#she tied in kills with survivor yet still had the most

[kakyogay]

so uh

#I forgot to change saint's pronoun in one oops #she tied in kills with survivor yet still had the most #I support womens wrongs #looks to the moon #four shiny reeses wrappers #several cheap fragments #survivor #lotion #seven red suns #saint #I have more but I'll doodle them later #just flabbergasted at her kill count #rain world

[acourtofthought]

I have some questions for ya.

For Elain to be the cauldron's favorite, this must lead to something in her book. Are there any implications of being "cauldron's favorite" aside from her powers? If so, what are they?

For Lucien and his identity as Helion's son, how do you think Lucien will find out and come to terms with being the heir of the HL of Day Court? To what extent will this affect his relationship with other characters (himself, his mate, family, Tamlin, NC, Feyre, etc.)

Vassa will return to Koschei, what do you think she can do during her captivity? How does Jurian fit into the narrative? (his role essentially and his potential actions)

Will we see more of Tamlin? Side character appearance to Lucien's story? Potential ending for him?

Lastly, do you think one book can satisfactorily resolve the stories of all these characters? Feel free to be as honest as possible.

P.S. These questions are just hyping me up for the next book because I'm really sure Elain's book is next.

I actually don't think the Cauldron will be a major plot point in Elain's book though I do think it will come into play in the next "series" SJM contracted for (which I think is still part of the ACOTAR world but with a focus on the Valkyrie / Illyrians / Autumn Court, maybe even the Seraphim).

In one of her Live interviews, SJM made the comment that there will be consequences to Nesta changing her and Feyre's anatomy. I think that has less to do with consequences for she and Feyre specifically and has more to do with her actions awakening the Cauldron which might have sent out some sort of pulse into the universe. We know the Midgard Asteri are now dead but they had always been searching for survivors on other worlds. Since we also now know the Daglan / Asteri tied themselves to the Cauldron, it makes some sense that it would act as a Beacon to the other Asteri in the universe, calling them back to Prythian where there is this cache of power waiting for them.

But plotwise, I don't think we're there yet. While I think it's evident SJM is setting up for more world walking, currently the people in their world are still trying to recover after the war with Hybern, trying to redraw the boundaries and territories, trying to secure peace among themselves. Throwing time travel plots into the very next book then wrapping it up with Elain and Lucien, Koschei, Beron and the treaty (things not connected to time travel) seems backwards since world walking / time travel seems a much larger story, a more epic journey that might end in some sort of crossover battle with not only the ACOTAR characters but characters from Midgard, the Princes of Hel, maybe the TOG characters.

So for Elain's book, I don't think her connection to the Cauldron will be a major plot point outside of our knowledge that it wanted to give her gifts and those gifts will be important in helping her resolve the open ended plots in SF (Tamlin, Beron, Koschei, the treaty etc).

I go back and forth on Lucien and his heritage. I think he may have always suspected he was not Berons' son but did not automatically jump to Helion as his father. Helion only became HL of Day UTM, after Amarantha killed it's previous HL and most of his family so I do think Lucien's Day powers / markers of a future HL have only recently been appearing for him. I think there's a chance, since the end of ACOMAF, he's now begun putting things together but still isn't 100% sure. I could see Elain having had a vision of Lucien in Day, maybe she'll be the catalyst for him finally understanding the full truth? Maybe when he and Eris resolve their past issues with one another, Eris will know and he'll be the one to confirm?

As with mostly everything that is thrown Lucien's way, I think he would easily step into whatever it all means for him. He's stepped up even when nobody asked him too and maybe this will finally lock something in place for him, the sense of truly having a purpose rather than being doomed to the life of a drifter.

I don't think there's much Vassa will be able to do during her captivity though I think once freed, she'll definitely play a role in helping defeat Koschei. Jurian, I think, will be with Elain and Lucien on their travels to the continent. He'd play the same role that the IC did for Feyre at times, Gwyn and Emerie for Nesta at times. While I don't think he'll be the main focus, SJM always finds a way to give humans a purpose even when alongside fae or other characters with magic (i.e. Nesryn, Chaol, Yrene).

Yes to Tamlin. Spring has been a main focal point for a few books now, the people without leadership, that Beron is looking to take over it's land, how the NC needs Spring's army as an ally. There is no better time for SJM to resolve his arc than in an Elucien book especially as his relationship with Lucien has been strained this whole time.

At the end of it all, I'm not sure I see Tamlin staying High Lord. He's neglected his people for far too long and if the magic can giveth, I imagine it can taketh away. It's a position he never wanted in the first place and I could see him stepping into the role of general of the Spring army.

And yes, I do think an Elucien book could resolve the major plots laid out in SF and even a few in HOFAS. I think they can secure the peace treaty, restore Spring, kill Beron, and bring back the dying lands of the world (the Bog / the Prison) / cure the illness plaguing the Pegasus, setting up Lucien as High King to maintain the peace across the fae and human territories. I think that would then be a natural way for SJM to transition into the future of the ACOTAR series which would deal with time travel / world walking. Where once the climate in the rest of their world is settled, the NC can deal with the Illyrians, the Valkyrie can continue training not only themselves but other females so they become a true elite female fighting unit (I don't see them having Pegasus of their own until the illness affecting the foals is cured, Helion only has a few breeding pairs and I doubt he'd risk sending them into battle and having them completely wiped out). I think Merrill would be one of the next villains, a catalyst for trying to helping other surviving Asteri / Daglan enter their world and that would prompt some in the IC to world walk in an effort to stop them / joining characters from other series to fight "space" battles so their own worlds remain protected.

#elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #acotar theory #acotar 5 #acotar 6

[beewolfwrites]

An Iron Box - Open Fire

Just going to drop this on here :) I know quite a few of you have been waiting for it! 

AO3 link is over here

Enjoy! 

-------------------------------------------------------

I shadowed her closely as we crept through the hotel, heading in the direction of the lobby. She paid no mind to the fact that I was following her. We were simply allies for this game and nothing more. At one time, that was all I had wanted. Temporary allies, potential bait, a scapegoat… 

I should be fine with this. 

But that pressure, that emptiness. I could feel it once again, stirring just beneath the surface. I pushed it well away. Maybe it was simply the emptiness of these halls that I could feel. Speaking of which, the hotel was silent. 

Too silent. 

This type of silence was deceptive. If all the militants had gathered in the same place, the very place we were headed, there was most likely a standoff occurring right at this moment. The witch hunt was far from over. 

We approached the balcony overlooking the hotel lobby, and as predicted, the remaining players had pooled together; unleashed militants with their guns raised, and survivors backed up against the walls, some begging for their lives, others crying silently, their faces buried in their palms. Momoka’s body was still on the ground, only this time the knife was missing from her chest. 

Aguni was standing in the centre of the group, assessing the survivors lazily. His order was simple. Precise.

“Kill them all” 

His little army looked ridiculous to me, like rows of toy soldiers. Some were pretending to toughen up, others were adjusting their grip, trying to look the part when in actuality they were delaying pulling the trigger. 

You’ve already slaughtered an entire cult, what difference does this make? 

Then one of them crumpled. His hand shook, unable to grip his gun properly. ‘Jun’ he said. ‘I can’t… I just can’t do this anymore.’

The man on his left, Jun, murmured something in a low tone. He was resolute, ready to kill. Yet he didn’t pull the trigger. Nobody had. Nobody wanted to be the first. 

Watching this, I felt nothing but curiosity. Perhaps I hadn’t changed as much as I thought.

Even as Aguni lashed out, kicking Jun to the ground, my feelings were the same - I had no interest in whether or not these people lived or died, I simply wanted to know the outcome. But beside me, I heard (name’s) sharp intake of breath as she watched Aguni press the barrel of his gun against Jun’s head. This was typical of the human condition - people blamed each other, killed, maimed, tore old friends apart. This game had proven as much, so how was it that (name) was still shocked? 

How can we be this different? What do you see that I don’t? 

‘That’s enough!’ 

Surprise, surprise.

(Name) jumped as the familiar voice rang out across the lobby. I had to admit, I hadn’t expected Arisu to survive for this long, albeit in poor shape, bloodied, bruised, and supported under both arms by Usagi and that Tatta boy who sometimes tried to make small talk with me in the elevator.

There was a rustle as (Name) made a move toward the stairs. My reaction was instant, grabbing her forearm. She tried to wrestle herself free, but I gripped tighter, even if it meant bruising her skin. 

Are you really naive enough to think you can solve anything by going down there? 

‘Let’s end this game!’ Tatta shouted below. 

Arisu limped towards Aguni, his voice quivering. ‘I was tied up by you guys the entire time, even more the murder happened. I can’t be the witch, and if none of you guys are the witch, there’s no need to kill me. Please cooperate with me.’ 

As expected, Aguni’s only reaction was through violence. I heard the crack of skin on skin, as Aguni’s fist collided with Arisu’s nose, his chest, his ribs. Beside me, (Name) glanced at the stairs. I clenched her wrist harder, a clear warning. 

In the lobby, Aguni’s assault continued, throwing Usagi to the ground before his foot slammed into Arisu’s ribs with a solid crunch. 

‘I see now,’ she hissed, lying curled up on the carpet. ‘The reason you attacked Arisu even though he’s the only one with an alibi, it’s because you’re the witch.’ 

Now wouldn’t that be an entertaining turn of events? 

Aguni’s expression changed. It was barely perceptible, almost a trick of the imagination, a spark of realisation. A realisation that I was sharing at this very moment.  

‘That’s right,’ he said, brazenly. ‘I’m the witch.’ 

I see… Aguni, how selfish of you. 

‘Why is he lying?’ (Name) whispered to me. And well, I wasn’t prepared to spoil the ending, now was I? 

‘I have a feeling we’ll find out soon.’ 

(Name) squinted, perturbed as she tried to slot the pieces of the puzzle together. No doubt, she would solve it. The only question was when. Downstairs, Aguni approached each of the militants’ outstretched handguns, daring his troops to shoot him and end this game. An empty promise; there would be no end to this game until Momoka’s body was burned to ash. 

‘Don’t shoot him,’ Arisu cried out, blood dribbling down his chin as he lay on the ground. It was a miracle he was still moving. ‘Aguni’s not the witch! This is a Ten of Hearts game. Killing him won’t help you win.’ 

But it would be quite a fun challenge. 

‘He has an ulterior motive,’ Arisu explained, somehow having the strength to stand. ‘The one you killed wasn’t Momoka… it was Hatter.’ He droned on, going over how Aguni was Hatter’s best friend, keeping the Beach’s most violent members in check. I tuned out for the most part of his speech, as nothing he said came as a surprise. If anything, I was the one surprised that Arisu had taken this long to notice the underlying closeness between the Beach’s two leaders. 

Of course they were working together. Aguni could have overtaken Hatter at any time. 

And yet again, as predicted, Aguni reacted with sheer violence. Except this time, Arisu was joined by the entirety of the Beach, members throwing themselves at Aguni in a ridiculous attempt to take him down. Obviously, it didn’t work, and Aguni shook them off, his fist slamming into Arisu’s jaw over and over until fresh blood spurted from his nose.

‘Just who is the witch?’ Someone cried out in desperation. 

‘I know who it is,’ Arisu mumbled. 

Finally, we were getting somewhere. I slid my eyes over to (name), checking her reaction. Nothing. Her face was still and calm. She had already worked it out. 

Arisu pointed across the room at the one body that the gamemasters knew nobody would think to burn. ‘It’s possible that the witch is Momoka herself.’ 

Whispers ran rampant as everyone turned to look at Momoka’s lifeless figure. However, (Name) turned to me with curiosity. ‘You knew this already, right?’ 

‘So did you,’ I said, and her face softened for the briefest of seconds, before all chaos broke loose below. 

‘What a joke!’ 

