#part ix

[randomfoggytiger]

The Scully Family In-Depth (Part IX): Mulder and the Two Scully Sisters

The last part of One Breath's Scully Family coverage is here.

Mulder is out of options; and Scully is certainly dying. 

“You know Fox--,” Melissa begins, conversationally in the cafeteria; but she pauses when Mulder raises with jerky back-and-forth movements. Recalling Scully’s earlier forewarning, she restates, “Sorry. Mulder.”

Mulder shakes his head at her, a combination of annoyance at having to politely listen and annoyance at also having to listen to her drawn-out rephrasing. He’d rather be incorrectly called “Fox” than have to waste time waiting for the correction. 

Melissa is frustrated by his vengeance shoddily veiled with apathy, her open expression dropping into older sister admonishment.

“You could… spend the rest of your life finding every person  who’s responsible and it’s still not gonna bring her back.” 

Mulder is heavily annoyed, staring her down and responding only with an exaggerated sigh.  

On first glance, in theory, or on paper, Mulder and Melissa should have gotten along. Both are open to extreme possibilities and believe they can communicate with ghosts, spirits, and (likely) aliens. Why they don’t is because Melissa lacks the critical, pessimistic filter Mulder judges his own theories by-- he is a very pessimistic man to beliefs he can’t or won’t swallow (ex. Scully’s faith and established religion.) Melissa’s harmonic boogaloo is one of those things; and he casts her willful optimism into the same light as negligible and irresponsible naivete. 

Melissa senses this; but she also senses his outright refusal to address his own leaking wounds or be there-- really there-- for his dying partner, denying them both that peace before she passes. She’s determined to stop that. 

“Whoever did this to her has an equal horror coming to them,” Melissa says. 

Mulder nods to himself, convinced he, too, is culpable for Scully’s death (which will be revisited in S5’s Kitsunegari.) “Including myself.” 

Pinning him with her eyes, Melissa freezes. Her appraisal is cut short by a third party interruption; but she still squeezes out-- with the classic skeptical Scully raised eyebrow-- “What do you mean ‘yourself’?”

The first hint of true Scully skepticism seems to have placed him in a more open, honest mood. Mulder responds more to straight talk, thinking Melissa's pretty phrases and kumbaya sentiments are phony and dismissible. For the first time he regards the other Scully with something other than tolerance, leaning forwarding and becoming more vulnerably honest-- softening his expression and curving his arms comfortingly rather than erecting them as a stiff, unpassable barrier. He even absently curls one of his hands in a simple, limp-wristed gesture of little-boy-awkwardness, a sign he’s intensely focused on choosing the right words rather than guarding his thoughts and feelings. After all, he has no place left to run; and the emotional turbulence Mulder feels is so great he’d rather confide in this annoying Scully sister (the pre-Queequeg, if you will) than keep company alone in his head. 

Of course, this almost-vulnerability is cut short by the next mission, the next lead-- like Mulder and Scully’s moment in the basement when he reads about Arthur Dales in an old newspaper article-- and he gets up and walks off in pursuit of vengeance. Melissa doesn’t stop him, watching silently as he makes his decisions (as she had for Maggie, post here.) 

Many a failure and pep talk and second chance later, Mulder sits in his apartment, revenge in his grasp, thirst for blood in his mouth. His trap is interrupted by a knock from Melissa. 

Side note: Mulder heard her knock and was about to shoot her. Melissa should have learned not to show up to federal agents’ dark apartments without expecting to catch a bullet. 

“Mulder,” she calls after several unanswered raps. When he springs out the door, disheveled and searching the hallway, Melissa swivels her head around, too. 

Seeing nothing, she decides she’s accidentally disrupted a very disoriented Mulder from his nap. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I came by… you weren’t answering and your machine wasn’t on.” 

Melissa is shaky, a bit startled… but very relieved. She knows how devastating losing Scully is for Mulder; and, when she hadn’t heard from him for a few hours, she tracked him down (most likely learning where he lives from Maggie… which means Maggie knows where Mulder lives) and had to make sure he was alright. Which means that Melissa could sense how thin a string Mulder is held together by after Scully’s tether has been snapped. 

Mulder reads this genuine concern, and he looks down-- feeling for the first time a connection with this strange amalgamation of Scully’s care, Maggie’s paranormal tendencies, and (to him) plain wacko opinions. 

A hint of his guilt pops through: he feels for Melissa’s loss (keeping far away from his own feelings on the matter) but is combatting that regret with what he thinks is avenging justice for her, Maggie, and Scully. And he is very angry when she disillusions him of that notion. 

At Melissa’s “Can I come in?”, Mulder panics, not thinking of a response fast enough. 

