#which i found frustratingly limiting

[heretherebeturtles-comic]

I am floored by how professional this comic looks! You've got me hooked already! Is this your first time doing something like this?

Thank you!! I've made a few shorter comics of various quality, formats, and lengths; most can be found on my main art blog under the #comics tag. I think the closest in quality is my old LoZ au @thelostkilns-comic (on hiatus).

[thefloatingstone]

Tell me more how Chuck Jones made the Dover Boys out of spite, mutual of animation knowledge

There was a popular book series from the 1910s called "The Rover Boys" which was what I would imagine is an early 1900s version of something like "The Famous Five" or "The hardy Boys". and Chuck Jones fucking HATED THEM.

He found them stuffy and condescending, the characters stiff and the villains frustratingly stupid and the entire thing lacking in any wit or charm.

He particularly found it infuriating that the books would feel the need to always refer to the main 3 boys by each of their individual names... EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Chuck Jones' "Dover Boys" cartoon has a lot of very deliberate things in it that make fun of how he felt about the books. The naming of each individual brother over and over again is one, the stupidity and overly dramatic behaviour of the villain is another, and less obviously, the entire cartoon is done in smear frames. And although smear frames had been used in limited ways before, Dover Boys was the first cartoon to use them in great quantities like this. (which actually pissed off WB when they saw the screening of the short). This was because Chuck Jones wanted to emphasise the stiff posing of the characters, and so didn't want to depict them doing more realistic movement and poses. So instead they zip around from pose to pose. Chuck Jones in the process essentially creating a brand new animation technique.

Because Chuck Jones was just like that.

[gaysindistress]

Limits of a Fae Heart - three

Pairings: Azriel x Reader

Summary: With war looming over their heads, the Inner Circle is desperate for a solution. The one they found comes in the form of a resurrected female who’s fated to not only their Shadowsinger but once to their enemy as well.

Word count: 3.4k

Warnings: fighting, gore, blood

One | two | four | five | six

Rage like I’ve never felt before rolls off of me while the shadows lead me to their singer. I find him making tea in the kitchen with Cassian. The roguish male stiffens when I set my glower on him. He looks uncomfortable at best with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes darting between Azriel and me.

“We can talk later,” he quickly says to Az and slips out of with a small smile directed at me. My new shadow pets nudge me away from him and I swear I hear them hiss as he passes.

Azriel pretends to be calm and even indifferent to my arrival. He’s focused on removing the metal tea strainer which apparently takes more than 10 seconds. His shadows flutter around him and reach for me. I can’t see his entire face but there is a wary tension to his shoulders as he pretends to focus on the task.

“How are you?”

“No,” I snap at him and he stills, “how did you know about me?”

His beautiful hands finally set the strainer down and dry themselves on a dish towel before gripping the edge of the counter. He lifts his head to look at me and those stupid hazel eyes threaten to take my breath.

“It’s my job to know things that no one else does.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Yes but how?”

“You’ve met my shadows.”

“They report to you?”

He goes back to making his tea while a small smile tugs at his lips. “Most of the time.”

This male is frustratingly dodgy.

No wonder he works for the Night Court.

“Have they recently?”

The shadows that led me here have abandoned me and joined their kin around Azriel. They dance towards his ear and appear to whisper to him. He flickers his eyes over to me with that small smile playing on his mouth. His answer is a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Traitors,” I whisper to them, causing them to vibrate with energy. Whatever rage I felt earlier has disappeared and is replaced with whatever sick feeling I get in his presence. I desperately want it to shove off but it’s not working.

The next thing Azriel does shocks me although it really shouldn’t. He slides the cup he’s been obsessing over to me and settles against the counter behind him. He assures me it isn’t poisoned. I hesitantly take it and sniff at the spiced aroma before taking a tiny sip. A burst of flavors that I’ve never tasted before hits my tongue and my eyes dart to him in shock.

He chuckles at my reaction. “Do you like it?”

“What is it?”

“It’s a healing blend from our healer made for you.”

“For me?”

Azriel’s check flush. “I had her make it after your…” he trails off and looks to the things I’ve been trying to ignore.

Setting my tea down, my wings involuntarily shutter and I groan under my breath. Instantly shadows are all around me and Azriel’s jaw is tight as he watches me. More like stares at me but all the same, his eyes are scanning my entire body.

“Thank you,” I mutter. Deep breaths only do so much to calm the raging burn at my back. That foul golden warmth in my chest only adds to my agony and I’m forced to sit down before I completely collapse. The shadows guide me a tall chair at the counter. It’s not lost on me that this is the closest to we’ve ever been.

“There’s no need,” he breaths out. Tension is still holding his body taunt and it starting to effect his shadows. I reach out for them however they pull away.

Azriel lets out a deep sigh as the shadows close around him and away from me. An unexpected dagger finds its home in my chest. These little creatures had become something akin to friends to me and now they want nothing to do with me.

“No amount of kind gestures will convince me to accept the bond.”

His entire body tenses even more; his wings shutter and his face hardens. Many men have fallen to their knees under that sharp and murderous look and pleaded for mercy. The myths say that this gaze would be followed by a smile after making them wet themselves and only then would he bring his blade down upon their necks. The power that he holds in his fatal gaze is enough to make me almost reconsider my words and tugs at the bond deep inside my chest again.

“That wasn’t what i…”

“Don’t lie to me.”

His jaw snaps shut and he doesn’t bother to finish his sentence. When he doesn’t say anything more, I arch a brow at him.

Clearly I’ve struck a cord as is evident in the way that he shakes his head at me and rounds the counter. His footsteps are silent but deafening all the same as he moves to stand beside me. I turn in my seat so that we can face each other. He tentatively reaches for me and when I don’t move away, he cups the side of my face. My breathing stops for a second and feels like the elevation has suddenly gone up a thousand feet.

“We both know I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” he whispers to me. Hazel eyes bore into mine and stroke every alerted nerve within my body. “Ask me again.”

At first I don’t fully understand what he meant and just stare at him. It’s beyond frustrating to be at the mercy of others like this, begging like a starving dog for straps and morsels of information. I would gather information but never knew why or what exactly I needed to get. All I was ever told was simply “find them and don’t come back until you have everything.” The rage that had shimmered into a gentle mewl finds its voice again and begs to be released on Azriel.

“Ask me how I knew about you and about my shadows.”

I furrow my brow at him but his enduring tone and gentle eyes pull the words from me. “Tell me how you knew about me. I want to know if your shadows have reported to you since I was brought here.”

He smiles in a heart wrenchingly adoring way, “there were rumors of a fae that he favored and kept at his side. People said that she could draw the truth from anyone with just a look and even more with her words. Not many knew if she really existed but I found those who did and they told me where to find you. As for my shadows, they found you the first night and would only tell me that you were okay. I couldn’t get anything else out of them and honestly I still can’t half of the time.”

My attention is divided between Azriel’s warm hand on my cheek that feels heavenly and his plump lips. Never have I been so drawn to another like this before and I’m starting to enjoy it. The craving for him I feel is slowly starting to replace the dread of life and I can’t find it within myself to hate it. For so long I wasn’t allowed to be happy and now that it’s cradling my face, I want to embrace it.

Neither of us have tugged on the golden thread that connects us yet but this moment almost begs for me to do it. He starts telling me more although it falls on deaf ears as I search for that thread.

“I will do whatever you need of me, all you have to do is ask. We’re strangers but you have to know that anything I do for you is without an ulterior motive. Anything my shadows do is born of their want to see you well…” he freezes mid sentence when I successfully find it and golden fire burns in his hazel eyes. The intensity they held before is nothing compared to inferno that lives in them now. His hand tightens against my cheek before sliding to my neck and tilts my head up more. He leans down as the other hand finds the back of my chair and I’m caged in without a care in the world. My own hands find the wrist at my neck and wrap around it, keeping it in place.

“Did you..”

“I did.”

His marble carved nose bumps against mine. “Why?”

“I needed to know that it was real, that this was real.”

“And what do you think?”

My eyes flutter closed when his lips ghost over mine and my words feel heavy against my tongue. “Reality is what we make it.”

And our reality becomes enveloped in shadows as we lean into each other, falling into a consuming kiss. Azriel draws me closer with his hands tangled into my hair and devours me. I nearly trip trying to stand but he catches me by wrapping an arm around my waist. Desperate breathing and wanton noises come from us both while we fight to convey everything we feel yet can’t admit. It’s pure euphoria kissing Azriel, feeling his strength in my hands while his power finds its way under my skin. Lifetimes will pass us by and memories will fade however his adoration for me and the physical imprint it leaves on me in the form of bruised lips will never blur.

He pulls away to look at me with wild and sweet eyes. I know he’s confused as am I. I told him only moments ago nothing could convince me to accept the bond and yet we kissed.

“Reality is what we make it,” I repeat in a small voice as I stare back at him, “and…”

Before I can finish, a gasp and the shattering of tea cups steals our moment from us. Azriel looks over his shoulder and immediately goes rigid.

“Az,” the sweet voice says in a trembling way, “what…what is going on? Who is she?”

Realization hits me like the cold and unforgiving waves of the seas in Hybern. I remove myself from him and pick up my tea. He’s watching me while always watching her however he can’t expect to play two parts at once. Few actors have the ability to pull off multiple believable performances and I suspect he is not one of them.

I put the mug in the sink and make eye contact with him. My words are going to hurt us both however they are necessary. “As I was saying, reality is what we make it and Fate has no bearing on my decisions. She gets it wrong more often than not.”

Flickering my gaze around him, I find a rather pale and frowny woman who I can only assume is the third Acheron sister, Elain. “Nothing is going on here and rest assured, nothing ever will. As for who I am, I am nobody important. Your high lord will soon find out I’m useless in his endeavors to win this pathetic war.”

“Nobody important?” The broken edge to my almost mate’s voice echoes into my hollow heart and rattles everything in me. The bond is taunt, pulled tight as it begs with each of us to reach out for the other although we won’t. That hope was shattered the moment those tea cups did.

“Yes, nobody important,” I barely manage to say back. His shadows split between us and I gently wave them away as I take my first steps towards the door. A cry of sadness comes from them and Elain rushes to Azriel, frantically checking him for any injuries. He’s solely focused on me as I slip out of the kitchen and drift even further out to sea than before.

He made a beautiful lighthouse to seek false refuge in however I will always be a lone drifting ship that’s found its home among the waves.

Tears prick at my eyes as I find my way back to my room. They fall in blazing clusters once the door is closed and I’m safely inside my room filled with his scent.

Whether it’s by accident or intention, I don’t see Azriel or even Elain over the next few days. Feyre and Mor are the only two that seem to be around with the occasional Rhys. At first I enjoyed having time and space to myself however that ache in my chest started to move from uncomfortable to outright unbearable. By the third day of little sleep, I take to the rooftop garden wrapped in the cream knitted blanket with a cup of the spiced tea steaming on a small iron table. My wings hurt less now but out in the open like this, they feel almost weightless and free. The city around me, Velaris as I’ve learned it’s called, is full of starlight and wonderment so late at night. I sip away at the spiced tea and allow the beauty of this city to whisk me into a daydream of that golden thread’s making.

Someone joins me on the rooftop and clears their throat to get my attention. Barely glancing over my shoulder, I’m shocked to see Rhys is leaning against the door frame. There’s an odd glimmer to his eye that I can’t quite figure out. He pushes off and takes a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

“How is Velaris treating you?”

“Well I haven’t left the townhouse yet.”

“Would you like to?”

I turn away from him and back to the landscape before us, “I would like to go home.”

“And where is that?”

“I don’t think I have one anymore but this place,” I sigh as I gesture to the city, “this place isn’t my home. I’m grateful for your kindness and generosity but I can’t stay here. I belong on that island and that’s where I should go.”

It’s Rhys’ turn to sigh, “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” He stands and kneels before me, looking at me curiously. There’s something off about his gaze but then again there’s just something off about him. His presence is unnerving at the moment and even more so than usual.

Rhys’ violet eyes trail up and down my body, taking in every detail even as I’m wrapped in a blanket. Something is definitely different with him and I go to get out of my chair but he stops me with a bruising grip on both knees.