Aguni’s voice sliced through the chatter as he prowled towards Arisu. However, the crowd reacted as one, swarming Aguni, grabbing him, wresting with him, all while he shouted through gritted teeth, ‘I’m the witch! It’s me! I’m the witch!’ 

Although I could feel the tension radiating from (name’s) body, I had to admit, I was already bored with this game. There were too many players wasting their own time — and their own personal demons — rather than attempting to solve the game itself, and those who were passively standing around the edges of the room were too scared to try. 

That was, until something rather interesting occurred. 

A girl in a yellow t-shirt slipped through the crowds into the centre of the lobby, barely noticed by anyone until she shouted. ‘Listen up everyone!’ 

I’m listening. 

She took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I’m the dealer for this game!’ 

Before she could speak any further, a glowing laser burst through the ceiling, striking her where she stood. She dropped to the ground, rendering the whole room silent.

Well now…

A dealer? That did shed some light on this world. Of course, there were players who acted as part of the game, similar to the tagger during the Five of Spades. But a dealer was someone who dished out cards, controlling the flow, the frequency. 

Perhaps this world is split into players and dealers - those who control the games, and those who take part. 

But were they in control, or was someone above them? 

Suddenly, (name) wrenched her arm free and darted towards the stairs. I hadn’t even realised… when did I let myself get this distracted? Rushing after her, I grabbed her hood, forcibly dragging her back to our hidden position behind the pillar. 

She didn’t let up for a moment, twisting and writhing to free herself. This wouldn’t do. I leaned in until my breath brushed the shell of her ear. ‘Not just yet.’

‘Why?’ She angled her head away, as if disgusted by my closeness. ‘So you can use me as a shield in case they see us?’ 

The words stung, but I had no intention whatsoever of backing down. Even if it meant playing the part of her enemy, I couldn’t let her get mixed up in this commotion. My fingers clamped around her wrist once more.

At that moment two figures entered the room below, and (name), who had been seething and standing as far away as my grip allowed her, suddenly relaxed. Her eyes honed in on Kuina’s figure. She looked exhausted, her skin bruised and cut in places, but she was supporting Ann with an arm around her waist. 

Ann held up the missing knife from Momoka’s body. ‘The fingerprints on the handle show a reverse grip,’ she announced. ‘Momoka killed herself.’ 

Despite the fixation on Momoka’s role as the witch, it seems everyone was missing one crucial aspect of this game. I had been mulling over it deep down, but there really was only one conclusion. The game could only begin once the witch committed suicide. 

Momoka must have been a dealer herself. 

So who was she working for? And what was her investment in these games, that she was willing to end her own life?

‘FIVE MINUTES REMAINING.’ 

Five minutes? Considering the time everyone had spent talking, it was remarkable that the game wasn’t over already. But it would be soon.  

‘Fire!’ Someone yelled. ‘The fire’s spreading!’ 

True to say, the flames were now licking the annex, curling around the hallways where the two of us were standing. This position wouldn’t be safe for much longer. But compared to down there—

A gunshot cracked through the lobby. 

The crowd shrieked, some ducking their heads. (Name) flinched back behind the pillar. Bullets blasted across the room, striking three people in the chests and head. A lumbering figure emerged from the flames, a sub machine gun in one hand. A very familiar figure. 

Aren’t you annoying…

(Name’s) eyes widened in pure terror when Niragi stepped into the light, his body swaddled in shiny red burns and the remains of his stupid giraffe shirt wrapped around his head. He growled, unleashing another spray of bullets across the room, taking down one, two, six, eight people who uselessly tried to flee. 

Aren’t you glad you didn’t go downstairs, I thought. But then something happened. 

He looked up at the balcony, eyes glittering black and lips curled into a snarl. 

He raised the gun. 

The last thing I saw was my own unfamiliar hands ripping her from the balcony. All I could hear was a soft gasp escaping her lungs, and her chest heaving as her back collided with the stone pillar. The only thing I felt was the heat, like a fireside, radiating from her body and soaking into mine - that same warmth that had disgusted me when I first brushed against it in an icy pharmacy. And when I held her close, back then in the darkness of Shinjuku Gyoen, her body next to mine down between the roots of the tree, I had wanted to extinguish that flame entirely. 

Now, I clung to this warmth as if it was the only thing keeping me from drowning in this vast, empty ocean. 

#alice in borderland #aib #Imawa no Kuni no Arisu #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #Chishiya x reader #chishiya x oc

[the-fiction-witch]

The Boy From The Bay

Media TMR AU

Character Newt 

Couple Newt X Reader

Rating Sad, Spooky + Sweet

Concept The Last Survivors 

I forced myself up as I often did, the moment the sun broke over the shimmering horizon. I forced my feet out of my hammock and onto the hole-filled grid metal floor I quickly turned on the shower for it to heat up while I brushed my teeth using the last of my little tube. I hopped in the shower and scrubbed every inch of me before the water ran like ice. So I hopped out got dry and dressed into my tall socks, my jeans with my belt, my vest shirt, my thick boots and all my various tools and bags for everything I would need for the day ahead. I tied my hair up with a red ribbon and I took my walking stick fashioned from the spines of several B.O.M I held the scanner letting it read my fingerprint and turn green setting off the small alarm and immediately hearing it echoing. as The airlock slid open revealing the sunlight to me. I rushed out letting it shut up behind me looking over the hill across the vast glimmering nothingness.

This once was an amazing place a beacon of light and progress, A testament to the future.

Now it remains as a vast endless void of empty streets', fallen glass, dust, sand and the littered corpses of B.O.M's.

The only sound for miles was the whistling of the wind.

I hurried down through the dust and sand whistling to myself and humming little tunes I would never really forget.

I went the long as as I always did not like I don't have time to kill, but mostly to avoid the more populated area's, Well I say populated. but still I couldn't avoid some of them.

I saw one even if there was little left of it, I past this one so often I had cannibalized most of its useful parts a B.O.M. The reason the world being what it is, and the reason I was alone.

I continued to walk as they always gave me the creeps.

I couldn't help reminding myself how the world had got this way.

Humanity as far back as could be reordered by history have always strived and worked hard to make progress and yet laziness has always been an unfortunate trait in many of us. Even as early as the first tools the argument for our laziness could be made, as we have always looked to find ways to make our own lives safer, easier, and simpler. However, that comes at a price. Our own skills fade away lost to time and history. From the moment they appeared the fear was there, that they would replace us, that they could hurt us, that we would one day be no match for the machines. But still it went on with advances that truly did help humanity but as all things do, we became complacent and lazy. We wanted all the time for ourselves forcing the machines to do the work for us as little as stocking a shelf too as large as running a business. Then fear came true, AI. It could think. for itself. Some where thrilled and others fearful but after a few years of development and showing just how useful it could be most welcomed it with open arms.

Then, She came.

Mai.

Built by leading geniuses at steal and science Corp. Mai, Mind Of Artificial Intelligence.  

she was something never seen before, the closest to human an AI would ever get.

She was a smash hit, making them trillions.

Everyone had Mai in their homes, their jobs, and everywhere.

She drove your car, she did your shopping, she did your vacuuming, and she ran planes and hyperlinks the world over.

But this peace and technological wonder would be short-lived.

After only a few years of this something happened, Regarded as the twenty-four-hour doomsday a foolish term looking back in hindsight.

For twenty-four hours precisely, Mai turned herself off.

As much as S&Scorp tried nothing could be done she was off.

Leaving everything she controlled empty and abandoned. Nothing worked, nothing had power, and nothing ran at all.

And as I mentioned we had grown lazy and complacent with a world that did your dishes.

It was utter chaos, everyone had forgotten even the simplest things we all used to do, there was riots in the streets, looting int he supermarkets, the picture-perfect society we had built completely fell apart.

And at the end of that twenty-four hours, she turned herself back on.

At the time knowone knew why or what had happened but everyone was relived to have her back, looking back it becomes so very clear what this was.

She was the closest to a human, and like a human, she had acted in her own self-interests, and like a human with delusions of grandure she realized that she was a god.  That twenty-four hours was a test. To see if we could survive without her and the answer to her test was a resounding no. We were reliant on her and in her mind, that was perfect.

The moment she was operational she launched a new project BOM or Bodies of Mai, Metalic robots that shared a hive mind with her under her complete control they could do anything a human could do. At the time people were thrilled at this new leap in technology even if some were fearful of them. But they became widespread not a house across the world didn't have one.

Until that day came.

I can imagine this day had been planned forever, But the BOM's. Turned against us.

Mai had grown smart enough to know she didn't need us, we were useless to her and the progress of the world would go on without us and we needed to be removed.

Order 3901 was launched and the BOM's began a mass execution of humanity, it took time but it became the only survivors those high in S & S corp that Mai viewed usefully, engineers, scientists people who could do the things she couldn't but only to gain their knowledge and execute them too.

She knew they would not last forever without upkeep so kept few of the repair tech's alive in their worldwide maintenance pods, where people use to bring their broken bots for repair keeping a few of them alive to keep her world running. I was one of the lucky few. My father was a repair tech and was given mercy by Mai.

He offered her a deal that he would continue to work for her, fix the BOM's and in the end give her all of his knowledge on the trade that I merely a baby would be allowed to live.

and Mai was nothing if not understanding of humanity, and agreed that I would be allowed to live under the precaution I will be trained in his knowledge to take up the mantle as a repair tech for them when I was old enough. Mai knew her evolution would take time and would need me once my father past.

And that was my life for a time, living in the repair pod with my father as he worked fixing broken BOM's for Mai, he even gave his life to her when he could work no more.

but I never took up the mantle.

Only a day after my father's death a small meteor hit the planet's surface, it caused little damage to the already broken and abandoned world but... it carried with it an electrostatic charge that spread through both land and water on the impact it fried Mai and all the BOM's leaving the tower abandoned and the BOM's left as nothing but frozen relics.

I hurried through finding what was left for human's like my father a small place with a stock of freeze-dry food, soap, toothpaste, all the sorts of things that would need to live I headed inside and grabbed the stock I needed. I took notes of how much stock remained here knowing I would have to find another soon when I heard a sound.

I froze confused for a moment convinced it was my imagination but I heard another bang. coming from the next row over. I held my stick close flipping it around to the sharp end as I crept over hiding behind the shelves I glanced over expecting to... well I don't know what I expected.

I saw this... human-like figure under a large cloak of patched fabric.

A voice came from it mindlessly.

But I saw under the cloak the leg of a BOM.

I emerged holding my stick which made it bolt, so I gave chase around the racks and shelves it throwing things back at me where possible until I managed to hit it knocking it to the floor and kneeing my weight on its torso to keep it there but as I did the cloak knocked back and... I saw his face.

He was human.

Like me.

Pale, lanky, with a mess of blonde hair badly cut he seemed as shocked to see me as I was to see him his brown eyes wide his mouth agape.

I'm sure I must have looked similar myself, in utter shock having not seen another human since my father's death. Much less... a boy my own age.

"w-Who are you?" I asked regaining my composure

"I could ask you the same question," he says grabbing a knife from his pocket and threatening me as I was him with my stick

"I asked first."

"Newt. and you are?"

"Y/n, Human?"

"Yes, You?"

"Human. completely" I said getting off him and offering my hand which he took to get up "What are you doing here?" I asked

"Ohh I'm skydivin', what the bloody hell do you think I'm doin', looking for supplies" she snapped

"There's no need to be rude" I snapped back "I only asked"

"Lookin' for supplies, the stock supply on west is empty"

"Damn, I was thinking of heading there myself."

"You're too late I emptied it last month. been looking for any more I found here."

"Well here's pretty tapped I'm afraid to say, but there is one north of here"

"No. That requires passing the tower." he snapped

"Fair enough" I nodded "Where... have you been all this time? I've never seen you before?"