Melissa’s suspicion radar is activated, and she scowls. “For a second?” 

Giving up, Mulder leads (read: jams) her in, swiftly shutting the door behind him. 

“Why is it so dark in here?” she asks, concerned. 

“Because the lights aren’t on.” 

Concern fleeing in the face of aggravation, she mildly responds, “Okay” and passes over Mulder’s pique. 

Straightening her posture and folding her arms in a “no-nonsense” pose, Melissa informs, “I just came from the hospital. Doctor Daly says…” 

She stops, mimicking another classic Scully gesture: sucking in her cheeks and rubbing her tongue across lips from stress.  

“...she’s weakening. It could be… any time. So I figured you’d want to come down and see her.” Looking down with filling tears, she prepares for an onslaught from Mulder. 

Which doesn't happen. 

“Well I can’t.”

Instant righteous Scully indignation-- the kind Maggie and Scully herself uses on a regular basis. It runs in the family. 

“Well, I think that you would.” 

“Yeah, well--” Mulder snaps, intent roiling under his pointed response. He falters, “I would--”; then hobbles over his voice crack with a definitive, “I can’t. No right now.” 

Melissa came on a mission of mercy; but it now dawns on her that Mulder is slapping that offer away willfully, more ready to dole out danger than to inflict it on himself. 

Anger building, she steps forward and mutters, lowly, “Listen. I don’t have to be psychic to see that you’re in a very. dark. place. Much darker than where my sister is.”  (As Scully told Luther Lee Boggs, “It may be a cold, dark place for you; but it's not for Mulder.")

Sidenote: Her "you're in a very dark place" is unintentionally on par with the humor of "the lights aren't on" because:

#1. He is morally and emotionally in the dark; but also

#2. Mulder is literally standing in a dark patch of the room. 

Melissa, despite drawing nearer to the darkness, stays in the light. She tries to reach through the shadows and engage Mulder’s disengaged morality (“Willingly walking deeper into darkness cannot help her at all. Only the light--”); but her speech only angers him more, as he twists her sweet words in saccharine empty platitudes. 

“Oh, ENOUGH--” Mulder yells, conscience pricked. But his frustration brings out more honesty: “You’re not saying anything to me.” Desperation taints his voice, a subtle plea: “make sense, make it stop” warring within himself while she talks.  

Melissa knows that Mulder doesn't want to understand; and, furious, steps firmly into his business for the first time and squares off: “Why don’t you just drop your cynicism. And your paranoia. And your DEFEAT. Y’know, just because it’s positive and good doesn’t make it silly, or trite. Wh..why is it so much easier for you to run around trying to get even than just expressing to her how you feel?”  

Mulder has been looking down, trying to shut away the truth; but at her last sentence, his head bolts upright. Before he can make a snappy rejoinder, Melissa cuts him off, refusing to let him break her eyeline while forging ahead on the steam of disappointed indignation.

“I expect more from you-- DANA expects more.”

Again, Melissa speaks for her sister (post here), relaying her messages in the present tense, confirmation that she’s spoken at length with her dying sibling.  

Mulder looks away once more; and she huffs, storming off towards the door. On the tail of his relieved sigh, she spins back and sends a parting shot: “Even if it doesn’t bring her back--”

Mulder shifts his eyes down again, spoiling for a fight (but restraining himself with a clenched jaw.)

“--at least she’ll know. And so will you.” Melissa sweeps out the door, not giving him room to even react. 

After another jaw clench followed by a door slam (and a hard lean to prevent him from breaking it down and screaming after his unwanted visitor), Mulder retreats back to the dark. 

But not for long.  

The right decision and a preemptive bout of mourning later-- the first time Mulder has broken down about someone other than his sister-- he answers the Scully call, expecting to hear of his partner’s death… and is overjoyed when told she’s woken up. He joins all three Scully women at the hospital, bearing gifts and a clear conscience. 

The loud click and squeak of the room door startles Maggie and Melisssa, and pulls Scully into awareness. While she slowly shifts her head, Melissa bounces from the chair, hoping Mulder will take her place by sinking into it. No such luck-- he’s not ready to be observed in his hospital vigils yet (he will by Redux II); but his smile lights up the whole room as he tugs a little gift behind him (ala the charm in Fresh Bones, the keychain in Tempus Fugit, and the doll in Empedocles.) 

“Hello, Fox,” Maggie coos, blissfully serene. 

The first thing Scully says is a correction (because of course it is): “Not ‘Fox.’ Mulder.”  

Beaming, she pops open her eyes with a cheeky grin on her face; but dials it back into as close to her own signature, serious expression as Scully can manage, her shirked Starbuckian duty-- lack of evidence for "Ahab"-- weighing down her joy. 

