#it's meant to give its user the ability to see the future and can also give them empath-like powers that let them see into others intentions

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Hi I found another new detail to pick your brain over :)

In Piercings you show two versions of the same image. One is simply how Hunter looks to everyone else. The colours are flat and how they always have been. But the second has blues and purples pulsating around his head, which matches how his technology works in his understanding of pain.

What interests me is that in the second image Hunters hair is kind of inverted? Like the dark green of it all is still the same, but the blue and orange have been swapped for a bright yellow and electric blue, respectively. This absolutely fascinates me because there's so many possibilities with this. Does his hair change colour (to Hunter) based on what he's feeling? That would explain why the alternate blue looks similar to the lines surrounding him. Or does he have some kind of colour blindness and thought he was picking different dyes when he did his hair? I am very normal over this if you can't tell(<- me when I lie)

- ⌚anon

ah more detail finding! Love it :D

So Hunter's been dyeing his hair since he was a teenager, long before he got the implant. He's more attached to his hair color now than ever, because while everyone he sees has some kind of neutral color that changes with their feelings, when he looks for his own color, there's nothing there

(which is just a feature of the implant: since it's sourced from the user, it doesn't register the 'neutrals' on the user, but Hunter doesn't know that so he just assumes it's because it's him)

What Hunter sees that "comes from him" usually manifests in patterns he can see around him, or things covering his body. Even with very "visible" things like pain, it's more like the colors are hovering over him/in front of him/overwhelming him from the inside out.

That being said, the brighter hair is a result of the implant, but it's less "the colors are tied to his pain" and more "he's in a state of shock when someone makes him look in the mirror and this manifests in some colors in his immediate vicinity becoming almost painful to look at" :)

(hope this makes some kind of sense 😭 describing implant effects and how it works in a way that's linear and sensible is actually Really Hard lol)

[george228732]

Fylass Nolde (Final Reference Sheet/Masterpost)

Finally! Made a reference sheet that was appropiate for the boy.

''He's more than up to sacrifice everything he has and lacks, even his own humanity, if it meant that he'll be able to see the one future he desires - He'll burn the misfortune of the stories of the world, and from the ashes, he'll make his own, before his matches run out and his days of daydreaming go out with them.''

The rune on the top left of this picture is Fylass' symbol. Just like how Kirby has a Star, Susie has an H, Dedede has the hand one on his robes, etc.

He has a lizard belly! And more lizard attributes, besides the whole wings and all. His tail for example, is connected to his stomach; if he wants to store food/fat for later, he can store it in his tail and all! We love fictional anatomy.

In the first pic, you can see two things! That his wings are too short to use them to actually fly, but also that he can find walking a bit difficult depending on how full his sack is.

In the second pic, there are three things! He has another set of eyes above his regular ones which are just as functional, he has sharp teeth and all like a normal penguin, and second of, he has a bit of a forked tongue, like lizards!

In the third picture, you can see how Fylass is a bit of sleepy boy - he normally sleeps more than the average person, so please give him a bit more of patience.

Lastly, his weapon! His Parasol. Fylass has the ability to nullify magic of other users, but the only way he can do that is by using his parasol, by basically using it as a way to shoot red projectiles in form of magic bullets/waves that resemble sparks that paralyze you - these don't really harm you, and simply just disable your magic for a prolonged amount of time depending on how magic Fylass used to make the projectile.

Trivia:

Fylass is inspired by the story, The Little Match Girl, which consists of a poor girl freezing to death when she wasted all her matches, since each time she lit one up, she could see her dead grandmother giving her a candlelit dinner, with the grandmother being the Dream Team and Fylass being the girl.

Fylass' design is based on the Basilisk, a mythological creature that has the ability to paralyze the people it sees with its eyes to turn them into stone, paralleling the powers he has of disabling magic with his paralyzing attacks.

The kid is one of the main antagonists of my AU, being someone that wants to save Kirby, Bandee, Dedede and Meta Knight from a world ending threat, accidentally making things worse by trying to get rid of some of the friends he finds a huge hatred off.

He's adopted by Dedede! Not being the Prince of Dreamland but getting a dapper jacket, robes, and sweater from him!

He's one of the few remaining ancients currently alive at the moment.

The amount of hexagons that appear in the Kirby series are actually a reference to Fylass in the AU, being a presence always watching but unable to get to where Kirby is. That's why his rune has an eye.

Fylass is a direct reference and role of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath.

Enjoy!

[recreationalfanfics]

*chin hands* assassin's creed on the mind eh? Do tell 👀

OKAY SO ONE IDEA I DEF WANNA USE IN THE FUTURE WOULD BE YANDERE EAGLE VISION. Like, if an assassin/eagle vision user becomes obsessed with a darling, then instead of showing up as red (for enemy) or green (for ally), then their darling would show up as either a pink silhouette or something.

NOT ONLY THAT, BUT, LIKE DIFFERENT ASSASSIN'S TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT MEANS/ALREADY KNOWING WHAT IT MEANS.

Like Ezio using eagle vision and he sees his darling is a different color from everyone else, he instantly believes its a sign their soul mates and will shamelessly follow them, either from the shadows or blatantly walking after them like a lost puppy.

Altaïr believing something is wrong when his eagle vision acts up and only towards you, the person who served no real importance but never seemed to leave his mind. He decides to use it as an excuse to stalk you, after all, it was fine before YOU came along and he's just trying to figure out if it means if you're a threat or not. Deep down, he knows what it actually means but it gives him a good excuse to stalk you.

Connor absolutely is baffled when he notices a pink figure and when he switches back to his normal vision, he sees its you. He doesn't voice this out to anyone because its not that important, right? Plus, he truly wouldn't want to disturb you with that knowledge and, when you really think about it, it's rather helpful for the both of you! Now Connor can keep tabs on you and you won't ever have to worry about anything hurting you because Connor will always be waiting in the shadows to protect you.

Evie would be a Lucid yandere, the moment you become miscolored in a way she's never heard of, she's doing some research on her own time and found out about rare instances assassin's who found their "soul mates" with their eagle vision. Like Connor and Altaïr, she would definetly use it as an excuse to be able to stalk you while keeping her conscious clear. It's not her fault technically and yes, maybe she is tailing behind you and her heart soars at the thought of being able to pick you out of the crowd and track you down so easily...but it's only because she can keep you safe!

Jacob doesn't even question it, he also takes it as confirmation that you were meant to be his. He would absolutely take advantage of his new ability and you'd be none the wiser. You try to avoid him by going a different route? He somehow ends up calling your name and happily running over to you and you're wondering how could he have known. You're bumping into him a lot more often when doing mundane things? Haha, what a coincidence! May as well hang on his arm and let him treat you to a nice drink! Just the image of Jacob desperately jumping from rooftop to rooftop using eagle vision only to stop and smile to himself when he sees your silhouette makes me so happy-

EDWARD DOESN'T REALLY QUESTION IT, HE'S JUST GLAD HE CAN HAVE PIECE OF MIND WHEN IT COMES TO YOU TBH. He knows what he's doing is shady but at the same time, he can't help it. But also moments when you manage to sneak away from him and he just easily walks towards were you're hiding and it fills you with so much dread and panic and you're not sure how he manages to do that every single time.

AAAH, IMAGINE ARNO BEING ALL SMUG ABOUT IT. Like, you're both at a gala somewhere and you try to lose him in the crowd, not wanting to deal with his possessive behavior but no matter how many people are in the way, Arno uses his eagle vision and pushes and shoves past people as he makes his way towards you. Just when you think you lost him, you feel his hand wrap around your wrist and pull you close and his hood is over his head, revealing nothing more than a sly grin.

[runabout-river]

So now that the Jujutsu Factions plot point is wrapped up (albeit unceremoniously), the only thing left to worry about is Tengen and her Barriers. It will be interesting to see what happens given that we still don't have a clear assessment of what happened to good ol' Granny.

There are several things that can happen:

1. Tengen is alive. She'll probably end the Culling Games, which would free all the sorcerers from continuing this Death Match. However, her barriers will stay up continuing the optimization of CE in Japan.

This will lead to several countries trying to invade Japan as they see it as a cursed energy gold mine. Powerful curses, sorcerers, and curse users like the Disaster Curses, Kenjaku, and Gojo will keep popping up. This could, unfortunately, lead to new cycles of curses starting and further chaos in the future.

2. Tengen is dead. Her Barriers will come down, which would cause Cursed Energy to dissipate. Depending on how Gege views cursed energy as an element. There are several options:

All the bottled up CE will spread across the world, leading to more sorcerers and curses appearing. However, the strength of the curses and sorcerers will be lower in comparison to past sorcerers fostered in Japan.

OR, the level of CE hits such a low that curses and sorcerers rarely appear in the world anymore. Japan becomes like every other country in the world. This is probably the closet we could get to Yuki's dream being fulfilled without it feeling like an asspull.

3. There's also the third option of Tengen being alive and having a change of heart. She ends the culling games and somehow removes the excess cursed energy from Japan. But honestly, this is my least favorite option as it's too convenient and is too much of a perfect ending.

Good options but I have 2 interjections:

I don't think ending the Culling Games is as easy as Tengen going "Welp, time to finish this" (I need to read up on that whole thing though) but more importantly, I think Tengen is alive but in no state to act on her own at all.

Tengen was an old granny but then she was turned into a baby. (In a metaphorical way, she was turned from evolution through immense age into a devolution into a baby; maybe though the metaphor is meant to say that she evolved so much she turned into a completely new life form that is in its infancy.)

We saw already that she isn't freed from that trapped baby form even after Kenjaku lost his ability to control his CT and her. Instead she went over to Sukuna who had - in Megumi's body - undergone a ritual to house her. There was no indication that Yuji punched her out like he did Sukuna and unlike with Sukuna, Megumi isn't possessed by Tengen anyway.

So it's most likely that Megumi is the one who's pregnant with Tengen right now (Kenjaku even says that Sukuna/Megumi will parent the merger through the CG) and even if Yuji were able to do a c-section on him he might want to reconsider that because Sukuna died during his secession. And even with a proper cut from Megumi, Tengen might still be in that trapped form.

Then again, Tengen's name was heavily emphasised in the last chapter. In other words, next chapter will give us the long awaited answer to all of our questions.

But also, Tengen ending her barriers and suddenly the CE problems go away really is a bad ending. If it had been that simple then Tengen had always been the bad guy in the story and Yuki would've simply killed her to achieve her goal. Geto would've killed her, too.

[yosajaeofficial]

JULY UPDATE

Hey hey hey! Welcome back to the show, “The Monthly Jayce Myles Comics Updates!” Where I give obvious monthly updates to my followers about the progress for the hit series that hasn’t debuted yet, “ROTTMNT: The Jayce Myles Comics”! Sorry I haven’t posted this month, I was hella busy with college applications and other projects, but I’m delighted to get back into these updates.

Without further ado, let’s get the show running! I have some fun things to show ya!!!

The Comic

(W.I.P OF THE OFFICIAL DEBUT COMIC)

The month was way too quick for my own good, the comic’s slow. Again, I was busy applying to college and doing other side projects I’m working on. I’m gonna be attending college next month so the comic will have its hardships but I really wanna pursue my education as well, but the updates shall continue like always with all of its fun content! Anyways, the comic: the debut has 20+ pages and my god it’s just insane on how many there are when I’m not even halfway there. I’m impressed with how many pages go by just to tell the story, older pages will be fixed up so it either might be reduced or even more but that’s for future Jae to decide; I’m learning as I go! It’s also better that I show instead of say that I’m just “working on it” since it’s easy to lie to be honest.

The turtles haven’t been seen since I haven’t got to drawing their introductions yet, I’m gonna shart in my pants because I’m scared but I’m literally an artist doing a comic so I gotta do them sooner than later. Maybe the next update you’ll see them? Don’t hold me too much onto that but it might be a cute goal to set, let me know what happened when the August update comes!

Jayce is so silly with her coat huh? She’s just a girl giving it her best, even if they thrift at the worst shop known to man (they’re gonna learn someday…) We also got Rogelio and Jayce being all cool together, I was proud of that page when first sketching it out. They both are so sweet to draw out, hope to see their finalized pages to see their true potential!

Bonus Content: Hidden City Mystical Crystals

Silly reader, you’re scratching your nose and thinking, “what am I looking at?” You’re in luck! Cuz these babies are actually additional parts about the Hidden City’s lore/magic system. Magic system? Yes, a magic system. The Jayce Myles Comics is going beyond the original canon of Rise and creating many more original concepts and combining it with what was given by the canon. I wanted to show off more of the mystics from yokai because their potential was so much cooler to finally explore when drafting the ideas.

The Hidden City’s magic system is based off of the elements, not too complicated, but has some different rules when compared to other executions of the elemental magic system. That’s for another day, I’m only gonna talk about the crystals and show what they can do. You can reference this update and look into the JMC with this cool bit of knowledge! Let’s get started >:3

Origins of the Mystical Crystals

These crystals were created based off of industrial flaws people have faced. Basically, I learned about the 1920s construction workers and their working conditions where it made me think “what would the have wished for when they worked?” I referenced from real people, history books, and my own personal experiences to create functions, and help base the crystals off of what I came up with.

The Netflix show, “Arcane” was a great inspiration to combine mystics with technology, the brand was called “Hextech” and it’s system was hella cool to me and it helped a lot when I was working on the crystal’s concepts. The mystical crystals are meant to be used as “tools to help the magic user”, where they can enhance their power, gain a temporary ability, create spells, or use in technology.

The names of them are based off of the Latin languages like, English, Italian, Spanish, and a hint of both Chinese and Korean if you squint really hard. I will go through each of the crystals in a vague manner for ya’ll to see what they can do!

Fire Magic

Fire magic is actually defined as: “The manipulation/manifestation of temperature” instead of just heat, it can be fire or ice.

LA HEILMAQ: The crystal is based off of quartz in visuals and has the glow like a moonstone! La Heilmaq is the crystal that’s used to help air conditioning in modern homes and create weapons. They’re the most natural crystal to use to create weapons since it’s form holds up so well, it’s as common as bronze in real life! They’re pretty cold to the touch, so be careful and don’t hold them for too long if you’re 1. not a fire magic user, or 2. not wearing gloves. These babies are used for more attacks than defense since they’re pretty deadly if you’ve been penetrated by the crystal itself.