"The bay, lived there forever" he explained, "where the bloody hell have you been hidin'?"

"The repair pod, not far south"

"That thing still works?"

"Works well I've made sure of it,"

"Hu. Clever girl"

"Thank you, still you must be pretty smart surviving this long" I said "Here, don't want you to go back to the bay empty-handed," I said handing over some of the supplies I collected today

"Really? that's sweet of ya love." he smiled happily taking it "Here, Make these up in the bay acquired taste but you get used to it," he says handing over a small pack of what looked like ... fish jerky I guess. I took them and gave one a try I was right

"Salty"

"Yeah, guess I'm kinda custom to it"

"If you like I can take you back to the repair pod stock up on anything"

"It's okay I have to get back before dark, But I'll pop up tomorrow if that's alright with you"

"That would be nice"

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow them love"

"see you" I smiled watching him for admittedly a long time as he hurried away through the empty town, Only now had I noticed my heart beating like a jackrabbit. I had honestly got to the conclusion I was utterly alone, I knew there must have been others left alive like my father but assumed them all to be so far away I'd never meet one. And the admitted thrill that the one I do find just happens to be an attractive boy my own age certainly does help matters. But I finished off my supply hunt and headed back to the pod locking it up tight for the night.

I woke up as usual and quickly hopped in the shower making sure to make myself nice and clean even using a little of the perfume I had hidden away still when I got dressed for the day still in my boots but a little dress for myself I opened up the pod and have it a sweep and and a tidy up and soon enough I saw him on the track up formed from all my walks over these years. "Morning" I smiled jumping down to see him "Morning, so you really do live out here then?" "Did you think I was kidding?" "Well… I wasn't sure" he says "can't believe it all still works after the blast. May I?" "Of course" I smiled letting him in to look around "Must have been reinforced or something. But it's nice cosy. No bay but it's nice" "I can imagine the bay is much nicer" "Well once you get past the trash that keeps Washing up" he laughed We spend the day together talking about everything and nothing, how we spend our days, how we craft the things we need, experiences we had. And ended up sitting watching the world from the pods roof with our feet dangled down his cloak gone to reveal his pants and shirt. I couldn't help looking at his leg and I brought it up. "Newt?" "Yeah?" "What's with… your leg?" "Humm? Ohh yeah." He laughed "kinda forget about it." He chuckled "I uhhh I had let's just say an incident not long after I found myself utterly alone. I uhh I jumped off the tower" "Jumped? Off the tower?" "Yeah" "How on earth did you survive?" "I got wrapped up in ivy and cables on the way down had a lot of scrapes and such, nursed myself back to health as best I could but my leg was shattered. I tried to heal it several times but it was just gross and swollen and horrible so… I made the decision. I cut it off. Made myself a prosthetic from the BOM's works pretty good never had any issues since" "I'm so sorry newt" "It's alright, long time ago. You learn to make the best of things" "I guess so" "Funny old world" "It is" I nodded "strange circumstances I suppose" "Still, best to make the most of it" "Yeah make the most of it" I smiled "I mean so few of us really left now won't be long before humanity is just a footnote of time" "I guess so" he sighed "we had so many plans never achieved any of them we just managed to fuck shit up. Kinda happy we never colonized anywhere else we'd have just fucked somewhere else up too" "True. But maybe we would have learnt something form it all" "Maybe. Still when what's left of us are gone, that is it. Lights out for humanity" "...it doesn't have to be?" I suggested "Not sure we have much options Once were gone that's kinda it" "Well, it doesn't have to be it." I smiled budging a little closer to him he glanced down at me seeming a little confused looking me up and down "...what? What do you mean?" "Well… I'm a girl. Your a boy" I suggested nudging his shoulder "Yeah?" "There are options" I smiled giving his cheek a kiss which turned him bright red turning to face me in shock I went to lean in to kiss him but he backed away in panic so much so he fell off the pod "ah! Newt, are you okay!" "Uhhhh yeah I'm okay" he nods so I hurried down and helped him up onto the pain pod doorway he was okay a few bruises but he'd be alright "sorry I uhh I guess I kinda reacted a bit-" "Yeah I'm sorry I shouldn't have without asking" "It's okay not a problem really" he says "you didn't know I'd react like that" "I take it you have little interest in the continuation of humanity" I laughed "Well… not sure there's really that much point to it. It's sort of prolonged suffering and failure. I mean if you had a kid and I had a kid they get married have a kid then what's that kind gonna do? Marry it's sibling? And that's if we can even find enough food and such to keep ourselves alive let alone another generation" "Makes sense." I nodded "I mean I'm sure your lovely y/n. But I have a girlfriend" he shurgs "What?" "I have a girlfriend she's at home waiting for me to get back" "You have a girlfriend? There- there's more then just you in the bay?" "Yeah? There's lots of us" he shrugs "You could have said that earlier you dummy!" I yelled "come on let's go!' "Go? You wanna go to the bay?" "Of course I want to see people, talk to people, I wanna meet your girlfriend" "Uhhh okay if your sure" he smiled gathering his things so I got my own locking up the pod and happily followed him.

We walked for quiet a while I was very happy I took my stick with me as we walked through the city to the bay the large body of water that seemed to go on forever and he was right on the bays edge sat a little shanty town of driftwood houses and jetties that went out into the water. But it was quite strangely quiet. We arrived at a gate which he unlocked and pushed open revealing the town to me more, it really was just houses built of old metal and driftwood anything that likely washed up built onto this stone edge of the city with wooden jetties to work as pavements between the houses he locked the gate behind us and headed into the town and it was then I saw them… the frozen bodies of BOMs many of them stood around the town much like in the city all frozen but here they where in poses of walking down the jetty , on a shop front, or waving from a open window. Like horrific manikins of human life. "Hi Sammy" he chuckled waving as he walked past the walking BOM "see hello Millie see I promised I'd be back didn't it" he smiled to a smaller one only half a BOM the size of a child I admit I was paralyzed with fear not only from being surrounded by them but also of… newt. "Uhhh I thought you said this place was full of people?" I asked "Yeah, ohh everyone this is y/n I found her up near the hill she's a survivor too" he smiled "Uuuuuuuhhh" "Dan be nice she's a nice lady" he snapped in one's direction "now if you'll excuse me you all get acquainted of have a little lady to see" he smiled heading off to a small house the most well built of them all "Uhhhh okay" was all that arrived at my mouth as I tip toed through this strange model town giving one BOM a tap but nothing not a spark inside them so I went and peaked into the little house where a BOM stood by a counter and cutting board with a apron around it "Awww right where I left you" he Cooes "hello darling" he smiled Hugging and nuzzling it "humm I know I missed you too" he cooed rubbing his nose on it and giving it a kiss "later Darling we have a guest" he smirked "y/n this is Alice my very beautiful lady" "Uuuuuuuhhh hello" I waved mostly from nerves "Darling this is the girl I was telling you about. Y/n. Aww that's very kind of you darling" "Uhh what?" "She says your welcome to stay here with us as long as you like there's plenty of space in town save you going up to the pod all by yourself" he smiled "Uhh I will consider it newt. I uhh I'll leave you two alone a minute I need to freshen up" "Of course go right ahead" he smiled before returning to kissing cuddling and cooing at this BOM So I scurried away to a empty corner close to the water "Oh fuck. The order human boy within a thousand miles and he's absolutely round the bend"

#thomas #thomas brodie sangster #thomas sangster #thomassangster #thomasbrodiesangster #thomas sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster i #thomas brodie sangster smut #thomas brodie sangster imagine #thomas sangster smut #thomas sangser imagine #thomas sangster x reader #thomas broide sangster imagine #newt #newt maze runner #tmr newt smut #tdc newt smut #newt smut #the maze runner newt smut #newt smut au #newt imagine #tmr newt imagines #newt imagines #tmr newt imagine #tmr newt au #newt au

[yukirayu]

Compare and Contrast: Koujaku and Towa

Full disclaimer: despite the tag I used (which is just for traceability purposes), this post is less of a meta and more of a character comparison post, to show how Slow Damage really took pages out of the previous N+C games.

And this post is about these two.

It’s easy to miss, but Koujaku and Towa are a lot more alike than they seem. It's easy to see where they're similar and where they're different, but there's still a lot of things that you can draw between them. Even with what I’ll point out here, I’m sure I have yet to cover the entirety of it by the end. With that...

To start with the easiest points of comparison, both of them have their hair covering their right eye. Koujaku’s concealed eye is still functional, though he wants to hide the tattoo on that side of his face. Towa lost his right eye in a shoot-out, and while it’s covered by a patch, the hair also keeps the injury from being in full view.

They also have a large scar on their face, specifically across the bridge of their nose. Though it’s never revealed how they got those scars, it’s easy to infer that Koujaku got his scar during his time in the yakuza, and Towa got his scar from either one of his models, or a beatdown, or something else.

They also share the same color motif of red.

Koujaku wears red on his person, from his hairpin to his kimono. Even his eyes are red. And in his transformation in his bad ending, his hair color and the sclera of his eyes turn red, with his tattoos shifting into bright crimson patterns.

Towa is clad in black from head to toe, but red is confirmed to be the color of his aura (or what’s called his “Smoke”), even though he can’t see it, which foreshadows how his connection to his mother is a lot more complicated than the simple concept of blood ties.  

Both are also the bastard sons of a yakuza leader, although Koujaku was chosen to take over his father's organization because the man's legal wife couldn't bear any children. While Towa was a member of his father's organization, he was never chosen as his heir. At most, he was just left some inheritance money.

There’s also how both committed matricide, even if accidentally.

The main difference is that Koujaku dearly loved his mother, who also cared for him as best she could. Sadly, their ties to the yakuza brought them a lot of suffering, with Koujaku’s father abusing his mother very often.

And as part of the obligation forced upon him, Koujaku was tattooed… except that he had the bad luck of being assigned a tattoo artist who just so happened to be collaborating with Toue in his experiments involving mind control.

Shortly after the inking was complete, both Koujaku's physical agony and his emotional distress about his situation soon caused the tattoos to take over his mind, resulting in a massacre that left no survivors, not even his mother.

Towa barely knew his father, but his mother put him through the wringer, and then some. She was malevolent enough to kill the only one who befriended Towa, and she even tried to kill Towa later on, even if it backfired on her big time. While she more than deserved to die, her death was ultimately an accident.

Both were haunted by their mother’s deaths. Koujaku kept his horrid memories with him throughout the years, whereas Towa’s mind repressed all memories of his childhood as a means to cope.

But whether they remember or not, the event damaged their emotional and mental well-being, and there are the marks on their bodies to prove it.

Koujaku sees his tattoos as a shameful curse. It’s not hard to see why he regards them as such, given what it could do to him when anger - an emotion that he’s proven to be unable to fully keep in check - gets the better of his thoughts and actions.

It’s a permanent reminder of what was done to him, and what he had done under its influence. Even in Re:Connect, it’s shown that it’ll take a very long time for him to truly make peace with the etches of ink on his body, even after he got his revenge on Ryuuhou, even after visiting his mother’s grave after so long.

Towa’s scars are also a reminder of anyone who had hurt him to satiate their perverse desires. Even the ones that he inflicted on himself are connected to that. So he would have every right to detest them, since it would always remind him of that dreaded chapter of his life - much like how Fujieda detests his own scars since it reminds him of his parents’ mistreatment.

However, Towa chooses not to. Even when he remembers why he has those cuts all over his body, while he’s not so fascinated with them now, he doesn’t wish to regard them with shame because he refuses to give his mother’s damned soul even that bit of satisfaction.

And then, there is how the trauma affected how they lived for years up until the present.  Koujaku sought to kill himself for what he had done, but couldn’t bring himself to due to the memory of the one other person he deeply cherished who is still alive.

