circle.

I thought that this idea of gaining something after nearing Death fits fine with Harry, especially since he was the master of death. The execution of this sub-plot is not as well-developed as I would have liked. It has many plot holes, because in my first plan, I didn’t give much attention to this. It was just a detail that was there in the background to explain why Harry is the only Curse Slayer. But one of my alpha readers asked me about it after Chapter 1 and I was flabbergasted: “Oh my God, I haven’t thought about that!” So all the bits about what the Gift of Death exactly is, the marriage/bonding talk and the sharing magic only came up in the last two chapters of the fic, because I came up with all that rather late.

The Curse Demons

The concept of the Curse Demons is mostly original. The only concept I borrowed from Demon Slayer is the decapitation. I had to create them somehow for Harry to fight, after all.

The idea of a ‘supernatural being’ attached to an object is taken from a Malay/Indonesian taboo practice. The one line about trapping demons into jars and throwing them into the sea – that’s a real thing; children in my culture are told not to pick up random objects by the seashore, or else they’d pick up a cursed object and get possessed by a djinn. So I twisted it around to come up with the Curse Core and the Curse Demons.

Initially, I only planned for a single Curse Demon but then I came coincidentally came across the Malfoy Crest and I felt like I hit a jackpot! There are four animals on the crest! You have no idea how much time I’ve spent studying this crest, and even so, I still can’t figure out the snakes’ tails but in the end, I just went with what I thought it looked to me.

Luna’s Curse Breaking Techniques

Luna’s rune circles are obviously inspired by the transmutation circles, which are used a lot in Fullmetal Alchemist. I simply changed the name and made connections with Ancient Runes so that it’d fit my fic better.

Her Curse Breaking style was also inspired by Japanese calligraphy and Ofuda charms (think Sailor Mars).

Speaking of Demon Slayer, this fic was revealed on October 10, 2021, which was the same day Demon Slayer: Mugen Train anime premiered in Japan. I don't know if this was intentional by the mods, but it's such an awesome thing; the HD Fan Fair mods are magicians!

I apologise for any flaws or mistakes. I am not a planner. I’m the type of writer who just throws words onto a page and see what sticks. For this fic, I did try to plan – I had a Trello board for this fic alone, but my plans are just vague storylines/ plot points, and I don’t strictly stick to them. Often, new ideas are conjured while I’m literally typing the words, and if I happen to love it, I’d write it and that changes the rest of the fic going forward. It's great but sometimes ideas fall through the cracks that I just forget to write into the story. Sorry!

I think that's it! Of course, I have a lot of thoughts but I've bored you enough! If you've read the fic and this whole thing, thank you!

Thank you to everyone who left comments. You make my day! I will reply to the last chapter's comments.

Have a nice day!

[itstimetotheorize]

little nightmares 2, would the world have been saved if the Black Tower fell?

A couple of weeks after the games release, David Mevrik, the lead narrative designer, sat down in an interview and answered some much needed questions about the little nightmares 2 game. Naturally, in an effort to maintain the mystery of the world, David proceeds to take every question that is thrown at him and gives a bizarre and cryptic answer in return. The only thing that he does confirm directly is the fact that little nightmares 2 take place before little nightmares 1, meaning that little nightmares 2 IS a prequel!

(link to interview)

https://www.gamingbible.co.uk/features/games-little-nightmares-2-ending-explained-writer-confirms-prequel-20210311

Although this one answer helped fans alleviate some major confusion, it still does not give us the answers needed to determine what exactly is going on in the little nightmares world. As the interview ends, David leaves us with his cryptic answers knowing fully well that we will do everything we can to try and decipher them in order to theorize for ourselves what is actually happening in this world of little nightmares. Now, out of al the things he was asked, one question in particular had constantly left my mind wondering and asking, “what did he mean by that?”

The question I am referring to is,  “ Who built the Signal Tower, and what was the inspiration behind it (both in terms of in-game lore and your IRL inspirations)?”

to which David replies, “The world of Little Nightmares doesn't work that way, creatures and places exist for a reason. In the first game, The Maw exists because the hunger exists, and here, The Signal Tower exists because the need for escapism exists. Sure, in the game it beams out The Transmission to everyone's TVs, but it would be trite and wrong to say that it's only about the ubiquity of screens. It's inspired by this idea of the spectacle; this thing that delights you in order to destroy you, that corrupts the way you see the world and blinds you to the true monsters. We have centuries of inspiration for something so foul, you just need a good pair of sunglasses.”

Out of all the details that can be taken from his cryptic answer, there was always one piece that had constantly stood out to me, “ The Maw exists because the hunger exists, and here, The Signal Tower exists because the need for escapism exists. Sure, in the game it beams out The Transmission to everyone's TVs, but it would be trite and wrong to say that it's only about the ubiquity of screens”

Out of all the words displayed within these sentences, David specifically chose “Trite” and “Ubiquity” in his response. Before, many of use were certain that we understood exactly what he meant, but did we really? when you look up the definition of these two words you would come to find that they mean so much more:

Trite- overused and consequently of little import; lacking originality or freshness.

Ubiquity- the fact of appearing everywhere or of being very common.

what does this mean exactly? it means that David might have been trying to tell us that just because the tower sends out its transmission to the world, it would be boring and unoriginal to believe that the world is the way it is just because there are a ton of tvs  broadcasting a single transmission. So then, if it truly isnt just about the tower and the tvs then what else could there be...or rather...what else is happening in the world that we don't yet know about?...what even is this world?!...perhaps... we have already been given that answer.

In the school, when mono is trying to solve the chess puzzle, there is something within the room that many of us, at the time, had overlooked and taken for granted. This particular item was something so common that we didn't even think about just how important it truly was within the little nightmares games and its world!, what exactly is this item that I am referring to?...its a region map...of the little nightmares world!

for those who do not know, world maps are often divided up into smaller pieces  to better organize them. The map seen within the school, reveals to us, a piece of the worlds geography! 

For the longest time, many of us had wondered what else was beyond the maw, sure we have seen the nest and the pale city, but this map is the first solid piece of evidence we have come across that tells us just how large the world of little nightmares is. What’s even more interesting is that this map, does not have the signal tower or the thin man drawn over it to symbolize their control/influence over the world!, what does it have drawn over every inch of it?... the all seeing eye!

For years we had suspected that an entity of higher power was present in the little nightmares games and for the longest time many of us had believed that the eyes, which were referenced all over the world, were a hint towards that higher entity. In another interview question, David is even asked, “A lot of fans believe that someone, some unseen threat, has been pulling the strings in the world Little Nightmares. Is this the case... and might we meet them one day?”

To which David replies, “That depends if I'm ever allowed to go out in public again.”

When David answers the question, he talks as if he were in a position where he lacks the free will to make his own simple choices, that he needs the permission of another presence that’s currently watching over him... just who or what is this other presence? well... isn't it obvious...its the eyes! 

Near the end of little nightmares 2, after mono frees six from her monstrous form, fans finally get the chance to meet the entity responsible for all the suffering faced by not just mono and six, but the entire world! As the tower begins to crumble, it reveals to us its true form, a gigantic fleshy mass comprised of giant eyes!

Whats even more surprising is that this giant eye entity may not just be located in the black tower. In Little nightmares 1, as well as the LN1 DLC, we see pictures of a similar eye within a structure/building!. 

However unlike the eye entity within the black tower, the eye seen in portraits on the maw appears to be located within some sort of light house...which ironically enough, if you look up the concept art of the maw, you would come to find that the maw had a lighthouse located atop the small island it carries! 

And I know what you are thinking, “but wait this is concept art, it didn't even make it into the final game”, yes, but the fact that this specific art is still seen REPEATEDLY throughout the maw in little nightmares 1 as well as the DLC, could possibly hint that this eye bearing lighthouse might still exist,  somewhere within the maw! What does this mean exactly? it means that even the maw, a large cruise ship that travels all throughout the oceans of the world, bears within it a large entity similar to the eye entity within the black tower of the pale city! What’s even more insane is that these two very distinct eyes, from two very distinct places, could very well be just two small pieces of a much larger mass watching over the entire world as it feeds upon its residents in one way or another! To be fair, we still dont know what exactly this thing is, let alone how it came to be in the world, but what we do know is that the residents of the world are obsessed with it!

David has always said that the maw exists because hunger exists and that the tower exists because escapism exists, but if each place existed from one corrupt human desire then I wonder... are there other structures like them in the world?, and do these other structures revolve around an entirely different existing human need that has been corrupted by the eye entities hypnotic light/spell ?...maybe...

Then again...this does beg the question... If the maw sank and if the tower was left to fall, would we have truly ended the nightmarish world that mono and six resided in or would we have simply ended two very small parts of a much larger nightmare occurring in the world? If the eye is truly responsible for all the suffering seen throughout the childrens lives, then what would the children of this world even do to fight the nightmare that they are trapped in ? would they continue to run and hide, hoping that it is enough to help them survive until adult hood?.... or would they need to accept the reality of this world... take the power that’s there...learn to make it their own and become themselves... little nightmares...

  honestly... whos to say.. should these children choose to make these heart wrenching decisions, would they still be viewed by the all seeing eye as victims?... or would they be seen as threats that need to be stopped before they have the chance to cripple the power it has used to feed upon the world it has latched itself onto....... I guess we will just have to wait and see... but hey, that’s just a theory, a little nightmares theory!