EL HEILMAQ: This crystal is based off of colored glass from old alcohol bottles, tainted windows, and the power of friendship because this is the one that isn’t the most realistic looking since I made the shape up. It looks like the “BOOM!” shape for a reason~ El Heilmaq is the crystal which contains heat, it’s sealed by the actual gemstone itself so you’re able to touch with your bare hands without getting burned. The crystal can be used for restoring heat in homes, making artillery, and/or throwing them on the ground to create natural firecrackers. Most yokai use smaller bits of the crystal as distractions and the bigger pieces to help the industry by keeping their homes warm, they don’t need boiler rooms or to grab coal because El Heilmaq crystals can already do that for them without causing damage to nature.

The word Heilmaq was based off the English word “Hail” which is Ice, which is to hammer the idea that this isn’t just heat based. The word Maq is gibberish that's made to be another word for "kaboom", which brings more of the fire elements to the word itself.

Air Magic

Air magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of oxygen”!

LA SENYÁR: The crystal is based off of diamonds and emeralds! La Senyár is a crystal that helps give the air magic user more of a boost, they can crash the crystal and it gives them a boost of air so they can jump higher, dodge quicker, or just blow a gust of wind at the enemy. The crystal itself is used by technology to give it more flight, used in planes, cars, and even shoes! Yes, shoes can also have the crystal, it helps the bird yokai give them a boost to use their wings to fly. The word Senyár is a word based off of the Spanish word, “Soñar” that translates to “To Dream”; it was named this way because the way how the pressure of the air isn’t as powerful or dense, it’s like if you’re walking on clouds, it feels like a dream.

Water Magic

Water magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of water and health”

LA CANTÉM: The crystal is based off of pebbles found in rivers, ponds, and on rock beaches; there’s also influence by the topaz gemstone with it’s beautiful orange color. La Cantém is a healing crystal, where you’re able to use it on yourself to cool down injuries where it helps heal the wounds. It works both as a numbing solution and healing solution based on the water magic user. With these crystals, you always have to hydrate them in fresh water so the water can absorb into the crystal and used as energy; if it’s dehydrated, then the crystal’s will be weaker. The word Cantém is based off of the Spanish word, “Cantar” where it translates to, “To Sing”. It’s because singing can calm people down, and the crystal helps calm down the injured and lets the healing process go smoothly, it’s based off of my bestie where their singing really was like fresh water to my ears, a great inspiration for this crystal.

Earth Magic

Earth magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of nature”

EL TERÉM: The crystal is based off of an amethyst visually, and yes, inside there’s a different color! El Terém is the crystal that most fighters use in order to manipulate rocks/boulders, build stronger architecture, or create rock shields when you throw them on the floor. It’s mostly rock based but still hella good to use in battle as a defense mechanism, the rock that’s formed is sturdy too, not weak for it to break easily. Shredder would have no problems breaking it but that guy’s insane. The word Terém is inspired by the word "tear" or "contain", any interpretation rocks! (no pun intended)

Yin Magic

Yin magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of darkness”

MIE SIÑE: The crystal is based off of titanium black tourmaline and onyx. Mie Siñe is the crystal that contains shadows inside, depending on what the spell is, it either can produce shadows or fog. The usage for the crystal is much more unknown since Yin magic is banned from being used in Witchtown, but the crystal itself has been documented to be used to isolate the enemy when being used. It's also been used to cover the enemies eyes with darkness in order to distract them/become vulnerable sight wise. The word Siñe is a word based on the actual word "Sign" and "Sin", which holds a lot of significance into the story so I won't spoil.

Yang Magic

Yang magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of light”

MIE PIRE: This dear crystal is based off of the Italian onyx, magnesite, and calcite. Mie Pire is the crystal that contains light inside, any kind of light, it's not just sunlight. It's a bit more tricky and dangerous to use since you can blind yourself with it more easily, so it's also not as used. However, Yang magic is also banned like Yin, but there has still been technological uses for Mie Pire like using it as an alternative for electricity (which saves the bills!) and also used as lamps for more conservative places like Witchtown. The crystal has proved itself useful as a light source, but it can still be used as a defense mechanism by blinding the enemies eyes for a good second of even minute. The word Pire is based off of the word "Pure" which means that this crystal is very raw hence why it's dangerous. Another word it's inspired by is the Latin word "Pyra" which means "Bonfire". Both interpretations are used for this one!

The word Mie is based off of the actual Italian word "Mie" which means "My". It doesn't truly mean mine, because it's also inspired by the Spanish "Mira" that translates to "Look". It can be interpreted any way you want!

Thank you for coming to this lovely update! I've been working really hard to get the comic rolling and to also balance out my personal life with it, but I'm proud of how far I've come in the span of a year! Lots of progress has been made and it's getting much more exciting to create for the JMC. Have a wonderful day/night and see ya'll soon.

[maacwanowrie]

Display Ads

By going to the MAAC institute in Pune to study design and technology, you can improve your ability to be creative, solve problems, plan, and judge. Since many projects are done in groups, you'll also learn how to work together and communicate. Not to mention that it's a great example of your creativity.

Display ads are a type of online advertising that usually include text, images, and video. They are meant to get people's attention and get them to do something, like click through to a website or buy something.

 Display ads can be found on websites, apps, and social media platforms. They can be different sizes and shapes. Even though they can be useful, some people find them annoying or intrusive.

 And when we say that everyone sees thousands of ads every day, most of them are display ads. Because of this, it's important for advertisers to think carefully about who they want to reach and make their display ads in a way that appeals to them.

 Types of Display Ads: There are different kinds of display ads, and each has its own pros and cons.

 One type is the banner ad, which is usually a static image that can be clicked on or not. Banner ads are usually cheap to make, but people will ignore them if they have nothing to do with the content of the website or if they don't look interesting. If you want people to notice your banner ads, you need to make them stand out from the rest.

 The full-paged ad is another popular type of display ad. A full-page ad should be interesting to look at and catch the eye. Use colour and pictures to get people's attention, but don't go overboard. Too much stuff will just confuse people. Keep the look clean and simple as a whole.

 Lastly, there are ads that let the user interact with the ad itself. Interactive ads work because they're not just trying to sell a product or service; they're also trying to give people an experience. By letting users interact with the ad, businesses can create a more memorable and interesting experience that will stay with users long after they're done interacting with the ad.

 Why are display ads a good idea?

Display advertising is a type of online advertising that comes in many different shapes and sizes. Even though some people find these ads annoying, they can be helpful to businesses in a number of ways.

 Attention-getting: One of the most common things about display ads is that they stand out and get people's attention. This is done with the help of interesting graphics and bright colours.

Precise marketing: One of the best things about display ads is that they are very targeted. Advertisers can choose their target audience based on where they live, what they like, and even what they did in the past. So, display advertising can be a very good way to reach people who might become customers.

Ad engagement is also tracked. Display advertising networks can also help you track and keep an eye on how your ads are doing. With this information, you can improve your future campaigns and make sure that the people who are most likely to buy from you see your ads.

Less expensive - Lastly, display advertising isn't too expensive, which makes it a good choice for small businesses and new businesses.

Overall, both advertisers and consumers can benefit from display advertising in a number of ways. But because users see thousands of display ads every day, yours needs to be made in a way that gets attention without being annoying.

 ‍

[wickedmmorg]

How do i disable add ons on my computer

#How do i disable add ons on my computer how to

#How do i disable add ons on my computer install

#How do i disable add ons on my computer mac

#How do i disable add ons on my computer install

Whether that add on was something that you meant to install and it simply isn’t doing what you thought it would, or it was an unfortunately part of another app that you didn’t want, the ability to get rid of these unwanted Gmail apps can be a good way to improve your email experience.

#How do i disable add ons on my computer how to

Hopefully this guide has shown you how to remove Gmail add ons that are negatively impacting your experience with the Gmail application. Open Extensions tab and go to the plugins or extensions you want to remove.

#How do i disable add ons on my computer mac

Open Safari on your Mac and then choose 'Safari > Preferences' in the top menu. How to remove extensions on Safari manually 1. You can then click the Remove button to delete it from the browser. In this way, here I want to introduce the way to remove those add-ons on Safari, Chrome and Firefox. You can remove other Chrome extensions by clicking the three dots at the top-right of Chrome, choosing More Tools, then Extensions. If you uninstall an add on with our guide above then find out later then you actually need it, you can always reinstall it from the Chrome Web Store as long as it’s still available. This means that the functionality that the add on provides can be taken for granted, and you might even start to think that it’s simply a native part of Gmail. Since installing a Gmail add on is a relatively quick and often uneventful process, it’s possible to forget about it later. Many Gmail add ons are going to need elevated permissions in order to function properly. Under Permissions, add or remove a site: Add: To the right of Allowed sites, click Add. A standard add on is one that is available in the Chrome Web Store and can be installed like any other Chrome extension. At the top right, click More More tools Extensions. A developer add on for Gmail is one that hasn’t been published. Gmail makes a distinction between standard add ons and developer add ons. More Information on How to Remove Gmail Add Ons Have you ever sent an email and noticed that something was wrong with it right away? Find out how to recall an email in Gmail and give yourself a brief window after sending where you can recall that email before it reaches its recipients inbox. The newer version of Gmail looks a little different than the picture below, and you will be selecting the See All Settings option instead. Step 2: Click the gear icon at the top-right of the window, then choose the Settings option. You can always decide to reinstall the add-on in the future if you decide that you would like to start using it again later. This guide assumes that you have previously installed an add-on for Gmail, but that you would now like to remove that add-on. These steps were performed in the desktop version of Google Chrome, but will also work in other desktop Web browsers as well. How to Remove a Gmail Add-On (Guide with Pictures) Our article continues below with additional information on removing Gmail add ons, including pictures of these steps. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items. If you want to change Mac startup apps at once, you can hide or disable the Mac startup programs by doing the following things: Click the Apple Menu. The above method can work for only one program at a time. Click the gear icon, then See All Settings. Method 2: Hide or Remove Startup Apps on Mac in Login Items.5 Additional Sources How to Delete an Add-On in Gmail

[teawinx]

Hey I have a question I thought I'd ask you. Of all the canon miraculous powers which would you change and what would you change them to? For me I would change the rabbit (time travel is too op and confusing) and give it a healing power. And if I could pick another I'd change the rooster (way too op) and give it a light-based ability (I'm not a bot I've just been asking a lot of people this lately).

There’s quite a few I’d change actually! Namely nerfs but also some power overhalls. Lots of the canon powers are just too OP and just kill the tension.

And all these were chosen with the knowledge that the powers aren’t limited to a single use anymore. Heroes can use their powers up to three times safely, any more than that can become dangerous to the holder.

Ladybug: Keeps all its canon powers except her Miraculous cleanup is nerfed. It can now only fix damage caused by antagonistic forces.

Black Cat: Keeps all canon powers, with the extra ability “Nullify”, and can do the Miraculous cleanup. It can destroy anything created by an antagonistic force.

Together the Ladybug and Black Cat can perform the Miraculous cleanup from the canon show, but can use their powers separately.

Peacock: Unlike in canon, Sentimonsters are soulless puppets. They have no will of their own, and if handed the item containing their amoc they will stop moving until the item is taken away from them. Because fuck you, Sentimonster Adrien.

Rabbit: Time Powers, but no Time Travel. User can speed up, slow down and stop time entirely, but for a very short amount of time.

Snake: Future Sight, can see up to 30 minutes into the immediate future. As the future isn’t set in stone, it cannot look any farther than that without getting unclear visions.

Goat: Clout. I’ve given the Goat the Tiger’s power. It’s more fitting for a goat to “ram” into things.

Monkey: Monkey See Monkey Do. The monkey can copy other powers and abilities. They can only use one copied power at once, and copying another power overrides the first one.

Rooster: Cocka-doodledoo. Status effect remover. User can remove any status effect on an ally (sleep, poison, freezing etc)

Dog: Tracking. User can track a person or object back to its place of origin through scent. User can also telepathically see the past of an object.

Pig: Gift. Same power as canon, but the user can either show their target’s dream or their worst nightmare.

Ox: Rumple. User can create a small earthquake in their immediate surroundings by stomping on the ground.

Tiger: Invisibility. Invisibility, I don’t think that needs to be explained.

Dragon: Same as canon, but nerfed. Once the user chooses between Wind, Lightning or Water, they are locked to that single element until they have detransformed.

Sooo by a few I meant mostly all of them. I mainly wanted to make the zodiac kwamis less OP and more situational, so they’re more likely to be used with unification than by a new hero each time.

[miru5llec]

This is a very long list of powers and abilities a seer can have and hopefully we’ll see them in acotar 5:

Extrasensory Perseption - perceive things by means other than the human senses or personal experience.

Accelerated Probability - The power to predict what choices one could make and their potential outcomes. The user can perceive the information of any situation and use the variables of that information to predict/perceive the paths that lead to certain outcomes will occur, based on what choices are made. They can then accelerate themselves along the path of their desire, which causes them to reach the conclusion of the path taken.

Clairvoyance - the power to gain direct visual information through non-physical means. The user can gain direct visual information about an object, person, location, or physical event through means other than the user's physical sight and allows them to act when they are unable to use their eyes and may be able to 'see' spiritual/psychic beings.

Danger Intuition - The power to detect impending threats. The user can sense nearing danger, acute danger, potential immediate danger, or impending danger and sense unwanted or hectic threats to their well-being and evade it.

Death Sense - The power to sense the coming of death and the actual act of dying. The user can sense the coming of death, determining when someone is dead or dying or if others have died in a specific location. This may extend to seeing the names and lifespans of those whose faces the user sees.

Destiny Perception - The power to perceive destiny. The user can sense the fate of themselves and others: they can see if they, or others, are meant to be loved, hated, rich, poor, die or if they are fated to be good or evil.

Divination - The ability to gain insight into a question or situation using an occultic, standardized process or ritual. User can employ divination, a method of reading the future, the present and the past and/or provide help to a problem at hand by using an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Divination can be achieved by communicating with the supernatural (i.e. gods, demons, spirits, nymphs) or by reading certain patterns.