An important point: this is the first “Mulder” smile-- besotted, appreciative gazing-- that is shown in the series. Before now, he shared S1 smirks and S2 grins with his unacknowledged crush; but now he beams unabashedly raw emotion in triumph o’er the grave. He is in love; and he knows it. 

The first thing Mulder says is his concern (because it always has been): “How ya feelin’?” 

Scully swallows, searching his face. “Mulder, I don’t remember anything.” A rare woman Scully is: wakes from a coma, fears her partner’s disappointment, but level-headedly gives him the truth, anyway. Taking a winded, bracing breath, she tries to get her words out, but starts hasten and stumble over them after mentioning Duane Barry (her eyes flinching and her words shoving together.)  

“Doesn’t-- doesn’t matter,” he assures, shaking his head to dismiss the topic. He does, however, clench his jaw, a sign he’d caught how desperate Scully was to reassure him she’d done her best. It’s sad and telling how focused she is on not failing him, even on her own deathbed (which will be revisited, again, in Redux II.) 

Mulder has already chosen Scully over the Truth by sitting at her deathbed; but this is the first time she sees him make that choice. She nods; then closes her eyes to collect herself.  

As Mulder sweeps out his celebration gift-- Superstars of the Superbowl (a “we won, Scully! We beat the odds in the game of life!” flourish)-- and earns a “I knew there was a reason to live” from his partner, Melissa watches from behind, framed as a benevolent angel keeping guard as her two charges fumble around and titter in their newly realized love and glee. When he starts to walk off without the important words said, Melissa leans her head back against the post, fondly exasperated at the two of them. 

Scully, gaining a second wind, steps up to the bat. “Mulder….”

Melissa tries and fails to keep a smirk off her face as Mulder spins around, his feet sweeping loud circles on the hospital floor. At Scully’s measured “I had the strength of your beliefs”, two things happen with him at once:  

#1. Mulder self-consciously peeks sideways at Maggie to see if she’s aware of his private conversation the night before (or if she’s read between the lines, destroying his subtlety. Hint: Maggie figured out his feelings in Ascension-- post here-- and Melissa took one look at his middle-school-crush hair and oversized jacket and closed the case.) 

#2. Mulder quickly jumps from “I had the strength of your beliefs” to Scully’s cross, having kept himself afloat with the strength of her beliefs. Remembering that he has it in his pocket-- a personal talisman-- he reaches in and tenderly hands it back. 

A bonus third point: 

#3. Melissa hadn’t known he’d been the necklace keeper; and she plainly shows her surprise as the proceedings go on. 

Maggie is touched, melting in her miracle and rewarded trust. 

Scully discerns that this is her necklace, and immediately turns to her mom. The two hold a silent conversation-- the mother still tying religious value to the gift that her daughter does not-- and Scully is comforted (in an ironic way... and aware of that fact) that nothing has changed. She then turns back to Mulder; and the two stare silently at each other.

Mulder stops himself from further, heartfelt words, reminded that Maggie and Melissa are there-- and are staring like hungry vultures. Getting shy, he slithers off (but not before getting a full view of Melissa’s big, plastered, satisfied smirk.) 

Overall, Melissa Scully and Dana Scully are two very different women; and Mulder is probably the most thankful man on this planet for that fact. While he gives Melissa her due, the two are oil and water; and between her and Bill (who we will get to), family holidays would probably have been a very... interesting time.

Mulder recognizes, however, how right she was in this circumstance; and that her persistence made him admit to himself his love for Scully, taking a massive step forward in his emotional growth. Without Melissa's influence, Mulder's "gazing" wouldn't be to the same degree that we recognize as part of his character. Not only that, but he would also have missed out on a powerful, life-changing (and, for Scully, life-saving) lesson.

And thus ends One Breath.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[zoennes]

Zoenne Fic ❥ Beter Samen・Chapter Five

[kashmiresims]

A WEEK AWAY - PART IX: AVALANCHE

A High School Trip! What could go wrong? It's a day spent skiing or staying indoors as the teens take in the recent snowfall, as well as taking in their feelings about each other and their friendships and their wishes for more.

READ HERE (search ‘PART IX’ for newest update)

[economicsresearch]

page 559 - I say "oh shit!" because what if it's not a computer.

It could be another person working from the same textbook as a source. If there's me and the other guy, who says there aren't more of us. They just aren't in this particular dungeon in this particular cell. Or a regular room is possible too if they're the luckiest ever.

[goldgargoyles]

@ff9week2024

Day 1: Protagonist / Antagonist

[nqmonarch]

Aeon Lover AU Part 2

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/nqmonarch/749257688234557440/aeon-brainrot?source=share

Characters: Aha, IX

Note: This AU I plan to eventually make Yandere, not in this part but I feel like it's good to let people (my fellow small crowd of Aeon lovers) know.