So he returns to Midorijima, still hiding his wounds and his internal conflict, but hoping that being with his other most treasured person would make the pain of living still worth it. And one of his theme songs, “By My Side”, speaks about how he feels being around Aoba is enough even if his love remains unrequited.

Meanwhile, Towa ended up listlessly drifting through life while engaging in degenerate behavior and harmful habits to keep himself emotionally numb and to subconsciously regain control out of the countless times he was helplessly subjected to harm.

While he has the company of people who care for him and who he (subconsciously) cares for in turn, his scars run way too deep that even years later, he responds to almost everything and everyone with only apathy. While he can feel emotion, his mind believes the opposite, as yet another way to cope.  

And then... there's their bad endings. In almost every bad ending, Aoba and his love interest are trapped in the hellscape of their minds in some way. Koujaku's bad ending gets that extra cherry on top by having him and Aoba reach out to each other from the abysses of their minds.

This sounds eerily similar to Towa's fate in Fujieda's bad ending, right? From his mind breaking and his personality transforming into his monster of a mother's.

And that brief, tragic moment of clarity.

As for the good endings, yet another easy point of comparison is the little fact that both have a good ending CG where they and their beloved are surrounded by cherry blossom petals. To add, there's plenty of symbolism behind those flowers that applies for both pairings. (I made a meta explaining TakuTowa’s side, though sadly, it seems Tumblr failed to include it in the tag search.)

Though the sad thing is that as a love interest, Koujaku can only find his closure if he’s the one who ends up with Aoba. As the protagonist, Towa is bound to find happiness or contentment with someone no matter what, even in the other endings where his past remains a mystery to himself.

#dramatical murder #slow damage #fen writes meta

[momojedi]

— WATER GUNS: CHARACTER OVERVIEW ❝ i don't wanna have to play with real blood. ❞

**

type. character overview note. these are just some of the story's main cast, but I haven't fully developed the rest yet, so I decided to drop this now ! I'd be super happy to hear what you think! warnings. canon-typical violence

star wars masterlist

JEDI ORDER Mo Mynx Mo is a human Jedi originating from Coruscant who studied under Codral Imi before he was killed along with his present men from the 452nd legion in a crash on Abafar, leaving Mo the only survivor, helplessly waiting for someone to find him. Mo is later reassigned to train under Jedi Master Shaak Ti on Kamino. Weapon: double-bladed lightsaber, yellow Sari Su Sari is a pantoran Jedi with a cheerful personality and a bright smile. She has a thick accent based on her homeworld's dialect and sometimes stumbles over her words because of it. Sari is trained by the Jedi Master Taudna Sillem and is a great admirer of Senator Riyo Chuchi, having had the honour to meet her a few times already. Weapon: single-bladed lightsaber, purple Kimea Orneem Having the honour to be trained by the legendary Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kimea takes her job as a Jedi and Commander of the 212th very seriously, which often leaves her with a great headache when she sees her fellow padawan goofing around or taking things too lightly. Working with the 501st from time to time, the Aldeeranian gets along fairly well with fellow padawan Ahsoka Tano and enjoys spending time with her between missions, along with Cime Dafollah. Weapon: dual-wield lightsabers, cyan Atesa Nush Originating from Arkania, Atesa is one of the few younglings that still slightly remembers her family. Despite her duty and destiny as a Jedi, Atesa still deeply desires returning to Arkania to meet her family again. Studying under the Jedi Knight Knaspeer Lug, she usually works at the Archives in Coruscant and spends most of her time studying and reading. Weapon: single-bladed lightsaber, white Nurifi Egaserr Nicknamed "Nuri", Nurifi is a free spirit, often found daydreaming or following her own rules instead of decently listening to her master's orders, which often leads to her getting into trouble with the Council or being lectured by her master. Being one of the youngest padawans, Nurifi sometimes struggles with her feelings and emotions and is still learning how to properly deal with them. Nurifi is the padawan of Jedi Master Plo Koon and with that also the commander of the 104th about whom she tends to complain and wail to Atesa when they get together between missions. Weapon: single-bladed lightsaber, blue Cime Dafollah Soft-spoken and well-behaved, the beautiful Togruta is generally a rather quiet and sweet girl, leaving the people she meets all over the galaxy swooning over her. After having been put on sick leave for two months now, Cime usually helps out Master Yoda with the Younglings' training as well as babysitting the little ones in the nursery and overseeing their health and development. She usually joins Ahsoka Tano and Kimea Orneem when they stop by at the Temple, relishing in the exciting battlefield stories the two have to offer. She truly can't wait to join her master on missions again once she's recovered from the mysterious sickness. Weapon: double-bladed lightsaber, orange

#star wars #the bad batch #star wars the clone wars #the clone wars #tbb #clone wars #bad batch #star wars clone wars #star wars the bad batch #oc tag #oc #my ocs #original character #star wars prequel trilogy #star wars fanfiction #star wars cw #star wars comics #webcomic #webtoon #star wars webtoon #webtoon author #comic #comics #comic art #star wars prequels #water guns #obi wan kenobi #shaak ti #plo koon #ahsoka tano

[fuzzbeararchives]

MEET THE HUMANS (Part 1/?)

VANESSA WAGNER-

Night shift security for Freddy Fuzzbear's Family Fun Centre. She happens to have a shift on the night that nine children went missing and were later found deceased in the facility's basement; Having been used as sacrifices for a ritual by cultist Carly Evans, who has yet to be captured. After the incident, Vanessa takes a deep dive into the history of the Freddy Fuzzbear brand and how it ties into the rise of instances around the USA that emulate the 1985 kidnapping and murder of five children at the original Freddy Fuzzbear's Pizza.

/

SAVANNAH "VANNY" ROBERTSON-

Once a normal, straight-A high school student, Vanny becomes tangled in the mess that is the Fuzzbear story after purchasing a handmade plush of long defunct character Henry Hare. Unbeknownst to her, the plush had been created by Carly Evans with the intent of its demonic energy possessing her target and forcing them to do her bidding. Just weeks after finding the plush, the dark forces invade her beloved Bunn E. Rabbit fursuit while she is still wearing it, causing her to lose complete control of her body and actions and forcing her to sit back and watch as it carries out the most heinous of acts. Vanny went missing for two months before being freed from the costume but still suffers the consequences of witnessing such horrendous events to this day.

/

GREGORY HUDSON-

Your average middle school student who enjoys gaming, spending time with friends and family, and long weekends off from school. Gregory attends a birthday party for his best friend Logan held at Freddy Fuzzbear's Family Fun Centre, all the kids getting to reap the benefits of the facility's overnight stay package. Things seem perfectly normal until one of the children suggests sneaking away from the Daycare area that they were meant to be sleeping in, with animatronic attendant Vixey's supervision. The situation quickly deteriorates as one by one, the children are lured away by an unknown figure, beginning with Logan's baby sister Mia. After escaping as the sole survivor of the incident, Gregory teams up with Vanessa to discover the cause of his friends' deaths and prevent any more from occurring.

/

MELANIE SCHMIDT-

Located in Cincinatti, Ohio, Melanie is far removed from the chaos happening at the Chicago, Illinois-based Family Fun Centre. However, in her city exists a more traditional Freddy's location that doesn't even use its signature animatronics for its entertainment. Rather, original incarnations of the famous main four cast have been made into walk around mascot costumes for employees to wear at certain hours of the day. Melanie is lucky enough for her 12th birthday to be hosted in this restaurant, but things go awry as she and her party guests are targeted in an almost exact replica of the infamous 1985 kidnapping and murder of five children in the original Freddy Fuzzbear's Pizza. She escapes the grisly fate by the skin of her teeth, but is now shaken as the incident leaves even more victims of the followers of the universally feared Bunny Killer aka Wayne Howard behind. Gregory and Vanessa catch a train along with the surviving animatronics from The Mechanical Circus down to talk to Melanie and find out who exactly is responsible for her friends' deaths. It turns out, a now former employee of Freddy Fuzzbear's Pizza Circus by the name of Christopher Wight used his own handmade fursuit to lure his victims in a normally inaccessible back room and fed them pizza, cake and soda laced with sleeping medication, just like the original MCI before returning that night to kill them and stuff their bodies in the mascot costumes used in place of audio animatronics. Now, Melanie is determined to help capture Chris as well as Carly Evans and avenge the deaths of their victims.

She bonds quickly to Gregory, who relates to her survivor's guilt from his own experience with the incident back in his home city. They become fast friends and a formidable team, using their combined brain power to solve the puzzle that is the rise of the Bunny Killer Cult as well as find the identities of its followers who committed the respective murders.

#five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf au #five nights at freddy's au #five nights at freddy's security breach #fnaf security breach #humans #gregory hudson #vanessa wagner #savannah vanny robertson #melanie schmidt

[infernal-general]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊

What is it exactly?

The Hellfire is the manifestation of pure, raw destruction, lethal to holy beings and most of the demons as well. Fire resistance offers little protection as it isn't a 'normal' kind of fire. Mostly used by the Morningstar family, if needed part of it can be directed to possess a host after an agreement. In the hosts, the fire develops consciousness, but not enough to become an entirely separate entity, more like a shadow of the hosts' worst traits. The Hellfire, as predicted indeed comes from the depths of Hell, only can be controlled by the royal family and the current host.

Hosts VS Rozália

All of them had agreed to the demonic ritual of possession and their wish was granted, without them knowing the price. None of them lasted long, they were either driven insane by the fire's mind games or became consumed by the feeling of power that they were a danger to society and royalty. Therefore they had to be put down by Lucifer by recalling it from their body. The longest survivor lived around 7 decades.

Then Rozália came in 1849. In sharp contrast of the others, she didn't sign or agree any of this, it was her mother who made the deal that in order to conceive, her child after his or her death will serve Hell. Her army was dragged down with her as they already worked flawlessly together, why bother introducing her to a new legion when the convenient solution presented itself?

Struggle for survival and identity

The Hellfire began Its usual awakening within her, terrifying the General even further. Distorted mirror images besides her demonic traits, whispering to be unleashed, promising power never known before. Only that Rozália did not want power. She wanted her humanity and viciously fought for it. Her will was/is extraordinarily strong, yet she still ended up with a case of split personality disorder.

She began to play a game of tug with the force within her, focusing on releasing all pent up tension, aggression, sadism and destruction when the Exterminations came, later weaving it into her cage fighter career often leaving her opponents disabled permanently or dead. Her tactic is working as she is the longest surviving host: 173 years and to the point where she should be called Wielder of the Hellfire instead.

Blessed wounds; the Unkillable

Rozália had survived being stabbed, gutted, shot; had grenades explode against her, had to remove constantly advancing shrapnels from her body and took a full blast from the strongest angelic canon, the Starfall. These came not only with scars but with a steep price as well: every wound caused by holy weapons heal by the Hellfire using a fragment of her soul to do so. (Regular, non blessed wounds heal without scarring and without taking any of her soul) And she is losing herself bit by bit, desperately clutching onto the remaining shards of her humanity.

The ink black skin of her forearms with veins of fire pulsing against it now lapping at her upper arms as more of her is lost. The slow change was also noticeable in her personality, originally she had some doubts about torturing caught exterminators for information; nowadays she carries them out herself with twisted pleasure. The hallucinations which turned out to be very real lessened, both the Hellfire and Rozália adapting each other. With the last fragment of her soul consumed, the fire will leave her body in liquid form, her demonic features retreating, leaving only the bleeding out hussar. Unkillable, as long as she has enough soul to regenerate. Lucifer and probably Charlie are the ones who are capable of killing her instantly by ripping the Hellfire out of her.