Empathic Precognition - The ability to see into the future using emotions and sentiments. The user can foretell future events and observe what might happen by utilizing their personal thoughts and feelings about another. The strength of the user's emotions corresponds to how evident their vision of the future will become.

Flash Precognition - The ability to see things seconds or minutes before they happen. The user is able to see into a short-term future if usually only seconds or minutes worth. While useless for long predictions, it does give several practical advantages.

Mediumship - The power to perceive and communicate with spirits and those who are in the afterlife. User can view ghosts/spirits of deceased and communicate and/or interact with them, even if they have possessed inanimate objects/subjects/people. They are able to repel and run spirits away from an area, compel to employ an armada of ghosts, and may even view a visual conception of a spirit world in a trance if desired. Well trained mediums are even capable of channeling the energy and powers of spirits making them potential host/conduits for channeling their powers through their bodies and manifesting their qualities for their own.

Precognition - The power to perceive future events before they happen. Users have the ability to foresee possible futures and observe what may happen. As knowledge of the future invariably causes that future to change, visions of the future are subject to frequent shifting. While not being able to select futures or travel through time, these visions may assist in possible courses of action. Some visions may be set in stone whether or not you see them, others may happen only if the players select a certain course of action. This depends mainly on whether or not users are viewing Destiny or Probability.

Precognitive Dreaming - The power to perceive future events while in a dream state. The user is capable of perceiving future events in dreams.

Precognitive Speech - The ability to perceive future and/or recite/prophesy it. The user can perceive future and/or recite/prophesy it aloud, they may be aware of the process and able to control it, or it may be completely involuntary and/or be uttered in trance.

Prescience - The power to have instinctive foreknowledge of incoming events. The user has an instinctive knowledge of events before they happen. Such as knowing their enemy's every move/intention, know the cause/effect of events, prepare for/prevent the unwanted outcome, etc.

Psychometry - The power to perceive the residual information of an object and/or person. The user of Psychometry obtains historical memories or sensations concerning beings and objects they observe. With objects, they gain knowledge including the makers, users, and even those who have on passing used the object, and what has been done with it. With living beings or parts of the body, the user learns their general life-history but doesn't gain anything of what they were thinking or feeling.

Retrocognition - The power to discern events of the past. The user can discern the past and past events using various means, usually entering a trance while seeing and hearing a noted past event, whether it be concerning themselves or of an unfamiliar lineage in a past occurrence. Occasionally spontaneous.

Xeno-Accelerated Probability - The power to predict the outcomes of and what choices other people could make. The user can sense all the variables of any situation for other people, predict the outcomes and what choices the other person could make. They sense the possible courses of action for the target, and can see what consequences will happen for each action the target person can make.

Powerful seers can reach nearly or even fully divine status:

Absolute Vision - The power to see everything that happens no matter how far and no matter how the conditions are.

Divine Sight - The ability to see reality from the eyes of a deities or divine, cosmic entity.

Omni-Perception - The power to perceive anything/everything. The user can perceive anything/everything, including the past, present and future, reality, causality, boundaries, energy, even destiny and ultimately everything else.

Causality Perception - The user can perceive and understand all cause and effect relations, deducing the path leading to any effect, allowing them to plan, analyze, and take action with absolute efficiency. They can perceive the cause and effect relations of their own thoughts giving them the ability to tackle various situations by simply thinking about possible routes they could take. In a fighting situation, they can adapt perfectly to all factors before they even appear, achieving maximum efficiency in the offense, defense, and strategy, ensuring optimal success as long as there is the slightest chance. As a strategist, the user can always achieve optimal results (depending on the means at their disposal), perfectly anticipating all variables and their opponents' every move. These calculations can lead to extremely complicated planning in the long run, which always ends up being successful. The user can instantly understand anything by perceiving all the causes/effects it is currently made of, as well as all the previous ones that lead to this state. For example, a simple glance at someone would be enough to learn about their nature, personality, history, expectations, strengths, weaknesses, etc. The perception can also be turned to the person's future, its many paths, their probabilities, and the one which will eventually be realized. In short, users are flawless tacticians. They understand everything, there always several steps ahead of everyone else, impossible to catch off-guard, and always achieve the best possible results.

Combat Perception - The ability to understand how a person thinks and fights in combat. The user can instantly understand an opponent's method of thinking and fighting, allowing them to anticipate the moves of the opponent. Once they understand their enemies' strategy, they are able to find their flaws and weakness and take them down with little effort. While some users of this method do not use it as part of their primary fighting style, it is helpful in emergencies against difficult opponents where ordinary methods will not work against them.

Life Perception - User can perceive the flow of life-force in all living things, perceiving problems life-flow, the coming life and births of others, etc. This may extend to seeing the names and lifespans of those who's faces the user sees.

Supreme Observation - The power to observe/view everything, everywhere, everywhen regardless of where or when it is. User can observe/view/watch everything, everywhere, everywhen, and everyhow at the exact same time and regardless of where or when it is or might be. They can view out into the boundless emptiness and nonexistence where isolated and locked entities dwell.All that is, isn't, might, might not, could, could not, can, can't and won't exist is visible and laid bare before the user, and nothing can be hidden from their eyes. Unlike perception, which is the power to perceive anything/everything, this power only enables the user to observe/view/watch everything.

Evil Eye - The power to inflict harm on a person by gaze. User possesses the evil eye, which allows them to inflict a variety of harmful and debilitating effects on anyone they choose, just by gazing at them including but not limited to: laying horrific curses, inflicting pain and suffering, knocking people out and even killing people. They may also be able to affect inanimate objects with this power.

Illusion Awareness - The power to be aware of one's surroundings is false. The user is completely aware at all times of the true reality around them, potentially seeing through an optical and/or mental illusions that others attempt to deceive them with.

360-Degree Vision - The power to see in all directions at once.

Destiny Manipulation - The power to perceive and affect fate/destiny concerning people and events.

Divine Communication - The power to communicate with and influence deities.

Divinity - The user has divinity and divine powers granting them an immense amount of raw power beyond the mundane, making users a divine being by nature, a status which can be obtained a number of different ways. Users can gain divinity by having a divine ancestry, transform into a deity either by another god or by faith, channels, acts as a vessel for, the power/soul of a deity, mimic/steal powers from a deity, or be enhanced/evolved to the point of godhood. The level and forms of divinity is variable and unique by the user's nature and character of being, thus weaker or stronger users of divinities is ultimately reliant on the user alone.

Flaws/Weaknesses:

Seers connected to the gods may be limited to what god shows them.

Seers limitation will depend on the user but they can run the gamut.

- Seeing things but unable to change them.

- Seeing things but they are unclear.

- Seeing only possibilities.

- The visions may take a toll on the mind and the body.

If you would like to research more and find more about seers and their powers/abilities, check out this page https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Archetype:Seer It’s composed with a lot of powers of seers from books, movies, anime, comics etc. and it’s indeed really interesting.

Now I’m not saying that each of these powers will be used by Elain and neither saying that there’s not a high probablity that our sweet seer will not have one of these. We don’t know what crosses that beautiful mind of SJM, so will have to wait and see how powerful she wants to make the seers in the acotar universe. I just got really mad cuz people are still saying that Elain is boring, her story will be boring yada yada yada without even knowing how powerful Elain is. Is like saying Nesta is weak after reading acowar which is really silly.

But if you ask me, I am very excited to see more of Elain’s powers in her upcoming book. And I know for sure that Elain + Azriel (seer + shadowsinger) is a powerful, dangerous and deadly combination.

[sillydreamer]

Meet my OC (Heather)

Okay guys this isn’t a request or headcanons but I wanted to share something with you ;)

As you can see with the title i’mm going to show you an Elarya OC so here’s Heather (be nice to her ;D)

She’s from the obsidian guard and in a random story that I’m making she’s Valkyon’s girlfriend. Heather doesn’t replace Erika-Gardienne in the plot and her story is quite long so I’m going to divide it in parts, the first one being a small context of these story, the second part being her backstory before she ended up in the guard, a little explanation of her personality and then a behind the scenes (you will know what I mean when you reach that part). 

Name: Heather

Gender: She/her

Birth day: 28 of June (Cancer ♋️)

Age: 24 in the origins, 32-33 in a new era.

Species: Werewolf (Hyrbid of dragon)

Height: 1.82 cm

Guard: Obsidian guard

MBTI: ESTP-ESTJ

Familiar: Natch (Male molecat)

Li: Valkyon

Primal role: Since she belongs to obsidian guard Heather knows how to fight and uses this to protect others, also makes good plans and sometimes helps Valkyon when he needs it. She’s good with children and loves to show them anything that can be useful; form fighting skills to show them legends of Eldarya.

Secondary role: Heather worked in the library and as a teacher, the first job is to know more information about the dragons and their return while the second job was more “oficial”. Since they needed teachers Heather decided to sign in for that.

Weapon: She learned how to use an axe as a primal weapon and a sword as her second option (but I didn’t find an axe so she appears with the second one)

Abilities:

Strength

Quick learner

Social

Knowledge of mysterious things

Good listener

Disadvantages:

Sometimes selfish

Kind of naive

Ignores things 

Context:

You can see that she has some weird marks on her neck and face right? Well, they are a characteristic for her clan.

She lived in Sheni, a lost village that was far away from the lands of el, it was a close village that didn’t accept strangers very well, the villagers being mostly werewolves or night creatures. A quick note is that there were vampires in there, but they weren’t pure blood, this is going to be important later.

This village had a closed mind and follow a single philosphy; they believed that the dragons were coming back and this will mean the reborn of Eldarya, a new era that will change everything.

Her clan followed this with hearth but decided to give a little push to this “prophecy” and they ended up learning dark magic  this situation got a little bit out of hand for them. The thing here is that this dark magic can be passed through bloodline and one of Heather’s ancestors was a great dark-magic user and this make that its descendants inherit that ability.

But why did they believe this? Apparently she had a dragon ancestor that told them to wait for their return, this happened because, when the dragons saw that their whole specie will disappear some of them reproduced with normal faeries, hoping that they offspring could protect Eldarya from future danger. And this didn’t end up well because we know that the guard of el and other faeries hunted these descendants trying to save the crystal but this was unknown for them.

Heather has a few of these dragon powers but since they got extinct a long time ago and they weren’t any pure dragon to teach her how to use these powers they are kind of useless, that and the fact that a lot of generations had been passing and the dragon-blood is less and less each time.

Still she can transform into a dragon but then Heather needs to rest for a long time (one time she slept for a week or so) and she can use blue fire that can be a characteristic of fox people but in this case is because of dark magic.

Speaking again about dark creepy stuff, the marks on her body are prove of this, since her family has been using this for a long time it became part of them. They can hide it if they want but Heather is used to have them visible. 

Inside of the clan they have a “chosen one” or a “selected by the spirits” which is a member of her family that is born with more of this dark magic and it’s function is to keep their communication with the deceased, sometimes speaking with the daemons. Heather isn’t the selected but her younger sister is. There have been a lot of “chosen ones” through her family, almost like a legacy.

Do you remember what I said about vampires? Well, it’s not that they hate them, is just that they have very different points of view and they crash a lot. An example is with the vampires of Yaqut (yes, Karenn and Nevra’s clan). These two villages are a few days of distance (maybe some weeks) but decided to ignore each other to the point that they aren’t sure if the other village is alive or not, Yaqut hates halfbloods and the few ones that managed to escape moved to Sheni, giving them knowledge about other dark things.

Despite her being an hybrid of dragon-werewolf and perhaps vampire (I mean, it’s possible and these people are weird) her predominant specie is werewolf, which means that Heather has the habilitiess that a normal werewolf has. As example; shapeshfting into wolves, super strength, a great stamina, almost night vision, great smelling, others. 

Small detail; she has fangs because some werewolves develop them.

Another detail; by some reason her village has a nocturnal life and sleep during the day to work at night. This is because they use the moon cycle and the starts to guide themselves and is the reason why Heather’s skin is pale; she hadn’t been that exposed to the sun. (My baby needs sunbaths please)

Backstory:

Heather’s father is the leader of the clan which allowed her to have almost what she wanted. She wasn’t the heir of the clan, that was her older brother, Duncan. By the other side her younger sister Moon (I know that I don’t have creativity putting names but what can I do?) was the “chosen one” of the clan which means that she had other responsibilities such as developing her magic to her limit.

Even if she didn’t have a mission like her siblings she had enough determination to be useful and decided to be her brother’s right hand when he became the leader of the clan, that’s why se started worrying about others and their needs.

Heather’s mother was gone, she doesn’t remember her well and her father used to say that she died when Moon was born and burried in the forest.

Heather was a happy girl and loved to explore the forest with her siblings, they were warned about other creatures outside of their small village and told them to hide whenever something weird happened, always telling them to be disguised and don’t let anybody see them.

One day Moon walked away and was lost in the forest, Heather and Duncan panicked and returned to the village to ask for help. When the adults finally found Moon she was missing her left eye, but Moon didn’t say what happened and she only had a deep blue eye and the other one being white with a scar.

When they started growing up the relationship between Heather and Moon started changing. Moon was quiet and spent a lot of time in the forest, exploring and developing her magic in secret, meanwhile their grandmother was trying to train her.

While Moon was being a rebel gal Heather and his brother Duncan continued with their training to become leader and right hand. He was compromised with a girl of their age to ensure the bloodline even if they were just 14. Heather had a talent manipulating the fire that the dark magic provided her and learned how to use an axe and a sword as weapons.

Duncan an her grew very closely while the relationship with Moon was more distant with time. One day Moon went to the forest alone as usual but this time she never came back.

At first her family wasn’t worried, she used to leave and return a lot of times but the time passed by and the people of the clan got nervous. The werewolves searched through all of the territory but when they found out that Moon’s track continued deep to the forest and beyond the limits that the clan had the panic started.

The winter was coming and this forced the villagers to stop with the search. They needed Moon because she was an important piece for the dragon’s prophecy, they needed her because she would tell them what to do and this caused more frustration in the people.

Heather was devoted to her family and decided to search for her sister by her own, she understood the importance of Moon and wanted to bring her back. Her father allowed her to go when the winter ended but it lasted a few months more.

