#or is it actually an Alice reference and not just my mind playing?

[girltomboy]

I watched Us tonight. I spent a lot of time reading reviews for it because I was moody and all doomy-gloomy (feeling ill, grey weather, I hate winter, it's pitch black when I finish work, hungry, etc.) and didn't really want to spend my evening watching a slow or uninteresting (to me) movie. However, the reviews were mixed, and I had been curious to watch this movie (especially so after watching Get Out last night) so I decided that the best reviewer is the viewer and watched it anyway. And it was fantastic! It exceeded my expectations.

I loved the setting, the family, the pacing, the twists. I loved the throwbacks at the end and the overall evil zombieish clones vibe of the movie. The Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass kind of story - especially with the white rabbit and amusement park. LOVED the synchronisations and little coincidences throughout the movie, one of my favorite tropes in horror. Another Jordan Peele movie that puts hints and clues in your pocket for you to find later.

I even experienced some of those coincidences myself while watching this movie. While they were walking in the dark around their own house I anticipated that I would get jump scared. And I did, at the same time when my phone dinged. And then I looked at the clock at 22:22 and my boyfriend texted me right as I was thinking of him. Also, I saw the twist coming towards the end when Addy went downstairs in the tunnel world. I just thought they kept showing that scene of her finding her clone as a child one too many times, there had to have been more to it than just the discovery of it all. From there on it was a matter of the twist being revealed, and I sure loved every moment of it.

This movie was also generous with humor, although quite subtle. It's maybe a kind of humor that's mostly prevalent in incredibly ridiculous or traumatic situations. An irony that's just so perfectly timed you can only scoff.

To be honest I liked this movie better than Get Out - and that's saying a lot because I loved Get Out! I didn't expect it, especially with all the mixed reviews of it I'd been reading. But I'm glad I watched it. Also, many people were saying the ending confused them. I thought Peele could not have handed the whole thing more on a platter than he already did. Like all of it is right there, the Real Addy tells the story from scratch, with visual aid and everything. Many were also saying they had to watch it again to catch the small details, and all I can think is those people must not watch horror movies very often. Because most of the time - and Us is no exception - they are waved right underneath your nose. You just have to look and not take the movie for granted, not underestimate it.

Anyway, wow! I'm super excited to watch Nope tomorrow evening. Us was some serious business, and based on how much love I've seen for Nope so far, I can only imagine that Jordan Peele is on a streak of outdoing himself.

[mejcinta]

Helaena's Displeasure and Forcefully Taking Attention (A Body Language Study).

Love, love, LOVE Phia's acting here. In the first picture, you can subtly see the confusion in Helaena's soft gaze the second she walks in ("Have you seen Dyana? She's supposed to dress the children..." *pauses*) and then the shock and outrage that dawns on her in the second picture, when she puts together what Aegon had done.

Her eyes are wider (notice you see more of the whites of her eyes in the second pic) and her lips are pressed into a tight, tense line as she freezes. She was displeased and shocked (the incident happened in their room!), but somewhat resigned. This is because she makes no drastic show with her body. Also, we never see her face when Alicent hugs her, although it is apparent that Aegon is staring at her while their mother comforts her.

Note that Helaena doesn't flinch from Alicent's touch this time, like she usually does. She actually *wants* the comfort this time. She must be pretty hurt.

Meanwhile, Aegon was just as stunned as Helaena when she walked in on him (his mouth fell agape, his fixed gaze on Alicent abruptly breaking to blink in surprise when Helaena appeared offscreen).

Notice how he stared back at her, fiddling (nervously) with the sheets covering his manhood out of embarrassment, when Alicent basically confirmed to Helaena what she feared had happened.

While Aegon was indifferent with Alicent and her justified lecture, he is clearly not happy with himself at what his actions has done to Helaena.

Because he cares? Who knows. But even being the mess of a husband he is, it seems that he acknowledges his wife is blameless, spotless and innocent in every way. She's done nothing but be the dutiful wife, the dutiful mother... yet he's caused her pain and continues to do so.

Aegon could be grappling here with why he never seems to get anything right. Why he never seems to please anyone. Why he only hurts and disappoints. Why he's insufficient.

Later at dinner, he gifts Helaena a beetle. A poor attempt at apologizing, yes, but it is all he knows, it seems, of Helaena's taste. And his characterisation so far (using ep 6 as reference for his bravado and boastfulness) is shown not to be conversant with the concept of admitting failure or defeat verbally.

Helaena plays with the beetle before dinner begins and even shows it off to Otto while they chat.

She inspects the gift in the background when Aegon teases Jace, glimpses at him and takes a swig of her wine, giggling subtly at Aegon's sex joke. Does she find this truly funny? Is the wine loosening her up? Or is this a sarcastic/knowing laugh given what happened earlier? Who knows.

The matter, however, seemed to have been turning in her mind. Because shortly after when she is seen thoughtfully stroking Aegon's beetle, she suddenly stands up to make the provoking toast:

"I would like to toast Baela and Rhaena. They'll be married soon. It isn't so bad...mostly he just ignores you. Except sometimes when he's drunk."

She must have been pondering the incident with Aegon and Alicent earlier and reliving the feelings she experienced. Her outrage, disappointment, discontent and hurt finally found an outlet in that toast.

The sigh she heaves out before sitting back down indicates that she had wanted to get things out of her chest and that speaking up had offered her some relief, even if it came at Aegon's expense lol (I think she was happy to embarrass him, personally. And she is justified).

Generally, my conclusion from this analysis of Helaena's body language is that:

1. She was pretty upset with Aegon's actions, 'ashamed' as Alicent implied earlier to Aegon.

2. Her spontaneous roast of him at the dinner, the sudden nature in which she jumped up, shows that she had in fact been brooding over the incident and was quite angry with him.

3. However, her laughter at Aegon's jokes imply that her sexual encounters with Aegon aren't forced like people want to believe. She isn't nervous beside him. In fact I'd argue Aegon is more wary of her than she could ever be of him.

4. Her understanding of sex is warped but it is clear she has her expectations and desires. That's why she jibes at Aegon's alcohol addiction. Perhaps she wishes they would bond sexually without alcohol being a necessity. Perhaps she wishes he didn't ignore her.

Her dull tone when she says "It isn't so bad mostly he just ignores you" shows that she's sad about that part of her marriage.

And when Jace gives Helaena attention in the form of asking for a dance she readily seizes the moment. Not because she likes him (this is Baela's betrothed and she clearly respects that), but because she desires to be showered with attention and if Aegon won't give it she'll take it from someone else while forcing Aegon to give HER attention.

Aegon struggles watching Jace dance with Helaena, and he clutches Helaena's beetle... mirroring her action of stroking it.

Again, Aegon is not the kind of man to admit defeat, so he seethes instead in silence as she dances.

In Tom Glynn Carney's words Aegon didn't want Jace to win by gaining a reaction from him.

So Helaena dances to her content, fanning Aegon's anger and jealousy while also gaining HIS attention and punishing him for how he wronged her earlier.

As Alicent well put it:

"Think of the shame on your wife..."

By accepting Jace's hand, Helaena consciously or unconsciously made Aegon experience the shame she went through earlier after his cowardly action.

In a way, this whole scene is a display of power play and the rift between man and wife. Much like Alicent requesting Rhaenyra take her infant up to her chambers was a challenge of power between rivals.

[homisexual11]

Jalice X Reader NSFW Alphabet

How I’m supposed to do this? I don’t know, homie. But I’ll figure it out.

Warnings: mentions of vampirism, and mentions of blood… the usual. overstimulation

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Both of them are so good at it, and are such sweethearts. Beware, you will be coddled like crazy. Running a bath for you, then changing you into warm clothes (because they’re both fucking freezing)

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

They love all of you. But… Alice loves your lips, and Jasper likes your thighs. Alice’s reasoning is a bit less SFW, but she genuinely likes the shape of them and how they look. She also likes what you can do with them, but anyways… Jasper genuinely likes lying on your thighs innocently.

Alice likes her eyes, she likes the way they look on her, and what she can do to you with them…

Jasper likes his fingers because he knows how well he can please both of you with them. Man is good with his hands. (As seen in the gif— yes that is the entire reason I added it)

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

It takes quite a while for both of them to orgasm, vampire stamina and all that… and genuinely they could go at it for hours, but they normally stop after one with themselves. For you, my love, they will overstimulate you to no end.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Alice is actually surprisingly dominant… but because of the fact that Jasper is nervous to be out of control she normally just lets it go. But when you come around, it becomes less a secret.

Jasper wouldn’t mind if you called him sir, but doesn’t want to weird you out. (Help he’s so sweet)

Also both of them might like to see you cry from pleasure but—

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

They had obviously done it with each other before you, and before then Jasper had done it a couple times with Maria…still that was more to get her off than him, gotta love that. It’s not the worst thing she did. (Ima leave that at that)

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Alice likes to sit on your face.

Jasper likes to SEE your face. He will do pretty much anything, though.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

It can be a little silly… like a quite a few giggles. It can also be serious, but it’s very silly most of the time.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

I don’t know why but I can’t do this to save my life 😭 it makes me uncomfortable but I can write like backbreaking earth shattering smut and somehow not this.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Although it’s very silly, Jasper 100% refers to it as making love. He’s very into it, it’s very loving and mostly gentle with him. Alice can join, but she does whatever feels better for you in the moment.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Never really happens. Jasper definitely doesn’t, and Alice never really has the need to.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Overstimulation, said it once, will say it again.

Orgasm denial every now and then

Obviously multiple people (but will do it separately, either she and him, you and him, or you and her)

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

A bedroom, it’s simple. They’re simple like that.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Dirty talk for both of them. Also Jasper likes seeing both of you in his clothes? Take that as you will.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Anything that physically hurts. Blood play, for obvious reasons. Also Jasper would probably not want to do it before marriage, but might be convinced?

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Both. Both of them love both. They both do it so well, too.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

For Alice it depends, but for Jasper it’s normally slow and sensual… unless something’s pissed him off, which he normally won’t fuck you if that’s the case but if he does you’re in for a wild ride (literally and figuratively)

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Alice will do it, she’s the more progressive of the two on almost anything. Jasper prefers not, but if you really needed it he would.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

With anything that wouldn’t hurt you, yeah. That limits it a little bit, but still.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Obviously they could go for weeks on end, but they normally only do one or two for them. Once again, on you they will go at it until you beg them to stop.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

No, but if you had them they could be used.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Alice can be a tease, but she doesn’t always do it. Jasper could, and boy would it bother you, but he normally doesn’t.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Neither of them are very loud, because they held their breath if you were human… if you weren’t, they would let a couple sounds slip. They also learned to keep quiet so people wouldn’t know as easily, but one time you were giving Jasper head and he whimpered so much because no one was in the area—

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

One of the best experiences with all of you together was when you went down on Alice as Jasper took you from behind. Yall did the exact same thing for a long time that night…

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

I don’t know how to do this for Alice 😭 but Jasper is average but he’s a little thicker. (Help that made me uncomfortable to write)

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Alice’s is higher than Jaspers, but Both are very low.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

They don’t sleep.

[yaeggravate]

Unraveling Princess Fischl

So I recently finished studying Princess Fischl in a lab and the results I got were kinda crazy.

As a disclaimer, I do this just for fun. I like connecting dots and solving puzzles. But I'd rather you draw your own conclusions. In this post I will try to dissect the mysteries surrounding the Prinzessin. And you really can't talk about Fischl without including Kaeya. I've even got a surprise guest star for you.

WARNING: this post is VERY long, click on that Read More at your own risk, otherwise you'll be stuck scrolling forever.

For simplicity's sake Princess Fischl will be referred to as Fischl while playable Fischl will be demoted to F.