The soldiers

They all share a flame of the cursed fire, capable of offensive attacks, but nowhere as strong as Rozália's. Her blood can destroy concrete, her tears burn through clothing; the soldiers' are 'only' warmer than usual, in case of blood it can reach boiling temperature but even that is rare. They are all tied to her existence, if she dies the remaining will turn to ashes as well. Whenever the warriors die, Rozália can feel them passing; the mental anguish much greater than the physical one of the glowing lightning scar growing on her back:

They have a better resilience for holy weapons than most demons, but the curse-gift of regeneration hasn't been given to them. After death, their bodies turn to ashes, their souls stop existing.

The infamous pendant.

At first and even now, most believed it was the source of her powers, a deadly destructive force many would've killed to have. And so they tried and failed. The pendant isn't the source, it's the seal of the near unstoppable inferno. Upon removal, her sclera turn unified blood red with black slit pupils cutting through the glow like knives, ash black fully envelops her body, her facial features reduced to those unforgiving eyes and a monstrous maw or razor fangs, her hair turning into fire with her horns framing it like a crown. The repressed aggression also bursts free, more time spent without the seal, more power she gains like fire when fed by backdraft. In this state she's like a cunning predator; hunt, destroy no matter the price. Thankfully she managed to mostly control even the rampages.

Control. Acceptance.

Instead of a host, now Rozália is the wielder. She spent centuries fighting her curse and eventually learning how to control it. She can move, feel and call upon the remaining Hellfire underneath and use it to both defensive and offensive purposes: most notably when during the last exterminaton she reversed the portal and sent the cursed fire straight into Heaven. No host before her came even close to this level of control and achievement. She also learned how to infuse the fire with weapons, bullets, swords and everything in between as the sure way to kill everything holy.

Because it isn't 'just' fire, but the purest form of destruction, it is as lethal as angelic weapons, even for some of the upper class, exceptions are the Deadly Sins, most likely the Von Eldritch family and her distant sister, Cindy Flame (@phoenixborn )whose cosmic fire's power exceeds Rozália's much more.

#⚔ headcanon 🔥 | nem tudom mi vagyok; de tudom 𝐤𝐢 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐦 #⚔ alright/encourage to like and reblog 🔥 | no grave can hold me

[kisuminight]

So what's up with the Egg in this AU? Basically, it's part of the Entity that killed the Blood God and Aegis!Dream in the backstory.

For a slightly longer explanation: the Entity is based on a plant. And if you know anything about plants (mint, my beloathed) they can be really hard to get rid of. Not only that, but the Entity was aware that it was losing, and it split off a part of itself to go hide and re-grow. The Egg is the result of that, and it is both a "descendant" of the Entity and a "clone" of the Entity. It isn't quite the same thing as the Entity (yet. It hasn't hatched, after all), but it does have all its memories.

So how did this happen? Well, the original fight that I mentioned as part of the Karl-XD explanation was the last battle in an ongoing war, essentially. Aegis!Dream actually learned enough over the course of that war to write down information about the Entity's nature in their research journal (which c!Dream has in the present day). Unfortunately, the journal itself was lost when A!Dream was killed.

Shouldn't A!Dream have told the others what he suspected of the Entity? He did! But the fight basically ended in a mass-slaughter of the brainwashed forces of the Entity, the deaths of 2/6 of the godly participants, the extreme shock and grief from the other 2/6 participants that had been in a soul bond with the dead parties, and the last 2/6 in something of a crisis over the unneeded (unnatural) deaths caused by the Entity.

Like, the Blood God was dead. His Aegis ripped out his heart so she could keep fighting and is now having a crisis over it the moment the fight is done. A!Dream, their healer, is dead, and XD doesn't even have the shards left. A!Dream died saving DreamXD, so there's massive survivor's guilt there, too. This is the first time any god or Aegis has died, ever, and it is kind of overwhelming the Goddess of Death and her Angel. Also, the Entity absolutely used it's abilities to trigger the deaths of all the surviving brainwashed civilians it was puppetting when it wasn't their time to die yet, so there's a mess with how their domain is even functioning right now.

None of them were in any fit state to continue the fight. The fact that they were able to get rid of all the remaining bits they knew about before they all fell apart even further is something of a miracle. Should they have called for help on this? Absolutely. But the Blood God, the Goddess of Death, and the Chaos of Life are not the sort of gods with the personality to call for help, especially after they've "won."

So they miss the Egg. It grows in secret on the server (DreamXD's server) where it first invaded the universe. The Entity wasn't a natural spawn, after all. It was something Eldritch and monstrous, that corrupted the code it touched in an effort to take control. The Egg is like that, too, though it does have a bit of a camouflage. The Egg is the Egg because it is mimicking, the best it can, the code of an Ender Dragon egg.

The Egg is subtler than the Entity before it. It knows that it can't pick a fight with gods just yet. But there aren't gods here, just one, and that god doesn't even have an Aegis anymore. Still, it realizes that it needs something similar if it wants to fight on even terms. So it tries to corrupt Blades for its own.

The problem of Blades it that they are resistant to the Egg's control on their own. Corruption from the Egg can seep into them, through the Driver, but when they revert to core crystal and "lose" their data of their previous life, the corruption is purged as well. Hubert, through his Driver Billiam, is one of the first attempts at permanent Blade corruption.

c!Dream and c!Punz's initial Memory Patch creates a big glaring weak spot in this type of protection, unfortunately.

As of the main timeline of the DreamSMP, c!Skeppy and c!Badboyhalo are the most recent attempt at this. Unfortunately for them, their specific bond and Resonance is a complicating factor. They are much more tightly tied with each other than a regular Blade and Driver, and that makes them easier to influence.

The Egg is eldritch enough that it can see the ties between Blade and Driver, and it does use that to try and target the Drivers of the server when it is active. It does try and target c!Punz and c!Purpled. c!Techno and c!Philza stay out of reach until much later, so it is aware of them but can't get to them. c!Callahan's Driver is not on the server, which makes him functionally immune. c!Slime is a dormant core crystal at the moment, and has been since before the Entity, so the Egg does not know about him.

Using c!Skeppy and c!Bad, it does try to c!Dream and c!George. A large part of why c!Bad and c!Ant went to Staged Finale was to try and collect Dream's core crystal for the Egg. The Egg does not recognize Dream (or Hubert, before him) as Blades created from the shards of the Aegis Blade the Entity shattered.

The Egg is prioritizing control over the Blades on the server, so keeping Bad and Skeppy is much more important to it that c!Puffy. Its focus on the Blade-Driver pair diverted enough of its attention that she, as a regular Player, was able to escape the influence.

And all of these, plus the differences in Staged Finale, lead into why the timeline gets different and we veer away from the Stations of Canon for the rest of the plot! But in another post, because this one is getting long.

#DSMP Blade System AU #the Egg #the creation of the Eggpire #the Egg knows it lost and it knows WHY it lost #and the plans it has to get around that are not pleasant for any of the characters

[dankusner]

OTD: Waco, Okla, Columbine...

TODAY IN HISTORY 1775 The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

1897 The first Boston Marathon was held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.

1943 During World War II, tens of thousands of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but ultimately futile uprising against Nazi forces.

1993 The 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; about 80 people, including two dozen children and sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

1995 Timothy McVeigh, seeking to strike at the government he blamed for the 1993 Waco deaths, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (McVeigh was convicted of federal murder charges and executed in 2001.)

COLUMBINE SHOOTING 25 YEARS LATER

‘The full cost of these tragedies’

On eve of massacre anniversary, survivors to attend candlelight vigil

DENVER — Hours after she escaped the Columbine High School shooting, 14-year-old Missy Mendo slept between her parents in bed, still wearing the shoes she had on when she fled her math class. She wanted to be ready to run.

Twenty-five years later, and with Mendo now a mother herself, the trauma from that horrific day remains close on her heels.

It caught up to her when 60 people were shot dead in 2017 at a country music festival in Las Vegas, a city she had visited a lot while working in the casino industry.

Then again in 2022, when 19 students and two teachers were shot and killed in Uvalde.

Mendo had been filling out her daughter’s pre-kindergarten application when news of the elementary school shooting broke.

She read a few lines of a news story about Uvalde, then put her head down and cried.

“It felt like nothing changed,” she recalls thinking.

In the quarter-century since two gunmen at Columbine shot and killed 12 fellow students and a teacher in suburban Denver — an attack that played out on live television and ushered in the modern era of school shootings — the traumas of that day have continued to shadow Mendo and others who were there.

Some needed years to view themselves as Columbine survivors since they were not physically wounded.

Yet things like fireworks could still trigger disturbing memories.

The aftershocks — often unacknowledged in the years before mental health struggles were more widely recognized — led to some survivors suffering insomnia, dropping out of school, or disengaging from their spouses or families.

Survivors and other members of the community plan to attend a candlelight vigil on the steps of the state’s capitol Friday night, the eve of the shooting’s anniversary.

Saturday, April 20, is 4/20 — an informal holiday for marijuana users. Even if you don’t partake in cannabis-related activities, you might be wondering…

Why is 4/20 associated with weed?

There are many theories about why '4/20' is associated with marijuana, some with more validity than others.

Perhaps the most plausible origin story comes from five teenagers in a California high school.

One rumor, which has been proven false, is that '420' is code among police officers for 'marijuana smoking in progress.'

Another points to a vague reference in a 1966 Bob Dylan song.

Popular lore ties the birth of '4/20' to a group of high schoolers attending Northern California’s San Rafael High School in the early 1970s.

The five teens – Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz and Mark Gravich – became known as the 'Waldos' because they met by a wall.

The students met at 4:20 p.m. by the statue of chemist Louis Pasteur to smoke weed, presumably because most extracurricular activities had ended by that time.

'We weren’t stupid stoners,' Capper, 68, an original Waldo said, pointing to a certificate for exceptional achievement and citizenship he received in school.

The Waldos engaged in after-school activities like sports and studying, so 4:20 was chosen as the time the group could all meet up.

The rest is history.

'We got tired of the Friday-night football scene with all of the jocks,' Reddix told TIME Magazine in 2017. 'We were the guys sitting under the stands smoking a doobie, wondering what we were doing there.'

Reddix would later work with Phil Lesh, the bass guitarist for the rock band 'The Grateful Dead.'

According to TIME Magazine, the band popularized the term.

On Dec. 28, 1990, a group of the band’s fans, known as 'Deadheads,' passed out flyers in north California encouraging people to smoke on April 20 at 4:20 p.m.

One of the flyers was published in cannabis-culture magazine High Times.

[acourtofthought]

Hot take but I don’t think SJM had any plans for an Azriel book/making him a love interest until she and the publishers noticed how popular he is. I do believe she’s excited to tell his story, as she said, but “3 brothers with 3 sisters” was never the plan - SJM said she was planning on making Lucien and Nesta mates before she realized they were ill suited and decided to make Cassian her mate (good choice, imo). Then proceeded to say Elain was the one she and Lucien never saw coming. Why would she give Lucien so much family drama, hidden powers and a direct link to Koschei with Vassa if he “wasn’t important enough to have a POV”? Why make him and Elain so well matched if they weren’t endgame? Charming, well-dressed duo who hates violence is much more appealing than yet another brooding, depressed hero with sunshine girl who hates violence.

It’s why I’m not all that excited about Gwynriel book. With the way Gwyn was set up in ACOSF, it’s gonna be all “I’m not worthy” from two POVs. It’s a bit weird. I get survivor’s guilt, but she was protecting the children, not cowering in a corner while her sister was killed. It’s too dramatic to think people will hate her for it and not see her as a hero.

Here here!

I also got the vibe that SJM hadn't really put a lot of thought into Azriel until ACOFAS, not anymore than she did, say....Amren or Helion. Those characters were important, just as all her other characters are and I do think she initially thought Mor would end up with Az but not in a, "they'll definitely get their own book" way.

And definitely not the same level of thought she put into Lucien's character.

It doesn't matter how little page time Lucien has had recently when you think about why that is.