“Rhys,” I warn as I try to shove off his hands. My wings draw in tight behind me and I prepare myself to ruin all my healing if it means I have to fly to get away.

His eyes flash violently for a moment and I fully shove him off as I scramble up. The chair flies back and makes a horrific sound as it crashes to the ground.

Mischief causes his lips to curl into a cruel smirk, “I’m not Rhys.”

Frustration rises up in me and my nose flares at his annoyingly vague words, “I’m well aware of that now. So who are you then?”

This imposter only shrugs his shoulders as he stands and circles around me. He stops when he is directly in front of me and brushes my hair back, stroking the strands of hair that have fallen free. Tucking a particularly large piece back, his finger skims my cheek and the touch freezes my skin. I want to flinch back but I don’t want him to think I'm weak so I harden my gaze and body. It feels like an impossible task as he leans closer to me, letting his icy breath wash over me.

“There will come a day when all those you have come to trust will turn on you and you will be forced to become the female you once were. And when that day comes, I will happily watch you burn the world you’ve come to love,” he whispers against my ear. He slowly pulls away, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of my cheekbone before a black mist overcomes him.

When it clears, foul beasts stare back at me.

In his place are two of the King’s Ravens.

Sinister smirks paint their faces as they slowly start to advance towards me. It would be just my luck that these minions are here and have taken the face of someone that I’ve let near me.

The words that the imposter whispered into my ear are reminiscent of the promise that the King made me before he left me on that island. A prickle of bloodthirst itches at the back of my throat as the brainless weapons crowd closer.

“You should go,” I mumble as my breathing grows more labored. With my hands out in front of me and my wings tucked away, I try to make myself as small and vulnerable as possible. I pretend to trip over the chair and fall to the ground. The Ravens laugh and tease me about how pathetic I am begging them to go. The house does exactly as I need and a sword materializes in my hand.

I take my cue as their laughter grows close enough to rattle my body and stand with the sword pointed at them. They laugh even harder.

“Last chance,” I say with a bone chilling timber to my already low voice. My wings flare out with a loud snap and the men hesitate for a second. They scramble to get ready for a fight. We begin to circle each other and I smirk as I sniff the air. They reek of fear and it seems to feed the bloodlust rather than appease it.

One of them lounges at me.

A flash of black and silver block the other Raven’s view of what happened. Everything is silent at first and the remaining Raven waits with bated breath as a thud sounds across the rooftop. He dares to look down to see his partner’s head rolling towards him and looks back up to see me already staring at him, a smirk on my lips. He bares his teeth at me and attacks. Clashing swords and labored breathing become the music to the dance that I’m leading him in. He’s all too predictable but I need to control this situation and play the game how I want to.

However it’s cut short by the arrival of another male, his cedar and mist scent sweeping over us and momentarily distracting me. The Raven takes his chance to attack however he is too slow. I throw the sword as if it were a dagger and it lands with a sickening crunch in his chest. He gasps and stumbles backwards until he hits the edge of the roof and tips over it. Azriel’s eyes are wild and furious as he takes in the sight before him.

“Are you okay?” he settles on asking. He doesn’t move to get closer to me and I stay where I’m at, blood still splattered on my arm and wings standing on high alert. I feel his eyes rake over me, searching for any injuries and they pause on my wings. I can’t help but make a show of stretching them, allowing them to shake out to an even larger span and roll my shoulders back.

“I’m annoyed that my peaceful afternoon was interrupted,” I mumble and pick up the now filthy white blanket.

“That’s not what I asked.”

I can’t be bothered with him and his instinctively need to ensure that I’m okay. No I’m clearly not okay and I want nothing more than to crumple to the ground and cry. I’m sick of this. I’m sick of this foul King haunting me. I’m sick of being treated like I’m a prisoner but somehow an ally. I’m tired of feeling the sick need to be around the male before me and deny myself the joy of being around him. I’m sick and tired of it all but alas the only thing that I can change is that sick need however I can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t bring myself to reject the bond no matter how much I want to.

“Please don’t,” his low voice breaks my internal monologue and I snap my eyes at him. Did he somehow hear all of that? It dawned on me as a wave of foreign emotions hit me that I told him. I sent all of that down the bond that isn’t even accepted yet.

“Please,” he says again and steps towards me, “don’t reject it yet.”

“Give me one reason other than it’s what the Cauldron wanted,” I hiss at him, anger rolling off of me and it sends his shadows hiding behind him.

Words evade him and it causes me to scoff in disbelief.

“That’s what I thought

[where-theres-smoak-2]

The Artful Dodger Spoilers!

So I may have rewatched the artful dodger a few times, ok so it may have been an unhealthy amount of times and I may have a slight obsession but the show is just too good and dodgerfox has a hold over me.

But anyway on my most recent rewatch something struck me and I just love how poetic it was that Jack finds the solution to saving Belle's life in a noose.

Like Jack is someone who has always had this threat of the hangman's noose hanging over him. When he was a child he was a pickpocket and there was always that danger of getting caught, now he's an escaped convict and if anyone finds out he'll be hung. This is something that is established in the show from the first episode with the scene where Jack watches a man who is an escaped convict hang. Throughout the series the hangman's noose continues to be this looming threat over Jack and is brought up consistently, like when they go to Tim and say 'the noose is upon us' and there are other instances were the characters talk about the danger of them being hanged.

Then you have that scene with jack after he and belle have failed to do the surgery on the cadaver, the woman he loves is dying and it seems like there is no hope at all, then he looks out the window and sees the noose and that is what gives him the idea to tie the thread into a noose allowing him to have more control when tying the ligation. It gives him hope.

What I love the most about this moment is how it links back to the conversation Jack and Belle have in 1x02 when Belle tells him that there is more to medicine than just death, there's life, there's hope. I think Jack has struggled with how limited he has found medicine up until Belle came into his life. It's established right from episode 1 that Jack does care for his patients and when he loses a patient it effects him deeply. It also seems like due to the way the hospital is run and the limitations Jack has to work with, because the prof is ignoring all new progress in medicine, Jack loses patients alot and has come to frustratingly accept that its just part of medicine, nothing you can do about it.

But then Belle comes into his life and she starts introducing all these new, ground-breaking things to medicine, the ether, the carbolic acid, access to literature on medical breakthroughs from around the world. For Jack this opens up a whole new side of medicine for him, he is able to do procedures that just weren't possible before, like abdominal surgery. Before Belle an abdominal injury meant his patient was going to die, but now there was hope that they could be saved. As the series goes on we see Jack going from 'no that surgery is too much the patient will die from the pain, its not possible' to trying and succeeding at performing more and more difficult procedures in the hope that his patients will live and it works, charlie lives, rotty lives, the sailor is able to continue navigating. I think Belle very much becomes his hope.

Which is why for me that scene with the noose hits so hard. At the time when he feels like he is losing hope, literally in that he can't save Belle who has become his hope, it is something that Jack associates with death, with the finality of death, that gives him hope that he can save Belle. It's just such a beautiful scene, even in the way that it is shot, the way they use light in this scene is just perfect. How when he first looks out the window and sees the noose and he turns around to look back at the heart he is experimenting on, sunlight just floods through the window. How when Jack is tying the thread into the noose and the sun has lit him up all golden. Also how when Jack holds them up side by side and we get the close up of first the hangman's noose and then the thread and the thread is again lit by the sun and seems to be glowing with a golden light. It was all just so well done.

I really do think its such an under-rated moment. Anyway I think I've rambled on enough now.

[85-rend]

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I like . kinda hate how much in Sky requires other people to do it. I get it it's a social game but also god they make it SO HARD for it to actually be one. I can't tell if I'm just stupid but I still haven't found a way too add anyone as a friend outside of some random person you found who's going to disappear forever in 2 minutes and not even help you do what you needed to do in the first place. you can't ever clearly ask for help either bc the only way to talk is by getting them to sit on a bench with you and spending a candle so you can actually talk for a limited time which is frustratingly short. so it feels less like a social game and more of a "sit there for 15 minutes and keep calling until someone finally comes to help open this door" game. I feel like I'm just like getting locked out of a lot bc I don't have anyone to play with which wouldn't be as much of a problem if the aforementioned chat actually let you talk to people without jumping through hoops

[sneakydraws]

Okay so!! Here's a little wap design compilation - not exhaustive, both because of the image limit and because there's many things I'm not settled on but I want to post some of it at least~

Organised by families because familial resemblence or lack thereof is one of my favourite factors in chardes! And because Tolstoy is so good at creating these family dynamics of shared traits! First, the Bolkonskys:

Lise, Mlle Bourienne and Nikolai jr. not included for now, maybe later. The shared traits I gave them all (therefore presumably coming from Nikolai's side) are sharp, angular features with a beaked nose and high cheekbones, thin figures and straight, dark hair. Both Andrei and Nikolai are described as short, so initially I wanted to apply this to them all, but then I thought it would be cool to emphasise Andrei's similarity to his father AND separate Marya out by making her much taller than them. It works really well because Andrei and Nikolai are both short yet straightened out to their full height while Marya cowers and hunches to hide hers - which also works to create the unattractive figure she's described as having. I use heads to note height - as in, how many heads tall a character is - mostly because numerous manga art tutorials ingrained those in me <:3c Nikolai has his signature bushy eyebrows, and his clothes and hair are inspired by his depiction in the first soviet wap movie because I really liked it!

In general I spent the most time on Andrei, both because he's my favourite and because he has a lot of tantalisingly sparse and at times interestingly contrasting descriptions - he's meant to look unassuming, his small and slender figure hiding his impressive stamina and his cushy administrative position contrasting with the rugged hussars (and his small hands are mentioned as well) but he has sharp features, and his design should showcase his proud, decisive nature as well.

The Rostovs! Not including the count and countess because while I have some features in mind I haven't made up my mind yet on the overall designs, and excluding Vera for reasons I'll divulge later. These Rostov kids are all energetic, emotionally driven and strong-willed and I wanted to reflect that in their designs - most of all in their hair, which is curly and kind of fluffy, making big, untamed shapes - I decided this they would have inherited from the Count. They're all rather short (I think some of the Rostovs are described as short so I extended it to the whole family) and a little stockier than the Bolkonskys - Natasha's figure is really incosistent because she gains and loses weight a lot over the book, but I settled on the slightly heavier side mostly to contrast with Sonya. I also love freckles and always associate them with energy and youthfulness so they got given to the Rostovs - presumably from the Count's side again. And their eyes and hair are all black or dark brown!

BIG RAMBLING RANT: The Countess is described as having "oriental features" and I wanted to incorporate that into the kids because it's like the most detail we ever get on someone's overall facial features lol but it turned out kind of frustratingly vague. I think my first idea was towards Georgia because Pierre mentions a woman with Georgian features in 1812, and because my ballets russes research included a very orientalist ballet about a georgian queen. I didn't find very good references though and turned next to Armenia, and when I found someone talking about common Armenian features that fit what I already had in mind for the Rostovs I ended up using that. However, later I realised those countries are in Western Asia and don't really fit the descriptor of "oriental (eastern)" from the perspective of Russia... Now I'm looking more towards the Kalmyk and Bashkir people after seeing them mentioned in one of my interlibrary books so I might revise the Rostovs yet. I did get kind of attached to the nose though so I'll do my best to keep it haha

The odd ones out in the Rostov household!! Sonya is, I believe, related to the Rostovs on the Count's side so maybe it would make sense to give her the fluffy hair and freckles, but she has enough descriptions in the book to form a separate design on her own (and she's only a second cousin to the Rostov kids, so it's pretty far away anyway). She's compared to a graceful kitten, described as almost unattractively thin and with a sallow skin, so I thought it would fit her to have a slightly unwell air, with portruding collarbones and a slight hunch. She also has her dark double braid.

Vera was fun once I got the idea to make her look very different from her siblings - to mirror her personality being completely different (cool, impassionate, meanspirited at times) and to visually reflect how she's disliked by the Countess - perhaps almost looking like she's not her parents' child 👀 She's taller and slimmer than her siblings, with straighter and lighter in colour hair, and her features are more smooth and soft. No freckles either.