[noshitshakespeare]

Bro to that Shakespeare is an idiot anon, like i dont think Shakespeare was aiming for historical accuracy when he wrote his historical plays... they're just like a entertaining story that is rooted in references that people might know. Like isn't Richard III aimed to be like insulting the plantagents (however u spell it) for tudor rulers? How was Shakespeare even meant to get info on ancient people like Cleo? Most writing we have on her from the time is biased, and not entirely accurate. Smh

(Anon is referencing this post)

Historical accuracy is an interesting question. The concept of history as an unbiased account of what happened in the past didn’t exist in Shakespeare’s time (at least not in the same way it does now, if it does now), so in some ways, it’s not really relevant even to think about it in those terms. There were histories, and people did trust them as relating in some way to truth, but it was common practice for such histories to full-on invent a general’s military speech supposedly given before a battle as so on. In other words, you find fictional speeches like the St Crispin’s Day speech in supposedly historical accounts from the time. 

Sir Philip Sidney’s Defense of Poesy is great for early modern ideas about this because he’s so aware of the limitations of historical accounts in his time. As he says, ‘even historiographers, although their lips sound of things done, and verity be written in their foreheads, have been glad to borrow both fashion and perchance weight of the poets’. People like him were aware that histories were already literary in some ways. He also knows that however much they try, the historian can never really truly recreate the past in complete accuracy: 

Now for the poet, he nothing affirms, and therefore never lies. For, as I take it, to lie is to affirm that to be true which is false; so as the other artists, and especially the historian, affirming many things, can, in the cloudy knowledge of mankind,

Sidney is defending poetry and drama by saying that they never claimed to be accurate history, and therefore can’t be blamed for inaccuracy or accused of lying. In contrast, the historian, in claiming certain things as true while not actually knowing, could sometimes end up claiming something false. So insightful people from Shakespeare’s time like Sidney knew perfectly well that historical accounts they had were not necessarily accurate. In fact he goes as far as to say, at one point, that historians are ‘loaded with old mouse-eaten records, authorizing himself for the most part upon other histories, whose greatest authorities are built upon the notable foundation of hearsay’. Histories are written based on other histories, which are based on rumours. 

Sidney is great on the question of entertainment too, asking of the fiction-haters,

do they not know that a tragedy is tied to the laws of poesy, and not of history; not bound to follow the story, but having liberty either to feign a quite new matter, or to frame the history to the most tragical convenience?

Poets (this includes playwrights, by the way, since that word didn’t exist until Ben Jonson coined it), unsurprisingly, have poetic license and the right to change things as fits what they’re writing. The fact that Sidney is defending this does point to the fact that the opponents of theatre and poetry did raise inaccuracy as a reason to disparage the arts, but I think his defence is spot-on. There’s simply no need for writers to aim for historical accuracy.

Of course, Shakespeare did have some sources for his histories (see this post for example) and Roman plays (mostly North’s translation of Plutarch's The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans). And they were about as accurate as anything anyone could get their hands on at the time. I would go as far as to say that in many instances, Shakespeare stays very true to his sources, so his so-called ‘errors’ are not even always attributable to him. 

On the question of Richard III, though... Even if there is a propagandist element to it, I tend to feel that reading the play simply on those terms is very reductive. It’s hard to know how much the anti-Plantagenet ideology is something Shakespeare picked up from his sources (Shakespeare’s sources were pretty propagandist). Also, if he wanted to present Richard as a straightforward villain, Shakespeare didn’t need to make him so engaging, charismatic and brave (he does choose to show the last king of England ever to have died in battle doing exactly that). Looking at Shakespeare’s sources doesn’t just reveal what he keeps, but what he chooses to emphasise or change, and that gives us more of a sense of what interests him thematically, taking us beyond questions of accuracy and political conformity.

[yoitscro]

First thought: Homestuck^2 should've just been called Beyond Canon, and more people should call it that. 

The 2 was put on for chuckles; HS trending the day it was announced with it being a sequel spoke enough about how such a thing shant be underestimated, and why Homestuck is ABSOLUTELY more than just our small twitter crowd (and the scrap of us still on tumblr). I say that because remembering the Beyond Canon part slightly reassures me about the fact that this is a fanwork that will do some weird shit, and things I don't agree with, but isn't something that I have to subscribe to enjoying all the way with how I engage with Homestuck.

Homestuck 2 is not the canon continuation. Homestuck 2: Beyond Canon, is an OFFICIAL continuation.

Not having it on such an important stool and as the only content we all are only allowed to digest should come from both people who obsessively dislike it, and people who defensively support it. If a character says they kick babies then I can say, hey that's weird, maybe not great writing, but I can pretend they don't in my content, and i dont have to send threats or call people cishet white men for it! and, it's an absolutely great thing that we were all encouraged to create our own ideas without anyone who's influenced us to do so squinting their eyes when we actually go through with it. Glad I don't have to put this story up to the expectations of being a sequel to a 11 year, worldwide IP that's shooketh the internet landscape since it's merely optional, Death of the Author persists, and ideas aren't just dominated and revolved around the perspective of a 1% in this entire fanbase.

That said.

As an OFFICIAL continuation versus a canon one, HS2 is ok. It certainly has that fanfiction vibe, and a story it wants to tell. I can't really tell what that story is since we have like, 10 sub plots rn though. There's not a real a clear indicator on where the focus of main conflict is that connects all these stories together.

I thought that the prose in replacement of Vriska's battle was jarring, but not teeerribly surprising for the format HS2 is going for. It's more so using drawings to compliment text versus Homestuck's usual of panels being side by side with visual importance, or even itself being the one compliment. It sorta feels weird tho that it brought old fans back in with art just for them to get sneered at when they get a bit upset that there won't be main staples of art known to progress the story forward. 

Also people who mock people for “having to read homestuck” knowing there’s language barriers and struggling focus from those who’ve been use to something that was never so dense, are ridiculous.

Personally this could be solved by knowing how old flashes worked, having way more artists on the team, maybe even an art director if not already, and noting that we're not asking for the next Cascade. Rome wasn't built in a day, but Rose Ride sure was, and Homestuck’s animation is absolutely not the same as a 12-24 framed 12 minute cartoon. That, or just snuff the illustrative art as a whole since it's very clear on where the focus is.

I’m sure you’re not here trying to see my opinions on how the outer workings are though, versus plot.

Uuuuh, let's see. Yiffy's still a name I don't care to use until I eventually get tired of any of my art that do not show up in tags. This is fine and not as offensive as people are saying it is. Minors who want to cosplay this character don't have to call themselves this character. Not wanting to be one letter away from accidentally entering a very NSFW space of twitter is fine. Also the lot of people call Tavros, Tavvy.

I hope Kanaya's anger at being cucked is actually seen versus being implied through fan guesses and another character having to say she was.

Roxy needs to be more of an involved character. Where are they during all this?

Jane should have a mention of her relations to HIC being a main/bad influence on her current parallels to Alternian dictatorship.

The PRE-RETCON GROUP should have a fun one-shot update for fans who like them, since they oughta be around if they fell through the ghost hole. Most of them. The sprites that aren't Jasprosesprite should also show up too, since they're around.

Aaaaaand I think we should be extra careful going into the future when it comes to the alien rebellion. It's weird that a lot of the writers are white and toy around with concepts that can be a not so great parallel to racism. Currently not great timing rn! If the characters are going to remain aracial, but with them still doing not much to reference other non-white earth cultures or getting new hair cuts that have different textures (looking at you, Rose), we shant make the species with actual biological benefits a racism commentary. the xeno joke at least had a play on words. If any writer has happened upon this then a, please don't get mad at me again haha, and b, consider having more black writers or directional assistance on your squad. You know who they are.

In the future. I casually want the ghost from the Dream Bubbles to be shown since it's a big elephant in the room to not have a single one of them in the bg despite a load of them appearing from the ghost whole. Don't gotta give them speaking lines, especially the dancestors. I personally don't know if I want that right now.

I also hope in the future that we don't get HS content that is only going to revolve around HS2, if it's optional enough to engage with without being the only option. That's why PQ could ended a bit better for me, and why I hope it's not the main thing that's keeping Hiveswap on the backburner. I don't think it's farfetched to consider that multiple HS content could come from more than just one team; to relieve work load, but to also strengthen the idea that Homestuck can be a various amount of perspectives when it comes to the ideas fans have. The most dedicated fans leading the direction of the story is not just a handful of them. If anything, at least acknowledge the massive ass fan projects going on once in awhile to showcase the different avenues.

"Hey Cro, you sure have bitched about this alot. Do you have anything good to say? Why don't you stop reading if you hate it so much!"

Not every comment needs to be golden, love. Again, some of these decisions I eck at, but ultimately they're just words on a computer that I'm not holding anyone at gun point to do, and I'm curious to see how the story handles itself going forward, since again, it's just a fanwork. Sometimes I wish to not only see where the plot goes, but to see a writer's craft in action.