PART 1: MIDSUMMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Most of this will use the books Legend of the Shattered Halberd and Flowers for Princess Fischl as a source. These books are authored by someone named Mr. Nine. The books are published by Yae Publishing House. So keep in mind there's a non-zero percent chance Mr. Nine is actually just a certain Nine-Tailed Fox.

F's alternate outfit is called Immernachtstraum. This is a reference to Shakespeare's play Midsummer Night's Dream. In German the play is called Ein Sommernachtstraum. So you can see the similarities (Immernachtstraum means Eternal Night's Dream.)

Kaeya is in part based on the Indian changeling prince from the same play. The character Oberon, the Fairy King, is the french derivative of Alberich. The play itself is basically about people getting into Shenanigans so absurd it might as well be a dream. Oberon and his wife Titania are actually key players in quite a bit of different media… But as much as I want to delve into that, this isn't a Kaeya post.

Just remember for now that Titania is the Fairy Queen.

In the book Flowers for Princess Fischl, there is a mention of a Sommernachtgarten. It is described as a Domain possessed by someone highly skilled in the magical arts. Sommernachtgarten seems to have existed in Teyvat. The domain Midsummer Courtyard, which has the Thundering Fury set, tells us the Sommernachtgarten was buried underground.

The domain is located in Starfell Valley. It's nearby Starfell Lake and Starsnatch Cliff. Starfell Lake is said to have been formed by a fallen star.

Fischl is also equated to a star that fell down. Notably, in F's birthday letters, and in Legend of the Shattered Halberd.

Birthday Letter: Day of Destiny… On the day of a sacred star's descent from the depths of the night sky into this realm, I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, have asked Oz to cross the ocean and bring, me exotic treasure.

LotSH Vol. 1 The story was that an iron meteorite had fallen from the sky five or six years ago, and convention dictated that as nature's treasure it belonged to the imperial family.

Starsnatch Cliff is the only place where Cecilia flowers grow. These flowers have a triquetra shape, which is similar to Kaeya's passive talent Glacial Heart. Kaeya has been featured with these flowers in his birthday arts, and even invites the Traveler to go see the flowers with him.

Alice: With enough bombs placed in proper positions, even huge cliffs like Starsnatch would crumble into dust in a second. With flatter terrain, Mondstadt would surely look much nicer. But that unctuous Cavalry Captain rejected my proposal instantly. He even asked me to stay away from Starsnatch Cliff.

Furthermore, when Alice proposed to blow Starsnatch Cliff up, Kaeya denied her request and warned her to never go near there again… Starsnatch Cliff also overlooks the Nameless Island which is shrouded in mist and invisible on the map.

菲谢尔 = Fischer = Fischl

Fischl's name might be a reference to the Fisher King from Arthurian legends. One name of the Fisher King is Amfortas. In the game Anfortas is the name of the Knight Marshal of the Schwanenritter; he's thee Alberich who stepped up as Regent King when Irmin was indisposed.

Perhaps Fischl was the original "Fisher King" and the kings who came after her, like Irmin and Anfortas, fulfilled her role. …But this would imply Fischl was once the ruler of Khaenri'ah. That would be crazy, right? Right, guys?

PART 2: THE PRINCESS OF JUDGEMENT

When I was analyzing the 8-pointed star, I discovered these 8 points could actually correspond to the Guardians of the Eight Directions in Hinduism.

For some reason, ascension gem stones are named after Hindu gods (with the exception of Electro). This isn't the case in the original Chinese naming however.

Still, I tried to mix and match the gemstones to a direction.

North: Kubera, The God of Fortune -> GEO

South: Yama, The God of Justice and Death -> ???

East: Indra, The Lord of Heaven and God of the Weather, Sky, Rain, and Storms -> ELECTRO

West: Varuna, God of the Seas, Oceans, and Rain -> HYDRO

Northeast: Ishana, God of Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Time -> DENDRO

Southeast: Agni, God of Fire -> PYRO

Northwest: Vayu, God of the Winds and Air -> ANEMO

Southwest: Nirṛta, God of Death, Sorrow, and Decay -> CRYO

Hydro (Varunada), Pyro (Agnidus) and Anemo (Vayuda) gems already have the same names as the Hindu gods so that was easy. The Electro gemstone Vajrada is named after a sword but it belongs to Indra, God of Weather, Rain and Storms.

That just left me with Cryo (Shivada), Geo (Prithiva) and Dendro (Nagadus). Ishana is the God of Birth, so I'll assign him Dendro. Kubera is the God of Fortune which is Geo because Mora.

Now Cryo is a bit puzzling, because it's named after Shiva, who in Java and Bali Hinduism is actually the direction in the center. Some crazy implications here for our buddy the Tsaritsa because Shiva is the God of Destruction within the Trimurti, a trinity of deities. The other two are Brahma, God of Creation and Vishnu, God of Preservation.

In Java Hinduism, Brahma and Vishnu would correspond to the directions Zenith (South) and Nadir (North). Whether this is hinting at something about the nature of the Tsaritsa is unclear. When you see Three Deities you think Moon Sisters, right? However, we can't rule out the possibility that Genshin decided to mix these deities up. Let's just spare ourselves the headache for now and forget about this. This is a Fischl analysis after all.

So instead, let's have a look at the Cryo gemstone's original name in Chinese. The stone is simply called Grieving Ice.

哀叙冰玉: Grieving Ice

Since Nirriti is the God of Sorrow, I decided to assign them Cryo. Now we are left with one deity, Yama: The God of Justice and Death. Well, it can't be Hydro, because we already assigned them to a God. So it has to be someone else.

Fischl's title is the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. Which translates into Princess of Judgement. According to Legend of the Shattered Halberd and F's voicelines, Fischl's role was to act as a judge.

More About Fischl: I To condemn the guilty, to sanctify the just, and to draw all castaway dreams into the embrace of the infinite Immernachtreich. This is the birthright of the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, and her burden. None may gainsay it.

What's interesting is that Fischl uses magical arrows to shoot down the "enemies of fate".

About Us: Shooting Down the World Beast Should this world, like a beast prowling in the night, covet your dreams, then I, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, shall fell it with my ensorcelled arrows of judgment!

Feelings About Ascension: Intro My magic arrow cries out my holy name as it streaks through the night, praying that the violet lightning of retribution shall strike the enemies of fate down from the skies!

On the 8-pointed star, there's an arrow pointing upwards. Kaeya, Clothar and Halfdan's stars on their outfits and even F herself have the arrow pointing downwards.

The achievement you get when you find this door is called "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here". Which is a reference to the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno.

The Immernachtreich is described as a place where all things will eventually flow into. Immernachtreich literally translates into Eternal Night Realm…

Flowers for Princess Fischl: Phantasmagoria Every good, bright and noble thing must eventually fall to inexorable entropic destruction, and the final destination of the universe is the realm-in-waiting of the Prinzessin, Immernachtreich. This is the fate of all worlds, of the universe, and all who live in it.

In the Immernachtreich Apokalypse, Leon calls Fischl the Soteria.

Soteria means salvation, preservation. It's used as an epithet for Persephone and Hecate. Persephone was forcibly made Queen of the Underworld, and Hecate is also known as the Goddess of the Underworld and Witchcraft…

Look, I don't want to claim Fischl was the secret 8th Archon or anything, because lest we forget Khaenri'ah was a godless nation who would've been Fischl's enemies. But why then would Khaenri'ah have this giant star referencing the 8 deities as their emblem in the first place? Seems a bit counterintuitive. I don't have the answers for now, and perhaps the 8th "archon" was simply Irmin. Or maybe it's not even representing a god but an element or a direction.

Regarding Oz, he is a not so subtle reference to Odin/Irmin but is also a reference to the Wizard of Oz. In the first book, it was revealed this wizard was literally just some guy pretending to be powerful. Eventually Oz starts working as an advisor for the true ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma, who is the inspiration behind Fischl. We'll get back to that later.

This Oz's full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. OZ is actually short for Oscar Zoroaster. Zoroaster is referenced in Flowers for Princess Fischl.

In a distant causality, if the philosopher Zarathustra was not chosen, then the opera writer would have gained victory in the contest over the will of the world.

This does make you wonder if Irmin really was the true ruler of Khaenri'ah and if he even existed the way we believe he did. Perhaps Fischl got Irminsnapped and now everyone believes Irmin was always the One-Eyed King.

Of course this is all my personal speculation and I could be way off here.

Wait, before we move on to next section, I want to point out something that always gets ignored:

Kaeya and Mona, when they cast their bursts, summon the same 8-pointed star. This is unique to them alone. Could there be a connection between Khaenri'ah and witchcraft? Or is either Kaeya or Mona an outlier?

PART 3: HEXENZIRKEL

In the trailer Mage's Teaparty, there are eight witches shown. However, we only know the names of six witches, and there is a chair missing at the table.

There is a slideshow where the figures of the eight witches are shown, minus Andersdottir who is represented by the book The Boar Princess.

Observe the witch on the broom and the little witch. The design of the little witch is similar to the design of a famous fictional character who got pulled into another world: Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz books.

Dorothy is illustrated as having twin tails and wearing a farm girl dress. Dorothy's character was influenced by the character Alice, from the Wonderland books.

Originally I assumed Alice Genshin might be based on book Alice. However, it's the Narzissenkreuz quest that's based on the Wonderland books and Mary-Ann who takes the role of Alice.

With that in mind, could Alice Genshin actually be more of a Dorothy inspired character instead?

Now, Dorothy had a very good friend, called Princess Ozma. Ozma seems to be the inspiration behind Fischl.

So who is Ozma? I only have the Wiki to go on because I'm not about to read 40 books, but by the sound of it, Ozma is the current ruler of the realm of Oz. She is the daughter of a human king and a Fairy Queen. Her mother Lurline was the one who created Oz and turned it into a Fairy country.

Ozma took it one step further and separated Oz entirely from the outer realms making it invisible to outsiders. Everyone who enters Oz never ages.

If you're an F main I'm sure you know by now Fischl created another universe and founded paradise.

Now I want you to take a look at the witches portrayed in these circles. There are two witches holding a sphere. In F's cutscene from the Summertime Odyssey event, she is also holding a sphere which contains the Immernachtreich which you can see in the header image of this post and below.

You might think a glowing sphere represents a crystal ball to scry in, but that poses a problem since known prophet Barbeloth is probably represented by the witch holding a waterdrop, which is Hydromancy. So the glowing sphere might not necessarily mean a prophetess.

As for the identity of the other witch with the globe, I believe this could be Alice, since she was the one who created the domain/dreamscape of the Veluriyam Mirage. It could also be Rhinedottir who is creating something in a flask.

So Orb = Domain/Realm/Creation

Furthermore F's specialty food is Die Heilige Sinfonie, which has a Magic Hexagram painted on top… (Die Heilige Sinfonie translates into The Holy Symphony.) As mentioned before, the Sommernachtgarten could only be created by someone with great magical powers…

Magic Circles is Ceremonial or Arcane Magic, and according to a note left by Master Ruggiero in Bravais' study, Arcane Arts originated from a pre-Remurian civilization.

So someone must have taught humans magic. Might sound obvious, but it begs the question of WHO?

PART 4: FREYJA

To answer this question we need to dip our toes into Norse mythology. As you know, Odin is Irmin.

There was a war between two groups of gods: the Aesir and the Vanir.

Eventually they had enough and decided to exchange hostages as a peace offering. The goddess Freyja, originally part of the Vanir, joined the Aesir which would be Odin's group. As a sacrificial priestess, she was the one who taught the Aesir dark magic, which included seeing into the future. The implication here then is that Odin was taught black magic by Freyja.

This magic is known as seiðr. Seiðr is derived from *soi-to- which means rope/string. The distaff, a tool used for spinning wool, is associated with dark magic. There are images of women riding distaffs as a broom, similar to a witch riding a broomstick. To quote the Wiki: "In any case, the string relates to the "threads of fate", that the Nornir spin, measure, and cut. " Wait, that sounds familiar:

F, joining the party voice line: The threads of your fate lie in my hands!