The Kuragins! Those guys are fun. I have Anatole as the tallest in the cast (save for Pierre), and Helene as the tallest woman, with Ippolit the same height as her. Helene and Ippolit in general are described as having the same features so they ended up almost looking like twins! Later I'll talk a bit more about their facial features and hair but in terms of silhouettes, Helene has to have her round shoulders and impressive bosom (and low neckline), while Anatole has to look all broad-shouldered and masculine. He was actually the hardest to draw because I kept feeling like his head was too small and his whole body too long... I might go back and make him a bit broader still. A book I have says the elite life guards of the Russian army were known for their impressive, immaculate appearance, with some men padding their uniforms to add volume to their chest... That made me think of Anatole lmao.

A little roll call to show everyone's height in relation to each other.

More about the Kuragins! I tackled Helene with the aim to make her beautiful by the standards of the time, and luckily there's actually an 1812 bust of the Greek Helene! It was too poerfect of a coincidence so I leaned heavily into it. I find that typical features of ancient Greek or 19th century Hellenistic busts are a very straight nose that flows smoothly from the forehead, a very round jawline with a somewhat portruding chin and that particular curve of the neck. I gave Helene all of those along with heavily-lidded, downturned eyes and an expression that hopefully conveys calm confidence and intelligence. Ippolit is supposed to have the same features but made to look ugly by his stupid expression - this actually turned out easier than I thought? Though it might just be that the moustache looks kind of stupid - maybe I should try a version without it. Anatole I thought ought to look impressive and masculine so in the end I kept the squarer jaw and strong forehead (and I couldn't resist the slicked back hair) but I considered a more Hellenistic version too, with the short curls and round jaw. Helene's hair was tricky because none of the styles I saw felt quite right - I settled on a sort of combo of the Hellenistic curls from the statue but a bit looser with the braid she's described to have in the book. She'd also probably wear a lot of hair accessories but I'll have to do more research on those.

More Natasha and Sonya, and Andrei - Andrei is so difficult!! I always kind of oscillate between "stern, strong-willed soldier", "sharp-featured intellectual" and "soft pampered prince/troubled poet" (where I try and fail to imitate this gorgeous illustration by Vadimir Serov). The Brutus haircut is tempting in its historical accuracy, but I'm just a little bit too fond of the immaculately slicked back hair...

Edit: I completely forgot @visualnoteslibrary was on Tumblr!! Thank you so much for collecting all the descriptions, you spared me quite the Easter egg hunt through the Gutenberg version <3

[miyakuli]

Pentiment

The tribunal of Penitence

Pentiment is a narrative point & click game that plunges you into the Middle Ages in the small village of Tassing in the Bavarian Alps. Andreas Maler, a master artist visiting the village to finalize his masterpiece, finds himself embroiled in a murder case coupled with an emerging rift between the peasant population and the neighboring abbey. Will he be able to solve this enigma, or will he stir up even more tension? Our actions and choices will affect Tassing's fate.

❤ A fascinating and entertaining cultural experience, very well documented, and I think it will satisfy history buffs and novices alike (although you don't have to be allergic to reading). ❤ An absolutely charming and well-thought-out art direction; the mix of 2D and illuminated-style drawings works perfectly and fits the medieval atmosphere very well, and I loved that each dialogue bubble had a different type of script (handwritten, printed etc.) or even spelling mistakes to differentiate the characters and their status. I also found the animation very fluid and expressive. OH AND YOU CAN PET CATS AND DOGS BTW

❤ A well-written story spanning several generations, giving us time to get to know the village and its residents, to become attached to them and thus to truly fear for their well-being. The emotional moments then work very well, reinforced by the simple but impactful staging. ❤ Good replayability; as Andreas is limited in time for his investigation, we can't explore all the scenarios in one game. Also, our choices and affinities with the characters can have an impact on their destiny.

+/- The sound and musical ambience is very high quality; the sound effects in each place are immersive and the music is absolutely magnificent, juggling Gregorian chants and medieval instrumental music…on the other hand, they are all too rare, which can leave a certain emptiness. Also, the credits are silent, as I was waiting for one last musical moment before leaving the past. +/- Occasional mini-games enrich the gameplay. On the other hand, the investigation part is very poor in terms of puzzles.

✖ Story acts a little uneven in terms of pace. Also, the resolution at the end of Act 3 is delivered a little abruptly, not to mention frustratingly (can't say why to not spoil). ✖ The menu with the diary, glossary etc… is a bit cluttered for my taste and not very practical to consult. ✖ There's a lot of back-and-forth, and every time you change location, there's a page-turning transition - delightful at first, but after several hours of gameplay, it becomes downright tedious.

Pentiment is a game that doesn't shine for its simplistic, redundant gameplay, but it does make you discover a part of history in 16th-century Europe in an entertaining way, through an intriguing scenario and impeccable audiovisual immersion. In a way, it reminded me of The Pillars of the Earth, which I also recommend if you like narrative and interactive games set in medieval times. A quality trip into the past.

➡ My Steam page

[themattress]

A post looking over Kairi's actions in KH1/KH2/KH3, because curiously (and frustratingly) enough she only seems limited to approximately 10 major action set-pieces per game.

Races with Sora and Riku.

Referees a race between Sora and Riku.

Makes the Oathkeeper charm.

Goes to the Secret Place to safeguard the world's heart but is attacked by darkness.

Sends Sora a flashback of her and her grandmother from within his heart.

Saves Sora from having his head caved in by Ansem from within his heart.

Tries and fails to save Sora but still refuses to believe that he's gone, then runs away with Donald and Goofy at Riku's urging.

Recognizes Sora as a Heartless, protects him from other Heartless at great personal risk, and restores his human form to him.

Gives Sora the Oathkeeper charm and has him promise to return it to her.

Goes to the Secret Place and draws herself giving a Paopu Fruit to Sora.

Prior to Destiny Islands' destruction, Kairi as well as Riku are both, apart from their major character development scenes at sunset, simply doing things that reflect their friendship with Sora and their easygoing tropical life. There isn't anything major until the big storm strikes and they are both lost to Sora. After this, Kairi is a passive character by plot necessity, being unable to do anything because she's inside Sora's heart and for the longest time isn't even aware that she is. The moment she gets an inkling about it following the events at Neverland, she does something from within Sora's heart, and once it's outright confirmed by Ansem she immediately puts that knowledge to use and saves Sora from him. After this is her main actions everyone remembers her for - saving Sora after he becomes a Heartless and then giving him the Oathkeeper charm we see a lot more of in the following two games. While she absolutely could have stood to do more after regaining her body, she is at least given the focus in the ending FMV and (epilogue aside) does the last action seen in the whole game.

As I said here, I really like this mostly-passive-by-design role for Kairi in the first game, since as a potentially standalone title with heavy basis in fairy tales, mythology and of course Disney movies, this kind of mysterious magical damsel role is a perfect fit, plus it had a nifty twist put on it and was accompanied by an actual human and relatable character arc for her. Some may find it disappointing, but I feel for this specific entry in the series, it is perfectly justified. The only fuck-up was putting the scene where she gives Sora the Oathkeeper in Traverse Town instead of Hollow Bastion, which is then nonsensically said to be "way too dangerous" for Kairi and she'd "get in Sora's way" if she did...a fitting description for if she followed him into End of the World, not Hollow Bastion where the other Princesses of Heart are managing to get by just fine. Fix that one glaring error and Kairi in KH1 would be perfect.

Writes a letter to Sora and sends it out to sea to reach him.

Resists Axel's manipulation and runs into a dark corridor to Twilight Town with Pluto.

Befriends Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Gets away from Axel when he kidnaps her (off-screen).

Escapes her prison cell alongside Namine and is willing to fight Saix alongside her.

Stops Riku from leaving and has him be honest about his current condition.

Fights a chamber load of Heartless alongside Riku to save Sora, forcing Xigbar's hand.

Stops Riku from leaving AGAIN and reunites him with Sora.

Takes as many small actions as possible as a member of the party.*

Merges with Namine, thus saving her from fading into darkness.

* Stops Mickey from getting himself killed, points out the appearance of a Heartless swarm and the door to Kingdom Hearts, gets back through the door alongside Mickey (off-screen).

I again link to a prior post I made, where I brought up the reasons many people found Kairi in KH2 to be a disappointment. And while those reasons are and always will be valid (and always rectified in the KH2 manga; please check it out, people!), when I look at Kairi's actions in KH2 as a whole I can't help but feel that it's a major overreaction. People get caught up in either the various execution flubs that affect more characters than just Kairi or let their personal expectations for her get in the way of actually looking at and appreciating what's actually there, because what's there is a strong young woman learning to come into her own and fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of agency the villains keep trying to deny her, all while forging new bonds with others and being responsible for restoring the old bond of the Sora/Riku/Kairi trio. Her first action undertaken boomeranging back at the very end to save Sora and Riku from dying in the Realm of Darkness and bringing them home to a happy ending is just beautiful, the ultimate reward for Kairi taking it upon herself to be proactive.

Writes a letter to Sora but doesn't send it to him.

Gives herself a makeover.

Shares a Paopu Fruit with Sora.

Fights Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed alongside Lea (off-screen).

Guides Sora in corporeal form as he uses the Power of Waking to save everyone.

Kills some Heartless during the Heartless Rain event.

Fights Xion and Saix alongside Lea and Sora, but loses and is kidnapped then killed.

Re:Mind - Fights Xemnas, doing well until he saps her energy with a nil technique.

Re:Mind - Fights Master Xehanort alongside Sora then takes part in destroying him.

Re:Mind - Does everything alongside Sora in the ending FMV.

I've bitched about this a lot, but I want to specifically call to attention just how incongruous Kairi's actions added in the Re:Mind DLC are with her actions in the base game. The first two actions she takes in KH3 are utterly useless, with the actual point of her in those scenes being for Lea's sake and for the sake of pushing bad retcons. Sharing a Paopu with Sora comes out of nowhere both in the context of the game and the series up to that point and it affects nothing. We then get her fighting either entirely off-screen, shown killing a single raining Shadow Heartless, or pathetically short-lived and ending in miserable failure, with her actual major plot-affecting role being spiritual in nature and, again, out of fucking nowhere. Whatever one's issues with her in KH2, Kairi was not being built up for a combat role in that game - she was only being built up for a more proactive one in KH1, and while that role could have been executed better (like it is in the manga) she still fulfilled it. In KH3, she was very specifically being built up for a combat role, and she didn't fulfill that role in favor of a sudden, unsatisfying bait-and-switch where she's just as passive as she was in KH1, if not more so.

So that's why it's jarring when in Re:Mind, she's suddenly having no problem against Xion despite struggling in the base game, fiercely fighting Xemnas to the point of shattering his energy sabers and forcing him to drain her stamina in order to save himself, and then not only fighting and helping kill Master Xehanort but being the most OP playable character in the process which is at stark odds with her useless party member AI. Then she's inserted into literally every part of the happy ending montage she was originally almost entirely absent from until the last minute. It is such an obvious ham-fisted case of damage control after fan backlash that it only satisfies you in the moment, then you begin asking how and why the game even had to get it so wrong in the first place. And the dissonance only gets worse with the following Limitcut Episode + Melody of Memory, where suddenly it's like Re:Mind never happened as Kairi's once again a weakling who needs more training because adventuring's "way too dangerous" for her, with her main story contribution being passive and spiritual!

Character-wise, for Kairi it's KH1 > KH2 > KH3.

Action-wise, however, it's KH2 > KH1 > KH3.

