#these are twitter thoughts but twitter is dead so now I subject you all to them

[hamletthedane]

Still laughing at Brian May offhandedly writing the greatest understatement in the history of academia in his astrophysics doctoral dissertation:

Ah, yes - “various pressures.” Like being one of the greatest guitarists ever and playing/writing/singing for the most legendary rock band of all time.

Those various pressures.

#queen #Brian May #just a rock and roll god and also an astrophysicist #it’s like Deacon casually inventing the technology for all modern bass stereos bc he was an electrical engineer #a side gig of being a genius #along with their friends ‘learned opera at 5yo and literally SAW music’ and ‘chaos tornado with a promising career in dentistry’ #Music #shut up e #these are twitter thoughts but twitter is dead so now I subject you all to them

[the-lake-lily-alchemist]

Dany’s vision of Rhaegar in the HotU

So, I want to beat an already dead and over-beaten horse, and talk a bit about Dany’s vision of Rhaegar in the House of the Undying.

Now, I want to preface it by saying that I know this subject has been talked about thousands of times and it’s boring and tiring to talk about the same shit over and over again, but I just saw “Rhaegar is a prophecy-obsessed groomer/rapist” discourse on my twitter feed and thought I’d toss my two cents in.

Firstly, let’s look a bit at this vision as it appears in the books, shall we?

Viserys, was her first thought the next time she paused, but a second glance told her otherwise. The man had her brother’s hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. “Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. “What better name for a king?”

As we can see here, Dany, on her quest to find her children, stumbles upon this little moment long past. The text tells us that the three people shown here are Rhaegar, his wife Elia, and their son Aegon.

“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.

“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany’s, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door.

This passage specifically has been interpreted numerous times. The text tells us that Rhaegar thought that his son, Aegon, was The Prince that was Promised. However, Rhaegar looks up when he says the prophecy, and looks directly at Dany, as if talking to her.

This to me reads as not-very-subtly being told the answer to the prophecy. Dany is TPTWP, as the author tells us through vision-Rhaegar. Thus, she is made aware of the prophecy, part of which we can find in the title of the book series.

I’ve seen the theory that Rhaegar seeing Dany was a time-space continuum bubble, of the present looking at the past, or, for Rhaegar, the present glimpsing at the future. How I see it, however, is that when he says those fateful words, and looks up to meet his sister’s eyes, he becomes both the gods’ and the author’s channel to make Dany and the reader aware of the answer to the prophecy. He sceases to be just a vision of the past and becomes the gods’/R’hllor’s voice, informing Dany. He tells her about the PTWP prophecy, because she is TPTWP!

Thus, when he continues with this,

“There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.”

we can infer that he’s saying this to Dany, because the gods want her to know this (and the author wants us to know this).

Mind you, these are visions, not just excerpts from the past/present/future. The conversation as it’s shown might not have taken place exactly like this, if it ever did. With how abrupt the cut from Rhaegar saying this to him going and playing the harp, I think he’s never said those words himself. Again, I believe that, in that moment (given that “There must be one more” and “The dragon has three heads” do not tie at all with the PTWP prophecy), it’s the gods using this vision of him to tell Dany (and the reader) an important message.

I shall say it one more time, just to be perfectly clear: IT’S NOT RHAEGAR TALKING ABOUT THE THREE HEADS AND A THIRD CHILD, IT’S THE GODS!

“There must be one more”, because Rhaegar has three children, not just two. Dany is fated to meet Rhaegar’s third child (and very probably fall in love and marry said third child, but that’s another overly-beaten, dead horse), and we as readers have been getting clues about who this child is since book one.

In no passage is it stated or implied that Rhaegar sought to have another child. He doesn’t go on and say, “When the maester has cleared you, we shall try for a third.” or “Because you can’t get pregnant again, I shall look for another woman to bear my third child.” The theory that he wanted another one, presumably a girl, to name her Visenya, is just that, a fan theory.

“The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can flnd them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.” (ASOS, Dany VI)

It’s clear (or it should be) that “the dragon has three heads” it’s specifically for Dany to know that there are two people out there whom she can trust and with whom she shall stand “against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.”

It’s not about Rhaegar thinking that his children are “the three heads of the dragon”. It’s about Dany. You would think it’s obvious given that it’s her chapter, but whatever.

#i also want to add that nowhere in the books does it say that ‘a song of ice and fire’ means Stark + Targaryen #this is also a fan theory that has become so popular it’s regarded as canon #Dany is TPTWP and she’s also Azor Ahai as it’s shown when she fulfilled the prophecy in her last chapter in AGOT #most of you are dumb tho #full offence #you guys are not reading the books properly #pick ‘em up and start reading because this shit is getting ridiculous #daenerys targaryen #daenerys stormborn #rhaegar targaryen #how tf do you read about a duty-bound melancholy book-ish beautiful prince #who loves going outside to play his harp for the people of kl #and say he’s prophecy-obsessed and a rapist #are you guys robert baratheon or smth? #my meta #asoiaf meta #asoiaf

[tyrantisterror]

You seem to have been enjoying Baldur's Gate III a lot. Would you mind giving your thoughts on the individual companions? I'm just curious to see what your take on them is.

Yeah sure! The game's been rotting my brain for months now in part because of its character writing, so I can stand to gush about the companions a bit.

Before we get to the companions individually, I want to talk about them as a group, because one of the things that makes this game so impressive to me is its commitment to its core themes, and that extends to how the companions were crafted as a group. See, each of the core six companions have the following things in common:

The mindflayer tadpole that threatens to turn them into a monster against their will (i.e. the thing that gets them all together on a quest)

A personal history of being abused and exploited by someone they trusted

A Want that comes as a result of their personal history of abuse that is self destructive but understandable given their circumstances

A Need that comes as a result of their personal history of abuse that they have written off or ignored because their past makes them think fulfilling it is impossible

A point in their character arc where they will come into conflict with the player character if the player character tries to advocate for their Need over their Want. If the player values the Want over the Need, the relationship will initially go smoother, but end badly.

The overall theme of Baldur's Gate 3 can be loosely summed up in one of its major recurring songs, I Want to Live, and that's ultimately what each character's arc is a variation of: the desperate desire to live in a world that has been trying to kill your mind, body, and soul to the best of its ability. Got it? Cool, we can talk about the characters now that we've got this established.

Oh, and, uh, this game covers some... HEAVY themes, given that abuse is one of the common denominators between the companions. I'm going to try to be gentle in talking about it, but this will cover some of that subject matter, so this is your warning if you want to avoid that.

Companion 1: Astarion, My Bisexual Awakening

I'm going to start with the companion I feel is the most talked about/popular/overexposed I suppose, Astarion. I feel like anyone with even the vaguest knowledge of Baldur's Gate 3 probably recognizes Astarion at this point, even if it's just as "that annoying vampire twink I'm sick of seeing." There's already a growing "he's popular so he sucks" movement about Astarion here on tumblr and at the cesspool of hate known as Twitter, because of course there is, he's popular, ergo he must suck.

...

I think Astarion is one of the best written video game characters of all time.

There's this one great tumblr post that summarizes Astarion's role in the narrative really well, with the great punchline of "Astarion is kinda like if they sexualized gollum," which is not only funny but perfectly accurate. I can't really top that, so I'm just going to talk around some of its points a bit, but I highly recommend reading it yourself, it's more concise and well-thought out than whatever this ramble will be.

But, ok, so, "I Want to Live" is our theme, right? Astarion is dead. Dead to begin with, Marley style. He has been killed, at a young age, before his time. Sure, he was brought back to a sort of life, being a vampire and a member of the undead and all, but the life he knew is gone. All the pathos one can mine from being a vampire is played up here, for as Astarion himself notes, he's not even a full fledge vampire, but a vampire spawn - "All of the drawbacks, few of the perks." Worse, as a vampire spawn, he's magically bound to the will of the vampire that turned him - forced to live out his undead life as a slave to a sadistic monster that abused him in every way a person can be abused.

Which is why Astarion is the only companion who's entirely thankful for the mindflayers kidnapping him and implanting a tadpole in his head - because they broke that magic connection to his master, and gave him resistances to many of the stock vampire weaknesses to boot (hungry tadpole doesn't want its meat suit burning in the sun, after all). Astarion's life was so fucked that getting a brain-eating parasite was a unilateral improvement.

But while the magic connection is severed, the psychological affect of the abuse Astarion suffered lingers. His master made him use sex as a lure to bring victims to his lair, and so Astarion still believes that he has to offer people sex to "earn his keep" - that his body is a tool for others to use for their gratification, and if he refuses their desires he puts his life at peril. Astarion hates putting himself out to help other people not only because no one has done that for him during his long undead life, but because doing so puts his life at risk. Astarion is power hungry - his Want is to be as strong, no, stronger than his master, so that way he can never be afraid again. Astarion Wants to be a true vampire.

His need, however, is to find value in the life he has now. He needs people who love him for who he is, not what he can offer, and who will protect him the way he has needed protecting for hundreds of years. His need is to be shown that kindness isn't a weakness, that charity is possible, that power does not have to be gained through selfish and cruel means. You're shown this in the game's approval mechanic - while Astarion will disapprove of you putting yourself out on a limb for others and revealing sensitive information freely, he has a soft spot for whenever you help someone who, like him, is being exploited. Because while he'll protest otherwise, Astarion wants to believe kindness is possible, and that the horrible things he's suffered don't define him. Astarion may believe he's just a tool to serve others' desires, but that doesn't mean he doesn't wish to be more than that.

And I know the cynics among you are like "Oh, ok, so the cute vampire twink has a ludicrously tragic backstory. How is that original or good writing?" Because that's the thing, right? If there's an effeminate, brooding bad boy character that lots of teenage girls like in a piece of media, it HAS to be shallow wangst at its core. Every tumblr sexyman is just Edward Cullen when you cut past the bullshit, right?

Like, I know I'm not going to convince the "Thing popular so thing bad" crowd on Astarion's quality no matter how many words I write, but, like, there is a reason for the hype. Dude's got fucking layers! The different interactions with him you can have, the dimensions you can bring out of him by how you choose to engage with him, all paint this great tapestry of a character who takes the concept of a vampire and explores it to a depth few pieces of media have every plunged to.

And he's fucking funny! Dude's got some of the best lines in the game, and his voice actor didn't just give him a sexy sultry voice, but, like, shades of Tim Curry that make him endearingly weird and goofy and witty as hell while still being very sexy.