Scholars suspect Freyja is the same person as Gullveig who was involved in the Aesir-Vanir war. Gullveig was attacked by the Aesir with spears; she died and was reborn three times. When Fischl tried to visit the Kingdom of Eternal Twilight she was also attacked by its people and "shed her blood on the sacred emblem" whatever that means. It was Oz who saved her, pledging his loyalty to her.

Freyja sometimes is conflated with another goddess named Frigg. There has been much debate whether or not these two goddesses stem from the same deity. Frigg is part of the Aesir and usually Odin's wife.

I mention this because in the book Hex and Hound, one of the characters is named after Frigg: Nottfrigga. This book is about two twin witches sharing the same body. In the book we find out that they were the daughters of a powerful witch, but witches are unable to keep more than one offspring of the same generation. This led to Nottfrigga's twin sister Magdalene eventually dying, and her using magic to sustain her sister inside a magic bracelet.

In Norse mythology, Nott is the personification of night. Nott's father is named Narfi. This really got my attention, because Fischl's full name is Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort. (Fischl of the Castle in the Sky Narfidort.)

In the Hexenzirkel teaser, every witch is represented by a teacup (or in the case of Andersdottir, an inkbottle) but the saucer next to Nicole's teacup is empty. Since this saucer belongs to the same teaset this could mean one of the missing witches is Nicole's twin sister or a relative.

So what could Fischl's role be in all this? Perhaps she's one of the twin sisters, or their mother. Perhaps she's even an ancestor. ...Or completely unrelated to them and I'm full of shit.

PART 5: THE HARBINGERS

F's theme shares a leitmotief with the Fatui Harbingers theme.

F's theme: Sieh an, mein Sommernachtgarten! Signora's theme: Saltatio Favillae

Obviously this means Fischl is Capitano.

Composers don't do these things by accident. This is hinting at something. Either Fischl is connected to the Harbingers, was/is one of the Harbingers, or she is indeed the Tsaritsa.

Which is not as crazy as it sounds.

In Legend of the Shattered Halberd, Fischl possessed someone else's body. And if she is Freyja's equivalent, who died three times, then it's possible she could've been reborn as someone else. In the book, it was Mir who summoned Fischl into Weiyang's body and sacrificed his eye to appease her. Pierro is working for the Tsaritsa and has his right eye covered for reasons unknown. Having been a royal mage who would have had access to Khaenri'ah's restricted library, perhaps it was Pierro who summoned Fischl into the Tsaritsa's body.

The Tsaritsa is collecting the seven Gnoses, Fischl had to collect seven of the nine Ominous Swords to repair the Divine Halberd, which would be herself. She already had two of them in her possession… Could also be that the Tsaritsa is trying to revive her. This would imply Fischl is the Third Descender. Since she came from another world, this is not impossible.

The Fisher King, Fischl's possible namesake, was struck with a wound that could only be healed by a "pure fool" who would ask him the right question. ...Fatui is Latin for fools. If the Tsaritsa really is/is possessed by Fischl, then creating an organization of fools starts to make sense: the fools are her saviors.

This could also connect to the empty 10th seat within the Harbingers. The vacant spot could be a reference to the Siege Perilous, which was an empty seat reserved for the one successful in obtaining the Holy Grail by way of saving the Fisher King.

Usually this is accomplished by Percival, who later finds out his mother is the sister of the Fisher King. In the story, Percival keeps failing to return to the kingdom of the Holy Grail since it is an otherworldly place. Does that not remind you of Kaeya trying to find Khaenri'ah but failing halfway through?

Going back to Princess Ozma, an evil witch cast a spell on her that turned her into a little boy named Tippetarius. This was done to prevent Ozma from ascending to the throne. Tip was unaware of his true identity until he was transformed back into Ozma.

tippet /tĭp′ĭt/ noun A covering for the shoulders, as of fur, with long ends that hang in front.

As noted in The Marvelous Land of Oz, Chapter 23, Tip has brown colored skin.

…Kaeya, blink twice if you need help.

As a staunch hater of things that don't make sense, I highly doubt this means Kaeya is Fischl; the game would never go there. Perhaps being "Fischl" is simply hinting towards the fact that he will become one of the Fisher Kings.

That would certainly explain this random hangout ending.

Now, here's where things get really crazy.

Remember Anfortas? The Knight Marshal of the Schwanenritter who took over as regent after Irmin became indisposed? At the time of writing, Anfortas's fate remains unknown.

As said before, Anfortas is the name of the Fisher King in Arthurian legends. Fischl's name might've been a nod to that.

But it gets weirder.

T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land combines Arthurian legends with the legend of the Fisher King. In it, he associates the Fisher King with the tarot card Three of Staves.

The Man with Three Staves (an authentic member of the Tarot pack) I associate, quite arbitrarily, with the Fisher King himself.

…We have seen this symbol somewhere before. On the constellation wheel of the Fatui Harbingers. By process of elimination this constellation belongs to Il Capitano.

👏🏽👏🏽CONGRATULATIONS CAPITANO YOU ARE KAEYA'S NEXT TOP GRANDPA 🎉

Kidding of course, but I doubt this is a coincidence. This doesn't necessarily mean they are the same person, maybe Capitano simply mindmelded with Anfortas. It's a fantasy game, everything is possible at this point.

Wait a minute… three nails, three deaths… Uhhh maybe Fischl really did turn into Capitano.

👏🏽👏🏽CONGRATULATIONS CAPITANO YOU ARE PRINCESS DIANA'S NEXT REINCARNATION 👸🏼

PART 6: THE THIEF AND THE MAGE

Alright, for this section I want us to keep in mind the following things:

Fischl is a fallen star

Fischl may have been a mage

Fischl could be connected to Irmin and thus Khaenri'ah

The play of the Veluriyam Mirage is written by Zosimos. This play stars Kaeya as a Thief, Klee as a Mage and Idyia as a last minute heroine added to the story.

You see, Zosimos originally wanted to write a story based on rumors he'd heard about a thief and a mage. This means the play might not be entirely fictional. The problem is that Zosimos combined Idyia's backstory with the story of the Thief and the Mage, making it hard to tell which bits belong to Thief's story.

We know at least that Alice was the mage who helped Idyia. But what about the Mage who helped the Thief? Who was she? Could it have been Alice or someone else?

For that we need to consider the character Kaeya was playing. It's unknown who he is, but if Klee was playing her mom then it stands to reason Kaeya must've been playing someone connected to him. Before you get excited, this does not necessarily mean someone related to him by blood. Could also just be someone from Khaenri'ah. Heck, we don't even know the gender of the mage, for all we know they could've been a man.

Now, the soundtrack that plays during Kaeya's part is called Towers of Afrasiab. This name has come up before. In the play of Kaeya's hangout, the character he plays opposite of is called Frasiyav. The location of the Khaenri'ahn door is called Hangeh Afrasiyab.

I personally suspect Afrasiyab is either Irmin or the founder of Khaenri'ah.

Afrasiyab is a character from the Persian epic, the Shahnameh. Afrasiyab lived in an underground iron palace held up by hundreds of columns. (If you look at the architecture in Hangeh Afrasiyab, you'll see little reliefs of men holding up a ceiling above them.) Afrasiyab lacked the divine royal glory known as Khvarena and was obsessed with obtaining it. In the play they say Frasiyav lost because he lacked the blessing of god…

I mean it can't get any more obvious than that. So this could mean the dude from Kaeya's hangout was Irmin. Which does raise a bunch of questions, such as who is the identity of the Prince in this play? And why were they at war?

Should be noted in the hangout's play, Frasiyav offered hostages as a peace offering. Kind of reminds me of the war between the Aesir and Vanir… Also, Kaeya's character Prince Qubad is based on Siyavash who eventually married into Afrasiyab's family…

Towers of Afrasiyab then could refer to Khaenri'ah. In the Veluriyam play, the Thief is also from a dark realm. I hesitate making the assumption that this guy is Irmin or Kaeya's pirate grandpa so I will refer to him as simply the Thief.

In the play, the Thief witnesses a shooting star falling from the sky and follows it. However, what he finds is not a star but a young woman. Well, we know Fischl was also a star that fell down. And we know Fischl visited the Kingdom of Eternal Twilight and got bodied for her efforts. Oz took her under his wings and saved her life.

If the Thief encountered the Mage this way it would explain why the Mage helped him as a way to repay him. Perhaps the Mage taught him Arcane arts or helped him protect the "Dark Realm", who knows?

If this Mage really was Fischl and the Thief someone connected or related to Kaeya it would explain why Fischl and Kaeya seem to be connected.

About Kaeya F: His nature is obscure, his fate a mystery, and his speech a vexing tapestry woven of both fact and fiction… Perhaps he and I share the burden of mystical sight…

About Fischl  Kaeya: Hmm? You think Fischl having one eye covered is very fitting given her title of Prinzessin der Verurteilung. Hahaha, if that's the case, that must also make me a descendant of some kind of former royal lineage, no?

Furthermore, in Legend of the Shattered Halberd, Fischl's partner in crime, the man who summoned her, is named Mir. This is a reference to Mimir, the severed head from Norse mythology who acted as an advisor to Odin.

Mr. Nine states Fischl was attracted to Mir… and that Oz was more of a familiar of Fischl.

In Wagner's opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, Mimir is known as Mime, the brother of Alberich.

....😮‍💨

Well, I have to say, even after all of that, I am completely stumped. If anyone knows what's going on, let me know, because I for one would love to know WHAT'S GOING ON FOR ONCE. GIVE IT UP FOR KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON

[dirtytransmasc]

this video is so aegon coded, in my mind (I am the eldest child, I technically ruined my mom's life, but she tries so hard to love me, she DOES love me, but our relationship is so strained because of the way she's treated me due to her own pain. I think I'm a good enough reference on this)

like. him and alicent. with all their messiness. at the end of the day, that's HIS mommy, and no matter what, even when he feels like he hates her, she is beautiful and perfect and no one can say a bad thing about her because he loves her and she loves him and that makes everything ok at the end of the day.

sometimes he's mean to her, she's too rough, he feels like he hates her, she can barely look at him. but god forbid someone insult her in his presence, he will actually have a breakdown. that's his mommy and he loves her and forgives her and hopes she can forgive him and just wants her to be happy so they can all be happy.

like little kid aegon, he was always playing with her hair and her jewelry, telling her she was pretty. gently poking at her face, like toddlers do, when she was upset, trying to figure out what was wrong. he'd hug her clumsily and tell her it was alright. and he remembers that, he remembers wanting his mom to be happy and to know she was beautiful and that he was there (again, in the way a toddler does) and he stills wants that. he wants to be small and to make his mom smile and feel better. that's his job! he's supposed to protect her and make her happy!

I especially imagine this happens frequently cause of how her father and his father treat her, how the court treats her, how everyone treats her. they all so mean to her, even in ways that are quiet and seemingly mundane. he must hate it. hate the way they tear her apart with their words and their eyes. the way they subtly mock her. he must feel so angry but so helpless and conflicted.

and it all boils down to him becoming a sobbing, snotty, (in his case) drunken mess and I love that for him (I mean I feel really bad, this shit sucks, but you know what I mean)

[intotheelliwoods]

-> -> -> 2AL playlist drop!

Answered all the music related asks under the cut!

Question reference btw!

---

@teainthesnow

4 - a lyric you like

"Triangles are my favorite shape" From Tessellate by Alt-J !! Do I know why? Nah. I just also like triangles :)

11 - a popular song you think is Good, Actually

On Time by The Disco Biscuits !! Its not popular more than it is mainstream? Its one of those songs you swear you have heard everywhere, because its very much played everywhere, but like its actually good! Either its played everywhere or it just gives me loads of nostalgia? Eh whatever, its still good and im bestowing it upon you.