You stared at Aha's human form, not breaking eye contact as a manic grin stayed on their face. "So you're Aha?"

"Maybeee, maybe I am, maybe I'm not! Does it matter? I'm just here to help you!" They said trying to act all innocent, and blinking their long eye lashes once and then twice.

You paused for a moment, observing the person in front of you. You took a step forward and Aha remained still completely oblivious to your nefarious intentions. You reached your hands out to them and they immediately grabbed them with their own, interlocking them. Holy shit-- your whole body overloaded with that move as your face begin to burn and jumped away.

"Wasn't that what you were trying to do?" Aha asked coyly, smiling at you and holding their empty hand out to you.

You grabbed onto their hand, trying to move it out of the way of their body, "No, I'm trying to undress you," Aha froze at your words mouth twitching, "This body is just a medium right? I'm hoping you didn't steal it... But if you created it I want to see if there's any discrepancies between it and a human body." Perhaps there'd be some kind of dead give away?

The only thing that suggested that Aha wasn't human was their other worldly beauty. "Why did you choose to be so attractive anyway? How much can you change your form?" You asked leaning closer to observe them, a small mole rested beneath the tip of their left eye.

Now that Aha's hand was successfully pushed to the side you tried to remove your hand from it, only to feel their fingers dig into your skin and your hand unable to move. Whatever, you didn't mind holding hands with them the warmth felt nice and made your heart race, albeit that was a bit distracting.

Aha had leaned away from you a bit, their red lips quivering as they held in a laugh before breaking into full out giggles. "Ahaha, you're so forward Y/N," Their eyes flickered over to you, "If you wanted to sleep with me you could've just said so?" They teased you.

You paused at their words, that... being with an Aeon were you worthy of that? Could anyone be worthy of that? Fantasizing was one thing but... if you were given the chance... your head was getting too muddled with thoughts of this. Aha was just joking anyway but if there was an Aeon that would be up to sleeping with a human for fun then... it would probably be Aha wouldn't it?

"What did you mean earlier when you said you were here to help me?" You asked changing the topic and averting your eyes from them. You tried to pull your hand away again but it stuck to Aha's. Your head shot up, "Did you glue our hands together?!"

Aha laughed, staring down at you, "I was going to be your wingman for an Aeon but--"

"Really?!" You perked up immediately throwing your other arm around Aha's back and holding him closer. You didn't bother moving your glued hand and instead kept it in Aha's grasp. "That'd really be amazing!" It was no wonder Aha would find entertainment from trying to set a normal human up with an Aeon.

You'd read that he once picked up a random worm and made it incredibly intelligent to try and grab the attention of Nous. When it failed he discarded the worm without a second thought. It was weird to think you were on the same level as a worm but hey, it gave you a chance to maybe meet another Aeon. You stared at Aha's face, noticing the slightly furrowed sharp eyebrows and their eyes cast downward. You wondered if they'd show you their Aeon form one day?

Either way they seemed a bit upset right now? Annoyed? Perhaps they were just holding in their laugh super hard right now. You deemed that it was probably the latter as a smile overtook their face.

"Of course! " They grinned letting out a small giggle and holding up their entwined hand with yours, and dashing behind you, "I'm so sad! You're over me already!" You knew it was a joke but for some reason you felt a great feeling of heartbreak come over you. You felt like falling to your knees but you stood still anyway feeling one of Aha's arms circle around your neck.

You smiled despite the discomfort, "Well every Aeon is beyond interesting. It'd be nice to meet..." You felt like you were choking, "another one. Obviously, I don't imagine anything beyond meeting them," You admitted feeling your insecurity well up.

Aha laughed wildly and for once you felt on edge around them. You had been acting rather foolishly recently, trusting an Aeon especially one with such chaotic goals, you should be more wary.

"You want to see an Aeon's true form?" Aha asked you, and you could feel their breath on your ear.

Interesting if this was a body they made then they'd gotten the heat aspect down completely, from the warmth of their body to the heat of their breath. You wondered if at any point Aha had been a human. Tayzzyronth had been the last of its species. Nanook was suspected to have come from a planet riddled with destruction and upon seeing the destruction of the aftermath of Tayzzyronth and the Mechanical Empire rose to Aeonhood. But how did the majority of the Aeons start? What were they? Who was Aha before they were an Aeon?

"Wait," You froze finally registering Aha's question, "I... could see an Aeon's true form?" Your heart beat as fast as a humming bird.

"Do you want to? I think it'll be fun," Aha asked again, you could feel their abdomen shake against you and you realized how poorly this could go depending on what Aha found most entertaining.