Good Things:

The Art. Again, please have more artists. It'd help so much, especially since the main one is also double timing for VE. That said, HS2 sticks out to me because of the way the color composition is used. Aside from hair and other tiny things, I haven't seen black used a lot, which makes colors pop. It's really nice to look at. I hope we get more sharper styles of character in the future, since it builds on nostalgia and makes the trolls feel much less like they're from Repiton, but I can deal with it for the most part. I also like that one panel where the omega kids and vriska are talking in the dark room, and based on where they're standing, the text aligns. Tasty as hell.

Meat and Candy still do hold neat logic in the direction the stories go. Candy, while it could be more tasteless in some areas, is chaotic and too much of a good thing. Meat is having something a little more straightforward, though I'm not sure quite yet where it's going. I always found Candy to be the part of the epilogue that actually entertained me the most, from how much of a surreal Robot Chicken skit at 3am it felt. Sometimes the jokes slapped real nice and made me wonder, going in, how is this monkeys paw gonna play out and, hopefully, make people laugh or smirk like they got a good roast at themself?

The slightly episodic feel of each update is what I wanted from the Epilogues, so it's interesting to see that play out when it comes to switching different perspectives.

The bonus updates get points for featuring characters that a lot of us have been wanting to see for ages.

Hopefully this isn't unpopular, but I think the tension of Yiffy's introduction was nicely composed and written (ignoring some of the things I wish for Jane). It leaves you with enough want to see what'll happen next time. You could also say that despite her growling and making a lot of noise, it's not actually bad writing: I see it as the audience being forced to see her in the same perspective that Jane see's her; a dog. Upon no context we're seeing the same thing while knowing things are obviously off, and once we see this character in a new environment where their personality shines, it'll have a bigger impact her own character being humanized. So I like that.

Okay, I think that's all I got. I improv wrote most of this; hopefully I won't be taken out of context since I don’t think that HS2′s writing should ultimately be a judgement of the writers as people, nor treated as if they should hold the same unhealthy work environment that Andrew forced himself to do when writing the og comic. And I'm still like, donating to the patreon and everything, lol.

[runs away]

edit: i was going to put the cw as another positive thing for the comic...but...yeaaaah.

[bigskydreaming]

How did you come up w/ the worldbuilding of By Lost Ways? Cause going by chapter 1 and your posts on the deck, it's fascinating and super well thought out!

LOL thanks! And yes I will be getting back to that now that I can like....actually enjoy feedback/comments from stuff I post instead of just posting and two seconds later be in crisis mode and completely forgetting I even just did that lol.

But in answer to your question, you know how there are novels like Fifty Shades of Grey and City of Bones that are basically fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, as some people call that? This is basically just the exact opposite. It was an original novel that was part of a bigger shared fantasy universe of mine called the Citadel, that I ended up not doing anything with because it had too many (superficial) similarities to another novel of mine, even though the latter was a sci-fi project. They actually werent that similar, just used a lot of the same aesthetics and tropes, like both had airships, etc, it was one of those things where they just FELT too similar when writing them, and that was causing complications in doing anything further with them so I decided to just let one go, and it happened to be the fantasy one, since I had a bunch of other projects in that same universe that I could shepherd various characters and elements over into.

But one thing I couldn’t ever really relocate was the idea of the Regents’ Deck, which was always a fave concept of mine, and then awhile back it occurred to me that the Batfam was actually really really easy to structure into the already existing framework of the Regents’ Deck and the overall world I’d built around it, and so I was like hey, Im not doing anything else with it, why not just make it a Batfam fanfic. So the story that resulted was a new thing, its not like I just swapped the names around, the plot of Hypotheticals of Being just didn’t work for a Batfam fic, at least not in any way that really engaged me, but it kinda just.....it was almost more like writing a crossover fusion of two fandoms, just one of them happened to be wholly of my own making, lolol. But basically like, the actual fanfic was just sorta like me writing another story in this same setting/lore that I’d already written one novel in, just with the Batfam characters instead.

As for the worldbuilding itself, in the initial form, like, worldbuilding is literally my favorite thing in the world lol, and also I happen to view as probably my biggest strength as a writer, so if there’s interest, I’d be down to do a post walking through kinda my whole ‘process’ there or whatever. Since I do have a certain approach I apply to pretty much everything I write, from fanfic to original projects, its just so ingrained its hard to kinda break it down into clear steps. But give me three things to use as a start point, and I’d be happy to kinda like, do a post ‘showing my work’ as I worldbuild around them.

The three things thing is kinda key for me, as I dont know entirely where it comes from or why I started doing it, I just noticed somewhere along the line that every fully formed project or world I create that I’m actually happy with, like....can always be traced back to three initial ideas I threw together. I’m not exactly sure why three is the magic number for me, it just kinda is.

For example, the world and initial story for this one grew out of these three seeds: Mother Sky, a Tarot Deck, and airships. Those were the three elements that popped into my head as wanting to do something with, and that I combined to come up with this world. (Mother Sky being like.....so I was thinking about all the various takes we have on Mother Earth, and I was wondering what would a world look like that viewed the Sky in the same way, like potentially if it was a fantasy sky-set civilization instead of land-bound).

So the basics of the world all grew out of just those three ideas, and then it was easy enough to flesh out by leaning on a lot of already existing worldbuilding for my broader Citadel mythology, to create the exact specifics of the plot/conflict. Not really relevant to the fanfic version now, as the focus on that stuff is most of what was cut when adapting it to Batfam, since I still have lots of Citadel stuff not related to this one particular project.

Like the basic idea behind the Citadel is that in this fantasy universe, the universe itself has a kind of rudimentary sentience, that constantly seeks out a kind of partner or symbiosis with sentient beings to kinda...drive its power. Like, its aware enough to know that it wants to grow and change and evolve, but relies on the imagination and creativity of sentient beings to do that. So it centralizes its powers of creation in a form that appears to most sentient beings as a kind of fortress or citadel, a seat of power, and anyone who enters it and assumes control over it, in effect becomes god. Able to reshape the universe and create anew according to their whims. And sometimes there’s just one person who stumbles across the Citadel, sometimes a pair or a trio, sometimes a full pantheon, with various individuals assuming sovereignty over set Rooms within the Citadel, and the forces those Rooms command (like gaining the Armory makes one a god of war, the Library a god of knowledge, etc, etc). 

But for all their power, the various residents of the Citadel rarely ever glean on to the fact that the Citadel is kinda ‘alive’ in and of itself, and the true power behind all the power they wield. And the one thing the Citadel detests is stagnancy. So whenever a god or gods or pantheon becomes complacent, stops USING the power of the Citadel as a force for change, stop driving the engines of creation to beget something new and instead just become content to kinda enjoy what they’ve made or reshaped things INTO.....that’s when the Citadel basically takes back its power and reappears as a temptation on the horizon for new seekers to find and ascend to godhood.

Anyway, the point being there’s been an endless cycle of the Citadel changing hands and everything that comes with it, up until what’s basically the beginning of this broader universe.....the ‘last’ residents of the Citadel are a full-fledged pantheon who were so destructive in their attempts to seize more and more control of the Citadel for just themselves or their allies, that they were basically destroying their entire world without any single one of them having control of enough of the Citadel that they could prevent this. Until one of them, Seshan, finally gained control of the Throne Room, the heart of creation, and using its power she basically locked all the other gods in their respective Rooms and broke the entire Citadel into pieces, flinging the others away into the void of uncreation. So for the thousands upon thousands of years since then, the various other gods have been able to create using just the power of their own Rooms, and move between each others’ various worlds, but are denied access to the Throne Room or the world it rests on, the world of their own creation.....and without it, none of them can put the Citadel back together and assume full control of it.

Or, y’know, restart the cycle of creation and destruction. Something the Citadel itself, unbeknowst to any of them, is really not happy about.

So you’ve got some gods who are content with things the way they are and happy being the only god in town in their respective worlds, you have others who are trying to use their worlds to one by one conquer the others’ and thus gain control of their Rooms, trying to gather enough power to kinda just force their way back through the locked doors to the Throne Room, and then you’ve got others who basically have been using eternity to settle old scores and grudges.

The latter happened to be the backstory for the setting for what became By Lost Ways - hence why it wasn’t too hard to pull these particular elements out and shift them to other settings. The original Mother Sky, the creator of this world, is in the Citadel-verse named Eriu, and she’s the supreme nature goddess of earth, sea and sky, being one of the most powerful of the deities with control of three separate Rooms. She used the Aviary to make this particular world, hence its magic being connected to and stemming from feathers, etc. The Dark One, the original Joker of the Regents’ Deck, is Dian, who controls the Pit and the Locked Room, and as such is the God of Temptation and Emptiness, Hunger and Corruption.

(Dian’s machinations back during the Holy Wars basically shattered the mind of Eriu’s lover, Indech, as Dian tried to manipulate him into gaining control of one of the most dangerous Rooms in the Citadel and use him as a proxy without risking himself. It half worked, as Indech gained control of the Room that made him the new God of Chaos, but in the process turned from the somewhat naive, gullible scholar Dian had been counting on him being, to someone just completely detached from anything other than his own interests - which were now fueled by the primal powers of chaos and his new worldview/conviction that nothing he did mattered and thus he could do anything free of consequence. Indech’s as distant and unreachable to Eriu as anyone else, and she’s had a vendetta against Dian ever since....which often takes the form of a merciless nature goddess rampaging through the worlds of Dian’s creation, heedless of the damage she leaves in her wake, as the more millennia pass, the more disassociated the gods become from their own origins. Some have even bought into their own hype and forgotten that they aren’t the only gods out there or even the first).