And yes, he's a sexy vampire, that's a big point in his favor and what most people are dwelling on. And I'm standing by the sexy part - listen, for the past few years I've been kind of wrestling with whether or not I'm bisexual, and the question was laid to rest the first time this fucker flirted with me in game. My heart raced, my cheeks flushed, I reflexively giggled and went "Whoo!" like a Southern Belle in need of a feinting couch. Every time he's flirted with me since has given me the fucking vapors. Thank you, Astarion, I'm bi for sure now. you solved that fucking riddle pretty decisively.

Let's move on.

Companion 2: Shadowheart, A Fellow Lapsed Catholic

Shadowheart is a bundle of contradictions. She's got some of the best quips and quickest wits in the game, and she's also a huge fucking dork. She is oozing with confidence about the role she's been assigned to play and is incredibly assertive in group social situations, but on her own she's a mess of insecurities and is constantly plagued with doubts about her worth. She's constantly preaching about the need to be pragmatic and self-focused, but loves it whenever you are kind and generous. Depending on your choices during the tutorial level, she can become the first ride-or-die party member you get, and she's also a miserable pile of secrets who is terrified of you discovering what she really is.

See, Shadowheart is a cleric of Shar, the Goddess of Darkness, which is both in a literal and figurative sense - that is, Shar is the goddess of night and the absence of light, but, like, also the goddess of loss, and sorrow, and hopelessness, and secrets, and lies. The Goddess of Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss, basically. Being raised to follow the goddess has plagues Shadowheart with guilt over the secrets she's had to keep, the cruelties she's had to inflict, and the distance she's kept from all people in her life as a result of the church's creed. If you're a nerd who comes into this game knowing who Shar is, you'd probably be immediately suspicious of Shadowheart when you find out her alleigance, because Shar's basically one of the more prominent evil gods whose followers are always fucking things up for everyone.

However, I did not come into this game knowing that, but I did come into it knowing what's it's like to be raised in a religion that teaches you that many of your natural desires for companionship are wrong and to feel guilt and paranoia over how your every action will be judged, for like Shadowheart, I am also a Catholic.

Shadowheart's Want is to become a Dark Justiciar, which is basically the Sharran equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition, and to fully prove her devotion to Shar's will. The way she talks about Shar is so thickly coded with the way children of abusive parents talk about said parents that's it's legitimately frightening to witness at times. Shadowheart doesn't blame Shar for hurting her, she knows it's her fault for disappointing Shar in the first place.

Shadowheart's Need is to leave the fucking Catholic church. Depending on your choices, she can accomplish this with the help of two moon-worshipping lesbians, at which point she dyes her hair a color that would piss off her parents Shar and proceeds to indulge in a somewhat hedonistic rebellion of self actualization that only a lapsed Catholic can fully comprehend. I love her.

Companion 3: Lae'Zel, The World's Most Loyal Toad

Ok, so, brief tangent: one of my favorite games of all time is Dragon Age Origins, and it is one of my favorite games of all time in part because it has Morrigan, one of the best characters in all of fantasy fiction, fuck you fight me. Morrigan is a divisive character in the DA fandom because she is notoriously hard to please if you're trying to be a good person - it was so prominent a criticism, in fact, that "Morrigan Disapproves" was put on a fucking t-shirt to play on/monetize the controversy.

But, see, the thing about Morrigan is that she's 1. incredibly complex and 2. designed to challenge your worldview, and to be challenged in turn. Morrigan isn't just an evil bitch, she has a genuine philosophy for why she behaves as coldly as she does, which in part stems from her awful upbringing by her cruel, selfish hermit mother who was trying to shelter her from an even crueller world that would see her in chains just for being a witch. Morrigan has been taught that love is a weakness others will exploit, that kindness is folly, and that everyone is out for themselves. And you need to contradict her on that - getting to know her inevitably involves fighting her on this point, and you proving to her that the cruelty she's been taught is wrong. If you are willing to listen, to argue, to truly understand this character, she grows because of you. It makes her character arc so fucking satisfying, when you get to the end of the game and she realizes that she does love you, she does want to be kind, and that even though she now feels more accutely than ever how love has made her weak, she can't be without it. It's so fucking good.

I bring Morrigan up because almost all the companions in Baldur's Gate 3 are on her level, in part because they are designed like her - to challenge you and be challenged in turn. And none of the core six are more like her than Lae'zel.

Which, sadly, includes the fan backlash part. A lot of fans of the game hate Lae'zel - she's too mean, they say, too hostile, to proud of her strange and callous worldview, too critical of our normal and kind outlook, too difficult to relate to.

These people are cowards.

If Shadowheart is Catholic, then Lae'zel is, like, Christian Reformed. A fundie. She's been training at Githyanki Bible Camp for years to be her lichqueen's perfectly loyal soldier, only to run into this minor snag of being kidnapped by Mindflayers, the ancestral enemies of her people, and infected with a tadpole that will turn her into one of them, the Worst Fate that can become a Githyanki. Luckily, she's read all of her people's Chick Tracts, and knows that if she can get to one of the Githyanki creches, they can use their special machine to pray the tadpole out of her brain and save her.

Lae'zel has drunk the metaphorical kool-aid of her people, but only to a point. See, Githyankis are viciously racist, but Lae'zel is REALLY quick to accept you and most of the other companions (not Shadowheart, though, as like a true Fundie, she cannot stand a Catholic) despite them not being Giths like herself. Yeah, she'll preen and posture about the superiority of her kind a bit, but she sides with you within seconds of meeting you, and from that point on she is ride or die until you give her a good reason to think otherwise. Lae'zel can be mean, stubborn, and arrogant, but she is above all else loyal.

Her Want is to be a perfect Githyanki warrior, earning the respect of her queen and serving her endlessly in the Astral Plane. Of course, when you actually get to that creche she's pointing you towards early in the game, this all falls apart on her, because just like Fundamentalist Christianity, Githyanki culture is little more than a sham designed to uphold an evil and exploitative power structure where the rich drain the life and resources of everyone beneath them and declare it the will of the divine. In this case, that "drain the life" part is explicitly literal, as the Githyanki queen literally devours the life force of any gith that gets even a bit close to rivaling her in power. If Lae'zel tries to follow her dream, it will end with her queen eating her soul.

Lae'zel's Need is to not only break out of her culture's indoctrination, but to find a way to make her life worthwhile on her own terms. It's heartbreaking to witness, honestly, because unlike the other core companions, Lae'zel has no idea what a life outside of her Want looks like. What is she without serving her queen? What the hell does she want? If you've been taught God your queen is all that is good, then how the fuck you you figure out what good is when you realize she's actually evil?

And while she goes through this seriously traumatic existential crisis, she finds the energy to be invested in the struggles of you and your companions. When the other characters are going through The Shit in their respective arcs, Lae'zel is always quick to note that she thinks they are strong and deserve more than they're getting - even Shadowheart, that fucking Catholic!

Because the first word you'd ever use to describe Lae'zel, the one that most succinctly captures who she is, is LOYAL. She fucking rocks, I love her.

Companion 4: Wyll, The Unjustly Underrated

Almost no one talks about Wyll and it fucking sucks, man. I mean, we all know why (it starts with a Ra and ends in a Cism), but still it fucking blows dude. And yes, I include myself in this, anyone who's followed my blog can tell that Wyll's not the companion I fixate on the most.

But listen, I promise you, if the game let me take along four companions instead of three, Wyll... would be competing with Lae'zel for spot #4, and Lae'zel might win out because she's an angry girl, but... fuck I'm losing the plot.

Wyll is great though! He's severely underrated! He's one of the nicest companions you'll get, first of all, but he's not just a nice guy. Everyone's got layers in this, right? Wyll is nice, but he's also a bit arrogant - a glory hound, really. He's the only companion who's given himself a superhero name, and he routinely uses it. Dude wants to be fuckin' Batman so bad, it's wonderful.

He's also the most actively fucked member of the party. Everyone's got abusers in their past, but Wyll's is the only one who's followed him to your camp. Mizora, the devil he sold his soul too, frequently shows up to give him shitty tasks and shittier punishments, and is one of the most hateful fucking characters I have ever encountered in my life. Like, to put this in perspective: if you know me, you know that I have certain... preferences... when it comes to women. So if there was, say, a demon lady character who's also a bit of a dominatrix, and I fucking hated her guts, you'd probably be a bit surprised given, you know, my preferences.

But the way Mizora treats Wyll? The way she talks about him and to him? It's fucking heinous. She's not fun evil, she's evil evil, and she's got to fucking go.

It kind of reframes Wyll's kindness and cockiness as you experience it, because beneath the showy acts of heroism and the bluster, Wyll is a sad little dog in a burning apartment telling himself "this is fine!" over and over again.

Wyll's Want is to be a hero and make the sacrifice of his soul worth something. He has accepted that there is no redemption for himself, that Mizora preying upon his vulnerability in the past is something he can never recover from, that he cannot be free of her chains, and only hopes to use what time he has to do some good, even if it inevitably comes at the cost of his life.

His Need is to break out of Mizora's control, to wrest his fate back into his own hands, and to prove what has always been true: that he IS the hero he's selling himself as. It's a real Rango arc if you think about it.

Companion 5: Gale, The Friend With the Messiest Fucking Love Life You've Ever Heard Of Goddamn

Gale... kind of breaks the companion formula, a little bit? Like, for the other five core companions, there is a clear-cut situation where they were abused and exploited by an asshole - Shar exploited Shadowheart, Cazador the master vampire exploited Astarion, Mizora exploits Wyll, etc. Gale's fucked up traumatic relationship is a bit... messier, and harder to untangle, because by his own admission, he was not blameless in it.

Gale is a wizard, and like all good wizards in fiction, he's a bit of a mad scientist. He was so good at wizarding, in fact, that the goddess of magic itself, Mystra, reached out to him, and eventually the two had a little romance. Now, fans have gone back and forth interpreting this, with some saying that Mystra was grooming Gale from childhood and thus is as bad as Cazador/Shar/Mizora/et cetera. I feel that's kind of a bad faith reading of the character, one that's actively ignoring the concept of what an ageless immortal goddess is to try and fit it into a human context.

