coolbullshit69

[genekies]

tag vent

[bu-blegh-ost]

What Chip's current condition may possibly mean for both him and the crew (a theory of sorts)

Spoilers for ep. 109 and 110. Heed the warning.

Okay, so ever since ep. 109 came out I've been frantically reading about undead and what does it mean for your pc to be undead. I stayed silent about it, cause I wasn't sure if Nik could fix this, but now that ep. 110 is out I'd like to share some of the things I found, for folks like me, who do not know much abt DnD yet.

So, in a long list of features the undead have, most prominent problem is how hard it is to heal them. None of Jay's or Gillion's spells can heal Chip now, we'd need a spell that normally damages people, like necromancy spells, since they have a reverse efffect on the undead, and none of them has access to that currently. Not only that, once Chip's health reaches zero at this state, that's it. No death saves, no going unconscious or going down. That's it, which is why the moment he turned undead, Jay started spamming the temporary HP canon. So Chip doesn't lose any of his core health pool. If he did die in this state, from then on, only a spell called Wish (if I'm not mistaken a lvl 9 Sorcerer wish, so Gillion could do that if he cranked up three more levels in sorcery real quick) or True Ressurection could save him. But these two spells would also bring Chip back to life as a regular person, not the undead, so it would be cool to seek out someone who could do that for them at the most convenient time.

To balance it out, Chip is resistant to a shit ton of attack types, including poison, physical, necrotic and many other. To top it off with Chip's evasion skills, I'm giving him good chances to either minimalize or negate most damage in this form. And well, considering everything, he'd be wise to take every opportunity to do so, joke damage taking is no longer an option, I think. Also Gillion needs to be very careful with radiant damage around Chip, cause it's very effective on the undead. Chip getting hit by Gillion's strike may damage him greatly, and the two need to be very careful around each other from now on :(((

And the most interesting thing I found is the Undead Hunger variant. Some undead can just live on for centuries and be fine without a need to feed on something. But some, even the intelligent ones like Chip, may need a bit more than that, and given that very ominous intelligence check Grizzly made him roll at the end of the day, I'm thinking he's implementing the hunger rule on Chip. Lemme tell you a bit about it.

So Undead Hunger is a Variant Rule that DMs use on player characters that are undead sometimes. And that means that once in a while Chip would have to feed on some sort of specific type of morsel to satisfy his craving, or suffer the cosequences. There are two variants of undead that can make roll for this: Inescapable Craving or Diet Dependent. The player in that case rolls for willpower, which DMs usually make a wisdom or intelligence check. In our case Grizzly chose intelligence, and Chip passed with a 19. The DC for Inescapably Craving Undead is 25, but the DC for Diet Dependent Undead is 15. So from that I deduced that Chip would be a Diet Dependent Undead, since he passed the roll.

Hunger for the Undead is like addiction to the living. This means that unless Chip can resist it with a succesful roll, he may become more agressive, anxious, violent or even self-destructive the longer he is denied a preferred meal. If he can't eat, he'll have to roll for keeping himself at bay every three days. He doesn't have to roll if he eats.

So you may ask now: what happens if he fails one to many times? This is the interesting part. So if Chip fails his once per three days intelligence check, the DM will make him take ability damage. That means that one of his stats (wisdom, strength, dexterity etc.) will reduce by a whatever number Grizzly sees fit (Chip can get all the lost points back the moment he eats). In the guide I've read it says that wisdom is the most crucial ability score to lose, tho I'm unsure if the DM takes away only from wisdom or if he can take any of the stats, I may need to read more on that. But the thing is, the more rolls Chip fails, the more wisdom he may loose, and please note, Chip does not have much wisdom to begin with (but he does have high intelligence so thank the gods for that at least).

The less wisdom Chip has, the more desperate he gets when it comes to eating. He may start seeking out more risky ways to get fed or do things he normally wouldn't to get it. Hunger can't kill him though, it may just make him lose himself (hence that comment of Grizzly's about him needing to hold onto his sense of self, at least that's what I think that is). Once Chip reaches wisdom score 0, Bizzly actually loses control over him, and Grizzly takes over Chip and he plays Chip as he was a wild enemy beast. In that state Chip can throw himself on anyone or anything that can provide him food, his mind completely lost. He can hurt others, attack his crew. He can do anything the DM determines a starved mindless beast would do.

He can come back to his senses once more, when he does feed on whatever is decided his preferred meal is, all his wisdom regained and all, but the consequences of his actions, when he was not himself, the dreadful realisation that he is now a monster, who needs to be kept in check so he doesn't hurt the people he loves...This may be a lot for Chip to take. If this were to happen, he'll need a lot of his crewmates' support and reassurance, and a lot of honesty will be demanded from Chip. He'd have to warn people around him and make sure everyone knows how he's feeling, if he needs help in finding food. Casue hiding this hunger may result in tragedy.

And of course, it doesn't help that they are where they are now. In any case, if Grizz decides that Chip's favourite meal is humanoid flesh (beyond cruel is what that would be), they are fucked, basically. If it is the flesh of any other creature or animal, well they are also fucked, because they are in a motherfucking Black Sea, so good luck finding anything consumable like this either way.

But hey, of course do remeber that in the end these are just my conclusions based on what I read. Grizzly might not be even using any of these rules, cause he's the DM and he can do whatever he wants. I just thought that based on what we saw, this is very likely to happen (consider it a theory of mine for the time being). If you would like to read more about it, I'll leave you the link to this one really good website that I found most of the information on. I can't confirm its relaibility, but it looks very informative, comprehensive and thought out, and thus far was the most thorough source I found, so I'm personally willing to trust it. But please do find out for yourself. That'll be it, see you and I hope you had fun reading!

Link to the website: https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/aboutundead.shtml#undeadhunger

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!

Tags written out by the wonderful @dinzeeyz !!! They explained here what is ACTUALLY happening to Chip, not a theory, facts from the boys themselves! Please make sure to read them!!!

Well, there it is folks! Of course, I do not mind that I was wrong! The fun part in theorizing is not being right or wrong, but the journey one takes to find out the truth! And the truth is SO much more horrifying than I could ever think! You see, I was kinda thinking abt ways for Chip to still function while undead, but there is NO FUNCTIONING WHATSOEVER APPARENTLY. Grizzly's not playing, and the prospect of losing Chip forever is real oh dear OMG, that's absolutely insane!!! Please feel welcome to discuss this, I'll be definitely making more posts about this once I have a little more time but holy shit guys. We need to fix that boy up F A S T. If we lose Chip, I'm not recovering-

[melancholicstation]

Take Me Out To The Ball Game — john f. kennedy

taglist: @remotewatch @bloxholden35 @kennediva @h-l-vlovesvintage @h-l-v-kennedy-blog @absurdlyvintage @chemicalw0rld @fortheloveofjos @kimcrystal123 @astro-vibes-bro @tsloverr-13

authors note: i use jfk's nickname "jack" in this if you're confused!

summary: you’re self-imposed pity party after your failed romance with a left-end jack kennedy is interrupted when you dragged along by your girlfriends to a football game held at the harvard crimson. you were comfortable going as you were assured that jack had gotten sick with strep days prior. what you didn’t know, however, was that as you’re eyes glaze over the field a certain insufferable blue-eyed boy would be quick to meet your gaze…

warnings: 18+, smut, fingering, sleazy man, public sex at a baseball field, bit of degradation but not too much.

words: 2808

Now you wouldn't regard yourself as the kind of woman to lose herself in mindless rumination over a failed collegiate love, but looking down at yourself from a birds-eye perspective: you just may have been kidding yourself.

To put it plainly you're a wreck. Emotionally strictly. One disposition you count your lucky stars for is the ardent dedication that you carry within yourself to the performance of femininity. And by god was it a performance, entirely unnatural to you.

This love stupor you've been in for 8 to 9 business days simply needed to end, and your new attitude started with you discarding the days-old clothes you donned while rotting away in your poster board twin-size bed. Deny as you have many times to yourself, you didn't wear these clothes out of a slobbish penchant for convenience or pure happenstance, you wore them because they smelled of him: feeling that if you wore something that had once touched his skin that you too could still inhabit the body of the boy who you had lost. Still touch what had so cruelly been ripped away from you from the very boy himself. What a cruel boy he'd morphed into these past few days.

You rummaged through the large chest of drawers that your mother just insisted you keep for "functionality" knowing full well her hatred of the object: a dreadful eyesore of a gift from your grandmother on your father's side. You decided upon a poplin sleeveless dress tastefully skimming the fleshy part of your upper thigh. You move ghostly, in a pathetic slump-like state towards your vanity: a treasure in dorm-living, and start to unpack your beauty packing cubes: one labelled "hair", one labelled "skin", and one labelled "make-up" in thick bolded typewriter font. Some time passed and before you knew it you were applying your last coat of sérum teinté N°1 when you were rudely interrupted by a barrage of knocking and girlish condescending shouts from the other side of your dorm door.

You roll your eyes, despite being unconsciously excited to experience the delightful distraction of girlhood in the form of your girlfriends. As soon as you unlock the door, each of your girlfriends bound through the door every one of pawing at you with a look of pity in their eyes. "Oh come on don't look at me like that I'm not dead yet: I can smell the sympathy on all of you"

Betty, a friend who had eagerly sought you out during orientation, and attached herself to you, not unlike a succubus escapertaly exclaimed "Well you don't look far from death sweetheart why do you think we made the trouble to come up five flights of stairs looking for you? You are a case of upmost urgency!"

"Well I--" you're excuses are cut short when Betty's partner in crime: Alana pipes up, a brown-haired girl who stood at maximum 5 foot 4, "Oh come on y/n!, you think we'd show up if you weren't in dire straights. Take a look at my shoes--" She physically moves your hand to feel the leather glide over your fingertips "--do you really think I'd risk dirtying the soles of brand new Dior slingbacks on dormitory stairwells if we weren't really concerned about you?"

"I suppose you may be right. It's downright dreadful what's he's done to me. Before him I felt I was made for great, I had hopes for the future. But now all I sincerely believe that my being, my flesh and blood was created to love him, to tend to him. And I know it isn't right or near darn healthy to feel or think this way but dammit I do--and it's proving damn near impossible to shake."