But anyway, that’s the story of how the worldbuilding for By Lost Ways came to be, lol, though for specifics on like, the actual process as opposed to the big picture stuff, just send me three things and I’ll walk through things from the start to whatever results.

For the record, I want to make clear I’ve been writing stuff in my Citadel ‘verse since I was fifteen, so any similarities to Brandon Sanderson’s shared universe are not incidental, but they’re also not me ripping him off - rather, I’m fairly certain we were both influenced in our worldbuilding/big picture stuff by the same novels when we were growing up. Like, its not that I’m above ripping other people off, its just that I want credit to go where its due. I ripped off Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and a little Michael Moorcock and some Zelazny. LOLOL.

[zeravmeta]

Ok so, my thoughts on the VR ending and VR overall as the 6th entry.

Also because most of my thoughts aren't...complimentary im editing the names so they dont appear in the general tag. This also got LONG so readmore.

The Good:

- A//i's character still managed to be the one thing that saves VR as a show for me. Even with all the weird...contradictory plot issues, A//i still manages to be a compelling character who brings up the question of the right to live. I actually do like how he made it so itd be an ultimatum that he loses in either way, even if the ending kinda ruins the weight behind the action (which I will get to in a bit).

The meh:

-the ending was left somewhat open to interpretation which for a show as...empty as this was works out but honestly it was so vague as to A//is fate is that it may as well not exist.

The Bad:

-The main conflict behind the entire show is...simulations. No joke. Every conflict in the show can be traced back to someone doing a simulation and deciding to lose it. Even if they gave the (rather stupid) explanation that AI experience simulations like actual life (which btw the first villain wasnt an AI so this reason doesnt work), the fact that Yu//sa//ku took a bullet for one of A//is robot bodies that he literally has millions of is...just stupid and there solely for the "uwu drama".

-They actually killed A//i off but wait hes actually alive, so like the final duel literally had no purpose aside from...drama??? The episode is called Compromise and yet A//i had to lose just to keep Yu//sa///kus win streak and theres no compromise whatsoever. Yu//sa//ku litetally destroys the CompromA.I.se card so its just, no comrpomise in any way.

-This....wasn't a happy ending??? I have no idea why both the show and the fanbase frame this as a happy ending bc think about it in context: A//i pretty much loses everything, so does Yu//sa//ku who just isolated himself from everyone else for 3 months in order to comb the network for whatever remnants of A//i exist.

- So many of the supporting characters are just...there. Like, there is no side/supporting character who actually has a character arc in this show. Lets go through the list: Ao//i is pretty much the same character as when she started and goes through 2 unnecessary costume changes for a character growth that isnt there because she has literally ONE victory against an opponent that was stated multiple times to be weak and faulty and have her lose and tortured multiple times for no reason whatsoever, G//o had this weird deterioration that may have lead to something but ultimately didn't, Ak//ira is pretty much the same, J//in has ALL HIS TRAUMA ERASED SO THERES THAT, literally the only side characters who have some sembalnce of an arc are Sho//ichi (the best one anyways) from his "betrayal" in S2, and E//ma with her reconciliation with her brother. Outside of that, nothing. Yu//sa//ku, Re//volv//er and Ho//mu//ra are pretty much the only characters with an arc and even then they're not too solid? Which brings me to-

- Yu//sa//ku has been so wildly ooc since the end of S1. Ive seen so many say that his enphasis on bonds and friendship are character growth but actually looking at the sequence of events he suddenly just like. changes completely around his first duel with Ea//rth. Plus, the message of "revenge is good" was always so weird? Like, he got his revenge so all his trauma is ok now and never brought up or explored again aside from within the first 20 episodes. Theres nothing about it after that and its never built upon. The whole point of a revenge arc is to show that its BAD and yet he starts preaching that revenge is wrong AFTER he successfully gets revenge??? And even then its not exactly a revenge as it is more lashing out since it was Ko//ga//mi who was behind it all. Yu//sa/ku was definitely at his strongest characterization in S1 where we see how badly the Lo//st Incid//ent hurt him but S1 had its own share of problems that led into S2 and so many random plot threads that never went anywhere (such as the Anot//her Incid//ents, the Cy//berse deck being irl despite that A//i didnt have a physical body before then, The Bl//ue Mai//den meetup that was repeated by Nao//ki like 10 times in S2 which seemed to be leading up to something but never did, and the fact that theres 4 recap episodes in S1 already spelled some early problems). So much of the supporting cast function to just say "he turned this whole situation around...with ONE card..." i kid you not watch back every Yu//sa//ku duel I GUARANTEE you'll see someone saying hes a great duelist and serve only that purpose. ALSO THE END OF THE SHOW IS JUST MORE DRAMA?? They make him suffer for no reason other than that they can??? What purpose does his suffering at the end serve aside from just "uwu...poor baby..."???

-Re//volv//er is not a good rival. At all. He's so incredibly bland because much like Yu//sa//ku he was at his strongest characterization in S1 where he actually had some solid motivation in continuing his fathers work and being unable to accept that his dad was evil, yet most of that just flies out the window with all the collateral he's willing to inflict with the K//O//H?? All his character amounts too post S1 is "yeah i told you robots are evil and YOU didnt believe me". The most we got of him growing out of this mindset was calling A//i by his name exactly one time and nothing ever again. Also the fact that in the end we see him and his crew working for S//O//L despite the fact that they were gonna turn themselves in for their crimes just. leaves a rotten taste in my mouth. hes not a good rival at all. All he proves to me is that a good design can get anyone to like a character.

- Ho//mu//ra is...there. I literally cant say anything about him because he absolutely has the strongest motivations of the three but then the show jumps through hoops to push him to the back of the other two. He also has a bunch of early victories I do feel are undeserved (ESPECIALLY the A//oi duel that one pissed me off so much). Also the fact that the show just made him Yu//sa//kus friend immediately whereas it took Sho//ichi several months to get Yu//sa//ku to warm up to him just had me :/.

-The speed duels were a cool concept but they just became these huge cheat fests? Seriously Play//Maker uses StAccess literally every speed duel to pull out a new monster from whatever plot holes the writers need to patch up. I am not kidding. You can go back to every single speed duel Yu//sa//ku was in and youll see this. Skills just werent a good mechanic because when a protag pulls a new card its supposed to be representative of some growth/characterization but he stays the same pretty much throughout the entire show up until S2 where he wildly just switches personality. Plus the fact that Que//en could literally use a skill whenever just shows that it was cheating???

- The villains were overall lackluster. Boh//man was the best because Re//volv//er is just flat whereas A//i struck me more as an anti hero. And again: simulations are the enemy. Light//ning ran one and decided to go ham. Kog//ami ran one and decided to go ham. A//i ran one and decided to go ham. The conflicts are all the same and it just makes things happen rather than following a consistent plot thread? I will say that Boh//mans characterization of a hive mind to become perfect does strike my tastes but thats more my personal preference in villains rather than any merit he has.

- This is a bit of a personal pet peeve but I've seen some of the praise to this show about being the "darkest Y//G//O to date so therefore its good" and im just...no? Edge does not make a good show and just because they lightly focused on the tragedy in Yu//sa//kus life (and it IS lightly because its barely touched upon after mid S1) most of the stuff that happens in this show is pretty tame in comparison? The most that happened here was an attempted global hack of everyones minds from S2 and destroying the internet in S1, with a few references to the torture that happened during the Lo//st incid//ent. To compare: the previous series had this huge interdimensional war that, even if they could reverse the carding of people (which makes Den//nis' attempted suicide even more tragic), ended with an entire dimensions full of brainwashed soldier children, a dimension with huge class inequality that was still being heavily worked upon since there were canonically slaves, and a dimension that was savaged by a genocide and total global destruction. Hell, the series before that had a huge war where the arc actually did focus on the tragedys the characters faced and held consequence (even if they pulled a dbz revive everyone at the end). And as far back into the very first series there were even more graphic depictions of war and death? Idk i feel like people are overplaying the edge here just to find a way to complement this show.

Overall:

I'm...genuinely dissappointed. VR really had so many strong starting points but it all just fell apart at execution. Really the only reason I even bothered to watch it as kong as I did was because Im a longtime fan of the series and wanted to give it a chance rather than jump on whatever love/hate train the show has. Its been rated poorly on the JP side and most of the approval is a vocal minority. Just to be clear: this isnt me bashing the show, my opinions are mine and you can agree or disagree to any capacity, and even if a show isnt well written you can still find a reason to enjoy it despite the flaws.

But if Im being perfectly honest? I do not like this show. It's rushed, choppy, has no consistent or clear plot threads, most of the genuinely interesting characters are wasted for the protagonist to look better and he never really does because he ALSO has an interesting idea behind him but it never goes anywhere. It started strong but ended so poorly. Id be angry but im more dissappointed because Ive watched this show from day 1 and wanted to see the good things it has rather than focus on the negatibes but. yeah. This show really had potential and yet it just fell flat.