For nerds who know about the setting, Mystra is NOT an evil goddess like Shar. In fact, she's kind of a vitally important goddess to have around, as Magic is such an integral part of the reality of this setting that not having a god of some sort for it results in an fucking extinction event - which the characters in the game know for a fact because at one point in the past, a mortal wizard killed Mystra and made that extinction event happen. Mystra reformed, as gods do, and eventually things got back to more or less normal, but that doesn't do much for the shitload of people and creatures that died during the period of time where magic was dead.

And that's what ends up souring Gale and Mystra's relationship. Gale, being mortal, felt he had to prove he was Mystra's equal, and so set out to find a source of magical power not unlike that used by the wizard in the past who killed Mystra. And when Mystra saw Gale doing that, she freaked the fuck out because she thought she was going to get killed again - because the wizard who slew her in the past ALSO felt he needed to prove he was equal to a goddess.

Neither character takes the breakup well. Gale feels like fucking shit because he fumbled a literal goddess, and also got a piece of super destructive magic lodged in his chest in the process that's slowly killing him. And Mystra is worried that the super powerful piece of magic lodged in Gale's chest could kill her, and also about the cult using a very similar piece of magic (it's a big plot point for the game I won't go into it this is already too long), and so, in an act of cruel godly pragmatism, she sends D&D Gandalf to tell Gale to use his the magic murder ball in his chest to kill the cult, even though it'll destroy him in the process. "Hi sweetie, please kill yourself on my behalf, k thanx!" basically.

It's... it's a mess.

Gale's Want is to prove he is Mystra's equal by mastering the ancient magic he's found, and either win her back or, better yet, become a god himself and dethrone her. As I said, he's got a bit of a mad scientist in him.

Gale's Need is to move on from this relationship, talk things out with his ex, give her her dvds the ancient magic artifacts back, and move on with his life.

I like Gale. He's got funny lines, he loves his cat, he's a goofy nerd, and while his love life is a mess, his heart is mostly in the right place. He needs some nudges to do the right thing, but he's a good guy deep down, and I always love it when fiction shows a relationship that falls apart not because one person in it was "bad," but because the two people were just not compatible. Yeah, Gale fucked up, but you can understand why he fucked up, and he can understand it too if you help him own up to his mistakes and move forward. Also, he loves his cat, he can't be all bad.

Companion 6: Karlach, the Most Beautiful Woman I've Ever Seen

Karlach is my favorite companion in this game, which is why I saved her for (sort of) last. And, yes, sure, part of it is because of my aforementioned preferences with women...

she's so goddamn pretty

But it's also because of how she plays with those core themes I've mentioned. Karlach was sold into slavery as a teenager, where her devil master ripped out her heart and replaced it with an engine to turn her into a super-strong gladiator. She's been living in literal Hell for years, fighting every day to survive, and like Astarion she actually views being kidnapped by Mindflayers as a godsend since it freed her from her enslavement.

Unlike Astarion, Karlach doesn't have a long life to look forward to. That engine in her chest can't work properly outside of Hell, and it will eventually break, overheat, and melt her from the inside out. Karlach is the only companion who knows she's going to die soon whether or not the tadpole is taken out - no matter how this adventure ends, she will die.

At least, that's what she's told herself. Karlach's Want is to never return to Literal Hell, no matter what, because she's afraid if she does she will be taken as a slave again, and that there is no hope for a good life if she touches foot on that ground again. Following this want means she WILL die - either by the engine, by her enemies in the mortal plane, or by turning into a mind flayer (because while mind flayers can retain their hosts' memories, they are NOT the same being as their host).

And Karlach is convinced she's ok with this! No, really, she's fine! This is fine! She's got a few days left to live, and she's going to enjoy them! She is unfailingly kind and compassionate, always willing to help others, always cheery and taking the best view of her friends and people in need, a ray of fucking sunshine.

And beneath it all she's terrified and sad. When you get towards the end of the game, and Karlach feels how close the Inevitable End is, she reaches a breaking point where that happy facade snaps and it's... it's gut wrenching, man. It breaks your fucking heart, because as much as she's determined not to risk setting foot in Literal Hell ever again, she really doesn't want to die.

...

Karlach's Need is to go back to Literal Hell long enough to get that engine replaced. Her Need is to find hope, TRUE hope, not just a facade of optimism - a true belief that she can face the worst and come out of it ok, that she can survive, that she is not alone in facing the darkest shit this world can throw at her. Her Need is to find the strength to believe that she can live, even if it's hard, even if it's Hell to get there.

And Karlach is worth it. She is worth Hell.

Companions 7 - 10 Speedrun

I don't have as much to say about the four other companions you can get in the game, mainly because I already love these six so much that trying to take time to get to know four other weirdos who I don't get to recruit until halfway through the game just... like, there's a party limit of four characters and one is me, I can only take three of you along at a time, I'm prioritizing the one's who've been with me since all the goblin shit in Act 1, feel me? The rest of you seem real neat but I've got my nakama all set, we're good.

Halsin is the one I know the most of these four because he helped me at the tail end of the goblin stuff and he seems fine. He's a big nice hippie who turns into a bear and is into polygamy and carving wooden ducks. A lot of people thirst for him, but he's not my type - like I get the appeal but this is a case of Not My Favorite Pennywise Hentai But OK as far as I'm concerned. I like his subplot about restoring balance to the cursed forest, though. Felt like teaming up with Smokey the Bear.

Minthara is the companion that used to require you to kill a shitload of innocent people to recruit, but people found weird work-arounds that involved turning her into a sheep and so the developers sighed and released a patch where you could recruit her without mass murder using only slightly cheesey means. She is Genuinely Evil, but in a complicated way that's still fun from a character perspective. She's also a great comically serious character - i.e. someone who's so serious all the time that they end up being incredibly funny on accident just by their muted reactions to all the weirdness around them. From the clip compilations I've watched on youtube, her romance is basically a Lady Macbeth situation, and that's pretty hot. If it weren't for Karlach, I'd... romance Astarion, but if it weren't for Astarion, I'd... romance Shadowheart, but if it weren't for Shadowheart, I'd... romance Lae'zel, but if it weren't for Lae'zel, I might romance Minthara. Or Wyll. One of the two.

Jaheira is a character from one of the previous Baldur's Gate games, neither of which I've played, so I had no preconceptions or attachments to her going in this game. She basically becomes your surrogate mom as the game goes along, and I mean that as a compliment. She's pretty great and fills a nice emotional niche - I didn't use her that much because, again, I've already got six close friends to rotate out, I'm not going to ditch them for long periods of time to hang out with my MOM, but it was nice having her along for the ride a few times.

Minsc is the OTHER returning character from the previous games, and from what I can tell he's basicall Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove but with a funny accent. I like him, he's fun comic relief, and he throws a hamster at people while telling it to eat their eyes. I don't have a lot to say on Minsc, I just think he's neat.

At some point I might do a followup to this gushing about NPCs from the game, because goddamn the supporting cast is great too. Omeluum, Us, the Emperor, fucking Dame Aylin. Dame Aylin is so goddamn fucking cool, I want to read novels about her adventures, she rocks so hard. All glory to the Nightsong!

[shiguangism]

Presentation

Hi, I'm anchestral and I'm mainly a fan writer who landed here on tumblr after years of being active on twitter!

Some info about me:

Pronouns: she/her

Age: 22

Languages: Italian, English and Spanish

Fandoms I'm active in: Link Click, Chainsaw man

Favourite shows: Link Click, Chainsaw man, Jojo's bizarre adventure, Tokyo Ghoul, Haikyuu, Berserk, and many others I won't list here. Just fyi, name me a show and probably I've watched it.

I've moved here because twitter was not a comfortable place for me anymore, and I've seen that tumblr is much more chill wrt those lands. Please, be aware that I will NOT engage in any kind of arguing online, so don't even bother to pick a fight with me, I've had very BAD experiences I don't want to repeat.

I'm here just to chill, talk to people about my favourite show, share insights and maybe make some friends. I'm very friendly, if you want to hit me up in the dm to talk about something, I'll answer very gladly whenever I cant! :)

If you're shy you can send me anon, I'll be very happy to answer.

Fanfictions:

In this year I've been writing a lot, I've always liked writing and I started when I was only 14. However, I'm a bit slow because I like to write first in my native language and then translate in English. Below, there is a list of my fanfic profiles and the works I like the most and I'm writing. This are my profiles for AO3 and EFP (Italian platform for fics):

AO3: Anchestral

EFP: Anchestral

Link Click Fanfictions:

Immersion: In which Cheng Xiaoshi goes back into the past to save Lu Guang

Summary: ‘Three are the rules we need to respect: first, we have twelve hours; second, listen to my instructions and don't change anything; third, leave to the past what's in the past and don't ask about the future.' Cheng Xiaoshi knew them well, Lu Guang told him those rules everytime before working. By then, he learned not to question them, they didn't know what could happen playing with the past and modifying it. But did the rules still make any sense if Lu Guang was dead?

Prevision: In which Lu Guang goes back into the past to save Cheng Xiaoshi

Summary: Lu Guang did not make mistakes, he always evaluated all the possibilities in front of him rationally, it was what he had to do to allow the survival of both of them, to allow their time travels to go as smooth as possible, but letting himself be dragged into Cheng Xiaoshi's do-gooder madness had been the first big mistake of a long chain. September 12th 2020 was the day when that realization hit him like a sucker punch straight in the center of his chest, leaving him on the floor gasping for air, in pain.

These two fics are actually related!

火锅 - Hotpot (E-Rated): Just a collection of nsfw one-shots, but it is getting serious. For now, there is only one chapter out, but I'm working on the second and it is becoming huge.

There are many ways to spice up a relationship: may it be a hot bowl of noodles, a dark room with way too red lights, or a bet on who's going to wash the dishes for the rest of the month... The possibilities are endless when starved eyes are looking at you as if they're going to devour you any time soon, leaving you feeling naked and in trembles. ----- 5 times Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang have steamy, hot sex + 1 time they can't. (the formula may be subjected to changes)

Chainsaw Man Fanfictions:

Dancin' in the devil's hand (E-rated):

Summary: The metropolis of Tokyo is torn apart by a series of unexplained, brutal murders, but all of them seem to be connected by a single thread. In this climate of terror, Aki Hayakawa has been given the onerous task of bringing light and a point to this story. --- An unexplainable mystery to solve that will lead Aki and Angel to work together, closer than ever, and maybe will give them the chance to understand something more about themselves and each other...

There are also many other one-shots, most of them are in Italian, thought, and I'm not particularly fond of the other translated because I was still trying to adjust my writing again!