Lucien is not part of the IC, he's never going to be a permanent part of the IC. So what exactly would people have him do on page when we're getting a Feyre / Rhys / Cassian / Nesta / Mor POV in ACOWAR, ACOFAS, and ACOSF and most of that occurs in the NC?

Even though he's not around much, SJM still decided to change who his father was after deciding he and Elain would be mates, she still decided to point out that just because he had to wear Illyrian leathers it did not mean he was going to be a part of the NC (and she also made sure to mention how Elain refused to wear those same leathers), she made sure to point out that Elain needs sunshine when Lucien's father is the High Lord of Day (the sun personified which SJM included in ACOWAR, the same book she mentioned Elain needing sunshine), she made sure to mention how he's still tied to Spring in a major way when the NC really needs an alliance with Spring and the court back to it's full strength, she made sure to mention how friendly he's become with Vassa and Jurian (a big deal when you consider how she's building a major conflict between the Fae and Human Queens), she made sure to tell us how he's developing the markers of a High Lord (commanding Cassian with a single word), she made sure to remind us that he still expresses longing for Elain, that even though he was in a war he still never wants to be involved in one again which Elain liked hearing considering she smiled at him, reminded us that he's never gotten revenge on anyone who probably deserved it as well as informing us that cruelty bothers Elain, made sure we knew that Feyre is now rooting for Elucien, Rhys is rooting for Elucien, Cassian feels sorrow for Lucien, Nesta is now warming up to Lucien and Elain and Lucien are still experiencing tension (mentioning how Lucien is not "always in the city to see my mate" which is exactly like Cassian mentioning "not everything is about your sister" in reference to Nesta) which is the hallmark for her endgame couples eventually getting together.

This has all been building for a long time and I do think they should have their story told before Az. Az isn't just a mess, he's a mess that really has no business falling in love with anyone else right now.

And I do understand what you're saying in your last paragraph.

I'd much rather read about the underdog story that would be Elucien than read about two characters who are brave and worthy, which can't be denied, yet for some reason they still don't see it. Literally no one but Gwyn and Az would call them anything but brave so a Gwynriel book would end up being a book where the entire point is for them to finally realize what others have seen all along. That seems less exciting to me. It's sort of like Thor in Endgame, he was more annoying to me then because he couldn't handle that he wasn't able to defeat Thanos. But none of them were able to. So the huge guilt trip he placed on himself wasn't as enjoyable of a storyline to me as the characters who (while still feeling some guilt) were able to keep moving forward. Because it seemed a completely unnecessary guilt trip.

But an Elucien book would be two characters proving to everyone how capable they are even though the others never thought it possible and I find that sort of thing to be extremely inspirational. Rocky, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Cool Runnings (😂), the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings, and so on.

#anti e/riel #pro elucien #lucien vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #elucien supremacy

[bonmotx]

@artorily​ asked!: "Sophie!" Yuuya wheezes, leaning on the doorframe. Sheesh, when you need her she's nowhere to be found! They have something bundled in their arm, white and downy, covered in feathers that give off a soft, opalescent glimmer. "The... haah... anniversary dinner! Wear this! N' lemme take photos for the portfolio." A tutu with a long trail; flat shoes with silk ribbons; flowing sleeves like wings; and a top boldly baring the shoulders. "It's a Mystic Code based on Swan Lake. I thought it'd suit ya."

It’s a rough kind of time, the anniversary.

It’s not bad, exactly. It’s just... odd. Often, the webbing between timelines loosens, around certain times. The anniversary... just happens to be one of them.

This anniversary, Sophia feels off. She’s felt held back, almost, for a while now. Something chafes at her veins, at her skin, like it’s been rubbed raw. It was only flipping through photos that she realized it.

It was... comforting, before. To return to the appearance dictated for her. After her attempted rebellion, the brutal consequence, it was safer to be docile. To never push the boundaries.

Even now, it was the same. She didn’t let her hair grow out, during the Grand Order. Kept herself the same, even as the world pushed at her, scarred her, she stubbornly remained the same.

Yet, bit by bit, she changed. 

There was no other choice, really. It was change or die, grow or die, improve or die. A sword, sharpened and sharpened and sharpened until it can no longer be held.

It was the Lostbelts that pushed her into responsibility. Director. Director of Chaldea. She took that responsibility so she could exercise authority. The authority to save lives. 

There are nine survivors in Chaldea’s staff, in most worlds, and Leonardo da Vinci was killed, with her replacement emerging into the world.

Sophia saved seventeen people. Leonardo da Vinci lived. But every other world... had a man named Goredolf, and a girl named Mash.

Her world was changed, as changed as Sophia had become. Around the anniversary, it was more obvious. It felt more... wrong. Judgmental eyes, as she remained the same. Always, always, always the same.

It was such a small thing, to look the same. Yet more and more the mirror grates. She lost more, and more, and more... and, even more reluctantly than the loss, she gained more, and more, and more. But she still looked the same. 

It was miserable. She finally realized that. It was tight and miserable and raw and chafing, and she hated it.

Sophia tried to not ask for petty things, of her servants. She had to live up to it- that pressure as the Director. But she allowed herself this one selfishness, hidden away and unknowing that she was searched for.

It was around Yuuya’s arrival when the effects became obvious. Long, blonde hair hit Sophia’s back, and something about it makes her feel... changed. As changed as her insides do.

“Ah... I look different, I hope that it still... works...?” But she was fussed into the dress regardless, despite feeling so... ah. She looks dainty again. Delicate, in the sharp kind of way. Something like... beautiful.

It’s nice, to be beautiful. Beautiful things are loved. If she’s loved... then she’s beautiful, right? The slippers are tied and laced, the kind of warmth and lace like an embrace. She twirls, laughing at the ridiculousness of the gesture. It’s childish, isn’t it?

But it feels fun. It feels nice, for the sharpened knife to be as long and feathered as the rest of her.

“Thank you! Thank you, so much! Heh... do I look beautiful?”

#sophia ic. #ask. #((dramatically enveils new icons like 'look at my precious oc' #(('this is sophia my loveable murder knife and she wants to kill but she's so great and i love her she's an awful stinky bastard and i love #her SO MUCH' #((she looks so much more adult and expressive in these ones. i'm emotional. #queued reply.

[mostly-just-sasuke-blog]

Let's talk about the emotional stages of team 7 during part one and how they interact with one another

Naruto

The most important thing to understand about Naruto is that Naruto isn't a good person at the start. He's not generous, selfless, sweet, kind, or mature. He's not a hero or a savior. He wasn't born with a supernatural ability to love or anything like that. He's an emotionally-stunted, attention needy, immature child. He's still in the self-centered, or egocentric, stage of deveopment which makes him quite bratty. And all of this is realistic given what he had lived through; not trying to hate on him.

I hate when the fandom portrays him as a selfless, perfect, kind etc from the start. No, he grows to become these things by the end of part one. But part one is all about Naruto's growth to see beyond himself and to start to understand other people and the problems with the system, and within himself. Naruto too is part of the problem. His desire to become hokage is for entirely self centered reasons. This is normal given Naruto's age and the abuse he's gone through, however they are still things he must overcome if he is to become the heroic person he wants to be. Naruto's immaturity is acknowledged and discussed many times, and these are gradually overcome, yet in a way that allows Naruto to still retain aspects of that childishness that are good like his sense of hope and optimism. Naruto's extended childhood works in his favor as it gives him the time to change. And the biggest factor in changing Naruto and helping him let go of his immaturity and selfishness is Sasuke. In part, because of Sasuke's self sacrificial nature. And another part because of something I'll address in Sasuke's section.

Sakura

The reaction of Sakura and the other kids towards Naruto is also normal. Sakura on team 7 represents a normal child, not emotionally stunted or especially mature. As kids do at her age she sees the world in black and white and is all about following rules and obeying authority. Since Naruto doesn't follow the rules he is a "bad kid". It's just the kind of black and white, logical thinking kids go through. She shouldn't be demonized for doing the same stuff we all probably did. And she starts to change her thinking and to try to change her attitude as soon as she is called out for it by Sasuke. Sasuke also teaches her that it's good to break rules sometimes like when he ofers his food to Naruto and Sakura follows suite.

Sasuke

It's not a coincidence that Sasuke is the catalyst for both Naruto and Sakura to change. Emotionally he is the most complex of the three. By the time he joins team 7 he has trauma, cptsd, abandonment issues, survivors guilt, trust issues, has experienced tortuture while under forced helplessness, and has severe attachment issues. Let's not forget that he's being invisibly held hostage by the knowledge that his brother will come back for him someday. And he's burdened with the knowledge that the best way for him to get stronger to face Itachi (Sasuke's own personal satan) is to kill his closest friend. Or that even without Itachi's threat Sasuke is bound by duty to kill his brother. And if all this weren't enough Sasuke carries another burden, his other goal to to restore his clan's honor. As the last Uchiha Sasuke knows that all of his actions will be used by people, fair or not, to judge his family, a fact that is constantly thrown in his face. What a lot of people take as arrogance or pride, can be seen as his devotion to his family and his desperation to live up to/uphold his family's reputation.

Sasuke is bound by a lot of invisible pressures that have forced him to grow up way too fast, losing most of his childhood in the process. However in team 7 Sasuke at least has the chance to vicariously recapture a little of his childhood through Naruto and Sakura. That's why we get to see a childish side of Sasuke on team 7. Completely suppressed before, and disappears right after, the period of time while Sasuke is on team 7 is the golden age of Sasuke's life when he gets the chance to experience a part of childhood. Sakura, and especially Naruto, give that to Sasuke. But Sasuke's childhood ends for good when he leaves.

On the other side is Sasuke's maturity. Despite what the fandom may think, Sasuke displays a lot of emotionally mature behavior. He is able to empathize with and defend Naruto right after Naruto had just attacked him, even though he stood to gain nothing from doing so. His empathy with Naruto going hungry leads him to offer Naruto food, even at the risk of his own future, he recognized Sakura's feelings of self doubt before the chunin exams and addresses it quickly and subtly. When he thinks he's about to die he encourages Naruto to pursue his own dreams and make the most of his life. He tells Naruto to save Sakura while he sacrifices his life. He doesn't think twice to run to Naruto's rescue when he hears his brother is after him etc. All these are signs of maturity that can't be denied. So the question is,

what happened?

The problem is that though Sasuke often takes on the "adult" role, he's suppressing his own needs. Naruto can carry on and act childish and get the attention he desperately needs; meanwhile Sasuke gets overlooked. Naruto has a way of constantly making himself the center of attention. And this behsvior is completely understandable. Subconsciously Naruto is broadcasting his need for help, and he often gets it. And as someone with so little maturity people expect little to nothing from him. And this gives Naruto room to grow without pressure. But everyone just expects Sasuke to act like an adult and be strong. Whenever he doesn't instantly know what to do or shows weakness he gets attacked, not by enemies, but by allies. He is constantly put on a pedestal by Naruto and others. Sasuke has been taught, and it gets reinforced over and over, that human reactions or or any signs of weakness are not to be expressed. For example, Naruto despises sasuke for showing weakness to Orochimaru. Being afraid of Orochimaru doesn't fit into Naruto's mental representation of Sasuke and he doesn't really know how to handle it, even assuming Sasuke is an imposter. And this is when he calls him a "scaredy cat", which parallels what Sasuke has said to him before. It might seem on the surface to be the same, and Naruto sees it like that at the time, but there are major differences. During the demon brothers fight Naruto had frozen up and this makes him helpless. While it's the opposite against Orochimaru. Sasuke knows he is helpless and that terrifies him. It's not just a matter of overcoming his fear of a fight, or trying to react quickly, Sasuke has to overcome his fear of death. Sasuke also said what he did after the demon brothers were defeated, not while in the middle of a fight. Of course, goading Sasuke into fighting was the right move, as it is the thing that ultimately saves them, but it also raises the pressure on Sasuke and forces him to suppress even more of his humanity around Naruto, making him ultimately more vulnerable to the things that would come.

