#1.0 seemed like an eternity

[gotzzy]

They are hot and they know it 😍😍

...

...

#1.0 seemed like an eternity #they didn't know then that in a few years they would be the hottest couple #tom holland #zendaya #tomdaya #1.0 tz #throwback

[artemisia-black]

The soul in the Harry Potter universe; a joint meta with @ashesandhackles

1.0 Introduction

One of the main themes of the Harry Potter series is death; with explorations of the cost of earthbound immortality, resurrection and constructs of the afterlife being major sub-themes.

Death is so central to the series, that the story opens with a double murder, failed infanticide and the supposed death and defeat of Voldemort. Indeed, the book is named after a magical instrument that grants immortality ( the philosophers/sorcerers stone), and the book’s primary plot revolves around the plan to steal the Elixir of Life.

However, despite being a series that is so focused on death, death itself is not treated as an absolute finality. Indeed, Death is framed as a natural part of life that to the,

“ …well- organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” PS

And it is via the soul that a person can access the afterlife and greet death like a friend, and in this meta, we will explore how the concept of the soul is constructed within the Harry Potter series.

2.0 The soul in the Wizarding World

This concept of the eternal soul finds its seeds as early as the Philosopher’s Stone - in the scene where Harry finds a slain unicorn in the forest.

“That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,” said Firenze. “Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.” PS

This, right here, alludes to the idea of Voldemort maiming his soul in his greed for immortal earthbound life. The unicorn, as a symbol in myth, is to represent a “pure soul” - the killing of a pure soul to one’s own gain, would make his soul unable to go on to the Kingdom of Heaven, so to speak.

However, the existence of souls is explicitly confirmed in PoA, where the readers are first introduced to the nature of dementors:

“Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can’t see them. Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself . . . soul- less and evil. You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.” PoA

And illustrates quite plainly what is “worse than death”:

“What — they kill — ?”

“Oh no,” said Lupin. “Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no ... anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just — exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever ... lost.” PoA

The idea of the soul being incredibly important to wizardkind is implicitly demonstrated through the reaction of Sirius Black towards the Dementors. Given that he is a character who shows little self preservation (he willingly lives on the edge of starvation several times), he only occasion he shows concern for his own welfare is when he is about to receive the Dementor’s kiss:

“ The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean — The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head

“Nooo,” he moaned. “Noooo ... please. ...” PoA

3.0 The soul and immortality

Having discussed the existence of the soul in the series, it is important to explore the limitations placed upon it.

3.1 Ghosts; souls that are bound to the earth

Within the universe, it appears that a soul must be contained within a body while on this plane of existence. Indeed, the idea of an earthbound soul free of its body is one which is either deemed morally repugnant (in the case of Horcruxes) or the shadow of human life (in the case of ghosts).

Within the Harry Potter universe, the ghosts linger in the liminal space between life and death, veritable proof of an after-life yet having no knowledge of it.

As Nearly Headless Nick explains:

“I……was afraid of death,” said Nick. “I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have ... Well, that is neither here nor there... In fact, I am neither here nor there...” He gave a small sad chuckle. “ OoTP

The idea of the wizarding afterlife is also hinted at when both Harry and Luna - characters who are in alignment with series’ position on Death (whereas rationalists like Hermione and Ron react differently) - hear voices whispering from behind the veil, whose ragged curtain mirrors descriptions of the Dementor’s cloaks. And much like when the dementors lower their hood to remove a soul, the touching of the veil also removes a soul from the earthly plane. The veil in the Death chamber acts as a separation between the earthly life and next. The imagery of the veil returns in the story of the second brother in the Tale of Deathly Hallows: “Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered.

Returning to ghosts; they are earth bound, yet cannot influence the physical space around them nor partake in any earthly delights. At the Deathday party, Harry asks one of the ghosts (who was floating through the rotten food):

“Can you taste it if you walk through it?” Harry asked him.

“Almost,” said the ghost sadly, and he drifted away.” CoS

Yet they are conscious and have ‘memory’ of who they were when they were alive. Nick describes it as:

“.....an imprint….”

“ upon the earth, to walk palely where their living selves once trod….” OoTP

Indeed the construct of ghosts within HP, are congruent with the philosophical thinking of Rene Descartes.

In Meditations on First Philosophy, published in 1641, Descartes states that:

“ There is an outer world, which includes my body, but I could still exist even if it were all destroyed.”

He later furthered this idea, by merging the idea of mind and soul and exploring the dualism of the physical realm with the mental. In a letter to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, Descartes writes:

“…..These arise…from the close and intimate union of our mind with the body. This list includes, first, appetites like hunger and thirst; secondly, the emotions or passions of the mind that do not consist of thought alone, such as the emotions of anger, joy, sadness, and love; and finally, all the sensations….”

This sentiment echoes the ghost’s desire for food which is a recurring theme within canon. Indeed the first time Nick is introduced he states:

“I haven’t eaten for nearly five hundred years,” said the ghost. “I don’t need to, of course, but one does miss it.” PS

3.2 A soul that is intact

The soul, as Slughorn notes in the Half Blood Prince, is meant to be “intact and whole” and that “splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature.” This belief is embedded in the wizarding world, to the point, Hermione complains, “All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile — listen — ‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction.’”

As a side note: the idea of a Horcrux being horrifying to wizards may be the primary reason behind Regulus Black’s defection.

In Goblet of Fire, we are introduced to the Unforgivables - in particular, the killing curse. But what does the killing curse actually do?

We begin with etymology, as confirmed from interviews: it comes from Aramaic, which means - “Let that thing be destroyed.” Goblet of Fire opens with the murder of the Riddles, which apparently caused no marks on the body and escaped any natural explanation for Muggle doctors. To their bewilderment, the Riddles apparently just “dropped dead”.

Later in the book, we get a description of the curse being performed:

“There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though something vast and invisible was soaring through the air - instantaneously, the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked but unmistakably dead.” GoF

We posit that “Avada Kedavra” releases the soul from its mortal container. The description of something “vast and invisible” is possibly the soul of the spider. This is the reason why Voldemort’s soul fractured when the curse rebounded on him:

“My curse was deflected by the woman’s foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah . . . pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost ... but still, I was alive.”

4.0 The pure soul; the true master of death

The acceptance of death (through not choosing to be earth bound) and a soul that is unmaimed is the key to both resurrection and access to the afterlife.

It is imperative to note that the central thesis of Deathly Hallows embodied by the Corinthian’s quote on Harry’s parents’ graves:

“The last enemy that will be defeated is Death.” DH

This quote is so central that it is explicitly explained within the text:

“It doesn’t mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry,” said Hermione, her voice gentle. “It means ... you know ... living beyond death. Living after death.” DH

This idea is set up from the first book, and while choosing a wand ( or the wand choosing him) Harry is intentionally paralleled with Voldemort, in a way that shows their differing attitude towards death. While their wand cores are from the same Phoenix ( a creature that frequently resurrects from the ashes), their wand wood is different, symbolic of their differing routes to resurrection. Harry’s wand wood is Holly, a symbol of protection and prosperity, with symbolism connected to Christ’s Crown of Thorns. Whereas Voldemort’s wand wood is Yew, which is known as a tree known for its ability to regenerate once its branches touch the ground, its berries and wood are also known for their poison. (Credit: indihpblog).In Order of Phoenix, the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore makes the series’ narrative conversation more explicit, not just with imagery of Fawkes swallowing the Killing Curse and being reborn, but also this:

“ There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” snarled Voldemort.

“You are quite wrong,” said Dumbledore. “Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness—”

To:

“You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?” called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. “Above such brutality, are you?”

“We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,” Dumbledore said calmly. “Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit—” OoTP

Contrast this moment to how Dumbledore reacts to Voldemort’s ultimate fate as a maimed soul (represented by a flayed baby) in the King’s Cross scene.

“What is that, Professor?”

“Something that is beyond either of our help,” said Dumbledore.

Within this scene King’s Cross, provides a liminal space between life and death, and a symbol for limbo. A place many Catholics believe the souls of the unbaptised end up ( although this is not official catechism, it is a widely accepted concept by many catholics).