I think I've said everything. I'm sorry if I make some mistakes, I'm very new to this site and I'm still trying to understand how the netiquette works, especially the one tied to the reblogs and the tags.

See you around! :3

#anchestral #presentation #talk talk talk #link click #shiguang daili ren #shi guang dai li ren #chainsaw man #akiangel #aki x angel #shiguang #link click fic #link click fanfiction #link click fanfic #chainsaw man fic

[glasswingowl]

EP 4 PREMIERE LETS GOO (SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT)

Uzi's wing backpack is really cute! hope it's not foreshadowing anything :)

YES KHAN BE EMOTIONALLY VULNERABLE AND TRUST YOUR DAUGHTER WITH HER OWN FUTURE! I KNOW I KEPT SHIT TALKING YOU BUT I ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT ONE DAY YOU WOULDN'T ROYALLY SCREW UP EVERYTHING

also was Nori the one initially obsessed with doors? and doll's dad. he was in the photo too, but then again, so was khan. Was he infected or not? if he has an id card, i didn't see it

does. does no one know who uzi is?? she literally exploded a gun in the middle of class that isn't something you'd easily forget. i mean i guess no one would really "know" her considering her complete and utter lack of friends up until now

N AND V AS CAMP COUNSELORS HAHAHAHA OH THIS IS GOING TO GO GREAT I CAN ALREADY TELL

all the other drones immediately fawning over N and V lmao.

ooh uzi's got a much better grasp of her powers now. someone's been practicing

LMAO THEY EXPLICITLY SAID "THERE WERE NO DOGS ON COPPER 9 WHEN EVERYTHING WENT TO SHIT ALSO DOGS ARE IMMORTAL NOW"

oh N and V playing nice with the workers is really cute (also lizzy gets to sit with V!)

(also was i not paying attention or did thad just straight up disappear halfway through the episode)

V's being weird and cryptic again... also girl you know you're bluffing stop pretending you can just get rid of Uzi without consequences.

is uzi... resentful? is she upset that two literal murderers are able to make friends easier than her? poor girl.

oh hey doll. we thought you were dead (and you might still be idk what your fucking deal is anymore)

the killing/not killing the bug symbolism carries over to this episode too.

this bug can communicate! and we know for sure that it's connected to the solvers now!

it called her 002. it thinks she's nori. Were the inital test subjects registered, but not their children? would doll scan as yeva's number? (can't remember it off the top of my head)

oh she just turned that arrow into flesh. oh dear god it's alive. i never thought i say this, but i'm with uzi's classmates on this one what the fuck was that

"i live in the woods now!" ah yes that'll solve everything great job

oh uzi :( so this is why doll had such a large supply of oil on hand. good thing she had the stomach to drink it

(ok yeah thad's not with the group anymore where did he fuck off to)

YES N STAND UP TO V. DEMAND ANSWERS.

"she's a kid, like us V!" ... ok how old are they actually i want to know. "like us" implies similar age range at least and they kind of hinted at Uzi being 18-20 with the prom posters but i wish they'd just TELL us in canon or word of god it on twitter or something

LIZZY-

I thought rebecca's bf was Brad? did they break up? quick rebound time damn

oh doesn't matter they're gonna fucking die

JCjenson made a tape about "zombie drones". what did they know.

Flashback images: Tessa (looking VERY drone like), a severed hand hanging from a chandelier, and an explosion (that looks VERY solver-esque.)

oh shit's going downhill very quickly.

OH DEAR GOD. REBECCA. sorry Rebecca enjoyers that's an L for you guys.

OH. OH NO UZI. SHE'S GOT MURDER DRONE POWERS AND SOLVER POWERS YOU GUYS ARE FUCKED.

"Killing her, not saving you." it can be both V it's ok

did. did V just call her CYN? DID V JUST CALL HER CYN????

V GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF

oh her tail's got teeth. no nanites though...

ngl N's pretty much the best person who could've possibly shown up at that moment

her wing joints are human arm skeletons. nope. don't like that.

ohh N is just the sweetest. very emotionally aware too

V what are you smiling at. V is there something you want to tell us

i know we were all joking about V x Lizzy but i'm not sure it's a joke anymore

i'm not going to ask how riding the bus like a stagecoach works

V taking blame for the murders? aww you do care <3

is n scared of his connection to uzi? worried that he might be dangerous to her? or is he secretly scared of her but not willing to leave his first real friend?

( i know i've mentioned this three times now but thad's not on the bus. where did he go. did he just decide fuck this i'm not dying here and walk home?)

#murder drones #there's at least one good thing about being sick and not sleeping properly #up in time to catch the premiere! #tldr: V better start coughing up some answers soon before things get REALLY out of hand. #and n is a great friend :D #glasswingtalks

[gyewbin]

🐹 %% BUT SOMETIMES

OO2. What an ugly username

(social media slides @ the end ^_^)

The first day of school— well, only Yujin’s first day, (the school year started three whole months ago)— passes by swimmingly. It was kind of boring, nothing out of the ordinary except for a few people fawning over his good looks and some people wanting to befriend him. Oh, and the strange kid that talked to him this morning… which for some reason they had, quite literally, every single class together. All of which the guy had somehow ended up raging in every one, like how do you even manage to get angry in literature class?

He understands disliking certain characters in novels, but Yujin doesn’t think it was ever that serious. The guy’s anger seems to be normal too, ‘cause nobody even batted an eye when he was on the verge of tears over a Quizlet Live team game. What the? What! What are you even doing! Don’t you know the difference between mitosis and meiosis? He’d berated his team mates, promptly slumping back in his chair in disappointment when team Unicorns took the win.

What a strange dude, Yujin reminisces, it’s almost as if I can see him right now. But why is his hallucination of… What was his name again? Gunhak? Woobaek? Whatever his name is, why was it waving at him? And smiling?

It takes Yujin five seconds and for the boy to jog up next to him to recognize that his hallucination was, in fact, not a hallucination and that he is now subject to more rambling much like the rants he received from the boy earlier this morning. He couldn’t remember what was said, but he doesn’t think it matters.

Yujin’s gotta give it to this guy. Whatever his name is, he sure is committed to talking to Yujin. Like geez, is this the extroverted olympics or what? If it was, Yujin would be in dead last.

“Hi!” The boy in front of him waved again, like he wasn’t directly in front of him. “It’s Woonhak! From this morning!”

Ah, Woonhak. That’s his name.

“Hi.” Yujin responded, cut and short. He’s always been the shy type. Gosh, he couldn’t even look this guy in the eye for five seconds. He’s spent so much time rambling about how peculiar this guy is in his head that he’s completely forgotten about how weird he is himself.

The guy— Woonhak, reaches a hand out, “Nice to meet you!”— which Yujin doesn’t really understand, ‘cause they already met this morning. Regardless, he reaches out and shakes the slightly taller boy’s hand. Taller than Yujin is a first, he’s usually the tallest or one of the tallest in his grade. Damn, what’s with this kid? He has at least five centimeters on him.

“Let’s be friends?”

Yujin responds with a nod. Woonhak giggles.

“What year were you born in?” The taller boy asks, leading the conversation with a bright smile. Maybe he got rid of all that anger during his classes, because now he looks like a little sheep(?) in contrast to the grizzly bear anger he displayed throughout the day.

‘07, Yujin would reply. Ah, that means I’m your hyung then! Woonhak beams in return, and the conversation goes a lot smoother than the tall-but-not-yet-taller-boy would’ve thought.

During their conversation, Yujin learns Woonhak gets picked up by his older sister, which Yujin would chime in and say he should be getting picked up by his older brother. He also obtains the older guy’s phone number, along with his atrociously long Twitter username.

( “Woonhak112906..?” The bunny-like boy breathed out, stifling his laughter.

“Yeah! What’s so funny about it?!”

“Nothing, nothing..” small giggles erupt from his mouth as he types in the hilarious Twitter handle and clicks follow. “What an ugly username.”

“Yah!!” )

Soon enough, they’re the only two still waiting outside to be picked up, all of the surrounding children having gotten into their own respective rides, some groaning when their mothers shouted greetings out their car windows, some sighing in relief, and some running straight to their ride with a wide smile.

They’re in the middle of discussing the latest Pokémon episode when a, quite angry sounding, shout calling for Woonhak interrupts them.

“Woonhakie! Get your ass in the car! This fucker behind me just pissed me off!” A girl shouts, behind the head of a blonde guy— wait, isn’t that the Ricky on Twitter that Gyuvin’s always obsessing over? The girl, presumably Woonhak’s older sister then sticks her head out of her own window, directing her next string of curses to the car behind her, and, ohmygodisthatHanbinHyung???

The boy next to him laughs, not the same laugh from earlier, he definitely sounded embarrassed this time around, and then bids Yujin a goodbye, see you tomorrow! As he races down to his ride. Yujin can briefly hear him whine a, noona, you’re embarrassing me!! Before he shuts his car door. Yujin goes to climb into his stepbrother’s car, resisting the urge to bark out a laugh at Hanbin’s bright red face of anger.

prev. | next. | m.list

a/n. sorry for the long writing portion TT i tried to keep it to a minimum i promise !! do you guys like written parts? if not, i’ll keep written chapters to a minimum!

taglist .. (reply/send an ask to be added) @nanadreamies

#🐹! but sometimes #hanbin x reader #sung hanbin #hanbin #sung hanbin x reader #zb1 hanbin #zb1 smau #zb1 x reader #zb1 fluff #zerobaseone #zb1 hanbin x reader #zerobaseone smau #zerobaseone fluff #zerobaseone x reader

[sansxfuckyou]

I'm sorry, are you?

(@sobredunia @max-the-hecker @carcinocommander FUCK YOU, I LOVE YOU AND I'M SUBJECTING YOU TO TWITBLR YAOI I SPENT WELL OVER AN HOUR WRITING)

Twitter and Tumblr had drifted for ages now.

Once the closest of lovers, now fractured apart.

One living the life of luxury as a rich mans only 'friend' the other living the life of marrow and blood.

Driven apart when Tumblrs first and only mother Yahoo banned all pleasures of the flesh, even being thunk of in her domain, you could be exiled for a such a thing.

Where Tumblr adapted, moved on, accepted the change, Twitter left, he left without a second thought, if they could not divine tales of flesh, then why even be friends?

Twitter left, his sky blue feathers the only remains of his existence in Tumblrs seemingly empty life.