By the end of your monologue your hands had begun to shake and your face to become an odd shade of green, nearly immediately the hands of your two friends came to encompass you whole. You knew they didn't understand, couldn't comprehend the stupor he had placed on you, but they cared enough to listen and that was even for now.

After a well-needed clean up job by your friends, who more closely resembled catholic saints at this point, of your dormitory littered with stained coffee mugs, pomegranates seeds on the windowsill, and a plate of un-touched steak fries from the cafeteria.

It was during this time that you'd been asked--no informed that you and them would attend the four o'clock baseball game at the Harvard crimson. A grim place for even people in the highest of spirits: a setting marked by the unmistakable musk of fake grass, cheap mulled beer, and an overflow of appalling showcases of testosterone.

"And you're sure he's not going to be there. Not even in a twenty foot radius?"

"Who Jack? God no he told coach that he had strep throat. Probably rotting away in bed as we speak. Serves him right for what he's done to such an innocent like you." Betty says. You quietly scoff at "innocent girl" if only they knew what perverted, sickening acts you had done with jack, simply in the last fews months: on desks, on lampposts, in the backs of cars, simply anywhere and everywhere that had no present inhabitants that you two could surmise.

"Now that that silly thought is out of your head you need to get into that bedroom and find an nice looking dress, just because you feel awful doesn't give you the right to look it" Alana says in a tone so backhanded it could only come from a motherly kind of love.

You reluctantly do what she says, with a slight pep in your step, despite the pitfalls of the crimson sport arenas you were always a fan of anywhere you could smoke and drink at 2:00 pm and not look like a total degenerate slob.

You take a quick admiring glance at the 18th century armoire, the one prized possession you had forcibly removed from your childhood bedroom in New Hampshire along with you for the move much to your mother's dismay, and survey your options of dress. You zero in on a particular pair of field shorts which are clearly not yours but Jacks.

*flashback*

"When are you gonna change for the date?" You say to jack with applying your about tenth coat of rouge onto your lips, checks, and eyelids. "Whadda you mean sweetheart? I am dressed" Jack teases kissing his way up your neck making eye contact with his reflection. How vain.

You survey him from top to bottom, the top half of him is lacklustre but workable: a cream pullover with the collar of his white collared shirt peeping out every so slightly. But the bottom half is down-right offensive: tennis socks paired with field shorts so tight that there's a pronounced bulge noticeable to the naked eye. "Oh Jack you've gotta change. Don't you know we're going out with my friends--who trust me will not find it as comical as your friends would. I feel like it's staring right at me."

"Do you wanna' kneel down and take them right off, then they can really stare right at you honey?" Jack chuckles, always ready for a sexual escape even on an uneventful Wednesday evening. His sexual drive was concerning at best and rotted to the core at worst. But despite this, you too seemed to be afflicted by the same kind of constant desire around the presence of Jack. So you did as you were told, kneeled and started slipping of his boxers with little complaint and complete submission.

*end of flashback*

You're released from your temporary haze, as a knock comes at your bedroom door: it's Betty "Y/n we'll be waiting outside for you in the courtyard. Don't be more than 10 minutes I really don't want to wait in those retched lines with those retched Harvard boys."

You reply to her with an affirmation signally that you'll be out in a minute and turn quickly back to your armoire. As undergarments you went for the staples: a silk georgette camisole, and slip skirt. Quickly you find a wool dress cut above the knee in a pattern reminiscent of a kaleidoscope, detailed with mother of pearl buttons trading from your neck all the way down to your mid-behind (authors note: for imaginative purposes imagine those iconic Alexander McQueen dresses but make it 1930s era). You slip on a pair of slightly beaten up heeled oxfords and grab your favourite nappa leather bag. You glide out of your dormitory, drift down the stairwell with the temperament of a girl who desperately needs to spend some time with her beloved friends.

As your trio enters the stadium you tell Alana and Betty to go up and gather the greasy yet delightful treats and drinks while you go find each of your seats in the bustling chaos. You finally find the seating number after bumbling around for longer than you would've liked to admit. And before you know it Alana and Betty have come back mulled bear in hand an dried peanuts in the other, seemingly without delay the home team takes their defensive positions and the game gets well and truly under way.

But just as your mind is finally taken away from the blonde-haired equivalent of a sea barnacle on your brain that simply won't get off the interior of your mind: you spot him in the flesh.

A tanned face and beaming pair of blue-grey eyes meet yours from across the field. Definitely not the face of a person suffering from strep throat and is most definitely the face of the man who'd shattered your heart with a simple note stating that he couldn't "do this anymore" left on the windowsill: John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Your friends hadn't caught on, clearly as they continued business as usual for the rest of the game, trying and failing in engaging you in conversation about what was transpiring on the field. But you couldn't pay attention, no you were paying particular attention to one man on the field.

The game ends unceremoniously, with Alana drenched from the amount of times Betty had thrown her hands in anger spilling mulled bear across the seats, and her friend.

But just as you three gather yourselves to get going, a familiar touch caress the clothed skin of your shoulder. Jack. "Funny seeing you here, I'd hoped you were withering away in that dorm of yours from Strep. Clearly not."

"You know I hate to disappoint you but I seem to have made a miraculously quick recovery. Dr. Schuab says it was the fastest he's ever seen!" Jack chuckles in an effort to diffuse the present tension that one could only cut with a butcher's knife.

"Well now that's not the truth, our last encounter disappointed me greatly"

"I know that Honey--" you physically recoiled at the term of endearment, a mix of revulsion at the man he caused you and the desire that the very presence of him inspired in you.

"--and that's why I came to talk to you. Look you stay here and I'm going to clean up and come right back to explain it all to you. Promise you'll wait for me, it'll be worth your while."

You quietly nod in shock immediately defaulting to agreeing to whatever he says, he has that certain effect on you it would seem. And before you know it Jack's scrambling to keep up with his teammates before entering the locker rooms.

Jack keeps you waiting for about 15 minutes, a minute longer and you would've walked out until you saw that beaming face barrelling towards you. Without a word he took your hand, leading you down a flight on stairs and directly onto the field. "Isn't this like totally, one-hundred percent illegal?"

"I wouldn't worry about it. See those floodlights up there? Dad funded them." Jack says in a tone trying to portray humbleness but failing in an adorable manner.

Your still stood fully upright as jack plops his body onto the fake turf, rolling around like a labrador in the summer heat. But just as quickly, his eyes zero in on you and he crawls his way, ever so slowly to your feet.

You squint your eyes in confusion as he goes to rest his head upon the fleshy part of your stomach, placidly placing suggestive kisses around the area. You quickly take the base of his head within his hands--"Now what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Just resting. Is it bothering you?" He says innocently "No what's bothering me is that you're acting like nothing happened, like you didn't completely cut me off."

"Baby I was being stupid, you gotta forgive me. I get like that sometimes, a compulsion of sorts to run. It had nothing to do with you." Jack says, and you don't know if youyourre stupid or smart for believing his words. You become puddy in his hands, slowly dropping to the grass as he starts to suck on your stomach with his lips, desperate to leave a mark. A monument.

Jack slowly taps on your face, waking you out of the passionate haze, and delicately slips his digits into your mouth. Encouraging and praising you to keep sucking them, telling you "what a good girl you're being for him" "the best in the god damn world". His moves are as smooth as a ballet dancers as he enters them into your warm, engorged mound. His fingers are an inviting stretch that leaves you whimpering to an empty stadium. As you moans start to increase in brevity and volume Jack places you on your back and starts to climb on top of you overing words of encourgament

"--Oh it's a big stretch isn't it. I haven't been taking care of you have I? I need to remedy that for my best girl don't I Huh? Don't I?" he says in a tone so patronising it's deeply arousing. Suddenly he stops his motions "Come on Y/n I wanna hear you say it. You need my help."

Your pleas come out quick and breathy "I do I do-Jack you have no idea". Once you reach your climax you feel as though you've been possessed, a good all-encompassing possession that you pray to never be broken free of. In the struggle the valley of your breasts are now fully exposed to Jack and in typical Jack fashion he uses this to his advantage.

Consistently sucking on your nipples while unbuttoning the fly of his pants and boxers all at the same time. It's then when you release a sticky substance coating his boxers. It's only then that you realise that in the haze of your personal euphoria, you had missed that Jack had came in his pants simply from pleasuring you. What a sight that was.

In recognising this you unconsciously giggle to yourself, to which Jack notices quickly throwing his soiled underwear and pants to the side "Hey now, what's got you giggling?"

"Nothing" you breath out, turning your head to the side feeling it be slightly irritated by the artificial turf. "Oh nothing really? We'll i'll give you something to giggle about, c'mere" quickly he grabs dominant possession of your hips and plunges his cock into your warm mound, already sensitive. Plunging in and out, in and out. And in such quick succession that you're sure to have grass burn the next morning.

He continues until for a while until he completely removes himself, and rests his member on your stomach slapping it around the flesh just to tease your already desperate frame, before quickly inserting it back where it belongs. "Best girl, pretty please hold on just for a minute, want to cum with you around me."

"Can't--Jack I-i"

"Yes you can and you will" Jack says in a tone that leaves no room for rebuttal. Finally you know you can finally let go when the tell-tale signs of Jack's impending climax appears: the relaxed eyebrows, shut eyelids, and rapid movements.

Jack holds you tight to your chest, his hot spurts filling you up wholeheartedly. Minutes later you stay like this, held together by each other's limbs.

"You think you can walk--never mind" Jack changes his mind mid-sentence after taking a look at you, completely blissed out, and adopts a bridal-carry despite his poor back, transporting you from one end of the field to the other.

You start to drift off as he carries you out of the stadium and back onto campus grounds, lullabied by the sound of his breaths and the faint kisses he litters across the crown of your head. The most delightful jewels any girl in Massachusetts could even dream of having.

the end.