See also: Azkaban as purgatory

In this scene, Harry who possesses a “pure soul,” is given the choice to go on to the afterlife (access to said afterlife) or to be resurrected and return to earth.

“I’ve got a choice?”

“Oh yes.” Dumbledore smiled at him. “We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to ... let’s say ... board a train.” DH

It is also interesting to note that the series concludes in King’s Cross.

This choice is contrasted to the part of Voldemort’s soul which appears stuck in this limbo.

Of course, Harry still tries to save Voldemort, despite Dumbledore’s proclamation. He offers Voldemort a chance to heal his soul, by asking him to feel remorse - something Hermione says in the beginning of Deathly Hallows as a way to heal a torn soul:

“Yeah, it did,” said Harry. “You’re right. But before you try to kill me, I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done. ... Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle. ...”

“What is this?”

Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

“It’s your one last chance,” said Harry, “it’s all you’ve got left. ... I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise. ... Be a man ... try ... Try for some remorse. ...”

But Voldemort does not choose redemption and instead unwillingly dies and either ceases to exist completely or is trapped in eternal suffering. Interestingly there is a concept of hell known as Annihilationism, which theorises that hell is non-existence rather than eternal torture.

#harry potter #hp meta #voldemort #meta

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Oh, the Lure of Emily

I've been withdrawing.

Not for all that long, I don't think, but social media goes so fast, so that means letting a lot of opportunities to be "social" disappear into the ether. I shouldn't. I need to practice connecting with people and it used to be so much easier for me to do that on the internet, but I really hate just about everything about it now. It's hard to put what I mean into words fast enough, and it seems like that's hard for a lot of people, but we're doing it anyway. That's a lot of what I don't like interacting IRL, and it's here now. I haven't found a place that's not like that.

I entered into this level of interaction at the behest of a soulless corporation that doesn't care about any of us (clearly) and I'm being asked to pay more than I wanted to give (ex. curate an ever-lengthening feed of more people who want to be seen, help train AIs who'll render me and others invisible, accept a certain amount of increasingly heinous ideas with no pushback to be polite/for my own mental health/to keep my interaction from being nothing but that stuff), in return for much less than what I wanted to get. Mainly, it's so strangers can click a button that says they "like" something I did, and never interact with me, or any other aspect of me, ever again.

It's like that on my site, too, except I disabled the "like" and comment functions out of frustration. The interface became unsustainable and It's mainly bots using it. I've improved my ratio of "recorded clicks that were probably a human being" vs. "probably a webcrawler or spambot" for the privilege of seeing how few people are interested.

And social media isn't helping. I mean, why would it? It's getting all it wants out of me on spec, and it does not have to deliver visibility. It never did. That was always something I needed to "earn." It just seemed to be easier to do that in Web 1.0. I had a message board, once. It survived a move from one dying host to another (which, I think, is also dead now - everyone's on Discord) and I picked up enough people to write and have fun, with very few jerks I needed to ban, and no bots. Wow. If someone was being a total bastard, they were made of meat and I could yell at them and register an objection like a person. Does anyone out there remember that?

A big part of me wants to be a postmodern Emily Dickenson. You can have my work after I'm dead, if you want it. I'll "publish" by printing it out and putting it in a box. Even the fanfic stuff. Interacting with fandoms hardly seems worth it for me, they've got their own issues. And, as for social, you may have one garden party a year, and maybe I'll exchange emails with one guy who says "this stuff is good". We live small enough, and we're doing well enough, that I could probably hide and keep making art uncompensated. Unless something happened, and then I'd probably wind up on the street or in an institution of some kind. Not the nice kind.

And, as much as you [as in, anyone who trips over this] would protest the loss of me to my face - out of some feeling of human solidarity or philosophical devotion - were I to vanish, it wouldn't matter where. You'd get used to not seeing me. You'd read something else. Maybe I'd be happier, maybe I wouldn't, but that wouldn't involve you, so you'd move on.

That big, dumb jerk Nietzsche (who was, at least, made of meat) posited that Sisyphus must be happy, because he knows he's doing what he's supposed to and what's going to happen next, forever. But, really, the only thing you'd have to do is say to him, "Every time you put one iota of effort into pushing this rock, there's a small chance it'll take off and fly. If you're really doing your job, it will, it's just a matter of time!" And then it doesn't. Not just for his whole life, for eternity.

I'm not being punished for cheating death. I'm being punished for cheating corporations - not even cheating them all that much, I don't think, but it's enough. I don't look profitable, because that wasn't why I started pushing this rock. I wanted to make a difference. I'd like enough money to live and keep creating, and to pay some people to help me, but all that's just some boxes to tick on the way to making a difference. And I can't tick those boxes for a corporation or for myself.

The only thing that's gotten me attention is when someone bigger than me gives me a namecheck. I could just keep begging creators I love to do that, but a lot of people do that, and I don't think creators like it. They didn't ask for that responsibility. They don't have time to vet every person and see if their work is actually good or just AI generated garbage. Or delusional garbage from someone who thinks they can create, but can't, really. I'm losing the confidence to keep begging people to understand that I'm not delusional. Maybe I am, ya know? That would explain my situation too.

At least, if I kept it all to myself, I'd be dead when someone found my boxes and boxes of papers and chose an excerpt for their treatise on hypergraphia in freaky recluses.

Thoreau got it twisted. People make pretty baskets so someone will use them. If it has no use, it's neither a basket nor an art object. Someone has to pick it up and use it for it to be either of those things, and hopefully both. I use my baskets. I think other people could, but I know I use them. It would be a lot easier for me to do that if I didn't keep leaving them outside when I've finished weaving and hoping someone will pick them up.

But, I typed this into a window on Tumblr, so it's going outside with the rest. As will the others, for the time being. My words will probably be used to train an AI, and already have been. Yours too. Self-determination is reserved for the Emilies. I do want it, but...

Not enough to give up this painful hope that a rock might fly.

[rubylarkspur22]

Random Plot Idea (💕)

So! Ship Swap! Guess what plot bunny wriggled its way into my brain.

I got an idea for the Kamado family.

Here's my notes that led to this:

Tanjirou and Nezuko were kidnapped, then separated by Nezuko being bought into the Entertainment District. Neither of them have any memory of each other, or their lives prior to the separation, due to the trauma they both experienced and dealt with in their own ways.

Tanjurou is alive, having been away from the house when Muzan attacked. Because I think it'd be super sucky if Tanjirou and Nezuko reunite and go home... only to find out the rest of their entire family is dead. So Tanjurou lives, but is also grieving his 4 kids who got slaughtered, unsure if the eldest two are even alive after a decade of absolutely nothing to indicate that.

Muzan has sentient waypoints across Japan, probably keeping especially close tabs on Mount Kumotori, and he also has really bad Yoriichi PTSD. And Tanjurou is even more similar to Yoriichi than Tanjirou is, having the Transparent World and Selfless State on top of Sun Breathing mastery and the appearance.

So! What happens when you combine the man who's basically Yoriichi 2.0 with a nerfing, and the man who lives in eternal fear of Yoriichi 1.0 and attacks the Sun Breathing family, and later finds out he missed one(I mean, he technically missed 3, but he doesn't know about the other 2. Yet...)?

Bad things. Namely, Muzan sends someone to finish the job(because there's no way he's knowingly walking into that a**-beating after last time he faced a Sun Breather). And Tanjurou may be a boss, but he's also not armed with the sword that can kill demons. So, a Demon Slayer steps in, it's probably Giyuu wondering why the hell he got called back here. They comment on the sudden increase in demon attacks on Mount Kumotori, and suggest Tanjurou vacate the premises and go to a more secure location until they can find out WTF is going on.

Naturally, seeing as someone's clearly targeting the man and)or his home, they send Tanjurou to one of the two most secure locations in the Corps; the Ubuyashiki Mansion. Kagaya may not be the leader here, but that just means he's a man of chaos who can see the chaos he causes. So he mentions to Amane that the guy the Kakushi brought in(and Giyuu mentioned) looks freakishly like the Kochou Sisters' tsuguko. And then suggests they send their new guest to the Butterfly Mansion to double check for injuries.