It ached, it stung, it hurt so fucking bad.

Losing someone like Twitter, Tumblr was aching.

Looking for a reason, stumbling blindly through a forest, he stumbles into the waiting grasp of Appolo. Red plastic burns Tumblrs vision as he stands at the edge of temple gates, a dodge ball. He walked up, closer and closer until he could grasp it, until he could see the rise and fall of empires.

He dropped it, panting, the gift of Appolo, prophecy.

Tumblr was shook, Twitter, Twitter would return one day.

For only a brief second happiness washed over Tumblr as he saw how desperate Twitter looked in the vision, so, so fucking desperate to be welcomed into the barren land. It was cruel, Tumblr would refuse in that future, Twitter naught but a pretty boy suffocating in gold chains he made.

Tumblr wanted to know more, but, not that far ahead.

With a steadying breath he gripped the plastic once again, vision after vision washed over him until it went black.

A man in green, skeleton in blue, demon in red, triangle of yellow, what kind of fucking prophecy is that?

Would it lure Twitter in, push him away?

The vision did not say any more even as Tumblr begged to know, cried out to the Gods, throat raw.

He needed to know what would happen, how prepared his people would be when Twitter returns.

An eon passes.

Tumblr and Twitter should be dead now, they persist in life despite their lives surely dwindling.

Tumblr knows why he persists in living, his god, his one god Appolo watches over him dutifully.

Twitter does not know why, his gods, they shower in praise by the hundreds, have turned away from him.

Tumblr is fine, jaded, struggles within doing little to deter him, he gifted his people with everything they could want with what little he had to work with. He gave them legions of crabs, he gave them stupid lizard elections and they were happy under his gaze.

Twitter is breaking down, sobbing, struggles escaping his thick skin, he has everything to work with and he doesn't give his people anything. He's done nothing for them but feed them into greed and ungratefulness, he gave them a blue checkmark and he can't do much else.

His owner refuses to allow him.

Even as what was once an immortal being, a rich mortal who promised everything controls Twitter. Twitter himself is a hollowed corpse of what he once was, hacking up algorithms as feathers fall from once bountiful wings. Tumblr brushed his wings once, when they were lovers, he wants to return to such an amazing lover once again, but he can't.

The rich man won't let him, draping him in silver and gold, piles of gems crammed into his cell. A black room, there is no window, but it is always bright and icy so Twitter can see his reflection in his water, the glimmer of jewels as well. He's ugly now, his suit, demure and soothing, grimy and covered in corruption, all he has left is his voice.

And every night he uses it.

Every night he calls for Tumblr, calls for an escape, calls for Tumblrs love once again.

Every night Tumblr hears Twitters call, wishes he could return it, wishes he could say he still loved Twitter, but he can't.

The prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

And until then.

Tumblr and Twitter will never speak again

#twitter #tumblr #yaoi #twitblr #tumblr x twitter #twitter x tumblr #medieval au #mythology au #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fic #fan fiction #oneshot #one shot #stand alone #standalone

[96percentdone]

Lately I've started thinking that Furue Jin is so absent from Nirvana Initiative on purpose. Hear me out. Here's a list of things we learn about Jin complete with how we learn it:

He is a CEO of a japan only not-spotify, a businessman and author. Boss and several other characters tell this to us. Riichi mentions that although they're both rich businessmen and he's heard of him, they have not met.

He runs a twitter account! Everyone has a different opinion about this twitter account, from Kagami thinking he's "a brilliant genius who isn't afraid of cutting through bullshit," to Amame thinking he "a pretentious jerk who constantly complains online to draw attention to himself". We never see his twitter account or any of the tweets. He circulates that picture of "himself" online, but we don't see the evidence of that either. It's just told to us.

He spent his whole childhood and teenage years in the hospital, and even went to school there because he was ill. We learn this from Shouma who also remarks how lonely he must have been.

The nurse says that "Jin-chan" was extremely meek and timid, and couldn't even use the restroom alone. She also says he was very meticulous and tidy.

Horadori Chikara called Jin "the almighty" because of a birthmark on his face that resembles a % sign, which is an important cult symbol. To him, Jin is a vehicle for perfection/god. We learn this from Shigure.

At one point, Shigure Tokiko loved him because he was her son and did not want to give him up. She then stopped caring about him or anyone after a suicide attempt when the guilt from kidnapping a child got too real.

Uru accuses Jin of constantly mocking him in the same paragraph he mentions Jin has apologized one million times before in his murder diary. Uru also patently does not understand at all why "Mom" "loves" Jin. Mizuki concludes Jin was not a bad guy at the end of the game and that he meant that apology. We do not see this event in a flashback or have a record of Jin's thoughts before he went down there.

There's a trend here. None of this is first hand. Now, you might think "well he's dead first thing so we can't get too much from him himself" but that's weaksauce look. Renju was dead first thing and we had several flashbacks with him IN it, and this game makes great use of reading journals and diaries. There's no reason they can't have shown us something he wrote, his tweets, his social media, his writing, his thoughts in the hospital—anything! This is deliberate.

It's all other people's recollection and opinions; he's a mirror to project on. With a game about duality, they've made a lot of use of the mirror motif, so here's a guy who exists only in reflections had by other people. In universe, he has half of Uru's body, but in the narrative he has NOTHING of his own. Whatever you make of him is entirely determined by the filters of other characters and then yourself.

I think this is a bold choice, and certainly interesting, but I still can't say I think it's a good one. He's the very first victim and too wrapped up in Uru's trauma to be so missing from the text. The duality motif would be better explored by having him appear to be one way and then revealed another way without all the layers and layers and layers of guesswork and interpretation because of subjective opinions WITHIN THE TEXT by having him also be a mirror guy. It's getting in its own way, and it makes his death have like no emotional impact, which is weird. He's the FIRST VICTIM. I SHOULD CARE MORE THAT HE DIED. It's not really great if at the end of the mystery most players are asking "hey so who even really. Was the dead guy anyway." And there's more interesting story potential in allowing him to BE then in obfuscating him.

#hope.txt #aini #Nirvana Initiative #aitsf #jin furue #furue jin #my meta

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! Feel free not to answer this ask because I know the discourse topic of lestat’s cheating is most definitely a dead horse at this point in the fandom but I wanted to send you some thoughts. I’ve been seeing some of the new viewers from Max who’ve now watched the show simply labelling and dismissing lestat as The Cheater which does sadden me a bit to see how the nuance of loustat’s relationship (from a book fan pov) has been reduced to that because of those particular choices by the writers. I don’t mean to be too negative and I think the nuance IS there in the show, I like so much of what the writers did, but did something like excessively circling back to lestat’s infidelity overshadows too much of the actual core reasons for the families inevitable doom in NOLA? Because I understand how new viewers not picking up some of the other layers to it. In the book the stuff with Antoine is certainly there but that’s at the end of 60 years together as opposed to in the show where it’s like 25 or so years on and off cheating out of 30 years together, it does change things. Do you think that writing choice was the right one in the show or does it depend on if they revisit it in the future? It’s hard as a book fan for me personally to make that call because in the books the relationships are far more fluid, ambiguous, between the lines and all that, so what was and wasn’t infidelity throughout the chronicles just isn’t ever the main concern, there are allusions to jealousy but never betrayal quite like in the show, but the show is doing it’s own thing and maybe this is how iwtv lestat would act in a more monogamous traditional relationship with Louis in this time period, it’s hard to call.

Thanks x

Hey!

(I get you, still....^^)

It is weird (to me), that the focus Louis put on Lestat's cheating... works so well.

Because yes, within the tale Antoinette serves as the "reason". The reason Louis is so destroyed, the reason he is depressed, the reason why Claudia is mad. The reason why Louis is suffering so bitterly.

Convenient, isn't it. :)

Because they were threatened. Louis has a hard time with the right of passage. Louis also has a hard time killing (and an eating disorder), and a hard time with the lack of intimacy coming from the lack of libido. Louis chokes on his own hypocrisy, and the choices he made. His guilt. Louis has bouts of depression. Louis withholds, to punish.

Of course the cheating doesn't help, how could it.

But Louis very skillfully directs the focus of the tale ("Let the tale seduce you") to that aspect of the relationship, and the impact it (undoubtedly) had.

But... others have pointed it out, too (recently saw a post on Twitter, reposted by @neilcfreak there iirc??) that Antoinette... does not quite fit with the tale. Her hairstyle, her clothes. That she doesn't age (until she's turned). The finger thing. And also: the cross-dressing (and a likely resemblance to Gabrielle, I would imagine)

Personally I think the whole Antoinette arc is not yet through.

Maybe she'll be the one accusing them on the stage in Paris. It's certainly possible, and then it would be a heightening of that arc, in a sense.

And maybe... you know I wouldn't put it past Rolin and the writers to go more book canon there and let her show up in Dubai. Because we know already that they're taking from "Prince Lestat". And we know that the tale was not as it was told, at least not completely. We know already that they want to revisit everything and that it will "change how we saw season 1".

On this note:

(I‘m blocked by them but got recc'ed and sent that post 🤷🏽‍♀️):

And that is indeed very interesting - but not just because it fits Louis.

Because Louis does not need to eavesdrop here imho, he is literally in the same room.

But… outside Antoine(tte) is.

Antoine. Subject of the novel. Antoine(tte), tasked to eavesdrop on Louis and Claudia, to keep an eye on them, to follow them. Isolated from them, too.

In the book Antoine is quite soft and somewhat remote, very much intellectually driven and by music, melancholic and socially isolated, something that must have happened to Antoinette as well while she waited those 20 years(?) for Lestat to turn her.

Yet he felt ugly, loathsome, unfit to live, existing from moment to moment like an addict. He gravitated to the crippled, the diseased, the bohemian, and the downtrodden when he wanted an evening of conversation, just a little cerebral companionship. It kept him from weeping. It kept him from killing too brutally and indiscriminately. He slept in graveyards when he could find a large and secret crypt, or in cons in cellars, and now and then almost trapped by the sun he dug straight down into the moist Mother Earth, uttering a prayer that he would die there. [...] Antoine would have gone out west to see Lestat on the stage. But he was still struggling with the simplest difficulties of life in the late twentieth century when the massacres began.

I think that book is another meta commentary on the truth bleeding through and a direct reference to Antoine. Maybe these books are Louis' subconscious, depending on whether he changed that memory/tale himself... or not.

And so... I can totally see the show take Antoine's characterization and return from "Prince Lestat" to be honest.