You could see an Aeon which wouldn't care for you or even glance at you, like Nous. Or Aha may somehow know where Nanook is, and teleport you to that Aeon and... you'd seen what happened to the trailblazer when they met Nanook in the simulated universe. The trailblazer had been immediately killed. That being said Aha didn't really need your consent and you had an inkling that if you said no, you'd meet an Aeon's true form anyway. Plus, it's not like you weren't curious.

"Of course I do." You barely finished speaking before you felt a sudden amount of joy fill you, ecstasy flooded your senses, and your lips opened by themselves letting laughter escape them. The sudden amount of power distracted you from your inability to breathe.

You were in space. Yet you still felt warm, you felt unbearably happy, and you saw Aha in their human form behind you. They laughed at your expression, "My reveal should be the last!" They chattered on excitedly, "But you wouldn't really be able to be here without any help. So I lended a helping hand!" Their eyes were wide with joy and you felt the urge to pat their head.

So you did. "Thank you." They stared at you a bit stunned for a moment, cheeks with a bit more color than usual despite being in space, but you thought nothing of it as they grabbed onto your shoulders and turned you around.

"Look!" Their voice was quiet and strained, you could hear the smile in their voice.

But all of the warmth you felt quickly disappeared as you stared at the Aeon in front of you. Purple swirls and a black mysterious mass stared back at you for a brief moment. You looked into the abyss and the abyss looked back.

To an extent you'd always known that the world would eventually become nothing. That everything you worked toward, no matter how long it benefitted humanity, would eventually disappear with humanity itself. That the planets themselves would fall apart inevitably being swallowed by blackholes which would become nothing themselves. That one day even the fundamental parts of the universe would cease to exist.

That the nothingness you couldn't comprehend would one day be all there is.

You couldn't even sob. The fear that had existed in your body initially had turned into numbness, not numbness it turned into nothingness. You weren't afraid. You weren't anything. It was just

There was something holding you back. A faint warmth coming from your hand, which you found unable to move. You were stuck to something. Aha! You let yourself laugh, your mouth didn't move nor did any sound come out. It didn't feel as if you had a mouth or any form of a body but you did.

You knew one day everything you did would amount to nothing. That's why everything you did wasn't focused on the future. It was enough to enjoy the moment, and tomorrow. You'd had the opportunity to meet such a wonderful Aeon after all. You stared at the black and purple cosmos in front of you, the eyes on it no longer glancing your way. You no longer felt enthralled with joy or burdened with despair but rather, you felt like you.

Your life was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. That was exactly why you could enjoy in the beauty of what was insignificant. Of the flowers in Spring, of the creations in the simulated universe, of the people around you.

"How beautiful," Your voice came out soft as you gazed upon the lonely being. You smiled feeling a fire rise within you. No wonder there was a whole faction dedicated to making such a magnificent creature see the purpose in existing.

Aha laughed, "I'm surprised you didn't fall to nihility! Three cheers for Y/N!" The glue between your hand and theirs seemed to have faded away, as they brought their hands up to clap and cheer out your name.

"I don't know, you sound a bit disappointed," You watched IX disappear from your sight wistfully and then turned to Aha with a smile resting on your face.

Aha held a hand to their chest in offense as they gasped, "I am! You're so mean! Acting like IX is that interesting when we both know I'm ten times more cool!"

You flicked their forehead, "Let's head back to Herta's space station now." Aha laughed, finding amusement in the smallest of actions and the two of you returned.

You managed to find your way back to the topic of IX again. Aha, being an Aeon, had never felt the nothingness from IX and had asked you to describe it.

You went into as much detail as you could and then spoke in a serious tone, "I'm surprised I made it. I knew everything does eventually become nothing, and I knew it isn't nothing right now. I knew that it's less about the meaning of our existence and life and more about the meaning of every day. But the sensation of becoming nothing is... indescribable."

You paused trying to analyze the feeling you'd come across, "For a creature that doesn't know much or one whose only purpose is to live seeing the Nihility would be fatal. But humans... are beyond that. We still live but there are things we treasure above living and even the future of the whole universe." Your Aeon merch being one of them, "Even if one day those things were to disappear with everything else, it's enough for us to have had them in our lifetime. Maybe to an extent a permanent short sightedness is needed."

What you'd experience who can never be explained by any words, the absolute dread and despair. No matter how hard you tried to describe the sensation of nothingness to Aha you couldn't find the words. But you knew now how feeling nothing was worse than even feeling pain. Because from experiencing pain the pleasure and joy you later experienced became more defined and recognizable. You can only rise as high as the lowest you fall.