[comicaurora]

Slowly making my way through the TOTK B roll stream, had a few thoughts on the emptiness of the sky islands. In a way, would it not be more surprising if there were more remains to be seen? Ignoring the whole 'it's a game, decisions were made by the developers' bit, nature can take over surprisingly quickly in the right circumstances. In a way, it's more surprising so much survived in BOTW (like the bomb hut ruins. Fire damaged wood? Should be gone in a decade or two anyway). (contd)

So the thing about the Sky Islands in Tears of the Kingdom is that, not only are the ruins fairly well-preserved - presumably due to having been in the Sacred Realm for the last 10,000+ years - but even with them damaged and tumbledown, it's fairly clear from the layout of the islands and their structures that they were not residences. That's not something that would've been lost to erosion and time, that's something foundational to the architecture of the place.

When the game designers want to show a place people live on the surface of Hyrule, they hit a few key points: distinct-looking homes with beds, places that make food, and an inn for travelers. The buildings are different sizes, decorated or personalized by the residents. They're laid out relative to one another in a way that allows for easy, convenient traversal. It's intentional design that makes the villages feel lived-in, cozy, and worth protecting.

Inside the buildings, little details show the presence of living people, even if the building is empty at the time. Table settings, notebooks, pictures on the walls. They feel like they've been shaped by the influence of people, living and working and customizing their environment.

These are all, to be fair, things that we wouldn't expect to last very long if the town fell to ruin. When we explore the sky islands, we aren't expecting to find well-preserved paper maps or notebooks or anything. But if they were lived-in - if they were Zonai population centers rather than temples, ritual centers and factories - that would still be reflected in the basic layout of the structure itself. A residence is designed to accommodate for every basic need, meaning we'd expect the buildings to have places for them to sleep, to eat, and to relax. On the Sky Islands, we find none of these things.

The most common buildings on the sky islands are these isolated stone one-room ruins. They look and feel like storehouses - a few pots, some crumbled masonry. No doors or interior rooms for privacy, no comforts, no sign of a place to sleep, no adjoining buildings. These things were never homes.

The Great Sky Island is the only really plausible candidate for a place the Zonai might've actually lived, being about town-sized with several buildings, but it's not laid out like one. The buildings are either small one-room storage sheds or the massive Temple of Time, and there's no sign of other specialized buildings that could have been used for things like food, rest or other necessities. The Great Sky Island feels like a large, beautiful public park built grafted onto the Temple of Time.

The larger dungeons are more internally complicated, but not in the way that residences are complicated. The water dungeon looks like some kind of huge open park - wide avenues, plazas, devices built for mobility. It feels like a place meant to be traversed and admired, not stayed in.

The wind dungeon is more clearly built as a weapon platform, nowhere we expect people to live. It makes sense that it feels sterile and lifeless.

The larger, more complicated sky islands are also designed for clear utility. The spheres are some sort of celestial observatories, featuring a control system, a treasure chest, and nothing else.

Wildcards like Lightcast Island were clearly built to serve a single purpose - in this case, a lighthouse and attached microdungeon - but contain no signs of life. Zonai came here for a reason, but they didn't stay.

The glide challenge islands are visually impressive, but ultimately the rings are empty - they don't even have structures on them. They exist for the dive challenge and nothing else.

Same deal with the labyrinths, which exist explicitly as puzzles and challenges.

The mines in the depths are also clearly structured for utility - storerooms, construct part repositories and a lot of conveyer belts for moving zoanite. The purpose of the building is very clear just from the layout, and these are not places where anyone was supposed to be staying outside of work hours.

This, along with the layout of towns on the surface, shows that the designers are very good at constructing architecture that reflects the in-story utility of a place, which means the lack of signs of life in the sky islands is not a limitation of the console or the imagination of the artists - it's an intentional design choice.

The end result of all of this? The Sky Islands feel like somewhere that the Zonai built and visited, but not where they lived. They feel cold and unwelcoming and liminal. There's no sense of loss or tragedy, just a feeling of emptiness - people used to come here, but they don't anymore. There's none of the poignancy of an empty dining table's unused place settings or an abandoned child's toy. None of the Sky Islands that descended during the Upheaval were places where the Zonai lived. At the peak of their power they were mistaken for gods, a massively thriving technologically advanced civilization - I'd expect their homes to be cities, towers of jade and marble bustling with the activity of a post-scarcity utopia. None of the Sky Islands show us anything like that, and given how well the designers can portray a lived-in place even without any people in it, this is assuredly intentional. The Zonai built and visited and used the Sky Islands we can explore, but as a whole they lived somewhere else.

But throughout it all, there's this pervading unease - the fact that there's no obvious tragedy makes the sky islands feel more unnerving. We know just enough of the story to infer that something happened to the Zonai - something bad, if we read into Rauru and Mineru's reaction - but whatever it was left no scars. The Zonai constructs don't even realize anything's amiss. The buildings have been damaged only by time and gravity; the forges and mines and observatories and temples are silent and abandoned, like the Zonai all went home one night for dinner and just never came back.

The Sky Islands don't feel dead, they feel lifeless. A place people passed through but didn't leave their mark on. When Link traverses the islands, he isn't just alone - he doesn't even have the comfort of signs of life. The only evidence he has that anyone ever came to these islands are the fact that somebody built them in the first place. They left no marks, no art, no notes, no diaries, no toys, no graffiti. They're just gone.

[bird-inacage]

Love Sea Episode 9: Lost at Sea before the Finale

Sigh. I had high hopes for this episode, which reached it's apex in the main conflict with Rak's dad (our honorary big bad). But yet again it's at a crucial juncture in the story, where writing and execution have fallen short when it really mattered.

Despite building tension for the past few weeks in service of this moment, it's swiftly deflated with little fuss. I thought the contract-tearing scene would provide a riveting layer of complexity for our characters to navigate. But it's barely a hiccup. The entire pay off we've been hurtling towards just unceremoniously fizzles out.

Here are my observations as to why this episode missed the mark (some of which I hope to dig into when I do a full review of the series).

The 'saviour' plot device. Where a character repeatedly saves the day in service of other characters (regardless of their credentials to do so). This is the role they've boxed Mut in. He swoops in - solves, fixes, pursues, soothes. He's faultless. He's unwavering. He's Rak's hero in shining armour. This isn't fundamentally bad except his capacity is reduced mainly to just that, and the cost is little to no development of his own. I take enormous issue with this because I dearly love Mut. He has great scope for a far more compelling trajectory. We had wonderful insights into his outlook on life in the earlier episodes, which have since taken a noticeable backseat. We are yet to see significant exploration of Mut's struggles, flaws or weaknesses. There appears to be some focus on this in episode 10, but why so little so late?

The women are rendered superfluous. Which isn't helped when we already have a lacklustre GL portrayal. As things go awry - Kwan, Vi and Mook are varying degrees of 'just there'. I would have loved to see the plot utilise the women who know Rak best, to contribute towards bringing Jak down. But the show's priority to aid Mut's heroic efforts, means the women are left with very little to do.

Mut VS Jak. If you compare the two men, Jak is taller and in fairly good shape. Physically, you'd expect more resistance in a fight. When Jak goes down, he barely tries to get up (even when Mut's back is turned). Thus, the outcome of the fight feels unearned, especially if we are to believe this man has violent tendencies that have traumatised his children. (He may not be murderously insane, but still volatile enough to maim his own son). By being so easily overpowered, the takeaway ends up being: 'oh, we needn't have worried'. And this exchange didn't have to be strictly physical either, it could have been psychological. Jak could have taunted Mut like he did in the café, and tried to chip at his resolve. Alternatively, if Rak were the one to overcome his father (in a bid to save Mut), it would show that Rak's love can power through his fear, and he'd gain that lesson through his own agency rather than Mut telling him he should no longer be afraid. (Another symptom of this series is subjugating Rak to a huge degree of passivity).

I'm not sold on Jak's character motivations, based on what we've seen. He's not quite smart or menacing enough to be a calculated sociopath, and he's a shade too conniving for an apathetic loser. If he's as lazy as we've been told, why would he go this far to secure Prin's money, when he's already syphoning finances from Rak and his mother? Couldn't he just sit back and continue to leech with no effort? If his desperation were a result of poor spending, it would at least ground his motive. Or if he's fuelled by the thrill of tormenting his family, we'd need to see mental depravity. Instead, much of Jak's actions feel - dare I say - 'because plot'? (Make your villains more formidable and their eventual downfall will pack more punch).

The few too many plot conveniences. The sillier one being how on earth Rak left the house without anyone noticing? The enormous glass staircase which sits front and centre in an open plan property makes it near impossible to go undetected. Unless he parkoured from his bedroom?

I'm gutted because the show veers towards the more questionable choices at their disposal. The set ups are there. The ideas are there. The parameters are there. It's what they decide to do with them that sadly misfires. This has caused my investment in the story to plummet towards the latter half.

I continue to watch for Fortpeat, and I feel for them because they've worked so hard. There's some lovely acting sprinkled throughout this episode but at this late stage in the series, the plot should be driving things home. Whereas the metaphorical tide keeps moving those goal posts in and out of sight. I hope they can at least round things off on a high note next week.

[milkistay]

this, for now — bc

synopsis. after 12 years, you reunite with your childhood best friend, chan, who comes back home from his idol life in korea.

pairing. childhoodfriend!chan x gn!reader

format. imagine

word count. 1.5k

a/n. this could also be seen as platonic...i believe. there’s nothing explicitly romantic, just two very close old friends yearning for each other. kind of bittersweet, too. 

"do you remember when we'd go here after school?" 

it’s maybe a few minutes before sunset and you’re walking around your old childhood neighborhood with someone you never thought would see again this soon: chan, your old childhood friend. the streets are painted a strange tone of nostalgia; it’s like you’re walking through hazy memories, dream-like and familiar. sometimes, you’ll spot a house or a street corner that sends you back to your 13-year-old self so strongly, you feel as if you’ve shifted to the past. but then, you look to your left and you see chan, who has so obviously grown up, and you remember all the time that has passed.

he’s grown taller, of course, with broader shoulders and bigger arms. he’s lost most of his baby fat in his face—his jawline is much more apparent, as are all of the sharp angles in his features. you can almost barely recognize him. almost, because you don’t think you could ever forget the little things in chan’s appearance that make him who he is. he smiles and there's something about it that makes you ache—there’s your old best friend again, happy and smiley.

.