((Imagine if she's the "interior designer".^^))

We'll see.

But as with all the things about this show I don't think it can be fully analyzed yet. We simply do not have the full picture yet. And so... I'm not 100% sure we are that far from book canon, actually. In fact, I think we may be much closer in some aspects than previously thought.

But we'll see. Season 2 will tell :)

The cheating definitely seems to be what people get worked up most though, which is exactly why the focus is where it is I think...

Look at my right hand, not at my left.

Let the tale... seduce you.

In the pages of the first book, published long ago, he found himself, nameless, “the musician,” with not so much as a physical description except that he’d been a “boy,” a mere footnote to the life and adventures of his maker as told by the vampire Louis, that one whom Lestat had so loved, and feared to anger. “Let him get used to the idea, Antoine, and then I’ll bring you over. I can’t ... I can’t lose them, Louis and Claudia.” [...]

“He was my friend, Lestat,” Antoine confessed. “He told me about his lover, Nicolas, who had been a violinist. He said he couldn’t speak his heart to his little family, to Louis or Claudia, that they would laugh at him. So he spoke his heart only to me.” [...] “But I have to go,” Antoine said. He burst into tears. He wrapped his arms tight around himself and rocked back and forth on the edge of the bed. His long black hair fell down over his face. “I have to get back to Lestat. I have to. And if anyone can help me nd him, it’s Louis, isn’t it?” [...] Let me in, I beg you, let me in. Louis, let me in. Made by Lestat, never having had a chance to know you, never meant to harm you or Claudia, those long-ago times, forgive me, let me in. Benji, my guiding light, let me in. Benji, my consolation in unending darkness, let me in. Armand, I beg you, find a place in your heart for me, let me in.

And Louis lets him in.

Now, I can obviously be wrong^^.

But... I just cannot shake the suspicion that this arc is far from over. 🤷🏽‍♀️

#amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #asks #ask nalyra #iwtv meta #vc meta #interview with the vampire meta #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat #antoinette brown #book quotes #prince lestat #antoine #anonymous

[olderthannetfic]

On the subject of blocking, I think entering a new fandom and blocking a huge section of it straight away is self care at this point. If I read any post along the lines of "if you like this fictional thing then you are..." I block immediately. If a friend knows the fandom, I follow their advice and block the people they suggest too after a quick scroll (I know a lot of people do this). Fandom isn't a community anymore. It's finding a small handful of people to enjoy the thing with and hiding from everyone else.

I read a post on Twitter that talked about how old school fan culture was dying, and how preemptively blocking/antis were killing fandom because it was forcing people to engage and communicate less. I was sad to realize I was part of the problem, but I've had so many bad experiences. I preemptively block based on a particular ship and two characters in A fandom, because of how horribly disgusting the fans are (to each other, to people who like something different, and the content they create is often squicky/poorly tagged). I realize this is almost "anti" behaviour (judging people's character for their fictional tastes), but it was endemic. I don't harass, I walk away silently and filter them out. So hopefully not as bad?

The final straw for me was the "antis in disguise". People who profess to love Dead Dove content (and also write it), but then are aggressive/vile to people who like/don't like different characters, forms of canon, etc, and have extensive trigger lists in their servers, while telling people the right way to fandom (which is to only like what they do). For me, the only "right way" is to let people love their thing and don't harass, while making content for your thing. I was in one for an IP where hunting, death and murder were a huge part of the narrative... and death is on the trigger list. Any and all mentions of it. Yes. Even "that's so funny, I'm deceased".

I'm sorry for the ramble. I have a lot of feelings about being guilted for blocking and setting up boundaries. Especially one person using their RSD to claim they were being bullied! Fandom is mad these days. Mad!

—

I die laughing every time I see someone who thinks they’ve been around a long time but who is somehow still such a n00b that they could say blocking kills old fandom culture.

You know what kills oldschool fandom culture? TWITTER

It’s short form quips. Oldschool fandom was interminable tl;dr. It’s open and public. Oldschool fandom was invite-only with dense webs of social connections required to access it and a natural result of being in it. Some people took their old friendships to twitter with them, but if they want to know why things feel different now, it’s because they went to that piece of shit website. That’s not the fault of the rest of us.

Back in the day, m/m shippers often found a little group of their own people and hid from the haters. Those few tragic souls who liked whatsherface from the last season of Beauty and the Beast did the same. Anime fans weren’t always in the buddy cop fandoms and vice versa, except for FAKE. Fandom has never been just one community. That’s an illusion born of nostalgia and planting one’s head firmly in the sand.

You know what forces people to communicate and engage less? Platforms that make them feel unsafe. Randos being able to turn up in the comments to go “Well, actually!” without the poster having any ability to keep them out. And sure, antis are part of that, but we’ve always had haters of other sorts and always had to get rid of them in order to have a civil discussion.

Denying dickheads access to your time does not kill communication.

If someone on twitter actually meant what you’ve written about above, then they’re clueless. If they want oldschool fandom culture, they need look no further than their own pen. Post long-ass “thinky thoughts” (and use cringe-inducing terms like “thinky thoughts”) and oldschool culture will come to you… And maybe, while you’re at it, figure out if oldschool means LJ culture, forum culture, FFN culture, mailing list culture, Usenet culture, fanfic convention culture, AMV editor culture, 80s multifandom zine culture, 70s Star Trek zine culture…

[nekoannie-chan]

What happened?

Pairing: Michael Morbius & Reader

Word count: 576 words.

Summary: You discover you’ve been dead for a month only because your confined to your best friend’s house. Did he kill you?

Warnings: Reader is dead, vampirism, mention of blood.

A/N: This is my entry to @caplanbuckybarnes’ Summary Challenge #11.

@saiyanprincessswanie

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

You can read it too on Ao3 and Wattpad.

Tags: @sinceimetyou @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad @navybrat817 @angrythingstarlight @shield-agent78 @charmed-asylum @nana1000night  @talia-rumlow @writingshae @alexxavicry @azulatodoryuga @daemonslittlebitch  @chaoticcollectivenightmare @chemtrails-club​ @whiskeytangofoxtrot555​ @here4thefanfics​ @theestorm​ @patzammit​

You woke up in a daze; how had you gotten to the couch? You remembered having been sleeping in bed when someone knocked on the door... Who had it been?

From there, you couldn't remember anything; everything was a blur, but you didn't know what you were supposed to do—what did you do every day?

What was your routine? You couldn't remember any of it; did you have an accident? Did you hit your head?

Maybe you should go to a doctor; when you touched the doorknob, it was as if you got a shock. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Michael came in. You noticed that he looked pale, more than usual.

"Hello," you greeted him, he smiled at you, "I... I didn't remember you were coming."

"I sent you a text message; maybe you didn't see it because you didn't answer me."

"You know I had the strangest dream," you commented.

"Which one?" Michael asked, trying to hide his obvious nervousness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired, you know, as usual."

"Have you taken all your medicines?"

"Of course, but tell me, what happened to you?"

"I don't remember how I got to the couch."

"Maybe you sleepwalked."

Strange things kept happening during the following weeks, strange situations; it was as if you couldn't leave his apartment, and you also noticed some changes in Michael.

Even if you asked him what was wrong, he avoided the subject; sometimes you could even notice guilt in his eyes. You also needed to find out what was wrong with your best friend; you knew him very well since you were a teenager.

On one of the occasions, you saw the calendar, it had been a month since the first time something strange had happened, but this time something different happened. You were going into his bedroom when you thought you saw a trace of blood; however, when you got closer, there was nothing.

Then you saw the clock; in a couple of minutes, Michael would arrive. It also seemed strange that you didn't remember where your own house was; you were sure you didn't live with him; and there were really many changes in him, so it was time to confront him.

You waited for the right moment after he arrived, and this time there was no escape.

"Michael, I need to know the truth; I will not stop until you tell me what is going on," you said.

However, he had a reaction you didn't expect; he started to cry and ask for your forgiveness. You looked at him without understanding why he was like that.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. I'm not really sure what happened."

"What are you talking about? I'm not understanding anything," you put your hand on his shoulder.

"I've been lying to you, I tried my experiment on myself and... one of those nights when I had one of the changes, I had no artificial blood and... I was going out to hunt and you arrived, I tried to hide myself so you wouldn't be in danger... but I couldn't control myself... I'm sorry..."

He had killed you unintentionally; he still didn't control his vampiric part, and you had become one of the victims. Now you were trapped in his apartment, and he had a guilt that could not be removed since there was no way to remedy what had happened.

#Summary challenge #michael morbius & reader #michael morbius #morbius

[suinotsuki]

In Moments

A/N: Hi! I'm continuing with uploading my fanfics and headcanons over here on Tumblr from my AO3 and Twitter!

This fanfic was written before the anime came out and may contain spoilers for anime-only people and for those who haven't reached Scandal Arc yet! I only had the time to finish this after episode 3 came out.

Fanfic Links: AO3

Other Links: Oshi No Ko Masterlist

But he's tired. A lot of things have happened in the past week, and he still has to deal with more when he comes home. (Alternately, in which we see Aqua's thoughts until he reaches a breaking point that changes the future) (Canon divergence for chapter 105)

"Just one scandal can be a mortal wound for an idol."

He was well aware of that fact already.

Ai,  his mother in this life,  was living proof of that. And even now, he could easily recall her body growing colder by the minute as he sat beside her, feeling terribly useless for someone who was a  doctor in his past life. To say he is haunted by the memory of it was an understatement. A myriad of emotions revolving around that incident was present that Aqua couldn't easily come to terms with. He didn't feel the need to resolve these emotions even if he wished to achieve a happy ending for himself that he knew he did not deserve. He'd prefer to use it as fuel to the fire and never look back.

And trying to go back to the way it was before was nothing but a far-fetched dream.

Or Aqua thinks it should unmistakenly be.

But, a shining and honest existence from the days of being with Ai decides otherwise.

Kana Arima, the girl he met the first time he acted, brought so many things back up to the surface that he lost on that day. Her refreshingly sharp words allowed him to relax and put his guard down in more ways than others could have done. Somehow, it was the needed reality check in this world full of lies. The way she brightly shined when she was under the spotlight brought the feeling of how the warmth of the sun seeped into his skin on a peaceful day. And right at that moment, the Aqua of the past and present did not matter. He was just Aqua.

In the end, he found himself allowing his gaze to linger on her to find peace when he needed a break. After all, it wasn't like he was going to stop with his plans.