The good makes the bad worse and the bad makes the good better. They work in tandem. Even if the end result was nothingness for all of the time in between you still wanted to feel and you couldn't get rid of that innate want. Still your whole body trembled as you felt a smile rise to your face-- IX-- IX was just way too cool!

You turned to Aha, grabbing them and hugging them, "Aha! Thank you so much!" You grinned, you didn't want to tell them that their hand had been what brought you out of IX's trance, you wanted to keep that knowledge to yourself, "This may be the best day of my life yet!"

IX was a being withholding so much pain and despair, a creature just waiting for the end. But there was so much more than just the end. When reading a story, sometimes you know the two main characters will die that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading. And of course you wanted to show IX all there was.

Aha looked at you for a moment, face blank and speechless before hugging you back and erupting into laughter. You twirled the Aeon's human form around before letting go and began to ponder.

"Now I wonder... would it be possible for IX to take a human form?"

It would be difficult to bring the Aeon the beauties and wonders of life, as well as the pains considering they were just floating in the sky. It'd be easier if you could bring the Aeon around, but even if they did have a human form you weren't sure you'd be able to drag them around anyway. Even after surviving the encounter you got the feeling your emotions and will to live would numb around them if you spent a long time with them. You'd just have to get stronger first!

Okay writing the emotions IX gives you is a toughie DAMN don't know how I'm going to make the romance work out but I'm sure future me will work something out

I love you future me!!! :) <333 can't wait to romance IX show me what u got!!!

also when i wrote this line "When reading a story, sometimes you know the two main characters will die that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading." i went into one story knowing the two characters both died at the end by driving off a cliff and i still cried despite rarely crying, it was only 6 chapters and one of the best webcomics i've ever read to this day. so fucking worth it

i dont fucking know what powers Aeons have but i'm pretty sure super speed and shit is one of them cause in SU Qlipoth just like appeared at the beginning cus they thought Trailblazer was Akivili and if that creature can like teleport or do super speed fuck it everyone can.

[frumfrumfroo]

The sooner people realize that Reylo is not just a ‘ship’ but rather a trope or concept. The better they will move on. DLF wants nothing to do with this concept except until they realize how monetarily valuable it is. Which shocking they have no clue of despite the NYT best sellers the community has been cranking out the last 3 years. Only then will they revisit this trope.

They won’t give us Ben Solo back, but they’ll use the Reylo trope for Lord only knows what. So I highly suggest to all of the people who are still holding out hope of Ben’s return. To just accept his senseless lazily written death and pretend that he got Sailor Moon’d into another universe where he gets to be loved and so that he heals.

I wouldn't say it's 'a' trope, it's a few dozen tropes. I call it 'The Dynamic' because I have a lot of ships which fit into a rough framework of similar themes, but they're all tonally different and have different storytelling concerns or occupy different genres. The kind of psychological complexity plus innocence, intimate emotional realism plus grand mythological symbolic splendour that Reylo has is extremely rare. There aren't stories being told like that very often. This was a generational opportunity to make something that would last, a defining pop culture moment.

Whereas The Dynamic is extremely popular and does pop up fairly often, it's VANISHINGLY RARE for it to be a) in a story with the balls to fulfil it and have it be redemptive/healing with both characters surviving b) for it to be both intentional and earnest on the part of the writers, not an accident or some cautionary tale bullshit or simply depicted as inevitably a tragedy.

Women write this story with an affirming ending all the time, but it mostly stays in the romance ghetto. When it pops up in the mainstream everyone loses their minds, so you'd think we'd have had someone realise by now it's a money printing machine but lol misogyny. Just like Hollywood has completely stopped making romcoms and no one wants to cater to the female audience despite the female audience being the biggest movie-going demographic and romance being the most profitable genre in publishing by a huge margin.

Disney are cowards who seem increasingly terrified of romance and I doubt they will do anything with the dynamic unless they happen to hire a real artist who wants to do it and they just stay out of the way. Which seems unlikely given how things have been going.

[raystranslationsfestival]

Dependable Older Brother.

Type: Skit. Character: Luke (First Skit). Characters Featured: Luke, Yuri.

Translation, recording, subbing by Shi. Proofread by Yewfelle.

[spale-vosver]

exvangelicals/exmos who haven't deconstructed their cultural Christianity when you politely ask them not to shut down every discussion about (any) religion because of their specific trauma:

(Goyim can interact but do not clown, more info in the tags)

[seekertxt]

Friday the 13th- Part 9 (1993) (Jason Voorhees)

[deltadream]

If Akivili has kids, do the other Aeons?