13 - a playlist name without context

"To Enter The Beyond" Past Human City Soundtrack

18 - a song or lyric that reminds you of the asker

Oh this for sure belongs on your AMW playlist!! Gives some absolute Tea vibes!

---

@dandywonderous

5 - ramble about a song

FORGIVENESS BY ALICE GLASS!!!!!!! OUGHOUGHOGH I LOVE THIS SONG WITH ALL MY HEART god something about it just vibrates my insides and tickles my eyes. I dont know how to describe it other than each time I hear this song I feel nothing but pure power and hopelessness at the same time. Drifting along in never ending darkness, and the only thing you have with you are the spirits and memories of those who have passed. The spirits call for freedom. You should listen to them. This song gets real for me alright?

7 - a song for which you like a cover more than the original

Not really a cover moreso than it is a remix!? But im counting it! Silk by Giselle, the original, somber and sweet but just sorta missing something you know? This remix by Favored Nations though? SLAPS. Its so upbeat and I am so here for it!

11 - a popular song you think is Good, Actually

Honestly literally anything by Electric Light Orchestra. Though to be more specific, Evil Woman!! Alright is also a good one, but less popular!

16 - do you sing or play any instruments?

No instruments here! I actually have one really nice/complex song memorized that I can do on the piano but unfortunately thats about it whoops~ As for singing apparently I actually sing good when I try!?

23 - a song you remember liking as a kid

You are going to laugh at this one. Actually. I still like it. But damn was I a weird kid. I once had a solid 150 digits of pi memorized because I would just play this stupid song on loop for like a whole ass hour every now and then???? I think I still have about 50 memorized thanks to this song.. whoopsies

---

@thimbell

5 - ramble about a song

YESSSSS YESSSSS I GET TO RAMBLE ABOUT ANOTHER SONG The World Is Ending by Matt and Kim !!!!!!!!!!!!! good GOD this song is so dear to me. Not because of the song really, but because of what the song means to me? The connections I have too it?????? Longish story short, someone made a killer AMV using it? The AMV using clips from the show Final Space! No clue if you have seen the show but no matter. Final Space is definitely up there as one of my favorite shows, not only because its good but because it actually helped me get closer with my dad, we watched it together! In other words I associate this song with just so much joy. The AMV if you were curious btw!

14 - an unpopular music opinion

Glass Animals is overrated <3 <3 Dont get me wrong I love their music! It just gets so tiresome hearing them everywhere!??? Probably just a me problem though

24 - a song people often misinterpret

I dont think I have much an answer for this one, apologies! Mostly because its not too often I pay attention to lyrics, and even then I think its cool that everyone has their own interpretations of someones song!

---

@wraenata

17 - a song that has made you cry

... honestly? Any song in a tv show that is played during a sad scene! A REALLY sad scene... one that comes to mind is Enter One by Sol Seppy (would recommend skipping to about 2:30), because it is played in the death scene of one of my all time favorite characters... alright im going to weep about that death scene more now because listening to this again is NOT helping pfft... oughh honestly now im tempted to add it to the 2AL playlist... maybe.

24 - a song people often misinterpret

Answered above!

30 - a song that makes you nostalgic

Divinity by Porter Robinson, listen this used to be my favorite song for the longest time... and it might even still be my favorite song?? Either way, I DARE not listen to it anymore for the sake of I fear for the day where this absolutely nostalgic gem gets tiresome for me...

---

@unfortunate-songbird

17 - a song that has made you cry

Answered this one above! Though for a less serious answer, any of the finale songs in Centaurworld... oops.

---

1 - which artist(s) have you listened to the most lately?

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour has been a fav in the past month! Heres a good song by them if you would like~

I am going to use this ask as a chance to also say how much I love Hugo Kant!! He makes great stuff to chill too when working! If I could log hours on youtube, my most listened to videos are so just listening to the guy live!

21 - favourite album

Not to pull out my inner cowboy, but Harlequin Dream by Boy & Bear. I fear for the day I get sick of this album its such a trip for me!

28 - rank the songs in an album

THATS IT IM RANKING ALL THE SONGS IN PAGANS IN VEGAS BY METRIC. I love this album.

#1 - Celebrate. This is the song that introduced me to the band and gives me SUCH a blast of nostalgia each listen, and it shows. Best song in the album by far. Its so weird though since I knew this song before I knew about the rest of the album, so when I finally discovered the whole album each time this song comes up its so out of place pfft! Still such a bop though!

#2 - Blind Valentine. This is just one of those songs I love singing too whenever it comes on alright!?????

#3 - Lie Lie Lie. This is the first song in the whole album, and honestly? What a knee slapping way to start an album too god damn!!!!

#4 - Cascades. I am begging you to skip to about 3:15 in this song, its a little on the plain end before that end, but THAT ENDING??????? SLAYS.

#5 - Too Bad, So Sad. ITS SO GRINDY I LOVE IT. I FEEL LIKE A PUNK IN A DESERTED WASTELAND

#6 - For Kicks. The beat is just so unique here!!!!!!???????

#7 - The Face Part |. Just some funky cool down beats at the end of the album that are very enjoyable!

#8 - Fortunes. A decent enough second song in the album, helps sets the tone for whats coming!

#9 - The Shade. Its actually a good song, just nothing special about it you know??

#10 - The Governess. vibes are there, the vibes are sure there

#11 - The Face Part ||. Just more cool off tunes to end the album with

#12 - Other Side. No. Why are you here. your ass does NOT fit with the rest of this god-tier album. goodbye.

---

Edit: @kiaxet Thought I should add you to the masterpost here!!

5 - ramble about a song

Ok. Adventure Time by Yoann Turpin. I am usually not too big on 16 bit video game sort of vibes but this??? Is such a MASSIVE exception. Holy????? THE HEART THE GUY PUT INTO THIS SONG MAN. The beat is just so unique, its impossible to try and guess whats going to happen in the song next, you strait up feel like you are on an ADVENTURE. I am so here for this song, god and its so upbeat I am in LOVE.

By the way, I linked the whole ass album because the whole album overall is so nice to listen to to pump you up when doing dishes or something lmaooooo, the first song in the album is also an amazing trip!!

8 - an artist you think underrated

HUGO KANT!!! God!!! mentioned above as well, I love Hugo Kant with a passion! He makes such good stuff just to chill too, and him live is absolutely incredible!

With the ask above I linked a video from him preforming live, so this time around I bring you two favorite albums of mine!! Far From Home and Out Of Time

I get in SUCH a zone listening to his stuff!

9 - a song you think is underrated

Phleps by C418!!! C418, the producer of the original music behind minecraft, but the guy has so much underrated personal music that is SO underrated! This song in particular, is vastly different from his usually stuff and I love it for that. Definitely underrated for being overshadowed by his work on minecraft and his work that isnt minecraft but sounds like minecraft..

29 - what do you look for in a song or artist?

I always look for something where you can tell it has genuine love and heart put into it! That + something that just sounds truly unique in its own right!

[aemiron-main]

How Is This Happening At My House?

So, I talked in this post, and this post, about how Victor's "vision" on the night of the Creel murders parallels NINA, and I'm also working on another post re: Victor getting NINA'd/actually getting sent back to France somehow.

And I recently talked in this post about minis and simulations and TFS etc etc.

And now, I want to talk about a line that Joyce says when she's talking with Scott about his minis & the electromagnetic field- she says "how" (and then goes on to saw "how is this happening at my house)- and this “how” line from Joyce in S3 when she’s looking at Scott’s little mini town/diorama is a direct parallel to El’s “how” line from S4 during NINA:

And, so, it's EXTREMELY interesting to me that a scene about a miniature town being controlled by a scientist (Scott) has direct dialogue parallels to NINA- NINA, a weird simulation that's controlled by a scientist (Brenner), and hell, Scott even runs his own little experiment on his town when he creates the electromagnetic field with Joyce.

And then we also have this line- “ONE of your kiddos,” versus Henward being 001, which, IMO, that wording further connects all of this to Victor because a.) the other Victor-Joyce parallels, and b.) Henward/001 literally being One and being one of Victor’s “kiddos”

And then we also have “in the middle of the night,” which directly connects to TFS because of all of the Captain Midnight stuff in TFS:

And also, interestingly enough, connects to Pennhurst, where that one patient references Cinderella (and Cinderella transforming at midnight)- and like I talked about in this post, Pennhurst has references to The Evil Within, the game where the characters end up in this weird augmented dream-reality that's in the mind of another character, Ruvik:

And Scott also specifically says "ONE of your kiddos in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT," versus Henward being 001 and TFS Henry's Captain Midnight fixation- and as a brief little sidenote, that makes me think about how TFS Henry's presence messes with Bob's radio/DAD device, and I wonder if the Creel house was more affected by the stuff that I'm going to talk about in a second re: Victor's France vision/some sort of electromagnetic field-esque thing like what Scott did to his mini town, because Henry himself was accidentally amplifying it or scrambling it or SOMETHING, but anyway.

And then, Scott talks about the electromagnetic field reaching Joyce’s house, and says “A machine of some kind," which, as we know, NINA is a machine:

And then, this is where it gets really inetersting because Scott also says “But, in order to reach your house and downtown, gosh,” which is extra interesting/is another connection to the Creels because in the Indianapolis Gazette, it specifically talks abput just how close the Creels were to downtown- it says "the bodies of Virginia Creel, Edward Creel, and Alice Creel strewn about the foyer of the house, six miles from downtown Hawkins-"

-which makes me think about all of Victor's NINA-paralleled weirdness with his "vision" on the night of the murders, and the idea that a NINA-esque simulation could "break containment"/affect people without them actually being in a NINA tank, and if that's what happened to Victor, and if he was literally back to France. And if that's how the whole "Scott (a scientist) running an experiment on an entire town" thing comes into play subtext-wise- because Brenner was doing the same sort of thing & experimenting on the entire town & that's how Victor ended up in his "vision" (and may also explain why he was found wandering along the side of the highway according to the Indianapolis Gazette- I always figured the lab had nabbed him and dumped him on the side of the road, but now, looking at how he opens the door into France versus how he was standing in front of the Creel door in his trance versus how Will runs around in the UD in S2 while his body is ALSO running around in the RU, part of me wonders if Victor opened the Creel house door in the RU/IRL when he opened the France door in the UD/NINA/whatever, and if he was running around outside and ended up on the side of the highway just like Will running around on Halloween in S2, and just like how Will was seeing the UD, Victor may have been seeing France).

And also, it's interesting that Scott has a terrarium behind him the whole time doing this scene- it reminds me of Dart's terrarium and the fact that Dart was given a human name/D'artangan by Dustin, versus the idea of Hawkins and the people of Hawkins as some sort of terrarium-esque thing that Brenner is messing with/experimenting on.

Long story short, I wonder if NINA/some sort of simulation extends outside of the lab, and into Hawkins, like a fucked up augmented reality without any actual headset, and if certain people (esp people with powers and people who can ‘sense’ things the way Victor can) are more sensitive to it/able to interact with it to an extent- much like The Matrix, but if The Matrix was directly overlaid on the real world rather than everyone being physically plugged into it, and if that may be part of what TFS is. Sort of like an airborne virus, like a mass hallucination airborne virus, but in a way that actually affects reality and isn't just a hallucination.

Which, this would all also tie into this post, where I talked about the pamphlet that Connie gives scott in S1, which talks about how they want to "connect" kids from across the state, versus the TFS lines about how Patty and Henry are "connected" and all of the weird simulation-esque stuff in TFS:

Anyway! Lots to think about.

[velvetjune]

All my thoughts on Alan Wake 2: The Final Draft below! Major Spoilers for the game (and Control 2019). This is a very long post, but this game has taken over my mind.