Once it was over Heather packed up and began to search, finding information about a werewolf with a missing eye and a deep-blue look in the other.

As she was told Heather kept the secret of her clan, only saying that her sister ran away from home and she was searching for her. 

After months of looking and searching Heather was in a bar and heard rumors of a mysterious werewolf that helped a guy for being crushed by some rocks. The man telling the story was the father of that child and he said to his friends that he would be eternally grateful with the guard of el.

Following that hint Heather was able to find the location of it. It had been two years since Moon left home and Heather really missed her, decided to try her luck she entered in the shelter under the identity of a lost villager.

Heather ended up finding Moon and her sister was surprised that someone was able to find her. The older one tried to convince Moon to return back home but her sister didn’t listen. 

At the end Heather joined the guard to spend more time with her and at the end, make whatever she needs to do to convince Moon to return back home.

Personality:

She’s kind, yeah she is.

I know that she grew up in a group that told her that she was important because of the dragon-blood but that group also showed her that being that mythical creature meant that she was there to help others, but the world wasn’t prepared for this.

She doesn’t talk about her home though, she tries to keep it as a secret because that’s what they had taught her. But living outside showed her that the world wasn’t that cruel and she ended up enjoying the experience of meeting new people and chatting with them.

It’s a social butterfly and responsable girl, the friend that can go out to party but return home to finish homework on time.

Daddy’s girl, of course she is.

Behind the scenes:

Heather is based in another OC from an original story that I’m planning to write (but I’m dumb and procrastinate 99.99%of the time)

Her appearance doesn’t change much between these two versions, she has small purple tips in the hair in the original version.

In the original story she has another sister but in this universe Heather only has two siblings.

This idea started as a joke like “Okay what would happen if I mix up her with Valkyon” (because they looked cute) and here we are, me creating a whole story with her.

In the original story she used to have a boyfriend with tanned skin and white hair mostly because I have a thing for them, let me be please.

I simp for her, expect to see more of Heather over here.

[mostlycompetentwriter]

My Side

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Bang Chan (SKZ)

Warnings: language, lots of smut, prostate massage, fluff, some mentions of angst (but it’s very minimal)

Genre: Marriage AU

Word Count: 4K

Summary: Y/N has had her entire future planned out ever since she could remember: step one- graduate college (done), step two- find a good-paying job (done), step three- marry someone she adores (done), and step four- have kids (???). She understands that life is full of obstacles, but is it too much to ask for your husband to finally knock you up?

A/N: Big apology to this anon user who requested this and had to wait like 8 billion years for me to finish it.

The fertility clinic was unusually cold, and I found myself shivering in direct contradiction with the sweltering summer heat collecting outside of the office building. Maybe that was the point: the doctors wanted to keep you totally alert while you waited for what seemed like hours for a standard routine visit. Because I could’ve already fallen asleep at this point - taking advantage of my day off from work to do something other than fret over the working condition of my reproductive system.

Of course, there was also the issue of my grumpy husband who had been thoroughly displeased when he found out exactly what a pap smear test implied. “He was totally checking you out when we came in,” Chan said. “Then, he insisted on sticking that thing up your vagina?”

“Oh, give it a rest, Chan,” I said. “I knew they would do that before I even came here.”

“I think he just wanted to look at your pussy,” Chan insisted. “And he did it right in front of me like I didn’t even exist!”

“You weren’t forced to stay in the room,” I pointed out, which I would’ve preferred but Chan insisted on standing over me like some kind of jealous observer who actually wanted to watch such an intimate procedure. 

“Yeah, he would’ve preferred that,” Chan said, leaning further back in his chair. “How the hell is this even supposed to help us? We’ve only been trying for a few months.”

“Well, I want to make sure everything is working properly,” I said, and (just to spite him) I glanced down at his crotch. “What if you’re having performance issues, honey?”

“My dick works just fine,” Chan insisted. “But you know what? I think it’s partially your fault that we can’t pregnant. You’re putting too much pressure on him and it’s hard for me to focus.”

“Him?” I questioned with a grin. "Do you really want to personify your penis?”

“That’s not the point!” Chan exclaimed. “Did you even hear me, Y/N?”

“But what is the point, Chan? What exactly are you having trouble focusing on?” I asked. “We’re talking about fucking, not a tax audit. Keep the office out of our bedroom.”

“You don’t think I know the difference?”

“Apparently not since it requires more effort than necessary for you to orgasm,” I screeched, barely getting the words out before the doctor’s return.

Immediately, Chan and I were both forced smiles, pretending like we weren’t just having a pointless argument. “Well,” the doctor said. “Everything is fine on your end, Mrs. Bang. I guess that means we can perform some tests on your husband.”

“Oh, that would be great,” I said, even as Chan shifted restlessly from next to me. “Is there anything you need?”

“We’d like to ask you for a sperm sample,” the doctor replied while handing Chan a clear, transparent plastic cup that he accepted with obvious hesitation. “I’ll give you some time.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking over at Chan who was glaring at the cup as if personally offended by its presence.

But at least he waited until the doctor was gone before looking at me with wide eyes. “What do I do?” Chan asked, holding up the plastic cup while appearing thoroughly taken aback.

“It’s just masturbating,” I hissed at him.

“They want me to jerk off into this cup?” Chan gasped like the idea was so totally perplexing to him.

“How else will they get a sperm sample?” I asked him, rolling my eyes because I was growing impatient.

But Chan still hesitated, using one hand to hold the cup while his other traveled down to the front of his jeans. “Do I just...”

“Yes!” I shouted while standing up from my chair. “It’s nothing hard, Chan, you’ve been masturbating since 9th grade!” 

“Yeah, but it’s embarrassing to do it here,” Chan argued, and I sighed for what had to be the thousandth time that day.

“There’s a curtain for privacy,” I said, reaching for my bag from the floor. “I’ll be waiting outside until you’re done.”

“Y/N!” Chan whined, but I left without another word, hoping that Chan could get his shit together because I was exhausted and the prospect of the bed waiting for me at home was suddenly everything that I wanted.

It turned out that Chan and I were both perfectly healthy, and there should be nothing impeding my ability to finally get pregnant. Chan even managed to smile after our doctor complimented his sperm because they were powerful swimmers or whatever the hell that meant. But that had also been hours ago, and after a well-deserved nap, I was feeling exceptionally horny. Thankfully, Chan was never the type to turn down sex, and a few innocent kisses had turned into a full-blown pornography session within moments of me circling my hips against the front of his jeans.

“Fuck me, Chan,” I said, and he nodded eagerly as we both helped each other escape the obstacle of our clothes.

“You should apologize to my dick first,” Chan said teasingly when he had me spread open in front of him, fisting his cock as he started jerking himself off.

“What? Why?”

“You questioned my performance earlier,” Chan said with a shit-eating grin. “Maybe my cock isn’t good enough for you.”

“It’s fine,” I said, whining when I tried to wrap my hand around the base of his erection, only to have Chan knock it away with a sharp growl. "Alright!” I groaned. “I’m sorry I questioned your all-powerful shaft, okay? So, can you please just fuck me already?”

Chan chuckled at my easy compliance, and he ran his thumb across the slit of his cock before positioning himself at my wet entrance. “Remember that next time, Y/N,” he said, exhaling shakily when he started to push inside.

“Shit!” I cried, reaching out for his broad shoulders as I held on as tight as possible for the ride waiting ahead of me.

“Such a tight cunt,” Chan remarked, pausing a moment to grind himself against my insides just to feel the pressure around his cock.

“Go faster,” I requested, throwing my head back when he complied, smacking his hips into mine as he searched for the perfect angle to leave me seeing stars.

“Yeah?” Chan purred, and he started thrusting faster than before, dragging his cock against the pulsating walls of my cunt, forcing more arousal to leak out around him. “Look at how good you always take my cock, baby.”

I reveled in the praise, craning my neck to the side just so that I could watch him disappear inside of me over and over again to match the sensation of his thick cock filling me up so well that it was almost mind-numbingly good. The best part was the pleasing sound of Chan’s moans, and I admired the way that he held himself up over me so that his muscles were practically bulging as he rolled his hips with seductive grinds. Meanwhile, I was drooling over the visual of his bulging biceps, whining underneath him because Chan was being unusually rough. Not that I would ever complain since every thrust managed to brush the tip of his cock perfectly against my cervix.

But it was only after Chan reached down to add a finger to the already tight fit of his cock inside my pussy that I remembered something that I had read on the internet as part of my endless pregnancy research. My eyes flew open at the reminder, and the lustful haze surrounding my sex-addled brain quickly vanished. “Hold on, Chan,” I said, pushing against his chest and disrupting the steady rhythm he had been maintaining.

“W-what?” Chan stuttered, pulling out while watching me roll over onto my stomach. 

“This is a better position,” I said, raising my ass high into the air before giving him a teasing wiggle. 

“Whatever,” Chan grunted, still too gone in his pleasure to care that much about my shenanigans. He immediately caged me in with his thighs, fumbling with his erect cock before aligning the tip with my aching cunt. I was relieved when he started jostling his cock back where it belonged, meandering in elegant strokes that resulted in the best friction.

“Make sure you come,” I told him while decorating the pale skin of his shoulders with nail marks as I reached behind me. 

“You first,” Chan insisted, and my heart warmed at his selflessness even while it felt like all the blood inside of me was rushing south, moving through my veins and spilling over with a rapid descent that left me seeing white while Chan moved even quicker, thrusting like a man deprived. 

I felt him come only moments later with the familiar heat that I had grown to appreciate more and more over the last few months. Thereafter, I immediately reached for a pillow from behind me, wincing at the sensitivity that lingered between my legs. “What are you doing?” Chan asked when he collapsed on the bed next to me.

“It’s supposed to help,” I said, raising my hips to place the pillow directly underneath me. “This article said that raising your legs after sex can improve your chances.”

“That seems ridiculous, Y/N,” Chan said. 

“Hey! Blame your sperm,” I countered. “It’s not my fault they need an extra boost.”

“My sperm are just fine,” Chan grunted. “You heard the doctor. They’re excellent swimmers.”

“This is just a precaution,” I told him, sighing in relief when I reached down to cup my heat, ensuring that all of Chan’s cum stayed inside where it belonged.

For the past several weeks, work had become something of a chore that I was forced to endure on a regular basis. It was often a struggle to force my way through piles of paperwork or tedious emails that always said much of the same thing. After a while, I would find myself glaring at the clock because I was quite certain that time was moving slow for the sole purpose of annoying me.

There was also the issue of dealing with my colleagues, especially the ones who liked to gossip and had effectively made a whole thing out of my failed attempts at pregnancy. “Oh, Y/N,” they would tell me. “It’s been three months, hasn’t it?”

Like they didn’t have anything better to do with their lives besides meddle in mine. But the worst of them all were the ones who decided that they were some kind of authority figures and tried to give me helpful “advice.” Everything from the shit that I had already heard from my doctor and the articles online, to bizarre practices that left me wondering where they found their information.

My manager’s personal assistant was a frequent advocate. She was far more insistent than the rest of them because she already had two kids at home who she described as future Mozarts in the making. And because she had already been successful (twice, I might add), she always sat next to me at lunch with a new suggestion that supposedly guaranteed fertilization.

“It could be that he’s under too much pressure,” she told me before biting into her salad.

“I’m asking him to have sex with me, not invent a new computer,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you’ve both been having a lot of sex, which might seem like a good idea,” she continued. “But it might actually turn out to be far worse.”

“What do you suggest then? Should I kick him out of the bedroom for a week or two?” I snarked, but she was hardly bothered by my sarcastic attitude.

“My husband and I tried stimulating him more directly,” she explained. “Maybe you could try it out.”

“How so?”

“It’s something like a prostate massage,” she revealed in a hushed tone as if it was top-secret information. “There’s all kinds of information about it on the internet.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, wanting nothing more than to brush aside her words, but maybe I was too desperate because I found myself skimming through countless articles after lunch, soaking in the vast amounts of information that I uncovered.

And I left the office that day with a new strategy in mind to surprise my husband.

The moment I first walked through the door, I was yanking off my jacket and calling for Chan who ducked his head out of our bedroom. “Why the hell are you yelling?”

“Because I have a wonderful idea,” I said, practically skipping over to him and offering him a deep kiss.

“Y/N,” Chan murmured against my touch, grabbing my shoulders to pull me back. “What are you going on about?”

“Just take your stupid clothes off,” I said, skirting past him into the bedroom. “I want you naked on the bed.”

“You’re already horny?” Chan chuckled, but he made no protest of yanking his shirt over his head.

“I want to try something,” I told him, opening the door to our closet to search for something that we hadn’t used together in a long time.

“Should I be afraid?” Chan asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as he fisted his half-hard erection.

“Not if you have an open mind,” I said, turning around to hold up the bottle of lube, and Chan’s smile instantly vanished.

“What’s that for?”

“Well, tonight I’m using it on you,” I said, laughing at the way his forehead creased in confusion. “My co-worker actually made a pretty useful recommendation today.”

“Okay?...” Chan trailed off with an expression of perfect concentration - like he was doing his absolute best to understand.

“The internet called it prostate milking,” I explained, biting my lower lip to keep myself from laughing at the horrified expression on Chan’s face. “I want to stimulate your prostate.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Chan asked.

“Look, it has a lot of medical benefits,” I said. “Plus, I read that it can feel really good.”

Chan squired anxiously on the bed when I sat down next to him, and I could see that his cock was perfectly flaccid between his legs. “I don’t know, Y/N-”

“Don’t worry,” I interrupted him. “This is perfectly normal. Now, be a good boy for me and get on your hands and knees.”

Chan frowned. “Good boy?” he grumbled before obeyed my command, crawling his way up the bed to position himself in the way I had suggested.

“There we go,” I said, softly running a hand down his spine. 

“So far, I’m not impressed,” Chan muttered.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” I said, situating myself behind him before palming his ass. “This looks better than I remember, Channie.”

“Yeah, I guess the squats helped,” Chan said, and he flinched when I snapped a glove in place over my right hand. “What’s that for?”

“You think I’m gonna mess around your ass without a glove?” I snorted. “That’s not very hygienic.”