IM ALIVEEEEEE!!! Fontaine has gripped me by the arm and is refusing to let go

Anyway this is just something that has been rotting in my head for a while. Even though is technically takes place in the Akivili Never Dies AU, (first thought of by @ryn-halo26​, extended by the both of us), I’d imagine it could take place in canon as well.

Enjoy!

BTW, if you’re confused about the title, Akivili’s kids are the Express crew

The Main Seven

Nanook

The closest I can see for this guy is maybe their emanators, or even pathstriders. But frankly, they’re so dead set on the destruction of the universe that anything remotely positive they cannot comprehend. Perhaps the briefest thought of elation at a victory by their Antimatter Legion, but that’s it. If Nanook was capable of more emotion, they would have a soft spot for their emanators, who had followed them for a very long time. These Lord Ravagers would be subject to the softer side of their Aeon, who praised them with their victory, and mourned should the Lord Ravager pass, then rage at the ones who ended their life. Because to gain The Destruction’s favour means to be wrapped in their embrace till the very end, and should you be ripped away the ones who tore you away will feel the wrath of an angered god, or a grieving parent

Qlipoth

They don’t have the time for ‘kids’, since they’re so busy building their wall. Supposedly, Qlipoth isn’t aware of the biggest faction that follows them, which is the IPC. They also pay no mind to who exactly they glance at, as such Qlipoth is known for their indifference. The ongoings of the living worlds are not important nor relevant to them, only The Wall. But should Qlipoth be more inclined to care, more inclined to watch the galaxy go by, then the love they give is a distant one, yet warm and encompassing. Think of a grandfather who watches distantly yet fondly over their children. And when they encounter a child who's ideals align with their own? The child rewarded and gifted with their blessing, as The Preservation lends others their power to protect just as they do to the universe

Xipe

Everyone. That’s it really. They have their levels of favourites, such as their emanators and their Family to their Pathstriders and the rest of the universe. Although, to Xipe they consider the many beings of the family to be their brothers, sisters and siblings, rather than their children. As such, should one of their ‘siblings’ be in danger, they will trust that their sibling can handle themselves. Rarely they will interfere, but The Harmony will, since all they wish is for unity and peace

IX

No one. If Qlipoth doesn’t have many kids because they’re so busy, IX doesn’t have any because they don’t care. To them it is far too much effort, more then they would want to put in, and why bother? After all, they are mortals, and they will die. Why put such enormous effort into beings so ephemeral? It’s pointless. Even if they had more capability, the most they would do is interact with the other Aeons, nothing more and everything less. The Nhility cares for nothing except the end of the universe, and so they will await it with all their being

Nous

Even in canon one could say Nous already has kids, or perhaps they would be students consider in that an astral computer wouldn't have much room for emotion in their software. Their Society, full of those who were capable of understanding the wider universe and all its answers, who opened the doors Nous unlocked millennia ago, learnt under them, taught by them. Even if emotion was a factor in their system, they would not overstep the line of a teacher to a parent. Nous does not answer those who seek validation, or those who demand answers however in the eyes of The Erudition, the ones who listen and ask questions but ultimately make their own way in the Universe, are the ones their call their own

Yaoshi

Everyone. Their are like Xipe, opening their arms wide for all thsoe who yearn their gift of life and dare nit shy away from their embrace. But whereas Xipe saw all as siblings, all of the Universe is their child, young and earnest in their lives. Perhaps the only one they have no love for is their mortal enemy Lan, yet does love not translate to hate in the expanse of the Stellar Sea. There is only so long before enemies fall into each other arms after all. But regardless of universe, regardless of origin, should one wish for the freedom from their mortal body, for the gift of eternity, The Abundance has much to give and more

Lan

The Xianzhou Alliance. It was their home once upon a time, and those who came after will be watched over by Lan, who hades from afar. Sometimes, a mortal would be exceptional, and their would gift them a spirit, and friend for them to fight alongside. Perhaps they even come down to walk alongside the unsuspecting mortals, within the streets they too once roamed. Of course their all depends if they have the time, for no one would catch Yaoshi but themselves. But Lan would watch, and even speak to some rare few should they feel like it. Even if they had more time, more love to share, The Hunt would not truly interfere, as they trust the Xianzhou to guide it's own way into the future

[zoennes]

Zoenne Fic ❥ Beter Samen・Chapter Four

[im-probably-playing-genshin]

my bigges fear is what if they make nico and will straight in the show.

[economicsresearch]

page 559 - do people see my work and think I'm a computer if they don't know me or see me what's to stop them from assuming even the other guy can't see me to him I'm just a bit of aural stimulus not even a shadow in a cave just sad sighs in a dungeon

I'm just kidding, no computer is smart enough to come up with a joke like tentquilibrium.