The Final Draft was good! I’ve never played NewGame+ versions of games before, so I don’t know if this is usually how it goes. The additional material and introduction/ending makes it all worth it, although I wish there was a way to speed up the case board process, since I completed almost all of it my first go.

My immediate concern is. What is ‘a master of many worlds’? What does that MEAN?? Surface level, he can already exert power over his world and the dark place, so that was the two he was initially referring to. Since Door said the Dark Place was a mirror that reflected other realities, is that why Alan now holds power of them? No matter what, he is Way too confident for someone who’s been an absolute mess. The power of being loved and reaching out to others is just that good.

I’ve vaguely known about this draft’s ending and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Actually playing through again helped me lose that negativity, although I still prefer the first ending! Hearing Saga’s relief at Logan being alive and Alan rising from the dead was one amazing sequence. Visually beautiful and acted out.

The EXPRESSION you can see on Saga the second Logan picks up. I was so happy for her. Having Logan and Casey by her side. No matter what comes next, they succeeded in saving both of them. Now—are Saga, Casey, and Alan all in the dark place? In an overlap? Or Bright Falls?

The “love is strange” quote was a personal favorite. Sometimes you love someone so much, both of you ascend past your humanly self and become so intertwined in thought and memory that you’re always with each other. Love is strange.

Is anyone else ridiculously nervous about what’ll happen with Alan and Alice?? They both seem to be in states that are tied to each other and the dark place. I don’t know if they can technically leave. Read some theories on Alice being the bullet of light, but I took it as a sort of symbolic gesture, with her still being an agent moving in the dark place. Similar to Zane or Darling. Idk.

The ‘Spiral’ writer’s room video got to me even more than the ending! Bringing up how time is overlapping, which means Alan IS already at the end of the spiral, as an enlightened figure, potentially “playing a secret game” or “building something”. There’s an inevitability to Alan’s fate that stresses me out. Describing himself as a demiurge or demon too,, somehow he made everything 10x more unsettling. So thanks for that Alan. Love it for the horror, but also I just want Alice and Alan to reunite with Barry… it’s not looking so good.

I was already a fan of the cliffhanger-ish ending, but, even after seeing this one with more confirmations, I don’t understand comments I’ve seen about having to play the Final Draft to get the actual/true ending. The first ending was emotionally satisfying and left a bigger impression imo. It was the turning point of this entire cycle Alan was stuck in and is what makes the Final Draft’s ending feel earned. It didn’t need confirmation on Logan answering back or Alan ascending because Alice’s post-credit video implied that was what would eventually happen. I still like this final draft’s ending, but I don’t think it’s to the detriment of the original playthrough and won’t hurt if anyone doesn’t end up playing through it (Kinda how I view AWAN too—although I haven’t finished it)

Dr. Darling my beloved. My everything. Remedy took their chance at making the funniest crossover. Alan repeating text over and over, being what’s keeping the dark place formed in its current shape—reminded me of the final nursery rhyme. This could’ve been creepier, but Darling’s reaction of “let’s not think too much about that” for the voice was golden. And what is there even to say about Zane and Darling. They got to flirt, so good for them. The ramifications of this could be dire or stay as some gag.

My conclusion on the situation with Alan, Zane, and Scratch is “I don’t think we’ll ever really know.” All the same person, but also every iteration is their own person. Their existences are too muddled and changed and distorted to ever find an origin or who made who.

I do find it fun that generally Zane IS helping Alan/Scratch and wanted to collaborate with Alan, and Scratch also wanted to become one with Alan, be the heart, bring an enteral deerfest that celebrates Alan. They’re both dangerous and/or manipulative, but it doesn’t seem to be out of hate.

My game had a bug where I could never talk with Odin and Tor apart from the mandatory scenes to move the game, so I missed everything near her trailer AND whatever they were standing around for in the Final Draft 😔

The Lake House page is making me excited for the DLC with the same name! Big fan of Remedy’s love for mad scientists and their death-by-hubris. Another Darling name drop that further shows how annoyed some FBC employees are at Darling’s golden boy reputation and his smug confidence. Incredible.

The Night Springs intro video!! Literally lays out what happens. Alan succeeds, transcends, and becomes a master of these realities he was inspired from. Interested in what this means for the Night Springs DLC. Will it make characters experience one of these other realities or will it remain grounded in the real world of Alan Wake 2?

I’m in love with how Alan Wake 2 repeatedly tells the player what the story and themes are, and outright says reveals and the ending before it plays out. The Yötön Yö song about Scratch, the Zane film of the same name spoiling “It’s not a loop it’s a spiral” and Alice+Alan in the Final Draft, this Night Springs intro confirming his success, all the nursery rhymes predicting Saga’s life, etc. Telling out what will happen through different mediums of art. It’s a clever way of making everything fit together and imply that Door, Zane, Alice, etc. aren’t as affected by the loop’s cycles restarting.

There’s mysteries that haven’t gotten answered at all. Nothing for Tim’s future and underlying connection to Door (I know it’s related to Quantum Break, but haven’t played). The 103 door a guest at the lodge kept banging and screaming at, which I think had the square looped symbol at the Oceanview Motel in Control. The employees door at Oh Deer Diner was always closed off.

Glad to have officially played through Alan Wake 2! Need that DLC trailer to drop soon

[presidenthades]

I am doing very minor revisions of Daemon’s Handbook (mostly formatting and continuity errors), and I wanted to do some behind-the-scenes commentary before too much time passes and I forget my original thoughts. Here’s Chapter 2!

(Note that these commentaries aren’t canon to the verse until/unless the author writes them into the series. I might change my mind on a few points later, but these are the thoughts I had while writing.)

Those gold dancing slippers with pink roses and sunbursts? Aegon 100% bought those for Jace (in Sunfyre’s colors of course), and that’s why she freaks out about them in Chapter 3.

Helaena has FRIENDS in this verse! Because she gets to grow up with three kinswoman close in age to her! Yay! I imagine her spending a lot of time with Jace, Luce, and Joff while they’re all living at the Red Keep.

That black and green three-pointed star is supposed to be some kind of reference to the three main couples of this series. Please don’t ask for details because I don’t have any 🙈

Rhaena and Baela’s crushes on Helaena and Jace, respectively, have begun sprouting in this chapter. They are very embarrassed by their dad acting like a weirdo in front of their crushes.

Daemon has a mental diatribe about Aegon’s dissolute ways, but in actuality Daemon would probably enjoy hanging out with someone who can keep up with him in Flea Bottom. Alas.

Neither book nor show canon says anything about Aegon or Aemond squiring, but I think healthy young princes would be expected to squire, like Daeron. I’m thinking Aegon strongly disliked the idea of having to squire (which involves a lot of acts of service) so maybe he a) threw a fit or b) used some weaponized incompetence until people gave up. 😆 But show!Aemond would like the idea of becoming a chivalrous knight, and Criston seems like a good option to squire for, considering Criston’s proximity to Alicent.

In this verse, Rhaenyra chooses to move her family to Dragonstone for different reasons than canon (where she felt pushed out by the Hightowers). Here, she’s mostly concerned about Jace and Aegon. I’ll delve into more detailed commentary later for Chapter 6, but basically, the kids have hit puberty and Jace and Aegon have already been caught sneaking around to kiss and hold hands. You can’t really keep them apart if they’re living in the same castle, so Rhaenyra’s solution is to relocate her daughters. Rhaenyra still plans to commute to court as needed (like in Chapter 4), but it’s not the most politically expedient move even if she’s decided it’s best for personal reasons.

We get our first glimpse of what the Jace/Aegon relationship is like. Jace spends a good amount of time trying to make Aegon act nicer (especially toward Aemond; no Pink Dread in this verse). She tends to use the carrot instead of the stick, which is Aegon’s preferred learning method, so Jace is more successful than Alicent who does it the other way.

Daemon doesn’t believe in anything he can’t see with his own eyes so he’s not superstitious, BUT Joff makes him question a lot of things. 😆 He figures out real fast that regardless of whether she’s actually witchy, it’s best to stay on her good side. (Otto also knows something is up with that girl lol)

I’m definitely exploring Joff’s dynamic with Laenor in a future installment in this verse. For now, let’s just say it was complicated. As precocious as Joff is, she’s only 6 and she doesn’t actually know everything.

“Window closes, heart opens, door opens, heart closes.” Helaena’s prophecy is about Aemond’s eye and the Luce/Aemond relationship, though I originally planned for it to play out differently (more to come in Chapter 4 commentary). As the fic currently stands, the prophecy breaks down like this: window closes = Aemond loses his eye. Heart opens = Luce opening up to Aemond again. Door opens = the rookery door when Daemon messes with the letters. Heart closes = Luce and Aemond’s three year estrangement.

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

To my surprise this had already ended, and over a year ago too. Apparently CCS isn't big enough in my circle for it to have been bigger news.

First things first, the worst sin this manga commits is that there aren't nearly enough magical girl outfits! CCS is known for Tomoyo crafting a new one for every event, but this time most of the Card Catching happens so spontaneously that there's no time for a costume change. Which I suppose technically makes sense in-story, but I still reject this and would instead prefer any kind of excuse to get Sakura into a cute new fantasy outfit every chapter, no matter how nonsensical it might be.

Then for the actual content. In general I can see why CCS is such a beloved classic, but personally I've never been too big on it. Which makes it a little difficult to judge the sequel, like is it actually meh, or am I just being a hater again? I just can't get into these characters, I can like a good wholesome story like Yotsuba& where everyone is super nice, but in CCS the cast is just so saccharine that they barely feel human, so it's hard to get invested. It's like Sakura is rather meant to be someone's ideal daughter instead of her own person, like she's eternally pure, ever so helpful and well behaved, never has a nasty thougth in her mind, and so on.

Another issue I remember from the original manga that still persists here is how almost every character hides important information from Sakura. You can "well actually" most of it, like a lot of the time there is a decent reason, but there's just so much of it that to me it feels kind of patronising, or frustrating when the main character is always several steps behind. Some of the secrecy doesn't even lead to anything interesting story-wise, like eventually the information gets out and Sakura is a little upset for one panel, and then everything is forgiven. I don't know how much of a fair criticism this is, but the "keep secrets from the main character to protect them" trope is one of my pet peeves (unless you lean into the broken trust aspect, then it's good) and I feel it strongly here. Also in general it's a good thing that the side cast has their own thing going on so that the main character is not the only one who gets anything done, but here Sakura sometimes gets lost in everyone else's planning.

The new girl Akiho is at least cute, I got no complaints on her. I'm also always a sucker for any kind of twin/clone/otherwise similar and paired characters, so my favourite thing about the manga was how she kept being compared to Sakura. As for the story otherwise… Eh. Feels a lot like a retread of the original manga, Sakura's Cards disappear and she must get new ones one by one. The character relationships are pretty static and I don't think I really learned anything new about Sakura. There are a lot of Alice in Wonderland references, which for the most part felt superfluous. Towards the end Sakura's class puts up a play that's a pastiche of Alice in Wonderland, and then Sakura gets sucked into the world of the play, and the story gets pretty confusing when the characters are both acting their roles and doing the actual plot.

Also if you're into Tomoyo/Sakura or Toya/Yukito you don't need to bother with this because you'll be scrambling for crumbs, there is little else in terms of shipping besides Sakura/Syaoran. Which is like the most vanilla ship ever, sure it's wholesome but man I just can't get anything out of them.

[stierhai]

Thoughts on: The One Within the Villainess

Manga: The One Within the Villainess

Amount read: Up to chapter 12

Impression: Middling positive.

On genre:

I'm not an Isekai person. I don't find wish fulfillment to be compelling in media. I don't care about game mechanics. I don't like characters going into the narrative with all the answers already and just needing to wait to put them into effect. Isekai may run the gamut of tones, with there being as much seinen edgelord bullshit as there is cute reincarnator sidesteps the plot of the in-fiction original work, so I won't say there's never conflict in isekai but... none of that does anything for me. With rare exceptions, the conflict almost always feels extremely shallow to me even when the stakes are high.