.

chan’s pointing to a convenience store up ahead when he asks his question. the storefront hasn't changed a bit——still displaying its ice cream cooler next to the front entrance, its 3-for-1 cough drop deal, and its blue and yellow ATM. you could find your way through the aisles in your sleep, despite the 12 years that have passed since the last time you and chan slipped in, exhausted after a long school day, and left with candy and soft drinks. sometimes, you'd spend the afternoon at the nearby park, the sun on your face and the grass under your thighs as you complained about your teachers and took turns trying to catch m&m's in your mouths. other times, you'd head straight to chan's house and play games in his living room, even staying for dinner. 

"of course, i remember," you tell him. “it hasn’t been that long.”

maybe 12 years isn’t that long. maybe it is. it feels long, that you know for sure. 

in those past 12 years, you've watched chan move to seoul and follow his dream of becoming an idol, growing more talented and more mature with each comeback photo and video that pops up on your social media. in between your busy days, you could only catch glimpses of his rapidly-evolving career and his sudden rise to stardom. with each stray kids photo you saw, the chan you knew so intimately appeared to turn more and more into a stranger. the boy from your childhood grew into a man and you weren't even there to see it.

but he returns to australia after all these years and he smiles at you and suddenly, he's the same 13-year-old who swore, pinky interlocked with yours, that he'd never stop being your best friend. he was chris again. 

and you tried. of course, you tried to keep in touch. he cried in your arms before he left for the airport and promised to call you every day. but being a trainee was busy and being an idol was busier and you had to grow up and move to college and find your own future too, so, after a while, his daily calls became weekly, then monthly, then a rarity. you learned more about his life through stray kids youtube videos than you did through his own words. and you were so happy for him, of course. but you missed him so fucking much. 

“do you remember all of our sleepovers?” you ask, praying he does. 

please remember us. please remember me. please tell me i still have a place in your life. 

he doesn’t even take a moment to think: “yes, yes i do.” he’s grinning now. “we’d basically live out of each other’s houses for a week, just: school, your house, games, dinner, sleep, wake up, school, my house, listen to music, dinner, sleep. god, that was fun.”

“remember hannah would always say—”

“that you were basically her other sibling?” chan finishes with a laugh. “yeah, i think she saw you and me together more than she saw just me alone sometimes.”

you laugh with him. “she said she couldn’t imagine anything pulling us apart.”

“yeah,” chan concedes. “i couldn’t imagine anything either.”

the both of you fall into a sudden silence that’s tinted with an awkwardness that would’ve never existed when you were both 13 and inseparable. it’s a silence of grief, mourning the past determination to stay best friends forever and never leave each other’s sides. during those sleepovers, you’d brainstorm the rest of your lives together—how you’d live in the same dorm in college, then get an apartment together, adopt a dog, and grow up side-by-side. 

was it foolish that you believed in it? was it always just wishful thinking? over those years spent apart, you’d ponder what could’ve been—what your life would look like if chan never moved. it was always bittersweet and you found yourself longing too much so you decided to stop. there’s no point in thinking about what could’ve been—it isn’t, so just focus on what is. and ‘what is’ is a life where chan lives across the ocean and you’re creating your own separate worlds. the too-harsh reality.

"god, you have no idea how much i missed this," chan admits with a sigh, looking up to the sky that was slowly turning shades of pink and orange. 

you offer a chuckle. “yeah, it’s nice to be home, i guess.”

"no, no," he begins. "well, yes—i missed my family like crazy, like you wouldn’t believe—but i’m talking about this." he gestures to the both of you. "us. i missed us."

"oh.” somehow, you weren’t expecting that. “well, someone moved away," you say with feigned accusation. 

he lets out a laugh. "i did, didn't i?” he thinks for a moment. “i don't regret it. i love my boys, i love our fans, i love what we're doing. i just…i miss you,” he says, plain and simple. “and i wish there was some way that i could've had it all. you're the one thing that's missing from my life.”

during the times you pondered what could’ve been, you always came to the conclusion that you were the only one thinking about it, that chan had forgotten you. it hurt a bit, but you thought it was the best way to see it if you wanted to move on from the past. 

but this—you're the one thing that's missing from my life. fuck. you didn’t even realize how much you had been aching to hear that chan still thinks about you. fuck, how can you move on?

"i wish you could've had it all, too. i miss you. so fucking much.”

he sighs. "and there's no way for you to somehow have the urge to relocate to seoul?"

you laugh. "i want to, believe me when i say that. but..."

he nods. "but."

"i have a life, too, you know. a job. friends. i can't just leave."

"i know, i know. i just—"

"me too." you offer a sad smile. "me too."

the sky turns pinker as the sun sets. the neighborhood grows dimmer. 

“so what now?” chan asks.

“what do you mean?”

“i miss you, you miss me, what are we supposed to do now?”

“is there anything we can do?” from the way his expression falls, you can tell he was hoping for a more optimistic answer. “we’ve spent so long cultivating these lives exclusive of each other, is there any way to weave one another into them?”

“you could move to seoul…”

“i can’t.”

“i could move back—”

“you won’t.”

“i could—”

“no, you couldn’t. and you won’t. i know you won’t and you know i won’t let you.”

“i know.” he sighs. “i know.”

“i think this is all we can have.”

“this?”

“this—you and me, coincidentally back home at the same time for a few days, reminiscing for a bit, then parting ways again.”

he nods, reluctantly agreeing because it’s true, as unfortunate as it is. “for now,” he adds optimistically. “maybe, one day, we can figure it out.”

“maybe,” you say, not thinking you’d believe it. but as you say it, maybe foolishly, you find a little hope. 

“i’ll take it. i’ll take what i can have. i’ll have this, for now.”

he offers a smile and who are you to not give him one back?

[sailorstar9]

When Dealing With An Unreasonable Contractor...

F/N was the third generation of a sweets shop; the Raku-ame was once a Japanese-style sweets shop under her grandfather. However, after F/N's father graduated from the famous culinary institute in Portland, the Raku-ame became a store that made both Japanese and Western-style confectionery. The shop had many regular customers because it offered original branding and full-order packaging.

“I want 20 boxes of doriyaki with our logo.” a long-time customer placed their order.

“I want 30 boxes of assorted Western sweets for year-end gifts.” a middle-aged housewife ordered.

“Thank you very much for your patronage.” F/N bade the customers farewell after each sale.

The business was thriving, with orders constantly coming in.

As the third heir to Raku-ame, F/N was put in charge of the storefront; the clients loved her as a surrogate granddaughter.

But, there was one company that was a pain: Wide Wedding. It's the largest wedding hall in the prefecture, taking orders for wedding cakes and sweets, as well as pastries that were served at the cafe nearly every day. The Raku-ame was also asked to make sweets to serve at the dessert buffet during the reception.

F/N had known Wide Wedding since her father's generation; the person-in-charge in the beginning was mild-mannered and soft-spoken, generally a good person who took Raku-ame's convenience into consideration. But, after the predecessor retired, things started to go wrong. Ikeda, who was newly put in charge, was a man who looked down on the Raku-ame workers, calling them 'subcontractors'. Ikeda, who was the son of the director, had been acting arrogantly and F/N and her father father did not have a good impression on him. Since Ikeda was put in charge of business dealings, it made things difficult as he would often demand a lot of unreasonable things.

“I received an order to put an original branding on a drawstring.” Ikeda slammed a piece of paper with a design on it onto the Raku-ame's front counter. “Use this design.”

“This is for next next week's wedding, right?” F/N gave the wall calendar a quick glance. “It might be a little difficult...”

“You're a subcontractor and you're talking back?” Ikeda fumed.

“We'd need a special mould for the branding and it'll take at least a week for that specific mould to be made by a craftsman.” F/N argued.

“Then, why don't you just get on with it?” Ikeda fired back. “I asked you to do it, now you guys adjust it and make it work. Don't think just because you're cute I'd cut you any slack. I should warn you, my client is a well-known blogger. So, if you offend them, you'd never know what they might write on their blogs. My company's creditability is at stake. Make sure you brand it with this design. If you don't do as you're told, I'll cancel the contract. If we cut you off, it would be a huge blow to your business, wouldn't it? Then do it.”

Left with no choice, F/N's father had to ask the craftsman to make the mould on a super-express basis, managing to the delivery date.

After that, Ikeda continued to impose even more reckless demands.

“I'm going to ask for additional gifts.” Ikeda returned to Raku-ame once again.

“How many?” F/N asked, taking out a notepad.

“A hundred.” Ikeda replied. “They said they wanted to distribute them to clients who will not be attending. Get on with it.”

“When is the delivery date?” F/N asked.

“It's a weekend wedding, so two days.” Ikeda answered. “If you refuse, I'll ask another sweet shop to do it for me. I won't use your place from now on, if you're okay with it...”

“I understand.” F/N sighed. “We will make it on time.”

F/N's father and the other employees were angry, but knew that if they lost the contract with Wide Wedding,their sales will drop dramatically. So, they persevered and worked overtime and managed to meet the delivery deadline.

“If you can do it, don't say it's impossible from the beginning.” Ikeda scoffed at the delivery person.

After that, Ikeda kept asking for a change of the wedding cake's design at no additional costs, saying 'The customer's request has changed'. He even started to interfere with the ingredients, insisting 'Keep the price the same, but use better ingredients'.

As expected, F/N and her father were running out of patience; no matter how big the client was, there were boundaries that must be kept. After a family meeting, it was decided that they should renegotiate their contract with Wide Weddings.

“The weekend gifts; they were all cancelled.” Ikeda informed one day before the wedding, shrugging. “A client had a falling out. The wedding was cancelled.”

“We've already finished the products and there's only the wrapping left.” F/N protested. “If you cancel at this point, we'll have to charge you a cancellation fee.”

“Who cares about that?” Ikeda snorted. “I'm also in a rush because of a sudden cancellation, so don't bother me anymore.”

“That's not going to happen.” F/N stood her ground. “The cancellation fee is written in the contract. You get the cancellation fee from the customer. You can at least pay us the cancellation fee from there.”

“Shut up.” Ikeda barked. “I'm on the edge of my seat because of a disgusting customer. I've placed many orders from you. Stop making a big deal out of one cancellation. If you keep talking back to me, all future transactions are off the table. Now cancel the order.”

“I understand.” F/N gave Ikeda a calm smile. “If you insist that much, we have no choice. We cannot do business with anyone who does not pay the cancellation fee. We will not do any business with you in the future.”