[anyon-else]

Loyal and High on Devotion (Welcome to the Playground pt. 1) | Sukuna's power has grown to an unavoidable size for the council of Piltover to ignore it. However, their communication with the notoriously cruel leader incites a confrontation in which ghosts are seemingly brought back to life. (Arcane AU) – spotify playlist | read on ao3

Pairings | Silco!Sukuna x Jinx!Reader (platonic) + Toji Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisake, Gojo Satoru, Mei Mei, Nanami Kento, Suguru Geto, Masamichi Yagi, Utahime Iori, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, Maki Zenin

Warnings | Manipulation, unhealthy relationship, violence, hallucinations, corruption, mentions of death

Word count | 8.1k

(next chapter) | (series masterlist)

Sukuna wasn’t good with people. This fact was known by anyone who had any semblance of awareness in the Piltover. And if that awareness served them well, they steered clear of his territory and his people. He was known to be ruthless, both to enemies and allies. He wanted his power to be absolute, and any resistance meant that he hadn’t achieved that.

But what he hated more than rebels was traitors. How he dealt with his own people was kept private; word getting out about unrest among his ranks would leave people in the Undercity to question his authority. If he couldn’t even keep his own people in line, how was he expected to rule the city?

Well, rule was a relative term. There was nothing official about his power; no elections or documents gave him the influence that he so easily claimed. Just his power. And in the Undercity, that was enough.

However, his power was frustratingly limited in the grander scheme of things. Piltover remained just out of reach. Every time he got close, stepping one foot into the political game that controlled the city, he was violently forced back. Separation between Piltover and the Undercity had always been a contentious issue, but Sukuna’s rise to power had set off many alarm bells for the council. His violent control became notorious, and he happily took on the role of the monster under Piltover children’s beds—one that parents warned about and feared themselves.

The one downside of having a reputation for violence was a constant awareness of his movements. He couldn’t take one step out of the Undercity without having dozens of poorly disguised spies watching his every move. He normally humored their efforts, allowing them to tail him on his little errands into Piltover. Besides, everything he did while outside of the limits of the Undercity was done with the utmost discretion.

Everything except this. 

Evening was settling over the Undercity, though the sun never really reached its depths. Above, the gate leading into Piltover cast a tall shadow over Sukuna. His approach, while expected, still made the guards on duty stand at attention, eyes following him as he stepped onto the bridge. He cringed at the sight before him; the city was just as bright and disgustingly expensive as he remembered. 

The council’s expectations of him had been made very clear: come alone and unarmed. The latter was a bit redundant, and an essentially useless request. He was deadly with or without weapons. However, he didn’t have the time nor the energy to stay in Piltover any longer than was necessary, and he found that respecting their wishes was less of a hassle.

Well, one of their wishes.

You walked at his side, grin splitting your lips and hands clasped behind your back. Your chin was held high, and the slight skip in your step contrasted Sukuna’s even, steady gait. He knew that you were an unsettling pair. He counted on it.

“Halt.” 

Sukuna paused, looking over his shoulder at the stout guard who had spoken. He was practically trembling, though he gave his best effort at a brave face. You continued on, unfazed by the interruption.

“The counselors told you to come alone.”

“They did,” Sukuna hummed, “would you like to be the one to tell them, or should I?” 

“I’ve already sent someone to inform them that you haven't met their conditions."

“Wonderful,” Sukuna grinned. He titled his head, eyes roving over the man’s unimpressive physique. “Piltover must be short on guards, hm? Seems they’re allowing just about anyone to keep watch over their city.”

Sukuna brought a hand up and placed it on the man’s thinning, brown hair. The guard tensed at the touch, eyes flashing with a familiar, delicious fear. Sukuna grinned, titling his head to the side as he studied the man.

He remembered a story that Piltover liked to tell about him, one that the guard was likely knew as well. Years ago, a merchant from Piltover had double crossed him, backing out of a deal after Sukuna had already fulfilled his end of the exchange. Sukuna had cracked the man's skull with one hand.

While the story had been exaggerated over the years, the main details were true.

They’re right to be afraid. 

The thought made Sukuna’s smile grow wider. He loved this fear. The power that simple stories gave him over these gnats was addicting. He’d barely moved at all, but his mere presence was enough to make this man tremble.

He leaned down until his lips were inches from the guard’s ear. Sweat dripped down his forehead in a disgusting show of weakness. Sukuna’s grip tightened on his hair, and the guard let out a pathetic little noise. 

“Tell the council,” he began, voice low and rumbling in the man’s ear, “that I will not bend to their every command.”

Something in the guard seemed to snap at Sukuna's hot breath on his neck and he shrunk back, any forced bravery melting away.

“Sukuna,” you rested your arm on the guards shoulder, leaning on him until he stumbled. He looked between you and Sukuna with wide, terrified eyes, “you’re taking too long.”

“Be patient. Apparently, I need to send you home.”

“Oh?” you pouted, tilting your head to meet the guard’s eyes, “did you say that? What’s your name?” 

“M-Magnus.” 

“Magnus. That’s a lovely name. Are you married, Magnus? You must be, look at the pretty ring on your finger!”

You took his hand and held it up for Sukuna to see. Your smile was giddy, and you were practically bouncing on your toes as you examined Magnus’ finger.

“That name does have a certain ring to it. And it sounds so familiar. I must’ve seen it somewhere...” you wrapped an arm loosely around Magnus’ shoulder, tapping a finger to your lips, “oh, I know! You were in the news! ‘Sergeant Magnus Cline Saves Family from House-Fire.’ You must be very brave, Sergeant.”

You released the still-trembling guard and took your place next to Sukuna, who watched Magnus boredly. 

“I loved the article, it really is a great story. I also remember there being a mention of your wife...Ethel, right? Ethel Cline, and your two children...Axel and Theo. They were mentioned too! You must be very proud to have such a lovely family. I hope you don’t mind, but I snuck a peak.” 

“H-how did you–” 

“Sergeant Cline, why don’t we make a deal? You like deals, don’t you? You made one with counselor Geto and got yourself a nice house in the city, perfect for a family of four. And one on the way, I think? Congratulations!”

Magnus had stopped breathing. He was cracking, and in a few moments, he'd fall apart at your feet. 

“So, I propose that you let me pass with Sukuna. I’ll let you guess what my condition is, though I’m sure it won’t be very hard.” 

“If you’re threatening my family,” Magnus was breathing hard now, short, uneven pants escaping him in quick succession, “I will have you arrested.” 

“Threatening? I haven’t said anything about hurting your family. Arresting me seems a bit harsh.”

This was getting tired. As much as Sukuna reveled in seeing the man squirm, that wasn’t why he came here. The sooner he arrived at his meeting, the sooner he could return home. He placed a hand on the back of your neck and pulled you away from Magnus, who was frozen to his spot on the pavement. The other guards stepped forward as Sukuna steered you back towards the city, all eager to find any excuse to shove him back down to the Undercity.

He pressed his thumb into the side of your neck in warning when you began to turn. You’d had your fun.

“I haven’t broken any of your laws. We are allowed passage into your city just like any other citizen.”

While true, this law was flimsy at best. Piltover guards had no issue finding reasons to keep their city separate from his. The difference now was that the balance of power was tipped in his favor. The council had come to him, crawling into the recesses of the shithole they liked to believe the Undercity had become. They had been forced into diplomacy. All because he had become too powerful to be stopped by any other means. Too feared.

When he turned back towards the city, he dropped his hand from your neck. It only took a moment for you to disappear from his side.

Are you watching carefully? 

The voice made you chuckle, the beginnings of a laugh that you had to fight down. Yuuji always made the best jokes. He knew you were watching. He always knew, and he always knew what to say to make you laugh. 

The roof of the council’s meeting room gave you an overwhelming view of the city. From your vantage point, you could see all of the council members sitting in a pretty line behind their curved table. 

He’s getting desperate, Nobara whispered. You growled, shaking your head.

“Shut up,” you glared back at her, “Sukuna knows what he’s doing.” 

Sukuna was barely within your line of view, but you still saw the glance he shot in your direction. He looked just as regal and put-together as he always did. He never faltered, not even when he was faced with the most powerful people in Piltover. 

He’s just pretending, Megumi’s voice was full of malice. You wanted to laugh. You wanted to kill him, he’s terrified.

“No he’s not!”

He doesn’t really care about you.

“You’re a liar,” you grumbled, leaning forward against the edge of the skylight, “you’re all liars, just like always.”

The inside of the council’s meeting room was just as grotesque as the rest of the city. It was dripping in gold that Sukuna could only assume was real. Piltover did like to invest in their aesthetics.

He took a moment to study the faces of each council member. Mei Mei sat on the far right, studying the intricately organized rings on her fingers and attempting to seem nonchalant about his presence. She adjusted them every now and then, but not once did she look up from her work. Next to her, Nanami Kento sat with his back straight against his seat. His damned glasses were folded and placed in front of him on the table, and one hand drummed a steady beat against the glossy, elaborately designed wood.

Sugaru Geto was the only counselor really looking at Sukuna. His smile was sickening. Sukuna’s respect never extended to people who wore their intentions like a badge of honor, and Geto was practically soaked in corruption. 

Saturo Gojo took up the seat on the far left. Sukuna wasted no time moving past the filthy waste of space. Masamichi Yaga and Utahime Iori took up the next two seats, and in the middle was Yoshinobu Gakuganji. The old man was still, eyes sunken so far that Sukuna could barely see them. He could’ve been dead for all Sukuna knew.

“You’re late,” Nanami spoke, breaking the tense silence, “and you’ve wasted our time.” 

“Valuable as ever, I’m sure,” Sukuna sniffed, pacing the edge of the curved table and tapping a sharpened nail on its edge. The table was enough of a barrier between himself and the council that he wasn’t within arms length of them, but the guards still straightened, hands tightening around their weapons.

“And your companion?” Geto was still smiling, chin resting on his clasped hands. Sukuna stopped in front of his chair. “We were told that you brought an uninvited guest with you.”

“Oh?” Sukuna raised a brow, “I was under the impression that your borders were open. I was just bringing them along for some sightseeing. They do love a good view, and it’s been so long since they’ve seen the sun.”

“Enough,” Gakuganji raised a hand, voice gruff and tired. He was completely useless. It infuriated Sukuna that this relic was the one making decisions for Piltover. There was no value in the old ways, and Sukuna was under the impression that Piltover valued evolution. Now he wasn’t so sure. Too strong of a wind, and Sukuna feared the old man may turn to dust, “I’m sure you're eager to get this over with, Sukuna, so let’s get to the matter at hand.”

Geto leaned back, meeting Gakuganji’s glare with a grin.

“We feel that we have been very fair in allowing our borders to remain open to the Undercity. However, since your rise to power, crime in Piltover has increased exponentially. We can’t help but see a correlation.” 

“A correlation?” Sukuna laughed, unable to hold back, “what are you implying?” 

“We’re not implying anything,” Gojo interrupted Gakuganji as the old man opened his mouth to respond, “we’re accusing. You’ve been encouraging your people to come to Piltover and disrupt the peace.”

“Peace,” Sukuna repeated, lips twisting into a scowl. Before he could stop it, the image of you sitting bloody and broken in the depths of the Undercity came to mind. His rage flared. “You should bite your tongue before you speak to me so carelessly. 

“You should remember your place,” Gakuganji leaned forward, hands tightening where they were clasped together on the table. “The Undercity has been left unchecked for far too long. We’re just correcting that mistake.” 

“Something will be done about your people,” Geto smiled wide, “and it’s up to you who makes those changes. If you ignore this warning, we will do something about this ourselves.” 

“For now, we’re closing our border. We have a duty to keep the people of Piltover safe, so yours are no longer welcome in our city,” Gakuganji explained. Sukuna kept still, thinking through his options. There was nothing surprising in this decision; in fact, he would’ve been shocked if the council hadn’t taken this action against his people. 

“And what do you suggest I do?” 

“That,” Yaga spoke up, breaking his silence with resound conviction, “is for you to decide. But you should decide soon, or our patience will run out.”

“Your patience,” Sukuna let out a laugh. “if it’s patience that we’re measuring, you should know that mine ran out a long time ago. Besides, I have no official power in the Undercity. If you want peace, you’ll have to be the ones to get your hands dirty.” 

“Bullshit,” Gojo’s smile did nothing to hide his frustration, “you have more power over them than any of us.”

“It sounds to me like you’re all just incompetent leaders.” 

“Careful,” Nanami spoke from the far end of the table, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose. He didn’t spare Sukuna a glance during this show of disinterest, but Sukuna could practically smell the man’s tension.