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

HIStory’s ranked (no one asked, but here i go)

so i was sittin here, talkin to myself about the HIStory series’ and was like ‘hey, i should rank them’ (which i’ve seen a few other people do, but mines a lot more rambling than there’s because i can’t shut up lol) 

so here’s my views lol (ordered from worst to best, imo):

6) My Hero (HIStory1) -

probably universally acknowledged as the worst episode, and i’d be inclined to agree with the masses on this lol... not only is the tone and humour of this series so weird and disjointed, but the entire story line literally makes no sense lol?? it’s unclear who the audience should be rooting for (especially as it goes out of it’s way to paint our protagonist as really unlikable lol, not to mention the love interest is the dullest character ever conceived like ???), as well as this the ending feels completely unrelated and bizarre... 

i think this concept /could/ have worked if the guy the woman was inhabiting (which sounds weird without context, but like she’s dead lol) was somehow also inside his head? or if she got to see his memories or whatever & tries to adjust her personality to match the guy’s, causing love interest!dude to fall in love with the guy... (like i could go into more detail, i basically hav an entire au written in my head lol, but yh...)... that way, her letting go of him in the end would feel so much more well set up? especially if she was generally more understanding and likeable.. 

i think overall this series just fails in telling a decent story lol... & the cringe is even beyond what i can handle lol

5) Obsessed (HIStory1) -

people might be surprised to see this one so low down, especially since i know a lot of people really love this series (& if u do, no hate to u btw, ur allowed to like whatever u want idc), but i realllllly don’t like this series... like at all ...

the plot is weird anyway, which isnt inherently a bad thing, but then u add on the really bad couple and it’s just...... bad lol... like everything about their relationship is built on lies and deceit, and even more so than that it’s built on a lack of mutual respect and fundamental trust for each other! tall guy (i don’t know names soz) feigns memory loss in order to get closer to short guy (btw, the scenes with them being domestic were really sweet, & i firmly believe this could have been an alright series for the actors if the story line wasn’t so bad), short guy’s whole existence in that universe was a lie lol (like i know there’s no easy way to tell someone ‘lol well i’m technically from the future’ but still), then there’s the whole resolution at the end & it’s just so ??? frustrating lol!

nothing bugs me more than seeing conflict in relationships (on screen or irl) that could be solved simply by TALKING TO EACH OTHER GODDAMNIT & isnt lol... my other issue with this series is the fact tall guy 100% forced himself upon short guy in the tent & like we’re just supposed to accept it cos ?? he’s saying no and pushing away but actually he wants it because he loves tall guy ?? like fuck no i’m not accepting that lol! 

basically, bad & bizarre story & characters, & gross tropes just makes this hard for me to watch and enjoy lol... i think, like in my hero, this could’ve done with being a different story altogether lol... (maybe tall guy actually did lose his memory & he falls for short guy all on his own with no predatory intentions?? idk something like that)

4) Right or Wrong (HIStory2)

this one & my number 3 are very much tied tbh, but this one is just slightly lower just because i’m not as big into the couple as i know a lot of people are... & it’s not necessarily the age gap, cos i dont actually mind age gaps in pairings (just as long as the younger one isnt a minor, obv... and also i think any gap that’s 30+ years is a bit weird lol..).. i think my big problem with this is i dont really see why younger guy (again, i have no idea of any of these characters’ names lol) would fall for the older guy? like the older guy is obvs going thru some issues, and hasnt been taking care of himself or his kid properly because of them, but like we dont rly see a lot of why he’s a great guy? like we get the sense young guy is attracted to him, but like love is more than just thinkin they’re hot lol... idk lol this might just be me tbh i just couldnt see why he’d be interested lol

i did like the whole family side though, and showing how a man who was previously with a woman can still end up with a guy (bisexualityyyyy (or some variation of that thereupon)) is something you dont always see in media, so i thought that was pretty cool! (even if the ex-wife thing was kinda lame lol...) 

i think overall i see what this series was going for, and that it actually did an alright job in some parts... the biggest problem is that it’s kinda just forgettable lol... maybe that’s why people like obsessed so much lol? maybe it was a train wreck but ohh boy at least u wont forget it in a hurry lol!

3) Stay Away From Me (HIStory1) -

i’m a bit torn about this one, cos there are parts of it i actually really like (them going from rivals/enemies to being good friends to being more), and other parts i really didnt (the stereotypical squealing yaoi fangirl friend)... & tbh, i kinda wish this had just been a show about the budding friendship between the 2 guys... it almost feels too forced to me that they’re made to ‘fall in love’ when i actually think them both becoming less selfish and learning to respect each other as step brothers & friends is actually already a really great story (& i know that it doesnt fit with the whole ‘HIStory’ thing, but stories of platonic brotherhood/’bromance’ are just as important as gay representation... isnt a /substitute/ for representation, don’t get me wrong, but it’s always so beautiful to see decently portrayed non-toxic friendships between guys... ok this is a rant for another day tho shhh)

i think maybe why i like this one more than the other HIStory1′s is because kinda nothing happens lol... it’s not overly complex with weird unexplained magic things happening, it’s just a simple story lol... is it still tropey as hell? of course lol! but i think the ‘realism’ of the world really helps, and i def think this was incorporated more into HIStory 2, which i’m really glad about...

overall, this is a relatively harmless series & is actually quite sweet at times... the kiss is awkward as fuck tho (there, i said it lol...)... it suffers the same forgetability as right or wrong tho... 

2) Crossing the Line (/Boundary Crossing) (HIStory2) -

ok, so here’s a series i 100% love & totally agree with the hype around lol! i hav no interest in volleyball (or any sports tbh), but the way this show handles the friendships and dynamics between the characters is really well done, especially for a series that’s only 8 episodes long! i also really love that none of the characters really fall into any stereotypes (which is a great improvement from HIStory1 i can tell u lol), and are given the space to actually have some growth & nuance at times?! 

(nuance? in MY HIStory series?? it’s more likely than you think!)

the main couple have really amazing chemistry, and the way they get together doesnt feel too out of place or that it’s going to fast, it just sorta flows really nicely... even the side couple are pretty well done (though i wasnt that big into them on my first watch, just cos the whole overbearing older brother thing was kinda annoying... i liked them more as the series went on tho...)

i kinda dont have any major complaints? which is bizarre cos i always hav complaints about things lol... maybe my complaint would be that they all look way too old and attractive to be whatever teenage age they’re supposed to be lol... (but tbh that doesnt take anything away from the story so i’ll forgive them lol...)... i think maybe i wouldnt consider it my favourite because the story line didnt grab me like the number 1... but i really cant fault it in terms of what it delivers lol, legit such a well put together series!

1) Trapped (HIStory3) -

lol i think anyone who’s been following me for the past few months aren’t in the slightest bit surprised this is my number one... i just love it too much lol!

from the incredibly well written and well acted characters, to the interesting and engaging (even if a bit ridiculous) plot, to the beautifully told romance , it really has it all doesn’t it!!! & i think even if this wasnt an enemies to lovers thing (aka one of the most godtier of all fanfic tropes), there’s so many things going for this series that make it worth watching! i have a few complains about editing choices and a few bad trope plot points which were just unnecessary (plus the fact we missed out on a lot of background info on some major characters lol...), but like despite everything this series rly struck a chord with me deep down in my soul lol

i could go waaay more into detail (and maybe i will one day lol... tho not rn, i’m v tired), but the gist of the matter is: i really love trapped lol

(conclusion)

Even though i’ve complained quite a bit here, i am so grateful for the HIStory series’ for bringing really interesting, and a little mad, stories with gay characters and story lines, with a big emphasis on happy endings! there are so many lgbt stories/characters in things that end up dying or just have bad endings, which just sends this horrible message that lgbt people aren’t worthy of having happy endings, which is completely untrue! 

So i look forward to future HIStory’s, even if some of them are gonna be bad (& maybe none will live up to the trapped!shaped bullet firmly lodged in my heart lol)

fin~

[ajoycegallogo]

( SEASONS ❄🍃🌞🍁)

( SHORT STORY )

"WINTER" ❄

love is such a fleeting concept nowadays , you can keep saying " I LOVE YOU " to someone and it wouldn't mean much .

I used to be one for romance, one of those who would sing about how love conquers all or one of those who still

believed that true love still exists , but as the seasons changed , so did my perspective on love .

It was during the first days of winter , the snow slowly falls on to the paved roads , the leaves have started

to wither , and my heart freezing over, reacting to what had just occured .

I was patiently waiting at the diner where my boyfriend and i frequented , the familiar smell of the eggs and bacon

from the kitchen , the soothing music of the jukebox permeating the room , and kind smiles of the waiters would always

put my mind at ease , we were set to meet there for our dinner date and i was planning to ask a very important question.

as I saw his figure approached the door , his face seemed gloom . he then sat down on the chair from mine .

" what's the matter baby ? " I asked

" We need to talk." he answered meekly , "This is not working out anymore ."

Taken back i answered , "what do you mean baby ?"