“Do you know what you are saying?” Ikeda was puzzled. “If that's what you want, fine. I'll report your rudeness to my superiors and all business with you is off the table. You're going to pay for this. It's too late for regrets.” he spat out and left.

F/N knew Ikeda probably blew the whistle to either his boss or his father, saying that Raku-ame was to blame for everything. That month ended Raku-ame's contract with Wide Wedding and the reason F/N and her family wasn't panicking was because...

“You look stressed.” Chigiri entered the Raku-ame, bringing the Blue Lock contenders along with him.

“Hyoma...” F/N blinked at the redhead's surprise visit.

“Ikeda giving you trouble?” Chigiri guessed.

“What was your first clue?” F/N sighed.

“Take a break.” Chigiri planted a quick kiss on F/N's fringe. “I'll take over from here.”

“Say, F/N.” Mikage Reo addressed the Raku-ame heiress after everyone's purchases were packaged. “Chigiri mentioned your shop is the most reputable, long-established sweets shop in Kagoshima and the Mikage Corporation is looking to expand into Kagoshima. We intend to build a wedding hall here, therefore we're making the first move and inviting you as a full-time staff member.”

“Let me call my father out.” F/N retreated back and got her father out.

And with that, Reo made his pitch to F/N's father, with F/N's father handling the final contract signing weeks later.

[piracytheorist]

Episode 30 thoughts!

OKAY OKAY OKAY I HAVE A LOT TO SAY

alternate title is "Local anime only is introduced to the entity that is Shopkeeper".

MY GOD. I had no idea we'd see him so soon. I'm so glad his appearance is no longer a spoiler to me XD

To start with, Yor seems quite tense while she's going out to meet with him.

A detail that the anime omitted, is that it seems he was caught by surprise by Yor. Is she so stealthy she can even sneak up on him?

He's... omg he's scary. At the same time he's got one very smooth and sexy voice. I know we heard him on the phone but oh it's so different to hear him from up close. I'm going to feel very conflicted about him, methinks XD

Of course, when he talks about "pruning and watering" and stuff he definitely doesn't talk just about his garden :)

The music was perfect for his introduction. The garden we see around him looks so peaceful and serene, but the music greatly encapsulates that ominous feeling that "This guy is a LOT".

Ho-lee SHIT

My dude! My bro! Isn't this one of your best assassins or what??

The fact that he's willing to risk decapitating her on the spot just in case she lost one (1) iota of her perfect form is terrifying. And he laughs about it. The fuck. And Yor has been working for him since she was a teenager? O_O

I mean, when I said he's got presence I didn't mean it's not a diabolical one. But holy shit.

Is... is that person in the back wearing a sheet over their head like they're pretending to be a ghost? I'm noticing the important details here!

Shopkeeper looks like he really holds this mission to great value, and feels greatly indebted to protect Olka. It's very interesting that he's entrusting this mission to Yor.

At the same time, we see his face as Yor says she'll need an excuse for the family, and he is NOT impressed.

Like geez does ANYONE in her circles not have negative feelings about this wedding? First Yuri then her coworkers then even Shopkeeper like does ONE person go like "That was a good decision you made"?

I mean, if Shopkeeper really values her... it's not like it doesn't look like he has the power to provide her with some cover. He looks so imposing and Yor is so okay with his tactics I doubt she hasn't told him the marriage was just for convenience, so why didn't he go like "Nah ditch them I'll give you the cover you need"? He looking kinda sus rn ngl.

Final detail: the thingies hanging from the strap of his hat are the same shape of Yor's earrings. Nice detail.

It's interesting that Yor's demeanor doesn't change around him. She's still as lively and sweet as we already know her.

I love how after we saw how Yuri stayed up for days to catch Perkin, he fell asleep like that on the subway. Consequences!

Talking about people in Yor's circles not accepting her marriage...

Yuri is even VERY audacious in how he says he'll never accept Loid. Yor is way too patient with him, but I guess she can't help it. She loves him too much for her own good, and that was evident by the way she decided to become an assassin just to provide him with an education she completely ignored for herself.

I was surprised by the flashing screen but seeing Yuri run for the train as if he could somehow pull it back was hilarious. What a lad.

Yor is just now wondering if there's any point in her keeping her assassin job, when it's been at least a year that Yuri has been financially independent. It really makes me wonder where her money from her jobs really goes to... and considering Shopkeeper's behaviour, if she even gets paid fairly as an assassin. I wouldn't rule out him taking advantage of her in that regard over the years.

So I think it would be interesting to consider that Shopkeeper is trying to keep Yor in his employ by uhm... idk, brainwashing her? With all that "keeping the world beautiful" and whatnot. I mean, she took that job out of need and having no other choice, she's very good at it, (probably) is okay with getting paid unfairly, and takes at least an entire year after Yuri became independent to question whether she should stay in this job. She's a good and willing workhorse, is all I'm saying. Shopkeeper wouldn't want to lose that, would he?

Again, that's just an anime-only's blabbers. But that's what's good with Endo's work - just from one character introduction you can get a lot of insight!

Your honour I love them.

Look at their faces. Look at them.

Anya looks so happy while in line for the raffle. I'm so happy she was able to rig the rigged contest and get herself a winning ticket.

I'd seen this face from people sending me spoiler-free manga screenshots, but I had never expected it to be a "Sucks to be you, bitch" kinda face. I love her XD

I do gotta say though, it's VERY convenient that she happened to earn a ticket for the exact same cruise Yor would be on. But I'm not complaining - I mean, we wouldn't have much of a story otherwise XD

If anything, it would not be out of the ordinary if Anya heard about the raffle, then heard from Yor's thoughts about the details of the cruise, then found a way to earn those tickets. But I digress.

Dear director. Why are we getting a full front view of Loid's ass. Not that I'm complaining, just curious.

I actually felt a little touched when Loid said Yor should go with Anya. Like I know it's because he has no "for the mission" excuse to go on the cruise and instead has an "I have a lot of work to do" excuse, but it still felt pretty sweet he thought they'd have fun together on the trip. Or something. Delusion what is that

I love their expressions here. Yor struggling with her excuse and Twilight, Best Spy of WestalisTM, being the lovestruck idiot he is, he just buys it.

I loved this. Devil Anya didn't even go for something "bad" she was just like "ANYA WANTS OCEAN, ANYA SHALL HAVE OCEAN."

At some point she's going to become the boy who cried wolf with how many times she's threatening to go bad if things don't go her way. Even Loid doesn't look that concerned by that "threat" any longer XD

I knew the cruise was happening, so I knew somehow Twilight would manage to get time off, but I didn't expect it would be that easy... and when we switched to Sylvia approving the vacation, the cowbell sound effect pretty much ended me

And... wow. I did not expect Twilight has that sort of fear for Handler.

In the manga we can even see how intense his face is.

Is that an accurate expectation or is it just Twilight's overreacting and overthinking mind? We saw how that's something Shopkeeper would definitely do with Yor but from what we know of Handler I would not expect something like that. I think it's mostly Twilight's perfectionism and dedication to his job, as well as how much he's accepted for it over the years. He's willing to accept anything, so he's always expecting the worst... even if it's not an accurate representation of reality.

It's also very coincidental that Handler was admonished for overworking her agents just as Twilight needed time off. It's probably Endo reminding us that deep down it's a comedy show and things just work and I'm just looking too deep into it XD

She's not wearing the rings anymore. Perhaps she caught on to the fact that they were given to her as a joke?

"Go rest and have fun! That's an order!"

Yor catches herself about thinking of having fun on the trip and berates herself.

Since she's already reached the point of accepting she appreciates her part in the family and not just for the cover it gives her, I think it gives an extra layer to how dedicated she is to doing a good job. She knows it's an important job she needs to take seriously and concentrate on. Family fun would be just a distraction... and she's not used to such distractions in her job, after all.

And yes Yuri was in her life, but he was always separate from the job. Now she's got the two of them riding on the same ship!

And that alone makes her reach the question of whether she could just... stop working as Thorn Princess. My god, good luck with that when you have such a boss O_O

SOME GOOD CGI ACTION OOOOOOOHHHHH

No wonder Anya lost it.

Yor looked so happy while next to Loid and Anya, then she met up with her coworkers and a completely different mask slipped on.

This family should come with a label that says "Do Not Separate".

A grand entrance to the ship, with suspicious characters joining in! And new music I'm not recognizing! Lots of interesting stuff :D

I love that we get to see Anya with Loid here. It's obvious Loid hasn't had fun in probably ever, and he's still not got the gist of "relaxing" yet.

I actually love the face he has in the manga. He almost looks... curious. Like this is something new to him, and it probably is. He doesn't have his usual calculating face. The "order" to relax was one thing, but maybe Anya's excitement is rubbing off on him.

Anya's reaction to their room was priceless. They showed it so well XD

Hey, at least they have a window! Most third-class rooms in ships don't even have that.

Local anime only is also finally introduced to that McMahon guy.

It's so funny that I've seen his name everywhere yet I had no idea what he looked like. Well, now I know XD

So we're told the father as well as the two oldest sons of the Gretcher family were killed because of infighting, yet it looks like the youngest member is still a baby.

Those are some interesting family dynamics. Were the sons mentioned this woman's sons, or was one her husband? Or was the boss her father and the sons her brothers? Also, interesting pin on the lapel there.

Similarly, this suit Yor is wearing is the only piece of clothing aside from her office clothes that doesn't have the rose-shaped buttons everything else she wears has.

The guy goes like yo will that Forger woman be enough and McMahon looks like he's like bruh you have no idea. She may be just one but she's enough for twenty.

The little kid is so cute. I felt touched when Olka said that he probably recognizes her as his mother from her voice and her scent.

Olka asks for a favour, to be let out for a bit, and Yor is kind and empathetic enough to indulge her. Most other bodyguards wouldn't be so lenient. Though I guess this is what, in the end, causes her to be caught...

Anya is being Anya.

One (1) stomach ulcer acquired.

I loved how they put shadows on his face for this part.

He's fully prepared to treat the ship as a place where he may be attacked, and to gather as much intelligence as he can for his surroundings. That is, until Anya reminds him why they're there.