“In fact, incompetent,” he continued, “is a generous way of putting it. If you had any sense at all, you would’ve already found a solution to this little problem of yours. Instead, you’re crawling into the sewers and asking the rats to do your job for you.”

“That’s enough,” Gakuganji snapped. Despite his best efforts to keep it concealed, Sukuna couldn’t help the smile that spread over his lips. This really was the most fun he’d had in ages. 

“You have two weeks to find your own solution,” Nanami said. “If changes are not made in that time, we will elect an ambassador to represent the Undercity, and a police presence will be established to keep the peace.” 

“A wonderful idea. I’m sure peace is exactly what will come if more of your little guard dogs enter my city,” Sukuna strode forward until he was close enough to touch the table. The guards on either end of the room stiffened, grips tight on their weapons, “since I’m feeling generous today, I’ll offer you a bit of advice. Whether or not I decide to act on your orders, I can tell you that my word will do nothing to protect you and your police from the Undercity. If you send anyone there to keep them in line, I guarantee that they won’t last one night. With that said, I’m not unopposed to the idea.” 

“This meeting is over,” Yaga grumbled before Gakuganji could fall for Sukuna’s taunts. “You can go now.” 

Sukuna left the Capitol building with a grin stuck on his face. He couldn’t help but picture the beautiful chaos that would ensue if Piltover established a police presence in the Undercity. He almost wanted to encourage it, but the headache was likely not worth the entertainment. Not yet.

“Come out now, brat.” 

The guards on either side of the doors Sukuna had just come from jolted when you dropped in front of them. Sukuna watched as one lifted his gun just slightly before meeting his eyes. Whatever he saw was enough for him to freeze, slowly lowering the weapon until he pulled his finger from the trigger.

"You weren't very long," you took Sukuna by the hand and began guiding him towards the gate. Magnus had been replaced by someone new, but you didn't seem interested in toying with the guards anymore.

"They're all incompetent," Sukuna grumbled, begrudgingly allowing you to pull him forward, "and they're not worth any more of my time."

"That white haired one looked interesting," you hummed, letting go of Sukuna's hand and turning to face him. His expression remained uninterested, "maybe I'll come back later and find him–"

Sukuna's movements were too fast for you to avoid, and your body seized as he grabbed hold of your hair and jerked it back, forcing you to meet his eyes. You stared and waited for him to speak, mouth sealed shut.

"Under no circumstances are you to come back without my permission," his voice was the same as before, uninterested and bored, but his eyes were alight with fury. "Gojo Satoru is off limits. Understand?"

"Mhm," you smiled, pulling your head up when he released you, "geez, you're touchy today. Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"He's a nuisance. I don't want you around him."

"Fine," you sighed, flicking the hat of the closest guard as you passed over the bridge. The man didn't flinch, and his eyes stared forward in what was an obvious strain to keep from looking at you. You laughed, turning away with a wave as you crossed into the Undercity. Piltover guards were posted right up to the border that marked the official edge of the city limits, but it had been made clear to Sukuna many times that the entirety of the bridge was unofficial Piltover territory.

Officially, it was a neutral zone Sukuna had never understood this label being placed upon such as a small piece of land, but for the most part, he stayed on his side of the region. Until now, it had made things easier on him. A poorly planned shift into Piltover land could prove devastating, and any broken laws would only give the councilors and excuse to establish a police presence in his city. While that wasn't something he was necessarily opposed to, there would be a time for it.

He glanced at you, scanning you for any sign that something had changed since he'd sent you off before the meeting. Your comment about Gojo almost made him want to go back and kill the imp, but such actions had become few and far between with so many watchful eyes on him. It was quite annoying.

"I want you to find Zen'in," Sukuna spoke after a moment, eyes forward and hands clasped behind his back, "tell him that he'll get paid handsomely for his cooperation, and bring him to me."

"'Kay."

You were gone the moment you reentered the Undercity. Sukuna couldn't help but be reminded of the fleeting image of a ghost, floating in the back of the mind with the constant reminder of unfinished business.

"Toji!"

You only gave the man a few seconds to respond before banging on the water pipe that stretched past his apartment window. You hadn't exactly kept track of the time, but you'd spent enough time walking through the familiar streets of the Undercity that it was dark now.

Your intrusion into Toji's apartment was frequent enough that his neighbors knew not to complain. You continued banging against the pipe until the window four stories above opened noisily and Toji stuck his head out, hair a mess and mouth twisted into a scowl.

"Do you know how fuckin' loud you're being? It's midnight."

"Is it?" you smiled up at him, rocking back on your heels, "I lost track of time."

"Sure," he grumbled, shutting the window with a slam.

Moments later, he was opening the entrance to the apartment complex, letting you in with a tired wave of his hand.

"Whadda you freaks want this time?"

"Dunno," you shrugged, pushing the door to Toji's apartment open and falling onto the couch situated against the far wall, "we just came back from Piltover."

"You were in Piltover?" Toji leaned against the door with crossed arms, guarded despite his curiosity. You grinned, unused to any interest from the man. "Why?"

"It's a secret," you pressed a finger to your lips, "if you wanna know, you have to come back with me. Sukuna wants to see you."

"Ah," Toji leaned his head back with a grin. Your own smile fell, and you sat up and watched him laugh quietly to himself, "so you don't know. Think maybe Sukuna doesn't trust you as much as you think he does?"

Toji would've seen your attack coming from miles away. Despite your reputation in the Undercity, if one knew just where to push, you were as predictable as the pigs in Piltover. And he knew exactly where it hurt.

Still, he could admit that being predictable wasn't as much of an achilles heel when you had the speed to make up for it. He'd barely blinked before you were in front of him, knife pressed against his throat. He just laughed again, the motion moving his neck against the blade enough to split the skin.

"Touchy. Didn't think I'd get to ya that easily. Expected more from Sukuna's right hand, but I guess you're just as weak as us lowly peasants, hm?

"You're brave," you sneered through a growing smile, "guess that's why Sukuna likes you so much. I keep telling him that we should kill you, but he just can't see how much of a nuisance you are."

"Is this what recruiting me looks like?"

"It's what threatening you looks like. Sukuna wants you, so you're coming with me."

"I'm on vacation," Toji scowled, pushing your knife away when he saw that you'd lost interest in threatening him. The anger drained from your eyes, replaced with a familiar and unsettling blankness.

"Maybe if Sukuna came himself, I'd be more inclined to follow his orders," Toji busied himself in his kitchen, perfectly visible from where you were back to lounging on the couch. You hummed, occupied with something else now. You were staring through the window with slitted eyes, watching someone pass by and disappear from your view before you found another person to watch. Toji just shook his head, dumping cold rice and chicken on two plates.

"If you're not going to be useful, I really will kill you," you said lightly, lifting your head and glaring at him as he brought you a plate and set it across from his own. His heavily scratched and dented table had been left behind by the previous occupant of the apartment, and it had seen better days. It was accompanied by two mismatched chairs, one bright blue and the other a deep sage. He sat on the blue one, kicking out the other with a painful squeal against the hardwood.

You didn't move, once again occupied by your people-watching. Your legs dangled over the side of the couch, kicking back and forth in a way that suggested unawareness.

"Do you know who Gojo Satoru is?"

Toji nearly dropped his fork at the question, eyes wide as he stared down at his plate. Before you could glance back at him, he did his best to regain his composure. You stood, eyes narrowed as you watched him clear his throat. When you'd taken the seat across from him, he sighed heavily and shoveled a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

"He's a councilor, right? Dunno that much about him."

"You're lying."

Toji wasn't sure what kind of skills you had cultivated to become what Sukuna fondly called his human lie-detector, but he cursed the man for sending you here right after he'd taken you to Piltover. He questioned if Sukuna was in his right mind.

"Look, it'd be dangerous for me to give you any information without approval from Sukuna. I'm still his dog."

The name was said with little malice; Toji knew that that was the truth of his role. He had accepted a long time ago that that was all his life would amount to while Sukuna was in power.

"If you stop asking me these damn questions, I'll pack up and come with you."

While "willing" was a generous term for Toji's cooperation, he hadn't shown any of that chagrin to Sukuna. You watched from above, sitting on the pipes that overlapped right overtop of Sukuna's desk.

Below you, Toji was resting an ankle over his knee, head propped up on his palm in what looked like a force show of disinterested confidence. But for all his effort to seem unconcerned, Sukuna wasn't even looking at the man. His attention was on the window that gave him a wide view of the Undercity. Toji almost laughed at the similarities he saw between the two of you, but any emotion he may have shown was sucked out of him the moment Sukuna met his eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you the last time we spoke?"

Toji itched to look at the top corner of the room. He could feel your eyes on him, but he knew that any diversion of his attention from Sukuna would have consequences.

"I remember," he sat up straighter now, watching Sukuna carefully. "When?"

"One week. During the Progress Day speech."

"The...you didn't tell me that this was happening during one of the most important events in Piltover–"

"The information that I gave you," Sukuna interrupted, voice cold, "was the only information I deemed necessary to share. Anything else is irrelevant to you and your orders."

Toji scowled, showing more defiance than he ever had towards Sukuna, but he knew that he had no ground to stand on. With one word from his employer, his head would roll.

Besides, this was far from the first impossible job that he'd been given.

The conversation didn't last much longer than that. Sukuna had made his expectations of Toji clear long before today. Toji resented the fact that he'd been dragged here to be given directions which easily could have been given to him through you, but he supposed that Sukuna was trying to balance all of the pieces he'd been putting into place for years very carefully.

When Toji was finally given his leave, you dropped from the piping onto Sukuna's desk, sitting cross-legged in front of him with an irritated huff.

"Is this an assassination?" you tilted your head, "Y'know, if you wanted someone dead, you could've just asked."

"It isn't that simple. This is what we've been working towards all these years. And I've saved the exciting parts of the special day just for you."

"It's...it's like he doesn't trust me! I mean, that Zen'in guy is a fine assassin, but that's all he is! Just okay! I'm supposed to be the one...the one doing this for him..."

Don't get so worked up. You always do this, you know, Yuuji said, so close that you could almost feel his breath against your ear. You flinched, backing away from him until you reached the far wall.

"Why are you always bothering me! Just shut up! Go away and leave me alone!"

You're being careless. Be quiet or he'll hear you, Megumi was next to Yuuji, arms crossed and tone disappointed, just like always. You shook your head. You couldn't deal with this. Couldn't deal with them and their confusing rambling. You turned towards the wall, pressing your palms against the cold concrete to try and ground yourself. If you just pretended they weren't there, they'd leave you alone. Just like always.

Sukuna's gonna find you like this. Then you'll be in trouble, Nobara laughed, her voice right in front of you. Your eyes squeezed shut, hands shaking uncontrollably as you tried to block out their voices.

"Shut up!"

You threw a fist at where Nobara was still laughing, feeling your skin split and blood begin to seep from the wounds when your knuckles hit concrete. You heaved in ragged breaths, opening your eyes and pulling your fist from the now blood-coated spot on the wall. Nobara had always been good at dodging attacks.

When you looked behind you, Yuuji and Megumi were gone, and you were alone.

Progress Day

Toji arrived in Piltover earlier than was really necessary, but from what Sukuna had told him, the earlier he arrived, the less trouble he'd have.

As he crossed the border, he could tell that only a few of the guards knew who he was and why he was arriving. The guards who weren't privy attempted to approach him as he made his way across the bridge, but all of them were stopped. He continued on unhindered.

Gojo Satoru was waiting for him near the entrance doors, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and smile spread lazily across his lips. He was looking at Toji with that infuriating, knowing smile, and it made the man's skin crawl. The last thing he needed was for Gojo to be getting under his nerves.

"Got anything to tell me?" Gojo asked, and Toji scowled. He'd told his old friend many times that talking out in the middle of the city would have consequences, but his warning had never been heeded.

Gojo continued the conversation as he led Toji through the city's central building, now bustling with people preparing for the day's events. No one paid him much attention; he wasn't recognizable like Sukuna, and he was hoping that it would stay that way. After today, though, he knew things would change.