Tanjurou gets there, and damn near has a heart attack at who he meets.

Their family's hair and eye colour aren't common. He can recognize who it is a mile away. It is his boy, his eldest son, still very much with a pulse and now carting around a sword.

And this is after Mount Natagumo, because I said so, so not long after, Papa Kamado sees his eldest daughter as well. And has a heart attack upon hearing she stabbed herself in the leg to get rid of demon spider venom. Someone please get the poor man some blood pressure meds.

Of course, it's been a decade since he's seen them, so he's a little unsure of how to handle this. Especially since he has no clue how they got here. Both of them seemed fine, and Kanao was there and showed no signs of distress. So what the heck? And neither of the kids are approaching him either, though Nezuko occasionally accompanies Kanao when the older girl comes to talk.

Eventually, he learns what little the Flower, Insect, and Sound Hashira can offer for info. And suddenly things make a lot more sense, even with only a little context.

Thoughts?

#demon slayer #kny au #swap au #kamado nezuko #kamado tanjirou #kamado tanjurou #💕 #this is just me spitballing #not necessarily canon to the au itself #just proposing the idea as a litmus test for what y'all think

[felis-artis]

Official Arc 1 Playlist

It will be full of The Mechanisms, I know that for sure. Try to decontextualize those songs if you know the stories. They are silly cats now.

I will put every song below. I will use links on Youtube (to have access to archived videos, not on Spotify) but if you want to port any of this into a music-playing site or app, be my guest. I'll add it to the post if you do!

Version: 1.0 Last Update: April 28th, 2024

-

1 -> Stranger (The Mechanisms)

Oh, my love, what madness can this be (Why did you come here?) In your place a monster I do see (I warned you not to look) You don't understand I had to keep my nature secret This was never planned You were never meant to know

This song is so Crowtongue and Wildfire to me. Minus the "love" portion. I might actually animate a portion of this song to them, if I had the time or money to spare.

-

2 -> Nothing Critical (Cloudeater)

Oh my we forgot to smile Guns are drawn, now my lawn's a wreck I know, someone had to go If not him it'd be me instead

Crowtongue and Wildfire. Enough said.

-

3 -> Willard! (Will Wood)

Never learned how I should feel, instincts somehow stunted Just seem haunted by my stupid urge to protect Until frustration makes me wish my teeth were sharp as yours Chew through their garage doors They'll call me crazy but their words all seem made up to me Maybe they just need more friendship like yours

Its not a playlist of mine without a good song from In Case I Die. It's too good an album. Anyways, this is so Cloudnose that it hurts. I love his character.

-

4 -> Alarm Call (The Correspondents)

Where have you gone? I am calling on you Your alarm call's on and I'm coming to your rescue I know exactly what to do I make the call and sit by you Check your heartbeat against mine But there's no trace of it this time

Goldenflower and Wildfire. I love them so much. A good mother-son relationship, layered with a million feelings and filtered through such a simplistic lens, it breaks. I would animate this, but I don't have any time.

-

5 -> Fading Kitten Syndrome (Roar)

Carry me in your teeth with tender jaws of sympathy (Arrow deep inside the meat Impossible for us to reach)

Wildfire's kits. When your father is a symbol for the start of the end, its hard to detach yourself from that symbolism.

-

6 -> Reduced to Guts (Vivivivivi)

This song reeks of Timberstrike. I can't explain it, it just is. Every breath he breathes is filled with lies at the end, and he hates himself for it. He loves it though, he's practically intoxicated by its power.

-

7 -> He'll Use ... Show / Dr. Sunshine is Dead (Will Wood)

Well, who else could I be when I can hardly see? I am not the sunshine, I am not the moon at night I'm no one if I'm nowhere in between

This specific recording has the exact vibes I need for Sagewhisker, the Seer for Arc 1. She doesn't have a big appearance, but she has a large enough one that it matters. Also, Mario Conte is THE drummer of all time.

-

8 -> SCAPEG(8)AT (Ghost and Pals)

Now do you hate me? Are you afraid of mе? Are you able to feel culpability? Come forth and kill me Bow down and worship me Take your time, all we have is eternity Now with a new start Broken and torn apart Nothing in me resembles a human heart My name is unknown Something I've never told On my own, I declare "I don't wanna go home"

Crowstar and Timberstar. Their dynamic is important to me in a way that most people's cars are important to them. I love their dynamic, hate their ideology, and adore how they grow as characters. Beating them with hammers.

-

More to be added at a later date!

#FA: Arc 1 #FA: Playlists #warrior cats rewrite #warrior cats

[monkmain]

I’m still feeling lazy so I decided to just post all the art I made alongside the other stuff and if I have more motivation later I’ll Reblog this and explain everything.

stats:

Starting region(room)- Silent Construct(CL_D03)

Starting karma(maximum)- 2(5)

Starts with mark- no

Can maul- yes

Food per hibernation(maximum)- 5(7)

Diet- only meat-like entities, such as centipedes, can be eaten. Plant-like entities, such as popcorn plants, burn to a crisp when touched.

Lung capacity-N/A

Throwing skill- 1.2

Spear damage- 1.0

Run speed- 1.0

Corridor climb speed- 1.0

Pole climb speed- 1.3

Mass- 0.85

Loudness- 1.0

Visibility bonus- 0.5

Crawling stealth- 0.3

Silent construct

Our presence has been revealed to you now, young one.

It seems you are not on either of the paths of your predecessors.

One lived for vengeance, the other for power.

But you… you strive for comfort.

To see those you have not gazed upon for an eternity.

I must admit, your mindset is admirable.

and for the boi himself, for putting up with my nonsense for this long:

A pack of cigarettes and a canister of gasoline

#rain world #spoilers #scug oc #slugpup #fire dancer #artisaint

[a-la-campanella]

Dreaming of Garbage

AKA misc. Tatalov lore dump lol

It's a little late now to be making an analysis post on the Sweet Dreams "Penacony "The Great Tatalov" video, but who cares? I'm still working an Interstellar Journey post and that video has been out for even longer.

The video, for the most part, alternates between two speakers: Shatana and Himeko. Shatana, of course, is Natasha (they share voice actors, and Shatana is an outright anagram of Natasha). Of the two, Shatana is the only one who actually mentions Tatalov outright. Himeko's voicelines can be read as entirely unrelated to the whole Tatalov plotline going on, so for the purposes of this post, I'm ignoring what she has to say.

Most players won't remember this, but the first mention of Tatalov actually occurred as far back as 1.0 through interacting with a trash can in Boulder Town. (Thanks to u/merofsilence for pointing it out, I didn't catch that!) The dialogue is about the defeat of Garbage King Tatalov, by the hands of a younger trash can.

I... highly doubt these roles are fulfilled by Sampo and the Trailblazer, mostly because even in dreams we'd be able to sus out that Sampo wouldn't talk like that, but I digress; it's a dream at the end of the day. (I also have my doubts about the big trash can that Sampo fights being Tatalov, but that's more likely.) Though I do think this will be the same end we see for Tatalov when we arrive in Penacony, though.

The scenes with garbage or those taking place in Belabog are from the Tatalov dream; everything else is from Penacony, or a dream-like version of the planet. One of the inspirations for Penacony seems to have been Inception, a movie about dreams within dreams; so there are layers to these dreams, right? Reality is Penacony as it truly is/the hotel, and the first level of the dream is where all the fun parts of Penacony are. This makes Tatalov's story in a later level.

I imagine that part of the Penacony story (minus the details of interactions with other characters and actual larger-scale conflict) will go something like this:

The Astral Express crew checks into the hotel on the planet and then gets escorted to their respective rooms to enter the dreaming state. After arriving at their rooms, everyone starts to sleep.

We encounter Firefly in the first level of the dream. The photos with Firefly? She's just showing us around. Seems to have been some kind of conflict we're protecting her from and a secret she's hiding from us, too.