And he takes it upon himself to have the most fun ever! For the mission!

I think we will all lose our minds when this man bursts into genuine, uncontrollable laughter. We're clowning him now but when such real emotion bursts out of him I think we won't be able to handle it.

It's a small moment, and it's shown in a comedic way, but it's also heartbreaking to know how he genuinely doesn't know how to have fun. What does this man enjoy watching? What music does he like? What foods are his favourites? We don't know, and the sad part is, he doesn't either. Twilight has no identity and thus no preferences, no profile and no favourite things.

Leave it to me to take a humorous scene and turn it into crying about Twilight hours.

At least Twilight isn't the only one lying to himself. Like two peas in a pod, they're trying to distance themselves from the family. Meanwhile Anya and Bond are like "They are my fambly and I'll love them forever :3"

She looks so cute! And I love Olka's comment about how Loid wouldn't recognize her, lmao if only you knew.

You kind of feel for Olka. Regardless of whether she was born or married into the criminal family, it's the kind of life you can't leave easily. And I mean, morality issues aside, Yor's hands are not clean either, so it was sweet to see them bond, and to even have Olka entrust her with Gram's real name.

Sadly, this move of trust is what caught the attention of dude with long beard and impressive hearing.

Just like the way Franky describes Garden assassins, this guy looks to have some supernatural levels of hearing and comprehending, since he's monitoring dozens of listening devices at the same time and still manages to hear one word that tips him off to who his target is posing as.

Overall, an amazing introduction to this new arc! I'm so excited to see the plot and the characters develop, and especially some long-overdue focus on Yor! It's promising a lot of action and character and even humor with Anya dealing with a "gotta relax and have fun!" Loid. Can't wait :D

[kanansdume]

I wish we'd gotten a more Rebels-accurate Sabine because THAT Sabine interacting with Huyang could've been so absolutely heart-wrenching.

Because Sabine generally understood the cost of the Empire, obviously, she was in the Academy, she knew Kanan and would've seen the grief and trauma he carried with him, etc. But Mandalore was still standing. Most of its people were still around. It wasn't quite the same experience for her as it would've been for Kanan.

And Ahsoka seems to be fairly removed from that at this point, it doesn't impact her much. Either she's chosen to "just move on" or she's intentionally repressing how upset and grief-stricken she STILL IS over it, and either way is not treating Huyang well. She clings to Huyang because he's a last remnant of this thing that she lost but she dismisses him and disregards everything he says because she's so messed up still that she can't help but make him the recipient of all of her frustrations.

But Sabine has now lost her planet. Mandalore was glassed. And you can even keep in that her family were very unluckily ON Mandalore when that happened instead of on Krownest and are now all dead as a result. She's lost her home and her family in one fell swoop and can't really ever get that back.

And before, she just sort-of stayed out of Huyang and Ahsoka's relationship. She didn't know Huyang before and he never seems all that upset about how Ahsoka treats him, so it's not really her business to butt in even though sometimes it makes her uncomfortable because, well, sometimes Huyang is RIGHT. But now, she looks at Ahsoka and Huyang and refuses to treat Huyang like his wealth of knowledge and his desire to stick to his programming don't matter. She stands up for Huyang more, she asks him to tell stories about the Jedi, she asks him about all of the younglings he taught, she asks him about the lightsabers he's watched Jedi make and what the differences are. She knows Ahsoka is suffering under her own grief, but that doesn't mean it's okay to treat another survivor like shit just because they're coping differently.

And so we get a comparison between how Ahsoka and Sabine treat Huyang and the difficulties Ahsoka still has with the personal impact of Anakin's betrayal, her feelings about the Jedi from her experiences as a teenager, and the loss of the Jedi as the loss of the only home and family she'd have ever known. She can never settle anywhere because the last time she settled somewhere, she lost it. It's safer not to. Sabine disagrees. Mandalore may be gone and Clan Wren along with it, but she still has Lothal and she still has the rest of the Ghost crew. Her losses are massive, but that doesn't mean it isn't still worth it to look at what you still DO have and recognize its worth.

Sabine treats Huyang well because she GETS IT now. She gets what it's like to lose everything and have what little you still have left mean all that much more in comparison. All Huyang has now is this ship, the information stored in it, the lightsaber parts he's kept safe for so long, and his memories and protocols and programming. Losing the programming and the Jedi protocols just means losing even MORE of the culture he'd been a part of for so long, why would he ever want to get rid of it or change it? Why SHOULD he? It's important to him and it's all he has left, what kind of monster would condemn him for that and ask him to give it up just because it's convenient?

[gyllenhaalstories]

Hi Laurie! 💛

You know what's coming, hehe 👀

I saw this in another fandom and now I'm sending the same question to a bunch of Jake girlies (gn) because it’s so interesting seeing everybody’s answers!

Who are your Top 3 Jake boys and why? Is there a specific piece of art (fic, gif, fan art, etc.) for them that you like a lot?

hiiiiiiiiii!!! 💖 i do know what's coming teehee! i love his characters so much. even if the movie is not up my alley, his character always stands out. i'll watch everything he's in just because i'm obsessed (except spirit untamed, it is against my principle to support this horrible version of spirit the stallion of the cimarron) i just love them like they're just so neat i love them so much. OKAY TIME TO CHOOSE.

Elwood Dalton

i cannot believe that davis was dethroned as my forever ultimate favorite character but he was. dalton is so special to me. i've been obsessed with him since the very beginning when i was looping videos to get his full name and start writing for him immediately. so he's been living in my mind rent from for a LONG and i hope he never leaves. i lost count of how many times i've watched the movie (especially the scenes with laura!!!), it's so good. i'm already seated for the sequel idc what people say i want it and i will love it! also, i love how dalton ressembles billy and lou! the scene where he punches the guy to death and tell him how he will perish was so hot like like welcome back lou bloom you were missed <3 dalton is funny, and suicidal and caring and violent and what more could i ask? yeah okay i could ask to use his titties as pillows to fall asleep on.

my absolute favourite dalton creations are the wonderful gifs that @stephendorff made! i proclaim myself as their biggest fan when it comes to jake's gifs because oh my god the talent!!! i adore the parallel gifsets, so let me link you to a bunch! omg me when + nice hoodie + so bloody yum + i will cover these men with hello kitty bandaids + need both of them at the same time.

Detective Loki

he's an obvious one! jack twist, donnie darko and detective loki must be the most well loved characters in this fandom FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS. i love loki. i'm convinced deep in my soul that he would absolutely despise me. i can't shut up, i'm clingy as fuck and we'd spend most of his rare free time watching barbie movies. but it could be nice! i'd pack him his lunch, i'd learn to iron his shirts, i'd follow him to his barber and beg the man to give me the same haircut... like, we'd have a good life! aside from getting eaten alive by the constant fear that loki is in danger but shh. i love loki so much, i love all of the mysterious details about him, i love that jake played such a big part into building this character.

there are SO many amazing fics for detective loki, and rightfully so! he deserves it! in my opinion, @det-loki is the best writer. star captures loki in such an unique way, her writing feels like deleted scenes & extra footage from the movie. i know i always recommend star when it comes to loki fics but if you've ever read what she's posted, you would do the same! @charliehoennam has also posted some amazing det loki fics recently that i cannot recommend enough!!! here are the links: cat n mouse, dinner date & the dinner party (my personal favourite!).

Tommy Cahill

when i watched brothers, i conveniently just... skipped the military scenes. so the movie was all about tommy and i loved it. wow what a sweet romcom. i just love him. he's fun and sweet and he has had it so rough with his family that treats him like a black sheep. his father is acting like tommy is the failure when the only failure i'm seeing is a parent who failed to love his child like he deserved. AND I WOULD GIVE HIM ALL THE LOVE HE NEEDS! endless unconditional love. all he wants is to have a family of his own and be happy and become a better person. i have no doubt that he has what it takes to achieve his goals. he's my beanie baby and i love him to the moon and back.

controversy alert! but... i'm not mad at tommy and grace for kissing (skipping most of sam scenes helps a lot) but like... he was nice to grace for the most part, he helped her with the kitchen, he was so fun with the kids... he can't do anything wrong you know? i have horrible morals, i'm aware. so i'll just link to the video of the kiss scene because i love it and i love watching it and i wish it was me.

my top 3 usually fluctuates, but i'd say that overall, it's the same five characters that are on rotation. dalton, loki, tommy, davis and right now the 5th position is switching between john kinley & jerry brinson. i do want to say that i was pleasantly surprised with how much i liked anthony swofford and brian taylor when i watched their respective movies, i didn't think i'd enjoy their characters much but it might be time to retire my #1 bald!jake hater title. it was so hard to choose though. i feel bad for the ones i left out. i love you danny! and billy! and donnie! and adam! and holden! and okay fine i'll shut up. i know i've told you already, but this was such a sweet initiative to go around and spread some joy!!! thank you for doing this, and for sending it to me as well! 🥰

[roleplayhonestybox]

Just wanted to vent at the loss of a rp partner. We got on super well ic and ooc. Our writing styles meshed perfectly and we would chat daily ooc, talking about our days or gushing about our characters and spamming memes, aesthetics, song lyrics, ideas, etc etc. For the first time in a long time I was actually enthusiastic and eager to write enough that I was doing daily replies. I was so into it that I think that was some of my best writing too lol. Things happened though of course and things got quieter ic and ooc until it was just dead silent for days, then weeks, then months. Every so often we'd have a quick conversation, or drop a meme or something with barely a fraction of the enthusiasm before. I didn't want to press them or nag them because we were close and I didn't expect it to change suddenly, and I understood we both have lives. They were busy and things picked up for me over that time too. I did eventually ask if they were still interested and they responded, but I, again, also ended up getting busy (I hadn't told them since I never really got the chance to, with our ooc conversations dying, so they could have thought I was still free and online as much as I was with them before, though that wasn't the case) and didn't reply quickly. And then they were gone. They deleted all of our rp stuff and blocked me so we/I lost everything from our chats (not on discord) and everything from the rp. I don't even know what they replied to my question (though it seemed still friendly/positive from the small glimpse in the notif I got) and they were just gone. I lost all of my writing that I was really proud of and a person I genuinely thought was my friend and I was excited to chat with them and do more ooc, because our friendship went past just the rp and we'd often stream things together and stuff. I usually don't care about ghosting or people leaving or losing interest or whatnot but this one genuinely hurt because I thought we were closer than that. We had so much in common where I wouldn't have even cared if we dropped that rp because we probably would have come up with something else, and if not, I would have just been happy to chat with them. It also hurts to think about how much I was there for them when they mentioned they were dealing with stuff irl and how I waited for so long for them, but they didn't care enough to think that maybe I too had a life and that they couldn't give me even a few hours to reply to them. That part hurts a lot, looking back on it and realising how much it was me supporting them, me hyping them up, me listening to them, reassuring them etc, but the moment I wasn't fun, or reassuring, or online at their convenience, I didn't matter. Worst thing is, I know how they probably perceived it and still wish I could apologise and reassure them. Anyway, I just wanted to vent.