“Hygienic, yeah, okay,” Chan huffed, and he let out a noise somewhere between a whine and a grunt when I opened the bottle of lube and drizzled some on my fingertips. 

“Hold still,” I said, trying to get him to relax when my finger started circling his asshole, pushing against the tight muscle which wasn’t so easy to penetrate. However, with enough perseverance, I forced one finger inside and heard Chan release a rather unattractive sound.

“How does it feel?” I asked him, trying to move my finger around like I had read online.

“It just feels like you’ve shoved your finger up my ass,” Chan snapped, and I knew not to take it personally since he wasn’t so willing to go along with my crazy scheme in the first place.

“Don’t be so tense,” I said, rubbing my hand along his lower back. “Should I use more lube?”

“Fuck, I don’t know, Y/N,” Chan groaned, and I could tell that he was growing frustrated.

I was also losing confidence - wondering if this had been a bad idea because it definitely wasn’t as easy as my co-worker promised. Plus, I could tell that Chan was uncomfortable, squirming around under me while his cock hung limply between his legs. Clearly, he wasn’t finding any pleasure from this, and maybe it was entirely my fault for jumping into this without more preparation. 

“Shit, Chan,” I said, removing my finger while releasing a sigh. “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have done this.”

I cleared my throat, feeling increasingly anxious when Chan refused to respond to my apology. He was still supporting himself on his hands in front of me, chest heaving up and down with each breath. I could see that the bright red tint to his ears betrayed his embarrassment and that only made me feel worse because the last thing I wanted to do was make this bad for him.

Eventually, Chan rolled off to the side of the bed, collecting his sweatpants from the floor before walking into the bathroom. I closed my eyes when the door slammed behind him, and I quietly left the bedroom to give Chan some privacy because it was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with the situation. 

So much for my co-worker’s stupid suggestion.

However, in the grand scheme of things, I was always the first to recognize when my actions warranted reprimand. 

After sleeping on the couch in the living room, I woke-up with a sore lower back and a guilty conscious. Chan had already left for work that morning, and he probably hadn’t paid me a single glance. But I probably deserved his wrath, which meant I would do everything that I could to make it up to him.

Consequently, I found myself flashing a bright smile at Chan’s office secretary who greeted me politely before calling Chan’s phone to see if he had some time to see me. There was a small part of me which worried that Chan might send me away because of last night’s events. Thankfully, his secretary waved me inside and I took a deep breath before opening the door while carrying the packed lunch I prepared for him.

Once inside, Chan offered me a cursory glance that only lasted a brief moment until his attention was once again focused on the file in front of him. “Channie,” I said, wincing at my shrill tone. “I brought you some lunch.”

I hesitated when Chan didn’t respond - walking over to his desk to carefully deposit the bag on his desk. I waited for a brief moment, but Chan refused to acknowledge me, which meant I needed to approach him more directly.  “I’m sorry about last night, Channie,” I said, coming around his desk to perch myself on the edge. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m also sorry about the past few months because I’ve been so desperate to finally have my positive pregnancy test that I started to really neglect you.”

The pen Chan had been writing with stopped in the middle of whatever sentence he had been writing, and my husband finally allowed me the privilege of looking into his dark brown eyes. “It’s hard for me to stay mad at you, Y/N,” Chan said, and I nearly burst into tears at the simple declaration.

“You deserve to be mad at me,” I said. “I can’t believe you let me get away with acting like this. You should get the husband of the year award or whatever.”

Chan chuckled, tossing his pencil aside. “Sweetheart, I know how much this means to you, and I want it just as much, but maybe it would be nice if we could be intimate sometimes without worrying about whether or not we’re following all those advice columns you read.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, and I pushed myself away from the edge of the desk and fell onto my knees in front of him - reaching out to grab his thighs between my hands. “What if I blew you right here in the office?”

Chan’s answering moan was enough to solidify my resolve, and I easily worked apart the belt fastening around his suit pants. My fingers worked with an experienced touch because this wasn’t the first time we had done something like this in his big executive office and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. “Fuck, Y/N,” Chan said, grabbing large handfuls of my hair while directing my lips closer to his exposed cock-head. 

“Let me take care of you, darling,” I said, offering a tentative lick to his pulsating tip. Chan was already hard, and I gave him a few strokes with my hand before allowing my mouth to take care of the rest - opening wide to take him as deep as I could without gagging. 

“Look at you,” Chan snarled, and his fingers traced the seam of my lips stretched obscenely around his cock. 

I moaned around his erection, and Chan closed his eyes as he fingers tightened their hold - hips moving every so often to force his cock even further down my throat. But I’m sure it made for one hell of a visual, and I hollowed my cheeks as I ran my tongue across the distinct vein trailing along the underside. 

“Keep going,” Chan said, and I could tell that he was close. And I started bobbing my head up and down, mimicking the same effect of his cock fucking my pussy, relaxing my throat and encouraging Chan to do whatever he needed to push himself over the edge.

He eventually came with an exaggerated groan, and I wrinkled my nose at the taste of him. Yet, I knew better than to let anything go to waste, and I struggled around the rawness of my throat as I swallowed - swiping my tongue around the head of his spent cock to clean up the excess.

“Was it good?” I asked him with a hoarse voice.

“Of course it was,” Chan replied, encouraging me off the floor and into his lap. His arms wrapped around me, holding me close as I listened to his heart slow back down to normal. “Thank you, Y/N,” he said, teasing his lips across mine. “You’re not gonna freak out over the fact that we just wasted my perfectly good semen?”

I rolled my eyes before playfully hitting his shoulder. “It’s never a waste if it makes you come like that.”

He smiled, bringing out the fullness of his dimples, and we sat together while Chan ate his lunch and I mindlessly talked about the latest office gossip. It was moments like these that I loved more than anything about my marriage to Chan - pregnancy be damned. Ironically, it was only a few weeks later that I found myself looking down at a thin white strip with a blue cross displayed across the surface: positive.

[theshinobiway]

I Fix Team Gai’s Endings:

CAN I GET SOME LITERARY PAYOFF PLEASE?

Might Gai

How it Ended:

Gai fails to defeat Madara despite having the ‘best chance’ as a Taijutsu master. 

Gai narrowly escapes death and his leg is shattered, disabling him for life.

One of his precious students is dead. 

He’s forced to retire from the career he’s spent his whole life attempting to build. 

Well, be does get to spend his time with Kakashi (who is also in retirement), so he does have some silver lining.

What SHOULD have happened:

Gai defeats Madara, cementing his reputation as the legendary Taijutsu Master and gaining respect for Taijutsu users worldwide OR

Gai narrowly fails to defeat Madara, but Rock Lee avenges Gai by surpassing him (Possibly inventing a new level of Taijutsu that surpasses the 8 Gates).

Even if Gai is disabled, he gets the fame he deserves by being the most renowned Sensei in history. He becomes the model for all future Jounin instructors, and his training methods and philosophies (and by extension, Duy’s) become ingrained in Konoha’s teachings.

Might Duy receives the honor he deserves post-mortem because of Might Gai’s heroism.

People from all over come to battle Might Guy in his dojo, who still manages to defeat all of his challengers despite the lack of mobility in his leg. He accepts students who show particular grit, and it’s considered a badge of honor to receive tutelage from Gai.

Gai still spends retirement with Kakashi, going on trips and leaving his dojo to Lee and Tenten when he’s gone.

Rock Lee

How it Ended:

Rock Lee is an Average Dad

Despite being a romantic, his wife is nowhere in sight. He was never shown with a happy marriage with someone who loves him for who he is.

He has no particular fame or renown for his part in the war, and he has no major fights in the final war arc.

Lee doesn’t get a rematch with Neji OR Naruto.

We find out in the final war arc that Lee has a…CLAN? And then it’s never mentioned again.

What SHOULD have happened:

Lee needed way more screentime during the war. This would cement him as someone important and give us a chance to finally see Taijutsu at it's most advanced‐and I don't mean just the gates. I'm talking sheer technique and will of the human body that simply decimates.

Lee would either team up with Gai in the final fight (or attack) against Madara. If Gai gets defeated, it's Lee who steps up to the plate, delivering this badass monologue: "You all thought Taijutsu had its limits. You all thought I had my limits. Well, let me say this now: I, Rock Lee, have finally pushed Taijutsu beyond what you thought impossible. And how did I do it? Simple. You decide your limits from the beginning... and I reach them."

Lee, to the witness of the entire world, defeats Madara. No one is sure what to make of it at first, but it's clear: he's unlike any other Shinobi in history. He's created something they've never seen before and it's strong. And now, they believe in him like never before.

In the post-war, Naruto is approached with an offer about about a path to becoming Hokage. At the same time, he learns that the village is banishing Sasuke for the time being until they can sort out what to do. Naruto realizes political corruption exists so our precious war hero chooses going/being with Sasuke/his team. It's unintendedly a major political statement that has the elders clutching pearls and clamoring to pardon Sasuke. In his sendoff amid the uproar about him leaving, Naruto loudly nominates Lee in front of all the other Kage and drops the mic.

When finally confirmed after much drama, Lee makes for a FAR better Hokage. His arc goes from disadvantaged, talentless youth to the most impressive Ninja in existence by sheer hard work, the guiding theme of the series. No one worked as hard or stayed as humble as Lee, and Naruto recognized that.

Naruto can be his ‘War-Hero’ right hand when he returns. The "Hand of the Hokage." He still gets the “heroic” validation he REALLY wanted without the responsibility of governing.

Shikamaru is nervous about working with Lee since he's the opposite style in terms of, ahem, "actually working," but after a few early riffs and some honest communication, the two actually learn to balance each other out: Lee teaches Shikamaru be more diligent, Shikamaru teaches Lee to pace himself.

This also frees Naruto and Sakura up to actually accompany Sasuke on his redemption journey, be more present in the series, have relationships develop naturally, and explore the political repercussions of the war and everything that led up to it. It's a point of humility for Naruto to admit he wanted love and confidence over the real responsibility of governing, and let's just say the most effective ruler is always the one who never asked for the job. Naruto is better suited having his own squad as a jounin.

Shikamaru gets exasperated by the shenanigans Lee sometimes pulls in the office to train while doing paperwork. Lee often overworks himself too much and Shikamaru feels bad on his behalf, eventually encouraging him to delegate work. He has a much easier time guilting Lee into going home, though, because Lee would never choose to miss time with his family when it comes down to it.

Lee Clan? Don’t know her.

Lee surpasses Might Gai to become the most renowned taijutsu user in existence, paves the way for taijutsu specialists in shinobi culture.

Lee happily lives with his wife and Metal, who were definitely introduced either in a stand-alone novel or earlier in the series. They are the quirkiest, but most loving family in Konoha.

Their love story is meant to be cute and has the theme of “loving someone for exactly who they are.” I would love it if his wife was also disabled but excelled in her own field and Lee admired her for it. 

Lee invents a new style of Taijutsu techniques that he uses to defeat Madara. These techniques are on-par with some of the most legendary jutsu in existence.

Lee finally defeats Neji in a match, completing the arc we started in season 1. It’s a legendary fight that's still talked about to this day.

Lee’s condition is finally explained as being from a sickness he had as an infant that almost took his life. Gai had the same illness, but not as bad. 

He spends his adulthood looking for information on this sickness. He doesn’t want a cure for himself, but he has research done so it can save the lives of other children.

Lee does a training routine every morning. Academy students who idolize their Hokage eventually join in and try to keep up. It’s also endearing to the village that their Hokage makes time for the kids. 

Even if they can’t finish the routine (and none of them can) Lee congratulates them every morning on doing their personal best. 

Often, Lee teaches valuable life lessons at the end of his morning training sessions–just like Gai.

Tenten

How it Ended:

Tenten sets out to become a Legendary Kunoichi, but only manages to be legendary because she wields/owns all the Sage Weapons.

Tenten is never given a thorough backstory.

Tenten ISN’T the head of Konoha weapons research.

Tenten finally accepts that she isn’t like other girls and doesn’t want to have relationships or get married, her friends support her.

Tenten embraces her goofy side, becomes more like Gai and Lee and is heavily involved in their lives.

What SHOULD have happened:

Tenten originally sets out to be like Tsunade–the woman who could heal an entire army. She isn’t great at medical jutsu, but later discovers that her abilities mirror the Fourth Hokage.

Tenten vows to be legendary like the Fifth, powerful like the Fourth.

Tenten rediscovers and revives the Uzumaki’s sealing jutsu. This, coupled with her mastery of Minato’s jutsu, make her untouchable.

Tenten acquires all Sage weapons, gains fame for using them in battle to turn the tide of the war. Minato meets her and recognizes her as his successor. He gives her his blessing to revive the Uzumaki techniques as her own.

Tenten instead becomes the “Legendary One-Woman Army” In the war arc, she can teleport entire platoons of shinobi in an instant. She rains destruction down on the Zetsu army. 

Tsunade comments that her “strength of a hundred″ seal would have been wasted on Tenten; Tenten has the strength “of a thousand.”

Tenten’s mastery of seals lets her identify and rig the reincarnation seal; All deceased Shinobi that were forced to fight have their free will restored. Tenten has your army now.

Post-War, Tenten, at Hinata’s command, finds the way to remove the Caged Bird seal from the Hyuga clan.

Instead, a new seal is given to EVERY member (starting with Hinata) that functions to protect the Byakugan after death but has no other effect. It effectively halts all attempts by outside forces to steal the Byakugan.

Tenten keeps her weapons shop only because it suits her and her down-to-earth personality. She also likes the freedom to travel as she pleases, exploring the world and discovering more about the Uzumaki.

Tenten is famous for being Konoha’s #1 desirable single, but she will never settle down. It’s not what she wants.

Tenten deflects suitors with sharp objects as a gag. Everyone, though they may not understand, supports Tenten being exactly who she is, and they protect that. It remains a quietly apparent choice her character has made, and doesn't act as a challenge for the plot to fix.

She eventually becomes the sensei of Metal (and Neji’s child too, if he has one.) She pulls pranks on her team to both train them and remind them of who's in charge.

She still is involved in the lives of Gai, Lee, and Neji.

Neji Hyuga

How it Ended:

Sigh.

He begins his arc by cursing the fact that he’s going to die for the main branch and then…dies for the main branch. (And Naruto, I guess.)