" stop calling me that! " he yelled at me.

after that everything was just a blur of colors and a jumble of word . that conversation lasted about 20 minutes before

before he decided to leave , i was too shock to give chase . as i sat there thinking about how everything went wrong ,

I took the small box from my coat pocket only to open it and wonder what am i gonna do with this couple ring that i am

planning to gave him as a gift for our anniversary . I felt as if my world has been turned upside down , after 2 years

into a relationship I thought that we were strong enough to last a lifetime . after wallowing in my sorrows for about an

hour , I decided to go back home and never come back to that diner but before i went out the door , i wanted to leave

a parting gift to the place that had hold so many memories .

I placed the the box with our two rings inside in the counter with a note that reads , " I didn't had much luck with this .

I hope that it would be more useful for you ." and left the place .

the walk home that night was a lonely one , the winds were singing a harrowing tune, the sound of the birds are nowhere to

be heared , and even the annoyance of traffic is nowhere to be heared , my heart that day was as frozen as the winter day .

(SPRING 🍃)

Nicole , a few friends , and i went to the salon and went to buy clothes is done .

As we arrieved at the place , I can tell that the air is fresh and relaxing filled with the smell of vanilla coffee,

oh how i missed this place .

the girls took their time taking pictures and posting it on their social media accounts .

while I would love to join nicole listening to music while enjoying the view . I decided to step

out a little far from where they are and get some time alone feeling the place where i can see the swing

that reminds me of him .

I've always love the night air , the view of the city lights makes me feel lightened up the absence of car noises

is calming .I then decided to ride on the swing to emmerse myself , and to think .

looking back, I found myself asking questions like ; why i didn't see it sooner ? was it my fault ? and why

have I let myself go ? these and thousand more questions were swimming in my mind , a part felt like screaming at the

world , thinking what I did do to deserve such a fate . As I put my hands on my face , hurt at everything that had happened

, I found out that I was no longer alone .

" Wow, A guy said from other end of the bench , " you look terrible everything okay , there ? " i will never forget the

first time I looked upon that manly figure , his beautiful deep brown eyes pierced right through my soul .

"Hello? he exclaimed ," not much of a talker are you ? well dont mind me then. " he then takes out a little pad and

starts to scribble something on it .

"what you got there ? " I finally asked .

" we'll someone finally decided to talk ! he said and smile, " well if you really want to know , I usually go out on quiet

night like this to draw . and tonight I found myself drawn in this place .

" Are you like some sort of an artist ? '"

He then laughs a hearty laugh " oh I wish I was that good , but no this is just something I love to do to get my mind

off of the things that stresses me out . " she then caught eye that I kept looking at his sketch pad , " would you like

to see some of my drawings? "

" I would love to . " he then handed me his sketch pad and as i flipped through his work, my eyes laid feast on beautiful

pencil work of buildings , nature , people , and all manner of beautiful scenery . " Wow , you are amazing at this !"

" Thanks ... " he replied , " the name's Yuki by the way ." he then reaches out to shake my hand .

" I'm jillian , care to share what are you doing here by yourself ?

" we'll if you see right there , " I said as I am pointing at my friend taking pictures , I was with those girls a bit

earlier but I decided to step out and get some time alone ,"

" Well if you want to go have some fun , I know a spot that is pretty awesome ." he said while standing up and holding

out her hand , " so do you want to come with or not ?"

I took his hand and exclaimed , " alright , lead the way ." t

he said with a big grin on his face while he drags me to a place that I wa unfamiliar with . Thinking about it now ,

why did I trust him so easily? he was a complete stranger and yet I feel like I already know him .

after around 10 minutes of walking we arrined at the place called " solace "the place was not crowded but kinda lively

. it was a small cafe on the edge of the town , the atmosphere there was so much more realxing than the place that

i used to go . " what do you think of the place ?"

" wow ,I said while I was scanning the place full of vintage knink knacks and paintings , " this place is amazing . how

did you find this place? ' I've lived all my life in this city and I'VE Never found this place ."

" This place just opened up, a friend of mine owns it , So if you come here with me , you can get a discount ."

" sweet , you must have some interesting friends ."

" Ha - Ha yeah ." a moment of awkwardness then ensues .

" i think we should take a seat ." I said in attempt to break the atmosphere .

" Oh right , I know a good spot . " he then leads me to a spot on the roof everlooking the countryside .

" you're right . this is amazing spot ".

" yeah ... OH I already ordered us their most amazing drink , I'm sure you'll love it . It's bavarian coffee

and it is by far the best coffer I have ever tasted ."

" I'll take your word for it " , as I said that , the waiter brought us the drinks , " Well speak of the devil ."

" cheers ." he said as he raises his glass . as we drank the coffee , the bitterness of the coffee started to dance

on my toungue , as well as something sweet , is it milk / fruit ? or maybe it's the coffee itself? eaither way ,

that coffee huh?"

" definitely never tasted something like that before . i love it " the night then continue with some lovely conversation

between strangers . We were so preoccupied with each other that the staff had to kick us out because the place was

closing .

"Wow !" she exclaimed , I didn't realized we were talking that long ."

" yeah me neither ." I commented , But I had a really nice time with you."

he smiled shyly , Hey do you want to do this again sometime? "

" Yeah , I'd love to . " we then exchanged numbers and went on our seperate ways . that night I went back home that day

with my friends , a smile on my face , and once frozen heart started to bloom once more.

(SUMMER 🌞)

A few months passed and we kept seeing eachother , sometimes to small places , like our favourite hangouts , other times

to some place special , like a masked ball . we gotten to know eachother very well . and as the summer times roll in ,

we had dated for about two months , " hey there sweet cheeks ." he said to me in a sweet manly voice ,

" what do you want to talk about ?"

"hey there big butt." I said as I try to keep the atmospehere , what's the rush ? can't we just eat and drink first ?

he started to stare me down ,suspicious of my intentions , what's the matter yu?

" you're acting really suspicious right now," he said that as the waiter brought us our food , " did my food had poisoned?

"what ? no ! why would I even do that? "

" I dont know maybe you think im annoying but breaking up with me is too hard and now you're getting rid of me

the old fashioned way. "

I sat there with a bland look on my face . " yu that doesn't mean make any sense , If I found you annoying , why would

I be asking you to move in with me ?

he sat back with a stunned look on his face , " what ... you want me to move in with you ?"

" We'll we've been together for a while now and I think we're ready to take our realtionship to the next step ,"

as I said as I handed him the keys to my apartment , " so yu would you like to move on with me ?"

I stood up , he grabbed me and kiss me on the foredhead , " yes ofcourse I would love to but wouldn't it be better that

we built our own house after this ?

" we will get there yu ."

" I love you jill "

" I blushed ... " I love you too yu ."

at a loss for words , I did the onlt that I was appropriate to do , he ran to me and embraced me . " thank you , he said

our favorite stuffs and ourselves , we meant the world to eachother and nothing can separate the both of us .

I felt like the most luckiest man alive to have you by my side ."

A few more months passed and I our love only grew during those times . We knew everything about ourselves .

(AUTUMN🍁)

YU'S POV

that day , we were supposed to meet by the park where we first met . The autumn leaves were starting to fall , the

wind had started to turn cold , and I was sweating with anticipation . WE were together for 10 months , that's not

a long time , I bought her the ring last week , it wasn't the fanciest ring out there but I thought that she would

okay with it , I waited for her at the bench where we met each other for the first time , I was lost in thought of

our future together , the family we would make , when I heared the screaming ,

I immediately ran towards it , it was a car crash and as I move through the crowd and I saw a body lying on the ground,

it was jillian ... I wa shocked , I immediately ran towards her , held her and yelled , " Somebody please ! Somebody

call an ambulance ! frustrated at the slow reaction of the crowd , I carried her all the way to a nearby hospital .

I slammed through the door and screamed , " Somebody help! Somebody help my girlfriend ! " One of the nurses took her

and send her to the operating room . I followed close behind but was stopped by one of the staff. ' i'm sorry you

have to wait here ." and then it started the most frustrating few hours of my life . it was agonizing , the uncertainty

of what is to happen , the self - blame that I had to endure , and the feeling of helpless was consuming me .

after a solid 5 hours , one of the doctors came up to me , " So doc , when can I see my girlfriend ? "

the doctor just stood there , unsure of how to break the bad news , but i could already tell.

I'm sorry ," the doctor said as I began to break down in tears , " we found this in her backpack . I think

you would like to keep it ." he handed me his a box and as I opened it there are two rings inside a couple ring

the last thing of hers that I held . I sat back down looking through her at the morgue with her cold body .

my eyes filled nothing but tears .

A week after her death , here we are now , at her funeral . Her family asked me to do a speech on her behalf .

I'm nervous , anxious about what to say . and worried that I don't get to say what I need to say . But as I

walk towards the altar and as her coffin is being burried , "My love for her will never falter and yet my heart

has dropped and may never rise again just as the leaves of an autumn ."

( END)

@queenlupitajones

I would like to apologize sir for passing this after the deadline 🙏

BY : Angel Joyce Gallogo

HUMSS 3

[letstalksymphogear]

Symphogear, EP. 4 (Cont)

The gremlin challenges Tsubasa, a Symphogear, whose entire shtick is to sing to channel power, to sing.