"Alright, alright, you can wipe that big frown off your face. We're in private now," Gojo leaned forward, chin resting on his clasped hands, "you said you had some information for me."

"Before I tell you anything, I want to get paid."

"Is my friendship not currency enough? I'm hurt."

Toji was beginning to feel a stress headache forming. Every conversation with Gojo went like this, and Toji needed to stop expecting anything different. Deflection was like an art to the councilor. Toji wondered if that was why he'd gotten so far in politics.

"You have no idea how much I'm risking just by talking to you," Toji murmured. "Betraying Sukuna is not something I'm doing for free. I expect payment and passage out of this city. You're not getting anything from me unless I receive the things I was promised. "

"Fine, jeez. Can't you joke around at all? It's Progress Day! Show some patriotism!"

"I'm no patriot," Toji bit out, watching as Gojo opened different desk drawers, moving papers and digging through folders until he finally pulled out a thick envelope.

"As promised," he held the envelope out to Toji, "now, if you please, some information."

Toji took the envelope and opened it carefully, satisfied with the number of bills he saw stacked together. He pushed the money to the side and scanned the boat ticket, departing that same evening. It would be packed with people leaving Piltover from the celebrations. A perfect cover to protect him from Sukuna and his spies.

"Sukuna sent me here to assassinate you and Nanami Kento," Toji finally leaned back, slipping the envelope into the pocket of his jacket and meeting Gojo's eyes. "He's coming to the celebration, and according to the plan he gave me, the two of you should be dead by the time he arrives in Piltover. He wanted things to happen on Progress Day, when the most people would be in attendance."

Gojo stared at him, waiting for something more. When nothing else was said, Gojo scoffed and shook his head.

"I can't believe this," he groaned, throwing his head back on his chair, "did I just waste half a fortune for that? That's nothing."

"An attempt on your life by one of the most powerful men in the country is nothing?" Toji sighed, "you rich bastards sure are brave behind all of your fancy walls and borders. If I were you, I'd be a little bit more worried. I wouldn't be surprised if he's known about our little meetings the whole time I've been working for him."

"Your information is faulty. So either he doesn't trust you," Gojo leaned forward, "or he gave you the wrong information on purpose. Think maybe you're the one who should be worried?"

"How can you possibly know that?"

Gojo just laughed, crossing his leg over his ankle and rubbing his hands together. He did look the part of a counselor, Toji would give him that. Corruption was easy to see on someone so well-versed in it.

"Why would Sukuna kill just me and Nanami? I know what kind of fire-power he's got down there. If he really wanted to make a statement, he'd take everyone out in one fell swoop. Instead, he chooses two counselors and one lousy assassin and makes it someone else's problem? No," Gojo tapped a finger on a photo, one that Toji hadn't noticed until now. His heart stuttered when he saw who was in it: Sukuna, as regal and dangerous as always, walking next to you. Your back was turned to the camera, and nothing recognizable could be seen, but everyone in the Undercity knew that you and Sukuna were inseparable.

"Who is that?"

Toji met Gojo's eyes, and for once, the man was looking at him with calculated eyes, fully focused on him and his reactions.

"I don't know."

"If you feel so comfortable lying to me, I'm not sure I can trust anything you've said to me."

"Thought we were old friends?"

Gojo's smile was back on his face in seconds, laughter bubbling up in his throat and escaping him in short bursts. Toji just stared.

"Whoever they are," Gojo finally pointed back at the picture once his laughter had died down, "they were seen with Sukuna the day he came to meet with us. Funny thing is, no one knows what they look like. No one in Piltover, anyways. The guard who saw them claims that he doesn't remember what they look like. Interesting, no?"

Toji could feel his hands beginning to sweat. This wasn't in his pay-grade. He should've asked Gojo for more money.

"But Sukuna isn't the only one with spies. And while we couldn't get eyes on them, we got some very interesting information. Didn't know you were lower on the totem pole than some kid."

"You're treading very dangerous ground, Gojo," Toji said lowly.

"Apparently not, if this plan of Sukuna's is real. What a sloppy attempt at causing chaos in Piltover. That is the goal, yes? Cause chaos, undermine the council, take control, yada yada. How cliche. Killing two council members won't do anything, so what else is there?"

"You said it yourself," Toji leaned back in his chair. "I'm low in Sukuna's ranks. He only trusts me with so much. This was the only information I was given, but there's more to this than just the assassinations."

"And this God among men doesn't suspect that you've double crossed him?"

"An advantage of being a pawn instead of a rook."

Gojo's face told Toji that the man still didn't believe him, but that was no longer his problem. He stood from his chair and turned towards the door.

"Toji."

He paused, turning his head with his hand resting on the door handle.

"This isn't a game," Gojo's voice was calculated and flat in a tone that he rarely heard from the man, "and once you're gone, the only one who will know where to find you is me. Remember that."

Toji walked through the door without a word, shutting it behind him and following the path back to the bridge and the Undercity.

Progress Day was always an annoyance to Sukuna. Visitors coming to Piltover would always inevitably trickle into the Undercity, curious about its infamy. He never did much to deter the tourists; locals would take care of them if they caused any trouble. This year, however, he was wound a bit tighter than usual, so he couldn't be faulted for any unfortunate accidents.

He felt a rush of deja vu as he approached the bridge leading to Piltover, now home to a hoard of guards. All stood at attention, eyes forward and grip tight on their guns. When they noticed his approach, there was a shout from the front of the crowd, and then nearly twenty guns were pointed at his chest.

"Sukuna Ryomen," one shouted. The sound of his name in one of these brats mouths made his hand twitch, the urge to kill almost bubbling to the surface. While this day had been one he'd looked forward to for years, he was wound tighter then he's expected. "You and your people are not welcome in Piltover."

"No? How disappointing," he paused a distance away from the crowd of guards, "I was looking forward to the festivities."

"If you are not off of the bridge in the next minute, we will open fire."

Sukuna sneered, a laugh just barely contained behind his lips. He gave them a bow, turning on his heel and stopping on the edge of the bridge. It was there that he stopped, and there that he would wait.

He didn't have to wait long before the first bomb went off under the bridge, followed by the second in the center of the city.

The bomb at the bridge had been meticulously placed, per Sukuna's instruction. You'd studied the ways around the guards on the bridge in preparation for this day, and you'd chosen the perfect spot for the explosive. It wasn't placed on the bridge itself, but on the sheet of dirt underneath it. The initial explosion was only meant to cause confusion among the guards. It was the second explosion that mattered.

You'd gone into the city under the cover of night, placing the second bomb on the skylight where you'd watched Sukuna's meeting with the councilors. That was where you would wait for Sukuna the next day.

"Got anything to tell me?"

The voice had come from the entrance of the building, but you still froze upon hearing it. You peeked over the edge of the roof curiously, bored enough to pass the time by watching the goings-on of the councilors.

It was too dark to make out the features of the man approaching the building. In the low lamp-light and from your height, you could just make out a head of poorly cut black hair.

They entered the building side-by-side, and you watched through the glass as they passed through the main foyer. It was silent once again with the glass buffering their voices, but light flooded the room as they stepped further into it, automatically switching on at their movement.

Your anger was the first thing to react to the face that you saw.

Toji looked tense as he followed Gojo into a private room out of your sight. You looked at the space where they had disappeared with wide eyes, head falling forward until your forehead hit the glass with a soft thunk. Your breathing was heavy enough to fog the glass as you thought through what you saw. There had to be some explanation, anything other than a betrayal.

You watched the door of Gojo's office until it opened once again, and Toji left alone. His face was grim, but the expression quickly fell into one of calculated blankness. You followed his movements until he left the building, then stood on the glass and tracked him until he disappeared from your view in the depths of Piltover's cityscape.

"Traitor," you muttered, turning to where Megumi was standing at the center of the domed roof, "he's a traitor."

Don't be hasty.

"What would you know," you grumbled, "you never even go anywhere. Don't you have any other friends?"

You turned, not expecting or wanting a response. You needed to tell Sukuna, but he'd given you your assignment. You had to stay in Piltover until the festivities began in earnest, but this warranted an exception. Toji knew too much to betray you and live long enough to cause more damage.

But Sukuna expected loyalty. Unfailing and unquestioning. He expected you to trust that he would take care of anything that went wrong, just as long as you did what was asked of you.

You just had to wait until daylight. The sun would rise, then Sukuna would know everything, and the traitor would be dead.

And according to Sukuna's instructions for you, Gojo Satoru would follow him.

You watched the horizon where the sun was rising over the bridge. People began flocking in from the left and right sides of it, but none from the middle where the path led into the Undercity. The only person you expected to see following the path of the orange sunlight was Sukuna.

The hours passed quickly as you imagined what Sukuna had planned for Piltover. He hadn't given anyone more information than they needed about today, yourself included, and you couldn't deny the sting you'd felt when he'd told you that you didn't need to know all of the details.

You spotted Sukuna at the top of the seventh hour, counted to sixty, and set off the first bomb under the bridge, then stood at the edge of the glass roof and set off the bomb at the peak of the dome. You felt your movements becoming robotic as you pondered on Sukuna and his sloppiness with Toji and the minimal information he'd given you. Maybe you were putting too much faith in him. Still, you followed his instructions perfectly, dropping down into the foyer of the council building. Panic had begun spreading; you could hear screams coming from all directions, echoing down the halls that opened into the foyer and mingled together to create one beautiful, mass panic.

Guards ran at you from all sides, guns raised and bullets flying, but their efforts became futile as you released grenades in their direction, filling the foyer with smoke and allowing you the cover to kill them.

Gojo's office was straight ahead, down a hall dripping in gold and crystal. The glass ceiling continued to crack as you walked the length of the hall, shattering piece by piece in a chain reaction of charges. The glass rained around you, cutting into your skin and clothes. The glass ceiling stretched to the end of the hall, and ended at the large wooden door to give Gojo's office some security.

The Kitsune mask that Sukuna had given you fit perfectly over your face, forming to your features to keep your identity obscured from Gojo. He'd given it to you with the expectation that Gojo Satoru was not to know what you looked like.

When you opened the door to Gojo's office, he looked largely unconcerned with the intrusion. He only watched you approach his desk with curiosity.

"Hm," he scanned you carefully, sitting up in his desk chair and leaning his elbows on his desk, "interesting. I was expecting Sukuna."

You pulled a gun from the holster tied tightly around your waist and pointed it at him, but his expression didn't change.

"You're his second in command?" he asked with a pleasant smile. You couldn't see his eyes through his black blindfold, but you could sense his gaze on you. You could smell his curiosity. "Now why did he send you?"

Toji had warned him about the attack. The snake had given him the chance to prepare, but Sukuna had likely already taken care of any extra security that had been placed at the bridge, and the trail of bodies behind you was a clear sign that his attempts to deter an attack had failed.

"I assume the guards are all dead," he sighed, looking past you and out the open door. He seemed more inconvenienced than concerned for his safety, "well, the extra security wasn't my idea."

You wanted to say something, to ask him why he was acting so casual about this. You were sent to kill him. And once Sukuna arrived, you'd be free to do as you pleased to him.

But questioning the situation would mean admitting weakness. So you kept your lips sealed shut and your gun trained at his head.

"But I have to admit, this whole plan Sukuna has seems sloppy. I don't suppose you'll tell me what he really wants?"

This was Toji's fault. Toji needed to die, right after you killed Gojo. They all needed to die for mocking Sukuna like this. For assuming that he was weak. You finger twitched on the trigger.

You could hear the mix of voices coming from the back of the building where the entrance to the auditorium was. Progress Day was a public event, meaning this side of the building would've been empty had it not been for Toji's warning.

From the beginning, Sukuna's plan hadn't made sense.

"Where is Sukuna?" Gojo looked past you again. His mouth twitched in a smile at what he saw. "There he is! Always a pleasure, Sukuna."

You fought not to turn when you heard his footsteps approaching the office. You recognized the slow saunter and the sound of his shoes hitting the concrete floor; it was unmistakable.