Neji does not see his clan unified.

Hiashi’s throwaway comment during the war meant nothing. Neji and other branch members still had their seals. The Hyuga clan still went into the war with “head” and “branch” families. 

Neji does not get a rematch with Lee.

Neji doesn't speak to his father during the war.

What SHOULD have happened:

Hiashi dies for Neji, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that familial love comes before the hierarchy and reversing the old narrative.

Hiashi declares Hinata the new leader of the Hyuga with his dying breath, and tells her she knows what to do. He cryptically hints that Neji will lead the Hyuga to a brighter future. Hiashi knows the elders wouldn't accept Neji as head right off the bat, but he knows his daughter will stop at nothing to fight for her family.

This is also Hiashi’s redemption, finally repaying his brother’s sacrifice.

Neji gets to speak to his father during the war. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the whole anime.

Post-War, Hinata stands before the elders and abolishes the status of head and branch families. She also has Tenten abolish the seal, as well as create an entirely new seal that goes on every member to completely protect the Byakugan from thieves but serves no other purpose.

Neji is the first to have his seal removed, Hinata is the first to have the new seal. 

Hinata then declares Neji the new head of the Hyuga while she finally gets the quiet, peaceful life she’s always wanted. If the opportunity did present itself, however, she may have her own squad with a similarly shy kunoichi. She comes to Neji often for advice on how to best train them.

Neji leads the Hyuga through major reform, abolishing harmful training methods and teaching the younger generation about the importance of family.

Neji is rightfully respected and hailed as the greatest Hyuga as he single-handedly creates new techniques that we see used in the next generation.

The Hyuga clan now selects their future leader from the most capable in the family. Hanabi is fine with this because she ‘knows she’ll be the best anyway.’ Neji teases her by saying he ‘isn’t so sure’, which pushes Hanabi to work harder.

The Hyuga are one of the most fiercely loyal and loving clans. Any affront against a single member will bring the wrath of the others. It's like one giant, close-knit family. Make fun of a Hyuga kid and now you’re getting drop-kicked by their third cousin.

Neji loses to Lee in a rematch, but warmly acknowledges his growth from when they were children. Neji is the first to officially support Lee becoming Hokage and is the one who gives him "the talk" that convinces him to accept Naruto's nomination of him to the council. Neji becomes Lee’s confidant and closest advisor.

Neji is an amazing uncle who is sometimes out of his element when it comes to dealing with his energetic niece and nephew. It’s all fluff.

When no one is looking, Himawari will stare intently (threateningly) at her uncle, who will slowly grimace and hand her a piece of candy from inside his sleeve, glancing around to make sure no one sees him complete the exchange. No one knows where Himawari gets her spontaneous candy and stash from. It's a mystery as to what he seems to be paying her off for, but it'd probably be a delicious secret to find out..

Neji’s relationship with his niece is heartwarming. He constantly threatens Naruto to be a good husband and father to his niece and nephew OR ELSE.

Neji trains Boruto and Himawari. He’s strict, but as kind as he is firm.

Neji teaches Boruto to have a closer relationship with Himawari, mirroring the relationship he had with Hinata. If he has children, they're the "cool older cousins" to the siblings and have their dad's clout for sure.

Neji might get married or have children. If he does, it’ll be the subject of a Gaiden novel. Perhaps also a quick throwaway scene in the epilogue post-war where he meets someone that catches his eye. His child(ren) will be on the same team as Metal, where they will also be rivals.

He might have twin boys if we really want to go hard with literary parallels, but it’s not necessary. He'd name his kids after his father first.

There, I fixed it.

[jackalgirl]

Archive.org (the Brouhaha, recapped)

There’s been a post going around about archive.org, and a suit against it by four large publishers.  And there’s a lot -- I mean a lot -- of hyperbole going on about it.

I had a very constructive conversation here with @helenisfair (I had in fact bought into some of that hyperbole) and wanted to recap what I learned so far (I have more research to do).  Be warned: it is very long.

Claim #1: the Internet Archive scans copyrighted books and makes them available to everyone, which is illegal and robs publishers of revenue, and if the publishers are robbed of revenue, so are the authors.  Ergo, the Internet Archives is pirating authors’ works.

This claim plays on what it means to “make available,” and is strongly implying that this means unlimited digital copies of a physical book available for anyone to download and possess, always and forever.  It would be like me buying a book, then making 10 photocopies of it, and giving those photocopies to my friends (or worse, selling them).

This is not really true (but in the case of the lawsuit, it is kinda true, see below).

The Internet Archive claims to function like a library.  What this means is that, like a library, it buys or acquires (e.g., by donation) books.  It does scan them and make them available online, and this does include books that are under copyright.  Now here’s the part I don’t know yet: I don’t know if the Archive has a brick-and-mortar location where you can go and check out physical books.  I am operating under the pretense (for the moment until I know for sure) that it does not.  Therefore (again, I presume), it is not possible for the physical copy of a book and its digital copy to be loaned out at the same time.

Once the Archive has this scanned copy, it lends that copy out to readers using something called “Controlled Digital Lending”.  For example: if you have an IA account, you can “check out” the scanned copy into your account’s loan list for one or 14 days.  You can then read this book online, via web-enabled reading.  You can return it at any time, or, once your lending time is up, the file is released from your loan list and is now available for someone else to check out.

It is also possible, if you have the proper Adobe application, to download an encrypted ePub or ereader version of the book.  This allows people manipulate the display more appropriately for their needs.  I think that the function of this Adobe software is the same thing as the web-reader: after the loan time, it removes the file from your device and (presumably) notifies the IA that the book is free to check out again.  (I say “think” and “presumably” because I have not yet researched how the actual mechanics of this software work.)

The function of this is to ensure that extra copies of the book are not generated: one digital copy per physical book in the possession of the Archive (unless the book is no longer under copyright, that is), available to one person at a time.  So, under the “lending libraries should be allowed” presumption: no revenue is being lost, no author is losing money.

Claim #2: The Internet Archive is doing exactly what libraries do with their eBooks!

Well, no.  As I understand it, libraries license the digital copies of books from the publishers.  So they do pay.  What they get for paying is a number of digital copies that they can lend out that way -- entirely separate from any physical copies in their collection.

Claim #3: The Internet Archive made unlimited copies of millions of books under copyright available, and that’s why they’re being sued.

Well, actually the lawsuit only alleges 127 specific titles, to the “millions of books!” statement is an example of that hyperbole I mentioned earlier.  But if you’re a fan of writers being compensated for their work (which I am), it’s not the quantity of books being “stolen” that is an issue.  It’s the fact that unauthorized copies were available which could have, if they had been authorized, generated income for the original authors (or their estates).

And note my earlier statement about the idea of “copy”.  It was not unlimited copies, as in “files I can download to my computer and have forever”.  It was “multiple people potentially accessing the same digital copy of a physical book.”

So what actually did happen?

Well, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many libraries were closed -- or otherwise inaccessible to people with health limitations and/or concerns.  People were trapped at home, with no access to libraries.  So what the Internet Archive did was remove the 1:1 lending limitation for books in their library, calling it the “National Emergency Library” (it’s still not 100% clear to me whether this was all of the books in their holdings, or just some of them).  This meant that for every physical copy of a book, there could theoretically be an unlimited number of digital copies checked out at one time (again, though, no one would get to keep their copy).

Apparently, the Archive had an “opt-out” option, wherein a publisher could notify the Archive that they didn’t want a book included in the “National Emergency Library” offering.  I don’t know if the publishers could say “nothing from us”, or whether they’d have to fill out the “opt-out” form or whatever for each individual title.

Personally, and this is just me here, I do not particularly like “opt-out” options.  If I’m going to take something from you, or collect something from you, or otherwise benefit from you, I think it is fundamentally shady for me to just start doing it and saying “but you can always opt out if you jump through these hoops”.  I think the Archive would have been better served by sending notification to the publishers that they were going to do this thing for the benefit of people during this emergency, and ask them to opt-in, and not "unlocked” the affected books under copyright until they had done so.

Anyway, the publishers (Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Wiley, for the record) filed suit against the Archive for copyright infringement, at which point the Archive stopped the “National Emergency Library”.  As of this writing, the Internet Archive is back to what it was: 1:1 lending of the digital copy of a physical book in its possession (I think).

Claim #3: The Internet Archive did nothing wrong -- all of this is covered under “Fair Use”

That’s what IA is claiming in its response to the lawsuit.  However, this may not be a very strong argument.  The Mass Law Blog provides an analysis of this argument and concludes that the claim fails to meet most of the required prongs, or elements, of Fair Use doctrine (again many thanks to @helenisfair, who provided the link to this article).

Claim #4: By suing the Internet Archive, these publishers are trying to bring an end to the lending of books!

This is a claim made indirectly -- by refutation -- on the IA’s blog: “Copyright Expert on Publishers Lawsuit: 'The idea that lending a book is illegal is just wrong'”. Well, I can imagine a world in which publishers would, indeed, prefer to be paid for every time the contents of a book entered a reader’s brain.  However, it’s my understanding this lawsuit is much more narrow -- it’s about unauthorized copies, which (if correct) would make this claim is a strawman.

Claim #5: This lawsuit will utterly destroy the Archive, and thus remove a lot of material from being available, including its archive of US political shenanigans (particularly from 2016-2020), which if lost, will impact people’s ability to fact-check said shenanigans.

This may very well be true, and it’s a concern. There is a lot of material there that would benefit future historians (or any current people who are interested in fact-checking and primary research), and to lose it would be a tremendous loss (though it would absolutely benefit certain persons’ ability to continue to create “alternate truth”).

End conclusion: I personally think that, if multiple people had access to the same digital scan of a copyrighted book during the National Emergency Library period that yes, the IA did infringe on the copyright, and they absolutely should be held accountable.  I do not feel that the ends (helping out people during the pandemic) justified the means (essentially stealing from publishers and, by extension, the authors).  I feel all of this could have been avoided via an opt-in system.  I am also perturbed and annoyed by the hyperbole being utilized by the Internet Archive itself -- it has the feeling of handwaving, slippery-slope, and catastrophic-thinking arguments, to distract people from the issue at hand: did the Internet Archive make unauthorized copies of books available to its users?

I hope that the Archive can settle with the publishers for any actual copyright infringements that occurred, if they occurred.  I think we’ll have to wait for discovery to find out how many of the 127 titles were checked out by more than one person at a time during the “National Emergency Library”, but even one infringement could be pretty hefty (see the Mass Law Blog article for penalties).  

I personally feel that the Archive is incredibly useful, especially because it gives me the ability to access some very old manuscripts, and also books that -- while still in copyright -- still haven’t been digitized by their publishers.  For example: “The Architect of Sleep”, by Stephen R. Boyett, is an absolutely excellent book about a guy who falls through some kind of multi-words rift and ends up in a Florida in which the dominant, sentient form of life is a bunch of really large, upright-walking, sign-language-using raccoons.  This sounds like an absolutely ridiculous premise, but dear reader, the book is fantastic and well worth the read.  It is also out of print, not available as an eBook, and is contained within the collection of the Internet Archive, so if I have intrigued you but you don’t want to pay for a used copy, you can go check it out online.

Likewise, I’d really like it if the ability to access the Wayback Machine, and also to fact check shenanigans, were as readily available in the future as they are now.  In short, I would hate to lose the Internet Archive, and will continue to support them (provisionally; I sure hope they don’t try to pull another “opt-out” stunt in the future).  If you’d like to do so as well, there’s a donate button on their main website at archive.org.

[hectabdr]

Dragon Raja IV - Chapters 3 & 4 (Abridged)

Hi everyone, continuing with today's chapters, these are centered around Nono and Caesar and their lives after he returned from Japan.

Previous chapters

Chapter 3

Mediterranean Sea, Republic of Malta.

The Island of Frefra is mostly an ecological reserve, there is a white building on top of a natural harbor with luxury yachts and sailing boats. Tourists and locals have always been interested in knowing more about its residents, but the government is very secretive about it. It is well protected against binoculars and often, music can be heard coming from the inside. Girls in white dresses walk around it and they're known as the "Iris girls".

At 5:45 am, a rotating alarm clock started playing a terrible heavy metal song, making its way through fashion magazines and snacks, it ran around the bedroom of Chen Motong, who finally trapped it and took its batteries out.

She slept for another 20 minutes and woke up in a hurry. She had classes to attend. Cooking lessons, Japanese tea ceremonies, British literature and music appreciation, amongst other things. This was the Golden Iris Shuyuan Academy. It was meant to educate Nono on how to live among nobility.

She arrived late at the breakfast table only to realize the other girls were betting on her punctuality. After she accepted Caesar's proposal, he took her to Rome to meet his relatives, some of which were more than 300 years old, they left their cryogenic beds and unexpectedly blessed their marriage (after evaluating her from head to toes). Nono's own family was rich and powerful, known as the Black Prince Group. After both families signed the marriage contract, they agreed to make Nono drop out of Cassell to take a years-long bridal training in the Shuyuan Academy.

During her dancing lessons, a yawning Nono was the only one who couldn't keep up with the rhythm, prompting her teacher to whip her foot.

At her cooking class, she kept eating bits off her dish, leaving almost nothing for the teacher to evaluate.

She managed to succeed on her tea ceremony while her boredom made her toes fight each other behind her back. She was distracted during literature and used her profiling skill to cheat on her analysis of classical music.

She unwillingly started regretting the moment she accepted the marriage proposal, but not because of Caesar, it was all about the life that awaited her. The lessons were relentless and the academy was isolated from the outside world. She didn't sleep enough because she used her Cassell training to sneak out at 10:00 pm to swim by the beach, that was the only time in her day when she felt truly free.

She toyed frequently with her obnoxious alarm clock, it was a gift from her old classmate, Luminous. On her last birthday, he casually carried a backpack with him all day, it was pretty obvious that he was preparing to give her a gift, which he nervously did, and he was the only person who dared to do so, as everyone else felt intimidated by Caesar.

She knew about Luminous's feelings for her. All of the male classmates who liked her could easily fill the whole cafeteria. Luminous was just one of them. She considered herself a passer-by in his life, thinking some girls of his age (like Zero) would be a better match for him. One day he'd mention it as a thing of the past and they would both laugh about it.