This is because they don't typically feel like they're about the characters, so much as they feel like lore infodumps and following a road map. Then top that off with a main character that has either a narratively convenient power that typically is powerful enough to overcome all conflict by default whilst requiring a lot of info-dumping— or the power is skipped in favor of short-cutting straight to the power being a lore and plot dump... they feel less like stories in and of themselves and more like reading a tabletop corebook. Lore is, in my mind, meant to be the stage upon which we tell stories, not the story itself— and I just don't think the stage can stand all its own and pretend to be a competent story.

And that is even assuming the stage was competent to begin with. A lot of Isekai also are very tropey and reference not just the broad strokes of other fantasy settings writ large but other isekai.

And there is no place this is more exemplary than the Villainess subgenre of isekai works.

They've all got this same basic framework: girl dies somehow and wakes up in an otome game she either played or knew about in her old life! However, she isn't the protagonist of the otome game, she's the villainess: an odious character who existed just to obstruct the heroine's chosen route in the game!

But here's the thing. I play otome games. I'm maybe not an expert, but I do have a casual acquaintanceship with the genre. The villainess rival plot that's endemic to this whole-ass genre? It stems from one of the earliest otome games ever, Angelique. However: it's not a trope that actually stuck around in otome games. To the point that Angelique's own sequels and spin-offs also didn't have the villainess rival. Similarly, the idea of the grindy items or whatever-- most modern otome games are not "dating sims", they're visual novels. You can think of them as choose your own adventure books, way more than a grindy dating sim where you have to raise stats, repeatedly talk to the dating options in certain areas on certain days, or give them items. The last set of actual popular otome games that had those elements is probably the [Heart/Spade/Diamond/etc] no Kuni no Alice series, I'm pretty sure? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. But either way, I can say pretty confidently that Persona 5 is more of a dating sim than most otome games.

The fact is, these manga and light novels are all cribbing notes off each other, not otome games. So I have a grudge against them for that, first and foremost. It's like, okay you're talking shit about the problems and how terrible it is for the villainess to have to suffer just because she also liked the guy and her life is ALSO BAD and it's like. This is just not a thing. These works exist as critiques of a phenomenon that just isn't widespread and barely exists at all. You are all still just mad at Angelique-- or rather, because they don't know their "source material" at all, they're just empty shells of someone else's subversion of an extremely old game. And the subversion of ACTUALLY THE VILLAINESS IS FINE is also eroded even further by the fact a lot of them just decide to have the plot be actually the heroine is the real bad guy. Look at that hussy, chatting up these dudes above her station and stealing someone else's fiance. The issue isn't that the original plot of the game set up these girls as having their own happiness achievable only as mutually exclusive, implying women are all enemies competing for men, the real issue with the initial story is... genki girl bad, elegant girl good. I'm hating on a few specific manga here, but I'm sure there's more than that out there that have pulled that particular twist.

They have nothing to say. But when the framework of the story is we're going to fix the shit that went wrong in the original... it reads like they're trying to be commentary on the original genre. Which just falls so, so flat. Thanks for the commentary on a thing that isn't even a problem with the genre and also your commentary sucked.

So, enough generalities. Onto The One Within the Villainess.

The Plot:

The basic rundown: The villainess, Remilia, was replaced out as a child by Emi, a Japanese girl who was familar with the game Remilia is from. Emi did all the usual villainess isekai protagonist things-- rescued the male love interests from problems in their lives and came to occupy the same space as the protagnist did within the original game's story. Remilia, from within Emi, watched this and was satisfied because she had lived a loveless life with terrible parents but with Emi's memories of her own family in Japan and the second-hand experience of Emi's new life, she was able to finally experience happiness and became protective of Emi.

However, a fellow isekai'd girl has taken over the role of the game's protagonist. Pissed off that the villainess has changed the plot, she plots Remilia/Emi's downfall. Emi suffers the same fate as the villainess in the game, and retreats within herself. Remilia, back in control of her own body, swears vengeance and to make herself happy to fulfill Emi's wishes for her. To these ends, she does some bog-standard villainess things. She takes control of the land she's exiled to, begins doing damage control to her reputation, saves some poor people who were neglected by fate in the "original" timeline, teams up with a demon lord, and kills god.

I won't say the plot is anything special. A lot of the plot points I have read beat for beat in other manga. It also has the issue of not being very familiar with otome games— aside from my usual otome games almost never have a villainess issue, the whole subplot about the shop shows that the writer is thinking of the mechanics of a mobile game. And granted, I've never played a mobile game otoge, maybe they really are like that. But with the genre as a whole taking cues from a very old otome game, it is weird to see the very modern cash shop mechanics thrown in there. It feels like indiscriminate cribbing off the notes of other isekai that just accidentally took something from the wrong source material-- that any one isekai is as good as any other to crib from, overlooking the thing that's supposed to make the subgenre distinct. Which makes sense-- if you don't play otoge, you wouldn't know what the mechanics were like so you probably wouldn't see an issue with a cash shop existing as a plot point and as a major part of a subplot.

Thus far, this review has mostly been negative. But that's because I've focused on what it has in common with most other villainess isekai— a genre I started with saying I don't like. So, next: what sets it apart and what it does well within its trappings.

The Art:

The art fucks /pos.

Manga is a visual medium, and having good art isn't a must persay, but it does a lot to influence audience perception of characters, setting a mood, and just the overall enjoyment of a series. Characters in this manga make great fucking faces. The otoge heroine just runs around making the shittiest faces, the clearest faux-cutesy but complete scumbag expressions ever. They're great. Emi and Remilia technically have the same face but they're very well distinguished by light shines and make-up, sure, but also the kind of expressions they make— Remilia playing at Emi is also distinguishable from what we saw of Emi. Things are telegraphed really well-- you can see the people around Emi being affected by the heroine because they also begin making shitty smug faces (though not to the same degree).

Also, about selling a mood: killing God isn't an exceptional plot point in a JP fantasy series. It's every JRPG I played growing up, it's my beloved Angel Sanctuary, etc. So how do you sell the audience on the gravity of killing this God that was only recently introduced? Radical art style shift from villainess isekai to surreal high contrast Madoka witch labyrinth was the answer this manga landed upon and damn if I can't say it doesn't work. That sequence was great. Excellent choice by the artist.

The character designs are also pretty good. Remilia and Pino Blanchet definitely pass for the villainess and heroine isekai tropes. The demon shopkeep also looks like a minor NPC that for some reason has been taken out of a minor role and been given a more major one, whilst also making sense with the larger world set-up as we get that. The demon king looks like a boy you might romance on an otome route. The gods have weird inhuman forms. The dwarf girls both look like dwarves, in a western fantasy sense whilst still fitting into an otome game! I'm not sure any of them really stand out to me as like damn good job, but I think as a whole they do help get across the setting-- both as a fantasy in its own right outside the "game's plot", and as an isekai into an "otome game".

Emi and Remilia:

Okay. Listen. Listen. I grew up in YGO fandom, alright? Bodyshare romance is peak. And I've got a thing for unrequited love, tragic loves, dead girl haunts the narrative she can no longer directly touch but everyone around her is still impacted by the hole she left. And, to clarify, that isn't what this manga is— I do not think this was written with the intention of being read as hot girl doppleganger ghost romance— but it's got the vibes. That even if that is not the intended reading of the text, it has an appeal that people into that could appreciate.

So, Emi is not textually dead, aside from the whole reincarnation thing. But she is functionally a ghost in the story. After she fell into despair, she retreated within herself and Remilia retook control. In-character, Remilia believes that Emi is as she was— alive, and now merely watching from behind the scenes. With this belief, she seeks to make Emi's ideal world so she can emerge and live happily again, just as she did before. There is no sign of Emi stirring, but Remilia is motivated by her memories and ideals, by what she gave her and honoring her memory. The Remilia the audience knows is a person changed, but not by someone who is in the story any longer. In this way, Emi "reads" as a ghost, haunting the narrative through her effect on Remilia. Dead girlfriend vibes, is what I'm saying.

There's also something to be said for the dynamic necessitated by the bodyshare where despite being deeply invested in the other's happiness, they do and do not have any personal relationship at all. They both know intimately and have never met the other person— we see Emi playing Remilia's game and crying over her; we see Remilia watching Emi living her life on a flat-screen television window in their mindscape. Without direct interaction, they nontheless are invested in each other, their highs and lows, their success and happiness. They're the other's biggest fan, but not in the sense that we usually think of in the modern era when someone says Parasocial. They are aware of each other, and both is individually important to the other. Whilst the situation is fantastical, it comes out feeling like an early internet friendship with both girls lurking on the other's blog, more than it feels like the relationship between stan and oshi.

On Female Characters:

So, this manga is guilty of the whole villainess isekai trend of actually the game heroine is the bad one! twist.

I forgive it.

The most important relationship in the manga, the fulcrum upon which the whole manga's storyline sits, is the one between Emi and Remilia. They're both full characters in their own rights, even though Emi exists only in flashback. Meanwhile, of the major side characters the ratio of male to female characters actually favors women. There's two men, whilst all the other major side-characters with personalities are women. So, Pino being shitty is just like, oh okay she's just a shitty person, not that this author has kind of an unfortunate attitude about women. Also, Pino's character flaws of being incredibly selfish and focused on romantic feelings without caring about the target of her affections as a person-- it rather neatly echoes the evil god featured in the manga as well. The two of them echo each other, so considering we see the exact same flaws in evil incel god and the main female antagonist... Yeah, I don't see the way Pino is written as a problem here.

The Demon King:

So, speaking of side-characters. The Demon King Angel is supposed to have been a secret route from within the game. And while I think this manga gets a lot of shit wrong about otome games I will say this for it: Angel absolutely feels like a true/secret route character. Gorgeous character design, genuinely tragic backstory with a good reason for him to have been an absolute bastard within the story. . . nailed it. Good job. A++. More than anyone else here, I actually buy him as an otoge character.

It's a little bit unfortunate for him that Remilia is only interested in Emi and making Emi's ideals a reality! That just makes him feel like he's properly executed even moreso though, and really drives home that this manga is about the relationship between Emi and Remilia more than any thing else though.

post also available on dreamwidth

[adoringdo]

EXO Theory Pt. 16 - I Need All 'Ya ~ Cream Soda

What a bop, SOTY, AOTY, I love EXO. The music video has too many fast cuts that it's kinda annoying to analyse, but the fast cuts really reminded me of Love Me Right and Love Shot and some other MVs that have strong dreamlike vibes - so that's fun! Anyway...

<<- First part | <- Previous part | * Masterpost

The first thing to note with this MV is that we have two sets of EXO in the MV. The colourfully dressed EXO:

And the EXO wearing black suits:

In this MV, I actually think the suited members are representing X-EXO and the colourful ones are normal EXO, so I will refer to the suited EXO members as X-EXO from here-on.

I think it's quite obvious that the brightly dressed EXO members in this MV are trapped in a dream state that they are trying to escape, as we have seen in many EXO MVs before.

We get a few different clips of the Bright!EXO members laying like this on the floor, asleep. Very reminiscent of Love Me Right.

In Love Me Right, we watch as the members take on the roles of Alice in Wonderland characters and try to escape the dream that the Red Force has put them into. In Cream Soda, we see the EXO members asleep, but not taking on characters. Instead, they are wondering around in this space that seems to me to be very cube-like.

However, we do also see EXO outside of this space. At the beginning of the MV they arrive at this fancy dinner hall where they immediately wreak havoc and destroy the layout with a skateboard.

Straight after this we see an image of X-EXO partying and a drink falling over, seemingly out of nowhere.

This is signifying to us that these two scenarios must be connected with each other; EXO cause drinks and plates to smash and fall in their scene and a drink also falls in the other X-EXO scene. So bearing that in mind, we move on.