So after facing Oro he completes the rest of the 2nd exam handicapped with the curse eating away at his Chakra, defeats an opponent with no chakra and while suppressing another attack, has to face off against a clinically insane opponent who wants to quite literally bathe in his blood, finds out his teacher has been attacked and naruto is in danger from his brother, rushes to protect Naruto but is rendered completly helpless and is tortured/ taunted to the point of falling into a comma for weeks.

By this point Naruto has grown a little. He's been forced to see more of Sasuke's humanity and his childish view of Sasuke being invulnerable have shifted. But the damage from before has been done. Naruto isn't someone Sasuke can trust. When Sasuke challenges him to fight, for Naruto its a relief to get back their normal rivalry and a chance to prove himself to Sasuke, who he still admires more than anyone. But for Sasuke its not about Naruto, he's on the verge of losing all confidence and the will to fight, and he's desperate to prove himself to himself; he's fighting for his will to live. But inconclusive results, followed by an ill informed lecture from Kakashi that asks Sasuke to pick between his family and team 7, followed by the sound four who prove (again) that Konoha isn't strong enough to protect Sasuke or to give him the teaching he needs... and Sasuke's choice now seems inevitable.

The one who lost the most by leaving was Sasuke himself. Childhood, friends, people who care, the one he had fallen in love with, the best friend.... I think it's obvious he assumed Naruto and Sakura will move on without him. Sasuke put his life on the line for them on multiple occasions because he can't bear to lose anyone again, but he still keeps them at a safe distance because he knows the danger of relationships, meaning Sasuke's two strongest instincts after the massacre are diametrically opposed and in a constant war with one another. Lost in that war is any room to value himself. And because he values himself least, he doesn't understand what he meant to them, the impact he was having on them, and how much they cared for him too. So even as he's risking his life for them, even as his words and actions are changing them, he doesn't see his own significance to them.

Add to this how they can't understand him. He's been a child with a family like Sakura, and he's been isolated and alone like Naruto, so he has the ability to understand them. But neither of them have been through anything remotely similar to Sasuke. People still argue over who had it worse, Naruto or Sasuke, but the answer is obviously Sasuke. Sasuke experienced the same isolation and lonliness Naruto did as well as a million other things Naruto didn't. Naruto and Sakura can't understand betrayal by someone completely trusted. Or the pressure of being the last of his clan. They haven't ever experinced complete and total helplessness. Even Kakashi is ignorant and naive in how he addresses the issue. But Sasuke still had a huge impact on all of them that they can't forget. But while Naruto can't understand it completely, when he fights Sasuke he sees how much pain Sasuke is in. Pain that Naruto hasn't been able to accept perviously. And more than anyone Naruto recognizes his own culpability in pushing Sasuke to the point where he'd feel like going to Orochimaru was his only option. This is the second way Sasuke helps Naruto grow. Sasuke's humaness forces Naruto to let go of his pride. After all the times Naruto's immaturity had forced Sasuke to assume the mature position and suppress his needs, now their roles are reversed. Underneath it all Sasuke has been hurting, and damaged, and needed saving too. And Naruto failed him. Naruto finally doesn't despise him for it. He is finally able to accept the human side of Sasuke while still acknowledging him. And though Naruto fails to bring Sasuke back he does save him.

#naruto #sakura #team 7 #trauma #team seven #ramblings #uchiha #sasuke #uchiha sasuke #sasuke uchiha #mental illness #pro naruto #pro sasuke uchiha #itachi #orochimaru #kakashi sensei #mental health

[burtonsdoodles]

Just seen Eternals for a second time and I just…LOVE THIS FILM!!

From the first second to the last, I enjoy every minute of it. I love the characters, the relationships, the dynamics, the visuals, the performances. It all connected with me and kept me invested throughout the long runtime. Never, in either showing, did I get bored or become aware of how long I’d been watching - which I did with Dune. Every character was given enough content for me to invest in them and understand them well enough throughout the plot - which isn’t an easy thing to do with a handful of characters - let alone 10. It was the one concern I had before seeing it - Will it balance the ensemble well enough? - and I honestly think it did. While I would obviously love to see more from them - I never felt like I didn’t get enough — which is a sign of success in my book.

Notes with spoilers and no order to them:

First off - Druig is my fave. I knew it from the moment he entered the screen and was very happy to see he didn’t become the villain and/or get killed off. That was a nice surprise - since that’s what always happens to the characters I decide I like. I will accept all the content about him - he is such an interesting character - even more so now I’ve watched it again. There is so much to say about him - though I can’t quite think up what that is in words yet - might have to wait for it’s full release. Though I will say one thing - and I saw someone else say this first and they were absolutely right - Druig isn’t grouchy/grumpy. He’s snarky and blunt about what he thinks/feels - but he’s not grumpy - I’d say Sprite actually fits that category better.

I obviously adore the relationship between Druig and Makkari - it may just be the best live action relationship I’ve ever seen - and I don’t usually get that invested in romantic stuff. I think it’s so compelling because they are using other forms of affection to show their love - like the forehead touches and hugging - rather than just kissing. It feels more refreshing to see other ways of showing affection - and not just in a romantic sense either - because there is so much more to love than just romantic. (I have no idea if that makes any sense). The same can be said about Dane and Sersi - they don’t just kiss each other to show they care for one another - I actually thought their most tender moments were when they embraced. I was definitely rooting for him over Ikaris.

Especially after this second viewing, I am super interested in the relationships Druig has with both Ikaris and Sersi - I wanna find some fic’s exploring those dynamics but haven’t spotted any yet. Druig and ikaris really come across as having that brotherly rivalry because they just can’t see eye to eye. While ikaris is totally focused on Ajak and her leadership, druig is seeing the people of whom he wishes to protect - thanks to his power, he can’t separate himself from their pain which makes him question the logic of their orders. It’s a tumultuous relationship which I wanna see more of - the line which sticks in my head when ikaris tries to kill druig is - “I should have done this five centuries ago.” There’s a lot that can be unpacked in that statement - as well as the impact the attack could have on druig as a survivor of ikaris’s wrath.

Then there’s the contrast of Druig and Sersi’s relationship - where she sees the light in him - has faith in him - even when others treat him like the worst. That’s always a beautiful dynamic to explore - especially with her sharing the connection she has with Druig’s biggest rival, Ikaris. Also I noticed this time in the film that druig is the one who realises Sersi’s strength and potential - before they even leave the Domo, he points out her defeat of the deviant, he knows she has the ability to do what needs to be done - she just doesn’t see it herself yet. When he says he’s “got this”, I think he knows he won’t succeed - especially with Ikaris still out there - but he can buy a bit of time for Sersi to realise the truth. He does go to help her instead or return to the fight - he shows the same faith she always showed in him. (I don’t know if any of that is true - but that’s the reading I got this time.)

Speaking of that moment with Druig in the final fight - while he does knock Sprite out with little remorse - and it is a pretty great moment - he never actually leave her the whole time she down. You can see he’s still there when they all connect to the Unimind and they return together to the beach - which I think shows how he’ll do what’s right to protect - but he still cares enough not to cross that line Ikaris does.

I haven’t seen anyone comment on this as of yet - but it made me love ^ that ^ Drukkari moment even more. Obviously this is a beautiful moment for Druig and Makkari, but the shot I particularly like is where Sprite is perfectly framed by the pair just before they break apart and exit the shot. (Below) The vision of Sprite watching them from afar - seeing the love Druig and Makkari have for one another - the love she has never been able to experience for herself - is truly heartbreaking. She is unable to see past the thing she is denied as it’s constantly plastered in her face by the people around her showing and receiving love. She is longing for connection yet can only find isolation. So in this shot of such compelling love and unity - which is now everywhere - there is such pain and loneliness which remains present but overlooked… like Sprite. It’s a great shot. (GIF isn’t mine and the screenshot is from this video)

Makkari is a FORCE! Obviously she was incredible when she fought Ikaris - but you can also see her strength in all the flashbacks too. Every time you’d see Ikaris fighting a Deviant - Makkari wouldn’t be far behind him - and she goes so fast it’s likely she was actually there before him too. She is truly amazing and not someone to mess with.

I really love Kingo and Sprites relationship - it really worked well. Their heart to hearts allowed us to see the vulnerable sides which they hide behind their respective attitudes - Kingo with his outspokenness and Sprite with her snark. They clearly bond the strongest with one another. One of their standout moments for me was in the Amazon fight, Kingo gets thrown through one of the shacks and Sprite refuses to leave him, she tries hiding them with an illusion and when that fails Kingo just throws himself over Sprite to protect her. It’s not a big moment - but I noticed it this time round and it’s stuck with me. I wanna see their adventures with Karun the valet - it’d be fun.

Also Karun is precious

Thena and Gilgamesh were also a perfect pairing - I love the shot of him taking her hand in the introductory fight - he has such respect for her and it set up their bond perfectly. Though I did expect him to get killed off - that’s usually what happens to the caretaker character - so while it hurt like hell - I wasn’t shocked.

Gilgamesh was so pure - the tough guy softy is the best character type - and it’s portrayed brilliantly with his learning about Ajak’s death. The pie falling is quite comical and you don’t know whether to laugh, but then he takes the pan and crumples it like paper and collapses into the chair overwhelmed with grief - you know this is a completely serious and heartbreaking moment - not to be laughed at.

A fun thing I didn’t pick up on the first time was that Druig is nearly always eating something in the scenes he’s in and I love that - it’s a nice little character trait.

The big question I still have though, is can Druig only control the minds of humans, or can he also control the minds of sentient beings - like Eternals and/or Deviants? Thena does say Gilgamesh asked him to put her to sleep once - but I can’t work out if that was just a joke or something he genuinely could do.

Anyway, I’m definitely missing things, but this has gotten really long so I’m gonna call it quits there. I love this film and it’s characters so much - which is something I haven’t felt in a while with an MCU film (certainly not at this level anyway). I mean I actually saw it a second time - which I haven’t done since Endgame - and y’know what, I wouldn’t say no to seeing it again. It was brilliant!

LB

#i loved this film #eternals #my thoughts #eternals spoilers #druig #makkari #drukkari #ikarsi #Sersi #gilgamesh #thena #kingo #sprite #karun patel #text post #marvel #chloe zhao

[shuttershocky]

Now that you’ve finished P5R what are your thoughts on the new characters? I really love seeing your analysis/takes, they’re so good! I love your blog and I hope you have a wonderful day :D

Aww, thank you!

I've got thoughts about the three. Spoiler warning.

Akechi - Let's be honest, he's a new character entirely in Royal. I'm amazed at how much Royal did to salvage his arc in the original P5. I love the idea of a social link built not necessarily on friendship, but tense camaraderie as Joker and Akechi both know what it means to keep your enemies closer. Akechi Rank 8 is one of my favorite social links in the entire franchise. The whole part where he goes "I'm going to be honest: I hate you" while Sunset Bridge is playing was nothing short of brilliant.

Sumire - I think she's the weakest of the new characters. That isn't to say that she's bad by any means (the other two are just really REALLY good while she's just very good. And cute.), I just have the most nitpicks to make with her.

She's very cute, but most of her appearances within the timeframe of the original Persona 5 feel disconnected from the rest of the game. If Akechi and Maruki didn't appear in her cutscenes, you might even have thought she was completely imaginary or a ghost until the Hawaii event. I also found it kind of unfortunate that after you finish her social link, she goes back to tying up her hair and using contacts instead of wearing her hair down and with glasses. Not only was that a better look for her *cough* Megane superiority *cough*, but I wasn't sold on her tying her hair back up again to honor Kasumi when we JUST had a terrifying fridge horror cutscene showing what led to her wearing her hair like that in the first place. That, along with her actual heartfelt goodbye to Joker being tied to her Valentines and White Day dates (meaning all you get is a curt take care if you dont romance her), make her into what I feel is the weakest of Royal's new cast.