She hoped to finish the bridal course in months, but it had already been a year. She brought mostly books but she quickly ran out of things to read.

Suddenly, she realized someone was hiding in her bedroom, right after the cleaning lady left. The intruder took one of her books and a bag from her secret stash of potato chips. She turned off the lights and grabbed a knife, more excited than scared, she searched for the thief.

After finding nothing, she remembered her bathtub, and there he was, asleep with the missing book on his face and a bag of chips in his belly. She punched him in the stomach. A patrolling Nun showed up, concerned, Nono hid the intruder in the tub and pretended to take a bath. If someone found Luminous in her room, they would accuse Nono of having an affair.

The nun searched the whole place with a revolver but couldn't find anyone, before leaving, she had a conversation with Nono about her situation in the academy, specifically her wish to leave. In the lady's words, "Her soul seemed to lag behind her body". Luminous finally understood that she was there to become the perfect bride. When the nun left, Nono scolded him for his presence, she realized he looked different, he was clearly taking care of himself, better dressed, he definitely had a better haircut. He also thought she looked somehow different, more elegant, but exhausted.

His stomach roared, breaking a long awkward silence and she took him out to steal some food for him. They took wine from the cellar, along with some ham and cheese.

-Sister, do you know Johann Chu? -Maybe, was he your boyfriend or did he just owe you money?

Luminous explained his situation to her: he decided to go with the school's psychologist, professor Toyama, who diagnosed him as schizophrenic. Toyama attempted to erase Johann off his memory, but Luminous responded by making a scene and drawing out his desert eagles. He tried to track Johann in everyone else's memories but his missing classmate didn't have many friends.

Anjou couldn't remember him either. Back during Luminous's second year, there was no trial against a Blood Rage user, Frost Gattuso only accused the principal for his terrible administration. The rollercoaster incident happened way after they finished their ride with Shavee. Anjou gave Luminous the location of Chen Motong, telling him to use her profiling ability to find some clues.

However, Nono also believed Luminous had schizophrenia and convinced him to stop his search and look for treatment instead. Luminous lamented his condition and how he couldn't trust the world he lived in anymore, however, despite how enticing it was to forget Johann and go back to the real world, he felt his brother was still out there, waiting to be saved, but everyone forgot about him. Nono couldn't do much for him in his situation.

-Years ago, you were not the president of the Student Union, but a scared boy that I rescued from a theater. Now that you don't trust the world anymore, you came back to me. How many more times do you think I'll be here to save you?

Suddenly, a security guard noticed the candle they lit in the cellar. Nono didn't know how to react, but someone broke a bottle of wine on the guard's head and knocked him down. It was Finger, who informed Luminous that now he was wanted by Cassell, as they thought he was an undercover agent sent by the Dragon Raja.

Apparently, on the same night that Luminous left the college, someone entered the Ice cellar and stole Constantine's skeleton, severely injuring principal Anjou in the process. The only student with such clearance and power was the S-Rank himself.

Agents of the Execution Bureau went looking for Finger in Cuba, so he buried them in a tobacco field, with their heads out, of course.

Nono urged them to understand the seriousness of what it meant to be hunted by the secret party, which essentially made them targets of the whole world. They could leave no traces for Norma to track down. She considered there were three possibilities:

1- Luminous was insane.

2- He was an undercover agent sent by the dragon raja all along.

3- He was the only person in the world who was't hypnotized.

The only being who could be responsible for the third option is the white dragon king. Its skeleton was never recovered. Their only option was to travel with Luminous in secret to track down any trace that Johann might have left in the world before he disappeared.

-I really hope my brother is alive... -True Love! Said Finger and Nono in unison.

Finger then urged them both to leave and "go save the world" but Nono refused to leave. She had a responsibility with her family and with Caesar. As Luminous turned around and started walking, Finger stunned her, urging Luminous to help him carry her outside.

Chapter 4

Caesar Gattuso was sitting down in a church. This was the anniversary of his mother's death, so he wore a suit, drove a Harley Davidson motorcycle on his way there and brought her a bouquet of white flowers.

When he was younger, she bought him a miniature bike, she also loved to see him wearing little suits. Most of Caesar's style was based on her taste, he thought that would please her while she watched him from heaven.

The first time he had been on the Milan cathedral, he was attending her funeral. The ceremony was presided by the pope himself. Knowing of his family's involvement in her death, he poured kerosene on the coffin and lit a fire on the church. The authorities managed to save the historical building and despite of it all, Caesar was still allowed inside every year to mourn Gulweig, (as long as he wasn't carrying any dangerous chemicals).

Parsi Gattuso arrived in a car to give him some urgent news, his wife Chen Motong had gone missing. He brought with himself a letter that she wrote for her fiancé, it expressed Chen's dissatisfaction with her new life, asking him to give her some time.

Caesar immediately realized the poetic letter was fake, since Nono wouldn't bother to express herself in such a way. According to him, Nono would just write "Caesar, I'm leaving" In a napkin and leave it on top of her bed. The letter was probably written by a narcissistic person like Finger.

However, this left him reflecting on Nono's true feelings towards her future, wondering if all he did was capturing a bird (that he initially admired for its freedom) just to lock it in a cage.

Far away in Cassell College, the elders of the Secret Party reunited for an emergency meeting, the first one since 1961. Many famous individuals that once shaped the course of history were in it, still alive after faking their deaths to cover up their slow aging. In the principal's chair, Leonardo Flammel, the vice-principal and a direct descendant of Nicholas Flammel sat down and started the meeting.

He welcomed EVA, Norma's war personality with 140,000 times her processing power, and asked her to project a life-like hologram of Anjou's assassination attempt.

According to the recording, the previous night, the principal intended to access the ice cellar, but he stopped meters before reaching the entrance. He looked behind and said:

-Is that you?

In a fraction of a second, his access card had left his pocket after something cut through it. His entire body started bleeding from multiple cuts to his skin. He had no time to react and tried to use the card as his weapon, since the attacker didn't give him enough time (even using Time Zero) to draw his dragon slaying knife. It was guessed that his opponent could use Time Zero as well, but was more skilled in combat than the principal himself.

The security system identified the situation in time and called the police and medical assistance, otherwise, Anjou would have died. The conversation quickly turned to Luminous's possible involvement in the situation, Flammel had a conversation about it with "Mr. Beowulf", who was also present.

The legendary Beowulf was not an individual but a family of dragon slayers. They had a strong attraction to dragon blood, for them it was almost like drugs to an addict.

They were the most fierce dragon hunters in history, pouring the blood of their prey and drinking it after every successful kill. Their newborns were poisoned with dragon blood and only those who survived the process were considered worthy of living. Their latest descendants were almost dragon-like in appearance, but they were unlikely to turn into death servitors. Whenever that happened, the family killed them immediately.

Considering there's an imminent crisis ahead, the leader of the family showed himself in the table for the first time in a hundred years. That's because he strongly opposed the establishment of Cassell College, since "a true dragon slayer can only be born in the battlefield".

Back in the day, he led the "Action team" of the secret party, which eventually became the Execution Bureau. Initially he was expected to lead it, before he expressed his dissatisfaction with the college. Compared to the Action Team of the old days, the cruel Bureau is almost a charity.

Beowulf immediately started discussing Luminous's background. His parents were apparently in the records of the Execution Bureau, but their achievements are not registered. They never reported themselves and their location is currently unknown.

Caesar Gattuso was responsible for the defeat of Norton, Abdullah for Fenrir and the Gattuso's orbital weapon for the White King. Luminous was present during all of these events, but his actions are not registered either. He theorizes that Luminous is in fact a dragon, taking advantage of the war to slay his fellow kings. Since his use of Yanling was unknown and Time Zero belonged to the King of Sky and wind, the most mysterious of the dragon kings, the elders came to the conclusion that this dragon was none other than Luminous himself.

As soon as Beowulf questioned the absence of Frost Gattuso, Pompeii himself made an entrance by making EVA project his hologram on an empty chair. The man was semi-naked as multiple women applied sunscreen on him, annoying everyone on the room, specially Beowulf. Pompeii focused on the importance of Constantine's skeleton, since everyone else seemed more focused on Anjou's assassination attempt. Those bones contained the power of the king of bronze and fire, who was conformed by twins, so the college kept Constantine's skeleton, while the Gattuso family kept Norton's. In that very moment, Frost was transporting their half of the dragon king to an underground vault in the bank of Rome.

Pompeii linked Frost to the call, who was now 120 meters underground and descending. The vault was heavily protected against Time Zero users.

Just as they were discussing the security measures, the loud sound of an alarm silenced everyone in the room, when the members of the meeting asked about its purpose, they quickly realized that it wasn't coming from Cassell, it came from the elevator in Rome. The intruder was in the vault.

Frost was instructed to forget the original plan and leave with the bones of Norton. His bodyguards quickly mutated into dragon-like creatures to protect him. Corrosive acid and bombs were released as the elevator rose back to the surface, but there was something heating up the place and it was greater than any bomb they detonated.

Every guard stayed behind to guard the doors, hoping to witness the intruder. Finally, one of the doors was blown away. In the fire, there seemed to be dragons and snakes dancing. The mummy-like figure in white robes slowly walked towards Frost, as he exclaimed:

-It that... you? Is it really you? It is you!

EVA instructed him to step back, as he had no chance of winning against this "reaper", Frost took out his phone and transferred control of the vault to EVA before the strange creature reached him. Suddenly, the camera was broken and the visuals lost. The sound of the doors being blown up one by one was heard. Beowulf commanded EVA to close the sole entrance of the vault, which could easily resist ten-million-ton nuclear weapons, (Not enough to contain certain dragons).

Believing this to somehow signal the end of the world, the council awaited quietly. Investors in Rome were ecstatic when the value of gold suddenly increased (Since one third of the monetary gold in the world was just destroyed). EVA used the surrounding cameras to confirm the worst, Frost Gattuso was dead, crystallized by the extreme heat. Their diamond-like statues were left behind and soon collapsed, turning to dust.

The possibility of the resurrection of the black King soon reached their heads, its return would signal the end of humanity.

Caesar soon appeared in the room. He was named the new representative of the Gattuso family, so he ordered EVA to kick his father Pompeii out of the meeting. He defended his education in Cassell in front of Beowulf, saying it made him prouder than his last name ever would. He explained that this dragon was more dangerous than the others due to its ability to understand humans, their organizations and its capability to hide among them. It was more similar to humans than it was to dragons, which was its more terrifying feature.

He impressed Beowulf, specially when he ordered to investigate anyone who had come into contact with his uncle, since he recognized his killer. He then brought up Luminous. EVA explained that his unprecedented progress in combat skills was due to his participation in the Nibelungen project. It allows Luminous to surpass the dragon blood limit without turning into a death servitor. He was an artificial emperor, like Chisei Gen from Japan. Beowulf was enraged, since he considered it was a waste of resources to use Nibelungen on such a weak student instead of picking one of their A-Rank fighters and ordered EVA to put all of her computing power in finding Luminous and Finger. However, EVA found no records of Finger in her database. Everyone concluded that he deleted himself.

Since Luminous already worked for the Executive Department and therefore knew how to hide from them, Caesar proposed to employ a different type of hunter, specifically the ancient creatures that the college kept under the ice cellar, originally intended to be used against the black king. The elders voted in favor, but even Beowulf was frightened by the idea of employing them. Flammel suddenly stood up and contacted Finger, warning him of the impeding threat. Moments later, a veteran knocked him down.

Parsi had noticed a change in Caesar. In years prior, he'd make childish requests, like asking him to empty a restaurant because he wanted to drink tea in peace. It looked like he was never going to grow up. Ever since he came back from Japan, he was far more mature, taking bigger responsibilities and doing most of the work by himself. He asked Caesar about his friendship with Luminous, specifically if he wasn't worried about the beasts hurting him.

-I don't want to harm Luminous, but he made a mistake, he shouldn't have involved Nono.

He seemed extremely silent, stopping in his way out to stare at a decorative kimono, one that he brought from Japan as a souvenir, he was wearing it the day he arrived. He wondered about the weaknesses of the dragons, if Constantine was Norton's, who was Shavee's?

He felt like he was forgetting something.

[yourillusoryenvy]

Did Chrollo doom the Phantom Troupe?

Disclaimer: Please note that I am mostly referring to the 2011 anime as I only picked up the manga where the anime stopped. This is my own reflection on the subject, and is not in anyway a fact or truth. Feel free to disagree! 

Neon’s Fortune Telling Power & Her Lack of Knowledge about Nen:

Let’s start by talking about Neon’s Hatsu. We all know that if given the full name, birth date and blood type of someone, she is capable of predicting the future with 100% accuracy, one month at a time, in the form of short poems, one short paragraph per week of the month. She has no knowledge of what she writes/predicts (and does not like to know what she predicted because she feels it will impact what she wrote).  First off, from my point of view Neon seemed really unaware of her nen ability. She is very well aware that she is able to predict fortunes that are 100% reliable, but she does not even seem to know how she does that: she does not know about nen, like Chrollo, Gon or Kurapika for instance. 

Evidence of this is scattered throughout the York New Arc. First, if she was a traditional nen-user she would have practiced all the other basic exercises and should be able to use some level of aura in a defensive manner. I cannot believe that a traditional nen-user would have so easily put their guard down around Chrollo, and used no aura to surround their body. Sure, even a trained Nen-user would loose in a battle against Chrollo but still! A basic nen-user could have limited the force of the blow to her head/neck. And since she would be more capable of defending herself, had she been trained with the basic exercises, she shouldn’t need SO MANY guards. The amount of guards that she has is what you leave with a powerless, defenseless person, not with a nen-user that has at least some basic knowledge of nen.

Next, she announces  that “her hand just write the fortune”, and to me that shows she actually does not know how she can give such accurate fortune. She goes on to tell Chrollo that “they say they are 100% accurate”. Why would a nen user doubt their skills? Compare this to Pakunoda’s reaction when Gon and Killua challenge her ability by stating that “she only extract the purest deepest unaltered memory” and that they won’t be able to deceive her. 