Next, we get this scene of EXO Chen falling onto a bed and it kind of transitions to this image of some jugs and bottles under water.

From here on I think Chen sort of wakes up from the dream and takes the place of X-EXO Chen. This is sort of in keeping with this idea I've had in my theories where Chen was the spy for the Red Force, but since Let Me In, we have seen him repent and come back to the EXO's side. I think in this MV we get some more of this theory.

Once Chen falls into the X-EXO space, we watch a scene of X-EXO Chanyeol and Kyungsoo playing chess, and we see a clip of 'X-EXO' Chen playing cards.

The chess game gets interrupted by somebody putting their drink on the table. I cannot tell who it is, but the significance of chess is still quite interesting. We've seen chess in a few different places, most notably in the Tempo MV where we see Xiumin and Kyungsoo play and their chess game creates the cube which the EXO members reenter to try and solve the puzzle to escape. The cube is a tool of the Red Force, even if the members do need it in the Tempo MV. We also see chess in Obsession where we watch EXO and X-EXO Chen play against each other.

Chess is clearly used as a symbol of the Red Force, we even see chess pieces in one opening VCR to the MAMA 2016 performance which was heavily lore based.

The card game that Chen is playing is significant in the overall storyline for Cream Soda because we get the reveal later in the MV that Chen actually played the Joker card. Just before this, we get a clip of Xiumin dropping a drop of his glass and it shows us the members aimlessly wandering in the cube like space again.

Chen then sets the Joker card on fire and we see the EXO members from just seconds before begin to celebrate.

Right after this we then see this image of a wine glass smashing to the ground - which again, is signifying this idea that as the EXO members win this round, the X-EXO members lose (as the wine glass is definitely from the X-EXO member scenes).

Not long after this we also see time go backwards; at the beginning of the MV we get a close up of someone's watch which ticks forward a second. At the end of the MV, it ticks back a second again, resetting time.

We then also see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo leave the setting looking very pleased with themselves.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are shown in another few clips together as well, so clearly the two of them were up to something in this MV.

This duo actually really reminded me of the two of them in The War comics - as the two of them are the ones monitoring the other members and giving them instructions in that comic. I wonder if they were the ones that told Jongdae to go over to the X-EXO side and be the spy for them in this MV. As Chen seems to be the reason that they have got free and escaped from this scenario at least. We don't actually see any of the other members escape though, so maybe only Kyungsoo and Baekhyun did in this one. Hmm..

It could also be that the two were responsible for telling Suho to talk to the girl we see in the MV as well. Before I have been over how I think girls are significant in the EXO MVs - they are almost always a representative of the Red Force.

I wonder if Suho is distracting the Red Force from noticing that Chen has replaced X-EXO Chen in the other universe. We do see cream running down the car and blocking all the windows, blocking her sight, so that could make sense.

As I said before, we end the MV with the watch ticking backwards, in line with the Let Me In and Hear Me Out MVs where time was a pivotal theme of the MVs. I think it's less so here, but I do think it's still important that time was reversed back to the beginning of the MV, but now with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun freed. It could be that we will now get a continuation of that damn The War comic as it's driving me mad we still have nothing??? It's been 6 years SM c'mon!

Anyway we mustn't ignore the most important part of the MV:

These amazing outfits and the amazing dance. Not at all lore significant, but it did need to be noted.

Tbh this video really isn't lore heavy - it's mostly aesthetics and dancing. Not complaining, but not much to really read into imo. Hope it was somewhat interesting anyway! See you in 3 years when EXO has another comeback lmao 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[themotherofhorses]

Hi, about what the other anon said.

I think they're were referring to the swearing. Alicent was out of character because she would never say "fuck" this much, or lost her composure over a handmaid feelings. For Diane in the show for exemple, she said to Aegon she was ashamed of him. She made him feel pitiful by being extremely cold/passive-aggressive. Moreover, she understands the misogyny of her time. If Aemond is "tired" of his handsmaid/done playing with her, it's his right because it was very common for men to act like that. It sucks, but there is nothing she could have done.

For Aemond there are a couple of things I didn't really understand in your last piece.

1st : why would he be bothered by the fact she's a bastard, knowing he has himself fathered bastards ? Why would he be okay with having bastard sons but not okay being with a bastard ?

2nd : How did he guesses she was a Strong relative ? As I understood the concept of bastardy, even smallfolk could make "bastards". As long are your parents weren't wed, were they from nobility or not, you're a bastard. So even so Handsmaid is the daughter of a strong bastard, unless Aemond knew who Alys Rivers was, there's no way he could have guessed her "strong" blood.

Nevertheless, thank you for your work (I hope my critic won't bother you too much. I'm sorry if it does)

Hi love, I'd be very happy to clear things up a bit, and share my perspective on everything.

I can understand that Alicent's outburst may seem a bit OOC and confusing, and I've gotten a lot of hate for how I wrote her in the fic from last night.

In this series, Alicent has a soft spot for the handmaid (who I've taken to calling Anya, so I will refer to her as that in this specific response). I've hinted at it many times; for example, when she comforts her after learning she is pregnant with the twins. Some anons have greatly complained about it, but I won't change it. Anyways, Anya is a new and young mother, who's given her prince the heirs he has yearned for so badly...but now she is suddenly left alone in the nursery, to tend to the babes without their father. Perhaps that sounds a bit familiar? In Alicent's eyes, she's not only watching her beloved (favorite) son following down the same path as his father and brother, but Anya is also turning into an unappreciated and saddened mother.

I agree that, yeah, the cussing and the loss of composure were probably very unAlicent-like, but everything was done in an eruption of anger and frustration. People are human, and rage can easily change a person into someone else, even if it is only for five minutes. This is something she's likely kept bottled in for DECADES, after seeing herself and Helaena and now Anya suffer at the hands of their men, it just came out.

(And that is why Aemond was so dumbstruck and silent during it. This was so unlike his own mother that even he was left a bit gagged.)

As for Aemond himself:

The main reason for his feelings towards her bastard origins is rooted back in the trauma surrounding his eye. Aemond associates bastards with his nephews, plain and simple. The word is basically tainted and leaves a sour taste in his mouth. Plus, sometimes he is not always thinking straight (allowing those insecurities and resentment to influence his actions) and can be very hypocritical and confusing.

I imagine he is fine with fathering his children because, in his mind, since they resemble him, they're not *actually* bastards. They can pass as legitimate Targaryen babies born within a true marriage. Again, hypocritical.

And how did he figure out Anya was a Strong relative? Aemond is smart and cunning, we do have to give him that. If not in the book (he's dumb as rocks in it), then in here. He knows her mother's name now, and he's going to do a bit of digging.

He'll start putting two and two together as well: her features, the lack of a father's name in hers, Lord Larys Strong's strange soft spot, comments like "the daughter of a milk cow", etc.

At least, that is what I think.

My fic series is not perfect, and sometimes I'll make mistakes or accidentally overlook portions of the plot where it might remain open and confusing. I always really appreciate when people provide me with constructive criticism, as it helps me better my writing. Thank you!

[intogenshin]

[3.8] Veluriyam Mirage - fresh recollections

I don't have a clear idea of what this event was about, just loose thoughts. I think I'd have to go through my screenshots and rewatch the sequences for a more appropriate breakdown.

the characters

I feel like just like in GAA (though to a lesser degree), the event serves as an insight into who the characters are and how they became this way (rather than development per se). GAA had an island dedicated to every character, so obviously it was more focused, while Mirage offers a single lens.

Kokomi, Kaeya and Eula (possibly Klee, but not necessarily) all are characters defined by a role that was handed to them basically, not unlike an actor in a play.

Kokomi was entrusted with Orobashi's will as the Divine Priestess and gave up part of her military ambitions to become Watatsumi's leader

Eula was born into the Lawrence clan which upholds a certain reputation within Mond -of which neither side is wiling to change- yet she chose to more or less disown herself and follow her own principles by joining the knights

Kaeya knows he's supposed to be Khaenri'ah's last hope, and that he was left in Mond with a purpose, but out of the three he's the only one who doesn't fully understand the circumstances of this imposition

Perhaps the point the narrative of the event is trying to make is for these characters to understand themselves as autonomous individuals and not actors (or perhaps actors who choose their roles?)

Kokomi accepted her duty; Eula rejected the traditions of her clan and in this event she mentions she wants to try to change their perspective alongside her cousin; Kaeya has always felt burdened by his imposition, he felt so guilty after Crepus died he had to confess it to the only bond he had left, and back in Caribert he started to reconsider his father's words as perhaps just wanting him to live a better life.

In contraposition to Kokomi and Eula who have deliberately made up their minds, I think Kaeya is the one who struggles with doing what he believes he must out of obligation, and not because it's his genuine choice.

I don't have a good grasp on Klee, she might inherit the role of Hexenzirkel witch from Alice, but I can't say anything else.

Collei has been rather the most impressive character development, from her comic appearance, to her introduction in Sumeru's archon quest, to Windblume, to this point.

(like she makes me feel so proud ueueueue she's grown and overcome a lot, even helping other people as the healer)

the narrative

I can't say I fully understand the allegory if there is any, but the bottle oddly made me think about visions and perhaps how visions came into existence.

In the theater play, a mage puts light in a bottle with the ability to grant a wish. Then gives the bottle to the main character, who later shares it with the bandit who wanted to bring this light to the people that lived in the darkness.

Idiya says she hopes the people who passed by the mirage will be able to remember the sparkle of light they felt inside the bottle and make them feel inspired to chase their dreams.

That's what visions are in a way, as it says in traveler's vision story: Is it wise to allow a moment's ambition to dominate one's entire life?

Makoto thought that dreams were what inspired humanity to progress, and these in turn generated ambitions. Therefore.. ? A vision is a manifestation of their dream in the form of one of these ambitions. It's the sparkle of light that might motivate the character to chase their actual dream.

The people who lived in the darkness in the theater play comes across as a reference to Khaenri'ah, the people who dream of dreaming. Considering a dream is what's actually behind obtaining a vision, and that the bottle in the play contained light inside. Mm. Pepe Silvia.

[yukidragon]

Yuki, Yuki!

What do you think sex with Ian was like before he cheated on us? What do you think Ian's first time with M/C was like?

I've actually touched on the topic of what I suspect Ian was like as a lover in a previous post, and he has about 6 pages worth of personal sex and love headcanons I'm using for Sunshine in Hell in this massive post. Still, I could go a bit more about what we've seen from the demo and what a hypothetical first time was like for a general MC.

Content Warning: Remember this is an Adults Only fandom and a very spicy topic, so I'm going to be getting graphic at times with the details when dissecting it. Also, I must stress that Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack is not intended to depict non-consent or dubious consent. However, the topic will be discussed in regards to its influence on ecchi, and in turn the effects of fiction on a person's perception of sex. I will also touch on the topic of feeling obligated to perform sex acts for the sake of one's partner rather than one's own enjoyment. Also themes of religious guilt, toxic family members, and an abusive childhood will be discussed.

The bulk of the knowledge we get about Ian's sex life comes from the afterlife episode that you can access after playing through the game's demo once, including an example of what the sex was like between him and MC. MC even has their own opinion on how Ian is like when it comes to sex.

He might be meek but at least he knows what he wants. He’s just not the greatest at pushing for it though.

I think MC is a little bit off in their assessment though. Ian knows what he wants, but isn't the greatest as pushing for it with words. We see him easily flustered and embarrassed, which MC takes advantage of to tease him, both verbally and physically. This would make him seem like the submissive partner in their relationship, but when MC tries to come up for air from the blowjob, he doesn't let them. He pleads with them to keep going, giving puppy dog eyes, then eventually takes total control physically until he's satisfied, which nearly causes MC to pass out from lack of oxygen.