Enter the next dream? Or we enter that dream later.

The Trailblazer's dream brings them back to a Belabog populated by Trash Cans (hence the setting being Belabog), where we reunite with our beloved trash and the Big Bad Sampo.

We meet Shatana, played by Natasha, and she begs us for our help to rise up against Tatalov, who regardless of if he is or isn't represented by Sampo, is the Great Evil we must defeat to save the trash.

She tells us, "since that thing from beyond the sky arrived here along with the Eternal Freeze, Tatalov's eyes have been blinded." The thing from beyond the sky is, perhaps, meant to be the Stellaron, and it turned Tatalov into a poor ruler (maybe a reference to Cocolia?). "We must force the Garbage King to mend his ways under the banner of Skyfire" is just fighting back against Tatalov. Skyfire is a curse we can apply on enemies from Foxian Tales of the Haunted to make them explode, dealing Fire DMG... so probably a reference to that, and a nod towards Preservation Trailblazer. If Skyfire here is meant to mean anything else, then my guess is as good as yours.

Firefly might be sharing this dream with us? We do seem to share the dream with her when exploring Penacony (re: speculation that she exists only in a dream), and there was a trash can next to us when we got bombed, followed by Firefly's comment of "what kind of nonsense is this?" Our dream is too much for her, whoops.

I have no fucking clue who Sampo is talking about when he says "Follow me, you two." Like, one of the two people is probably the Trailblazer, but I'm skeptical to assume the second person could be Shatana... so who knows. Maybe Firefly? Anyways, he appears at some point to get in our way and terrorize the trash cans. What a cruel, evil man...

Success(?) and defeat of Tatlov to follow. The dream might end there, or we might enter a new dream, who knows.

As all this is happening, everyone else is down to business and battle and whatever is going down apparently involves whales. Based off the rough timeline from White Night, this would be during the dreaming time.

It's an absurd story we've dreamt up, but given how fleshed out some of the details are and the full on movie poster at the end of the video, it's likely a story we've been thinking about for a while. Trailblazer's Main Character arc to save the Trash Cans!

Parts I wasn't sure where to fit in timeline-wise:

So a massive Sampo throwing us into to Penacony? That happened, I guess. It could be a dream or it could some Alice In Wonderland mushrooms shit, since there was a massive March at some point too, though that was in a dream, I think...

We may have crashed in front of Robin and Sunday after we were tossed down. The ground from the crater looks similar to the ground in the photos.

There's also a normal-sized "Sampo" (he seems to be manipulated by Sparkle, what with the koi fish flying out of the way to reveal him with glowing eyes) who puts us to sleep at some point outside of the Tatalov dream, perhaps to force us back into that dream.

The part with green framing? I guess that's Sam's POV since the green is similar to his wings. And Acheron teams up with Black Swan and the Trailblazer to fight Sam... why is Black Swan fighting. Does she have something personal against the Stellaron Hunters? She's literally a meme, what the fuck. This is before Acheron has drawn her sword, so this is a different point in time than the one shown in White Night.

There's a quick sequence that doesn't really mean a lot yet; some bubbles, the... watch thingy or whatever floating in Penacony (I didn't pay attention during the livestream, no clue what its called), and some ID cards or some shit. I can't make out the letters well enough to translate them to English but it's at 1:04 for anyone interested.

#honkai: star rail #hsr #recall and retrieve #building an accelerated tree #trailblazer #tatalov #sampo koski is back! even if it's just a dream! #watched inception last week for this lol #it is. a christopher nolan movie alright #the movie is fine but #I think he could benefit a lot from giving female characters a personality #he'd write better females characters if he just made them all male first then genderbent some later... </3

[mimisempai]

How long have you been standing there?

Summary

Greg waits in the cold impatiently for Mycroft's delayed train, but no matter how long it takes, no matter what the conditions are, for Mycroft, he is willing to wait forever

Notes

Mystrade Monday 1.0  #02 -"How long have you been standing there?"

@mystradepromptsandscenarios

On Ao3

Rating G - 648 words

Greg blew on his fingers, regretting for the tenth time that he had not brought his gloves. He pulled up the collar of his jacket and shoved his hands back into his pockets, dancing from one foot to the other, trying to forget the biting cold of the wind that blew across the platform.

Mycroft's train was half an hour late, but Greg didn't care, he would face the cold ten times over, knowing that his wait would be rewarded the moment Mycroft stepped off the train.

There were not many people on the platform at this late hour and in this cold when suddenly the announcement Greg had been waiting for was heard.

"Finally..." Greg muttered to himself.

Then he waited patiently for the train to come into the station, to stop, and he began to look for the long-awaited figure in the crowd getting off the train.

Suddenly, his eyes fell on an old lady, bent over, trying to get off the train, her heavy suitcase in her hand, the other passengers completely indifferent to her situation.

But Greg had seen her, and he couldn't ignore her.

He stepped forward and said quietly, "Let me help you, madam." Seeing her hesitant look, he added, "If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you my name. I'm Gregory Lestrade, Detective Inspector à Scotland Yard. I just came to fetch my..." he paused for a second, the words still new in his mouth, "my boyfriend." He raised his hands, palms up, and the old lady looked at him for a few more seconds until she was bumped by an impatient passenger. 

Greg grabbed the poor old lady's suitcase and helped her down the stairs before leading her and her suitcase away from the crowd. He handed her her luggage and said gently, "Here you go."

The old lady smiled kindly at him and said, "Thank you, young man. It is comforting to know that there are still generous souls like you. Enjoy your evening with your..." she winked at him and continued in a conspiratorial tone, "...boyfriend."

This drew a small laugh from Greg, who watched her leave and waved back as she turned to greet him one last time.

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice with such familiar intonations calling softly, "Greg?

He turned sharply. There he was. His hair tousled by the wind, his cheeks slightly flushed by the wind and that smile. That smile that was his alone.

After more than ten days apart, Greg didn't want to hold back and wrapped his arms around Mycroft's neck, pulling him closer so he could finally hold him. He buried his face in Mycroft's neck, savoring this first embrace in what seemed like an eternity.

Mycroft put his hands on his shoulders to pull him back and touched Greg's reddened nose with his fingertip. He asked him with concern, "How long have you been standing there?"

Greg chuckled softly, "I could be dramatic and tell you that it felt like I had been waiting for you forever, but in reality I was only there as long as it took for your train to arrive."

Mycroft shook his head, "Oh Greg, my dear, in this cold you should have waited inside."

"I couldn't wait to see you again," Greg said, shrugging his shoulders. And since they were no longer in the stage of hiding their feelings, he added, "I missed you, you know."

"I've missed you too," Mycroft said softly, leaning over and blowing on Greg's nose. Then he added, "Come on..." he put his arm around Greg's shoulder and pressed him closer, "let's go home so we can warm up in a much better way."

Greg nodded and put his arm around Mycroft's waist.

The wind was still blowing hard, but nestled against Mycroft's warm body, Greg didn't notice it.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Mystrade masterlist here

#mystrade #mycroft holmes #greg lestrade #mycroft x greg #some fluff as always #sherlock bbc #established relationship #mystrade monday #mystrade monday prompts

[thegeminisage]

plan of sitting atop zelda to farm her for parts ruined by 1. i have adhd and to get all my parts would be up to 90 minutes of doing absolutely nothing 2. star fell, had to get it

got lucky! she was really close to the great sky islands so i've gotten back to her by flinging myself off those

oh boy she's taking us through this storm lol

just doing this for an hour seems excruciating. she's been doing it for 10,000 YEARS. i'm gonna kermit

AAAAAUGH another fallen star................this is HORRIBLE i already gave up a naydra opportunity to sit up here! if i go get this one i definitely won't get lucky enough to get back on her back, she's head towards the sparse and UNEXPLORED skies over the gerudo desert so i'd have no way to fast travel back to her...i wish i could leave a medallion on her head

i got another spike so it'll be at least another 10m anyway...might as well go

goodbye babygirl 😢

i got it! AND without the bike lol

i've left epona out forever but right near a stable. felt bad so i let her run on the road to a different stable where i finally boarded her, except first she disappeared for a second?? which was a terrifying little glitch lol

forced my bike into this big cave with me which was good because i got to skip what would have been a very difficult climb in cave-rain

unfortunately even though i was a cheapskate about it i can't get it out of here :( rip. i hate having to spend fans...