Sure, maybe an explanation is that she does not want to walk around explaining  what nen is and how she does it, but this actually bring me to my next point. Wouldn’t a nen-user, be able to recognize a fellow nen-user? And if so why didn’t she get bothered by Chrollo’s aura? Even Leorio that has the tiniest understanding of nen can tell that Kurapika’s “presence” has changed. Nen-user “feel” different. A non-nen user would brush it off but a nen-user would be able to tell whether a person is a nen-user or not. Had she been a nen-user, and in anyway aware of it, she would have been way more wary of Chrollo’s intention.

Lastly, let’s not forget that she has no clue what happened to her and why she can’t write fortunes anymore. Wouldn’t a nen-user suspect that their nen was sealed somehow? I am not saying she should know that specifically Chrollo did it, I am saying that if she knew about nen, she would know that a nen-user did something to prevent her from using her nen.

I Strongly Suspect that Neon Unknowingly Put a Condition on her Hatsu.

Now why is it important? Well remember what I said earlier about her hatsu, how “she doesn’t know what she writes (AND DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW)”? This is why it matters. A 100% accuracy is a hell of good rate, it’s almost as impossible as let’s say creating unbreakable chains or being able to steal another people’s hatsu... It most likely requires a condition. 

Neon’s goal is to help people know about their future so they can prevent the bad from happening. She states that she feels that if she was told about the fortune, it would impact it somehow. And what if it does? What if she unknowingly set a condition on her hatsu? One that prohibit her from knowing what she wrote, and if she is told then what she wrote becomes fate, unalterable destiny, something her “clients” cannot escape? 

Many time through the arc we are reminded that Neon’s fortune can be escaped if we pay attention to them. If it wasn’t an important fact it would NOT have been repeated so many times throughout: by Chrollo, by Neon, by some random mafia guy... Simply knowing people were using it should have been enough, but Togashi went out of his way to make it point that it was used specifically for this purpose. I think this is a hint to Neon’s nen ability. A hint that if that is her purpose she would need a condition defying the purpose of her nen, something rendering her nen less strong or useless. And what better defies the purpose of her fortune telling ability than rendering her fortune unescapable?

If it became unavoidable, I believe the person attempts to escape would only push back the inevitable. Sure their fate would not happen within that month (making the person feel like they escaped it) but it would keep coming for them.

I know I might be stretching it but stick with me a little bit more! 

Chrollo Used Neon’s Ability and Was Bound by The Condition. So What Does this Mean for the Troupe?

If Chrollo used someone else’s nen I’m assuming he is bond by the same conditions. For instance the indoor fish is for INDOOR only, he cannot alter it and make it useable outside. This was probably a condition set by the original Nen-user to render them more powerful. Similarly, while we can only assume, if Chrollo was to take Shizuku’s ability he could only vacuum non-living things, just like Shizuku. 

This mean in this case, unbeknownst to Chrollo, Neon’s extremely useful nen ability came at a cost: he could not know about what he wrote or its purpose would be wasted by the fortune becoming unavoidable. 

Now we all know what the Troupe did when Chrollo wrote them their fortune, they shared it with each other, out loud, in front of everyone including Chrollo (well except for Hisoka who hid the real fortune with Texture Surprise). 

At that point Uvogin was dead, next in line was Pakunoda. Now it can be argued that Paku died because Hisoka hid his fortune and convinced them to stay. Or maybe it was meant to be because Chrollo had learned her fortune? I mean how, knowing about her fortune, did she still manage to make the wrong choice and get herself kill? I know she cares about Chrollo but her fortune should have guided her! Well anyway for the sake of the argument I won’t count Paku. 

Next of course was Kortopi, who did NOT get his fortune read, but finally come my poor Shalnark (I am still not over his death...). Shalnark’s fortune talked about how he should not make phone calls, because when it matters the most he won’t be able to reach anyone for help. Lastly telling him that death will come calling one time in three. From what we see in the manga and the anime from that point on, the third time that Shalnark’s phone ring is when Hisoka kills him. His phone is shown ringing, falling to the ground as he lunges to catch Kortopi’s head (Hisoka I still hate you for that!). He did not have his phone anymore on him. At the time it mattered most he could not reach anyone. And death came on the third call... Isn’t this odd to you? 

Also let’s not forget that Hisoka could have killed Machi but DID NOT. An odd choice. He could have killed the three of them and send poor Kortopi’s head as a present to Chrollo. I don’t know, he did not have to keep Machi alive. Unless she was MEANT to stay alive, you know just like as her fortune said? 

Lastly, to support this argument Hisoka, who was the only one to know his real  fortune AND to actively try to maintain it, tells Pakunoda that “it seems that bit by bit fate seems to be changing”. This is a very odd statement. It makes no sense why it is changing, why did Hisoka fortune’s change? Why didn’t he get his fight with Chrollo when his fortune told him he would? Because had he fought Chrollo right then and there, he would have most likely won. Chrollo wouldn’t have had time to prepare and no “puppets” to use to fight. It would have been a tough fight, Hisoka would have been the winner and he would have had no reason to kill Kortopi and Shalnark. But if Kortopi’s and Shalnark’s fate was now unalterable, his own fate needed to change so that he could fight Chrollo later, loose, come back, kill Shalnark and Kortopi to accomplish their fates! 

What Will Happen Next (if the hiatus ever ends)?

I have three predictions as to who will die next. The first two depends on whether we count Hisoka leaving the Spiders as “a loss to the calendar”. All the Spiders fortune talked about how their legs are going to be cut in half a.k.a  6 members will die. Personally I don’t think he counts, but I can see the argument that he is a loss so I’ll include my line of thinking in this case. Currently as dead members we have Uvogin, Pakunoda, Shalnark and Kortopi. 

If we count Hisoka has being one of the 6 (as in he left the troupe),  then only one person has to die. The only person remaining who we know was meant to die in York New was Shizuku. Her fortune talked about her being alone in a room of stolen goods. The Black Whale is filled with goods, some probably stolen, all definitely soon-to-be stolen.. Considering the spiders are slowly breaking up in small groups exploring the ship I wouldn’t be surprised that at some point Shizuku finds herself in such room only to meet her death: Hisoka or Kurapika. Her death would be the end of the fortune.

If we don’t count Hisoka has being one of the 6 lost legs then inevitably Shizuku will die for the reason mention above, but another member has to die. That member will be Feitan or Phinks... Most likely Phinks in my opinion, because Feitan is too big of a character for him to be killed like that. I know there is no way to say whether it will be Phinks or Fei but my gut feeling tells me Phinks... Why one of these two? Because they are the only one who did not get their fortune read, and if the fortunes of all the other members have to become true, it can only be someone who did not get their fortune read that can die.

The last option which I believe in way less and really really really hope is wrong is that the fortune said the Spiders will get done to 6 members and so the “massacre” will not end until this happens. The spider is currently at 10 members so 4 more needs to die. Shizuku is one of them I’m sure of that, Phinks and Fei are more than fair game, and then Kalluto and Illumi since they did not have they fortune read. I can see Kalluto and Phinks dying. And then either Illumi or Fei dying grand finale style, as in Hisoka killed Kalluto and Illumi goes berserk or same with Fei after loosing Phinks.  However in this case, I think all other members become fair game. Chrollo, Machi, Bonolenov, Franklin and Nobu are all in danger. I don’t believe, and don’t want to believe, in this third theory but well it is still an option worth mentioning. 

  Conclusion:

Am I stretching the facts? Maybe. I am forced to since we are missing a lot of information, and can only make assumptions about some things. But I believe that some clues are hidden all over the manga and anime hinting that this could be a real possibility. Plus if you think about it from the writter perspective wouldn’t it be a huge plot twist. Imagine for a second a Kurapika v. Chrollo battle, with Kurapika actually knowing about Neon’s nen condition (e.g: she was told when she was working for the Nostrade to never read Neon’s ability to her) and being able to tell Chrollo that it is HIS fault that half the spiders died, that they could have survived had he not STOLEN Neon’s nen ability. Finally, Chrollo regretting stealing something, feeling  GUILTY for stealing, feeling GUILTY for what he did and the impact it had. I would personally love to read something like that! 

Truth is we do not know anything for sure and this is just a theory, but it is worth considering in my opinion. I have no doubt at all that Shizuku, and most likely Fei or Phinks are next. 

Anyway that it just my theory! 

P.S: English is not my first language so I apologize for any grammar/vocab mistakes

[oddlovergirl]

Sorbet and Gelato’s Stands

I meant to post this on New Year’s Day, but I had to delay it to do some edits I felt were necessary. Hey, better late than never, right?

I have this headcanon on what Sorbet and Gelato’s Stands are, but I think their descriptions and what they can do will be too long to be on the future list of headcanons about the duo in question. Besides that, I think of their Stands as art-related, with Gelato being shown in the anime holding a bunch of papers (which I assume to be photographs) and Sorbet wounding up as a gruesome art piece you’d see in Damien Hirst’s controversial Natural History art gallery.

Tears of Pearls

Tears of Pearls is the Stand of Sorbet. It is a Bound-Type Stand with none in Destructive Power, C in (performance) Speed, D in range, an A in Durability, an A in Precision, and E in Developmental Potential.

Clinging into the skull’s upper jaw is a paintbrush, and it’s actually a vital tool to use, as it is capable of creating gateways. Once the picture is finished painted with that paintbrush and placed within the portrait frame, the user can enter the painting a la Super Mario 64.  Within these paintings is another picture that shows the outside world and acts as a portal for the user to activate in order to return back (kinda like the eventual state of the titular painting in Stephen King’s lesser-known book Rose Madder). The catch is that living things cannot go inside nor exit the paintings, with the exception of the creator and Stand user himself. However, non-living objects can be stored inside, and this includes weapons, money, and dead bodies. There’s also the fact that the painting has to be completely dry before he can dive into it lest he risks getting covered in the still-wet paint, AND that the portrait frame cannot adjust from its default size of 14x20 (which makes it bitch when it comes to hiding)

But Tears of Pearls has another trick up its sleeve. While a blank picture is within the Stand’s frame, when a photograph is inserted into the skull via the mouth, a paint-by-numbers visual is printed onto the painting so it can be removed, painted with Tears of Pearls’ paintbrush, and then inserted back into the frame for its gateway ability to work. This allows Sorbet to investigate the scenery in first-person perspective, being unable to interact with the environment.

But this Stand has one more trick: when Sorbet paints a third eye onto a photograph-based painting within Tears of Pearls’ portrait frame, he’ll create a gateway to have access to the photograph’s contents in the form of an art gallery with the objects and people inside the photograph standing out like statues. Inside this particular painting, Sorbet will read plaques that reveal the background on the objects and people.

Tears of Pearls got its name from the Savage Garden song of the same name, which is about how one hides emotions or secrets, letting them fill up inside, ultimately causing deep pain and suffering, with the tears being the “pearls”, as pearls are created under rough circumstances in darkness (which makes it ironic that Sorbet uses his Stand to enter a photograph-based painting so he can metaphorically dig up for “pearls” that is intel). The pearls on the portrait frame are a reference to the pearls Darren Hayes is singing about. There are also some interpretations ranging from someone who has been hurt from so many failed relationships (whether they’ve been hurt too many times in the past or dating the wrong people) that they have no hope for a positive relationship in the future to a closeted gay person hiding their homosexuality from the harsh society they live in. The song itself is also a tribute to 1980s New Romantic music acts such as Duran Duran and George Michael, sounding rather electronic and synth-heavy.

I gave Tears of Pearls a gothic design as a reference to the fact that the band Savage Garden got its name from a line (“The mind of each man is a savage garden.”) in The Vampire Lestat, one of the books within Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series (which has vampires that were modern, petulant, full of angst, incredibly fabulous, and dripping with bisexual eroticism; keep in mind that it was all years before Stephanie Meyer showed up and ruin vampires for everyone), and some of the  Savage Garden songs like Carry on Dancing and Mine do sound gothic (as in mystically gothic, not gothic rock).

Universe

Universe is the Stand of Gelato. It is a Bound-Type Stand with none in Destructive Power, C in (performance) Speed, B in Range (A when activating Thousand Words), an A in Durability, B in Precision (A when activating Thousand Words), and E in Developmental Potential.

Universe has the major ability to immobilize living organisms with its camera flash for up to five minutes. It can also paralyze Stands. Gelato can use the ability to his advantage by taking multiple photos of the same living organism to prolong their incapacitation as well as prevent their Stands from breaking free. Even if the victim is partially within Universe’s range, their limbs will be paralyzed; this is ideal for deliberately limit their movement by partially incapacitating them. Though the incapacitation doesn’t kill its victims (other than leaving them defenseless for Gelato to kill), it leaves them still aware of their surroundings. However, not only does using the Stand’s camera flash use up half of its energy, covering the immobilized victim in water undoes the effect, making him useless on days that are raining or snowing. Due to the fact that Universe is a Bound-Type, his Stand is STILL technically a camera that can and WILL get easily snatched off of Gelato.

Universe also has a special ability called Thousand Words, which increases the range, precision, and width of the camera flash (and also making the photos crystal clearer). It also extends the time of being paralyzed up to 25 minutes. However, the downsides are that covering the victim in water still works in undoing the paralyzation, it uses up much more energy, and that it renders Gelato temporarily blind for several minutes (though it’s easily nullified by him putting on some eye-drops)

Universe got its name from the Savage Garden single of the same name, which is, in Darren Hayes’ words, “a song about second-guessing your own emotions and just really young, youthful love, innocent, naive love, and insecurity, which we were all buckets full of” (to me, Universe being about inexperienced, idealistic love sounds like a contrast to an interpretation of Tears of Pearls being about a lover hardened from several failed relationships to the point of havng no hope for a positive relationship) The Stand being a Polaroid camera is a reference to the song’s official music video of the duo taking photos of girls on Polaroids. Compared to the synth-heavy Tears of Pearls, Universe is a rather soothing melody.

While Thousand Words is based on the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”, it’s also named after another Savage Garden song “A Thousand Words”, which is about exes, whether they be friends or lovers. (I was originally going to name the special ability after the Savage Garden song “Santa Monica”, but I decided not to).

I was going to give Gelato’s Stand a design similar to Obscura from The Evil Within II, but that sounds something akin to a Requiem Stand to me.