Sukuna stepped up to your side with his head held high, focused entirely on Gojo. You watched him come to a stop next to you with a trembling breath, suddenly nervous. This had never happened before. You thought you knew what was going on, but nothing about this made sense anymore. It was all a part of his plan, you knew it was. He was just waiting to tell you, and once he did, you would put all of the pieces together. He trusted you. He'd always trusted you, and that would never change.

You thought of his words just before you'd left for Piltover only hours earlier.

"You would never betray me."

It hadn't been a question, and there had been no doubt in his voice, but he'd looked at you expectantly. Your response had been immediate, the nod of your head quick and eager. Always so eager to please him, and to hear him tell you that you were useful. That you were worth something in the world that he lorded over.

"Never."

Looking at him now, you saw the king that he had made himself into. You saw the dominance that he had over the room, and you felt the fear that he wanted anyone in his presence to feel. You glanced at Gojo, wondering if he felt it too. Ready to kill him if he didn't.

"Take your mask off."

It was not a request. He was ordering you, voice hard as stone and laced with glee. You did as he said immediately, like you had always known this was what he would have you do. Your loyalty to him was second nature, and the doubt that was creeping into the cracks in your mind made you want to throw yourself at his feet and beg for forgiveness. Who were you to doubt him? You were nothing without him. You were nothing.

"Y/N?"

You looked up at the unfamiliar voice, a snarl forming on your lips as you prepared to kill whoever it was that had spoken, but realized upon meeting his eyes that it was Gojo. His expression had fallen, and he looked and sounded like a completely different person than before. He pulled his blindfold down, revealing bright blue eyes that were wide with shock. He had paled considerably, hands held in front of him like he wanted to reach out to you. You glanced at Sukuna for some sort of explanation, but his only focus was Gojo. He looked thrilled by this reaction, and when Sukuna began laughing, all you could do was watch as Gojo's expression cracked into devastation while Sukuna reveled in his sorrow.

Author's note | this is one of the first fics i began working on for this blog and honestly it's one of the reasons i made a new writing blog for anime. i thought the idea of a silco-inspired sukuna would be so fun, and having the reader as jinx kind of gave me creative freedom with their character. i hope you guys enjoyed (and if you did, don't worry because there will be at least one more part, probably two depending on how long it ends up being). anyways, thank you for reading and if you enjoyed, please leave me some love!

also i know i keep starting series but this has literally been in the works for months and i had to split it into two parts bc it was simply getting too long. the other two series are also being worked on and part two to this one is like halfway done. i'm not abandoning anything, i'm just slow.

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 090 - Trip to the Rescue!

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 16 - Divergence

As our episode opens, Archer meets Malcolm in the Bridge. Columbia is on route for Trip to rescue them, but getting trip aboard is going to be a risky manoeuvre at Warp speeds. Apparently Malcolm has experience moving people between ships at warp, but at a maximum of Warp 1, Enterprise is currently up at Warp 5.2. But, Malcolm is the best we've got.

After the Intro, both Malcolm and trip prepare for the manoeuvre, and it's an impressive sequence, and it felt really tense and exciting! A cable is extended for trip to climb across from Columbia to Enterprise. Enterprise starts having trouble, and the cable starts to tear, but Trip gets on just in time!

There's a way to fix Enterprise's systems, but he's basically going to need to perform a miracle to fix this. Trip's going to need to shut the reactor down while using Columbia to maintain Enterprise's speed, then completely restart everything within about 2 minutes. This is kind of bullshit only Trip could pull off, and it's easily the greatest display of his skills we've seen. We've known he's a talented engineer from the start, but this just shows that he really is the best in Starfleet at what he does.

Meanwhile, on the Klingon research base, Phlox is refusing to help the Klingons make augments, but the Klingon Scientist has been going through his research, and it appears they're close to finding a cure for the virus. They just have to develop it without the general finding out. We also get some insight about the Klingon Caste system. Apparently our Klingon scientist's family is part of the warrior caste, which means that Klingons can work outside their caste, but it looks like it's something that's frowned upon. I really want to know more about Klingon Culture. Apparently the Klingon Augments have the same superiority complex that Soong's Augments had, when they're asked if the one who was taken prisoner by Enterprise died with honour, they just answer "He was killed by humans." It also appears they're operating under a completely different honour system than the other Klingons.

Archer has been going through Malcolm's files, and has found the Image of the Mystery man, and we find out his name is Harris. Archer asks Malcolm to make a call to Harris for an Explanation. Frustratingly, Harris is very vague about what's going on, but apparently he works for Starfleet, and Starfleet needs a stable Klingon empire.

We get a short scene where T'Pol and Trip reunite, and interestingly it seems that Trip's a lot better at hiding his emotions than T'Pol, who clearly misses him. We get a fun conversation about war philosophy between Maclolm and the Klingon in the brig, which was just great, I love how differently they view war.

Malcolm is gives the location of the Klingon lab, and is released from the brig, and the mission rescue Phlox. Meanwhile, Phlox is once again pushed to break his medical ethics, and the Klingons make him infect them to test which cure will work.

Enterprise and Collumbia both arrive at the Compound, but Phlox needs a bit more time to create the cure. The Klingon fleet also arrived, and a firefight ensues. Communications between Archer and the two Starfleet ships are shut down. Archer agrees to infect himself to make the cure production faster.

Phlox giving his final speech to get the klingon fleet to stand down because he infected their command ship was perfect. Trip has take a "temporary" posting on Enterprise to help with repairs. I hope he sticks around longer.

I really liked this arc. It had politcal intrigue, exciting action, and it pushed a lot of our characters to their absolute limits, fitting of the final season. I wouldn't upset if this was the finale, but there a few episodes left. The action in this one was absolutely great, both in the opening sequence, and at the end in the Klingon Compound. Really good episode!

[meteorstricken]

Let's talk about Ultima's Butt Curtains.

Leaving aside the obvious "blueberries the size of honeydew melons" issue going on here, I'm very interested in the massive rack o' antlers holding up those curtains.

FFXVI is heavy on Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Hindi mythologies/ traditions (among so, so much else), so this sort of symbolism is not likely wasted. Frustratingly, when I did variety of searches on the symbological significance of antlers and "great stag" creatures...I found out that pretty much all ancient cultures had or still have a note of...horniness, figuratively speaking. Without knowing exactly which mythos (😈) the writers had in mind, this is really a shot in the dark. That said, there were some repeating ideas around antlers across disparate traditions, including but not limited to:

>Renewal and/or the cycle of life/death

>Spiritual or cosmic authority

>Fertility

Those first two make sense on the surface without too much thought. Ultima is a god or godlike being bent on rebooting the world for him/themselves. The fertility part...you could probably squeeze in with being a Creator.

[leftyllama]

I was expecting Starfield to be Fallout 4 in space...

Fallout 4 in space has a lot of potential. Despite Fallout 4's snoozeworthy main quest and frustrating dialogue system, I actually found it's moment to moment gameplay quite fun! You set out from your settlement, go to a location, gather as much as you can, use what you got to upgrade your settlement and gear, repeat. It's a good loop and I was excited to see something similar from a game set in space. (I know not everyone was into the settlement building but personally I was a big fan)

Starfield seems to have learned some good lessons from Fallout 4; you can select traits when making a character (the trait that gives you parents is some of the most fun I've had with the game), the player character is no longer voiced, which leaves room for more variety in dialogue (options are still limited but it's a small improvement).

Sadly, with these few steps forward come numerous steps back. Junk items have returned to being meaningless clutter instead of items of worth (I understand this might not fit the tone of Starfield's world as well as Fallout's but it was still disappointing to see gone). Instead of being able to upgrade your gear as you progress, loot will drop at different stat tiers in an incredibly arbitrary manner. This is especially a problem with unique quest rewards which can be quickly outclassed by random drops simply because they're set in a lower tier. The outpost system is a downgrade from Fallout 4's settlements, with far more limited options for decoration or even basic structures. Resource storage is very annoying, with ships and outposts having limited storage and the one place with unlimited storage not being linked to any research or crafting stations, meaning you have to manually schlep resources back and forth constantly. NPCS no longer drop their entire inventory on death, now only dropping their weapon with a chance at armor.

I do want to give some praise to the modular shipbuilding. While it's more limited in some ways than I'd like and there's frustratingly no way to reliably decorate the interior, it's a fun system and I've seen quite a few impressive creations from friends.

I expect with time and the release of Starfield's creation kit, many of these issues will be solved or at the very least alleviated. Unfortunately one thing I can't see changing is in My mind Starfield's biggest failure: it's world. With the exception of three or four major locations, the universe of Starfield is filled with planets that are nothing but procedurally generated mush, filled with nameless npcs you can either shoot or trade with. The characters talk about the wonders of exploring the universe but there's no wonder to be found.

[mamthew]

Final Fantasy XVI's similarities to Tales of Arise have me on a Tales kick, which means I ended up playing Tales of the Tempest, widely considered the worst game intended to be a mainline Tales title. It took me about 15 hours and I did every sidequest I found, all of which involved walking across a field map at a frustratingly slow pace to pick up an item and then walking all the way back for a line of dialogue and a negligible amount of money. I easily could have shaved at least two hours off my playtime and I wouldn't have lost anything.

Tempest is a 2005 japan-only release for the DS developed by Dimps, the freelancers behind most handheld Sonic games and a good chunk of handheld licensed games, especially for DBZ and Digimon. When it dropped, it received so much hate from fans that Namco pretty quickly pulled it from the list of mainline Tales games, though they've recently quietly added it back to the list. They developed two more DS Tales games afterwards, in-house, and to fan approval, which makes Tempest even more interesting to me, as a first, failed attempt at a handheld Tales game.

It's definitely a bad game. Everything that involves a menu takes about three more button presses than necessary, the world takes a long time to travel for no good reason, the models are low poly and the textures are worse. The battle system is so unnecessarily limited that it's honestly barely worth engaging with. You only get four arte slots, and the protagonist's main gimmick is that he can turn into a werewolf when under half health, but transformation takes up an arte slot, so he functionally only has three. CPU-controlled characters also will only use moves assigned to their four arte slots. And there's no access to the artes menu in battle. Two of the five characters are werewolves, so only have three slots. Two more are mage/healer combos, so you have to divide their four slots between both offensive and healing spells. They balance this by making healing items unbelievably cheap and easy to obtain. Lemon and Pineapple Gels are 90 gald each. Miracle Gels are available in all stores for about 200 gald each. I ended the game with 80k gald.

The game has five party members, but only the protagonist, Caius, gets enough focus and story relevance that I'd consider him a character. Of the four main villains, two end up being his father and his brother. Another villain wears a mask and has the same hair color as the female lead, so I figured they'd be related in some way, but no, the female lead is so coincidental to the story that despite being on the box, she's the only character whose name I don't remember. Two of the party members, Tilkis and Forest, are the prince of a country you never see and his bodyguard. The last party member, Arria, is a priestess with the evil church who's sent to spy on the party, immediately gains their trust with no effort, and then immediately turns coat on the church when pushed. There's not much there.

That said, the lore has weirdly a lot of potential. About a century ago, humans committed genocides against the werewolf and ogre races, which carved out space for the human country to take over as the main superpower on the continent. Now, the human church is carrying out an inquisition against werewolves once again for unknown reasons, stoking fear against werewolves among the populace by spreading false rumors and executing any werewolves delivered to them without trial. This is pretty standard rpg stuff, but it's made interesting about halfway in, when it's revealed that the church is capturing werewolves to try to learn about a magic spell the werewolf country once had that was able to resurrect the dead. The goal of the inquisition is to gain and use this spell to resurrect all the victims of that genocide, thus making humans no longer culpable for the sins of their ancestors.

It's a fucking good hook, honestly. It reminds me of current debates around history education and white guilt. The church figures they can commit any violence they want in the present, as once they get that spell, the dead will come back anyway, so they won't have done anything wrong. The best parts of the game are when Caius tries to make his adversaries understand that making the dead no longer dead doesn't fix torture or generations of oppression. It doesn't rebuild the ruined werewolf city, return their lost poetry, or make their two countries relative equals on the global stage once more.