a chest ALSO vanished on me :/ weird 1.0 glitches........

i only have one korok seed left in this little area but its next to a lynel :///

might as well try to fight it while i'm here i suppose.........

i actually got him?! man NICE......

even tho lurelin was my fav place from botw (and totk, bc i simply Love The Beach) i feel kinda bad coming here now like let me PAY you for stuff!!! i have moneyyy

but those koroks arent gonna fly themselves.........

awww the skyview tower rito is here. now that i've got them all he gets to get a wife and settle down here lol

ah! the proper heart shaped lake had SO many fairies but i dropped my bike before they loaded and then they loaded as it dropped which ofc scared all of them away :(

ugh my bike despawned AGAIN...............life is so hard all the time

ugh!!!!!!! i thought about going to get that shrine in eventide i missed since i'm sort of in the area but like. i'd have to kill ALL those pirate monsters again. this is why i turn shrines on sometimes. i want them to be a surprise but also missing one like that fucking SUCKS

naydra sighted again, but i feel like i see her a lot around here so i'm passing her up for now. i got shit to do which requires my bike. also the little list i used to know how much stuff i need was on r*ddit and it's shut down now lol so like

ok nvm i got my last seed on this route and she's literally right above me. i'd have to ditch the bike anyways

god i love riding dragons. can't wait until i can do this with farosh

i think she's about to go into the depths...maybe i'll see if i can stay on and go with her lol

oh maybe not...she's going sharply upward suddenly

girl where are we GOING???

oh no i think this may be it, she's descending again and there's a chasm ahead...

OHHH there's zelda in the distance :( i can't go to her now!!! i might literally not be able to lol, she's not near anything. but i really wanna see if naydra will go into a chasm while i'm on her back...

i climbed a spike to be sure i wouldn't fall off lol

OHHH THIS IS LITERALLY IT SHES GOING DOWN

and the kakariko chasm too! i haven't dove in here yet...

just realized she's going to be an eternity getting to the bottom. it takes ME forever falling at maximum velocity

still cool af tho

oh, i haven't been down this chasm but i have explored and lit up the world beneath it lol. let's see which direction she goes ig

I SEE A LIGHTROOT FROM HERE........i'm not ready to leave her yet tho. if i'm really lucky she'll take me right to it

there's an area, which tbh i'm just as happy to pass over for now...and a yiga hideout!! and we are literally going in the right direction. so cool.

ok bestie this is my stop! ugh i just realized i took video in the chasm but now when we went through it...whatever

i'm glad zelda doesn't come down here. poor girl.

i used the springs here and there were so many i sprung myself up to the ceiling lol

i see a flux construct and a lightroot. i could go down and fight it but that would make getting the lightroot much harder unless i spent fans on a bike.......

fuck it ig

easy peasy! i havent fought one of these guys in awhile and i'm pleased to see how much easier it's become

oh duh. i can just fast travel back to the lightroot i just got. i don't have to climb lol

oh COOL i'm just in time to see naydra exit the chasm!

this is such a fun little lightroot trail. every time i get to one another pops up. i actually see TWO from here. they're so addictive...

omg you can fuse stuff to the master sword 😭 i was out of weapons to fuse this flux heart thingy to and i tried and it worked but it is SO UGLY :( im so sorry fi

i am near the spring of wisdom i think!! im gonna ignore this lightroot (HARD.......) and see if there's a poe statue guy there

...i think i flew right into it. i cheated by checking my interactive map lol

oh no just kidding i was climbing to the ceiling! i flew OVER it. anyway i got there

DARK!!!

HOOD!!!

GIRL YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM DARK LINK AT LAST

dark link my beloved.......................................

onto this last lightroot and then i'm outta here. too bad i didn't collect any zonaite...

oh good god. im on top of a mountain which means valley down here. UGH i have to climb

no way. bike time. this is what it's for.

lol and meanwhile i pass a monster camp with zonaite and can't be assed to get off the bike. and i've just seen ANOTHER lightroot. we are in hell

ok yeah i've had enough. i don't see anymore lightroots, i'm getting out of here. even though i REALLY need zonaite.

GOD i love dark link armor...night speed UP babey. i only wish u could upgrade it (monkeys paw activates and i have to fight hands to do so)

i basically only have 3 areas left on the right side of the map - lanayru which i do not wanna do bc i hate the snowy mountain and the waterway makes me nervous, and the zora area, and death mountain. and i guess the tingle islands so that's technically 4

gonna start w the zora area tomorrow unless a different mood strikes me - there's a shit ton of caves and seeds i missed all clustered together that will be easy to knock out

for now tho bed. sorry for anyone scrolling past this i did the whole day in one post lol

#personal #loz blogging #totk lb #totk spoilers

[junegloom3d]

SIGIL II

Doom is 30 years old as of yesterday, and to celebrate the anniversary John Romero dropped an entire new episode on us, a rip-roaring sequel to his 2019 classic SIGIL. SIGIL II feels quite a bit looser than its predecessor, but that's not a bad thing. It's picked up a bit of a Doom Eternal vibe, which I appreciate, but is still noticeably John Romero in style.

Note that version 1.0 was played, and if Romero happens to provide updates as he did with the original episode, some parts of this may be outdated.

Main review here.

E6M1: Cursed Darkness

SIGIL II starts off with a bang, a high-octane mess of lava under a blue night sky reminiscent of Clan B0S' infamous Sacrament mod, with a cool cage trap and a surprise Cybie on UV to keep us on our toes. Clever players will find the big SIGIL II logo lava chamber; cleverer players will find it's a lot easier to do the final room once you've raised all the pathways.

E6M2: Violent Hatred

Classic Romero. This one feels the most like a map from the first SIGIL; it's a delightful box of poison chocolates that gradually opens up to reveal angry waves of monsters. The outside is optional, but it may be worth it for the goodies -- just mind the Cyberdemon on Ultraviolence.

E6M3: Twilight Desolation

A stark "Inferno" vibe dominates this somewhat open-ended map with the use of some techy textures. If you're quick, you can get the plasma rifle, which should help with the swarms of lost souls. The secret exit is a reuse of Sandy Petersen's trick with the rocket knockback from E3M6, only this time you don't have the benefit of invulnerability.

E6M9: Shattered Homecoming

Romero hits us with a surprise techbase nightmare; the signs indicating what each sector was intended for are a nice touch. I really like the collapsed command room in the northwest, but the "training field" will provide the most hectic firefight as you assault a fortress full of zombies and imps with cacodemon support. Great level.

E6M4: Fragments of Sanity

This one gave me real strong Doom Eternal vibes -- perhaps it was the broken room, perhaps it was the mix of colors. Whatever the case, it's a solid level, a ruined techbase slowly breaking apart and sinking into a lake of fire. The crusher trap will infuriate you -- I wouldn't be surprised if Romero were to revise that section in later versions. (I seem to recall him having to do something similar with E5M4.)

E6M5: Wrathful Reckoning

Techbase, but the grody, industrial techbase of "Nuclear Plant" or "Toxin Refinery." The big toxic disposal chamber beyond the blue door will have you dealing with harassment from all corners, but the cybie in the south end (at least on higher difficulties) will stop your progression dead until you've managed to take him out.

E6M6: Vengeance Unleashed

Welcome back to Regular Hell. This one plays out similarly to "Paths of Wretchedness" from the first SIGIL, with each path having its own conceit, but it's a much more sprawling affair. The maze to the west is terrifying with a cyberdemon in it, Romero explicitly citing it as a callback to a similar one in the previous episode. Really fun map.

E6M7: Descent Into Terror

Romero's magnum opus for this set, "Descent Into Terror" is marked by some really cool visuals (the shining red rock canyon really stuck with me) and a terrifying sense of verticality. It feels significantly more epic than usual for Romero, and will take you quite some time to complete. The community will love this one.