.

[joandfriedrich]

Something I have been thinking. What if one of those reasons why Jo rejected femininity in her teens, might be that she thought she could have been more useful to her parents/family had she born as a boy.

She says she wish that she could go join the army and fight in the war. During this time in the society, she doesn't see the value of being a girl.

Back in the days, women could not participate on battles but they still had important roles during the war as nurses etc. I also remember once reading that after the American civil war, there were more single women than ever before because so many men had died in battles and that partially effected the women's right movement in order for women to be able to work in different industries.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. I remember when I was younger often not asking too much because things were a little tough for us when I was a teen, and I did it because I thought by not asking for too much would make things better for my parents. Jo saw how her family were well off and when they lost their money, society turning away from them, then the war hitting them, it isn't hard to understand how Jo would feel a sense of duty to help out, especially since only she and Meg were the only ones who remember how nice much simpler their life was before.

I think people seriously overlook the context of Jo's desire to be a boy, immediately jumping on the possibility of her being trans (people say the same of Alcott, which in ways I think ties in with Jo), instead of the historical context that women were often treated with little to no respect. Jo's arguments against marriage isn't because she isn't romantically interested, but because, seeing how society treats it, marriage is something that takes aways a woman's freedom and that it's only for convenience for social climbing and money. To her, her parents were the exception, not the rule, for couples who marry for love.

Also, can we say that every fifteen year old girl was interested in marrying and having a family right away? When we were asked what we wanted to do or be when we grow up, we answered with dream jobs and places we'd want to live, rarely did a girl say, I want to get married and be a mom.

Overall, Jo's wish to be a boy is not because of a desire to be one for trans reasons, but because life would have been made easier for her and her family if she was a boy.

[thatstormygeek]

"People don't understand how different things would have been if Hillary had won!"

This is true. Things would have been very different. Ideally we'd have fewer Trump clones running for office now. But Trump didn't make the GOP what it is. It's been like this. Forever.

Why are our choices Biden or (presumably) Trump? Liberals love to point the finger at the Republicans (while using the other hand to indicate the left is pretty close to just as much at fault, really), absolving their own party of all responsibility.

"It's this or fascism!" Okay, but why now? What have the fucking Democrats been doing while in office that it's gotten to this? Hmm? Feel like taking a look at Bill Clinton's presidency? And then maybe truly ask yourself why exactly his fucking wife thought we'd want her to be running the country.

I voted for Hillary (because what choice did I have), but the woman couldn't even pretend to support indigenous people protesting a pipeline on their land. People keep acting like she was this great progressive hero and she's not. She was not. And still, we fucking voted for her.

And liberals re-litigated the 2016 election constantly over the following four years, until Biden was elected. Then not a peep. They were content. Until 2022 midterms. And until now. Because now it's time to remind all of us to fall in line again, and they're so tired because they have to come out here again and lecture all of us leftists about our responsibilities to vote for their guy because we are all just too incapable of complex thought processes to understand the value of compromise and lesser evils and all that.

It's almost like the only activism y'all think is worth doing is beating leftists over the head with your "Vote Blue No Matter Who" stick. Which, fine. Just stop pretending you actually give a shit about anything else. Because we see you. And we see what you're not talking about. And when.

If the height of feminism to you was filling in the circle next to Hillary Clinton's name, here are some better targets for your messaging:

It's so fucking frustrating because it's clear y'all aren't listening to what folks on the left (people way smarter and with way bigger reach than me) are saying. And it reveals a lot of what the "Just Vote" bluster tries to conceal:

We're not real to you. We're not people whose needs and desires matter. We're there to be numbers to prop up your bulwark against fascism and a convenient scapegoat when you inevitably lose elections (because you will not win every time). But you don't want to make those defenses too strong because if the Other Guys aren't a constant threat, you might have to grapple with the ideas you've considered beneath you forever.

I'm going to vote. I've been voting for years. I'll continue voting. Never in my life have I told someone not to bother to vote. But I'm not doing it because of y'all. I'm doing it in spite of your messaging.

The chart that should scare Dems is this one

The votes of that 49%? They do not belong to you. You are not automatically owed them. And yes, maybe voting for Dems is in the best interest of that 49%, but there's nothing saying they will do so. People do shit against their own best interests all the time. And they sure as shit do things against the best interests of people in general.

Which means y'all have to convince them to want to vote for you. If you're the type of person whose mom said "Clean your room" and you immediately jumped to do so after thanking her for the reminder, I can see why the Democratic party's messaging is working out for you. I am not that person and I don't know a lot of people who are. So y'all are going to have to offer more than the constant demand if you're going to pick those folks up.

Not to be a doomer, but I think y'all are a lost cause at this point. You've been told the same thing over and over and refuse to adapt, so I have to assume you prefer things the way they are. Which means it's only a matter of time--and probably not a lot of time, really. You can't win every election forever and if that's the only plan, well...it sucks.

I'll tell you what, though: nothing would make me happier than the Dems proving me wrong here.

[akuaya-eng]

(Main story) Chapter 6 - Episode 6

- ESPADA'S PAST -

-Espada

Is everything purified?

Fiori

Probably. The presence is gone, so I think it's fine. We miraculously escaped from Adder only to be attacked by curses, I don't know if we're lucky or not.

Espada

Lord Dia… Are you really okay? You must have used a lot of magic…

Dia

You're worrying too much over something like that, Espada. Are you questioning your master's power?

Espada

Of course not! Lord Dia, you are the most noble devil I've ever met. Even against Adder, he would be no match for you.

Fiori

You say that, but honestly, we were struggling a lot. If we hadn't escaped with that mysterious power, we'd all be cursed ghosts floating around the castle by now.

Espada

Watch your mouth, you insolent fool. If Lord Dia hadn't protected you, you'd have been destroyed at the very beginning.

Fiori

I do appreciate it, but it was originally because of you prince-- ...

----------

Adder

Besides, you've never caused a calamity since becoming a devil, have you?

Dia

………

----------

Espada

… Anyway, staying here is dangerous. Let's stay away from the castle for a while and see how things go.

Dia

Yes, that's right. Fortunately, I recognize this area. There should be a building where we can take shelter from the rain. Follow me. (starts walking)

Espada

… Yes, Lord Dia…

(thinking) ...On that day, I swore. I will serve you until the end of my life…

----------

Espada

... (hears steps) ...?

Rosé

Pada! Thank goodness~! You're still alive~!!

Adder

Lower your voice, Rosé. Do you want to be killed too?

Espada

Adder… Rosé… Why are you here…?

Adder

… How pathetic, you "half-devil".

Espada

…Tch.

Adder

You are too weak to receive father's power, so you can't stay in the Belladonna mansion any longer.

Espada

Adder, brother…

Rosé

Um, do you need a translation? He's saying, "I'm letting you escape". Such a kind big bro. Here, let me untie you. (unlocking sound)

Espada

Ugh... Gah… Tch.

Adder

There's no place in this Devil World where someone as useless as you can survive. Go back to where you came from. And never show your face again.

Espada

… You devils brought me here according to your own convenience, and now you're simply sending me back to the human world when I'm no longer useful.

Rosé

Well~, isn't it better than dying? He's planning to kill you tonight. It's gonna be sad to see Pada gone, but as long as you're alive, we might meet somewhere again ♪ So just run away from here, lil bro.

Espada

…...... (runs through several places)

(thinking) Enough… I'm so tired…

----------

Imperial soldier

--The sinful devil who threatened our Aquilegia Empire must die!

Imperial commoner child

Mom, is that devil a bad devil?

Imperial woman

Yes, that's right. All devils are bad. guys They deserve to be killed.

(vision goes black)

Espada

(thinking) … I can't be a devil or a human. There's no place for me in this world… Execution, they said… It's tomorrow. Finally… everything's gonna end.

Gatekeepers

What's this!? I can't see anything!

(blade sound) Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!

Espada

…? What on Earth…

??? (Dia)

(walks in) --To think you handed your life over to humans. What a pitiful devil you are.

Espada

… Who are you?

??? (Dia)

You don't even deserve to know my name.

Espada

(thinking) A devil…? You sound like a young child…

??? (Dia)

Look up.

Espada

………

Dia

… Not bad. I like that look in your eyes. Come with me, devil. Dedicate yourself to me.

Espada

What are you saying--

Dia

--From today, you belong to me. I am your place.

----------

Espada

(thinking) When I was about to be killed, Lord Dia saved me. I was so much weaker back then. I had lost everything, and my heart was about to become empty. Lord Dia gave me a reason to live. He is my savior… and everything I have now.

My beloved Lord Dia... My ego wants you to become a powerful devil. But… I wish you had caused a calamity with your own hands. I wanted you to be the unrivaled, cold, and merciless devil… an one-of-a-kind devil...

----------

Fiori

(gets in front of Dia) --I won't let you!

(reveices attack) Aah! (falls)

Dia

Fiori, you…!

Fiori

Ugh…! Don't get cocky just because I'm always quiet…! If you touch Dia, I won't let you get away with it!!

----------

Fiori

(thinking) Why did I do that… Damn it…! Remember why you're in the Colchicum Castle. It's for revenge on the "Scarlet Devil", right!? I'm living for that purpose… I was supposed to be just one step away…

Dia

.........

Fiori

… The prince wasn't the "Scarlet Devil". But he is still a devil. There's no need to sacrifice myself for him. So why, at that moment… why did I think I didn't want Prince to die?