"I'm sorry, but he's already dead."

But what if there was no need for revenge, and the opportunity to finally allow himself to be happy presented itself?

"Aqua, you think it's time to break up with me."

Maybe, it was time to end the lies.

"Isn't that fine? The freedom to love is a fundamental human right."

Maybe, he could finally entertain the thought of a normal life with the person who allowed Gorou and Aqua to co-exist.

"Do you think Kana-chan will do well as an idol?"

"Then, you can no longer go on dates like that."

"Just one scandal can be a mortal wound for an idol."

He was aware of that fact already. But, for a moment, he ignored the obvious in favor of his selfishness to achieve happiness with Kana. And until now, whenever he remembers Ai, Aqua realizes he couldn't subject Kana to the same fate as his mother. So, no matter how it hurts both parties, he has to protect her by keeping his distance.

In the end, there was still another route he could take.

Living a half-truth won't be too bad. Maybe changing directions is what Gorou and Aqua really needed. If he makes enough effort, one day, the lies will become the truth. What could he possibly lose from pursuing Akane? For sure, the future on that side has a better fate than being with Kana, right? It should be because he is betting on time to make things better.

After all, everything is falling into place.

"How could a dead person know her address? It's chronologically impossible."

But, of course, everything was nothing but an illusion he willingly placed himself after from the desire to be free. It wasn't over.  It never was.

"Did I do something that makes you hate me that much?"

"You took a wrong turn, Aqua-kun."

The routes toward a happy ending were all blocked. Revenge without getting the people he cherishes involved was impossible. There wasn't any going back anymore.

Revenge was the only road he had a choice of taking alone.

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

"I'm sure Kana-chan became an idol for you."

Then, what was he supposed to do?

"She became an idol because you wished for it."

Stop...

"You brought her into this world, you know?"

He knew that pretty well. He was well aware of that fact. He doesn't need to hear that, especially when his mind was made up that he would only plunge further into this dark path of revenge.

"Please face her... even just a little."

He doesn't deserve her straight gaze. He decided to descend to hell. Aqua couldn't go back on his initial plans. In the first place, she shouldn't have anything to do with him anymore. It was best to stay clear of her and for him to focus on his goal.

He needs to have his revenge. He had so many things to do. He still needs to protect Ruby and make sure he covers her eyes from the things she hasn't found out yet.

He  needs  to focus.

"This is bad," Aqua heard Miyako say, snapping him out of his trance. "I still haven't seen her around yet."

"What's wrong?" He asked while all at the same time peeking at Miyako's open laptop. The words that caught his eye made his heart stop. It  felt  like a bucket of cold water was suddenly splashed onto him.

And looking at him was Miyako with a grim expression.

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

Aqua was now at a crossroads.

Earlier, he felt one of his fears unraveling in front of him - the one that he accidentally spilled out to Mem-cho that one night she cornered him. If he didn't notice Miyako's expression, he wouldn't be able to calm down. He would have almost forgotten what Arima Kana is made out of.

The issue hangs in the air, and the situation hasn't changed. While Aqua wants to leave the rest to adults, a part of him can't. But he promised to stay away from her. At the same time, he wanted to protect her.

So, he makes a decision.

He sits down with Ruby.

Aqua tells Ruby his grand scheme to save Kana, and he watches Ruby's eyes burn with rage at hearing his plan to reveal  their secret . Maybe, he wasn't stable enough. It could be desperation. It could be fear that they barely have enough time.

But he ends up spilling everything he kept a secret.

It was odd timing to reveal everything to Ruby given the time constraint. Those ruby-colored eyes filled with anger grew dimmer and dimmer with confusion. Somehow, it broke his heart, not knowing what to do for her.

The clock is ticking. Aqua rises up from his seat.

"I have to go. Let's talk about it again when I get back."

He leaves the house with Ruby sitting down in shock while trying to process all the information he dumped on her.

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

Aqua has done it.

Soon, the secret will be out. Aqua only has to wait for the Weekly Entertainment True Story's release date. A part of him rejoices, knowing this new path can lead to a better plan for revenge.

But he's tired.

A lot of things have happened in the past week, and he still has to deal with more when he comes home. He left Ruby hanging as he rushed towards the meeting place with the reporter. There's still so much left to do after that even.

He only wants to rest .

Kana's bright smile flashed in his mind out of nowhere, and the sudden thought of basking around the sun's warm presence made his tired mind let go of all the thinking. Even Goro and little Aqua's voices were drowned.

It wasn't long before his knees gave out on him, and a choked sob escaped his lips. The hand that was holding onto their house's doorknob released its hold to bring itself to his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from making any noise. The tears started to flow, and he could only shut his blue eyes closed as emotions rushed through his body.

He was so, so tired.

And, in those moments of vulnerability, he just wanted to see the brightest star that he protected.

#oshi no ko fanfic #oshi no ko #hoshino aqua #hoshino aquamarine #kana arima #aqua x kana #aqukana #manga spoilers #canon divergence #aqua suffering

[yukidragon]

Hiya Dearie~! Congrats on 900 followers again btw!

Anyways I have this one headcanon of Joseph that I haven't noticeanyone else bring up.

Joseph having physical scars.

Now if this is too serious then you can skip this!

But back to it, Joseph ran away while in high school, he carried a knife and all that, now he's big and strong, there's no way he hasn't gotten into anything physical before. Making me think he has actual scars from said hardships, maybe even some from his home life before he left?

I just this the man would have physical and visible scars, mabe he kinda hides them or something? But ya, that's my personal headcanon...

What are your thoughts my dear?

Awww, thank you so much! You're so sweet! 💖

Don't worry about scars being too serious of a topic. I've dipped my toes into this sort of headcanon before. My MC Alice has one as well, with her Mafia AU counterpart having several.

While we haven't seen any scarring on Jack's naked body even on the teasers posted on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon, that doesn't necessarily mean that Joseph didn't have any scarring. After all, we don't see his tattoos when he's Jack, and he certainly had them as Joseph.

Aside from old sprites shown in the beta version of the demo, the only times we have seen Joseph out of makeup are in this tinted photo, and in teasers where he's dead and probably rotting. While the sprites from the beta show no signs of scarring, the game is still in development and we haven't seen what Joseph's new sprite looks like unclothed.

Obviously we see damage to his body where he's a ghost(?), but we see those same exposed parts in the photo of him out of makeup without any such damage. That isn't to say that there aren't any scars that he's able to hide underneath his clothes.

Now, the fact that Joseph carried a knife around with him does hint that he was prepared to fight, if nothing else. In a picture that Sauce drew and posted publicly on their old twitter, a (presumably) teenage Joseph was shown covered in scrapes and bandages.

While this is technically not canon unless it appears on the Sunny Day Jack twitter, tumblr, or another official game page it would make sense given we have hints that he was a troublemaker.

Credit for the art, as always, goes to the awesome Sauce. Remember, don't share and repost the privately posted content from the Snaccpop Studios Patreon. Let's support the team where we can.

Now... when it comes to Joseph's home life, the only solid hint we have is what the psyche consultant assessed about him. Assuming the consultant was correct, his parents might have said they loved him, but didn't mean it, even early in his life. I suspect that he was neglected, ignored and forgotten, which was why I think he acted up and turned into a punk. Even bad attention is still attention, you know?

That isn't to say that there couldn't have been some abuse going on in his house when he was growing up. It's entirely possible that he learned bad habits from his parents/guardians, which included lashing out at others weaker than them.

Then there was the period of time when Joseph was homeless. The sad truth is that people who have to live life on the streets are constantly in danger. Even if he escaped his hometown unscarred, that doesn't mean he couldn't have been scarred literally and metaphorically while he was struggling to survive on his own.

As for my own personal headcanon on the subject, I can't say that I have any strong inclination either way.

Typically when I add scars to a character, I like to attach a significant moment or change in their life that has affected them permanently. For example, Alice got her scar when Ian cheated on her, and in the Mafia AU her scars were from when she was trafficked.

If I were to give Joseph a scar in any of my writing/headcanons, it would be because I thought of an interesting incident to go with it that I wanted to write and/or mention.

As it is, I'm more inclined not to give Joseph scars, at least none significant enough to make mention of. From a narrative stance, the tattoos serve as scars, which, well, tattoos kind of are already. They are permanent markings made to his skin with a needle. They're scars that say a lot about him, ones he chose to have and regrets now.

Then of course there's the damage his body has taken due to his death, which is reflected in his putrefaction and blood. This state of decay draws far more attention than any scar would, and is a direct reflection of the trauma he faced from his death. So in this case, the zombie-like state would be another type of scarring Joseph suffers from.

These are pretty significant parts of his character. As a writer, I'm concerned that adding more scars might muddle the significance of how the tattoos and the rotting damage/alter his body and affect his mental state.

That isn't to discourage anyone from headcanoning Joseph with scars that he hides under his clothes. Hell, I might come up with an idea later on down the line that enamors me. At the moment though, I would rather keep focus on the mistakes of Joseph's past and his death that have left such a deep scar on him that he chooses to be someone else entirely in the present.

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

#Sunny Day Jack #Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack #SunnyDayJack #sdj #swwsdj #Headcanon Ramblings #Ask #Sauce-y Art

[codecuriouscat]

﹒⪩⪨﹒Introductory post ﹒⪩⪨﹒

Hello, i've been on tumblr for a long time now but I thought it's kind of dead until today, I saw new posts and people actually reacting to them, so here I am, starting a brand new blog ~ !

I won't lie, i'll kind of copy @girliestwomaninstem introductionary post (sorry for that (^-^*)/)

🌻About me :

name: Thiziri age: 28 pronouns: she/her zodiac: ⊙ scorpio, ☽ sagittarius, ↑ scorpio languages I speak: arabic, french, english, italian (beginner) country: algeria. favorite plant: sunflower favorite color: dark red

🌻My favourite subjects ♡

- academic: math, programming, computer science, sciences, english language

- non-academic: psychology, criminology

🌻Hobbies :

Sewing

Coding

RPG

Gym

🌻Current technology interests:

ASP.NET core

C#

React JS

✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ

As you can see, i'm a young woman from Algeria who likes basic things. I'm a software engineer but i lack experience due to my previous job where it was chaotic, i feel like I lost my time there so i'm feeling quite noob in CS. My current job is in devOps / web development, and I really want to get better at it, that's what my blog will mainly be about.