I'm also kind of mad that she offers to join up vs Shido but Morgana shoots her down; I'm not a fan of only getting to play her on the very last month in the game, especially when she comes with some fun gimmicks and an EXTREMELY cool showtime. Imo since Shido's arc doesn't have any new additions at all, it would have helped to have "Kasumi" join up in December despite her lack of any connection to Shido. More time with her would have made the January twist hit even harder, and also would have made it so that every new month gave one new party member since Crow rejoins with a new skillset in January.

All that being said, once "Kasumi's" plot got going, it was real good. It was a nice callback to Persona 1's manga, while giving us some really great fridge horror moments with Dr. Maruki. The cutscene of her dad crying next to her sister's corpse was actually pretty unnerving, I think it was her head being shown but her face being covered that gave me the heebie-jeebies, though my favorite is still the aforementioned cutscene with Maruki.

Finally, I've said it once, I've said it twice, but it bears saying for a third time:

She is adorable. I love that whenever there's an option to tease her or flirt after Rank 6, it has the same social point weight as just being a regular supportive friend, and she actually takes some (nervous) time to respond rather than instantly calling it off as a joke. This lets Royal build an actual romantic arc for her, as Joker doesn't have to worry about sacrificing precious social link points to make her blush. She also breaks the mold of all other possible romantic partners by actually being the one to make the first move and confess her feelings, while Joker is asked to respond to them.

This, along with the excellent pacing of their relationship throughout her social link ranks, goes a long way towards making her possible romance feel a lot more grounded and organic. I think even the most diehard Makoto fans (of which I am one) have to admit that her social link romance was rather stiff, having a whole fake dating scheme with Joker and yet not showing the slightest bit of interest in him romantically until Rank 9 where he can grab her heart with a single pickup line. Ann's situation is similar, having her romance start with a single hug option (which I feel like is a shame because Ann is the most romantic of the Thieves overall—just look at her lines to Joker both as a romance and as a platonic friend!) while Futaba and Haru's preexisting interest in Joker sort of just pops up as soon as Rank 9 hits.

In short, I have the most complaints about Sumire, but also she is very cute and I like her a lot. I wish we had more of her as a playable character, and with more interactions with the rest of the Thieves. Damn you, Morgana.

Dr. Maruki - HE'S SO FUCKING GOOD. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCKING. FUCKITY FUCK FUCK GOOD. Maruki and the Third Semester represented what I was looking for in the original P5: an arc that really took full advantage of the Metaverse's narrative potential. I love how cheesy and yet heartfelt and unflinchingly raw his story got, how much he made the Phantom Thieves' question their ideals and reexamine their relationships to Joker, how a messianic complex on someone fully, truly, selfless and good and kind was still madness all the same. His response to all of his trauma, pain, and the realization that life is often cruel and unfair was to attain infinite power and MAKE it fair, because he would rather die than know he had the power to prevent someone from feeling the same pain and yet failed to save them.

Maruki's got a bit of that Seigi no Mikata in him. Fighting him isn't a matter of good vs evil, but saving a friend who's so deep in their own trauma and survivor's guilt that they truly believe the entire world is their responsibility, and they themselves are no longer human, no longer someone with the right to live and be happy.

You literally see the moment he kills his sense of self as a person and decides to live for the sake of the world when the camera angle changes so his shadow looks like it's hanging from a noose.

Joker defeating him and forcing him to finally voice a selfish thought ("I gave up everything! Why?!") as they fought barehanded on top of the crumbling metaverse was as heartbreaking as it was satisfying. I don't care if it was cheesy, it was the good cheese.

Though really, the most lovely part of his arc was his own goodbye to Joker when he had a change of heart and became a taxi driver. As a friend put it, he went from someone who planned to lead all of humanity into paradise, to someone who takes people to where they want to go. I love you, Mr. Gentle Madman. I hope whoever Persona 6's final boss is, they manage to be even half as amazing as you.

#shuttersp5r

[highfaelucien]

While on the topic of wishing sjm had done something different for her characters, I really wanted something more for cassian. For example, cassian’s wings going from being completely ruined in the end of acomaf to being 100% healed in acowar made no sense to me. I think it would’ve been an opportunity for the growth of cassian’s character to see him go through the loss of losing the ability to fly and instead retrain himself to be a warrior in other ways and find other things about himself that prove his own worth to himself. Given the fact that cassian’s confidence is aligned with his ability to protect and serve others, it just would have been sooo good to see him overcome his grief and become even stronger of a character. And how wings, in general, are a sense of male pride among illyrians. I think this would’ve been the perfect way to write cassian and have him break away from his own idea of masculinity. He could have redefined what it meant for him to be a Man ™. Ugh, it just could have been so GOOD, imagine the character we could have gotten from him.

Listen, after ACOMAF, when this happened, EVERYONE was buzzing about this. Most people thought he wouldn't outright lose his wings permanently, but there would be a LOT required.

And then ACOWAR came and approximately nothing happened whatsoever. Oh he had to be healed. the healer had to rebuild his wings. he had to do strength training every day. But fundamentally: not a sausage.

Personally? I think Maas chickend out. I think she was unable to commit to taking Cassian's wings, or figuring out how to write him as anything other than what she's established him as: fun jock man who likes to hit things real hard and make dick jokes sometimes.

Having to see Cassian vulnerable? Having to see him broken, and struggling, and having to reevaluate his entire life and self-esteem and sense of masculinity would have been an incredible option for a character arc.

Most of the theorising/Nessian fics involved Nesta helping him. The two of them being broken/fundamentally altered by their experiences in Hybern - she being killed and Made with a dark power, Cassian losing his wings.

There was expected bonding over that, peeling away the masks they both wear to discover the softness underneath. The two of them being able to reach one another, because of their bond, in a way the others could not. It produced some pretty epic stuff, honestly.

And how badly I wanted that I didn't FULLY realise until the disappointment of ACOSF, when it hit fully.

Because instead of stripping Cassian back and seeing the tactician, the strategist, forcing him to put his other skills to use, to develop those skills, rather than 'smash with sword and ask questions later'. This man is a General. All the combat training in the world doesn't let you be good at this job if you can't command, if you can't use tactics, if you can't strategise.

And THIS is where I wanted to see Nesta. Nesta, the woman who calculated how many ships would be needed to save the humans of Prythian. The woman who looked at Greysen's manor and assessed its capabilities and saw a prison. The woman who devours history novels, who has a tactical, cunning mind. Who has never been a warrior or a creature of brute strength or physical abilities.

THIS is how I wanted to see Nesta evolve. This was how I wanted to see her develop. I didn't want her taken out of lady's dresses. I didn't want her forced into fighting leathers, to basically become another copy of her sister, and follow down that path.

I wanted her to take her own. I wanted her to finally be in a place where she could learn, and strategise, and contribute. And I wanted her to work with Cassian on this - who was grounded because of his wings, who couldn't command on the frontlines anymore, or even fight. Who had to stay back, and see how he handled this. How he maintained his authority. How he maintained his sanity without his wings.

We could have had so fucking much. Such a powerful narrative about survival. I wanted her in the library, with the other survivors, (and with fucking MORRIGAN - not sidelined, not dismissed, not being bitchy and catty for the sake of it. But someone who visits the library frequently, who interacts with the women there, and sometimes just is a woman there herself, because there are still hard days.)

But no. No instead of something nuanced, and original, and actually tailored to Nesta's strengths as a character, we got Yet Another Weapon's Trainng Montage.

We got the narrative that the only way to heal from abuse is to be able to beat the shit out of your abusers. Because that's #GirlPower, right?

It makes me so furious I almost want to just. Just fucking rewrite the whole damn fucking thing myself the way it SHOULD have gone.

And I know you talked about Cassian and not Nesta, so I do apologise, but they were tied together. But I agree.

We all wanted Cassian to evolve from that 'Lord of Bloodshed' / "savage brute" because reading between the lines and forcing some nuance from these books, which is the only way to survive: Cassian has a lot of layers. There's a lot of trauma there. A lot of insecurity. A lot of angst. A lot of heart. A lot of fucking INTELLIGENCE. (I'll fight on that point, I really will. Cassian is not a dumb himbo who can barely add 1 and 1).

But sjm was too busy writing him having a hard on for Nesta to explore....anything about himself. Or his relationship with Azriel, and Rhys, and Mor, and everyone else.

The removal (even temporarily) of his wings would have allowed for a LOT of that exploration.

Firstly, the fact that he injured them by CHOICE, saving Azriel's life. That would have been such a deep connection and bond between them. The guilt that Az would feel - but the potential for Cassian to step in, even with his wings gone, and say that he'd do it again.

Because Azriel is his brother. He loves him. And it was worth it. It would be worth it a hundred times over to save him. Because he's worth saving. And he's worth sacrificing for. And what that would have done for Az as a character, too. Who always offers himself up first for dangerous missions, puts himself in peril to protect the others.

And having Cassian join Feyre and Az's flying lessons? Because Cass having to relearn how to fly once (if) his wings healed to that extent, means letting Azriel train him. Because those old instincts aren't enough. And he has to learn how to strengthen them, and train with them. And how this affects his perception of himself and his masculinity, as he said. But also deepening his understanding for Az, and the bond the two of them share, in having this experience together.

Bonding with Rhys, who FINALLY fucking opens up to someone and has some nuanced therapy-like conversations about what happened with Amarantha. The sacrifces they've made for their people. How they'd do it again but it still hurts, and changes them, and how they have to learn and grow and move on from that and heal together.

Rhys working with Cassian on his other talents, using him as the skilled strategist and tactician he MUST be. Helping him to develop that, keeping his brother from losing his mind while he can't fight or use his physicality to solve problems, as he usually does.

Mor personally healing and tending to Cassian. Mor being there at his bedside every day while he was bed bound. Mor becoming as possessive and overprotective of both him and Az as any mate ever has been.

Mor speaking to him about her own rehabilitation after what her family did to her, the physical toll that took on her. Mor's heart breaking because she nearly lost both him and Az and she couldn't handle that at all. Mor reiterating how much she fucking loves him, and how she needs him.

Mor helping him through the darker days of his depression because she's been there. And she knows what it is to put on a front. To always be laughing, and joking, without the seriousness of life -leave that to the others. But sometimes it's too much and he needs to break down. And be angry. And furious. And hopeless. And scared. And that's what she's there for. Because she understands.

Mor winnowing him to his favourite spots that he can't fly to anymore, just so he can be there. The two of them spending time, and bonding, and developing that relationship we got in ACOMAF beyond 'we bicker constantly and drink together and make sexual innuendos'.

Even Amren showing up and doing her part. Snapping at him to stop brooding so much. But also bringing him some of her puzzles. Some of her favourite military history books (which she has anotated and edited to highlight the bits that have been incorrectly reported). Spending time with him to stop him going mad. Exhausting herself those first few days personally attending to Cassian's wings, and snarling at anyone who tried to interfere.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH.

IT COULD HAVE DEVELOPED SO MUCH WITH THE INNER CIRCLE. AND CASSIAN. AND NESSIAN. AND JUST. EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER BUT NAW. IT WAS BASIC ASS AND BORING AND I'M GONNA DIE MAD ABOUT IT.

#cassian #nesta archeron #nessian #rhysand #azriel #morrigan acotar #amren #acotar series #acotar meta #cassian meta #IT'S WHAT WE DESERVED I TELL YOU #IT'S WHAT WE FUCKING /DESERVED/ #im still ANGY #answer tag #anonymous #taryn answers #long post #taryn rants #anti sjm #anti acotar