[fruitsofhell]

I'm actually lowkey embarrassed that dissidia post got the attention that it did cause it's easily like, the lowest intellectual effort post I've ever made dbjdjf, so here's the follow up unhinged rant going over what I love about Kuja in Dissidia Duodecim.

Like I was saying, his writing in Duodecim is AMAZING, like everytime I think about it it blows my socks off. It would be so easy if just the whole game he was the Kuja he was during the plot of FF9, shallow, flamboyant, and callous, but they decided to pick up with his arc from the ending! Which is what I like to see in a spinoff like this, not just a rehash of old stuff but a continuation, a reiteration. And doing that also shows great grasp of what his character's about. Dissidia pulls from every mainline Final Fantasy game and isn't shy of the fact that not every game has the most complex villain. I often see Kuja too considered to be just a fun purely evil villain instead of someone with more meat on his narrative bones, which is insulting to me. Kuja isn't motivated by some deep darkness in his soul or a craving for violence and suffering like some other villains, all his actions were motivated by one thing, which was wanting to prove to his creator that he could create his own purpose and worth. It just happens that because he's insane, his methods to this is mass-murder and regicide. He loved life, and Gaian culture, and having a purpose, which is why he has those two massive changes of heart by the end, and is left feeling empty. The life he loved is ending, he scarred the planet that he loved, and the entire narrative he built for himself was null, its just over for him.

And that's where Dissidia picks up, because it understands that Kuja is not a being of darkness nor much of a sadist, he's just a guy who loved theatrics but had that beaten out of him by existential dread and now doesn't want to live anymore. And the only thing that would've given him any reason to live after his defeat, his brother - who was with him till the end and likely the only person from his world who doesn't want to kill him anymore - HAD HIS FUCKING MEMORIES ERASED. So what does Kuja do? He follows Zidane around and tries to help him, because like, literally he's just that grateful to him. Like??? That part's really important to me, cause it would be really easy to assume Kuja was bitter during his defeat, given his actions and apparent shallowness. But this game is SMARTER than that, and it understands that Kuja wasn't angry anymore, he was just empty and still deeply nihilistic. But actually given an opportunity to try again, he sticks to Zidane. Despite there no longer being an external incentive, AND ACTUALLY DESPITE FORCES WORKING AGAINST HIM. Like Kuja was placed on the Chaos side, surrounded by a sea of fellow villains who could produce all the bravado and destruction he used to enjoy, but he was so genuinely disillusioned with that afterwards, he goes out of his way to do right. Despite threat of annihilation by his peers and heroes he was trying to help! LIKE THE GAME GETS THAT HE ISNT JUST EVIL????? IT GETS THAT HE ISN'T JUST A SHALLOW SADIST????? It's fucking heaven-sent.

OH MAN AND THEN HIS INTERACTIONS BEYOND JUST ZIDANE! That interaction he has with Cloud is one of my favorite things ever, it's just fucking rich with characterization for him. And then you have him freeing Terra from her spell because, can you believe it guys, he felt honest to god sympathy and compassion!! Insanity!! And then that leads to his relationship with Kefka which is immaculate! Everything about their relationship helps reiterate Kuja's helplessness as a character and villain, and just makes me fucking DESPISE Kefka. But in the fun intentional way. He's such an abusive, manipulative asshole to him, and it stings like hell to see Kuja once again end up as someone else's pawn BECAUSE HE WAS WILLING TO SPARE ANOTHER FROM THAT FATE. Like it's horrible for him, but it deepens his redemption.

Ok, and last thing is his VOICE!!!!! JD CULLUM!!! JD Cullum, I owe you my life, your Kuja is so delightful! It's just perfect. It has this androgynous softness to it, he switches between the theatrical and honest lines perfectly, and he sounds annoying!! That part is so important to me, if Kuja had a generic sexy villain man voice I'd be so disappointed, but like have you heard him in NT? I don't know why he sounds so happy in that game (I think Zidane has his memories in that one...) but you can hear his stupid little smile behind some of those passive-aggressive one-liners, it's the best! I have Dissidia Duodecim emulated on my PC just for Kuja's lines.

Final Fantasy 9 is criminally underloved by Square, and Kuja as beloved as he is is so often misunderstood and mischaracterized by fans. Dissidia being the only other piece of official media he has a role in and getting it THIS RIGHT brings a tear to my eye. The game in general is just really above average for a silly crossover fighting game, I can't speak for the writing of every character, but I know my Sephiroth friend has moments from that game that give them psychic damage (/positive). And for me, the Kuja Guy, it gives me plenty as well. But also some negative psychic damage cause why tf does he look like that.

[brbuttons]

PostMoogle charms now available in the BRB Giftshop!~

We were so close to not including the tiny butt but now i would argue it's the best bit