E6M8: Abyss of Despair

Compared to E6M7, "Abyss of Despair" is pretty low-key as a finisher. You'll have a short jaunt into some caves, before you unlock the big teleporter to the boss arena. Romero clearly took to heart the criticism of how underwhelming the big finish of SIGIL was, but SIGIL II's grand finale doesn't really excite much either: a big room with a spidey and some cyberdemons, each one having to be killed to progress on the narrow catwalk they occupy. The spiderdemon has had her health tripled in DEHACKED to make her more of a threat, but all it does is make the fight more boring. Honestly, the lone baron that emerges out of the exit was more theatrical.

Final thoughts

SIGIL II is a great mapset. It's an evolution of style for Romero, but in some ways it feels like a bit of a retread, catering more to community tastes. While aesthetically it remains very pleasing, it doesn't really seem to bring much new to the table. And that's okay -- there's plenty of maps out there that fall back on tried-and-true design tropes. But it does feel like Romero wanted to coast on the original episode's success while working on his new Doom II megawad. It's still very much worth your time, just don't expect much new compared to its predecessor.

[schizoidnightmares]

The Gorge, IV: Somewhere Beyond

A.I. placeholder artwork generated using NightCafe Stable Diffusion XL v1.0 — CC0 1.0

142nd of First, 1100 A.W. — The 21st and final day over sea. When the captain announced the sighting of land, I felt the whole airsail move. It was like life had suddenly returned to a stiff corpse. “Was I dreaming?” I first worried. Only once my own eyes had seen it did I truly believe. A relief like no other washed over me. I felt rejuvenated and intoxicated with wonder. Could there ever be a more heavenly feeling? We became the most blessed souls in the whole wide world. The crew roared and screamed in absolute joy. We all scrambled to the deck.

The past week felt like an eternity — every day more hopeless than the last. Somedays, I felt like falling overboard to save myself from whatever worse inevitable doom awaited me aboard. The crew was in utter shambles. We were a floating graveyard, a basket of forlorn misery. We might as well have called ourselves a skeleton crew. We certainly looked like it.

The land gracing my sight for the first time… My dreams could not have prepared me for its beauty. On our new horizon… Vibrant orange cliffs illuminated by the sun and clear blue sky… I had never seen a more beautiful and majestic orange. No pigment could suffice. The crew all became so entranced by it they could hardly perform their duties, even as Captain Leaping Tiger violently hurled his tired voice at them.

In that single moment — the orange glistening on the horizon — all our suffering was reduced. Hell fled the heavens. Discovery and more awaited us. As we drifted closer, the cliffs climbed further up the horizon. A visual of an orange labyrinth of canyons emerged, made of gorgeous sandstone. Its eroded surface revealed no sign of Man or settlement.

At first, there was no place to tie down and anchor. The terrain is rugged and makes the Wise Mountains look gentle by comparison. As far as the eye could see, deep canyons drained into the sea. We eventually found a low sandstone island on a river in a canyon. Ahead of us, the canyon’s walls close in, forming a tight gorge with an arch. It’d be barely wide enough to fit the airsail. We secured our mooring line to the archway and settled ourselves on the island, which was low enough to give us access to the river.

We drank from the river. Its water is a lively turquoise colour. It reminds me of the blue waters of Heaven River during the late First of the Year. It used to be blue all year round but has turned a more murky green or brown in recent years. I wonder if I will ever see the falls again — to feel its mist rising up the cliffs of the hanging Heaven Valley and smell the scent of the damp stone walls of the Sanctuary. The taste of this river does not remind me much of home. It’s more chalky and salty. There are plentiful fish, but they are nothing like the pink and silver ones from home that fishers harvest from the river. These ones are various shades of purple and green. Nobody’s caught a big one yet or seen one any longer than a foot, for that matter. They taste… Very fishy… Perhaps I’m just not used to being without seasoning.

The cook, Leap Frog, is ecstatic. I can’t remember the last time I saw him smile like this. However, the captain has been growing a worried face. As night has approached, I wonder if he is thinking about his orders. The others have seemingly been swept up in the excitement, but if anything, only the easiest part is over. We still have to somehow return home and report our findings to the Council. Only essential crew can return, including myself, so we must leave most of the others behind. This island isn’t much bigger than the airsail herself. Though, the land, while arid and rough, does bear water. I wonder if we may be leaving tomorrow. The doctor, Fog Eyes, doesn’t seem too bothered by the situation. He’s too busy feasting on the catches from the river.

I will try and get some rest. It’s strange to be on land again. The ground is so solid and still. A welcoming feeling…

Thank you for reading

This story is the fourth scene of “The Gorge,” the third short story in Schizoid Nightmares Anthology I. The previous scene is available here. The next scene is available here.

#anthology #short story #scene #adventure #horror

[dandidactic]

Ranking every live action CW's "The Flash" suits

As nearly as it has been a decade has struck since The Flash has sped its way onto our screens, our favorite scarlett speedster has dawned quite a handful of suits that have been retired, destroyed, or upgraded, as a means to make The Flash look better and cooler.

I want to rank every suit that The Flash had worn on the show from worst to best.

Season 5 suit

So it is no surprise to anyone that watches the show that the season 5 Flash suit, or as I like to refer to it, "the bicycle helmet catastrophe", was not our most liked Flash suit, but definitely one of our most hated.

This is the first Flash suit that isolates itself from its predecessors, as the material changes from leather, to a snug seeming suit of spandex.

The cowl of the suit was the biggest complaint by many, as it strikingly resembles that of a bicycle helmet, which while is hilarious, is just sad and laughable for the hero.

The suit also looks very bland and lifeless. It is literally just a red spandex suit, with The Flash emblem stuck in the middle of the chest.

I would have to give the suit a 4/10.

2. Season 1.0 suit

The second suit Barry wears in the pilot of The Flash, or as I like to call it the 1.0 suit.

It is the first time we see The Flash in his very first super suit, with a leather composition, dark red/burgundy coloring, and a red Flash emblem in the middle of the chest.

This suit was later modified in the middle of the first season, but for now we are focusing on the original version of this suit.

This suit didn't really work for me, as the head seemed very fitted and fixed, with making it shape Barrys head like an egg when he worse it.

There were definitely better Flash suits worn later on as the seasons progressed in the show.

I would have to give this suit a 6/10

3. Season 1.1 suit

We already spoke about the suit upgrade in with this suit, so I want to keep it brief.

Everything with the suit is kept identical and shaped to that of the 1.0 version of the suit, except the head, which is my favorite and only aspect of it.

This head shape is the first instance of what we see on The Flash suit for seasons to come. It looks very breathable and formfitting on The Flash, and actually fits onto his actual head normally.

I would have to give this suit a 8/10

4. Seasons 2/3 suit

In season 2, we technically recieved a new Flash suit, as it got an upgrade to its iconic Flash emblem in the middle from red to white.

Other than that, it is pretty much the exact same to the season 1 suit, only with a change to the emblem in the middle.

I prefer it more than the season 1 suit because the emblem resembles the iconic accurate comic book look of The Flash.

I would have to give this suit a 9/10

5. Season 6/7 suit

When season 6 began, fans were hoping for a new Flash suit after season 5's hilarious bicycle helmet.

Lucky for us, our prayers were answered.

The Flash season 6 suit was fresh and new to that of its predecessors, made with a new material, a brighter red, new wings on the comms, and a normal cowl this time around for his head.

We also got additional gold telematry lining around it in order for Barry to survive a black hole, which was awesome.

I would have to give this suit a 9.5/10

6. Season 8 suit

The season 8 suit is basically the season 6 and 7 suit, only this time we got an accessory added to it that we have been waiting for so long.

That would be the addition of the iconic golden boots.

Initially used to stop Desperos eternal flame from wreacking havoc onto the city, we see Barry running with them in beautiful fashion, and that was the completion for The Flash suit after all these years.

I would have to give this suit a 10/10

7. Season 4 suit

You already figured it was coming at this number one spot.