It was like being used. And somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn’t care if he WAS using me.

However, despite how rough Ian was with MC, it's clear that he didn't have malicious intentions. He panics after seeing the state they're in after he comes down from the high of his orgasm.

“Alice…? Hey, are you okay? I-I didn’t hurt you did I…?”

Please pardon me for filling in Alice's name in these quotes that I saved for my own reference. ;)

Getting back on track, throughout the experience, Ian does show concern for MC, gives them compliments, and says how much he loves them. We get another example of this in this NSFW picture Sauce drew of Ian and MC going at it doggy style. He also seems to be good at aftercare, at least as far as giving MC affection in the form of cuddles and praise as well as asking how they're doing.

However, they don't really discuss the fact that MC nearly blacked out from lack of oxygen. Ian fusses a bit, but MC just dismisses his concern. After that they take a nap and cuddle.

Now... how a specific MC might feel about this is subjective, same with the players. Some might get excited by being "used," some might dislike it, and some might not care either way.

Personally, I found it troubling that Ian wouldn't let MC stop when they made a clear attempts to do so, repeatedly. They gave in to his wants because they love him and enjoyed seeing him excited. He was apologetic about being so demanding and praised them, but eventually they weren't in a position to stop regardless of what they wanted, which led to them nearly suffocating.

I wanted to look him in the eyes, but when I threatened to stop he only doubled down and gave a solid, deeper thrust. It was almost as if he was trying to remind me what I was to be doing.

I know choking is a kink for some people when it comes to sex, as is having control taken away, but it's just not my thing, especially when it's something that's sprung on their partner without warning or really addressing it afterwards. This behavior from Ian was something MC didn't expect, but they went along with it because of his pleading.

Now, I'm not saying this scene involved dubious consent. That's not intended to be part of this game. MC may have wanted to stop at times, but they still made the conscious choice to keep going despite that because they wanted to pleasure their lover. It's sweet, but it's also not very healthy to ignore one's own wants and needs like that, especially since it could have had dangerous consequences.

Was this a one-off thing, or was this a constant in MC and Ian's sex life? It's hard to say for sure at this point, so we're left to make our own conclusions. Personally, as I've discussed in the big love/sex headcanons post, I'm inclined to think that it's a habit of his to act on emotion and urges, only to apologize afterwards. This might even be a part of why he cheated on MC.

Judging by how flustered and indirect Ian was at the start, plus MC's assessment about him being meek, he's likely not very good at outright stating what he wants. This is no doubt heavily influenced by his mother, who shames him for "satisfying his manhood" and likely uses religious guilt to make his desires seem sinful. He's scared that someone might know he's doing anything sexual, as he checks to make sure MC didn't tell anyone that they are in that kind of relationship... even though they are in a relationship and living together. It's not hard to guess that two people in a relationship just might be doing sexual things together.

Ian is easily flustered by his own sexuality, not wanting to be made fun of for making a weird noise during the act. He focuses a lot on how he appears to others, both to his partner and to people in general.

MC takes the lead in giving Ian a handjob, then a blowjob, but then Ian takes control of the scene. Even when aroused and getting unintentionally groped, he didn't initiate anything sexual and was embarrassed by it as he let MC take the lead. Between this and MC's own assessment, this suggests that MC was probably the one initiating sex most of the time.

However, this promotional art on the official twitter does show that Ian is perfectly capable of initiating sex himself. Maybe he does it more infrequently because he feels like he has to build up to it in a big romantic display like this picture, while MC is far more casual when initiating it and Ian hasn't mentally prepared himself for suddenly being horny.

As for the sex itself and what that was like, we did see a glimpse of it in the afterlife episode. Ian gets flustered and shy, but is very eager. He gives MC praise and is the type to beg even while he's taking control and going wild.

Ian also gets tips about sex from ecchi, which... really isn't the best source to learn techniques. Fictional pornographic stories are often exaggerated/romanticized, and details are skipped for the sake of story flow and "getting down to the good stuff" more often than not. Often times they skip conversations about boundaries, and even consent, in order to get to the sex right away. Hell, ecchi often depicts the person being penetrated as saying, "No!" repeatedly, acting like they don't like it, only to either love it despite themselves or that they didn't actually mean it. Dubious consent appears a disturbing amount of time in hentai/ecchi to the point that some people internalize it as normal... which might be the case for Ian.

Once I read online about an American living in Japan who was having a sexual encounter with someone who had been giving him clear consent and was into things. However, at one point she said, "No," much like in a lot of ecchi/hentai, and he stopped immediately. She then got confused and asked why he stopped. "No" during sex wasn't actually seen as "no" to this person and this was so ingrained into her as normal that she assumed that he wouldn't stop if she said it, even though this sort of dubious consent roleplay wasn't discussed ahead of time.

Another unfortunate convention of ecchi/hentai is for the bottom to be in pain upon initial penetrative sex, even bleeding. This is especially the case for a person's first time, regardless of there being a hymen to tear. This is sadly a mistaken assumption that goes well beyond ecchi, but it's pretty well known to be glorified in a fair number of ecchi/hentai.

Sex should not hurt unless that is the intent. Penetration should not lead to bleeding. With enough foreplay, penetrative sex can be done safely and without pain. The sad fact is that a lot of times penetration comes way too soon, before a person is ready, and they are injured because of it. This can make it harder for the penetrated person to enjoy the experience, or grow to believe that pain is an unavoidable part of the experience, as is often shown in ecchi/hentai. These fictional stories often gloss over the pain and blood and its negative effects on the person (unless their suffering is part of the story's focus), as the penetrated person quickly is overwhelmed by pleasure, but this isn't always the case.

All this to say is that porn really isn't the best place to get tips about having good, healthy, and safe sex.

It makes sense that Ian would look to fiction for tips though if he came from a household where an overly pushy mother used religion as a weapon to repress her child's sexual desires. As I went over in Ian's entry in the big sex post, I think it's possible that he could've simply not had access to anything but ecchi when it came to sex until he moved out from his mother's house. Given that he finds other people to be "weird," his strong resistance to the idea that he's looking at porn, and his general internalized shame towards his sexuality, he probably hasn't looked up videos or photos of live action porn online. It's possible too that he didn't get much sex education outside of ecchi and personal experience with a mother like his.

I think that college was Ian's time to learn about sex, both from having access to more sources of information, and from practical application from MC. Although it's made clear in the game that MC only had him as a sexual partner, they seem pretty chill about the idea of porn. As such, they might have more knowledge about sex than Ian does.

This could lead to MC basically expanding Ian's sexual education through their relationship, or lead to multiple mistakes and growing pains while learning. I'm personally exploring the latter with Alice, but I think other MCs could thrive on teaching this repressed, apologetic man to cut loose with his desires. Or at least they could encourage better communication when it comes to sex.

It's this inexperience with sex that might even be part of why Ian cheated. I won't go into my theories about why he might have cheated beyond that here, but you can check out previous posts here, here, here, and here if you want to read more about my thoughts on that subject.

I suspect the first time Ian had sex with MC, at least in terms of going all the way, had a similar flow to a lot of first times in ecchi. After all, it might be where Ian learned how to have sex. Hell, it's possible that teaser art of Ian creating a romantic atmosphere with candles and rose petals could have been his attempt to lead into losing their virginity to each other. It's also possible that their first time happened with MC taking the lead after cuddling led to Ian getting hard and they just went for it.

Unfortunately it's also possible, maybe even very likely, like in ecchi/hentai, that MC experienced pain/bleeding when initially penetrated during their first time, and it was treated as something expected to happen.

How MC would react to this depends on their own knowledge about sex and their personality. It's also possible though that MC could have been the one doing the penetrating with Ian if they had the inclination and equipment to do so.

Overall, I think sex with Ian was clumsy - at least at the start - but sincere. Even if ecchi isn't a good place to learn how to have good sex, these techniques are emulated due to ignorance and with good intentions. He wants MC to enjoy themselves and to perform well as their lover, as he himself says in the afterlife episode.

How that might improve really depends on how sexually compatible Ian is with MC, and how well the two can communicate when it comes to sex and their boundaries. As we've seen in the afterlife episode, Ian is hiding things from MC, ashamed of his desires, and struggles to communicate. If MC also struggles with communication, then their sex life is probably going to be pretty rough.

There's a lot of wiggle room when it comes to MC, which is by design. I mean, hell, our decisions on what MC chooses to do during branching story paths will affect what happens and the ending. This too applies with their sex life with Ian, I feel, and whether or not it was something pleasurable for both parties involved.

What we saw in the afterlife episode was that MC wanted to make Ian feel good, and they enjoyed making him feel good even if they nearly passed out from suffocation. What that says about their relationship and how good the sex was for the two of them is ultimately for us to decide, pretty much.

For my personal narrative, Alice might have enjoyed making Ian feel good, but the sex was not good for her. It wasn't intentional on either of their parts, but poor communication, getting lost in the moment, and repressing one's own feelings led to damaging an otherwise happy relationship.

Of course, it wasn't just the sex that led to their relationship turning toxic, but it certainly played a key role.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[thehollowone16]

Heyy! 9, 14, 15, 16, 22 and 23 for the fanfic writer ask! That's a lot but I'm curious about your routine :p

Thank you so much for the ask!! This is wonderful, so many fun things to answer.

I'm wordy so under the cut u go

9: Do you write every day? If so, share a sentence of what you've written.

I try to do at least a chapter a day! A chapter for me is about 3-4k words or 10 pages double spaces 12 pt font. Work and life sometimes keep me from it though.

About a chapter a day helps me draft, its my least favorite part of wriring but if I'm like, well this has to be done today, it can help take pressure off it being good and to just get the events down.

Here's a passage from resonance, my Naruto and Soul Eater crossover.

" "Oh?” Kabuto adjusted his grip, smile untouched. “I figured Konoha would send someone a little more. Hm, how do I put it? Graceful.”

Ok, Naruto was going to murder this guy. Kabuto laughed, and Naruto could almost believe he was actually amused.

His glasses slid down his nose, letting Naruto see his eyes. Kabuto's smile grew. “Looking at me like that, you must really think you’re scary.” "

14: If I could have any fic adapted to a visual medium, which would it be?

This one was tough. Uhm. I wanna say LP; Eternity because it's probably the most visually interesting of my fics? I actually played with my descriptions a bit there. It's so long though, 101k.

Maybe "under the skin", I feel like it could make a cute comic or short film.

15: How do I come up with fic or chapter titles?

Usually I don't use chapter titles. Fic titles, it varies. A lot of my shorter fics I try to pick an unusual word, like "Misconstruction". Sometimes I try to go for what's generally happening like "Happy New Years". An idea of the theme or overall arc, "Learning to Care" and my "Loyalty's Price" series too. I want to go for more song lyrics so I can throw song reccs in my authors notes.

Despite not generally using chapter titles I plan on using a portal reference chapter title in late LP.

16: At what point in the process do I come up with titles?

The very end usually. Sometimes after I tagged and wrote the summary for the thing. LP was "Kabuto fanfic" in my drafts until the last second. Sometimes something comes to me sooner like "Resonance" but it's rare.

22: Do I know how fics will end before I start them?

A lot of the time yes. I'd say a good majority of my fics are very short so I have an ending image in mind at least.

Loyalty's Price is my first super long series and I've known the ending I want since I started writing it. Just didn't know if I wanted to write the middle.

Resonance stands out a bit, I immediately knew the beginning and the middle but I'm still a bit stuck on the ending. I could go bittersweet to straight up downer. I wonder how people will react to it.

23: How do you chose where to end a chapter?

This made me think because I'm not really sure. Usually I suppose I have a good sense of ending points? More an instinctual, "this event has gone on long enough" I try to write chapters to focus on a sorta main idea like "how does Kabuto adapt to xyz" so once that's run its course, I suppose.

If anyone else wants to send me asks!!!