It dawns on her, however, that Tsubasa is part Greninja. Tsubasa used Shadow-Weaving! It’s super effective.

“tell me, you jellyfish looking weirdo...”

“hey- hey, time out. are you gonna do what i think you’re gonna do. this is gonna like, kill you. you know that, right? that you will literally die? you do understand you can just retreat now or- or just take hibiki away, right? i even told you that was the whole point of this... uh... oh shit.”

“ARE YOU READY TO JAM”

“tsubasa please i will literally lend you my remaining brain cell to stop you from this really stupid mistake”

Dad has entered the server.

“oh my god. oh my god. oh my god. oh my god. o- ryoko. stop breathing on me. this isnt helping my anxiety over my adopted daughter figure literally preparing to kill herself over my commands.”

“sorry babe its just the asthma, forgot my inhaler”

“i cannot FUCKING believe of ALL the opponents i had to fight i had to fight the DUMBEST one on the goddamn block, you idiot, you absolute dunce, RETHINK THIS”

“OH GOD SHE’S DOING IT! SHE’S DOING IT! THE ABSOLUTE MADWOMAN- FUCK- FUCK! GET ME OUT OF HERE! FUCK! FUCK!”

“just used up my last brain cell for this attack, pal. you’re through.”

“NAH, EAT ASS YOU- YOU GODDAMN MANIAC”

“HAHA YEAH, GOT YOU NOW, SLOW WALKING, DRAMA INDUCIN’, PURPLE RAIN CHANN-”

“OH GOD! YOU TELEPORTED! YOU’VE GOT SV_CHEATS SET TO 1, DON’T YOU! NOCLIPPING LIKE NOBODY’S BUSINESS GET OUT OF MY FACE”

“WHOA WHOA WHOA WHAT THE FUCK WHOA I KNOW I CRACKED SOME JOKES BUT WE LITERALLY JUST MET AND I- I GOTTA KNOW PEOPLE FIRST BEFORE THIS SHIT AND- OH GOD PLEASE STOP”

“OH GOD! THIS... RAW, GAY, REPRESSED ENERGY... IT’S... TOO STRONG...”

The gremlin could not begin to comprehend Tsubasa’s intense love for incredibly well-built redheaded women.

Hibiki can, though.

“SO......... MUCH........... SAUCE...................”

“.................................................”

The gremlin retreats after getting her licks. This scene subtly implied something; the Nehushtan armor she wears regenerates over time, which means no matter how much damage it sustains, it will always return in one piece. The same can’t be said for the user, though.

Hibiki runs to Tsubasa, checking if she’s okay, totally oblivious to the gravity of what just happened.

“i came just as i could and ive brought happy meals for everyone”

Genjuro asks if Tsubasa is okay.

I dunno man, this is a pretty tough judgement call here. I mean, is she okay? Pain is a pretty subjective experience, after all.

“oh my god i get it. i get the joke she implied. she wanted to jam. she’s jammed! cause it- it looks like jam! no, wait, its more like sauce...”

It dawns on Hibiki that people actually do die during this job.

Tsubasa, as it turns out, survived her Swan Song. It makes sense that she would because she was naturally receptive to her relic, Ame-No-Habakiri. Still, the injury comes with great gravity. She’s benched for the next season, and it’s likely she’s gonna miss the playoffs.

Stuck on a respirator on the edge of life, Tsubasa will probably look back at this and go, “Gosh, I was such a wild child. Haha. Almost dying and all.”

Hibiki wraps her single braincell around the idea of death. Most main characters aren’t familiar with the concept of death, you see, because most don’t die. But this is Season One Symphogear. Flirting with death is common.

Ogawa comes in to comfort her.

“dumbass had her opponent bound and the gremlin still escaped anyway”

Ogawa then explains shit we already know. Thanks, Ogawa.

“in summation: i get where you’re coming from, but stop fucking saying ‘im gonna replace kanade’, please, im begging you”

Hibiki FINALLY gets it, and naturally upon realizing, feels really bad for it. A real right and true asshole.

“oh thank god i was worried not even that was going to get to you”

Meanwhile, in Tsubasa’s mind...

“ah fuck me. im trapped in metaphor limbo. see, im falling because i clipped my wing, cause i nearly died, you know, like icarus and shit”

“hold up my gay senses are tingling”

Her senses confirmed. Kanade is in her mind, in probably the most romantic metaphor possible. There is absolutely no way to interpret all of this platonically.

Tsubasa is literally submerged in a sea of her own emotions...

Involving Kanade, and how she strives to be like her and honor her memory.

SHE LITERALLY DROWNS IN THOSE EMOTIONS, SUBMERGING DEEPER INTO THE WATER.

Tsubasa, in her Symphogear Brand Medical Cocoon for the Dumb and Beaten Down, quietly slumbers in her semi-comatose state as she wrestles the water metaphors of her own sexual identity.

The poor thing just misses her girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Hibiki sits and thinks more than usual. In a flashback, Genjuro muses about how The Gremlin wanted to kidnap Hibiki.

“i dunno maybe The Gremlin’s super lonely or shit”

“i mean if thats the case ill just adopt her too”

Since Tsubasa is away, Hibiki has to pick up the quota for teenage angst in the 2nd Division. Unfortunately, she has very big shoes to fill, but Hibiki isn’t one for slacking in the misery department. She blames herself for everything.

“im really going to fire the therapist we have around here for being pretty damn useless”

“can i be the therapist?”

“ryoko i am absolutely begging you to filter your bad ideas given the several teenage crises we’re dealing with right now”

Hibiki then yells out, for what is possibly the third time, out of the blue:

“I HAVE PEOPLE I WANT TO PROTECT”

The flashback ends.

And speaking of girlfriends.

“there is no force on this planet stopping me from having some quality fucking time with my girlfriend damnit”

Miku points out Hibiki has been pretty lonely. Says she heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another she was messin’ ‘round.

Unfortunately, Miku is a goddamned chad.

Immediate handholding. Make no mistake. Behind those soft-spoken eyes lies an absolute master.

“o-oh, my hand, you’re holding it, so smoothly”

“hibiki, you’re my sunshine. i want to soak up your rays so hard that every piece of flesh of my body is horribly mutilated from skin cancer.”

“jesus christ miku at least use sunscreen in your metaphors”

“ill use them just for you, hibiki. just for you.”

Their relationship is interesting. When one of them is sad, the other sorta acts as an angst vacuum. You’ll see them flip flop with their points of misery with each other, but when together, those problems always melt away.

Of course, emphasis on being together. Season 1 is the worst with keep them away from each other.

“Just Be Yourself!” Miku Kohinata, Symphogear, 2012.

“fuck me, you’re right. im the protagonist. i cant just eat shit here the whole time. i gotta do protagonist things!”

“was that an invitation?”

“another time. but now... let’s just catch up.”

And so, they laugh together about how the recorded footage of the meteor shower was all black. Truly the greatest couple of all time.

It is this realization of being her own self, coupled with her renewed gay energy, and new perspective on what she must do, that causes everything to go uphill for her from here. Take note.

Here is where a God is truly born.

Tachibana Hibiki.

The end of this episode cuts to a specific dojo.

Genjuro’s dojo.

“i dont fuck around with training, even though i probably should have trained you sooner. you sure about this?”

“dadman either you do this or i will most definitely die next time”

Part of their training involves watching action movies, because Genjuro is so unreal that he should frankly be a fictional character in the very universe he exists in.

Fucking adorable.

“im so conflicted its so clear she’s part of /fit/ now but i cant help but imagine her washboard abs”

Hibiki balls even harder at karaoke now, due to her Symphogear training, and not because she’s secretly Aoi Yuki playing a recolored version of Madoka.

Her significant other is mildly terrified at the superhuman that is slowly unfolding her powers before her eyes.

In the end, things all reach their logical conclusion.

Hibiki becomes a Tekken character, just like Genjuro.

Of course... Miku pushes the fact very subtly that she would never hide anything from Hibiki...

Turmoil brews in the worst way... soon...

[orange-antics]

Eddsworld miscellaneous hcs

ok there's probably like 100 of these already or something, but I thought I'd add mine anyway, because hey, it's fun and I'll probably change or add a few later. (Also this ended up waaaaaaaay longer then i meant it to be wh o ops so uh be warned its pretty damn long-)

Tom:

Shortest! (i know it's normally either edd or tord, but after seeing saloonatics, I just couldn't resist the idea of the grumpiest one being the smallest. Cute right?)

Relatively strong arms, more fat around his stomach and torso then his legs.

Occasionally works gigs at local clubs and stuff for money.

Doesn't have much social media aside from Facebook so he can occasionally stalk his old college mates.

He actually likes sports like football and tennis. (His favourite sport is seeing how many bars he can hit up in one nigh-//shot//)

His hair smells like pineapple! (And the rest of him like booze-)

He's up for pretty much anything if he's drunk enough to have fun and not remember enough to regret it

But not bowling.

N e ve r bo wl ing

He's still got a scar on his left arm from The End. :( But Matt and Edd helped him to fix it up, so it's all good!