The Flash season 4 suit is the best Flash suit we have ever got on the show.

It was the first time we had ever got a completely new suit on the show for Barry, and it is absolutely stunning.

When I see this suit, I see how badass The Flash is in it, because this suit makes him look part of a biker gang with the leathery composition and style.

The colors are more vibrant, and the gold sticks out much more in regions of the suit.

It's a shame how it only lasted one season.

I would have to give this suit an 11/10

Comment down below your thoughts and rankings of suits we have recieved on The Flash.

#theflash #theflashsuits #cw #television #entertainment

[presumenothing]

ooohhhh permission to word dump in your ask box??

but no my head is mostly [happy static], i'm just thinking a lot about names and how the 'infantilizing' joke name JollyBaby uses as its public name isn't all THAT dissimilar from "Murderbot", in that can probably both be taken as jokes on the way humans perceive them, except "Murderbot" is private because identity and perception and direction are things it's still struggling with, and the name "SecUnit" is safe, allowing an amount of ambiguity and freedom with regards to "feelings" and "friendship" and "having to decide your life's direction for yourself"

like, yeah humans do basically see SecUnits as murderbots, which is funny and a joke because it's wrong - SecUnit is not a bot, and it is not optimized for Murder; that isn't its job because it is not a combat bot and why would it need to spend so much time babysitting humans then. but also it deactivated its governor module after an incident where it killed its clients, and it isn't actually sure how or why that went down. so maybe "murderbot" isn't so wrong. which is not very funny. and even in NE, Thiago is very pointed about insinuating that SecUnit could have left some Targets alive, and either chose not to or can't help defaulting to killing. which, SecUnit doesn't think he's right or anything, but it rankles. and it Knows that calling itself "murderbot" is going to go down so badly

and then you have Murderbot 2.0, who does not have any of that, uh. baggage. 2.0 does not consider its name private because 2.0 knows exactly what it's for, why it's here, wherr it's going, and how to get to the finish line, and none of that is in conflict with its designation as "Murderbot". 2.0 has its "win condition" written in.

and at the end of Network Effect, seeing SecUnit verbalize a sense of belonging (not as an object, but as a person-with-a-Home) as well as a desire and direction. and surrounded by people who would hear "Murderbot" and associate it with security rather than The Terminator. hhhhgghogh

i think this turned out both longer and more incoherent than i planned for but mobile is a finicky creature that will not let me scroll up or edit so i am very sorry but ALSO thanks So Much for being the push that got me to finally pull this out of my eternal "to read" list. aaaa

ok first of all yall have 24/7 permission to come and word dump in my inbox anytime over whatever intersecting interests we have

and secondly "murderbot as a name is a sort-of joke except it's Not Funny" is a good point!! i guess BabysittingConstruct was taken?

[rest of text under cut]

it's that one night vale tweet that goes like "confused? sounds like you're human. good luck!" except it's not just humans (the audience is shocked and offended). life is so much simpler when you're just MurderWare 2.0: killware on your planet, having perfect alignment between its name and purpose? it's more likely than you think!

and that just brings So Many questions. at which point post-ganaka pit and/or the hack did 1.0 decide on a name? (or even decided to have one?) imo it's interesting that 2.0 has enough of 1.0's memory archives to recognisably be murderbot but doesn't automatically Nope at using murderbot as a name. 2.0's name/purpose alignment aside, it also means that whatever memories 1.0 felt was enough to maintain 2.0's integrity/prevent a killware spree did not also contain the idea that P.S. Hey We Don't Tell People We're Called Murderbot Thanks!!!! different subsets of memories or something.

(2.0 does point out this wasn't in its instruction set, but tbh it's pretty understandable that 1.0 didn't put it in, given it would obviously never think to use it. maybe it assumed 2.0 would use its local feed address if needed?) (except killware ain't got hardware lmao)

this is getting as long as your ask but names are just Very Neat. rereading the setting-feed-ID bit in fugitive telemetry and on the one hand i appreciate that indah didn't insist on it providing a ~Real~ Name Which Is Not SecUnit. but. on the other hand, this is (a) in line with her desire to post a warning of DANGEROUS SECUNIT ON BOARD *siren noises*, and (b) possibly closer to how inanimate software like secsystem is treated, since many preservation bots seem to have names (though idk if they set those in their feed)

ANYWAY names as in "word you call yourself" vs "identifier you want others to call you", etc etc. i don't think this was coherent either but i'm glad i managed to get you around to reading the books!! also you should check out the two short stories if you haven't already

#they're easily findable via google on wired and tor #murderbot #asks #anonymous #long post #........very long #libby crashed on me right halfway through writing this so i can't check for sure #but the way mb outlined its options for a feed name as using feed address = being assumed as bot #suggests that bots don't set their names there either?? idk #edit to add: come join the murderbot discord anon. there's emoteunits. they're great

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #chen qing ling #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #wen qing

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0- Thrice Upon a Time

It’s rare to find a story that ends thrice. Hell, it’s rare to find a story that ends twice. The vast majority of fiction gets a single ending, good or bad, and that’s what we have to deal with. But Evangelion, of course, is not the vast majority of fiction. It’s a masterpiece, an icon, a game-changer, a generation-definer, and every other superlative you could throw at it. It’s been an object of endless praise, endless disgust, endless fascination, and endless discussions of every stripe. If there was any story worthy of ending three times, any story with enough depth to justify ending three times, it would be Evangelion. First came the TV ending, a product of a production meltdown somehow finding true meaning in its own compromised abstraction. Next was End of Evangelion, a veritable cataclysm of imagery and ideas bursting forth unchained from its creator’s mind. And now, over two decades later, the story has concluded once more with Thrice Upon a Time, the last of the Rebuild movies, almost a decade in the making. As long as I’ve been an anime fan, this movie has been a question hanging over the entire franchise. Its eternally unfinished nature was something of a punchline. With so many years passing since 3.0, many were beginning to wonder if this movie would ever even come out. It seemed like the Rebuilds would remain eternally incomplete, the questions they posed about their own existence forever unanswered. Just one more confounding uncertainty in a franchise lousy with them.

And yet, against all odds, Thrice Upon a Time is here. The movie was finished and release. Evangelion is over, for the third time in a row. But this isn’t just one more iteration of an Eva climax. It’s not just the end of this usual series of Rebuild movies. No, 3.0 + 1.0 is, well, the end of Evangelion. The true end of Evangelion. The end not just of the Rebuilds, but of the franchise itself. It’s a swan song for everything that Evangelion has become, everything that it’s meant to people, and everything we must become in its passing. It’s an elegy to itself and the people who cared about it, a two-and-a-half-hour goodbye that’s been twenty-six years in the making. And in retrospect, perhaps it was inevitable for it to be anything but.

As I discussed in my review of You Can (Not) Redo, the third Rebuild made it clear that these movies are all about the Shinjis of the world who never grew up. Evangelion was a source of hope and change for so many people who saw themselves in its listless, lost protagonist. It gave comfort to so many people who saw their struggles with depression and isolation reflected in Shinji’s journey. But some of those fans, rather than taking Evangelion’s lessons to heart in their own lives, chose to nestle deep into its bosom and never leave. It was a source of comfort, yes, but also a prison preventing them from growing up and growing beyond the boy on screen. For some, the Evangelion franchise is as much a symbol of paralysis and arrested development as Eva-01 is to Shinji. And the reason the Rebuilds exist is to interrogate that paralysis. Giving us familiar iconography and easy, indulgent solutions before viciously ripping them away. Showing us a world that continues to grow and change while Shinji, literally and figuratively, remains a child. The question posed by the Rebuilds is nothing more or less than the question of how to move on from Evangelion. How do we break the Eva’s shell and find our way to self-actualization? How do we escape this prison we’ve built for ourselves and face the world in all its beautiful, terrifying possibility? How do we, like Shinji, stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again and accept life and our place in it?

How does a boy like Shinji grow into a man?