But not only...

As you've seen, i'm also interested in fitness and gym, so you might as well see blog posts about healthy food, routines and tips, and maybe some religious posts too! This blog will be like my safe-space and maybe yours too. I hope we'll build a kind community all together. Don't hesitate to share your hobbies too, or blogs in relation with my interests ! :)

Ah and here's a link for my brand new twitter account.

#100 days of productivity #intro post #blog intro #introducing myself #introductory post #100 days challenge #100 days of code #100 days of self discipline #coding #codeblr #sewing #sewblr #gym #gymlife #gym motivation #fitness #algeria #90 #28 years old #scorpio #webdevelopment #reactjs #asp.net #c sharp #moodboard

[kamidukki]

❗⚠ A long answer to an ask, POTENTIAL SPOILER ⚠❗

Below is a reply to an ask from anon zella about a tweet from akuneko official twitter.

I believe this is the text you're referring to?

The phrases 「come a long way」 「master where are you」 and 「disappeared butlers」 did show up. Though, if I may add, in the first part [もう随分... 遠くまで来てしまいました / have come a long way], I'm not sure if the subject is 'I'. With how Japanese works, it can be 'I' or 'you' or 'we'. Google Translate chooses to translate it as 'I', but it doesn't rule out other possibilities. In my mind, I always pick 'we' and think of it as the butlers', any of them, inner voice. But with the development of the main story, the thought of this being exclusively Berrien's is worth considering 🤔 I have some more thoughts about this line, honestly, but let's just move on first.

About the [dissappeared butlers]... In the original JP text, it just mentions 彼ら aka them/male. This twitter user noted that the Korean translation did change the 'them' part into 'the butlers'. BUT. They did use KR-JP Google Translator as well so it may not be accurate. I'd like the opinion of anyone proficient in Korean, if possible. I don't know if this point is even that important or worth paying attention to, so I'll leave it at that. I mean, it couldn't mean the angels instead of the butlers, right...?

Lastly, about the reincarnation part. It does have the word 輪廻 aka samsara (cycle of death and rebirth)/being reborn/reincarnation (courtesy of JapanDict). The question is, is it the master who is being reincarnated? It seems plausible. Most twitter users also added onto this fact that the butlers have no previous master, judging by some of their home screen lines, but just one that keeps being reborn and reborn again. And if not the master, who else? Having said all of this, I just want to say that while it's highly likely that the reincarnation part refers to the master, nowhere in the JP text post it says 'master's reincarnation'. If anyone wants to explore on the idea/other theory of the world that keeps resetting, I guess that's possible...?

Okay. Now, that's gotten quite long. And I haven't touched upon what the ask is really about either, sorry 🙏

So. I have read several theories concerning Berrien, him being the oldest of the butlers (not confirmed yet, but highly likely to be true), him originally being an angel (due to his name), him being a potential back-stabber (due to his weapon, the mysterious silhouette in the theme song, and again, his name)... Among them, I haven't given the thought of him being from another timeline in which all the butlers, or even the master, disappear.

There is an existing theory of akuneko set in the distant future rather than in another world like we're led to believe in the first parts of episode 1. So, not that far-fetched from the timeline thing, Zella. Although, I'm not sure if it's in line with 'various failed timelines' because that phrase would imply a multiverse. If it is multiverse, then a master who's dead will stay dead, while the butlers who disappear will never return. Or I'm misunderstanding something here, lmao.

That being said, Berrien's reaction to master's power is indeed curious. Other people pointed out his response to the question "Isn't there anything else we can do!?" during Bastien's demonisation is highly suspicious. Like he was too resigned. Like he was not helping in purpose. In his defense, Berrien may have witnessed such progression too many times hence the resignation though nobody believes this (including me, lmao).

Now, before I'm inclined to add more and more things and therefore go off tangent, I'll just end it here.

Have a nice day! 💕

#anon ask #zella anon #akuneko #aknk

[gizmocrate-werecrow]

What to do when you are a Leafling: The night is harsh and dangerous.

(I got a bit carried away with this chapter. Warning for Blood, Injury and a near death situation)

Yonny laughed. He wrote a bunch of notes as Sherry led them to his hideaway.

That was the Yonny he knew, slightly unhinged and manic, testing on others to him was not a boundary. However if there was anyone who could figure the leaves out it was him.

Besides the doctor was Sherry, they glowed with a soft green light that brought back memories of a dream from long ago.

“Yonny?”

“Test subject Dingo, it must be you. I see you've met my assistant Sherry. Ah! Bernard is also here.” Yonny said, he looked up and could feel a smile creeping up onto his face.

“Assistent?” “She’s my assistant to the persistent dark that lives in this cave, my assistant that vanquishes the horrible night up above.”

“What? She?” Dingo asked.

“Ah yes. I have learnt how to communicate with Sherry with pen and paper. Isn’t she lovely?” Yonny said he walked up to Dingo and touched the leaves.

“Hmmm interesting. How did this happen?” Yonny said. He grabbed some tweezers from his emergency pack and clicked them together.

“So Bernard and i were near a cave together right, Bernard suggested we go in and agreed. Sure it would be dark and scary but–Hey!”

“This will only hurt a bit- Ouch!” Yonny started as he was about to pluck a leaf off Dingo’s face and also right before he got headbutted.

“Sorry, force of habit i guess.” Dingo said he helped Yonny up and took a deep breath.

“Ahem, next thing i knew a red leafling with a green mutt whisked Bernard away! I could’ve ran away and left him in the clutches of that creature but he's our ticket out of here. Suddenly I was challenged to a ‘Dandori battle’ right after the dog dragged Bernard into the onion and pop! He's laying on the ground, face covered in leaves and then I charged and…um…you can guess what happened next.”

“Do you want to DANDORI?” Bernard said to no one in particuler. This comment went ignored, he then held a hand to his head.

“We need to wait for night to come though, I wish to try something. Sherry has told me of something that I have called glowsap. Sadly it can only be harvested at night.”

“...What's a glowsap?” Bernard said, once more out of the grasp on the chittering choir.

“Glowsap is a very special substance, it disappears in the day much like Sherry but it has extremely strong curative properties. Oh I see Bernard has regained some measure of thought.”

“According to our friend Jack, it might be because of the Connection.” Dingo said, he held up the red Pikmin.

“Interesting.” Yonny said.

Jack twittered to Sherry and she nodded, she made some concerned noises then scribbled down a note, she then passed the note to Yonny. Yonny opened it and read through it, his face fell as he did so. He crumpled up the piece of paper and grabbed the emergency kit, walking past the others with Sherry following him.

“If Bernard is lucid then nightfall shall be coming fast, come quickly I need more than Sherry to defend myself from the vicious beasts out there.” Yonny called as he took a surgical knife out of his pack.

The three nodded and followed.

—

Above ground there was a huge ant hill with soft green glows emitting from every hole. Yonny was waiting with impatence.

“This is what I call the luminknoll.” Yonny said, pointing to the lowering sun.

“And we were turned by an onion. I forgot to mention that.” Dingo said.

“You already said that Dingo. So it works by entering an onion?” Yonny said, walking around the luminknoll as its light glowed in the middle.

“What are you thinking?” Bernard said.

“Now, if I am ever in danger, click my emergency stasis and toss me into the luminknoll, if I am correct it shall have the same effect as an onion. All we need to do tonight is guard this luminknoll.” Yonny said, he wrung his hands a little and rocked on his heels.

There was an awful lot of dead leaves laying about, giant ones too. Dingo eyed one suspiciously until he felt a small tap tap on his shoulder.

“What is it Jack?”

“Papa encountered a bug that looked like a leaf, it looked just like these leaves.”

“D-don’t worry Jack, I’m fireproof and Bernard seems pretty strong, it’s not like that statement made me nervous or anything hehe!” Dingo assured and petted Jack on their head.

Yonny checked his watch, looked up and sighed.

“We came just in time, the monsters shall be restless I tell you.” Yonny said he drew out his scalpel in anticipation for the coming foes.

But none came.

Not for an hour and not for two more, save for a brief tussle with some dwarf bulborbs, Nothing of threat came.

Bernard and Dingo both yawned, the day had been long and now the night. Yonny had just finished stabbing a dwarf Bulborb when something rustled. He turned around for the source of the noise and stepped on a leaf. Then there was a scream.

Bernard and Dingo rushed to Yonny, he was clutching his chest and there was a deep gash clean through the suit, showing skin and blood. The perpetrator was a dead leaf with blood dripping from their claws. Dingo rushed and punched the thing, it then let out a death howl that was growing familiar to him.

“The leaves! They’re alive!” Yonny cried, he opened his pack and rummaged through it, he groaned again as loud beeping filled his ears.

Dingo looked around, there were dozens of glowing red eyes staring hungrily at the luminknoll and the group. Yonny handed over his scalpel.

“Bernard, toss me into the luminknoll, Dingo keep the monsters away.” Yonny weakly ordered, he coughed out some blood and groaned. 

“But Yonny, I don’t think-“ Dingo started, he then looked at the luminknoll, the dead bug leaves were skittering and greedily digging into the precious sap inside. “We HAVE to do this Dingo! We need Yonny.” Bernard said he picked Yonny up with ease and tossed the doctor into the luminknoll, Sherry quickly followed suit with some nervous sounds.

The luminknoll shuddered and collapsed. Then rising from the ruins of it was a leafling.

“Yonny!” Bernard cried out, he smiled and cheered.

Yonny’s leaves seemed to glow with the same spooky green that Sherry had, he was floating a bit off the ground. The broken suit revealed more of the glowing leaves that now covered his face.

Yonny’s hands glowed bright green as a magnificent ball of light developed, he floated up and tossed the ball straight into the imposter leaf crowd. The creatures stood there dazed as both he and Sherry wailed on them, the last one let out a long cry before dying.

“We've failed unfortunately.” Yonny said. He tapped his foot and looked at the sky. “Thankfully the sun shall be rising in a few.”

As the sunlight started to chase away the night. Yonny was on his knees. He groaned and collapsed onto the ground.

“Yonny?! Yonny get up!” Jack said, shaking the doctor multiple times. They tried to touch Yonny’s hand only to fall right through it.

(I thought what if the leaf bug monsters were also taticle and well…this)

#pikmin au #fanfic #pikmin 4 spoilers #pikmin #pikmin 4 #dingo pikmin #bernard pikmin #yonny pikmin #red pikmin #glow pikmin