He's actually a pretty chill and sensible guy, and despite being snarky and sarcastic whenever he can, he genuinely cares about his relationships with people, scared that one day they'll get bored of him and cast him aside. He's really just a goofball with big city dreams of becoming a rockstar.

Spends like two hours in the shower crying and listening to MCR

His favourite show is Bad Education. It's good for when he needs cheering up.

He likes snacks and foods that are crunch, and salty, spicy, and sometimes savoury. So Crisps, Pringles, Doritos, chex mix etc.

Edd:

Second shortest/third tallest

Kinda chubby tbh but he's the BEST at hugs.

His forearm game is actually pretty strong because of all the time he spends making art to pay for their bills (because hey, someone's gotta do it amirite). You don't wanna head into an arm-wrestling contest with this guy.

Makes money by selling his art and also taste-testing all the latest cola products! (Just...not the diet ones).

Aside from a devianart, redbubble and maybe even a tumblr for art commissions, he doesn't really care about social media. Or regular media. Politics who?

His favourite sport? Seeing how many cans of cola he can get through on an especially difficult project. (Cricket always looked kind of fun though)

Smells like cola and not taking a shower in days because he HAS to get the lineart perfect and edd are you ok when was the last time you slept- (jokes aside, i can see him smelling like graphite and paints and sharpies from his art supplies).

Can pull the perfect poker face like damn son having a baby face sure comes in handy when lying to your roomate about why there's broken guitar strings hanging out of Ringo's mouth again

Has a scar on the inside of his eyelid from the time Tom 'accidently' poked him in the eye with a pencil (...may or may not be based off personal experience)

Edd is pretty friendly and open with people, he likes getting to know them and joking around. He's the Ultimate Punmaster ™, and loves nothing more to poke fun. He sees the world through the eyes of a cartoonist, and will never miss a comedic opportunity.

Be warned! He's actually fairly smart, and can read people well, knowing just how to really get under someone's skin. It's a good thing he can't be bothered with any of that though.

Gets his best ideas either in the tub or when hes just about to sleep. Because of that, he keeps a water-proof and regular notebook. Nearly had a heart-attack countless times because he accidently swapped them around.

Despite his complaints about absurd plot conveniences, he actually likes Doctor Wh- i mean "Proffesor Why", there's just something about the concept of time travel...he also likes cartoons! Like, a lot. He'll watch most anything and everything if it's animated and the writing is decent.

Likes anything sour, sweet, and chewy! So Jelly Babies, Wine gums, Sour patch kids, that kind of thing

Tord:

(Most of these are heavily based upon his life as Red Leader so sorry if you were looking for more domestic Tord. Maybe I'll do seperate hcs for that one day)

Second tallest! Quite a bit taller then Tom, a bit taller then Edd, just about average height, if a bit taller. He's closer to Matt in height then Edd.

He's actually quite well-built! You wouldn't think it because of the baggy hoodie he wears but he's got pretty good muscle, and his endurance and strength is well above the others. This mostly comes from the logic that he's been training and leading the Red Army, so it just makes sense to me that he'd resemble a soldier physically, yknow? AU-wise, or before he started the whole world domination thing, he'd be a little more scrawny, but he could still kick everyone's ass (he probably tried copying numerous anime battle stances lol-)

He's pretty well off, it turns out you can get quite rich by adopting some uh...rather unconventional means of money-making. Of course you could always say he just sold his inventions.

Does having your own private network of underground intelligence-gathering units count as social media? No? Nevermind.(He has a hentaihaven account-)

He likes dodgeball, archery, and you guessed it, arcade shooter games. Anything where he can point and hit something basically.

He smells like gunpowder, dirt, oil from machine maintenance and the cold? Like if the cold had a smell, he would have that smell, does that make sense? He also probably smells like Old Spice because idfk it just reminds me of him ok.

He doesn't exactly get out to socialise much, be prefers to stay at his desk, or curled up next to the fire with a mug of hot cider when he wants to relax. Sometimes Paul and Pat will drag him outside when they think he needs a breath of fresh air, and they'll go visit the nearest marketplace for food and other supplies. He likes strategic games like Chess or Draughts, and it's a good way to show off and get practice at the same time.

Scar-wise, he probably has quite a few from his fights. Post-the end, I'm not sure what would happen to him, since I've seen people go in a lot of different directions. I DO think he'd replace him arm with the robotic one, since that seemed too heavily implied to not happen. Regarding his face, I think the burns and stuff would probably heal over time, and depending on the technology in the future, he'd either still have some heavy scarring, or maybe he'd develop some kind of treatment so that it restores him to almost fully healed. He could always go the cyborg route and end up half-man half-machine like we see with future Matt and Tom.

(About the patch on his face, I have a theory about how he he aquired that scar/injury. See, I don't think Tord founded Red Army by himself, no. I think he was introduced to it by Paul (who we see in the same classroom as them in Poweredd) who was kept back a few years cause....uh...yknow- Anyway I have a theory that Tord eventually climbed the ranks until he became second-in-command, and he then murdered Red Leader and took his title. Their fight is where he got that injury. It's not really canon-supported much, but I find it an interesting concept!)

You've probably guessed, but I kind of disgree with Tord's portrayal sometimes. I think I prefer the darker, meaner side to him. I wouldn't say he's (completely) evil, but I'm not really one for the whole "self-hating, regretful angsty Tord who just wants some love and support" and stuff. I mean, it's cute with ships amd fluff, amd ideally he does make amends and rejoin the group, but I just like the thought that he's genuinely not a nice guy yknow? Like, he's actually done some fucked up stuff, and The End is probably just one case. (Of course this is all opinion based so feel free to disagree if u wanna wheeze-)

Has the WORST sleeping schedule. Has been known to fall asleep in the bath/shower.

He prefers movies to shows. His favourite is the Kingsman series (he can relate on many different levels).

Likes bittersweet things, (just like his personality amirite-). So cake with coffee, or tarts, liquorice, hard candy, that kind of thing.

Matt:

(My favourite-)

He tol. Tallest of them all!

Someone once described him as "borderline twink" and tbh i agree. I feel like he'd have a slightly feminine figure (which is perfectly normal!) and he both rocks it, and knows he does.

He works at a nail salon every now and again, his self-confidence and bubbliness makes him get along well with customers. (Also Matt would definitely wear nail polish ok dont even try to convince me otherwise. Actually speaking of,)

He has EVERY kind of social media possible. Instagram, twitter, facebook, tumblr, facebook, snapchat, you name it! He's especially prominent on instagram. He likes to keep an ~aesthetic~

He likes gymnastics and dance, activities like that. Anything which puts him in a creative spotlight. He'd probably take up acting classes, and then insist on only being given monologues.

He'd probably have quite a pleasant and nature-y smell? Like uhh citrus-y, pine tree, a hint of flowers, that kind of thing. Although he'd DEFINITELY slap on way too much cologne on a date or something and end up smelling like he just emptied out a bottle of febreeze.

He'd probably go out quite a lot! I can see Matt being a social butterfly, his friendliness and general likeability probably mean that he's got a few friends and stuff around. I can also see him as the kind of person who'd enjoy taking walks in the park, sitting below a tree, that kind of thing. He probably runs a self-love session (that works a little TOO well). He wants to get out there and show off his beautiful face, so it doesn't take a lot to drag him outside (provided you keep a mirror on you, that is).

He doesn't really have any physical scars. I mean, i do hc him with freckles, but they don't count so. he has a mental scar. After he hit himself with the memory eraser gun, he completely erased his memories. It took a while for him to settle onto the personality he has now. His face was the one thing that he knew for certain held a sense of familiarity and stability, so that's partly why his narcissism boomed so much. He sometimes gets random flashbacks of being a zombeh leader, being less of a nicer person, and it can be quite unnerving for him. He also has other memory issues, which is why he can forget things so easily, and comes across as an idiot most of the time.

He can be quite oblivious, but I dont think hes a total idiot. He can read people fairly well, and is emotionally intelligent. He says stupid things sometimes despite knowing they'll get a reaction, just because he wants to, and thinks that life should be as fun and full of joy as possible. He's too trusting, and wants to see the good in everyone. At the end of the day, if you disrespect him (and his face), you'll see that he can be more then just the nice guy.

LUSH!! Matt is HERE for all those lush products. I'm talking bath bombs, lip scrubs, shower jellies, all that good stuff! And ofc he has like 100+ products for his hair and skincare routine, because let's face it, it's Matt. I also like to think he owns a bunch of bath toys and rubber duckies, and like the kid at heart he is, he'll sit in a bubble bath playing with them, and re-enacting all of their adventures.

He mostly prefers youtube videos over TV, so you bet he's subscribed to all the beauty gurus, vloggers, people like that. He does think children's cartoons are nice to watch though, so every once in a while he'll force Tom and Edd to sit with him and watch the latest season of My little pony.

He likes anything sweet and fun to look at! Especially if it's trending, so he can post pictures of himself eating/drinking it. So if there's another rolled ice cream/new starbucks-ccino/unicorn themed food item floating about, he'll probably be trying it.

(Ah man this turned out way longer then i thought. It went from simple headcanons to like full blown theories whoops- maybe i should make seperate posts if its too difficult to read? Anyway let me know what you think nonetheless!)