And with this question finally clear, Thrice Upon a Time fully dedicates itself to answering it. It’s hard to discuss without getting into spoilers, and I don’t want to ruin this film’s many surprises for those who’ve yet to see it. Suffice to say, though, after an opening action scene that ups the bar for sheer Gurren Lagann-inspired lunacy in this franchise, there’s literally no action for the entire first half of the movie. The first hour and change is a period of reflection, exploring the world that’s grown and managed to survive amid the destruction of the Third Impact. It gives all the characters a chance not just to breathe, but find themselves. Outside the demands of piloting an Eva and being wrapped up in Seele/NERV’s plans, Shinji, Asuka and Rei begin to discover sides of themselves they never knew existed. They try new things, they come to new conclusions, they experiment with a life that’s lived on no one’s terms but their own. For the first time in the entire franchise, we see what it looks like when these characters, free from the shackles of the prison known as Evangelion, get to be free. We see who they choose to be, what they decide to become, the versions of themselves that they ultimately find strength in. It’s sixty minutes of pure self-actualization and it’s one of the most moving stretches of cinema I’ve seen in a very long time. Seeing these traumatized kids finally begin to live after two decades of suffering... god. I don’t have the words to do it justice.

But it wouldn’t be Evangelion if happiness wasn’t won through blood, sweat and suffering. And after a first half dominated by slow-burn character work, the second half is able to plunge straight ahead into this franchise’s biggest, longest, most apocalyptic battle of all time. From here to the end, it’s nothing but sheer, unadulterated chaos as Misato and Wille attempt to stop Gendo’s final plan from coming to fruition. The imagery is utterly insane. The scope of the battlefield is incomprehensible. The sheer volume of high-concept abstract ideas thrown around makes the entirety of last film look like a coloring book. Huge lore revelations explode into being one after the other, each one making less sense than the last but who cares when they result in spectacle this fantastic? Well, for the most part; by far this movie’s biggest flaw is that some of its CG-heavy animation just looks... bad. Like, really bad. Studio Khara’s mostly done a really great job of making its CG elements look good, but a lot of stuff in this movie just does not work visually. Maybe if they’d spent less time lovingly rendering so many unnecessary ass shots, they could’ve retooled the CG and made it look better. But no, apparently tasteless fanservice continues to be one hill this franchise just can’t shake off no matter how hard it tries. Blegh.

And then... there’s the ending.

I won’t spoil what goes down during Shinji and Gendo’s final confrontation. It’s too transcendent a sequence not to experience blind. All I can say is that here, at the end of all things, Shinji finally grows up... and we grow up with him. We grow past the fear that kept us trapped. We grow past the self-loathing that imprisoned us inside the Evangelions of our own making. Imagery from past endings collides, disintegrates, and reconstructs itself. Every character is released from their chains and let out into the world, ready to face it at last. It feels like an act of spiritual cleansing, for us in the audience and every last character we’ve seen ourselves in for so many years. And it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful and overwhelming and I dare anyone not to turn into a blubbering mess by the end. Even after all these years, I’m not ready to say goodbye to Evangelion. I’m not ready to leave Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and all the rest behind. But impossibly, this ending makes me feel like I actually can. It makes me see how far I’ve come since I first watched the original show four years ago. It makes me understand how much they’ve given me, how much I’ve learned from them, how rewarding it’s been to see them rise up in triumph one last time. And if they’re ready to face the world at last... then maybe I am too.

And that’s always been the point, hasn’t it? Through all its permutations, through all its different versions, Evangelion has always been a story about moving on from Evangelion. From the very start, Hideaki Anno has used this franchise as a vessel to explore his demons, forever searching for a way forward. In the TV show’s original ending, he realized it was okay to try and love himself, despite all the voices in his head telling him he didn’t deserve to. In End of Evangelion, he plunged into the deepest depths of his despair, and yet came out the other side convinced there was still a chance for things to get better. Through all the darkest moments of this franchise, Evangelion has never lost hope that the lost children of the world- Shinji, Anno, all of us- could still find a way to grow up. And now, in Evangelion’s third ending, that path forward has finally opened to us. After twenty-six years, we’ve finally found the courage to leave our Evangelions behind and step out into the world as fully-formed people. First we accepted our base humanity, then we accepted our capacity for evil, and now, Thrice Upon a Time asks us to accept our capacity for good. Our ability to keep fighting until we finally find peace, to endure countless cycles of torment until we’re able to love ourselves, to spend twenty-six years stuck in childhood and still mange to grow up when all is said and done. It was never too late for us to be happy. It was never too late for us to embrace the world. And even if it took us longer than expected- in more ways than one- we were bound to find our way there eventually.

The Evangelions, after all, have always been representations of childhood.

And childhood was never meant to last forever.

It’s unlikely this franchise will ever fade from the public consciousness. We will still be talking about Evangelion for decades to come, just as we will always carry our childhoods with us to come extent. It will be with me forever; that much I know for sure. But we can still learn to let go, to appreciate what the past means to us without letting it define our future. The modern anime landscape, set in motion by Eva itself, will continue to grow and change, carving new paths of meaning and connection. The children who fell in love with this show will grow up and- hopefully- take its lessons to heart without wallowing in it. Ultimately, the best way I can think to honor Evangelion is to move on from Evangelion. Let Thrice Upon a Time be the franchise’s last entry, as it’s so clearly designed to be. This movie is as final a goodbye as one could possibly wish for, closing the book on twenty-six long years and looking forward to a future full of new possibilities. Evangelion is over, this time for good. And that’s okay. Because the gifts it gave to us will remain long after the final credits roll.

I said at the start of this review that it’s rare to find a story that ends thrice. It’s rarer still for each ending to be so good that the story feels incomplete without them. I was always satisfied with the TV show and End of Evangelion, to the point I was skeptical what point there was even making these Rebuild movies in the first place. Now, though, I can’t imagine Evangelion without them. Through all their ups and downs, these movies are as much part of the NGE tapestry as everything that’s come before. And while I still vastly prefer the show overall, I’m truly grateful for this sense of ultimate closure. I will always love Evangelion. I will always think about Evangelion. But now, I can leave it knowing that everyone I grew so attached to is going to be okay. That they’ve found their peace. That they’re working toward the lives they deserve.

And for all their sakes... I’ll work toward mine too.

Thank you, Shinji. Thank you, Rei, Thank you, Misato, Kensuke, Toji, Ritsuko, Yui, Kaji. Thank you, Asuka. God, thank you, Asuka. Thank you, Hideaki Anno. Thank you, Gainax. Thank you, Khara.

Thank you, Evangelion.

And to all the children... congratulations.

9/10

See you next time.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #neon genesis evangelion #nge #neon genesis evangelion rebuild #evangelion #eva #eva rebuild

[kyokohunter]

After what feels like an eternity, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 international release is nearly upon us. As serious Evangelion fans my partner and I were planning to see this film in Japan until a certain something happened. In the early days and months of the pandemic I was hoping that the film would be delayed until things had significantly improved in the global situation but obviously that was - and is still going to be - a very long time, so it's understandable that it would be released sooner and it's a good development for the anime industry to embrace digital theatrical releasing, although I'll have to temporarily abandon my avoidance of greasing the palms of the Amazon machine (although using and losing the free Prime trial is the plan).

We're rewatching the Rebuild films (just 3.33 to go now) and it's interesting to see how many things don't happen that do happen in NGE, which my brain kinda fills in subconsciously but actually for anyone new to Evangelion would seem kinda rushed or strange. I still think 2.22 is better than 1.11 and I still think NGE (excluding D+R and EoE) is the best, and I doubt 3.0+1.0 will change any of that. I've also seen plenty of spoilers but even so, the endlessly captivating thing about Evangelion is that you can rewatch it and always find something new, or have a different opinion on something you though you understood. With that in mind, I think the final Rebuild film will still be interesting to understand how Anno wanted to (eventually) wrap this interpretation of Evangelion up, even though it's likely very different to what he first had in mind when approaching this film, let alone 3.33.

And to see it off in style, of course we're going to put some of our Eva merchandise to good use! And yes, to confirm, you could probably live off Eva merchandise alone...

#evangelion #otaku #evangelion 3.0+1.0