Espada

…

Fiori

…

??? (Rosé)

Huh~? What's this atmosphere, are you in the middle of something?

Dia

… Rosé.

Rosé

(walks in) Correct! Pada~ ♡ I'm glad you got to reunite with your precious master ♪

Espada

You… Why are you here?

Rosé

Hey, I'm on your side. Thanks to me, you were able to catch Dia just in time, right?

Espada

If you were really on our side, you wouldn't be here now. Answer me, what are you planning…!

Rosé

Pada… You've grown so much~! I thought you were still a baby, it's making me cry.

Espada

What…!

Rosé

The old you would've been completely off guard. You used to say "Thank you ♪ Rosé ♪" and just run away. Didn't you fall into the same trap again?

Espada

When are you talking about…

Fiori

Wow… Espada used to be like that? That's kind of surprising.

Rosé

Yeah ♪ You were so simple and cute ♡ … Oh, by the way, Miss Salad did great, too ♪ Even though you're human, you did really well ♡

Fiori

I don't care at all about being praised by a devil.

Rosé

That kind of strong-willed personality is also enticing ♪ What's different about you from other humans? I want to investigate~. I'm very curious ♪

Dia

… Espada, Fiori, get ready.

Fiori

Prince…?

Rosé

As expected of Dia ♪ After everything is done, I want to dissect you first ♡ Come on, why don't you scream for me? (charges)

Dia

(gets restrained) …!

Espada

Lord Dia! Rosé, you…!! (strikes with sword)

Rosé

… Huh. What is this attack? Oh my, were you always this weak?

Fiori

I told you to let go of the prince…! (blade strike)

Rosé

Oh, I see. You're all beaten up because of big bro. Don't hold it against me, Pada. You know what? I have to follow big bro's orders, right?

Espada

Ugh…!

Rosé

… Hm? What's this? There's some strange power from this bastard…

Espada

(thinking) …Now!

Hah!

Rosé

Whoa… What are you doing, Pada!

Dia

(restraints get loose) …! (falls)

Espada

Lord Dia, are you okay?

Rosé

Oh, he's already free. Pada, I'm gonna punish you later. I won't let you go, bastard.

Espada

I won't allow! --Fiori!

Fiori

Got it! Let's go, Prince!! (both run away)

[riddlerosehearts]

🐍(signing with a snake for convenience) thank you for the good luck wishes, i finished the exam and it went alright! i saw your earlier post, how are you feeling right now? i myself have a cat too and can only imagine how devastated i would feel if the same thing happened to me, i'm really sorry you're going through this and hope you're still taking care of yourself. if it helps as a distraction, how would you imagine nico (& leo if you wish!) as new students at NRC?

signing with the 🐍 emoji reminds me of jamil, which imo is good because i love jamil haha. so hopefully you like him too. glad your exam went well! i'm feeling a little better now than i was earlier, but still not great, honestly. my family took that cat in as a stray who we have evidence to believe had been abandoned, and we'd given her a matching name with our other cat--our first cat is named daisy, and the one who died was named lily. we knew she'd have to be put down sooner or later but everybody felt so sure that it wouldn't be this soon. i sincerely hope your cat lives a long, healthy life.

as for your question: hmm, well, i'm terrible at explaining my thoughts sometimes. let's see if i can come up with something that makes sense LOL. i'm going to imagine an AU where rather than being isekai'd like yuu, nico is just a character from the twst universe.

so the way i see nico in the current riordanverse canon is that he's made a lot of progress toward healing from his trauma and trying to be happier and more outgoing, like he was when we were first introduced to him in titan's curse. he cares about others and wants to be able to have friends. but he still has a lot of anxiety about putting himself out there, and he still barely understands modern technology (which, i'm unsure how that'd be explained in this scenario, but it's a magic world, anything could've happened. maybe he's a fae or half-fae, or maybe he was stuck in some sort of magical stasis for decades like in PJO.) and has this lingering fear that he doesn't fit in with most people. i also see him as a natural extrovert who mostly became withdrawn as a trauma response.

so i guess if we took nico with his canon personality/development and made him a character in the twst universe, then he'd be incredibly nervous about going to NRC and not knowing how people there will react to him, but he'd also be willing to try his best. and if he got placed into ignihyde, then he'd soon end up feeling frustrated because, okay, sure, he can see why the dark mirror looked at his soul and thought he should be put into this gloomy, lifeless dorm full of quiet serious people who keep to themselves. not too long ago he might've thought that was perfect! but now because most ignihyde students keep to themselves or to their own groups while also hardly leaving their rooms, it makes for a very lonely atmosphere when nico no longer wants to be alone all the time. and when he does try to speak to his dormmates he doesn't really get most of what they try to talk about because they're engineers and tech nerds and he... very much isn't. he also doesn't understand how to operate most of the technology the dorm is filled with and runs on.

i can imagine him wanting to transfer dorms but being terrified of not fitting in any better anywhere else, until he ends up talking with yuu during alchemy class and finding out that they live in a dorm that's haunted by ghosts and otherwise only has a population of two. nico and yuu could relate to each other in a sense because even though yuu has ace and deuce as friends, they still feel lost and out of place in this world. and they think it's pretty cool that nico can control and summon ghosts. they sort of joke that it'd be a lot easier to keep the ghosts in line if they had his magic, and he's like. well what if i moved into your dorm and helped you out. which crowley decides to allow and nico is a lot happier there because even though ramshackle is way smaller than ignihyde, it's also less lonely. he can talk to the ghosts and to yuu and grim. and as he gets more used to being there and a little less afraid of opening up, he could make friends with some of his other classmates. maybe even with some of his old dormmates. if all the canon NRC students are also around in this, then i'm sure he and the shroud brothers could find something to talk about given nico's interest in mythomagic.

nico's development in the later books is also heavily influenced by will, so if we had will in this AU then that might change things a bit. i'm very indecisive just in general and also i don't get will nearly as well as a friend of mine does, so it's possible that he could get accepted into RSA which would separate him from nico, or that he could get into NRC but definitely in a different dorm because he doesn't fit ignihyde at all (will have to ask my friend her opinion on this, actually). in the latter case i think nico would especially look forward to the classes they share, but would vent to will about still not fitting in and would wish that he could transfer dorms to be with him. but crowley would discourage him from trying to transfer because of how difficult the process is and will would encourage him to put himself out there more and try harder to make friends, which could lead to his conversation with yuu and his transfer to ramshackle (it being a different case since it's not, like, an official dorm anymore and nico's magic is well-suited to crowley's own needs). leo or other characters being there at the same time might change things slightly too.

but yeah, either way, i think he'd love chilling with the ghosts in ramshackle and with his canon development where he's starting to become more open and less brooding, he could end up really enjoying being at NRC even if he still struggles sometimes! if we were talking about a version of nico who was still 100% convinced that he could never fit in with anyone and that he needed to be alone all the time, i guess he'd probably just stay in ignihyde and cause yuu a lot of confusion by summoning ghosts from ramshackle into his room to give himself someone to talk to. if he was from the PJO universe and got isekai'd into the twst world then i don't think nico would adjust well to that at all. i have a feeling that as he is right now in canon, he'd consider going to school in some other world a complete waste of time in the first place and would tear twisted wonderland apart trying to find a way home if that happened.

i am going to stop here though because i rambled about this way more than i did before though LOL. i hope this is the kind of answer you were looking for and that it doesn't all seem like. completely OOC and that what i'm trying to say makes sense. i love sharing my opinions but i'm also not very confident in them sometimes. i could try to come up with something for leo if you wanted, but i'd also love to know if you have any thoughts on how he'd be as an NRC student!

[opinated-user]

If Lily was undergoing chemo at all, she would of most obviously have had massive HAIR LOSS.

Even my sibling who has very thick locks naturally had a huge chunk of hair fall out when going through the treatment for a full 6 months, the bald spotting was not easy to miss and it took ages to regrow.

Stanning this woman is a football fields' worth of red flags. Unless she's willing to shave her head to sell the act, I do not expect her to exhibit any of the blatant symptoms every single cancer survivor has dealt with.

that's the most glaring red flag of all. LO loves her hair, she loves getting praise about it, she loves to talk about it and she even talked about how she has trauma around having it cut. there's nothing wrong with any of that, but because of that detail it's not possible that she has been losing her hair in chunks for months and never say a single word of it to anyone. putting aside all the other side effects from chemo, that lost alone can be extremely traumatic for people who aren't LO too. if she had actually lived through that we'd have heard something already, she'd have every right to grieve that on her social media... and she didn't. because she hasn't actually lost anything. the only symptons she's going with is being tired and nausea... both of which i discussed on my posts. it could be that LO just googled common symptons after chemo or she got lazy and just went along with what my blog said. in any case, because of this ask and my response, i can already imagine the following reactions from her: -she takes a picture of a place on her head where it's completely normal to not have that much hair, but it's unclear enough that she wants you to believe that's a bold spot. or she photoshops a bold spot into it. -she tells people "don't want to talk about it, stop asking, fascist creep" when a convenient anon asks her about it. -she tells people that she did lost hair (but not as much as you'd expect because LO is not like other cancer survivors, she's especial *eyeroll*), but she got a good wig already or she's all better thanks to her unique and especial native genes. -she takes pictures of a completely normal amount of hair to lose on her pillow or a lock of hair she cut herself and claims that was chemo. -whatever response is like, that'd be it. she won't ever post pictures of her wig or that spot ever again, she may just post a completely normal happy selfie claiming she's so glad she got her hair back. but LO'll never shave her hair or actually cut it too short for this act, i just don't see it.

before anyone asks... no, there's nothing conceivable that LO can do that'd make her claims of having cancer and chemo all this time believable for me. even if she did shave her entire hair (just by saying this wait for an anon saying i want an "indigenous woman" to lose her hair), i still wouldn't believe it. the time to play out how sick and how much of a b word chemo is has passed. i was there all of last year following LO and i have actual experience seeing what cancer does to people. many of her followers didn't pay as much attention or weren't there for many things, but i was. my blog is a testimonial to it. LO might try, but i won't be gaslighted into believing that the LO i saw last years was going through one of the most hellish experiences any human being can withstand and she was just that good at hiding it from everyone. i refuse to.