Unfortunately, they don't do a ton with this one really good idea. It's revealed near the end that the spell was a lie (it actually opens a portal to an evil dimension), the war between werewolves and humans was a lie (the werewolves opened a portal to an evil dimension and humans took credit for their fall for some reason), and the genocide against the ogres was inconsequential (ogres are not sentient and didn't have a country to begin with, they just stay north of the wall). It's like they understood that Tales games are known for their twists but didn't understand what a twist needs to do in order to change a story for the better. Just a strange game all around.

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)

This guide explains how to combine PC visuals and PS2 audio.

Extracting sounds

Existing community efforts

I was unable to find a perfect solution for extracting per-LVL streams (e.g. data_lvl_pc\sound\cor.lvl) on PC. There is a tool that endeavors to do so, but I found very mixed results with it. I found someone's in-game recordings of each ambient stream, but this didn't include all assets and I noticed some assets weren't recorded at their full length.

A modder going by "BAD-AL" is the most knowledgeable about this, still working periodically on stream extraction. You can run his fork of the tool yourself (tricky) or download the results of that work here. I found some of the streams had the wrong frequency compared to in-game, don't loop perfectly out of the box, and exhibit some noise. Nonetheless, these outputs will serve as a great reference point for validating our own rips.

There's a bunch of information about how sounds work in the game's primary modding community, including a guide to custom ambient sounds. There's a tool which decomplies ("unmunge"s) LVLs but this doesn't support audio.

My solution: vgmstream

I ended up giving up on decoding PC's streams, and running the PS2 version's LVLs through vgmstream instead. We'll tell vgmstream to interpret the entire LVL binary as an audio stream, and then select the actual audio data we want in an editor program e.g. Audacity.

This strategy is complicated by the fact that our TXTH file still needs an accurate interleave value, however. Some experimentation in MFAudio, In Cube and PSSound led to 16384, aka 0x4000 at the correct value. From here you can empirically guess-and-check num_sample values.

Set start_offset to 2048. I used ADPCM Ripper V1 and V2 as a starting point to help me determine this, and empirically tweaked it until the results sounded error-free.

Here's my Utapau TXTH for example:

codec = PSX interleave = 16384 channels = 2 sample_rate = 42500 start_offset = 2048 num_samples = 7931676

Stream sample rates

When using in-game recordings as reference I found, inexplicably, that each stream ran at a different speed rather than standard sample rates e.g. 44100 and 48000. I was therefore only able to determine these values empirically, i.e. by recording about ~3mins of audio from desired map areas.

Environmental sound effects

In addition to streams, each LVL contains the environmental sound effects for its map. For convenience I recommend just using one of the community downloads above for these, although I supposed they could be extracted one-by-one using the vgmstream method.

Appendix 1: Extracting individual MIB files

VGMToolbox, with it's brute force PS2 stream ripper tool, is capable of plucking individual MIB streams out of LVL archives. However, these are apparently headerless as they lack frequency and interleave information, so we still need to provide a TXTH to inform vgmstream's decoding.

Also, frustratingly, these MIBs always seem to lack the last sample in their right channel. I guessed that this was a symptom of an improper interleave_last value in my TXTH, but this setting didn't seem to make a difference.

Appendix 2: Dolby Pro Logic streams and front/back stereo pairs

My understanding of Pro Logic is limited - it seems to offer simulated or compact surround sound in an asset that's the size of a traditional stereo stream? Each PS2 LVL should contain one of these per stream.

Streams are quadrophonic on other platforms, i.e. they come in pairs of front/back stereo assets.

Capturing footage

Installing Mod Tools

The community has applied some fixes to BF2's official mod tools such that they work on newer operating systems. You can find those fixes yourself (vistamunge, "No DVD" EXE) or download an all-in-one package with these fixes pre-applied. Install its files into your GameData directory.

Hiding the HUD

By launching BF2_modtools_NoDVD.exe you'll have a version of the game with a developer console. Press ~ to activate. You'll find lots of commands and options here, but for the purposes of this guide we're interested in debugmenu.ToggleDisplay or Interface.Enable to disable the HUD. SetFov changes the field of vision.

(Not) entering cheats

Supposedly you can also disable the HUD via the "usetheforceluke" cheat during mission select. Before typing, park your cursor near the position below, and press Enter to submit. However, this didn't work for me - it may have been patched out at some point.

Free Camera mode

The developer version of the BF2 also has additional pause menu options. We can activate Free Camera mode, or bring up the "Fake Console" which is essentially a GUI for common commands. While in Free Camera, the game will pause by default, but you can toggle this with the M or Backspace key. Press WASD to directionally, and HOME and END to move vertically.

There are additional commands inside the console that you can choose to engage, depending on your preferences. For example Blur.Enable.

To disable AI spawning, set AI Units Per Team to 0. This setting is respected by most game modes.

Full-screen captures

You'll notice, however, that BF2_modtools launches itself into a small window and seemingly cannot toggle fullscreen. There are probably third-party programs to force the application into fullscreen; I didn't explore this. Luckily the community has made an EXE that launches to fullscreen.

Additional mods and projects

The unofficial "1.3" patch is considered the definitive way to play the game on PC, especially for multiplayer. It introduces the Mod Tools' developer features to your installed game in addition to expanding BF2's base capabilities.

The PC conversion of BF2 has some issues not found on Xbox/PS2. There are community mods to address some of these issues.

The Xbox version of BF2 got some exclusive DLC; the community has worked to port this to PC.

BFBuilder, Pandemic Studio's map editor. There is also WorldEdit, a community-made BF2 map editor.

Phoenix, a re-implementation of SWBF2 in Unity3D.

[sae-mian]

was doing some work on a side project (one of millions) and this one section i’ve been writing has me positively bewitched so i thought maybe i’d post it here  (*/ω＼)

it’s nira’sae/minasha flavoured (with some NSFW behaviour implied but never explicitly stated) 

They keened, squirming uselessly beneath him. 

"Please-" they begged, voice pitched and reedy with hours of use, "M-mina, please--" 

The sound sent shivers down his spine. 

He tormented them often - found his pleasures in discovering their limits and pushing to them, past them. But not like this. He'd never taken his time with them like this, and it was killing them. "Mina--" they called again, so near, thighs trembling something fierce, reduced to only a handful of known words. He slowed to a near-stop, and they whined - frustratingly desperate, desperately frustrated. 

His lips found their neck in something like an apology, trailing gently over beautifully bruised skin. "I'm sorry, I can't," he whispered, barely heard over the weight of their breathing, the beating of his heart. He couldn't give into the release they craved. Not yet. 

This writhing, holy body beneath him had done something to him - changed him in ways he could not fathom. 

Softly, delicately, they had dismantled every stone of his being - painstakingly washed each cobble with such reverent love, making a temple of his heart. 

Then like the violent tempest of nature, claiming and reclaiming, they'd carved themselves a home there, from which they might never leave. 

How could he ever let them leave? What was a heart that had never known love until now supposed to do, if not fear it’s loss, every waking moment? 

Though it pained them - though it drove them to insanity - he would keep them here, suspended in this moment for as long as he could. He would hold onto this little slice of heaven that had pressed so brazenly, so sweetly into his heart. 

Because after all... 

Tomorrow was never promised.

[fade-and-loathing-in-thedas]

WIP Whenever

💕💕💕 thank you to lovely @oxygenforthewicked for the tag! I have some more Amell siblings bullshit since for some reason it's the only thing my brain wants to write lol It's a little scene between Akroma and Leliana during Inquisition. It's also very long, so it's under the cut lol

Tagging: @merrybandofmurderers @heniareth and @yukichouji but absolutely no pressure :)

Akroma hummed thoughtfully as she read through the reports Leliana had left splayed out on her desk. She wasn't snooping. At least, not really. It would be quite impossible to find, let alone snoop through, Leliana's private documents if she had any desire to hide them. Also, after ten years of friendship, Leliana had more than learnt that anything left where Akroma could find them would be thoroughly investigated. Respecting people's privacy was not one of Akroma's strong suits.

Honestly, the report wasn't all that interesting. It was just a tally of the number of soldiers and scouts lost in the attack on Haven, which she had already spoken to Akroma about, and confirmation that the Inquisition had secured another mercenary company to meet the increased security required at Skyhold. All rather mundane, really. All except the notes scribbled on the bottom of the page.

The Toussaint Company. Well established. Orlesian. Lieutenants Dubois, Markham, and Amell.

Unsurprisingly, Amell had been underlined several times. As the Inquisition's spymaster, Leliana would, of course, be very interested in someone claiming the Amell family name. It was probably why she hired them in the first place. Better to keep threats close in hand than out of reach.

"So, you found my notes," a familiar voice sounded from behind her. "Any thoughts?"

Akroma shifted her attention away from the report and turned to face her dear friend, Leliana, with a grin. "Many, as you well know. So, what have you learned?"

The ghost of a smile played on Leliana's lips as she brushed a loose lock of her hair behind her ear. "Did you know you are frustratingly vague and rarely ever answer a question? You always prefer to ask them."

Akroma's smile widened as she crossed her arms and leaned her hip against Leliana's desk. "What can I say, I'm a curious creature."

Leliana threw back her head and laughed, a long, tinkling peal that would have seemed at odds with her reputation, if you didn't know her that is. Then she smiled brightly and said, "that you are," before reaching into one of her artfully concealed pockets and pulling out a folded piece of vellum paper. Akroma instinctively reached for it, but Leliana quickly moved it out of reach.

"Uh, uh," Leliana teased. "You asked for my report, so let me give it."

Akroma bit her lip and her fingers twitched as she fought the urge to just snatch the piece of parchment from Leliana's hand. The only reason she didn't was there was a distinct possibility the paper was blank, it was just the kind of innocent prank Leliana would play on her.

When Akroma made no further attempt to grab the paper, Leliana began to read out her report. "He's been with the Company more than ten years. Leads the military branch of the outfit. Well respected, if not feared for his prowess. He has made no claims to a familial connection with the Inquisitor, though we have taken great efforts to ensure your connection to the Amells' is not widely known so that could be why. Oh, and he doesn't socialise much."

Leliana could see Akroma's frustration at the limited information. Though she kept her expression blank, Akroma could see the smirk in her eyes. Then a twinkle lit Akroma’s keen, slate grey eyes. "Is that all? I think you might be slipping, Leli." Akroma wasn't above a bit of teasing, two can play that game after all.

Leliana chuckled. "Perhaps, but spies require people to talk, Akroma. The group is quite tight lipped. I have other tidbits, physical descriptions and preferences, but hardly relevant to whether he is an Amell."

Akroma forced down her desire to ask for every scrap of information and instead focused on the most important question. "When do they arrive?"

"Tomorrow," Leliana answered. "Perhaps Josephine or Cullen can arrange an introduction?"

Akroma shook her head. "No. I have another idea."

"I leave you to handle it then." Leliana smiled—a small, knowing sort of smile—then added, "you did look surprisingly unremarkable in that scout disguise you have. No one would have guessed it was the Inquisitor sitting down to have drinks with them."

"Maker's breath," Akroma exclaimed. "You knew?"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, Akroma," Leliana said, somewhat smugly.

Shaking her head, Akroma let out a soft laugh. "I should never have doubted you."

Leliana gave her a warm smile. "You never have. You have not just my loyalty to you as your spymaster, but as your friend. I will not let harm come to you, if I can prevent it." Her expression grew suddenly serious. "Not again, anyway."

Akroma rolled her eyes. "We've been through this, Leli. You are not at fault for what happened at Haven." Seeing no change in her friend's expression, Akroma stalked over and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I would not have you sacrifice the humanity in you for the sake of my life or anyone else's. You are everything good and kind in this world. And I should know, I have faced much evil."

Leliana squeezed her back, just as tightly, and murmured, "thank you, my friend."

Breaking apart, they said their farewell. Leliana, of course, threw in some teasing comments about Akroma's new relationship with Cullen. There wasn't a conversation in their entire friendship that hadn't involved Leliana teasing her in some fashion. It was nice. Familiar. Like family. The one she never had.